Image: School of fish circling

Technology

4 minute lesson

What Can A Thousand Swarming Robots Teach us About Nature?

The best technology mimics nature. These tiny robots are just one example!

View Touchstone
Image: Child playing at Morgan's Wonderland water park!

Technology

5 minute lesson

Visit the Water Park of an Inspired Future!

Morgan’s Inspiration Island is the world’s first ultra-accessible water park, and this remarkable place not only connects kids with the power of fun but is spurring on meaningful innovation!

View Touchstone
Image: Precious Plastic recycling center in the Maldives

Culture

7 minute lesson

Turning Trash into Treasures!

Precious Plastic is reshaping the way people think about plastic waste! They are creating solutions that can be used around the world to recycle plastic.

View Touchstone
Image: Solar Sails

Science

5 minute lesson

Sailing Through Space on the Power of the Sun

LightSail 2 is a crowdfunded mission to space to test out a technology called solar sailing that could revolutionize space exploration!

View Touchstone
Image: Robotic Snake coils around pipe

Engineering

2 minute lesson

Snake Robots: Can You Watch This Without Squirming?

The snake robot takes inspiration from the way snakes move to find new ways to explore the world. Check out how biomimicry combines engineering and nature!

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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.

View Touchstone
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.

View Touchstone
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!

View Touchstone
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.

View Touchstone
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

View Touchstone