Technology

The algorithm could be useful for pilots flying in turbulence.

This "Psychic Robot" Can Read Your Mind

Researchers have created an algorithm that understands what movement you meant to make, even if you're interrupted

A Soccket is only one ounce heavier than a standard-issue soccer ball and generates three hours of power after one hour of play.

These Soccer Balls and Jump Ropes Can Generate Power

Uncharted Play, a New York City-based startup, enables children in developing countries to build reserves of energy through play

How Waves Could Have Created the Loch Ness Monster

Watch Tom Davey test his hypothesis with a state-of-the-art wave pool

Looking down into the Big Delta.

This Giant Contraption Can Print a House

Inspired by wasps' nests, an Italian company is printing inexpensive houses for the developing world

The sign language capture device

This Wearable Device Translates Sign Language To English

The prototype detects hand and finger movements and turns them into words on a screen

Ask Smithsonian

Ask Smithsonian: How Does Night Vision Work?

The ability to see in the dark is becoming more accurate and more portable

Topmix Permeable

This Concrete Can Absorb a Flood

A UK company has developed a permeable pavement that can drink 1,000 liters of water per square meter in a minute

Setting up sound monitors in Papua New Guinea.

Scientists Are Recording 24-Hour Soundtracks of Rainforests

The bioacoustic data gives Nature Conservancy researchers clues about the health of an ecosystem

Rendering of the Halo system, with a screen

These X-rays Can See Exactly What's In Your Luggage

A new kind of X-ray machine, poised to improve airport security, can identify the material of an object passing through it

Each level explores a different kind of psychological trauma.

The Innovative Spirit

Can a Video Game Teach You to Manage Stress?

“Nevermind,” a video game controlled by a player's heart rate, aims to help people deal with trauma

The Innovative Spirit

The Smithsonian’s Innovation Festival Demystifies the Invention Process

Inventors of a number of new technologies shared their stories at a two-day event at the National Museum of American History

The Innovative Spirit

Can You Guess the Invention Based on These Patent Illustrations?

Hint: They are all part of the National Museum of American History’s collection

The Innovative Spirit

The Smithsonian Spotlights American Invention at This Weekend’s Innovation Festival

Universities, federal agencies, companies and independent inventors will give visitors a glimpse of the future

The History of the Bar Code

Inventor Joe Woodland drew the first bar code in sand in Miami Beach, decades before technology could bring his vision to life

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The Innovative Spirit

This Interactive Installation Rains a Poem Down on Viewers

Artists Camille Utterback and Romy Achituv wrote the software that drives an artwork, in which onlookers catch letters falling on a large screen

Scaled back so no two books share a page, the library still has 10 to the power of 4,677 books.

This Digital Library Contains Every Phrase That Could Ever Be Uttered

Inspired by an essay by Jorge Luis Borges, computer programmer Jonathan Basile has created a "Library" of Babel

Peter Pidcoe (here) and Thubi Kolobe invented a Self-Initiated Prone Progressive Crawler, to help motor-challenged babies learn to inch themselves around.

The Innovative Spirit

This Skateboard-Like Device Helps At-Risk Infants Learn to Crawl

An innovative physical therapy device boosts babies’ movement efforts and helps their brains make critical connections

It took several weeks and a number of attempts before Shubham Banerjee built a working prototype of his Braille printer.

The Innovative Spirit

Meet the 13-Year-Old Who Invented a Low-Cost Braille Printer

One California teen has a vision to make Braille materials more widely available—and more affordable

Innovative Spirit Health Care

How Is Brain Surgery Like Flying? Put On a Headset to Find Out

A device made for gaming helps brain surgeons plan and execute delicate surgeries with extreme precision

The Aquaporin filter is simple and light.

The Innovative Spirit

A New Efficient Filter Helps Astronauts Drink Their Own Urine

Recycling water is key to getting humans to Mars

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