Why the government wants self-driving cars to glow cyan
Robotaxis and other self-driving cars could soon get their own distinct cyan-colored lights to show when they’re being driven by a robot. The bright blue-green color would be standardized for…
Design
72 articles
Why the new Lego x Daft Punk collab makes perfect sense
Lego recently announced that Daft Punk, the French electronic duo that split up in 2021, is entering the Lego universe in a partnership that spans “product, content and brand experiences.”…
This is how marketers can win in the age of AI
According to Ipsos , two-thirds of American marketers would fail a basic marketing test. The market research company’s study found that most marketers couldn’t answer even basic questions about the…
These tiny trackers were designed to be light enough for a butterfly
Researchers track animal movements through tags on their limbs, wings, and shells, but how do you track a creature that weighs less than a gram? To build a device tiny…
Why Instagram is about to look a lot more like YouTube
Instagram just announced a new feature that looks a whole lot like YouTube. In a video posted on October 26, the company announced its latest product, “Features.” According to head…
Secondhand gifts are going mainstream this holiday season
For most of history, holiday shopping came with an unspoken rule: Never give someone a used present. A preowned gift seemed cheap, or worse, thoughtless. But that taboo seems to…
Trump is playing real estate developer with national treasures. This group is fighting back
Since President Trump returned to office, some of the nation’s best-known historic sites, from the White House’s ill-fated East Wing to the imperiled Kennedy Center, have come under attack, prompting…
UC Berkeley’s new AI-research building is designed for human interaction
At UC Berkeley’s new College of Computing, Data Science, and Society , an interlocking building of curved glass and sleek columns, the building has been designed so that the technologies…
This gadget uses AI to listen to plants and translate what they say
If plants could talk, they might be able to help us better understand environmental conditions. A new sensor was designed to do just that by using AI to listen to…
‘Mesoamerican Modern’ redefines how we understand Mexican architecture
To walk through Mexico City is to stroll down centuries at once. The ruins of the Aztec empire are exposed on the ground beside colonial structures built from the same…
What’s really fueling the recent generosity boom
Generosity is in the air, or so it would seem. The Trump administration recently mailed a round of $500 checks to almost a million users of Healthcare.gov. The AI rivals…
This Nike race medal is meant to be worn as jewelry
For its 2026 After Dark Tour, a nighttime race series of 10Ks and half-marathons for women, Nike designed a multipurpose medal that’s meant to be worn long after race day…
Artificial Intelligence
Here’s how Canva’s new image generation tool compares to models by OpenAI, Google, and Meta
Canva has launched Canva Craft, a new image generation tool. Business Insider Canva launched Canva Craft, a tool similar to AI image models by Google, Meta, and OpenAI. Surprisingly, Canva…
Bluetooth backlash and nostalgia helped Bose launch wired headphones that keep selling out
Last fall, Raza Haider, president of premium consumer audio at Bose, noticed something peculiar when dropping his daughter off at college: more students were wearing wired headphones than he’d seen…
Major music stars like Harry Styles and Celine Dion are embracing residencies. Here’s why
For Harry Styles’ dedicated audience, it is the can’t-miss event of the year: Tens of thousands have descended on New York City’s Madison Square Garden each night of his 30-date…
Madewell’s NYPL collection is a love letter to library nerds
Earlier this week, Madewell dropped an Instagram post featuring a woman drinking a glass of wine and wearing a baby tee emblazoned with the words “Book Girl.” As a book…
A jumping, punching, kung fu-trained robot that protects your house and family—what could go wrong?
A hooded man with a knife walks toward a woman sitting in her backyard. Before he reaches her, a humanoid robot steps between them and squares up. That’s the money…
These adaptable coats switch up your winter wardrobe with one purchase
There’s a chill in the air and you’re likely taking your coats out of storage. If it turns out you need something new this year, you’re in luck. There’s a…
Materials
To ‘change the perception of materials,’ this museum started with its own annex
In Belgium, the building blocks for a new space have been made with yesterday’s construction material. The white brick annex at the newly reopened Design Museum Gent, in Gent, Belgium,…
Europe
True rarity, short supply chains, and made-on-demand models: What today’s luxury brands can learn from the pre-1990s
Luxury brands have witnessed three decades of unprecedented growth. In April 2023, LVMH, home to the likes of Givenchy and Guerlain, even briefly became Europe’s most valuable company. Since then,…
Elon Musk’s flying Roadster was an ad for a SpaceX and Tesla merger after all
Last Thursday, Elon Musk made a Tesla Roadster flip and hover, thanks to cold-gas thrusters built by SpaceX. Five days later, on SpaceX’s third-quarter earnings call, he announced that the…
The new, handmade Apple Music logo leans into the science of sound
Apple Music just unveiled a rebrand that’s literally made out of sound. [Image: Apple] The new brand—which includes a new wordmark, a custom sonic logo, and a rippling visual language—was…
Why the NFL is painting a giant mural on the end zones of this football field
Jammie Holmes’s Untitled (2024) is a painting that explores the fleeting nature of beauty and success through the depiction of a child emerging from morning glory flowers. As I write…
Visa’s CMO is giving the brand a new look and betting that less is more
Visa CMO Frank Cooper III is freshening up the company's look. Jason Mendez/Getty Images for The Whitaker Peace & Development Initiative Visa is rolling out a new "V" to pop…
