Inventors Science

When Temple Grandin was born, her parents knew that she was different. It wasn’t until years later that she was diagnosed with autism, a brain disorder that makes communication difficult. Today, Dr. Temple Grandin is a scientist and professor of animal science at Colorado State University. Her career has revolutionized the livestock industry - each year, half the cattle in the United States are handled in cruelty-free facilities she designed. She is also a passionate advocate for autism, using her experience to prove that people with this disorder can have “normal” lives.

Drawing on 40 years of research and a treasure trove of new information, Tesla: Wizard at War provides a comprehensive view of Tesla's discoveries, which continue to influence today's military technology and diplomatic strategies. One of the world's leading Tesla experts, Marc J. Seifer, offers new insight into the brilliant scientist's particle beam weapon (aka the "Death Ray") and explores his military negotiations with pivotal historical figures - including his links to Joseph Stalin, Vannevar Bush, General Andrew McNaughton, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Discover the brilliant life of Hedy Lamarr. This talented film actress became an influential scientist with her invention of a secret radio system in the early 1940s, a building block of today’s wireless communications.

Throughout history, people have experimented, invented, and created new ways of doing things. Kid Innovators tells the stories of a diverse group of brilliant thinkers in fields like technology, education, business, science, art, and entertainment, reminding us that every innovator started out as a kid. Florence Nightingale rescued baby mice, Alan Turing was a daydreamer with terrible handwriting, and Alvin Ailey felt like a failure at sports.

Kids have always had amazing ideas, like how to keep your ears warm on a cold winter day or an icy treat to enjoy on a hot summer day. Learn about four young inventors and their inventions that helped to change people's lives.

Listen and relive exciting tales from Highlights, now on audio! Learn about five successful Americans and the teacher who encouraged them and how to use a balloon to predict the weather, along with other stories about learning. Stories include: "Being Inspired by Teachers" by Marty Kaminsky, "Find the Crescent Moon" by Ken Croswell, PhD, "Get to Know a Million" by Stephen Whitt, "Hot Lava Under My Feet" by Chris Dietel, "How Do You Measure Up?" by Janet Slingerland Hammond, and more.

Although Orville and Wilbur Wright are celebrated today as heroes for their revolutionary contributions to science and engineering - they are acknowledged as the first men to successfully achieve powered, piloted flight - their success was hard-earned. In fact, it took the self-taught engineers years of work and dozens of crashes before they managed a single 12-second flight! In this first installment of the brand new Epic Fails series, Ben Thompson and Erik Slader take listeners through the Wright brothers' many mishaps and misadventures as they paved the way for modern aviation.

Have you ever wondered how war machines were created? Or the origin of beauty salons? Or maybe even how rubber is used in tires, and rubber shoes? Learn more about these renowned inventors and how their inventions helped shape modern life into the way we know it now!

Our world is teeming with robots. Robotic arms build cars in factories. Military robots disarm bombs in war zones. And robot vacuum cleaners suck the dirt off our floors. But how do all of these robots work? From their computer brains to their super sensors, learn how robots are changing the world we live in.

During his lifetime, Buckminster Fuller was hailed as one of the greatest geniuses of the twentieth century. As the architectural designer and futurist best known for the geodesic dome, he enthralled a vast popular audience, inspired devotion from both the counterculture and the establishment, and was praised as a modern Leonardo da Vinci. To his admirers, he exemplified what one man could accomplish by approaching urgent design problems using a radically unconventional set of strategies, which he based on a mystical conception of the universe’s geometry.

Nikola Tesla was a major contributor to the electrical revolution that transformed daily life at the turn of the 20th century. His inventions, patents, and theoretical work formed the basis of modern AC electricity, and contributed to the development of radio and television. Like his competitor Thomas Edison, Tesla was one of America's first celebrity scientists, enjoying the company of New York high society and dazzling the likes of Mark Twain with his electrical demonstrations. An astute self-promoter and gifted showman, he cultivated a public image of the eccentric genius.

Thomas Edison wasn't just an inventor. He was also a physicist and businessman. Young listeners will discover how he became a great scientist whose inventions made a better life for most everyone.

Inventing is all about ideas—ideas for making products better or creating new ones. To put these ideas into action, young inventors need tools for tinkering. Find out how to put together your own inventor's workshop with simple tools and common household objects.

Have you ever looked at a skyscraper and wondered how it was built? Do you ever look up at a tall building and wonder how it does not fall down? This story helps you explore the changes that have led to the creation of skyscrapers! You will get to see the different materials that have been developed to allow for better stability. You will get to understand how things like iron, steel, and concrete have revolutionized the way buildings are built and designed. By the end of this story, you will have a new appreciation for the skyscrapers that are all over the world!

In ancient China, an alchemist mixed an exploding medicine and accidentally invented gunpowder. Learn about the development of gunpowder and other explosives, like nitroglycerin and dynamite, in this fun feature.

Can you imagine having to sit still for 30 minutes just to have your picture taken? Or having to send film away to be developed? Technology has come a long way since then! Listen to learn about photography inventions like flashbulbs, Kodak and Polaroid cameras, and more!

Some kids are born missing a hand or fingers, others lose them because of accidents. Find out how people are printing artificial hands on 3-D printers to help those who need a hand. They are cheap, easy to build, and really work!

In medicine, machines can be used to take detailed pictures of bones and even to save people’s lives. Listen to learn about the marvelous machines of modern medicine, like the defibrillator, the x-ray machine, and more!

Have you ever heard of a bed that dumps you out if you try to hit snooze on your alarm clock? The “early rising machine” was one of John Muir’s many inventions. He loved to use his innovation and creativity to come up with new technology. If you could invent anything you want, what would you make?

Writing is very important to all of us! But did you know that people in the past did not have the same kind of writing instrument that we use today? Instead of using plastic or metals to create pens, people in the past used feathers to create pens! This story gives a brief history of what people used to write with and how they eventually developed the feather pen! Not only will you have a history of writing, but you will also learn how to create your very own feather pen!