Spotlight
Notes
Lead paint was banned in the late twentieth century. Before that, it was outcompeted by a cheap and safe alternative.
Read more →
Pigments
The merits of unified ownership
Why do some neighborhoods get garden squares and graceful streets, while others don’t? The answer isn’t zoning or taste, it’s who owns the land, and how unified that ownership is.
The beauty of batteries
Keeping the grid stable requires overbuilding generating capacity, driving up costs. Batteries fix that.
Toronto’s underground labyrinth
Pedestrian tunnels are often thought to undermine urban life. The opposite happened in Toronto.
The first non-opioid painkiller
For nearly two centuries, pain relief meant effective but addictive opioids. Scientists have finally made something better.