The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center

12/07/2022

Planning a visit this week? Please note that our Draper Spark!Lab at the National Museum of American History will close early this Thursday, December 8 due to a special event.

11/28/2022

*click* *click click* *click* *click click click*

What's that sound? It's the sound of Cyber Monday, of course!

While clicking through today's best online shopping deals, have you stopped to consider how the computer mouse came to be?

In December 1968, inventor Douglas Carl Engelbart (1925-2013) debuted many of the concepts of modern, interactive computing. With grants from ARPA, NASA, and the US Air Force, Engelbart established the Augmentation Research Center (ARC) at SRI and began to build what he called his oNLine System, or NLS. Engelbart and his ARC team also experimented with different input devices. For example, they developed the “chord keyset,” an efficient five-button that complemented the standard QWERTY keyboard. The ARC team also designed and tested different selection tools to manipulate the on-screen symbols and text, including a light pen, a joystick, and a roller-ball controlled by the user’s knee. However, the most intuitive selection tool was the handheld ”mouse” – a simple wooden box with two perpendicular metal wheels, a selection button, and a wire connection to the processor. When a user rolled the mouse across the desktop, the cursor replicated its motion on the screen. According to Engelbart, no one could remember exactly who first coined the term: “It just looked like a mouse with a tail . . . [and] the name ‘mouse’ just took.”

For more on many of the fundamental features of modern computing developed by Engelbart and his colleagues, visit the link in our bio.



Image 1/2: Douglas Engelbart using the NLS’s 5-button chord keyset, a standard QWERTY keyboard, and 3-button mouse, around 1968. NMAH Catalog #2015.3073.11, gift of SRI International

Image 2/2: A prototype of the first computer mouse, on display in Places of Invention. The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart and built by Bill English in 1964 at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI). Photo by Christina Engelbart, Doug Engelbart Institute

11/10/2022

Arielle Rausin’s Invention Fits Like a Glove

New blog post alert!

Wheelchair marathoner Arielle Rausin shares the invention story behind her game-changing (we're talking racing faster, racing longer) 3D printed gloves.

Wheelchair marathoner Arielle Rausin invented 3D printed gloves that helped her race faster for longer.

10/31/2022

Just when you thought your feed was safe from the spooky friar robot we posted earlier this month…

…Happy Halloween! It’s the skeleton of the Friar Automaton! 💀

The X-rays of the 450-year-old friar automaton, pictured here, show the mechanisms that enable its movements. Just over a foot tall, the figure, driven with its internal clockwork, imitates walking by rolling in an almost square pattern. The eyes move from side to side, while one arm raises a cross for a kiss and the other arm strikes its chest in "mea culpa," a gesture from a prayer confessing guilt.

The figure’s origins are shrouded in mystery, but it cannot shake an intriguing legend. King Philip II of Spain commissioned a talented mechanician Juanelo Turriano to create an automaton after Philip’s son recovered from a nearly fatal blow to the head. Philip had promised a miracle if his son recovered, and in imitation of the friar who would become San Diego, Turriano created a clockwork miracle.

Want to learn more about robots, including those in the collection? Register now for Robotics and AI: New Perspectives, a four-part webinar series Nov. 1-4. Link in bio!

10/26/2022

It's the final Wednesday before our Robotics and AI: New Perspectives webinar, which means we have one last question to ask you about robots.

Question: What emotions do you associate with robots? Do you find robots to be scary? How about friendly? Let us know in the comments!

And don't forget to register for the four-part webinar series coming up next week: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/robotics-and-ai-new-perspectives-1194879

10/25/2022

We're updating our operating hours!

Starting on Wednesday, October 26th, Draper Spark!Lab located at the National Museum of American History will be adding an additional open day to the weekly schedule. We will now be open from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

10/19/2022

Question: If you could bring one robotic sci-fi character to life, who would you choose, and why?

Let us know in the comments! We’re actively collecting and interpreting the history of robotics, automation, algorithms, and artificial intelligence with help from the public (you!).
Interested in this topic and want to learn more about robots? Join us Nov. 1-4 for a free, public webinar series “Robotics and AI: New Perspectives.” Link in bio! 🤖



Image: C-3PO and R2-D2 costumes from Return of the Jedi, 1983, NMAH 1984.0302. Behind them is a Fanuc S-380R industrial robot, used for spot welding cars. © Smithsonian Institution, photo SIA-90-15043

10/19/2022

Robotics and AI: New Perspectives

It's a Wednesday, which means we have another question for you. We’re actively collecting and interpreting the history of robotics, automation, algorithms, and artificial intelligence (AI) and we need your input!

