Inventions

The Innovative Spirit

Can You Guess the Invention Based on These Patent Illustrations?

Hint: They are all part of the National Museum of American History’s collection

September 25, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

The Smithsonian Spotlights American Invention at This Weekend’s Innovation Festival

Universities, federal agencies, companies and independent inventors will give visitors a glimpse of the future

September 24, 2015

The History of the Bar Code

Inventor Joe Woodland drew the first bar code in sand in Miami Beach, decades before technology could bring his vision to life

September 23, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

This Interactive Installation Rains a Poem Down on Viewers

Artists Camille Utterback and Romy Achituv wrote the software that drives an artwork, in which onlookers catch letters falling on a large screen

September 23, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

This Skateboard-Like Device Helps At-Risk Infants Learn to Crawl

An innovative physical therapy device boosts babies’ movement efforts and helps their brains make critical connections

September 21, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

Meet the 13-Year-Old Who Invented a Low-Cost Braille Printer

One California teen has a vision to make Braille materials more widely available—and more affordable

September 18, 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

The Innovative Spirit

This Exoskeleton Is Actually Controlled by the Wearer’s Thoughts

Engineer Jose Contreras-Vidal’s “brain-machine interface” uses electrical activity in a person’s brain to move a robotic exoskeleton

September 14, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

17 Inventions That Could Make Going Back to School a Little Bit Easier

From an aromatic alarm clock to a school bus locator system, these patented products could help students and parents with the transition

September 8, 2015

Fast Forward

A Mouthguard That Could Measure Concussions

Professional football, rugby, and other contact sports could benefit from it

September 2015

This “Lucky” Fish Could Save Lives

A fish-shaped iron ingot is reducing the number of cases of iron deficiency anemia in Cambodia and beyond

July 30, 2015

Legos Go Sustainable, and Everything (Really) is Awesome

To reduce its carbon footprint, the toy company is searching for a sustainable material for its bricks by 2030

July 28, 2015

Europe

The Best Little Museum You Never Visited in Paris

The Museum of Arts and Crafts is a trove of cunning inventions

July 27, 2015

Inspiring Invention the MacGyver Way

Visitors to the Smithsonian’s new Spark!Lab are challenged to solve problems with ingenuity and a pile of off-the-shelf items

July 22, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

Teenage Inventor Alexis Lewis Thinks That Kids Have the Solutions to the World’s Problems

With a patent to her name and more likely on the way, the 15-year-old has made it her mission to inspire young innovators

July 21, 2015

Tracing the History of American Invention, From the Telegraph to the Apple I

More than 70 artifacts, from an artificial heart to an Etch A Sketch, grace the entryway to the American History Museum’s new innovation wing

July 7, 2015

The Hyperloop Will Be Only the Latest Innovation That’s Pretty Much a Series of Tubes

The idea of using pneumatics to send objects has been around for ages. But people?

July 2015

Week of Making

Maker’s Week at the Zoo is Business as Usual

When the right product doesn’t exist for a fish ultrasound or other procedure, scientists build it themselves

June 18, 2015

The Innovative Spirit

What Is a Maker Faire, Exactly?

Billed as the world’s greatest show and tell, the DIY extravaganza might just make a maker out of you

June 12, 2015

Cool Finds

Japanese Elevators May Soon Have Toilets

Earthquake-trapped travelers could have access to running water in elevators

June 4, 2015