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Mon, 01/31/2022 - 07:33

 Editor’s Note: Brent Glass is Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the author of 50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S.  

Thu, 01/20/2022 - 13:54

Editor’s Note: Rich Turrin is a former manager at an IBM innovation lab and has worked with many labs over the years as a consultant. He compiled observations and advice in his recent book Innovation Lab Excellence: Digital Transformation from Within, meant to help lab managers and employees understand the conditions in which innovation will flourish, and how to avoid trouble spots. We asked Mr. Turrin to give our readers an overview of the phenomenon of innovation labs and how they can be most effective.

Tue, 07/27/2021 - 11:33

Throughout history, we have celebrated the few among us who have dared to go where others have not. Their names remain familiar long after their explorations: Erikson, Magellan, and Cook. Amundsen, Scott, and Shackleton. Peary and Henson. Livingstone. Columbus. Marco Polo. But the twelve men who stepped onto the moon ventured farther from home and faced a greater range of dangers than all of their predecessors.

Thu, 07/22/2021 - 13:10
This 3D-printed robotic hand is formidable in playing the classics, according to developers at University of Maryland. (Photo courtesy of UMD)
This 3D-printed robotic hand is formidable in playing the classics, according to developers at University of Maryland. (Photo courtesy of UMD)

If you grew up with Super Mario Bros.

Mon, 07/19/2021 - 10:56

(Photo: Flickr Creative Commons)

Expecting the unexpected has been a roadblock in bringing artificial intelligent (AI) computers to the next level of deployment in the everyday lives of human, something researchers are making headway in eliminating.

But how can adding a little imaginative power really improve the contributions of AI in modern society?

Thu, 06/03/2021 - 14:47
John Harold Gilbert Walker
John H.G. Walker, an RAF pilot from Nottingham, died in an open raft only miles from England.

John H.G.

Fri, 05/14/2021 - 17:42

Sat, 04/17/2021 - 07:23

Many people consider Alexander Graham Bell’s 1876 telephone patent to have been the most valuable ever issued by the U. S. Patent Office. In his recent book, The Telephone Gambit: Chasing Alexander Graham Bell’s Secret, author Seth Shulman claims that Bell “stole the key idea behind the invention of the telephone,” having copied the idea for a liquid transmitter from a patent caveat filed by rival Elisha Gray, and that Gray’s idea unlocked the secrets of the telephone for Bell.

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 14:18
perseverance landing
In February 2021, Perseverance will become the latest NASA rover to touch down on Mars. NASA

 

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 11:39

Editor's Note: Bruce Watson is a senior editor of American Heritage. This story appeared in shorter form on his website, The Attic: True Stories for a Kinder, Cooler America.

Tue, 02/09/2021 - 11:28

Editor’s Note: Stephen Coonts is a Vietnam veteran and the author of over 40 books of fiction and non-fiction including the bestselling Flight of the Intruder. Barrett Tillman has also authored over 40 books, mostly on naval and aviation topics, including On Yankee Station.

Tue, 02/02/2021 - 12:16
moon man
In one of the most famous photographs of the 20th Century, Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the surface of the moon near the leg of the lunar module Eagle. NASA

 

Thu, 11/19/2020 - 11:08

Editor's Note: Kris Trexler is a two-time Emmy award winning video/film editor who has worked on shows like "In Living Color" (Fox), "Ellen" (ABC), and "Titus" (Fox). You can find this story and more like it on his blog, King of the Road

Thu, 11/19/2020 - 10:57

On board a Lockheed WP-3D Orion aircraft nicknamed "Miss Piggy," NOAA hurricane hunters fly into the center of Tropical Storm Isaias on the morning of Aug. 2, 2020. Photograph by Lt. Cmdr. Doremus, NOAA Corps, Courtesy NOAA.

Fri, 11/13/2020 - 05:56
bing video
A fledgling television industry discovered magnetic audiotape after World War II thanks to an Army Signal Corps major named Jack Mullin (left) and a determined singing star who wanted to be able to tape his weekly radio show — Bing Crosby (right). Stanford University

 

Thu, 10/08/2020 - 16:48
crehore dial
One of the last remaining sundials by Albert Crehore still sits on public display on the campus of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore.
Mon, 10/05/2020 - 13:21

Editor's Note: Eric Jay Dolin is a writer with degrees in environmental science and environmental policy from Brown, Yale, and MIT. His most recent book is A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes (Liveright), from which this essay was adapted. 

Tue, 09/22/2020 - 18:10

THE INVENTOR’S WIFE STOOD WITH HER ARMS SPREAD across the filing cabinets, trying to cover the open drawers as three men struggled to remove the files they contained. She knew she couldn’t win, but she thought it might somehow help her husband legally if the men had to use force. The men pulled her away and started loading boxes. Then, with about a third of the files gone, they began to relax their guard. She seized a moment when they all were outside the office to slam the door and lock it. More time gained.

Tue, 08/18/2020 - 15:49

Editor's Note: Thomas Wheeler was the 31st Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2013 to 2017. Portions of this essay appeared in his most recent book, From Gutenberg to Google: The History of Our Future (Brookings Institution). 

Tue, 08/04/2020 - 11:11

Click here to launch the slideshow.In this slideshow, the editors of Invention & Technology Magazine describe 30 of the most celebrated covered bridges in the U.S., and tell why they are important.

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

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