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Inventions

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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

Apple I computer, 1976, Steve Jobs (Patent no. 7166791) and Steve Wozniak (Patent No. 4136359). The Apple I computer became a leader in personal computing. Originally marketed to hobbyists only primarily as a fully assembled circuit board, purchasers had to add their own case and monitor in order to create a working computer.

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

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?

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

An open source cardboard dino from KitRex stands outside the New York Hall of Science during the World Maker Faire in September 2014.

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

Cool Finds

Japanese Elevators May Soon Have Toilets

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

A rendering of the USS Nautilus, the world's first atomic submarine. The real Nautilus is now open to the public, docked in Connecticut so that visitors can walk around inside and explore the torpedoes and living quarters.

Urban Explorations

Step Inside a Famous Submarine

Where to visit historic subs this summer—or ride in a modern one

Turn on this baby patting machine and slowly, quietly back away.

26 Inventions Mothers Can Appreciate

From an apparatus to birth a child with centrifugal force to a board game to teach driver safety, these product ideas have parents in mind

Cool Finds

These Magic Toothbrushes Work Without Toothpaste

A new brush—and an old one, too—that don’t rely on possibly harmful pastes to make your smile shine

The Innovative Spirit

What is the Nine Millionth Patent?

The landmark announcement is part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s celebration of the 225th anniversary of the Patent Act

This apparatus can be used to lay Easter bunny tracks. It dispenses flour in a pattern that resembles paw prints. The same device can be repurposed for Christmas, when it lays Santa's tracks or reindeer hoof prints.

14 Easter Inventions That Never Quite Took Off

This holiday take a look at these products, from egg coloring devices to tomb pendants

Farmers use the machine and provide feedback.

Farmers Can Shell Coffee in a Fraction of the Time With This Bike-Powered Machine

A team at an MIT International Development Design Summit is making coffee production a little easier for small-scale farmers in Tanzania

Are QR Codes Safe and Other Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Xerox founder Joe Wilson with the 914, which could make copies up to 9 by 14 inches.

How the Photocopier Changed the Way We Worked—and Played

Decades before 3-D printers brought manufacturing closer to home, copiers transformed offices, politics and art

New Research

This Teeny Chair Can Assemble Itself

A tiny prototype developed at MIT marks one of the first steps into a world where we’ll never need an Allen wrench again

Cool Finds

The Inventor Who Has Developed a Sweet-Smelling “Fart Pill”

One eccentric French man wants to take the guilt out of gas with a tablet designed to make farts smell like flowers, ginger or chocolate

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A Man With ALS Says “I Love You” to His Wife for the First Time in 15 Years

A new invention from Not Impossible Labs allows Don Moir to script an audible love letter

Round Table

What is the Most Important Innovation in the History of Rock ‘n’ Roll?

Musicians, historians and critics tell us what they consider to be the greatest game changers for the industry

This personal robot can listen, talk, take photos and even feel temperature.

This Week in Crowdfunding

Five Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded: From an Automated Home Brewery to a Personal (Robot) Assistant

Two other quirky inventions teach music in novel ways

Art Molella delivers his speech on innovation.

The Innovative Spirit - OLD

The Recipe for Innovation Calls for a Little Chaos and Some Wall Bashing

Scholar Art Molella chronicles the habits, habitats and behaviors of the men and women who invent

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