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Innovation / Technology

Moviegoers familiarize themselves with the joystick that will allow them to interact with the film I’m Your Man during its premiere on Dec. 16, 1992.

Smell-O-Vision, Astrocolor and Other Film Industry Inventions That Proved To Be Flops

Sound, color and special effects transformed the moviegoing experience. These innovations decidedly did not.

Set to land in mid 2018, the new mosquito emoji will give people a new way to talk about the dangerous insects.

Will a New Mosquito Emoji Create Some Buzz About Insect-borne Diseases?

Available in mid-2018, the emoji could provide a new means for communicating the science and health implications of mosquitoes

Will structures like the Gangneung Ice Arena be worth the investment once the games wrap up?

Does Pyeongchang Have a Future As a Winter Sports Destination?

South Korea may fall short of its lofty goal to transform the region into an Asian hub for snow and ice sports

This graphene-filled tube is sensitive to the slightest movements.

This Low-Cost, Graphene Device Could Help Monitor a Baby’s Health

Physicists have developed a graphene-based liquid that can sense tiny changes in breathing and heart rate

Developer JTC Corporation has considered building an underground research facility for thousands of scientists.

To Keep Up With Its Growth, Singapore Has a Grand Plan To Expand Underground

The densely populated city-state is becoming a global leader in the underground urbanism movement

The film is equal parts 21st-century technology and late 19th-century art

How the Creators of Loving Vincent Brought the First Fully Painted Animated Film to Life

Vincent van Gogh’s swirling coats of paint really move in the Oscar-nominated film thanks to 62,450 original oil paintings

Rising global temperatures may make many cities too warm to host the Winter Games in the future.

The Beijing Winter Olympics

In a World Striving To Cut Carbon Emissions, Do the Olympics Make Sense?

Perhaps there is still a case for the greenhouse-gas gushing games if host cities amplify their efforts to showcase green tech and innovations

The home bioreactor in its intended environment. It also provides light for herbs.

In the Future, Will We Be Growing Fruit in Home Bioreactors?

A team of molecular biologists wants you to forget about strawberries and, instead, take “cell jam” for a whirl

Could drone delivery help the environment?

Future of Energy

Is Drone Delivery Good for the Environment?

Reducing the need for trucking by delivering some packages with electric drones could save fuel, and potentially carbon emissions. But how much?

Spot co-founders hope that the current cultural reckoning with issues of harassment will spur employers to take these problems seriously.

This AI Bot Fights Workplace Harassment

A new app, Spot, uses AI to help harassment and discrimination victims create and file reports without having to talk to a human

The Olympic Flame was lit from the sun's rays using a parabolic mirror, during the final dress rehearsal for the lighting ceremony at Ancient Olympia, in southwestern Greece, on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Your Burning Questions About the Olympic Torch, Answered

Curious minds will want to know that the blaze is lit not with matches or a lighter, but using a method that dates to Ancient Greece

Times Square traffic jam

Should U.S. Cities Use Congestion Pricing To Ease Traffic?

New York may soon charge a fee to drive into central Manhattan as a way of reducing traffic and raising funds for public transit

Skiing robots will race in a sideline competition.

Winter Olympics

Meet the Robots of the 2018 Olympics

The Pyeongchang games will have bots to clean, dance, serve drinks, provide translation and more

Video games can help train the brain to hear better.

Can a Video Game Train You To Hear Better In a Crowded Room?

A new study finds it’s possible to teach the brain to better distinguish between speech and background noise

Staff from nearly every major museum in the world has visited CMA to study how they might incorporate digital.

The Cleveland Museum of Art Wants You To Play With Its Art

The digital-savvy museum is using more than a dozen interactive games to collect data on how visitors digest artwork

Reports of weird, wondrous, and worrying objects in the skies date to ancient times.

How UFO Reports Change With the Technology of the Times

Fears of Zeppelins, rockets and drones have replaced the “celestial wonders” of ancient times

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