Patent History

Innovation

The Scientist Behind Some of Our Favorite Junk Foods

William A. Mitchell invented Cool Whip, Pop Rocks, Tang and other 20th-century treats

Innovation

When Twister Was Too Risqué for America

The hugely successful game, patented 50 years ago this week, had its critics at first

Innovation

How the Escalator Forever Changed Our Sense of Space

Sure, the 19th-century invention transformed shopping. But it also revolutionized how we think about the built environment

Innovation

The Voting Machine That Displayed Different Ballots Based on Your Sex

In an era of partial suffrage, these inventions helped women cast their votes

Innovation

How the Wiffle Ball Came to Be

Patented in 1957, the lightweight ball saved players' arms and more than a few windows

Innovation

How the Invention of Scotch Tape Led to a Revolution in How Companies Managed Employees

College dropout Richard Drew became an icon of 20th century innovation, inventing cellophane tape, masking tape and more

Innovation at the Smithsonian

Susan Kare designed pictorial symbols that enabled non-technical users to operate a computer, a great contrast to previous screens with “command line” interfaces that required knowing code.

Innovation

How Susan Kare Designed User-Friendly Icons for the First Macintosh

The graphic designer is receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from Cooper Hewitt for her recognizable computer icons, typefaces and graphics

Expression Mirror (detail) by Zachary Lieberman

At the Smithsonian

Here’s Why A.I. Can’t Be Taken at Face Value

Cooper Hewitt’s new show drills down into the inherent biases lurking within computer intelligence systems

The Smithsonian has launched the first national-scale, scholarly research and collecting project to gather and preserve the artifacts, documents and voices associated with the beer industry’s craft revolution (above: label, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company).

At the Smithsonian

Here’s What’s Brewing in the New Smithsonian Beer Collections

After two years of documenting the nation’s craft brewing industry, curator Theresa McCulla makes ready for a public debut

Wyss Institute engineers selected works from the collections to illustrate a "new approach to Design Science." The clusters of polyhedrons in the 1954 textile Time Capsule reflects the 1950s sentiment for a brighter future built on scientific progress.

At the Smithsonian

How Biology Inspires Future Technology

Bioengineers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute showcase their ingenious medical, industrial and environmental designs at the Cooper Hewitt

To celebrate its centennial, KitchenAid released a passion red limited edition stand mixer.

At the Smithsonian

For 100 Years, KitchenAid Has Been the Stand-Up Brand of Stand Mixers

Even celebrity chef Julia Child said that the sleek appliance made mixing ‘marvelous’

Ginkgo has survived three mass extinctions, including the one that killed the dinosaurs.

At the Smithsonian

Smithsonian Scientists Are Using Ginkgo Leaves to Study Climate Change—They Need Your Help

Citizen scientists can submit leaf samples from their hometowns through the end of August

Innovation Beyond the Smithsonian

SmartCan is essentially a pair of robotic wheels that are compatible with any municipal-issued trash receptacle.

Innovation

This Robotic Trash Can Takes Itself to the Curb

The award-winning invention automates a ‘chore that everyone hates’

John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino

Smart News

Development of the Lithium-Ion Battery Earns Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The award honors three scientists whose contributions led to the rechargeable battery that makes our modern world possible

Smart News

Queens Museum Brings Rube Goldberg Machine to Life

To celebrate an exhibition of the cartoonist and hometown hero, curators commissioned one of Rube’s overly complicated gadgets

The Buoyant Ecologies Float Lab will be offshore of Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland for three years, in an effort to test its viability as a substrate for futuristic floating cities.

Innovation

Designing Floating Buildings With an Eye to the Marine Species Living Underneath

A prototype deployed in San Francisco Bay imagines the underside of a floating building as an upside-down artificial reef

A fan carries a copy of ‘Abbey Road’ as he traverses the infamous crosswalk that appears on the album’s cover.

Innovation

How the Beatles Took Recording Technology to a New Level in ‘Abbey Road’

An expert in sound recording details how the band deployed stereo and synthesizers to put a unique artistic stamp on this iconic album

Scientists at the University of Central Florida have modeled a path toward self-sufficiency for one million settlers of Mars over the course of 100 Earth years.

Innovation

What Will Humans Eat on Mars?

Planetary scientist Kevin Cannon talks about the logistics of feeding a population of one million on the Red Planet

In this agricultural revolution, there are plenty of mind-blowing devices to awe and excite.

Innovation

Five Roles Robots Will Play in the Future of Farming

From picking fruit to pulling weeds, robotics are bringing precision farming to life

Monon and Ottily Bayer, the daughters of Mr. and Mrs. Otto Bayer of Costamesa, California, pose in a small, "bunk bed" trailer at their campground in the Shasta National Forest. California, August 1953.

Innovation

Ten Inventive Attempts to Make Camping More Comfortable

Making a stay in the great outdoors more luxe isn’t new—even if glamping and #vanlife are

The bacterium Escherichia coli, shown here, moves itself with propeller-like structures called flagella; it is one of the mobile microbes scientists have linked to cargo-carrying structures to form biohybrid microrobots.

Innovation

How Tiny, Microbe-Propelled Bots Could Deliver Drugs in Our Bodies

Researchers are developing ‘hybrid biological microrobots’ to target cancer and do other work in the body

In December, Your Call technology will be used during the Liberty Bowl.

Innovation

In This Interactive Football League, Fans Pick the Plays

Your Call Football’s streaming app platform lets fans control the actions of real live players, earning points and winning prizes