One of the best perks of working at the Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center is the opportunity to meet inventors and innovators from a wide variety of...
Chien-Shiung Wu was one of the most influential experimental physicists of the 20th century. Although she was described as the "Chinese Marie Curie,"...
Dr. Charles Richard Drew was a Black surgeon, professor, and blood transfusion and blood bank pioneer whose work has saved innumerable lives globally...
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, parents and educators also worried about keeping school-aged children safe from food allergies, especially peanuts—with...
Birds are singing, the sun is shining, flowers are blooming, the weather is warm (or even downright hot), and the pandemic continues to encourage us...
Soon after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown started, one friendly neighbor began posting a series of scavenger hunts on our neighborhood listserv to...
“I use the word nursing for want of a better. It has been limited to signify little more than the administration of medicines and the application of...
“Do you have what it takes to save humanity?”
That may sound like clickbait for an article about the COVID-19 virus scare, but actually it’s a...
What uncertain and anxious times we are living in. The worldwide spread of the novel coronavirus has altered lives across the globe. Even simple...
The Belgian-born American chemist, inventor, and entrepreneur Leo Baekeland (1863–1944) is best known for his invention of the first synthetic plastic...
As the Lemelson Center continues to develop Game Changers, its exhibition that looks at invention and innovation through the lens of sports, one...
With sadness, the Lemelson Center notes the passing of Dr. Patricia Bath on May 30, 2019. Her list of “firsts” is both lengthy and impressive: she was...
Sunil CherianSunil Cherian, the founder and CEO of Spirae, Inc. in Fort Collins, Colorado, works on smart grid technology that balances variations in...
In Spark!Lab, we’re believers in the power of play to unlock innovation. While the old adage that “necessity is the mother of invention” may hold true...
On January 31, the Lemelson Center in collaboration with Cricket Media launched its 7th annual invention competition. Not only does it offer students...
One hundred fifty years ago, our neighbors to the north decided democratically to join together, or “confederate,” to become one nation, the Dominion...
My grandfather was a cancer researcher who faced shortages during World War II and had to improvise to keep his lab going. When he ran short of quartz...