🤖Question: If you could bring one robotic sci-fi character to life, who would you choose? Why?

Bonus: Want to learn more about robots? Join us Nov. 1-4 for a free, public webinar series “Robotics and AI: New Perspectives” to learn more from leading roboticists, computer scientists, journalists, historians, social scientists, economists, policymakers, and cultural critics:

A free, four-day webinar series exploring the social benefits, negative impacts, and future prospects for innovations in robots and artificial intelligence.

10/14/2022

Although the word “robot” wasn’t introduced to English-speaking audiences until the 1920s, robots have existed for centuries.

The oldest robot in the collection is the Automaton of a Friar from about 1560. The figure has a key-wound iron clockwork encased in an unpainted wooden body. The clockwork has a spring in the drum and fusee with cord. It has a wooden head with moveable eyes and lower jaw. The limbs and head are connected to the clockwork with chains and the lower joint of the left arm is connected with a cord. A band of fabric, 2" wide, is fastened with adhesive to the bottom of the body. Fully operational, the figure walks in a trapezoidal pattern; moves both arms (right arm strikes chest in "mea culpa" and left arm raises rosary to lips); moves eyes side to side; opens and closes mouth; and turns head.

Curious about the topic of robots and want to learn more? Join us on November 1-4, 2022 for a FREE public webinar series “Robotics and AI: New Perspectives” to learn more from leading roboticists, computer scientists, journalists, historians, social scientists, economists, policymakers, and cultural critics. Link in bio!



(For more photos and information about the Automaton of a Friar, visit https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_855351)

10/12/2022

We need your !

We're actively collecting and interpreting the history of robotics, automation, algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI)—and we need your input!

What form of AI did you use today? How did it make you feel? Let us know in the comments and show us how you felt using an emoji! 🤖

10/11/2022

Happy 100th birthday to robots!

The play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), by Czech playwright Karel Capek opened on Broadway on October 9, 1922. It was the first time the word “robot” was used in English to describe artificial humans.

Since their Broadway debut, robots have continued to entertain us as characters in science fiction stories and became integral staples in our daily lives.

Now that robots have captured our imaginations for over 100 years, are we optimistic about the innovative advancements of robotic technology, or are we fearful of the destructive potential of artificial intelligence?

Join us as we examine this topic in our four-part webinar series, Robotics and AI: New Perspectives, Nov. 1-4. Registration is free but required. Link in bio!



Image 1/2: Metal X-70 tin toy robot manufactured in Japan for export to Western markets. The toy is made of steel, brass, plastic, paint, natural rubber, and is based on the popular robot character from the film "Forbidden Planet" (MGM, 1956). This X-70 toy reflects the Japanese fad for robots. Gift of the Carl and Nancy Gewirz Fund Inc.

Image 2/2: Robotics and AI: New Perspectives event banner.

10/09/2022

Robotics and AI: New Perspectives

The word “robot” was first used on this day 100 years ago to describe human-like machines.

Czech playwright Karel Capek’s play, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots), was translated into English shortly after its premiere and opened in the US on Broadway on October 9, 1922. The science fiction play introduced audiences to the idea of artificial intelligence and its possible consequences.

Now that robots have captured our imaginations for over 100 years, are we optimistic about the innovative advancements of robotic technology, or are we fearful of the destructive potential of artificial intelligence?

Join us as we examine this topic in our four-part webinar series, Robotics and AI: New Perspectives, Nov. 1-4. Registration is free but required. https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/robotics-and-ai-new-perspectives-1194879

A free, four-day webinar series exploring the social benefits, negative impacts, and future prospects for innovations in robots and artificial intelligence.

09/30/2022

It only took re-inventing the wheel to take skateboarding to the next level.

According to a 1975 Sports Illustrated article, titled “Wheeling and Dealing, "The [skateboarding] fad had started in Southern California's beach towns, where kids nailed roller-skate wheels to miniature wooden surfboards and whiled away the days when the ocean was flat, scaring the daylights out of passing motorists. The craze swept inland and for a year anybody who could tool up fast enough made money. That was 1965...by January 1966 it was all over. The skateboard was a good toy, but the kids had pushed it to its limits and were on to new challenges.”

