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Innovation

The game has taken a variety of twists and turns.

How the Classic American Game of Twister Went From Risqué to Record-Breaking

Sixty years ago, Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played Twister on the “Tonight Show,” and the public took it as permission to buy the controversial game

Kunjal Bastola

What if, rather than coral reef rehabilitation remaining a tedious and difficult manual process, conservationists could harness robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles to transform it into an industrial-scale endeavor?

Could Underwater Autonomous Robots Save Coral Reefs?

More than 50 million people suffer from epilepsy around the world, making it one of the most common and severe neurological disorders globally.

These Young Innovators Have Created a ‘Fitbit’ to Predict Epileptic Seizures

The winner ran the half-marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

A Humanoid Robot Just Beat the Human World Record for the Fastest Half-Marathon During a Race in China

When male greater sage grouse attempt to attract a mate, they puff up their chest, droop their wings and fan their tail feathers into a starburst shape.

One of the American West’s Most Iconic Birds Is Attempting to Mate Near a Dangerous Airport. Could Robo-Birds Help Save Them?

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Hammarby Sjöstad was originally engineered to have a carbon footprint 50 percent lower than the rest of Stockholm.

This Stockholm Neighborhood Was Built on Ambitious Sustainability Goals. When It Came Up Short, It Doubled Down and Became a Blueprint for Others

The original plan for Hammarby Sjöstad was for an eco-village aimed at attracting the Olympics. They never came, but the locals moved in and, with upgrades, hope to be carbon neutral by 2030

The game has taken a variety of twists and turns.

How the Classic American Game of Twister Went From Risqué to Record-Breaking

Sixty years ago, Johnny Carson and Eva Gabor played Twister on the “Tonight Show,” and the public took it as permission to buy the controversial game

What if, rather than coral reef rehabilitation remaining a tedious and difficult manual process, conservationists could harness robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous vehicles to transform it into an industrial-scale endeavor?

Could Underwater Autonomous Robots Save Coral Reefs?

Reef restoration is a slow process, with divers planting coral fragments one at a time by hand. But roboticists are now developing automated planters that could change the game

More than 50 million people suffer from epilepsy around the world, making it one of the most common and severe neurological disorders globally.

These Young Innovators Have Created a ‘Fitbit’ to Predict Epileptic Seizures

Truman Pierson and Christopher Fitz are developing behind-the-ear EEG patches and an accompanying app that issues an alert if the user is at high risk for a seizure in the next hour

An aerial view of the Ford Motor Company's River Rouge plant, circa 1945

Walt Disney Visited a Ford Factory in 1948. What He Witnessed There Laid the Groundwork for What Would Become Disneyland

A new book argues that the film producer’s trip to the River Rouge plant in Michigan inspired him to embrace the power of automation when designing the first Disney theme park

Students at Anne Wien Elementary School in Fairbanks pilot test the Fresh Eyes on Ice data collection protocol with project team member Allen Bondurant in 2019.

‘Fresh Eyes on Ice’ Teaches Kids to Collect Vital Ice Data in Remote Alaskan Communities

Students measure ice thickness and monitor spring break-up to help save lives in areas where frozen rivers are used as roadways

From the perspective of the Orion spacecraft, seen at left, the moon eclipsed the sun on April 6.

What Lies Beyond Artemis 2? These Other Missions Are Setting Their Sights on the Moon This Year—and on a Future With Humans in Space

As the historic lunar flyby comes to a close, space companies and nations around the world are also shooting for the moon. Upcoming landings aim to change the landscape of space exploration

Scientists have discovered that each of the sea star’s tube feet is driven independently using local feedback from the environment.

Sea Stars Can Lose an Arm and Soldier On. What If Robots Could Do the Same?

Bioinspiration looks to nature for clues on how to build more efficient, resilient robots

Modern fish traps require pilings that are driven into the riverbed and netting that reaches across part of a river.

Fish Traps Have Been Banned on the Columbia River for Nearly a Century. Could Bringing Them Back Help Save Salmon?

