Innovation / Technology

England Is Going to Test Roads That Actually Charge Electric Cars

Highways of the future may have special lanes that recharge the batteries of electric cars as they go

August 20, 2015

Law and Order: Social Media Unit

The San Francisco Police Department may have an “Instagram officer,” but other forces are trolling social media for criminal activity too

August 19, 2015

Innovative Spirit Health Care

This New Mapping Tool Shows City Planners Where to Plant Trees

Researchers at Portland State University have created an app that looks at tree density in respect to neighborhood, population and pollution

August 18, 2015

Are Robot Umpires Coming to Baseball?

Now that a computer has covered home plate at a minor league game, what’s next?

August 14, 2015

Wasting Food? It’ll Cost You

In a neighborhood in Seoul, the Korea Environment Corp. is doling out fines to people dumping more than their allotted food scraps

August 11, 2015

Thin Sensors on Our Skin or in Our Clothes May Warn Us of Environmental Hazards

Australian researchers are developing flexible sensors that track dangers that humans cannot detect with their own senses

August 11, 2015

You Might Actually Want a Layover at These Seven Airports

From nap pods to real-time flight tracking, these airports have features that will surely please passengers

August 10, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

When a Trip to the Zoo Resulted in an Engineering Breakthrough

Megan Leftwich, an engineering professor at George Washington University, is building a robotic flipper based on her observations of sea lions

August 10, 2015

This Mock “City” Is a Testing Ground For Driverless Cars

The University of Michigan’s Mcity is a 32-acre challenge course for connected and automated vehicles

August 7, 2015

IBM’s Tone Analyzer Could Save You From Sending That Awkward Email

The new service, part of IBM’s Watson artificial intelligence system, scans emails for emotions like cheerfulness or negativity

August 6, 2015

What Is a Personal Food Computer?

A farm the size of a desktop could change the way we grow food in cities

August 3, 2015

Could a Wind Turbine Be Coming to a Bridge Near You?

Engineers find, in a simulation, that two wind turbines mounted under a bridge in the Canary Islands could power hundreds of homes

July 31, 2015

This “Lucky” Fish Could Save Lives

A fish-shaped iron ingot is reducing the number of cases of iron deficiency anemia in Cambodia and beyond

July 30, 2015

Scientists Find a Natural Way to Clean Up Oil Spills, With a Plant-Based Molecule

Researchers at the City College of New York are testing a spray made of phytol, a molecule in chlorophyll, on oil in lab wave pools

July 29, 2015

Legos Go Sustainable, and Everything (Really) is Awesome

To reduce its carbon footprint, the toy company is searching for a sustainable material for its bricks by 2030

July 28, 2015

What’s the Deal With Google’s Sidewalk Labs?

The tech giant’s first move in urban planning is installing Wi-Fi hubs throughout New York City. Next, it could take on inefficiencies in public transit

July 27, 2015

Off the Coast of Italy, Two Divers Are Building Underwater Greenhouses

The biospheres could provide an alternate means of farming in regions with unstable growing conditions

July 23, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions to the World’s Problems

With a patent to her name and more likely on the way, the 15-year-old has made it her mission to inspire young innovators

July 21, 2015

You Can Now 3D Print With Liquefied Wood

A chemist at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden is making sustainable 3d printing a reality

July 16, 2015

The EPA Has a New Tool For Mapping Where Pollution and Poverty Intersect

To better target its efforts, the agency is identifying problem areas, where people are facing undue environmental risks

July 14, 2015