Innovations | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/innovations/RSS feed for InnovationsenFri, 25 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000Google Just Released an A.I. Tool That Helps Historians Fill in Missing Words in Ancient Roman Inscriptionshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/google-just-released-an-ai-tool-that-helps-historians-fill-in-missing-words-in-ancient-roman-inscriptions-180987046/Known as Aeneas, the tool was trained on an extensive dataset of Latin epigraphy. Experts hope it will help decipher segments of text that have been lost to historyFri, 25 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000Cancer DNA Can Be Detected in the Bloodstream Up to Three Years Before Diagnosis, Study Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cancer-dna-can-be-detected-in-the-bloodstream-up-to-three-years-before-diagnosis-study-suggests-180986862/For a few individuals, scientists found genetic material from cancerous tumors in blood samples taken years before they were diagnosed through traditional methodsThu, 24 Jul 2025 18:38:08 +0000How Underwater Archaeology Brings Secrets to the Surface, From Lost Shipwrecks to Submerged Citieshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-underwater-archaeology-brings-secrets-to-the-surface-from-lost-shipwrecks-to-submerged-cities-180986950/An immersive new exhibition at the Intrepid Museum in New York City spotlights the science and technology behind the disciplineThu, 10 Jul 2025 11:15:00 +0000Need to Solve a Problem? Try Taking a Deep Power Nap for an 'Aha' Moment, Research Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/need-to-solve-a-problem-try-taking-a-deep-power-nap-for-an-aha-moment-research-suggests-180986901/A new study finds that entering N2 sleep—a deep phase of non-rapid eye movement sleep—may help lead to more “eureka” breakthroughsMon, 30 Jun 2025 19:27:23 +0000The World's Oldest Boomerang Is Even Older Than Scientists Thought, a New Analysis Suggestshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-oldest-boomerang-is-even-older-than-scientists-thought-a-new-analysis-suggests-180986885/Researchers revisited a crescent-shaped, mammoth tusk artifact discovered in Poland and estimated it’s around 40,000 years oldThu, 26 Jun 2025 20:50:00 +0000These Colorful Satellite Views Reveal Our Forests in Unprecedented Detail and Showcase the Potential of the New Biomass Missionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-colorful-satellite-views-reveal-our-forests-in-unprecedented-detail-and-showcase-the-potential-of-the-new-biomass-mission-180986878/The European Space Agency’s satellite will measure trunks, branches and stems in forests to shed light on how much carbon is stored in trees across various continentsThu, 26 Jun 2025 18:55:45 +0000See the Beauty of an Artificial Solar Eclipse, Created With a First-of-Its-Kind, 'Perfect' Satellite Formationhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-beauty-of-an-artificial-solar-eclipse-created-with-a-first-of-its-kind-perfect-satellite-formation-180986831/Two satellites’ highly precise alignment allows scientists to study the sun’s outer atmosphere like never beforeTue, 17 Jun 2025 18:44:00 +0000Graduate Student Develops an A.I.-Based Approach to Restore Time-Damaged Artwork to Its Former Gloryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/graduate-student-develops-an-ai-based-approach-to-restore-time-damaged-artwork-to-its-former-glory-180986799/The method could help bring countless old paintings, currently stored in the back rooms of galleries with limited conservation budgets, to lightFri, 13 Jun 2025 20:21:02 +0000Axolotls May Hold the Key to Regrowing Limbs, and Scientists Are Unraveling Their Secrets to Help Humans Do the Samehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/axolotls-may-hold-the-key-to-regrowing-limbs-and-scientists-are-unraveling-their-secrets-to-help-humans-do-the-same-180986781/With the help of gene-edited axolotls, researchers have gotten one step closer to enabling human limb regenerationThu, 12 Jun 2025 16:55:03 +0000Lab-Grown Salmon Hits the Menu at an Oregon Restaurant as the FDA Greenlights the Cell-Cultured Producthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lab-grown-salmon-hits-the-menu-at-an-oregon-restaurant-as-the-fda-greenlights-the-cell-cultured-product-180986769/The decision clears the way for the first cultured fish to join the small but growing alternative protein marketWed, 11 Jun 2025 17:02:43 +0000Engineers Are Racing to Harness the Dazzling Magic of Feathers. They Haven't Solved the Mystery Just Yethttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/engineers-are-racing-to-harness-dazzling-magic-feathers-they-havent-solved-mystery-yet-180986759/The natural marvels, which do everything from enabling acrobatic flight to insulating against Antarctic cold, continue to inspire new designs and technologiesTue, 10 Jun 2025 12:00:00 +0000Study the Secrets of Early American Photography at This New Exhibitionhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/study-the-secrets-of-early-american-photography-at-this-new-exhibition-180986731/"The New Art: American Photography, 1839-1910" at the Metropolitan Museum of Art will feature more than 250 photographsFri, 06 Jun 2025 19:03:19 +0000See the Highest-Resolution Views of the Sun's Corona, as Wisps of Plasma Dance in Crystal Clear Detailhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-highest-resolution-views-of-the-suns-corona-as-wisps-of-plasma-dance-in-crystal-clear-detail-180986730/Astronomers have captured videos of the sun without the typical blur caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphereWed, 04 Jun 2025 15:01:49 +0000New Contact Lenses Give Users Super-Vision to See Infrared Light—Even With Their Eyes Closedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-contact-lenses-give-users-supervision-even-with-their-eyes-closed-180986679/Researchers have developed experimental contact lenses that use nanoparticles to convert the invisible wavelengths of near-infrared light into visible colorsTue, 27 May 2025 20:37:00 +0000