Famous Scientists

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The Inventive Mind of Walter Hunt, Yankee Mechanical Genius

The compulsively creative Hunt might be the greatest inventor you've never heard of

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The Many, Many Designs of the Sewing Machine

Rioting tailors, destitute inventors and the court system all got involved in one of the 19th century's biggest innovations

The telegraph key used to send the famous message “What Hath God Wroght” over the prototype telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington D.C. in 1844

How the Telegraph Went From Semaphore to Communication Game Changer

Samuel Morse was an artist by trade, but to the world he's best known for connecting the dots --and dashes-- that forever changed the way we communicate

Blackboard Jungle

Crossing the Line Between Art and Science

New York artist Steve Miller melds the computer models and scientific notes of a Nobel-winning biochemist into a series of paintings now on display in D.C.

About the only use modern humans have for their urine is in health screenings. But preindustrial workers built entire industries based on the scientific properties of pee.

From Gunpowder to Teeth Whitener: The Science Behind Historic Uses of Urine

Preindustrial workers built huge industries based on the liquid's cleaning power and corrosiveness--and the staler the pee, the better

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Men and Women Think on Family Matters Equally, But Women Get More Stressed

A study suggests that stereotypical gender roles transform thoughts of home into burdens for women, while men react differently

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Nobel Prize Winners Are Put to the Task of Drawing Their Discoveries

Volker Steger photographs Nobel laureates posing with sketches of their breakthrough findings

Bubo the robotic owl from the 1981 film Clash of the Titans

A Brief History of Robot Birds

The early Greeks and Renaissance artists had birds on their brains

Benjamin Franklin’s phonetic alphabet

Benjamin Franklin’s Phonetic Alphabet

One of the founding father's more quixotic quests was to create a new alphabet. No Q included

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What’s in Century-Old ‘Snake Oil’ Medicines? Mercury and Lead

A chemical analysis of early 1900s medicines, billed as cure-alls, revealed vitamins and calcium along with toxic compounds

Psychologist B.F. Skinner taught these pigeons to play ping-pong in 1950.

B.F. Skinner: The Man Who Taught Pigeons to Play Ping-Pong and Rats to Pull Levers

One of behavioral psychology's most famous scientists was also one of the quirkiest

Goodall’s travels have often brought her face to face with exotic plants. In Cambodia, she was “awestruck” by the giant roots of an ancient strangler fig she found embracing the Ta Prohm temple at Angkor Wat.

Jane Goodall Reveals Her Lifelong Fascination With…Plants?

After studying chimpanzees for decades, the celebrated scientist turns her penetrating gaze on another life-form

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Interview: Jane Goodall on the Future of Plants and Chimps

The renowned chimp expert discusses her new book, her efforts to protect the rainforest and why she misses living with chimps

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Unmanned Drones Have Been Around Since World War I

They have recently been the subject of a lot of scrutiny, but the American military first began developing similar aerial vehicles during World War I

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Origami: A Blend of Sculpture and Mathematics

Artist and MIT professor Erik Demaine makes flat geometric diagrams spring into elegant, three-dimensional origami sculptures

Men Commit Scientific Fraud Much More Frequently Than Women

According to a new study, they're also much more likely to lie about their findings as they climb the academic ladder

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What’s Inside a 2,000-Year-Old, Shipwreck-Preserved Roman Pill?

Ancient Roman pills, preserved in sealed tin containers on the seafloor, may have been used as eye medicine

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Remember These Titans of Science Who Died in 2012

From the inventor of the barcode to the discoverer of how cancer spreads, we take a look at the brilliant minds who shaped our culture and modern way of life

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Space Exploration and the End of an Era: Notable Deaths in 2012

Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride, Roger Boisjoly and the shuttle program form this year's late greats of space exploration

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Quirky Holiday Gift Ideas for Science Nerds

A roundup of unique (if impractical) science gifts, from glass anatomical models to retro adding machines

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