Issue 17
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Meet Viktor
Although Viktor Zhdanov's name is little known today, he spearheaded one of the greatest projects in history. Who was he and what did he do?
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Issue 17

Spotlight
Issue 17

Animals as chemical factories

Words by Niko McCarty & Xander Balwit

Horses bled for antivenom, crabs drained for endotoxin tests, and silkworms boiled for silk. Science can now replace these practices with synthetic alternatives — but we need to find ways to scale them.

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Snails

Why housing shortages cause homelessness

Words by Salim Furth

Why do high-cost cities have more homelessness? It’s not just about rents — it’s also about the rooms friends and family can’t afford to share.

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YIMBY

How Madrid built its metro cheaply

Words by Ben Hopkinson

Madrid tripled the length of its metro system in just 12 years — faster and cheaper than almost any other city in the world. What can its expansion teach other cities?

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Devolution

The world of tomorrow

Words by Virginia Postrel

When the future arrived, it felt… ordinary. What happened to the glamour of tomorrow?

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Disneyland

How big data created the modern dairy cow

Words by Jared Hutchins

What do cryogenics, butterfat tests, and genetic data have in common? They’re some of the reasons behind the world’s most productive dairy cows. Here’s how it all started.

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Genetics

Progress unmoored

Words by Michael Hopkins

Airports and cities may face delays and rising costs, but cruise ships keep breaking records. They show what can still be built.

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Burj Khalifa

Machines for living in

Words by Ralph S Weir

Buildings are not just art – they are the places people live in, work in, and experience every day. True functionalism combines utility and beauty for the people who use it most.

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Le Corbusier
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