Students at Do Space learn to use a laser cutter during a crash course on how to design a key chain. Joy Carey/NET News hide caption
Innovation : All Tech Considered An exploration of interesting ideas that solve problems, introduce new experiences or even change our world.
All Tech Considered
Tech, Culture and ConnectionInnovation
Tuesday
Sunday
Scientists in California are turning to big data to help save the red-legged frog, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Gary Kittleson hide caption
Using Algorithms To Catch The Sounds Of Endangered Frogs
Thursday
This computer hardware fits into a smart shoe prototype called Sneakairs, unveiled recently by European airline easyJet. The shoes help walkers find their way around through directional vibrations. easyJet hide caption
Thursday
Brad Duerstock demonstrates the RoboDesk. Courtesy of Purdue Research Foundation/Screenshot by NPR hide caption
Tuesday
SignAloud gloves translate sign language into text and speech. Conrado Tapado/Univ of Washington, CoMotion hide caption
Thursday
Joe Milam explains his investor-relations company, AngelSpan, to fourth-grader Anna Allemann (white shirt, left) and third-grader Sage Powell during Pitch-a-Kid in Austin, Texas, on April 30. Brenda Salinas for NPR hide caption
For Entrepreneurs, Pitching To Pint-Sized Sharks Is No Child's Play
Tuesday
Dartmouth College researcher Timothy Pierson holds a prototype of Wanda, which is designed to establish secure wireless connections between devices that generate data. Eli Burakian/Dartmouth College hide caption
Thursday
This 2005 silicon wafer with Pentium 4 processors was signed by Gordon Moore for the 40th anniversary of Moore's law. Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images hide caption
Monday
About 14 percent of the Gigafactory in Nevada has been built so far. At 5.8 million square feet, it will be a building with one of the biggest footprints in the world. Tesla hide caption
A Rare Look Inside The 'Gigafactory' Tesla Hopes Will Revolutionize Energy Use
Wednesday
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks about the company's 10-year road map during his keynote address Tuesday at the F8 Facebook Developer Conference in San Francisco. Eric Risberg/AP hide caption
Tuesday
A hammock-canoe drawing, U.S. Patent No. 299,951, is displayed in a June 1884 publication of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va. Critics of the patent system say it's too easy for people to save a slew of semi-realistic ideas, then sue when a firm separately tries to make something similar. Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
A box of 3-D models 24-year-old student Amos Dudley made of his teeth. The model labeled "3" rests on a 3-D-printed tray Dudley made to make impressions of his teeth with a putty-like material. Also in the box are a clear plastic aligner and other 3-D models used to make more aligners, each one pushing the problematic teeth further into place. Jon Kalish for NPR hide caption
Monday
Zhenan Bao, a chemical engineer at Stanford University, is working to invent an artificial skin from plastic that can sense, heal and power itself. The thin plastic sheets are made with built-in pressure sensors. Bao Research Group hide caption
Just Like Human Skin, This Plastic Sheet Can Sense And Heal
Wednesday
A "new" Rembrandt portrait is actually the creation of a 3-D printer — and a statistical analysis of 346 paintings by the Dutch master. Robert Harrison/J. Walter Thompson Amsterdam hide caption
A 'New' Rembrandt: From The Frontiers Of AI And Not The Artist's Atelier
Tuesday
SolarReserve's Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Plant, located near Tonopah, Nev., features an array of 10,347 mirrors arranged in a circle 1.75 miles across. A 640-foot-tall tower glows when the sun's energy is concentrated and directed to the top. SolarReserve hide caption