American Innovation

LIFESTYLE October 18

Meet the American who invented the hard hat, a proud symbol of our nation's working class

Edward W. Bullard invented the hard hat in 1919, then patented it in 1929. It's credited with saving lives on job sites while also becoming a symbol of working-class America.

LIFESTYLE September 6

Meet the American who invented the shopping cart, Sylvan Goldman, Oklahoma supermarket mogul

Meet Sylvan Goldman, an American born to immigrant parents in Oklahoma. As a businessman, his brilliantly simple invention, the shopping cart, changed consumer culture.

LIFESTYLE August 16

Meet the American who launched modern submarines, John Philip Holland, 'brilliant' self-taught engineer

Meet the American who is "the father of the modern submarine." The first U.S. and British submarines, the USS Holland and HMS Holland, were the designs of John Philip Holland.

LIFESTYLE August 2

Meet the American who launched the Frisbee, Fred Morrison, World War II combat pilot and POW

Walter Frederick Morrison conceived of a leisure-time flying disc on a California beach in 1937. He made the Frisbee a reality after serving heroically in World War II.

LIFESTYLE July 16

Meet the American who invented the TV remote control: self-taught Chicago engineer Eugene Polley

Self-taught Chicago mechanical engineer Eugene Polley invented the first wireless TV remote control in 1955, but his contribution was nearly erased by later innovations.

LIFESTYLE March 30, 2024

On this day in history, March 30, 1858, American visionary Hymen Lipman patents pencil with eraser

The pencil eraser was patented in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by Hymen Lipman, a Jewish immigrant from Kingston, Jamiaca, on this day in history, March 30, 1858.

LIFESTYLE January 10, 2024

American exceptionalism 'running on fumes' as woke ideology stifles creativity and meritocracy, scholars say

American exceptionalism, universally accepted as real for generations, is now threatened by woke ideology, say scholars Victor Davis Hanson and Craig Shirley.

LIFESTYLE January 9, 2024

On this day in history, January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs introduces Apple iPhone at Macworld in San Francisco

Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, Apple's first smartphone, at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco on this day in history, Jan. 9, 2007. The product changed society and Apple's bottom line.

LIFESTYLE November 18, 2023

On this day in history, November 18, 1883, North American railroads create time zones, reshape global life

North American railroads created time zones to bring sanity to scheduling transcontinental travel on this day in history, Nov. 18, 1883. The system was quickly adopted around the world.

LIFESTYLE September 8, 2023

Meet the American who patented the drinking straw, Marvin Stone, Civil War veteran and mint julep enthusiast

Marvin Stone, a Civil War veteran who survived combat wounds, patented the paper drinking straw in 1888. His invention has enjoyed a rebirth in the 21st century.

LIFESTYLE February 10, 2023

Meet the American who invented the zipper, one of the world's most useful devices: Whitcomb Judson

Whitcomb Judson of Chicago invented the clasp-locker in 1893, now known today as the zipper. It revolutionized fashion and is now one of the most common devices in the world.

LIFESTYLE January 13, 2023

Meet the American who invented Band-Aids: cotton buyer and devoted husband Earle Dickson

Earle Dickson invented the Band-Aid in 1921. A cotton buyer for Johnson & Johnson, he was inspired to create the new product to treat's wife household wounds.

OPINION November 28, 2022

Global population hits 8 billion and we need to keep growing. Here's why

The world's population is still expanding but fertility rates in many of the world's advance nations are collapsing. That's a problem because economic growth is tied to population growth.

Pickups November 13, 2020

Patents reveal how Rivian and Ford might make electric pickups go farther

Rivan and Ford have filed similar patents for a way to provide backup electric power for their battery-powered pickups. Both involve a similarly shaped device that slips into the bed.

American Innovation May 3, 2016

How IBM's Watson supercomputer is battling cancer with advanced genomics

Back in 2003, when he was a fourth year medical student at Washington University in St. Louis looking at a career in oncology, Lukas Wartman was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. For Wartman, the diagnosis was bleak – while this type of leukemia, which affects the blood and bone marrow, is very treatable for children, it often proves fatal for adults. Two years of chemotherapy followed and Wartman went into remission and completed his medical studies. The reprieve was short-lived. By 2008, he relapsed again.

American Innovation May 3, 2016

Want to control a swarm of robots? Georgia Tech has the answer

Researchers at Georgia Tech have built a tablet-based system that lets people control a fleet of robots with just the swipe of a finger.

