Smart News Ideas & Innovations

Crossword puzzles have been around for over one hundred years. In that time, they've gone through fads.

Why Crossword Puzzles Are Still Mostly Written By Humans

Computers can write sports articles, replace stock brokers and help diagnose patients. But they can’t write good crosswords

A photo of Bill Clinton taken in 1993, the first year of his presidency.

Presidents Can Be Impeached Because Benjamin Franklin Thought It Was Better Than Assassination

The founding fathers struggled with the idea of whether the top leader should be impeachable

A modern flight data recorder, a.k.a. a "black box." Despite the name, these recorders are typically painted orange.

On This Day, The Black Box Proved Its Worth

The Park Slope plane crash was a tragedy, but it proved the importance of the flight data recorder

The tea bag made it possible to brew a single cup of tea rather than a whole pot.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Ever Wonder Who Invented the Tea Bag?

Its two competing origin stories are linked by one thing: convenience

A VR image from behind the net in last week's Cleveland Cavaliers-Milwaukee Bucks game.

Why Basketball Is The Perfect Sport for Virtual Reality

James Naismith invented basketball on this day in 1891. He couldn’t have seen VR coming

Robert Noyce (left) and Intel co-founder Gordon Moore in from of the Intel SC1 building in Santa Clara, 1970.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Silicon Valley Owes Its Success To This Tech Genius You’ve Never Heard Of

Robert Noyce was one of the founders of Silicon Valley

Jasper Forest, a part of Petrified Forest National Park.

Another Weird Facet of America’s Strangest National Park: The Conscience Pile

People mail stolen rocks back to Petrified Forest National Park, but they can't be returned to their original sites

An early cotton-candy machine.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

People at the 1904 World's Fair Paid Half the Price of Admission for a Box of Cotton Candy

Celebrating cotton candy's sugary, innovative goodness

A visualization of Eyal Gever's #Laugh art project

Future of Space Exploration

This Artist Wants to Send a Sculpture of Your Laughs Into Space

#Laugh is on orbit to become the first art piece created in space

The mansion at Bletchley Park.

Cool Finds

Alan Turing’s World War II Headquarters Will Once Again House Codebreakers

Bletchley Park is being revived as a cybersecurity training center

Things are getting steep in Western Norway.

Cool Finds

Escape With a Virtual Ride on the World’s Steepest Train

Things are looking up (down, right and left) thanks to a 360-degree video captures a stunning Norwegian fjord

Proposal for Trinity Park

Cool Finds

Dallas Proposes the Country's Largest Urban Park

A 10,000-acre Nature District could turn the Trinity River into the city’s centerpiece

Researchers gave capsules containing psilocybin to cancer patients with terminal cancer—and witnessed spectacular results.

New Research

Could Magic Mushrooms One Day Help Cancer Patients Face Down Death?

Two new studies show the promise of psilocybin for patients with anxiety and depression

The Ford assembly line in 1913.

In 1913, Henry Ford Introduced the Assembly Line: His Workers Hated It

It was seen as one more way the automaker could exert rigid control over his employees

The Flying Scotsman in 2003

The 'Flying Scotsman' Made Train History When The Speedometer Hit 100

The first locomotive to hit 100 miles per hour was billed as "The Most Famous Train in the World"

Meandering river in Nyingchi, Tibet, China

Trending Today

Watch 32 Years of Our Changing Planet Unfold With Google Timelapse

A satellite-eye’s-view of growing cities and climate change

J. Frank Duryea, left, and race umpire Arthur W. White, right, in the 1895 Duryea during the Chicago Times-Herald race, the first automobile race in the U.S.

The Forgotten Car That Won America's First Auto Race

The zippy roadster won America's first automobile race in 1895 with an average speed of 5 mph

This fetus was visualized using new technology that offers a detailed view of a developing fetus using VR.

New Research

New Technology Shows Fetuses From the Inside Using Virtual Reality

It's a view that could change prenatal care

These bikes won't just make it easier to get around Marrakech—they could also send a message to world leaders about ways to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Cool Finds

Africa Just Got Its First Bike Share Program

Now you can get around Marrakech on a fleet of bicycles—no air pollution needed

The Birmingham Central Mosque in the United Kingdom.

New Research

How Astronomy Cameras Are Helping British Muslims Schedule Morning Prayers

The cameras would help track exactly when the sun rises

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