Beats: Food Food structures our day, and food systems shape our world

    The Aesthetics of Feeling Safe Rape is added to the lengthy list of the things a woman should keep in mind before going out, in addition to skin oil and bra lines and the effect that gravity can have on our hair.

    The Most Subversive Way to Travel Perhaps the humble bicycle, a transportation mode that puts people in contact with one another and gives them back that control they seem to crave, offers a unique opportunity to remake those realities for the better.

    Scientists Like Me Are Studying Your Tweets–Are You OK With That? As researchers, we have a responsibility to acknowledge that factors like the type of data, the creator of that data, and our intended use for the data are important when it comes to using public information.

    How We Got To: The Smart Fridge From Francis Bacon to the Large Hadron Collider.

    It’s Time For a New Kind of Power Fantasy Games can–and must–offer different definitions of fantasy, including fantasies of safety and peace.

    A Visual History of the Future

    Decades ago, artists’ imaginings formed high expectations about the world to come. Were these just fantasies–or was it the work of pioneers whose visions of the future actually helped to shape it?
    Darren Garrett
    May 30, 2018

    Fowl Plague

    Pandemics have threatened humanity in the past–and avian influenza may well be the next one due.
    Duncan Geere
    Aug 4, 2017

    Breaking the Cycle

    The future of reproductive health in India, from early ideas about population control to on-the-ground interventions happening now, to a world where men and women share contraceptive responsibility.
    Hannah Harris Green
    Sep 26, 2018

    Beats: Space

    Space is where we project our dreams–and our nightmares–of the future.

    Beats: Food

    Food structures our day, and food systems shape our world

    Beats: Disability

    “Disable” is an active verb, and disability describes the social and environmental barriers that prevent access just as much as an individual body’s physical reality.

    Beats: Health

    Access to health care is as much a matter of public policy as it is the size of a person’s pocketbook; within a doctor’s office, many factors affect the quality of treatment.

    A wall mural of a dense wood, painted on the side of a brick building. A man stands in front of it, admiring it.

    Transforming London into a Giant Park

    By connecting the idea of a national park and a city, might we productively transform how we see both?
    Alice Bell
    Oct 17, 2014 3 min read

    Consumer Wearables Measure Air Quality in the Most Polluted Cities

    Crowdsourcing air quality readings could make life better for millions around the world.
    Duncan Geere
    Jun 19, 2015 2 min read
    Salads growing under purple LED lights in a hydroponic urban farm.

    Zero Food Miles at the MIT CityFARM

    The next generation of truly green buildings should look–and taste–good enough to eat.
    Mark Harris
    Oct 16, 2014 1 min read