For skateboarding to ascend again, it needed someone to develop innovative improvements to the limited, and limiting, equipment. Frank Nasworthy's development of skateboard-specific urethane “Cadillac Wheels” revolutionized the sport in the 1970s and beyond.

New on our blog, meet inventor Frank "Captain Cadillac" Nasworthy and learn how his innovations lead to reigniting the skateboard craze. Link in bio!



Image 1/2: Cadillac Wheels solid-wood skateboard with Tracker trucks and red K-73 Cadillac wheels, 1973, NMAH 2021.0116.01, gift of Frank Nasworthy. © Smithsonian Institution; photo by Jaclyn Nash, NMAH

Image 2/2: An original 1973 Cadillac brand skateboard wheel, NMAH 2021.0116.03.1, gift of Frank Nasworthy. The wheel measures two inches in diameter, is one inch wide, and is unpigmented; the original color of the urethane is translucent red. © Smithsonian Institution; photo by Jaclyn Nash, NMAH

09/14/2022

"It was early in the summer of 2020 and the world had shut down. With thoughts of an eventual reopening, groups throughout the museum mobilized to talk about how to provide a safe experience for visitors. The museum technology group was taking a concerted look at how to make the museum a touchless environment, including interactives. I was participating in these meetings when the discussion began around which interactives could be made touchless and which would need to be temporarily shut down. As part of our discussions on interactives, we saw an opportunity to also improve accessibility. These meetings and discussions sent my mind into the 'Think It' step of the invention process. There was a problem with high-touch interactives. How could it be solved?"

Our resident inventor, Tim P**a, writes about inventing the “Switch Point” touchless button using the Spark!Lab “It Phrases” of the invention process - link in bio!



Photo 1/3: Exploded view of a touchless button prototype. © Smithsonian Institution; graphic by Tim P**a

Photo 2/3: Arcade push button alongside an early touchless button prototype. © Smithsonian Institution; photo by Tim P**a

Photo 3/3: The first proof of concept circuit for the button, July 2020. © Smithsonian Institution; photo by Tim P**a

09/14/2022

Inventing a Touchless Button

Along with our belief that “everyone is inventive,” we also see invention as a process with multiple steps. The steps as we explain them are: Think It, Explore It, Sketch It, Create It, Try It, Tweak It, and Share It.

Learn how our resident inventor, Tim P**a, used these steps to invent a touchless button!

The path from idea to working invention.

09/06/2022

Innoskate South Dakota

As summer begins to wind down, we're thinking back on the awesome time we had in July at Innoskate! Our newest blog post shares the full recap of our time in South Dakota exploring the relationships between invention, innovation, and skateboarding:

Skateboarding and innovation? You bet! And don’t forget the jazz.

08/12/2022

Conner Prairie - Spark!Lab LIVE

Check out this awesome video from the newest Spark!Lab National Network site in Conner Prairie! Spark!Lab Conner Prairie will be open to the public beginning Saturday, August 13! ⬇️

08/12/2022

Simple in construction and operation, the air brush offered new opportunities in art and photography. The airbrush has six main parts: a body, trigger, nozzle, needle, color cup, and air hose, which attaches to an air supply (foot pump or motorized). But where exactly did the air brush come from? Many inventors claim it as their own.

•The air brush was known first as an “atomizer” and was patented in 1876 by Frances Edgar Stanley (1849-1918), a photographer, inventor, portrait painter, and businessman.

•Leslie L. Curtis (1855-1915) an artist from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, invented an atomizer for coloring pictures (US Patent 248,579) in 1881. Curtis’s atomizer made use of a bellow or elastic bulb that would deliver the air to distribute the paint.

•Abner Peeler (1836-1895), a jeweler and inventor from Iowa, invented a “paint distributer” (US Patent 256,852) in 1882 that “distributed pigments across a surface.”

And there are more names to add to this list!

The crowded air brush business fostered competition that made it ripe for patent and trademark infringement. Visit our website (link in bio!) to read the full invention story of the air brush.



Image 1/2: How an airbrush works, from The Air Brush, pamphlet, Air Brush Manufacturing Co., page 6, undated, AC0060-0007664-01. Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Art, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

Image 2/2: An example of air brushing for paintings, The Air Brush, pamphlet, Air Brush Manufacturing Co., undated, AC0060-0007665. Warshaw Collection of Business Americana, Series: Art, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

08/10/2022

Photos from Conner Prairie's post

08/10/2022

Today is our birthday! The Smithsonian was officially created on Aug. 10, 1846.

