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Inventions

The Patents Behind Christmas Lights

This Christmas, take a moment to appreciate the many innovations that make holiday light displays and the strand of bulbs on your tree possible

Record companies released stereo demonstration albums that showcased how sound could move from left to right, creating a sense of movement.

How Savvy Advertising Helped Make Stereo Technology Mainstream

Stereo demonstrations and colorful ads sold customers on the two-channel sound technology when it was introduced 60 years ago

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2018

Our picks deliver feminist history, folklore reimagined and an adventurous romp through awe-inspiring destinations

Each year, nearly 700,000 ear-infection-prone kids in the U.S. are treated with surgically-implanted ear tubes.

Ear Tubes May Finally Get an Upgrade

Harvard researchers have invented a new device that might mean fewer visits to the surgeon for kids with chronic ear infections

In 1963, Herbert A. Gilbert filed a patent for “a safe and harmless means for and method of smoking.”

Plans for the First E-cigarette Went Up in Smoke 50 Years Ago

Herbert A. Gilbert invented his “Smokeless” in 1963, but he couldn’t convince any companies to bring the device to market

U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft fire chaff and flare countermeasures over the Nevada Test and Training Range Nov. 17, 2010.

The Woman Whose Invention Helped Win a War — and Still Baffles Weathermen

Her work long overlooked, physicist Joan Curran developed technology to conceal aircraft from radar during World War II

The Patents Behind Pumpkin Pie

This Thanksgiving, when you take a bite of the traditional pie, take a moment to think about the inventions that have gone into the making of it

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Ingenious Minds

Jose Gomez-Marquez Wants to Turn Doctors and Nurses into Makers

Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter interviews the co-founder of MIT’s Little Devices Lab about democratizing health technology

The Telharmonium is considered to be the first electromechanical musical instrument.

The World’s First Synthesizer Was a 200-Ton Behemoth

Thaddeus Cahill’s Telharmonium may not have been a huge success, but it was an important achievement in music history

This Apartment-Size Wind Turbine Makes Use of Gusts Coming From All Directions

Winner of this year’s James Dyson Award, the O-Wind Turbine is designed for the chaotic wind patterns of urban environments

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Ingenious Minds

The Future Is Bright If More Teens Could Think About High School the Way Kavya Kopparapu Does

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma talks with the founder of the Girls Computing League about the promise of her generation

Cellucotton, the material used to make Kotex sanitary pads, was used in World War 1 hospitals as a bandage. Nurses quickly found another use for it.

The Surprising Origins of Kotex Pads

Before the first disposable sanitary napkin hit the mass market, periods were thought of in a much different way

Six accomplished pilots would lose their lives before Charles Lindbergh (above, atop the cockpit) became the first to fly nonstop from New York to Paris—in May 1927 and win the Orteig prize of $25,000 [about $350,000 today].

What Are the Economic Incentives to Invent?

Prizes and patents may fulfill different needs, but together they fuel innovation

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Ingenious Minds

Could 3-D Printing Save Music Education?

D.C. chef Erik Bruner-Yang interviews Jill-of-all-trades Kaitlyn Hova about her plan to infuse STEM education with open source, 3-D printable instruments

Leif Asp envisions a car with a body that acts as an energy source.

Let’s Build Cars Out of Batteries

If batteries could make up the very structure of our vehicles and electronics, those products would be far lighter and more efficient

People Feared Being Buried Alive So Much They Invented These Special Safety Coffins

For centuries, inventors have been patenting technology to prevent such a nightmare from happening

17 Inventions That Will Put You in the Halloween Mood

Here are some bizarre costume ideas, decorations and supplies culled from the U.S. patent archives

Anna Du is one of 30 Broadcom Masters finalists.

This 12-Year-Old Girl Built a Robot That Can Find Microplastics In the Ocean

Massachusetts seventh grader Anna Du has developed an ROV that moves through water and detects microplastics on the seafloor

WiTricity has partnered with BMW to release the first consumer-ready remote charging system for an electric vehicle.

Is Wireless Charging for Cars Finally Here?

The Massachusetts startup WiTricity has developed a mat that charges electric vehicles using magnetic resonance

The Woman Who Made a Device to Help Disabled Veterans Feed Themselves—and Gave It Away for Free

World War II nurse Bessie Blount went on to become an inventor and forensic handwriting expert

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