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Innovation / Technology

In Camille Utterback's 1999 Text Rain, viewers become part of the artwork.

In this Exhibition You Can Play with the Artworks, Or Even Be the Art

A dizzying array of wildly unorthodox works from video games to computer codes makes up this summer’s blockbuster “Watch This!” show

Turn on this baby patting machine and slowly, quietly back away.

26 Inventions Mothers Can Appreciate

From an apparatus to birth a child with centrifugal force to a board game to teach driver safety, these product ideas have parents in mind

Traffic control centers like this one in Boston—a room cluttered with computer terminals and live video feeds of urban intersections—represent the brain of a traffic system.

Will We Ever Be Able to Make Traffic Disappear?

City engineers make changes in the timing of signals to keep cars moving, but cell phone data and vehicle-to-vehicle communication could ease the task

The Lusitania leaves New York on its final voyage in 1915.

This Map Shows the Full Extent of the Devastation Wrought by U-Boats in World War I

On the anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania, a look at how “unrestricted submarine warfare” changed the rules of war

In a recent ad campaign, portraits of litterers made from DNA taken from tossed cigarettes, coffee cups and condoms were posted in public places around Hong Kong.

DNA Testing Could Identify Litterbugs and Dog Poop Miscreants

Anonymous crimes may not be quite so anonymous anymore

This smartphone-controlled lock could replace your keys.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Lock that Opens When You Say “Open Sesame” and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

A company is designing athletic apparel with colorful prints based on micrographs of chicken pox and muscle cells

Evan Creelman, Newlight COO; Mark Herrema, Co-Founder and CEO; and Kenton Kimmel, Co-Founder and CTO, with a few products made of AirCarbon.

Smart Startup

Creating Plastic From Greenhouse Gases

Newlight Technologies is turning carbon emissions into plastic for everyday items

Future of Energy

6 Projects That Make a Sustainable Future Seem Possible

From an algae-powered building to a playground of recycled steel drums, these spots give designers, urban planners and others hope

With Semios, Farmers Can Monitor Their Fields Remotely and Keep Pests Away

Paired with wireless sensors and cameras, aerosol pheromone pesticides have entered a new era of effectiveness and affordability

Designer Ross Atkin has created pieces of street furniture—lights, signs and seats—that can adapt in the moment to fit a pedestrian’s particular need.

What If City Streetlights Brightened and Signs Spoke As You Passed?

A British designer has found a way to make urban areas work for all types of pedestrians

Using dirt containing bacteria that generate electricity, kids can build their own mud batteries.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Kit to Build Your Own Mud Battery and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Also, a campaign to build a Little Free Museum

At least 300 buildings at Tajalei village in Sudan's Abyei region were intentionally destroyed by fire, according to Satellite Sentinel Project analysis of this DigitalGlobe satellite image, taken March 6, 2011 and analyzed by UNITAR/UNOSAT and the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative.

The U.N. Uses Satellites to Track Humanitarian Crises Around the World

With help from George Clooney, the United nations embarks on a new frontier in monitoring the world from above

This device makes it possible to communicate with your mind.

This Stroke of Genius Could Allow You to Write With Your Brain

Not Impossible Labs has developed a breakthrough approach to communication

Garrett Foshay rides the Hendo, which hovers about an inch off the ground.

The Hoverboard Fantasy Comes True, Just As “Back to the Future” Predicted

Hold onto your flux capacitors; the future is here

A 2013 satellite view of a settlement of uncontacted people in Acre, Brazil.

Protecting the World’s Last Isolated Communities From Above

Advances in satellite technology mean that untouched villages can remain that way

How to Predict a Famine Before It Even Strikes

Hundred of miles about Earth, orbiting satellites are becoming a bold new weapon in the age-old fight against drought, disease and death

Steven Devor, front, developed the automated treadmill using off-the-shelf parts, including an inexpensive sonar range finder and an existing treadmill. (Photo by Jo McCulty, Courtesy of Ohio State University)

This New Treadmill Automatically Adjusts to Your Speed

A prototype developed at Ohio State makes indoor workouts more like outdoor runs by using sonar to detect where you are on the belt and keep pace

The party doesn't start until Disco Dog walks in.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A LED Vest for Puppies and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

A new tool for runners moves beyond calories to measure the intensity of workouts

MIT Researchers Think They Can Spot Early Signs of Parkinson’s in the Way People Type

By monitoring how long we hold down keystrokes, it may be possible to detect neurological diseases years before other symptoms appear

This winter jacket is light, thin and made of the same special ingredient that insulates astronaut spacesuits.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Winter Jacket Made From the Same Material as NASA Spacesuits and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Plus, a high-tech update to the tried-and-true jump rope

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