In 1829, English scientist James Smithson left his fortune to the United States to found an institution for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Why? It’s a mystery.

Smithson, an Oxford graduate who first identified the mineral now named smithsonite, never visited the U.S. while he was alive.

His bequest sparked widespread debate over what such a national institution might be. Once established, the Smithsonian became part of the process of developing a U.S. national identity. Today we are the world's largest museum, education, and research complex.

This photo of the Smithsonian's 150th birthday party in 1996 comes from Smithsonian Institution Archives.

08/09/2022

Sports Analytics Before Moneyball

Many sports fans first became aware of sports analytics from Michael Lewis’s bestselling book Moneyball (2003), and the 2011 film adaptation starring Brad Pitt as Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane.

But long before the book Moneyball hit bestseller lists in 2003, sports analytics had emerged as a quirky pastime practiced by operations researchers, freelance sports journalists, and internet hobbyists.

Long before the book Moneyball hit bestseller lists in 2003, sports analytics had emerged as a quirky pastime practiced by operations researchers, freelance sports journalists, and internet hobbyists.

07/27/2022

Smithsonian National Education Summit: Together We Thrive

At the heart of the hands-on project-based learning experiences that Spark!Lab team designs, develops, and facilitates in the museum space is the importance of invention and innovation. Learn how they've adapted these experiences for classroom and at-home learning using digital tools and how you can build out similar experiences for your students.

Our Spark!Lab team presents Physical Invention Challenges Transformed for the Digital World today at 2:00PM ET during the Smithsonian National Education Summit! Register now to join us in 1 hour:

Knowledge begins with wonder! Join us online or in person for the free, two-day Smithsonian National Education Summit! This year's theme is: “Together We Thrive: Creating Our Shared Future through Education,” acknowledging that given the right conditions and resources, all children can thrive.

07/22/2022

Innovating the Spark!Lab Experience during a Pandemic

We welcome this guest blog from one of our Spark!Lab Network sites. Spark!Lab staff at the Springfield Museums in Massachusetts innovated during the pandemic to create a safe and welcoming invention experience for visitors and community members.

Springfield Museums’ Spark!Lab pioneered methods to safely reopen their hands-on space to the public.

07/15/2022

About Spark!Lab

Our Draper Spark!Lab located in the National Museum of American History has expanded its operating hours! Visit Spark!Lab on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Draper Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors.

07/15/2022

THANK YOU INNOSKATE SIOUX FALLS PARTNERS! The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center, Smithsonian Jazz USA Skateboarding, Sioux Falls Skatepark Association, Rehfeld's Art & Framing Wokini Initiative at South Dakota State University Sioux Falls Arts Council Downtown Sioux Falls Inc. Ground Control Rock The Rez

07/13/2022

8 youth skateboarders showcase skills in short films, onstage at Levitt during Innoskate

8 youth skateboarders showcase skills in short films, onstage at Levitt during Innoskate

Eight local students got a chance to showcase their skateboarding skills -- and to practice some tricks with an Olympic skateboarder.

07/13/2022

“The happiest I’ve ever been in this town. Thank you Innoskate.”
“Innoskate was amazing…such an awesome opportunity”
“The energy was incredible”
“Such an amazing reminder of the power of skateboarding.”

We are overwhelmed by the positive messages coming our way after wrapping up the 2022 Innoskate festival at Pine Ridge and Sioux Falls. Thank you to our collaborators, and , for helping us to create arguably the most successful Innoskate festival to date. Thank you and Jason Lee for donating your personal skate decks and ‘A Visual Sound’ memorabilia to all of us by way of and . Thank you, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, for the multiple moving live performances throughout the festival. Thank you to all of our local partners and sponsors in slides two and three of this post. Thank you to the vendors, volunteers, and artists (special shoutout to for the RAD Innoskate 2022 design work!) that brought this Innoskate to the next level of engagement. Most of all, thank YOU, the community, for joining us and embracing skateboarding as a dynamic exploration of invention, creativity, fun and freedom of expression.

Photo: takes a quick break from shredding to design their own prototype skatepark at the Spark!Lab activities station. Photograph by .

