May 2023

The Innovation Issue

Dewey Saunders/Inverse; Getty Images

The Future of Designing Our World

Innovators across technology, architecture, and entertainment are reimagining our world. The challenge? To design a future that is as beautiful and enticing as it is sustainable and adaptable.

Inside the Issue

Sponsored by
Lexus
Design

The Best Air Purifiers May Be Made From 2 Unusual Houseplants

They might not be as pretty as a monkey plant, but they are (technically) a lot more interesting.

Solutions

Mushrooms Are the Future of Design — These 3 Luxurious Uses Prove It

When it comes to sustainable design, one material has the edge.

Future Cities

One Urban Design Fix Could Make City Dwellers Happier and Healthier

The cities of the future are going green.

Tech

We Assembled the Teched-Out Playroom of Your Dreams

ByJames Pero and Raymond Wong

Welcome to a futuristic, insanely fun entertainment space full of shape-shifting TVs, VR treadmills, and drink-fetching robots.

Food Technology

Inside the Existential Struggle to Make a Perfect Paper Drinking Straw

ByMadeline Muzzi

Designed for strength and decomposition, paper straws are full of inherent contradictions.

Space Exploration

To Live on Mars, Human Architecture Has to Combine Science and Sci-Fi

Cars
Sponsored

How The New Lexus Powertrains Are Redefining Transportation In An Electrified World

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Science

Is There a Best Way to Think About the Future of Earth?

ByBecca Caddy

The optimal way to think about the future may not be as long-term as you think.

Space

New High-Tech Alloy Could Enable Nuclear Space Travel

ByJon Kelvey

The new alloy is durable to even extreme heat stress.

The Cusp

Can Ocean Waves Power the Grid? New Technology is Bringing Us Closer Than Ever

ByPaola Rosa-Aquino
HORIZONS

Scientists Broke a Major Computer Design Barrier — And It Could Change Tech As We Know It

ByAndrew Moseman

New chip instructions could hasten the arrival of quantum computers and self-driving cars.

Science

Architects Want to Print the Buildings of the Future

ByJames Rose and The Conversation

It’s the biggest shift in the industry since the rise of skyscrapers.

Innovation

This Surprisingly Basic Technology Might Finally Rid Our Drinking Water of Microplastics

ByJoanna Thompson

The future of water purification sounds great.

HORIZONS

European Countries Are Racing Toward the Continent's First Satellite Launch

ByNathaniel Scharping

Norway, Sweden, and Scotland are entering the space race with their own launch pads. But only one will be first.

Science

Scientists Just Found a Way to Make Living on Mars Easier

ByUniverse Today and Andy Tomaswick

Mars is a long way from Earth, making it challenging to communicate with.

Sunday Scaries

One Overlooked Office Design Trick Could Make You Happier at Work

BySarah Sloat

Office spaces can boost mental health — if they’re designed right.

Science

This Robotic Exoskeleton Could Give You Superhuman Balance

ByThe Conversation, Lena Ting, Gregory S. Sawicki, Max Shepherd and Owen Beck

They could help older people or individuals with disabilities avoid dangerous falls.