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Innovation / Technology

In the future, what role will cars play in our lives?

Round Table

Are Cars Driving Into the Sunset?

Our love affair with automobiles is changing in the face of climate change and denser urban living

Volunteer Rosheka Robinson serves plates of food to guests at Sister Jean's Kitchen in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Smart Startup

This App Recommends Volunteer Opportunities Based on the News You Read

Ideal Impact connects people that show an interest in a particular cause with organizations that could use their help

Bust some ghosts in this board game based on the 1984 classic.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Ghostbusters Board Game, Lights That Respond to Music and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Also, a sensor that uses thermal technology to track the amount of gas left in a tank

Last fall, the Federal Aviation Administration finally allowed a handful of movie companies to use drones for filming in the United States.

It Was Only a Matter of Time: Drones Get Their Own Film Festival

Hoping to clean up the tarnished image of drones, a filmmaker shifts the focus to their potential for changing how movies are made

Personal environmental monitors, such as TZOA (shown here), measure air quality and stream that information to users who may otherwise have no idea what they are breathing.

With Wearable Devices That Monitor Air Quality, Scientists Can Crowdsource Pollution Maps

Emerging technology means anyone with a smartphone can become a mobile environmental monitoring station

The bola, or tiŋmiagniasutit, from the collections of the National Museum of the American Indian, is featured in the video game, "Never Alone."

How a Smithsonian Artifact Ended Up in a Popular Video Game

To connect with a worldwide audience, an Alaska Native community shared its story with the creators of “Never Alone”

A reader can point a smartphone at the pages of this children's book to reveal surprising animations.

This Week in Crowdfunding

An Augmented Reality Children’s Book, Bacon Jerky and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Never worry about halitosis again with the Breathometer Mint bad breath tracker

A Norwegian Company is Transforming Deserts Into Farmland

Solar power plants in Qatar and Jordan, not far from the sea, are powering desalination systems that irrigate plants in and around greenhouses

A student uses the Skill Champ app, which emphasizes visual learning.

Smart Startup

These Apps Help Kids With Autism Learn Basic Skills

Infiniteach, a Chicago startup, is building learning tools for the one in 68 children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders today

Solar Panels in the Screens of Smartphones Could Power the Devices

Kyocera unveils a prototype for a phone with a layer of transparent crystals in its screen that helps to charge it both indoors and outside

An unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) / drone used for aerial surveillance is flying in the air.

Want to Fly a Drone? Here’s Where You Can Do It (Legally, at Least)

As personal and commercial drones become more prevalent, how are state and federal legislators responding? Explore with this interactive map

FireCast 2.0 targets the most fire-prone buildings, many of which haven't been inspected in years.

How Data and a Good Algorithm Can Help Predict Where Fires Will Start

The New York City Fire Department is using a tool called FireCast to predict which buildings are most likely to have fires

This "smart" mattress cover can track sleep patterns along with respiration and heart rates.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A “Smart” Mattress Cover and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Don’t have a green thumb? A sensor for your potted plants alerts you when they need watering

A Prado visitor touches a 3-D printed replica of a contemporaneous copy of the "Mona Lisa."

Please Touch the Art: 3-D Printing Helps Visually Impaired Appreciate Paintings

The new “Touching the Prado” exhibit in Madrid showcases 3-D replicas of paintings, so blind visitors can feel key works of art

This Dutch Wind Wheel Is Part Green Tech Showcase, Part Architectural Attraction

A giant structure proposed in Rotterdam puts cutting-edge energy tech inside a rotating observation wheel, with room for a hotel and apartments

Each Librii site will include an anchor building for housing collections, an e-hub with computers and an agora equipped with WiFi.

Smart Startup

Building Libraries Along Fiber-Optic Lines in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Washington, D.C.-based startup, Librii, is rethinking what a library looks like

This robot, made of drinking straws, teaches kids how to hack.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Kit to Make Robots Out of Drinking Straws and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

Perhaps a three-dimensional paper mount of an animal is just what your living room needs

Xerox founder Joe Wilson with the 914, which could make copies up to 9 by 14 inches.

How the Photocopier Changed the Way We Worked—and Played

Decades before 3-D printers brought manufacturing closer to home, copiers transformed offices, politics and art

From the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center

When Steve Fossett Became the Magellan of the Skies

Ten years ago, the pioneering adventurer took off in pursuit of a new record in circumnavigation

Were the Terracotta Warriors Based on Actual People?

To answer that question, archaeologists are looking at variations in the soldiers’ ears

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