A picnic in the park as a starting point. This is the first of the grand challenges posed by Secretary Wayne Clough for the new strategic plan of the Smithsonian. Here’s the explanatory sentence: “We will continue to lead the quest to understand the fundamental nature of the cosmos, using next-generation technologies to explore our...

On March 8, Ben Fry offered a hands-on workshop at Cooper-Hewitt devoted to Processing, the open-source visual design software that he co-authored. For more information, visit our calendar. The Processing workshop is part of our “Tech on Your Terms” series, which invites the public to come to the museum and try out various design technologies....