Image: Bill Gates drinks water from Omniprocessor

Engineering

3 minute lesson

Bill Gates Drinks Sewage: Introducing the Omniprocessor

What if your glass of water was raw sewage just 5 minutes ago! The Omniproccessor is turning waste into safe, clean drinking water for people in developing countries, here’s how!

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Image: The band BOSTON together in 1977

Arts

4 minute lesson

From MIT Engineer to Rockstar

Tom Scholz began his career as an MIT engineer but used his skills and curiosity to start one of the world’s most famous bands, BOSTON. Here’s his story!

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Image: Nurse giving a woman a blood test

Engineering

3 minute lesson

Detecting Malaria with Magnets

Can low-tech solutions solve major medical problems? Find out how scientists are developing a technology that can detect malaria using magnets!

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Image: Kids Learning to control a toy robotic arm at a Maker Faire

Engineering

5 minute lesson

Sadie McCallum Shows Us Why Invention is for Everybody

The young inventor Sadie McCallum has a unique perspective on the world. When a problem arises as a result of her cerebral palsy she invents her way to brilliant solutions! Explore her work as an advocate and inventor!

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Image: A pile of food scraps

Engineering

5 minute lesson

Getting Energy from Our Food Scraps!

Meet the HORSE, a powerful machine combining technology and bacteria to help us better manage our food waste while generating energy!

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Image: Drummer Jason Barnes with his robotic drumming hand

Technology

8 minute lesson

When Robotics and Music Collide!

Can robots really make music? The musician Jason Barnes would probably say yes, and then blow you away with his cyborg drumming hand. Here’s his story and how music and robots are colliding!

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Image: Boat cleaning up oil with a boom on the ocean

Engineering

4 minute lesson

Your Spare Hair Could Clean the Ocean!

A solution for helping clean our environment could be growing out of your head right now! This idea takes something we have a lot of, hair, and turns it into an environment saving innovation.

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Image: Hubble deep field image of deep space

Culture

6 minute lesson

Peering into Space: The Image that Changed Everything

Can an image change the way we think about ourselves? In 1996 an image that looked deep into space did! This is the story of the Hubble Deep Field image and how it changed the way we think about our place in the universe.

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Image: Person holding a video game controller

Technology

9 minute lesson

Can Video Games Be Good For You?

Did you know video games could potentially be used as medicine? Researchers are finding ways to use gaming to help treat things like ADHD, autism, and depression!

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Image: The first user of this device, Ian, hitched up to the sensors and using the computer

Health

7 minute lesson

NeuroLife Is Rebuilding Brains!

Ian Burkhart and the folks at NeuroLife are reconnecting brain to body even after the debilitating effects of a spinal injury.

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Image: person playing the guitar between two tesla coils

Arts

7 minute lesson

Tesla Coils Make Music With Lightning

ArcAttack is using bolts of purple lightning to produce electrifying music! Tesla coils become musical instruments in an amazing scientific demonstration

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Image: Astronaut waving at camera above earth

Engineering

5 minute lesson

Astronaut Chic: Space Suits!

When astronauts leave Earth’s protective atmosphere, they need a little help from a space suit to keep them safe from the dangers of space

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Image: A horse from the wilds of Iceland

Places

5 minute lesson

Bringing the Trees Back to Iceland

Iceland has suffered the effects of widespread deforestation. Now, the country is looking for innovative ways to get the trees back!

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Image: Tilly Lockey at the SingularityU The Netherlands Summit in 2016 with her bionic arm

Technology

5 minute lesson

Making People Into Superheroes with an Amazing Arm!

Open Bionics is creating open source bionic arm technology! The Hero Arm changes lives, looks cool, and is available to anyone with a 3D printer!

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Dragonfly wing closeup

Engineering

7 minute lesson

Biomimicry: Letting Nature Be the Teacher!

Biomimicry is taking inspiration from the elegant simplicity of nature’s design. Human technology that imitates the natural world works better!

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a child wearing virtual reality glasses

Technology

11 minute lesson

Bring Your Friends into Virtual Reality!

At the University of Illinois-Chicago, engineers are changing the way we experience virtual reality by making it a group experience!

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