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

Isla del Encanto

Puerto Ricans have always found opportunity in the limits placed upon them. Exploring the island’s agricultural future–from community gardens to research hubs, bakers to growers to distillers.
Alicia Kennedy

Fowl Plague

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

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 History of Humanoid Robots

How we’ve recreated mankind in metal through time.
Duncan Geere
2 min read
A still from a James Bond movie showing the evil villain Blofeld stroking his cat, but the image is edited so that Blofeld is wearing a ring with the Facebook logo.

The Real Villains of the Tech Industry

The “Who, us? We’re just a tech company/public square/conduit for your conversations” line of deflection is echoed up and down the org charts of Silicon Valley.
Elizabeth Minkel
3 min read

The First Woman to Row Solo Across the Pacific is Helping NASA to Map Climate Change

For this dedicated citizen scientist, crossing the Earth’s largest ocean is a sideshow to collecting data.
Laura Cress
2 min read