Technology & Innovation

Explore Technology & Innovation across the Smithsonian through stories, events, and exhibitions. Use the filters to browse by format, then bookmark events and exhibitions to keep track of what you want to visit or attend.

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326 results

Nature & Wildlife

Trays of insect specimens from the museum’s collection waiting to be digitized on a custom conveyor belt.

For National Pollinator Week, Learn Why the National Museum of Natural History is Using a State-of-the-Art Conveyor Belt System to Digitize Thousands of Insect Specimens

The ongoing effort captures high-quality images and collection data in seconds, creating an online database of bees, beetles, butterflies and flies.

National Museum of Natural History

Article

Nature & Wildlife

David Schimel, Principal Investigator of the AVUELO project at NASA JPL, with NASA JPL scientist Erika Podest, STRI staff scientist and ForestGEO director José Medina and the Gulfstream III (G-III / C-20A) aircraft used in the AVUELO 2026 campaign.

Panama’s Forests on NASA’s Radar

NASA and STRI join forces in Panama to investigate the structure of tropical forests using cutting-edge airborne technology.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Article

Nature & Wildlife

Fish and Humans Share Surprisingly Similar Sleep Habits, Including Daytime Naps

A recent study suggests that zebrafish have four sleep substates, just like humans do—and one of them is akin to an afternoon snooze.

Smithsonian Magazine

Article

Nature & Wildlife

Researchers Find a Mathematical Pattern Used in City Planning Hidden in the Leaves of a Common Houseplant

The major veins of Chinese money plant leaves form what’s called a Voronoi diagram. It might be caused by a plant-growth hormone that emanates in waves from developing leaves’ pores.

Smithsonian Magazine

Article

Nature & Wildlife

A vet giving an animal an exam with a tool.

Can You Spot the Fakes? These Handmade Vet Tools Help Animals Take Part in Their Own Care

Veterinary technician Jo Fujito builds dummy devices that help the National Zoo’s animals practice for medical procedures.

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Article

American History

How can artificial intelligence help surface untold stories from America’s founding? Revolution Crossroads, from the Smithsonian and Library of Congress, uses advanced AI to reunite long‑separated Revolutionary‑era records.

Smithsonian Office of Digital and Innovation

Video

American History

A black and white portrait of Elizebeth Smith Friedman. Her hair is pulled back and she has no facial expression.

Elizebeth Smith Friedman was the U.S. Government’s First Woman Codebreaker. She Cracked Nazi Codes, Saved 8,000 Lives, and Pioneered Modern Codebreaking.

For decades, Elizebeth Smith Friedman worked in near-total secrecy, cracking codes that shaped the outcome of two world wars. Recently declassified, the full extent of her story is still coming to light.

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

Article

Space & Aviation

Two images spliced together: On the left, Robert Goddard, a balding man in a dark three-piece suit, stands beside a tall, slender early rocket prototype suspended in a dim workshop. On the right: NASA's orange-and-white Space Launch System rocket stands inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, framed by towering tiers of metal service gantries.

Who Was the Original Rocket Man?

Though his own rockets weren’t practical, Robert Goddard inspired others to build better ones.

National Air and Space Museum

Article