Innovations

Video games can help train the brain to hear better.

Can a Video Game Train You To Hear Better In a Crowded Room?

A new study finds it's possible to teach the brain to better distinguish between speech and background noise

Could a secret ingredient make crumbling concrete a thing of the past?

With Fungi in the Mix, Concrete Can Fill Its Own Cracks

Adding fungus might be one way to endow concrete with the ability to repair any damage, without the need for human intervention

Yes, Putting an Emergency Oxygen Mask on First Is Vital

Investigators looking into the crash of Learjet 35 were faced with a question: If the supplemental oxygen was working, why didn't the crew use their masks?

A professor teaches an online class with students from around the world.

Will Traditional Colleges and Universities Become Obsolete?

Artificial intelligence and automation are bringing changes to higher education that will challenge, and may even threaten, in-person learning

This New Zealand Farmer Revolutionized Modern Planes

In the early 1900s, a New Zealand farmer named Richard Pearse built what looked like a flying bicycle. Some of the ideas he developed are now standard

"Access+Ability" features more than 70 works, from an aerodynamic racing wheelchair to a vibration-activated shirt that allows the deaf to experience sounds, and covers the wide range of innovations occurring in accessible design.

For People Living with Disabilities, New Products Prove Both Practical and Stylish

Cooper Hewitt turns its design eye to beautifully styled wheelchairs, hearing aids and other accessible innovations

In Los Angeles, the architecture firm KTGY is repurposing shipping containers to build a transitional apartment complex for the homeless.

Three Architecture Projects That Will Build Community and Address Inequality This Year

These projects set to be completed this year are geared toward strengthening communities that have been left out of the economic recovery

The inventor at rest, with a Tesla coil (thanks to a double exposure).

The Extraordinary Life of Nikola Tesla

The eccentric inventor and modern Prometheus died 75 years ago, after a rags-to-riches to rags life

The Costs and Benefits of Hydropower

Damming rivers may seem like a clean and easy solution for Albania and other energy-hungry countries. But the devil is in the details

Engelbart designed the mouse to replace the light pen as a pointing device.

How Douglas Engelbart Invented the Future

Two decades before the personal computer, a shy engineer unveiled the tools that would drive the tech revolution

Artist’s representation of “neglected story on Smithsonian.com.”

The Ten Stories You Didn't Read in 2017 But Should Have

From music behind prison bars to a San Francisco building with a dark past, here are the top 10 pieces we published last year that deserve another look

Acinetobacter baumannii

Instead of Killing Bacteria, Can We Just "Turn Off" Its Ability To Cause Infections?

Researchers could have an answer to antibiotic resistance, and it involves using epigenetics to reprogram bacteria

Footage of the First Martin-Baker Ejection Seat Test

Bernard Lynch was an engineer fitter at British aviation firm Martin-Baker. But his main claim to fame was as the fearless test subject

The AOL Instant Messenger icon became so well known it was made into a plush toy.

AOL Instant Messenger Taught Us How To Communicate in the Modern World

As AIM sunsets, let's reflect on its role in preparing people for today's digital messaging methods

What a Vice President of the Humane Society Has To Say About Lab-Grown Meat

In a new book, Paul Shapiro describes clean meat as a promising alternative to industrial-scale farming

There's a Giant Warehouse Full of Product Launches That Failed

Not open to the public, this expansive archive schools marketers in the art of pitchmanship

Experts Assess Why This Plane Fell Off a Cliff

On October 10, 2006, Atlantic Airways Flight 670 overran the runway at Stord Airport in Norway, and careened off a nearby cliff

A battery-powered facial mask did not zap wrinkles.

The Museum of Failure Showcases the Beauty of the Epic Fail

A new exhibition of inventions that bombed boldly celebrates the world’s most creative screw-ups

Glowing proteins produced by the modified E. coli.

DNA Code Gets Two New Synthetic Letters—And Uses Them to Create a New Protein

Researchers hope the advance is a step toward producing a range of new compounds, including designer drugs and biofuels

For the first time, human beings harnessed the power of atomic fission.

The Science Behind the First Nuclear Chain Reaction, Which Ushered in the Atomic Age 75 Years Ago

That fateful discovery helped give us nuclear power reactors and the atomic bomb

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