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Thought Innovation

"Much of the innovation reshaping our world comes from the private sector," President Obama writes.

President Barack Obama: Why I’m Optimistic

Looking ahead to the next 40 years, President Obama writes about our nature as Americans to dream big and solve problems

Artists will move beyond the "four walls of established institutions," says Richard Koshalek, director of the Smithsonian's Hirshhorn Museum.

Art’s Bold New Direction

The director of the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum predicts how art will engage us as never before

Kevin Kelly worries devices like Apple's iPad, shown here with Smithsonian's first cover, nurtures action over contemplation.

Reading in a Whole New Way

As digital screens proliferate and people move from print to pixel, how will the act of reading change?

Memories are stored in a region of the brain called the hippocampus, shown in red in this computer illustration.

How Our Brains Make Memories

Surprising new research about the act of remembering may help people with post-traumatic stress disorder

Marine biology professor-turned-Hollywood filmmaker Randy Olson contends that people missed the message in his first two films because film is not their language.

Are Scientists or Moviemakers the Bigger Dodos?

Scientist-turned-filmmaker Randy Olson says that academics must be more like Hollywood in how they share their love for science

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Net Worker

Where are your friends in cyberspace? Closer than you might think, says Internet researcher Jon Kleinberg

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Civil Wrongs

In a painstaking study of 1960s Atlanta, Kevin Kruse takes suburban whites to task

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Keeper of the Keys

Pianist Jason Moran laces his strikingly original music with the soulful sounds of jazz greats

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High Scorer

Composer Nico Muhly wowed them at Carnegie Hall and the New York Public Library

There’s a misperception about prejudice, says Richeson, that “people do bad things because they’re bad people, and there are only a few of these bad apples around.” All of us have prejudices, she adds, but we also have the capacity to change.

The Bias Detective

How does prejudice affect people? Psychologist Jennifer Richeson is on the case

“I do think there’s a lot of good writing now on TV,” says Ruhl. “I loved ‘Six Feet Under,’ for example. But writing plays is my first passion. So far, I’m very happy in the theater.”

Wild Woman

Playwright Sarah Ruhl speaks softly and carries a big kick

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Painting the Edge

With an eye for despoiled landscapes, Lisa Sanditz captures the sublime

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The Big Picture

Political historian Jeremi Suri has come up with a new way of looking at the links between the low and the mighty

Tao, 32, does mathematic both pure and practical—from proving that prime number patterns come in every conceivable shape to deriving solutions needed for the next generation of digital camera and MRI scanners.

Primed for Success

Terence Tao is regarded as first among equals among young mathematicians, but who’s counting

“His scientific contributions are joyful, spark curiosity and inspire the young,” computer scientist Jeannette Wing says of her colleague Luis von Ahn (on the Carnegie Mellon campus, seated upon one of the “guest chairs” he keeps in his office).

The Player

Luis von Ahn’s secret for making computers smarter? Get thousands of people to take part in his cunning online games

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Flower Power

Studying ancient botanical drawings, Daniela Bleichmar is rewriting the history of the Spanish conquest of the Americas

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Mounds vs. Vegans

In drawings and paintings, Trenton Doyle Hancock pits archetypes against each other

“Lending to somebody,” says Flannery, “sends the message that you’re treating them as an equal. It’s a dignifiedway to interact.”

I, Lender

Software engineer Matt Flannery pioneers Internet microloans to the world’s poor

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Meet the Innovators

"The first Glidehouse™ ever built is actually Michelle and her husband's own residence"

House Proud

High design in a factory-made home? Michelle Kaufmann believes she holds the key

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