Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Innovation / Technology

Researchers have made an important first step towards engineering direct, brain-to-brain communication between humans.

Scientists Prove That Telepathic Communication Is Within Reach

An international research team develops a way to say “hello” with your mind

"Today we can use light to create an artificial sun on Earth, if only for a split-second," writes Steven Johnson. Here, Vaughn Draggoo examines a test site for light-induced nuclear fusion at the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, California.

The World Is What It Is Today Because of These Six Innovations

In a new book, Steven Johnson describes the many technologies that glass, refrigeration and other fundamental inventions have made possible

The movement to dramatically reduce car traffic is picking up speed.

Anthropocene

Helsinki Has a Plan to Get People to Stop Owning Cars

A system being developed in Finland would allow people to subscribe to all kinds of mobility options and pay for everything on their phones

The transparent solar concentrator material doesn’t block visible light, but turns light in other parts of the spectrum into electricity.

Tech Watch

This Clear Plastic Material Harvests Solar Energy Without You Even Knowing It’s There

Researchers are developing transparent solar collectors that let sunlight in, while turning ultraviolet and near-infrared light into electricity

A bobtail squid hides on the ocean floor.

Research Into How Squid Camouflage Leads to An Ultra-Sharp Display for Televisions and Smartphones

Researchers at Rice University have created pixels 40 times smaller than those found in today’s LCD displays

These satellite images were captured by DigitalGlobe’s GeoEye-1 satellite on Oct. 6, 2014.

How the Artist Behind the Giant Landscape Portrait on the Mall Used a Super-Precise GPS Satellite System as a Paintbrush

To create the National Portrait Gallery’s “facescape,” artist Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada got some high-tech help

The Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, P.A. is celebrating its city in a long-term exhibition, "Pittsburgh a Tradition of Innovation."

Celebrating Pittsburgh, the City Behind Pro Football, Big Macs and the Polio Vaccine

The Pennsylvanian city had more lives than a cat and thrives as a hub of innovation

In Melissa Hill¹s class at Knight Enloe Elementary School in Roanoke, Alabama, kindergarteners were issued MIT-programmed tablets without any instructions.

Are Tablets the Way Out of Child Illiteracy?

Give them technology that they may have never seen before, and students’ brains will work wonders

An artist renders the proposed master plan of Masdar City.

Building the World’s First Carbon-Neutral City

Masdar City, near Abu Dhabi, boasts green buildings, a fleet of electric cars and massive solar arrays. But will the experiment work?

With ambient-light and motion sensors onboard, the Alba bulb will know when it should turn on—and just how bright it should be.

Tech Watch

This Smart Lightbulb Adjusts To You

Armed with motion and ambient light sensors, Stack’s Alba bulb learns and follows your patterns

The corner in downtown Hartford where the first pay phone was installed

The Pay Phone’s Journey From Patent to Urban Relic

The history of the device that is well on its way to becoming, well, history

The power of science fiction comes from the license to dream.

Round Table

What Idea From Science Fiction Would You Most Like To See Become Reality?

Astronomers, writers and an astronaut weigh in with some interesting answers

Scientists hope to make the process of producing engine-ready propane from E. coli bacteria commercially viable in 5 to 10 years.

Anthropocene

Researchers Trick E. Coli Into Making Propane

European researchers have taken an important first step toward renewable propane, powered by the sun

IBM and Mayo Clinic are applying game-show champ Watson's smarts to matching patients with the best clinical trials.

IBM’s Watson Will Match Cancer Patients With Trials at Mayo Clinic

By pairing patients with trials in seconds, the supercomputer will help speed the pace of medical innovation

Apple recently announced three models of its Apple Watch.

Tech Watch

The 5 Biggest Challenges to the Success of the Apple Watch

Even though wearables are on the rise, Apple’s newest product has its obstacles, from limited battery life to a hefty price tag

The AverageExplorer software aggregates thousands of wedding photos into representations of what the average shot looks like.

Software Creates One Picture That Says It All

Researchers at UC Berkeley have created software that averages image searches into one artistic result

The Project Wing test craft begins lowering its payload during a test flight in Australia.

Google’s Delivery Drones Will Airlift Supplies Practically Anywhere

Project Wing, a development platform, completes test deliveries over Australia

A 4.4-pound, leg-worn exoskeleton creates a chair out of nowhere.

Tech Watch

Sit Anywhere on a Chair You Can Wear

A Swiss startup has created a trim exoskeleton that lets factory workers perch for quick breaks

Russian artist Dmitry Morozov has devised a way to make pollution beautiful.

7 Ways Technology is Changing How Art is Made

Technology is redefining art in strange, new ways. Works are created by people moving through laser beams or from data gathered on air pollution

A rendering illustrates how messages will appear in mid-air using Navdy's new dashboard head-up display.

Tech Watch

Navdy Projects Apps and Text Messages Onto the Windshield of Almost Any Car

A California startup is launching a system that puts maps, texts and calls right at eye level

Page 53 of 74