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Innovation / Technology

A full-size Boeing 757 tail equipped with sweeping jets was tested in a wind tunnel at the Ames Research Center.

Designing a Smaller, Lighter Airplane Tail

With engineers from Caltech, Boeing and NASA, Israel Wygnanski is ushering in a new era of fuel-efficient airplane design

The quantum realm can seem to defy common sense.

Five Practical Uses for “Spooky” Quantum Mechanics

Fifty years after Bell’s Theorem, tools that harness the weird properties of quantum mechanics are at work all around you

The Rubbee electric drive turns your bike into an e-bike.

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Eight Tech Gifts for Early Adopters

From a personal drone and a 3D printer to sleep and sport performance trackers, these gadgets will please the technophiles in your life

A system in testing off the coast of Cape Town uses an electric field to safely ward off predators.

An Electric Fence Wards Off Sharks

South Africa has begun testing a humane way to make its beaches safer

Artist Yoshi Sodeoka envisions musical instruments carried in satellites orbiting the Earth that would be able to “neutralize nations at war."

How Will We Make Music in 200 Years?

A group of innovators were asked to imagine what music will be like in 2214. If they’re right, it could be pretty bizarre

Middle-class families scooped up affordable and speedy Model Ts. As they began to race through the streets, they ran headlong into pedestrians—with lethal results.

When Pedestrians Ruled the Streets

The driverless car may take a while to catch on—just as the automobile did a century ago

One of the original Regency TR-1 models resides in the Smithsonian collections.

How the Transistor Radio with Music for Your Pocket Fueled a Teenage Social Revolution

In a burst of post World War II innovation, the Regency TR-1 transistor radio became the new “It” gift for the holiday season

A new, zero-power screening method might make testing for lead and other pollutants easier than ever.

Drop This Capsule Into a Stream and It Will Screen For Pollution

Researchers have developed a sensor (no batteries required) that creates a barcode indicating the amount of pollutants and their whereabouts in water

This is how you build the world's first solar bike path.

A Bike Path Near Amsterdam Is Now Generating Solar Power

As cyclists ride above, solar panels embedded in the pathway pump energy into the power grid

One third of an airline's operating costs go to fuel.

Holy Smokes! Tobacco May Fuel Planes in the Future

The seeds from a new type of tobacco plant grown in South Africa release an oil that can be made into biofuel

The nonprofit SkyTruth enlisted more than 200 volunteers to scan aerial imagery and pinpoint the locations of fracking wastewater ponds in Pennsylvania.

Tracking Frackers From the Sky

Citizen scientists eyeing Pennsylvania’s natural gas drillers in aerial images may help determine if there is a link between fracking and certain illnesses

Microbes were used in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

New Understanding of Toxin-Loving Organisms May Help Tackle Pollution

A breakthrough in the understanding of how bacteria break down toxins using vitamin B12 could lead to improved cleanup methods

Slipped into the handle of an officer's firearm, this sensor keeps commanders aware of on-duty activity.

A Sensor In Guns Tells Dispatch When Police Officers Need Backup

By monitoring the position and status of firearms, commanders can see exactly what’s happening in the field

Using the Automatic Link and License+ app, parents can coach their teens to have safer driving habits.

Parents, Give Your Teens Driving Lessons Without Even Being in the Car

A six-month training program gives parents of new drivers a training tool—and a little extra peace of mind

Rub the label to see if the food inside is still good to eat.

A Label You Rub To See If Food Has Expired and Other Finalists for the Dyson Award

There’s also a pen that lets you know when you should reapply your sunscreen and a device called Luke Stairwalker

This past weekend an innovation festival at the National Air and Space Museum celebrated inventions from across the United States.

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

Here’s What You Missed at the Smithsonian Innovation Festival

Inventors and museum staff alike inspired the crowd to see the world through the prism of innovation

The bedside S+ frees sleep trackers from uncomfortable watches and chest monitors.

Tech Watch

This Device Tracks Your Sleep Without Ever Touching You

The ResMed S+ monitors your Zzzs from the comfortable distance of your nightstand and offers tips for getting a better rest

Google's newest Street View collection takes users to Gombe Stream National Park, where Jane Goodall pioneered her chimpanzee behavioral research. "Don't forget to look up," a Google project manager says.

Exclusive: The Chimpanzees of Gombe National Park Make Their Street View Debut

For its latest collection, Google traveled to the African rainforest where Jane Goodall pioneered her groundbreaking chimp research

2014 Ingenuity Awards

The 2014 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award Winners

These 10 innovators in science, history, society and the arts are a testament to the imagination and hard work that define the nation’s spirit

2014 Ingenuity Awards

How Palmer Luckey Created Oculus Rift

The young visionary dreamed up a homemade headset that may transform everything from gaming to medical treatment to engineering—and beyond

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