Articles tagged as Energy | Smithsonian Magazine

The Znamya 2 mirror-solar sail, deployed.

Cool Finds

How a Russian Space Mirror Briefly Lit Up the Night

In 1993, the 65-foot-diameter satellite, called Znamya, briefly lit the Earth like a giant orbiting night light

January 21, 2016

A concept (preliminary) rendering for the Mulciber Stove, which its inventors say gives off less smoke per hour than one cigarette.

Future of Energy

How to Modernize the Wood Stove and Help Save the Planet

The humble wood stove is getting a high-tech makeover, and may be going green

January 19, 2016

Not so fast...incandescent bulbs could soon become more efficient thanks to nanotechnology.

New Research

Incandescent Light Bulbs May Have a Bright Future After All

Nanotechnology could turn the inefficient bulbs’ weakness into a strength

January 12, 2016

A "wind tree" installed at the COP21 climate talks in Paris. Each tree produces enough energy to light 71 parking spaces (or power one average American home for four months).

Age of Humans

These Creative Wind Turbines Will Have You Rethinking What You Know About Wind Power

Wind turbines don’t have to all look the same. Here are some that are helping cities go green—and look like art in the process

January 12, 2016

Thin Red Line Aerospace Chief Engineer and CEO Maxim de Jong inspects a UW-CAES “Energy Bag” during initial test inflation

Future of Energy

Could Renewable Energy Be Stored in Balloons in the Ocean?

Underwater compressed air energy storage is promising, but the fate of this tech remains unknown

January 6, 2016

Cool Finds

France Has a Power Plant Fueled by Cheese

Of course they do

December 24, 2015

The mockup of a Heat Harvest-enabled table

One Day, Your Cup of Coffee Could Charge Your Phone

A pair of students has proposed the idea of embedding furniture with pads to absorb latent heat and convert it into electricity

December 7, 2015

New Research

A New Rose Is Part Plant, Part Color-Changing Machine

Innovation has never looked so pretty

November 24, 2015

A Soccket is only one ounce heavier than a standard-issue soccer ball and generates three hours of power after one hour of play.

These Soccer Balls and Jump Ropes Can Generate Power

Uncharted Play, a New York City-based startup, enables children in developing countries to build reserves of energy through play

October 7, 2015

Pizzerias are a new and growing market for coal companies

September 28, 2015

Could the Los Angeles Police Department's squad cars be about to undergo a makeover?

Trending Today

The LAPD Is Testing Teslas

As Los Angeles changes its vehicle procurement policies, visions of an all-electric fleet are dancing in Angelenos’ heads

September 17, 2015

Future of Energy

Using Kirigami, the Japanese Art of Paper Cutting, to Build Better Solar Panels

Researchers have used the art technique to make light panels that twist to follow the sun

September 15, 2015

Dense smoke rises as fire engines arrive at the blast site after the deadly explosions in Binhai New Area in Tianjin, China.

But is it time for a makeover?

August 14, 2015

It’s complicated

August 3, 2015

Rendering of Juncal Viaduct with turbines

Could a Wind Turbine Be Coming to a Bridge Near You?

Engineers find, in a simulation, that two wind turbines mounted under a bridge in the Canary Islands could power hundreds of homes

July 31, 2015

The Honda Smart Home, on the University of California, Davis, campus, is an experiment in efficiency.

What It’s Like to Live in This Smart, Energy-Efficient Home of the Future

Nine months in, a family of four adjusts to life in the Honda Smart Home, a testing ground for new technologies at University of California, Davis

July 22, 2015

$A natural gas flare burns over a fracking site in the Bakken Oil Fields of northwestern North Dakota.$

Anthropocene

Recession, Not Fracking, Drove a Drop in U.S. Carbon Emissions

The switch from coal to natural gas played only a small role in the recent carbon dioxide decline

July 21, 2015

This New Nanogenerator Could Make Cars Much More Efficient

Electrodes placed on a car’s tires can harness the energy generated when rubber meets road

July 10, 2015

Does washing your laundry in warm water really make that much of a difference? Probably not.

The Case for Washing Clothes in Cold Water

Laundry: You’re doing it wrong

June 1, 2015

EcoLogicStudio's 430-square-foot gazebo, called the Urban Algae Folly, is on display at the Expo 2015 world's fair in Milan.

Will Buildings of the Future Be Cloaked In Algae?

Built by a London architecture firm, a new gazebo has a living “skin” that produces oxygen and absorbs considerable amounts of carbon dioxide

May 26, 2015