Inventions
The Ten Best Books About Food of 2024
Travel to the American South, Vietnam and beyond with this year’s best cookbooks, memoirs and historic deep dives
The ‘Penicillin Girls’ Made One of the World’s Most Life-Saving Discoveries Possible
The true, forgotten and sometimes-stinky history of the cohort who took Alexander Fleming's innovation and forever changed the face of modern medicine
Visions of Nuclear-Powered Cars Captivated Cold War America, but the Technology Never Really Worked
From the Ford Nucleon to the Studebaker-Packard Astral, these vehicles failed to progress past the prototype stage in the 1950s and 1960s
Why the Creator of One of the First ‘Lie Detectors’ Lived to Regret His Invention
The early polygraph machine was considered the most scientific way to detect deception—but that was a myth
Leonardo da Vinci Studied the Science of Smell
The artist experimented with perfumes and created his own fragrances from flowers and fruit
The Long, Strange History of Teflon, the Indestructible Product Nothing Seems to Stick to
Chemists accidentally discovered the material in 1938, and since then it has been used for everything from helping to create the first atomic bomb to keeping your eggs from sticking to your frying pan
How One Man Discovered the Obscure Origins of the Word 'OK'
From Civil War biscuits to a Haitian port town, theories about the word's beginnings abounded
New Blood Test for Predicting Parkinson's Disease With A.I. Shows Promise, Study Suggests
In preliminary research, scientists identified eight protein anomalies in the blood of patients with Parkinson's, which they say can help diagnose the disease up to seven years before symptoms appear
Researchers Make a Smiling Robotic Face From Living Skin
The team designed a new way for their lab-grown skin to adhere to the robot's face, in a creation that could help produce soft robots or train plastic surgeons
Akira Endo, Biochemist Who Found a Way to Fight Heart Disease, Dies at 90
Endo's research paved the way for the development of drugs to treat high cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes
Twenty-Five Years Before the Wright Brothers Took to the Skies, This Flying Machine Captivated America
First exhibited in 1878, Charles F. Ritchel's dirigible was about as wacky, dangerous and impractical as any airship ever launched
How Spider Silk Could Inspire Microphones of the Future and Revolutionize Sound Design
Spiderwebs can pick up vibrations in air flow caused by sound waves, and researchers say microphones designed this way could become more sensitive and compact
How the Airstream Hit the Open Road
This space-age sensation kicked the American road trip into high gear
In the Earth’s Quietest Room, You Can Hear Yourself Blink
Background noise in the custom-built chamber is actually measured in negative decibels, which means it’s below the threshold of human hearing
Nikola Tesla and the Tower That Became His 'Million Dollar Folly'
The eccentric inventor's dream of a wireless-transmission tower would prove to be his undoing
You Can Help Migrating Fish Traverse a Dutch Canal By Ringing This Digital 'Doorbell'
The live stream from the Netherlands, which lets viewers notify a boat lock operator when fish need to be let through, has become a popular pastime for people around the world
From the JogBra to Gatorade to Breakaway Basketball Rims, Sports Are a Field for Invention
A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History aims to inspire the next generation of innovators
From the Inventor of Mass-Market Paper Bags to a Scientist Who Unraveled the Mysteries of Polio, Meet Five American Women Whose Remarkable Achievements Have Long Been Overlooked
The inaugural exhibition at the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum seeks to shine light on lesser-known historical figures
This High Schooler Invented an A.I.-Powered Trap That Zaps Invasive Lanternflies
Using solar power, machine learning and her family’s patio umbrella, 18-year-old Selina Zhang created a synthetic tree that lures the destructive species
Deadly Snake Venom Is No Match for This New Synthetic Antibody
Scientists have created a treatment that targets a toxin produced by cobras, mambas and kraits, laying the foundation for a future universal antivenom against snake bites, according to new research
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