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Innovation / Technology

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Watch: The World’s 3D Experts Converge at the Smithsonian X 3D Conference

At the Smithsonian X 3D Conference, pioneers in 3D scanning and printing technology discuss how digitization will shape the future of the Smithsonian

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These New 3D Models Put the Smithsonian’s Most Renowned Items in Your Hands

Models of the Wright Flyer, the Wooly Mammoth and 19 other items are available in a new web-based viewer and printable in 3D

This Clever Combination Lock Protects Your Bike’s Parts From Crooks

A German startup has developed the Sphyke C3N to secure your bicycle bits without you having to carry a key

Toyota’s New Concept Car Takes the Driver’s Movements and Emotions Into Consideration

Toyota’s FV2 is engineered to make cars “Fun to Drive, Again.” But it might be too far out to ever become a reality

Scissors That Cut Perfectly Straight Lines—Every Time!

An industrial design major has made it possible to make precise cuts without rulers or a heavy-duty guillotine

Simply by looking at geo-tagged tweets, an algorithm can track the spread of flu and predict which users are going to get sick.

Your Tweets Can Predict When You’ll Get the Flu

Simply by looking at geotagged tweets, an algorithm can track the spread of flu and predict which users are going to get sick

The brain scan on right shows Alzheimer’s damage.

How Lasers Could Be the Answer to Alzheimer’s

They’re now able to detect the clumps of toxic proteins that destroy the brain. One day they may be able to get rid of them

Can This Bracelet Actually Replace a Heater?

MIT students have developed Wristify, a wearable cooling and heating system designed to regulate body temperature and save on energy bills

Mood: experimental. Desired quality: active.

These Abstract Portraits Were Painted By An Artificial Intelligence Program

The Painting Fool, a computer program, can create portraits based on its mood, assess its work and learn from its mistakes

Checking the Claim: FiberFix is 100 Times Stronger Than Duct Tape

A company shows how its new product can make a broken shovel as good as new

A representation of a virtual monkey, whose arms can be manipulated by a real monkey in a new brain-machine interface—the first interface that allows for the control of multiple limbs.

A New Interface Lets Monkeys Control Two Virtual Arms With Their Brain Alone

The interface is the first that can control multiple limbs—a technology that marks another step toward full mobility for paralyzed people

This Blowtorch Creates a Flame Using Water

Researchers say the SafeFlame is gentler, cleaner and only leaves behind water

A Romanian Scientist Claims to Have Developed Artificial Blood

A true blood substitute can be a major breakthrough that can save lives. Testing out a batch, however, can be a problem

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Energy Innovation

Carbon-Negative Energy Is Here! This Device Makes Clean Energy and Fertilizer

A Berkeley startup’s new spin on an old fuel-producing technology is a win-win for the environment

A New App Turns Fractals Into Ornate Art

With Frax, users can create mathematically-driven art, adding color, depth and texture to geometric shapes

Can cameras read what’s going on in a second grader’s mind?

Can Facial Recognition Really Tell If a Kid Is Learning in Class?

Inventors of software called EngageSense say you can tell if kids are engaged in class by analyzing their eye movements

Author Mark Bowden writes in our 101 Objects Special Issue: Though unmanned, remote-controlled drones had been used in times of war since World War II, they were revolutionized in 1995. The Gnat, developed by the San Diego defense contractor General Atomics, carried something new: video cameras. Soldiers had long coveted the ability to see over the next hill. Manned aircraft delivered that, from gas-filled balloons in the Civil War and from airplanes in the 20th century, but only until the pilot or his fuel was exhausted. Satellites provide an amazing panorama but they are expensive, few in number and not always overhead when needed. The Gnat gave commanders a 60-mile panorama from a platform that could stay airborne more or less permanently, with vehicles flown in 12-hour shifts. Later renamed the Predator, it quickly became the U.S. military's preferred surveillance tool. Read more of Bowden's essay.

How the Predator Drone Changed the Character of War

Mark Bowden investigates how the unmanned, remote-controlled aircraft altered the battlefield forever

PicoBrew Zymatic

Can Brewing Beer Be as Simple as Brewing Coffee?

Inventor Bill Mitchell is developing the PicoBrew Zymatic, an appliance that brews beer at the touch of a button

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Explore Mars’ Mountains and Canyons from a Probe’s-Eye View

Using ten years of data from their probe, the European Space has created a lifelike flyover simulation of the red planet

Behold! The World’s First One-Handed Zipper

After a lot of trial and error, inventor Scott Peters has made a no-fuss magnetic zipper

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