A new experiment is testing the commercial success of fish traps in Washington and Oregon. Even as some conservationists embrace the technique, its return has reopened old wounds among local fishers

Microplastics pose a growing global concern as they infiltrate not just the environment but also humans and animals.

This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics From Drinking Water

Virginia teenager Mia Heller’s filtration system harnesses the power of ferrofluid, a magnetic oil that binds to microplastics in flowing water

The fire-loving fungus Geopyxis, seen here in 2022, after California’s Caldor Fire, has distinctive brown cups with white rims.

These Charcoal-Eating Fungi Flourish After Fires. Uncovering Their Genetic Secrets Could Help Rebuild Burned Ecosystems

Mycologists cultivated fungi they found in post-wildfire landscapes to understand the evolutionary traits behind their ability to thrive in the wake of flames

Manuel Díaz Cárdenas harvests the tender tips of his Salicornia plants.

As the Planet Warms, a Humble Sea Bean Is Proving to Be a Promising Superfood

Known as samphire, sea beans, glasswort or pickleweed, Salicornia thrives in high-saline environments, like coastal marshes, and has a lot of nutritional and medicinal properties

The artist who custom-painted the helmet for Colonel Nicole Malachowski wrote a note of congrats to Malachowski: “I’ve been polishing and designing these helmets for many Thunderbird teams. My young daughter never expressed any interest ... [but] I told her this was for the first woman pilot, and she wanted to help me polish it.”

This Helmet Kept an Air Force Pilot Safe as She Was Soaring Through the Glass Ceiling

When a young Nicole Malachowski was dreaming about becoming a fighter pilot, she couldn’t have imagined the heights she’d fly as part of the elite Thunderbirds

Helen Desmond of the United States competes at the 2025 ISMF Ski Mountaineering World Championships on March 6, 2025 in Switzerland.

What Is Skimo? The Newest Olympic Sport Has a Long History in Europe

With roots in military training, high-endurance ski mountaineering is finally catching on in the United States

A vintage spray-paint canister containing Fire Orange—one of DayGlo’s most recognizable and ubiquitous hues—and produced by New York Bronze Powder Company Inc., likely in the early 1980s.

With an Experiment in Their Basement Photo Lab, Two Brothers Created a Paint That Outshines Them All

In the 1930s, the Switzer brothers stumbled onto a way to mimic fluorescence. That led to Day-Glo, which has been making the world a brighter place ever since

Wu’s innovation won the top prize of $25,000 at the 2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.

This 14-Year-Old Is Using Origami to Imagine Emergency Shelters That Are Sturdy, Cost-Efficient and Easy to Deploy

Miles Wu folded a variant of the Miura-ori pattern that can hold 10,000 times its own weight

Clockwise from top left: John Quincy Adams, William Henry Harrison, James K. Polk, Abraham Lincoln, Jimmy Carter, Herbert Hoover, James A. Garfield and Ulysses S. Grant

One Was a Teenage Diplomat. Another Was a Nuclear Engineer. Here’s How Eight Presidents Made Their Mark Outside of the White House

From Abraham Lincoln’s patent to James A. Garfield’s geometry proof, learn how these 19th- and 20th-century commanders in chief shaped their legacies beyond politics

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Here Are 250 Places to Visit to Celebrate America’s 250th Birthday. How Many Have You Been To?

Journey around the nation with this interactive map, divided by region or category, and discover American history in a way you’ve never seen before

Virgin Hotels London-Shoreditch launched its new vinyl-lined listening room, Hidden Grooves.

Why Gen Z Is Trading Night Clubs for Japanese-Style Listening Bars

Dark rooms filled with soft leather sofas and curated vinyl are popping up across the United States and the world

Through gene-editing, researchers in the field of synthetic biology hope to make endangered species more resilient against disease or climate change and protect human health, among other goals.

Three Stunning Ways Biologists Aim to Edit Animal and Plant Genes to Fight Diseases and Extinction

The strategy, known as synthetic biology, is gaining momentum globally as a conservation tool and human health solution, despite attracting some critics

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