Breakthroughs in tagging technology are opening a window into the lives of smelt and other small swimmers—a shift some scientists say could transform our understanding of the underwater world’s more minute creatures.

A New Generation of Tiny Tracking Tags Offers a Fresh Look at the Lives of Little Fish

Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed a tag the size of a grain of rice that can also work underwater

The Smithsonian’s own Etch A Sketch, acquired in 2011, is displayed as a cultural artifact—a symbol of a toy that has shaped generations.

How the Etch A Sketch Etched Itself Into Pop Culture

Sixty-five years after it first hit store shelves, the iconic, red-framed drawing toy continues to enchant kids, artists, and collectors alike

The vision is to use the gate to create extended elephant migration routes that cut across South Africa, connecting green areas with navigation corridors that bypass cities and the rehabilitated gold mine dumps that ring Johannesburg.

In South Africa, a Smart Gate Could Help Connect Elephants’ Fragmented Habitat

An unlikely quartet’s clever contraption may allow the pachyderms to make better use of their range

Heart disease is the leading cause of death globally, according to the World Health Organization.

This 14-Year-Old Built an App That Detects Heart Diseases in Seconds

Siddarth Nandyala wants to put his tool in the hands of medical professionals so that they can catch cardiovascular abnormalities in their early stages

A parachute belonging to Broadwick is on display in the Early Flight gallery at the Smithsonian’s newly updated National Air and Space Museum. 

Pioneering Teenage Parachuter Georgia ‘Tiny’ Broadwick Showed That Courage Isn’t Counted in Pounds

The first woman to parachute from an airplane, she will be recognized in an exhibit when part of the newly renovated National Air and Space Museum reopens this year

This volleyball-looking device is one of the glass flasks that Charles D. Keeling and others used to transport samples of atmosphere from Mauna Loa and beyond to a laboratory for precise analysis.

This Simple but Ingenious Instrument Helped the World Measure Carbon Dioxide Levels in the Atmosphere

Scientist Charles Keeling’s invention had a profound effect on scientists’ understanding of the severity of the climate change crisis

Made of wood and leather, this artificial toe, found in an ancient Egyptian tomb affixed to a noblewoman, is the oldest known prosthetic appendage.

The Innovative History of the Artificial Limb Stretches as Far Back as Ancient Egypt

Today, the technology has come so far that anyone with a 3D printer can create highly engineered and artful prostheses

Mainstream providers of shared mobility — such as e-scooters, bicycles and rideshares — often overlook marginalised communities, families and the elderly. NGOs and public agencies are filling the gap.

Making Ride Hailing, Bike Shares and Other Transportation Options Accessible to All

Shared mobility is good for the environment, but not equal opportunity. What can be done to make travel easier for everyone?

At this point, there is no shortage of stories that have posed some form of the question, “Why are voice assistants always female?”

Synthetic Voices Shed Light on the Deep-Rooted Gender Biases Embedded in our Tech

An expert on the impacts of information technologies on society considers how talking machines got their male- and female-sounding voices

Current experiments are focused on tomatoes, lettuce and other small-scale crops, with hopes to extend to high-calorie crops like grains and sweet potatoes in the future. 

Can Electro-Agriculture Revolutionize the Way We Grow Food?

A new technology is pushing the boundaries of farming by using electricity to grow crops without photosynthesis

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How Text Messaging Took Over the Way We Talk

From its start more than 30 years ago, texting has slowly but surely become the dominant form of communication

SATED can cook a perfectly crisp pizza in a low- to no-gravity environment.

Could This Space Oven Allow Astronauts to Finally Cook in Space?

An aerospace engineer has invented an appliance that can whip up quiches, pizzas and more in a zero-gravity environment

The systems have been especially successful in Latin America, where massive cities and dramatic landscapes make building roads, rail lines and subway tunnels difficult. Mi Teléferico, shown here, connects more than two million people across the La Paz metro in Bolivia.

Seven Cities in the World Where You Can Ride an Aerial Cable Car

Urban planners from Mexico City to Toulouse are adopting the high-flying mode of transit. Will it catch on elsewhere?

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, this week.

The Eight Coolest Inventions From the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show

A needle-free injection system, a bug-watching garden camera, a wearable that helps with memory lapses and more were unveiled at the annual Las Vegas trade show

In 2024, engineers used a fluorescent protein found in some jellyfish to create a non-toxic spray that highlights fingerprints at a crime scene.

Seven Scientific Discoveries From 2024 That Could Lead to New Inventions

From indestructible tardigrades to body-merging comb jellies, animals can teach humans so much about medicine, robotics, aging and survival

Air Ring 48 attaches to the base of a construction helmet, providing crucial airflow to the sweatiest areas of the head and neck.

Could This New Wearable Device Reduce Heat Stress in Construction Workers?

Architecture students at the University of Hong Kong invented a cooling apparatus that attaches to a construction helmet

The products range from programmable rovers to books that introduce the terminology of robotics and circuitry to childen.

Engineers Choose the Ten Best STEM Toys to Gift in 2024

Creative circuitry and rolling robots make up this year’s top toys for teaching kids to love science, technology, engineering and math

An example of the American Pedometer with the decimal face and original packaging

From Jealous Spouses to Paranoid Bosses, Pedometers Quantified Suspicion in the 19th Century

The devices were used to track movement and measure productivity—an insightful foreshadowing of our current preoccupation with personal data

Mark Muhn of Team Cleveland on his way to winning the Functional Electrical Stimulation bike race in the inaugural Cybathlon in 2016. Muhn’s legs are paralyzed; the muscles in them are activated by electric signals from a controller outside of his body.

Bionic ‘Pilots’ Compete for the Gold at the Cybathlon

In the international competition, people with physical disabilities put state-of-the-art devices to the test as they race to complete the tasks of everyday life

John Larson's original polygraph, a gift to the Smithsonian from the Berkeley Police Department, where Larson was the first rookie cop with a PhD.

Why the Creator of One of the First ‘Lie Detectors’ Lived to Regret His Invention

The early polygraph machine was considered the most scientific way to detect deception—but that was a myth

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