!Lab

additionally notes that this program is made possible in part by the David H. Horowitz Fund.

07/07/2022

Smithsonian To Collect Skateboard Decks and Iconic Skate Film

Big news from Innoskate 2022 happening this weekend in Sioux Falls, SD! Professional skateboarders and filmmakers Jason Lee and Chris “Dune” Pastras will donate personal objects to the National Museum of American History during a special donation ceremony at the festival:

The Smithsonian’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, USA Skateboarding and Levitt at the Falls are collaborating this summer to create a one-of-a-kind Innoskate festival for the Oglala Lakota Nation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, July 5, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, July 7....

06/09/2022

Videos for Young Learners Encourage Object-Based Discovery

We've got some great news for our National Museum of American History visitors: The Draper Spark!Lab will reopen to the public on Friday, June 10! 🎉

Draper Spark!Lab summer hours will be limited as we get back into the swing of things in the hands-on invention workshop. Beginning June 10, Spark!Lab will be open on Fridays and Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

If you're not familiar with our Spark!Lab in the National Museum of American History, we use museum objects to engage young learners in the invention process. As they explore inventions from the museum’s collection—in person or virtually through our History Time video series—children examine the materials used to make the objects, notice parts of the object that tell us about the people who made and used them, think about how the object works or might be used, find similarities and differences between the new object and things that they are already familiar with, and use the what they learn from the object to begin to grapple with abstract ideas. Learn more here: https://invention.si.edu/videos-young-learners-encourage-object-based-discovery

Use our History Time videos to engage your young learner in close noticing skills—and practice with objects from the museum’s collection.

06/07/2022

Happy Birthday, Prince!

Prince's Yellow Cloud electric guitar will join hundreds of other iconic objects that showcase the influence of popular culture in America in National Museum of American History's exciting new exhibition, “Entertainment Nation”/“Nación del espectáculo,” opening on December 9, 2022.

The electric guitar may be the most important and popular instrument of the last half-century in American music. Certainly its introduction brought a major change to American musical technology and has shaped the sound and direction of modern musical styles. Learn more about the invention story behind the electric guitar here: https://invention.si.edu/invention-electric-guitar

Happy Birthday to Prince!

Pictured here is his Yellow Cloud electric guitar. Originally painted white, the guitar debuted in Prince’s breakout film, Purple Rain, and later was painted peach when Prince unveiled his 1987 album, “Sign ‘o the Times.”

The guitar will join hundreds of other iconic objects that showcase the influence of popular culture in America in our exciting new exhibition, “Entertainment Nation”/“Nación del espectáculo,” opening on December 9, 2022.

Learn more about the new exhibition here: https://s.si.edu/3MzChT3

Entertainment Nation is made possible in part by the generous leadership support of the Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family, Tom and Karen Rutledge, A+E Networks, American Cruise Lines, Linda and Mike Curb, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Barry and Wendy Meyer, and an Anonymous Friend.

05/11/2022

Chinese-born scientist Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu, one of the most influential physicists of the 20th century, made significant contributions to experimental physics that helped change what we know about the atomic world.

Throughout her career, Wu achieved many “firsts.” She was the first woman president of the American Physical Society; the first woman hired to the physics faculty at Princeton and also the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate from Princeton; and the first woman to receive the National Academy of Sciences’ Comstock Prize in Physics. She was also the first person, man or woman, to win the prestigious Wolf Prize in Physics in 1978.

Read more about Wu’s inventive life in our latest blog post: https://invention.si.edu/diverse-voices-chien-shiung-wu-chinese-marie-curie

05/02/2022

Join us for our final Innovative Lives program of 2022, featuring Dr. Martine Rothblatt, Founder, Chairperson, and CEO of United Therapeutics.

Dr. Rothblatt started United Therapeutics to save her youngest child's life from a rare illness after previously creating SiriusXM satellite radio and other communications systems. Rothblatt is a co-inventor on over ten patents and has led innovations in aviation and architecture, including the design and piloting of an electric helicopter that set world records and creating the world's largest zero carbon footprint building.

Registration is free, but required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/innovative-lives-2022-tickets-204454487877

04/22/2022

Who Invented the Environment?

Happy ! Want to know the answer to the question, "Who Invented the Environment?" The answer is in our latest blog post: https://invention.si.edu/collections-who-invented-environment

The work of artists, scientists, inventors, activists, and government regulators helps shape our changing ideas about the environment.