The Future of Money Depends on Busting Fairy Tales About Its Past Want to disrupt finance? Start here.

    Batteries Not Excluded The supercomputer in your pocket and your next car rely on them–so what will we do if we run out of lithium?

    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.

    Dreaming Up Inventions for an Afrofuturist World Three magical tools necessary for both liberation and laughter.

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

    Let Robots Handle Your Emotional Burnout at Work But as robotics and computing evolve, some researchers foresee a future where technology can relieve the long-held emotional burden of some of these professions. They think we owe it to the service workforce to offer a new frontline of robotic protection. In fact, they think it’s far overdue–but does that actually mean just automating these jobs away?

    A vast stack of containers on a ship

    Postcards From a Supply Chain

    A series that traces consumer goods back through the global shipping system to their source.
    Dan Williams
    Jan 21, 2015

    Disability Futures

    We can’t think about the future-of health, of technology, of community-without centering disability; it cuts across every other kind of experience. Disability is central to all of our lives.
    Kenny Fries
    Apr 30, 2019

    Fowl Plague

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

    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.

    How Gothenburg’s Excess Heat Actually Keeps the City Cool

    The city’s district cooling system turns wasted energy into summer coolness.
    Duncan Geere
    Feb 6, 2015 1 min read

    It’s Time for Cities to Talk About Abandoning Meat

    Can urban farms really help fight climate change and make room for animals at the same time?
    Ajit Niranjan
    Apr 27, 2016 7 min read

    The History (and Future) of Live Music

    From paleolithic flutes and church organs to wearables and virtual reality.
    Vas Panagiotopoulos
    Dec 11, 2015 7 min read