Inventions

As author Tim Harford writes in his new book, sometimes the most important inventions are not the flashy ones.

From Lightbulbs to Mutual Funds: Tim Harford on Inventions That Changed the Modern Economy

Paper, the gramophone, double-entry bookkeeping, and barbed wire all make the list

A TEMS device mounted on eyeglasses, with the electrical signal recorded.

Blink Once For Yes: You Can ‘Talk’ to This New Computer Interface With Your Eyes

A tiny sensor mounted to eyeglasses can track eye blinks, allowing communication from locked-in patients

The Sabino sailing into port in 2005. The steamboat still carries museum-goers on tours of the Mystic River.

America's Oldest Coal-Powered Steamboat Chugs Along

After a two-year restoration, the 109-year-old Sabino is ready to sail for many years to come

Alexander Graham Bell used the money from his telephone patent to fund Volta Laboratories, which later became Bell Laboratories.

Telephones Were Silenced for One Minute After Alexander Graham Bell Died

By the time Bell died, he had moved on to other inventions. But the telephone made a huge mark on American society

The fairground ride parallels a medieval training game for mounted fighters.

The Dizzy History of Carousels Begins With Knights

Practice makes perfect–but nobody said it couldn't be fun

Frances Gabe's 1984 patent shows the floor plan of her self-cleaning home

The First Self-Cleaning Home Was Essentially a 'Floor-to-Ceiling Dishwasher'

Frances Gabe, who died late last year, channeled her frustration with housework into a futuristic design to end the drudgery of cleaning

The July 14, 1868 patent for a tape measure included these two drawings.

How Hoop Skirts Led to Tape Measures

Eighteenth-century ladies would recognize some things about the modern contractor’s tool

This two-stair prototype harvests energy from a user as they descend the stairs, then returns it on the upward climb.

New Assistive Stairs Put a Spring in Your Step

Inventors design a staircase that recycles energy to assist users

Even though the idea of sliced bread took off like a shot, it took the inventor of the bread-slicing machine years to convince bakers to try his invention.

Take a Look at the Patents Behind Sliced Bread

It took a surprising amount of technological know-how to make the bread that birthed the expression

For the times that licking an ice cream cone is too difficult, this patented motorized ice cream cone does the work for you. Happy summer.

Motorized Ice Cream Cones and Floating Campgrounds: 14 of the Wackiest Summer Fun Patents

Inventors never stop thinking of new ways to have fun, as these 14 patents show.

You Should Thank This Man for Inventing Jet Boats

In 1954, a man named Bill Hamilton invented the water-jet propelled boat, ideal for exploring the shallow rivers of his native New Zealand

In the war years, Greyhounds were crowded with travelers, leading planners to look at a new technology: helicopters.

In a Fit of 1940s Optimism, Greyhound Proposed a Fleet of Helicopter Buses

"Greyhound Skyways" would have turned major cities into bustling helicopter hubs

Meet Pedro the “Voder,” the First Electronic Machine to Talk

Pedro was an experiment in reproducing speech electronically, but took on a kind of life of its own

Recent research found that fully one third of humanity can't see the Milky Way because of light pollution

Is Light Pollution Really Pollution?

As countries grow richer, light pollution gets worse–but some are fighting to change that

Researchers found that tadpole embryos were better able to fight off infection when their cells' natural electrical charge was manipulated.

Tweaking the Tiny Electrical Charges Inside Cells Can Fight Infection

It works in tadpoles. Could it work in humans?

Night vision technology has been in use since just before World War II, although it's evolved considerably since then.

Seeing in the Dark: The History of Night Vision

In honor of Military Invention Day, a look at night vision technology throughout the years

The unassuming face of one of twentieth-century America's most dangerous men, even to himself

One Man Invented Two of the Deadliest Substances of the 20th Century

Thomas Midgley Jr.'s inventions have had an outsize impact—not all of it good—on humankind

Seedsheet bills itself as the best way to know where your food comes from by allowing you to grow it yourself. The container gardens come with pre-selected plants that can spice up a salad, garnish a cocktail or fill a taco.

This Invention Makes a Gardener Out of Anyone

Seedsheets founder and CEO Cameron MacKugler designs the garden. You just have to water it.

Stop your baby from sucking his or her thumb with this, er, "clever" invention.

Patents (Only) a Mother Could Love

For Mother's Day, we've pulled some of history's wackiest patented ideas for mothers and children

The team has developed many different prototypes. Their latest iteration can display six characters at a time and images the text using an internal camera.

This Device Translates Text To Braille in Real Time

Team Tactile hopes to create an inexpensive and portable device that can raise text right off the page

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