Magazine

The Design issue

March/April 2023

If everything is design, is anything? Delving into the use of AI for the design of new drugs. The future of ecological design. Prosthetics that break the mold. Plus, a postmortem on design thinking.

Read the issue

Letter from the editor

If design is everything, is it anything?

Features

Categorized in Humans and technology
Why the definition of design might need a change
When we unpack its current meaning, we may find that we want—and need—to retool the word yet again.
Categorized in Culture
Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?
An approach that promised to democratize design may have done the opposite.
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
AI is dreaming up drugs that no one has ever seen. Now we’ve got to see if they work.
AI automation throughout the drug development pipeline is opening up the possibility of faster, cheaper pharmaceuticals.
Categorized in Humans and technology
Finding forgotten Indigenous landscapes with electromagnetic technology
Ohio's archaeological heritage can be traced by finding electromagnetic remnants in soil.
Categorized in Humans and technology
These prosthetics break the mold with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins
Prosthetics designers are coming up with new ways to help people feel more comfortable in their own skin.
Categorized in Climate change and energy
Restoring an ancient lake from the rubble of an unfinished airport in Mexico City
Plans for Mexico's $1 billion Lake Texcoco Ecological Park reflect a new paradigm in urban design.

Also in this issue
- How Rust went from a side project to the world’s most-loved programming language
  For decades, coders wrote critical systems in C and C++. Now they turn to Rust.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- How does an EV battery actually work?
  Are lithium batteries sustainable enough to fulfill the dream of the electric-car revolution?
  
  Categorized in Explained
- She’s working to make German tech more inclusive
  Nakeema Stefflbauer is bringing women from underrepresented backgrounds into the Berlin tech scene.
  
  Categorized in Profile
- How K-pop stans are shaping elections around the globe
  BTS Army and other K-pop fandoms are using the strategies they perfected by promoting their favorite bands to get political.
  
  Categorized in Policy
- Welcome to the oldest part of the metaverse
  Ultima Online, which just turned 25, offers a lesson in the challenges of building virtual worlds.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- These underwater cables can improve tsunami detection
  Telecom companies have long resisted letting scientific sensors piggyback on their subsea cables—until now.
  
  Categorized in Computing

Updated

Magazine

The Design issue

Letter from the editor

Features

Why the definition of design might need a change

Design thinking was supposed to fix the world. Where did it go wrong?

AI is dreaming up drugs that no one has ever seen. Now we’ve got to see if they work.

Finding forgotten Indigenous landscapes with electromagnetic technology

These prosthetics break the mold with third thumbs, spikes, and superhero skins

Restoring an ancient lake from the rubble of an unfinished airport in Mexico City

How Rust went from a side project to the world’s most-loved programming language

How does an EV battery actually work?

She’s working to make German tech more inclusive

How K-pop stans are shaping elections around the globe

Welcome to the oldest part of the metaverse

These underwater cables can improve tsunami detection

Past issues

The latest iteration of a legacy

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