American Innovation May 3, 2016

NASA’s ‘Greased Lightning’ drone merges helicopter and plane technology

Is it a helicopter? Is it a plane? NASA has developed a 10-engine electric vehicle that can take off like a helicopter but fly a plane.

American Innovation May 3, 2016

High-tech military goggles combine night vision, thermal imaging

BAE Systems is developing state-of-the-art goggles for the U.S. Army that combine night vision and thermal imaging technology.

American Innovation May 3, 2016

Entrepreneur and artist aim to curb global infant mortality rate

When Jane Chen and Drue Kataoka met at the Forum of Young Global Leaders in 2012, they quickly formed a friendship based on their shared passion for carrying out socially impactful work. They both came from significantly different backgrounds — Chen is the co-founder of Embrace, a startup that hopes to curb high worldwide infant mortality rates by way of the low-cost Embrace infant warmer, while Kataoka is a visual artist whose often interactive work aims to bridge the perceived gap between art and technology. Flash forward three years, and the two women have launched a unique collaboration that combines Chen’s business and Kataoka’s art to raise awareness of and ultimately decrease high global infant mortality rates.

Mac May 3, 2016

Apple Watch: Another Jony Ive design triumph?

Apple’s Jony Ive has a long list of design triumphs.  Time will tell if the eagerly-anticipated Apple Watch will become yet another success.

American Innovation May 3, 2016

Why Elon Musk’s innovation engine shows no signs of slowing

Innovate or perish may be the most apt phrase for Elon Musk and his push to reshape the car,  space, and transport industries.

Biology May 2, 2016

Art and technology battle autism through MSSNG project

 On May 6, the typical stylish New York City gallery crowd mingled and gawked at art lining the walls of the Betaworks studio gallery in the city’s Meatpacking District for The MSSNG Lab, an invitation and one-night-only art installation and auction. What separated this from similar art events in the city? Well, for one thing, biochemist and fine art photographer Linden Gledhill was stationed center stage on a platform staring down a microscope as a screen projection on the wall showed in real-time the microscopic images he was analyzing.

American Innovation May 2, 2016

Charity to bring clean water to Nepal earthquake victims

Just days after a magnitude-7.8 quake devastated much of Nepal, a Christian nonprofit group is gearing up to provide a simple, but lifesaving, commodity — clean water.

American Innovation May 2, 2016

Samsung Solve for Tomorrow winners head to Washington, D.C.

High school freshman Bela Reyes-Klein said she was overwhelmed with pride when she found out that she and her fellow teenage engineers from Galena High School in Reno, Nev., were one of five groups to win the national Samsung Solve for Tomorrow contest. The competition, designed to encourage students and teachers throughout the country to use STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) projects to solve problems facing their communities, announced the five winning schools in April. On April 29, students and teachers from the winning schools – which won a combined $2 million — will attend an awards luncheon in Washington, D.C.

Biology May 2, 2016

Genomics guru dives deep into DNA data

Eric Schadt, director of the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology at Mount Sinai in New York was thrust into the tech spotlight last month after launching an Asthma Health app with Apple.

US Navy November 4, 2015

Military taps avatars, video game tech, for virtual training

Defense giant Raytheon is using motion capture and video game-based technology to develop sophisticated virtual simulators for the U.S. military.

American Innovation November 4, 2015

Oil companies tap virtual technology to train workers

Oil companies are starting to train their oil rig workers in a virtual world -- literally.

American Innovation November 4, 2015

Social app Findery lets users share notes from all over the world

For someone like Cam Bowman who has amassed countless factoids about the popular California attraction, social discovery app Findery has given her a way to not only share her expertise but connect with countless others who are posting about the locations that interest them.

American Innovation November 4, 2015

How age-progression software helps find missing kids

If you happen to be driving in St. Joseph, Minn., this weekend, look up at the billboards to see a picture of Jacob Wetterling. An image created last year shows how Wetterling, who went missing 25 years ago at age 11, might look today at age 36.

American Innovation November 4, 2015

Liftopia makes it easier for skiers to plan trips and hit the slopes

As the weather gets colder and resorts ready for the coming ski season, Liftopia, a San Francisco-based resort technology platform and ski ticket purveyor, aims to make travel planning easier for those itching to hit the slopes this winter.