Quiz: Can You Guess What These Inventions Were Supposed to Do?

Chris Kirk and Jane C. Hu

June 12, 2014 10:40 AM

The Grizzly History of Bear Pepper Sprays

Amanda Hess

June 11, 2014 8:02 AM

A Mysterious Woman’s 1908 Patent Exemplifies the Drama of Dogs in America

Katy Waldman

June 10, 2014 11:56 AM

Trendy Technologies Never Live Up to the Hype. Until They Do.

Will Oremus

June 04, 2014 9:13 AM

Abraham Lincoln’s Steampunk Presidency

Jacopo della Quercia

May 29, 2014 8:48 AM

The Thong, the Backless Bra, and Other Life-Changing Fashion Patents

Boer Deng

May 28, 2014 3:03 PM

Industrial Revolution Lessons for Today’s Age of Open Innovation

James Bessen

May 21, 2014 2:28 PM

The Dos Equis Guy Has Nothing on the Inventor of the Banana Slicer

Tyler Lopez

May 20, 2014 11:07 AM

Thomas Edison Was a “Patent Troll”

Adam Mossoff

May 19, 2014 5:45 AM

Love Cover Songs? Thank This Terrible Supreme Court Decision About Player Pianos.

Kal Raustiala and Christopher Jon Sprigman

May 12, 2014 10:00 AM

Universities Sometimes Look a Lot Like Patent Trolls

Daniel Engber

May 07, 2014 11:49 PM

The History of Patent Examiners Is Fascinating. No, Really, It’s Fascinating.

Kara W. Swanson

May 07, 2014 10:03 AM

Infomercials Deserve a Little More Respect

Ariel Bogle

May 04, 2014 11:44 PM

Mailing Your Ideas and Creations to Yourself Doesn’t Protect Them

Lily Hay Newman

May 02, 2014 12:06 PM

What Fictional Inventions Say About American Ingenuity

Rebecca Onion

April 24, 2014 2:48 PM

The 19th-Century Doctor Who Wanted to Create a Death Thermometer

Deanna Day

April 22, 2014 5:35 PM