Showing results for "Digital Media" in Inventions & Inventors

In medicine, machines can be used to take detailed pictures of bones and even to save people’s lives. Listen to learn about the marvelous machines of modern medicine, like the defibrillator, the x-ray machine, and more!

Can you imagine having to sit still for 30 minutes just to have your picture taken? Or having to send film away to be developed? Technology has come a long way since then! Listen to learn about photography inventions like flashbulbs, Kodak and Polaroid cameras, and more!

Inventing is all about ideas—ideas for making products better or creating new ones. To put these ideas into action, young inventors need tools for tinkering. Find out how to put together your own inventor's workshop with simple tools and common household objects.

Why would Geoffrey Pyke propose a strange idea like building an aircraft carrier from a mixture of ice and wood pulp?

Do you know how the lightbulb was invented? In the 1800s, the first incandescent lightbulb was invented by Thomas Edison. Learn how Edison experimented with different materials, direct current, and by trial and error to design the first lightbulb. Which power company was created that funded the first electric lighting system to distribute light? The company still operates today, lighting and powering our world!

Have you ever gotten bored when the weather is too bad to go outside for recess? Bored students and bad weather inspired James Naismith to invent the game of basketball in the late 19th century. Using a soccer ball and peach baskets, Professor Naismith worked out the rules of the new sport at the local YMCA.

How did forgetting to wash a jar make cars safer? A scientist named Édouard Bénédictus accidentally dropped a plastic-coated flask that did not break. This invention was tested and engineered to help today's windshields protect drivers better.

Plastic was once considered the material of the future, but now it has become a nuisance that results in too much trash for the planet to handle. Learn about the durability and longevity of this 19th-century invention and hear recycling ideas from a chemist who hopes to salvage plastic's reputation.

What happens when a young elephant steps on a buried land mine? What happens when a sea turtle’s flipper is injured by a predator? Thanks to recent advances in technology, we have new ways to design and build prosthetic body parts that can help these animals thrive. Discover the stories of how veterinarians, doctors, and even students from around the world used 3D printing and other techniques to build bionic body parts for these amazing animals.

Video games evolved over decades from simple consoles to cutting-edge entertainment in homes and arcades. In the twenty-first century, they've also become some of the world's most popular apps. Find out more about the technological innovations, major players, and controversies that have made video game history. And from the role of game cartridges to the power of the internet, learn how new inventions keep taking gaming to the next level.

Both Thomas Edison and Henry Ford started off as insatiably curious tinkerers. That curiosity led them to become inventors - with very different results. As Edison invented hit after commercial hit, gaining fame and fortune, Henry struggled to make a single invention (an affordable car) work. Witnessing Thomas' glorious career from afar, a frustrated Henry wondered about the secret to his success.

John Logie Baird loves inventing things! When he hears about another inventor who has built a machine to show real live pictures, John sets about trying to do the same. Equipped with bits and pieces found in his house, John begins a journey that will change the course of history forever.

Around the world, city highways and country roads have cut through natural spaces. Wild animals are blocked from the resources they need to survive, or must make dangerous crossings across busy roads to get to them. Fortunately, solving this problem has inspired some creative solutions! Take a tour of wildlife crossings across the globe, from grassy badger bridges to underpasses for elephants. Discover how these inventive pathways have saved both animal and human lives and helped preserve ecosystems.

For decades, the blasts and howls of the electric guitar have been some of the defining sounds of popular music. But more than a century of effort and innovation had to happen before this instrument went electric. Learn about the master craftspeople who created the guitar as we know it, the inventors who figured out how to send guitar notes through amplifiers and give the guitar a bigger sound, and the musicians whose legendary playing put it at the center of rock 'n' roll.

With X-rays, doctors detect problems human eyes can't see. X-rays are a form of invisible radiation. This powerful medical technology helps experts look inside the body and even treat illnesses. But early on, X-rays caused harm too, as people used them without enough protection. This history covers the discovery of X-rays, the development of safety standards, and the rise of more powerful and precise X-ray machines. Find out how modern doctors create digital images of the inner body—even 3D images of our brains!

Tech is everywhere! Learn more about the innovators who created the technology world. These innovators are women, people of color, immigrants, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community who are ready to be recognized.