Scientific Innovation

Water water everywhere, and not a day to think.

How Coastal Cities Are Evolving to Deal With Extreme Rain

Facing the specter of more and worse rainstorms, these vulnerable areas are turning to innovative urban design

Backyard Worlds is using the power of citizen scientists to search for the elusive Planet 9.

The Universe Needs You: To Help in the Hunt for Planet 9

How one citizen science endeavor is using the Internet to democratize the search for distant worlds

A green bluebottle fly, part of the Calliphoridae family of carrion flies.

How Fly Guts Are Helping Researchers Catalog the Rainforest

These tiny, buzzing lab assistants provide scientists with a treasure trove of conservation data

If you've eaten an avocado lately, chances are it was a Hass.

Holy Guacamole: How the Hass Avocado Conquered the World

Why one California postman's delicious mistake now graces toast and tacos from California to New Zealand

This iRobot 780 was one of the early Roomba models that randomly moved about the room. But the company's latest models (900 series) uses cameras and software to collect data and map out your home.

Roomba Wants to Sell Maps of Your Home

Data from these robovacs could assist in the development of other 'smart home' devices

Scientists Store Video Clip in DNA of Living Cells

This first could lead to health-monitoring molecular recorders inside cells

A scuba diver swims in the coral reefs of Palau. Beneath the depths that humans can dive, natural wonder and a better understanding of our planet awaits.

Why The First Complete Map of the Ocean Floor Is Stirring Controversial Waters

Charting these watery depths could transform oceanography. It could also aid deep sea miners looking for profit

Eight billion cans sold, and counting.

How Spam Went from Canned Necessity to American Icon

Out-of-the-can branding helped transform World War II's rations into a beloved household staple

Scientists used the new adhesive to create electronic skin controlled by a smartphone.

A More Super Superglue Could Help Build Jelly-Like Robots

A tweaked version of the popular adhesive may give a big boost to stretchable electronics and soft robots

The Erie Canal in Syracuse, New York.

Thank the Erie Canal for Spreading People, Ideas and Germs Across America

From Albany to Buffalo, navigate the history of the famed waterway

So much potentially misleading information, so little time.

How Fake News Breaks Your Brain

Short attention spans and a deluge of rapid-fire articles on social media form a recipe for fake news epidemics

PhD students experiment with the glove in professor Tolley's lab.

This Glove Makes VR Objects Feel Real

Pneumatic "muscles" on the glove simulate the feel of real objects

The "abortion pill" (actually two separate medications) can be taken up to 10 weeks after pregnancy, according to the FDA.

The Science Behind the “Abortion Pill”

Legal or not, more American women are opting for abortion by medication. We asked doctors: How safe is it?

A young padawan asks astrophysicist Erin Macdonald a question at a Future Con panel. This year, Smithsonian's Future Con took place as a special programming track within Awesome Con, leading to a number of serendipitous moments like this.

When Cutting-Edge Science Meets Science Fiction, It Packs the House

At Future Con, fans of sci-fi, fantasy and comics met the researchers and engineers who are bringing their stories to life

Cyanobacteria, sometimes known as blue-green algae, are single-celled organisms that use photosynthesis to produce food just like plants do.

Need to Fix a Heart Attack? Try Photosynthesis

Injecting plant-like creatures into a rat's heart can jumpstart the recovery process, study finds

Each time you use your phone's weather app, you're indebted to a self-taught computer scientist named Klara von Neumann.

The Unheralded Contributions of Klara Dan von Neumann

Despite having no formal mathematical training, she was a key figure in creating the computer that would later launch modern weather prediction

The orientation of the layers in this protective composite material were inspired by the queen conch shell

This Conch-Shell Inspired Material Could Make Helmets and Body Armor Safer

Scientists from MIT are using structures that evolved over millions of years to strengthen protective gear

These Astronauts Drink Recycled Urine to Stay Hydrated

Astronauts themselves are important sources of water in outer space. With the help of a special centrifuge, their urine is distilled, then processed

The Direct Air Capture carbon collecting plant in Hinwil, Switzerland

First Commercial Carbon-Capture Plant Goes Online

The plant will collect 900 tons of carbon a year, piping it into a nearby greenhouse to boost vegetable growth

Artist’s conception of two merging black holes, spinning in a nonaligned fashion.

Scientists Hear Two Even More Ancient Black Holes Collide

At this point, detecting ripples in the fabric of space-time is practically commonplace

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