Museum of Science and Industry

Have you ever wanted to invent or create something? Making stuff is cool. I love seeing the interesting things that people dream up and construct themselves. They don’t have to be big or grand to be inspiring – just innovative, creative, or plain old neat!

Here’s something I came across recently that combines a cool accomplishment with a sense of sweet nostalgia – modern 3-D...

Last month, the Obama Administration announced the launch of a new institute in Youngstown, Ohio that will be dedicated to revitalization of American manufacturing through the emerging technology of 3-D printing.

The Department of Defense chose Youngstown to be the site of the pilot National Additive Manufacturing Institute (NAMII) and...

Scientists at Kiel University and Hamburg University of Technology have created the world’s lightest* material, a carbon-based network of nanotubes called “Aerographite.” Seventy-five times lighter* than Styrofoam, this material has some very interesting properties. It can be compressed up to 95% and spring back without damage, it handles tension loads better than similar materials, and it conducts...

Columbia Sportswear has recently announced plans to introduce athletic wear called Omni-Freeze Zero that claims to cool the user down as they sweat. The garments will contain rings of a water-absorbing polymer, similar to the one found in disposable diapers, sodium polyacrylate. As the wearer sweats it will cause the...

Hooray, it’s summer vacation time! After a day packed with sightseeing, fun in the sun, and huge meals in a new and exciting place, it always feels great to flop down on the hotel bed and flip on the TV. But wait! You may have just touched the dirtiest, germiest thing in the room!

In a small preliminary study, scientists tested surfaces in hotel rooms to...