Magazine

The Build issue

May/June 2024

Who says we can’t still build things? In this issue: a look at the robots we’ve always wanted; a new model for space exploration; and efforts to flood-proof Louisiana’s coastline. Plus a wild, weird history of brainwashing; designing cheese with AI; and glow-in-the dark petunias.

Read the issue

Letter from the editor

Building momentum

R. Kikuo Johnson

Features

Categorized in Artificial intelligence
Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment?
Researchers are using generative AI and other techniques to teach robots new skills—including tasks they could perform in homes.
Categorized in Climate change and energy
How to stop a state from sinking
Louisiana’s southwestern coastline faces some of the most severe climate predictions in the US. Can a government-led project build the area up and out of crisis?
Categorized in Space
The great commercial takeover of low Earth orbit
Axiom Space and other companies are betting they can build private structures to replace the International Space Station.

Also in this issue
- This creamy vegan cheese was made with AI
  Climax Foods and other companies are using machine learning to create convincing replacements for conventional dairy cheese.
  
  Categorized in Artificial intelligence
- Job titles of the future: AI prompt engineer
  A new–and increasingly common–role helps guide generative AI.
  
  Categorized in Artificial intelligence
- How we transform to a fully decarbonized world
  A world powered by electricity from abundant, renewable resources is now within reach.
  
  Categorized in Op-Ed
- This architect is cutting up materials to make them stronger and lighter
  Emily Baker hopes her designs can make it cheaper and easier to build stuff in disaster zones or outer space.
  
  Categorized in Profile
- A brief, weird history of brainwashing
  L. Ron Hubbard, Operation Midnight Climax, and stochastic terrorism—the race for mind control changed America forever.
  
  Categorized in Policy
- Hydrogen trains could revolutionize how Americans get around
  Decarbonizing rail transportation is a political problem as much as a technological one.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- Quartz, cobalt, and the waste we leave behind
  Three books reveal just how tragic a toll the materials we rely on take for humans and the environment.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- AI was supposed to make police bodycams better. What happened?
  New AI programs that analyze bodycam recordings promise more transparency but are doing little to change culture.
  
  Categorized in Policy
- It’s time to retire the term “user”
  The proliferation of AI means we need a new word.
  
  Categorized in Computing
- These artificial snowdrifts protect seal pups from climate change
  The human-built habitats shield the pups from predators and the freezing cold, but they’re threatened by global temperature rise.
  
  Categorized in Field notes
- What tech learned from Daedalus
  Even 35 centuries ago, people imagined using technology to overcome physical limits.
  
  Categorized in Archive

Updated

Magazine

The Build issue

Letter from the editor

Features

Is robotics about to have its own ChatGPT moment?

How to stop a state from sinking

The great commercial takeover of low Earth orbit

This creamy vegan cheese was made with AI

Job titles of the future: AI prompt engineer

How we transform to a fully decarbonized world

This architect is cutting up materials to make them stronger and lighter

A brief, weird history of brainwashing

Hydrogen trains could revolutionize how Americans get around

Quartz, cobalt, and the waste we leave behind

AI was supposed to make police bodycams better. What happened?

It’s time to retire the term “user”

These artificial snowdrifts protect seal pups from climate change

What tech learned from Daedalus

Past issues

The latest iteration of a legacy

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