Inventions
Nikola Tesla and the Myth of the Lone Inventor
We like our inventors to be lone geniuses, but it's almost always the case that today's giant is standing on the shoulders of yesterday's.
The iPod Touch as a Crop Saver
New Gene-Z device identifies diseases in plants, water, and food within 30 minutes, researchers say.
As if Commercials Weren't Bad Enough Already
Do we really need to smell the items featured in TV programming? A materials expert has created a function for your TV or portable device that can generate thousands of odors.
Humayun Finding Medical Advances in Plain Sight
Mark Humayun taps the burgeoning field of bioelectronics to help the blind to see and the lame to walk.
Battling World Hunger Through Innovative Technology
From innovation in architecture and robotics to mobile apps and interactive games, technology is reshaping our understanding of and approach to world hunger.
Design for Impact and Emotion
Two recent design international conferences exult in the future of design, which can be harnessed to solve social problems as well as sell mobile phones.
Save the Poor by Selling Them Stuff — Cheap
The bottom-of-the-pyramid marketing movement tries to profit the developing world and make a profit at the same time.
Kisaalita Engineers Solutions for Africa's Rural Poor
University of Georgia professor William Kisaalita engineers simple, practical solutions — a milk chiller, a nutcracker and an egg incubator — for Africa's rural poor.
Air Conditioning Using 90 Percent Less Power
A U.S. government project combining two well-known technologies — swamp coolers and water-absorbing compounds — generates an amazingly efficient air conditioner.
Science Plugs into Prediction Markets
Although some set-up hurdles remain, a market in scientific predictions may help us forecast innovation.
The Future of U.S. Innovation Leadership
A mixed picture emerges as science organizations examine the U.S. lead in innovation and where that lead is headed.
Desperately Seeking Landmines
Despite years of research on everything from 'HeroRATS' to TNT-sniffing bees, humans still remove most landmines by poking — very, very carefully — in the ground.
Where Does Innovation Come From?
A new book by W. Brian Arthur, a pioneer in the area of positive feedback in economics, argues that genius is overrated and technology drives its own innovations.
The Lotus as Water Repellant
Sto Corp's self-cleaning Lotusan exterior paint uses the plant's micro-structural qualities to remove dirt just after a rain.
Termites and Climate Control
An African skyscraper built in 2007 features a unique climate-control system inspired by the gigantic termite mounds found in the Zimbabwean bush.
Flowers and Solar Panels
MIT students use the concept of phototropism to design a sun-tracking solar panel that requires no motor or electronic control system.
Five Products From a Famous Multinational — Nature
A growing number of scientists, ecologists and entrepreneurs have begun to incorporate 'biomimicry' across a vast spectrum of enterprises.
Wonking Class Hero — Inventing for Peanuts
Jock Brandis invented a low-cost, people-powered peanut sheller that could raise millions out of poverty around the world. Now, if someone would just come up with the money to distribute it.
Light Unto the Developing World
A Massachusetts architect and a personal solar power system — Portable Light — bring comfort and better medical chances to South African TB patients.