A ‘flying’ Tesla Roadster sounds impossible, until you see what Lockheed Martin built decades ago
Thrusters are as good at flipping cars as they are at hunting ballistic missiles.
A Curved Timber Core Divides This Compact Kyoto Home Without Closing It Off
A curved timber volume sits at the heart of Sugi House, shaping the rooms around it without closing them off. Designed by Ujizono Architects, the family residence occupies an 83.91-square-meter site in Kyoto, beside the southern approach to Yoshida Shrine. Completed in January 2026, the timber-framed house contains 94.87 square meters of floor space, with its most interesting decisions unfolding inside a restrained exterior.
From the street, the upper story reads as a wooden box suspended above a recessed entrance and parking space. Vertical boards give the facade a fine grain, interrupted by a single prominent rectangular window. A raised strip of glazing peeks above the front roofline. The composition sits between neighboring houses without trying to outshout them; its depth comes from the shadow beneath the projecting upper floor.
Designer: Ujizono Architects
Inside, architects Kazuki Ujigawa and Mirai Ozono establish a contrast between levels. The ground floor follows a relatively enclosed arrangement, with a hallway connecting three bedrooms and a bathroom. A staircase toward the rear leads upstairs, where living, cooking, and dining share a more expansive volume beneath the pitched ceiling. The climb makes the shift from private rooms to communal space part of the everyday route through the house.
That upper floor avoids the blank openness of an undivided room. Its curved timber core partially separates the living area from the lower kitchen and dining zone, while concealing a ladder-like stair to a mezzanine. Moving around the curve changes what is visible and what disappears behind it. A lowered ceiling above the kitchen reinforces the distinction, giving different activities their own proportions without enclosing each one behind a door.
Daylight provides another way to open the interior while maintaining distance from neighboring properties. According to the architects’ project description, high-level windows admit light deeper into the house while limiting direct overlooking. Exposed timber rafters remain visible beneath the roof, giving that overhead space a legible structure. The design’s sense of openness relies on height and illumination rather than extensive outward-facing glass.
Elsewhere, openings between floors create visual connections, while curtains offer boundaries that residents can adjust. These elements support the architects’ intention for family members to remain aware of one another while occupying separate spaces. Privacy becomes something that can vary with the activity, rather than a condition determined entirely by fixed walls.
The curved core is the persuasive move here. It gives the shared floor a center, makes circulation purposeful, and offers partial separation without requiring a corridor. For a compact family home, that is a useful middle ground: enough definition to distinguish activities, with room for daily life to overlap.
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Tesla’s new roadster employs SpaceX thrusters to perform midair flips, reach 60 MPH in 0.81 seconds
Tesla’s second-generation Roadster is taking the idea of a performance car in an unexpected direction. At a demonstration held at a SpaceX test facility in McGregor, Texas, on October 15, the electric coupe was shown performing midair rotations, clearing other cars, and driving upside down on a specially designed ramp. The stunts rely on technology developed with SpaceX, giving the Roadster capabilities that go well beyond those of a conventional electric sports car.
The airborne manoeuvres are made possible by compressed-air thrusters mounted around the vehicle. Instead of using wings or rotors, the system releases pressurised gas through strategically positioned nozzles to generate short bursts of thrust. These help lift the car, control its orientation in the air, and assist with forward acceleration. Tesla has described the system as capable of producing 80 kilonewtons of thrust, although the company has yet to publish a complete set of production specifications.
Designer: Tesla
The demonstration included a corkscrew-like rotation before the Roadster returned to the ground. While the footage gives an idea of what the system can do, it does not establish that the car can sustain flight. The current concept is closer to a road-going vehicle with limited airborne capability than a flying car in the usual sense. The compressed-air tanks also need to be replenished, adding another practical consideration to the system.
Another unusual feature is the car’s ability to travel upside down along a purpose-built ramp. An active suction system beneath the chassis pulls the vehicle towards the surface, helping it maintain contact where conventional aerodynamic downforce would be insufficient. Elon Musk has claimed that the system can deliver more than 2 Gs of cornering grip. Its effectiveness on ordinary roads, however, remains unproven.
The Roadster’s exterior still follows the proportions of a low-slung sports coupe, with angular bodywork, upward-opening doors, and a deployable rear spoiler. The design has to accommodate more than batteries and electric motors, though. Compressed-air tanks, thrusters, and the associated control systems introduce packaging challenges, while the suction hardware adds another layer of mechanical complexity.
Tesla has also claimed a 0–60 mph time of 0.81 seconds when using the thruster-assisted setup. That figure has not been independently verified as a production-car performance result. The company has outlined Performance, Thrust, and Rocket configurations, with the most extreme version expected to include additional thrusters for vertical movement. Final specifications, pricing, and the precise capabilities of each version remain unconfirmed.
There are practical questions that the demonstration cannot answer. Powerful gas discharges, the demands of controlling the car in midair, and the consequences of a failed manoeuvre would all require careful engineering and testing. Any airborne function would also face regulatory hurdles before it could be used outside a controlled facility.
Tesla is targeting production in 2028, but the Roadster’s final form is still uncertain. The thruster system is an intriguing engineering experiment, though fitting it into a usable, road-legal car will be a different challenge from demonstrating what it can do on a closed test course.
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Toyota’s ‘Wheel-less’ Wheelchair wins the 2026 Red Dot Concept Luminary Award
Somewhere around age eight, I decided the coolest vehicles in the universe all had legs. The AT-ATs in The Empire Strikes Back, the mechs in every anime I wasn’t supposed to be watching, all of them walked where cars couldn’t. Toyota apparently had the same childhood, because its four-legged ‘walk me’ chair just won the 2026 Red Dot: Luminary, the highest honor at the Red Dot Award: Design Concept. The difference is that Toyota pointed its walking machine at something useful, helping people with limited mobility get up stairs and over curbs. Meanwhile, the Empire is still building walkers purely for invading ice planets.
Designed by Misako Kawata under team lead Takashi Nishimura, walk me trades the wheelchair’s wheels for four robotic legs that step up stairs, shuffle sideways in tight spaces, and lift the seat to eye level with standing pedestrians. Toyota skipped the menacing chrome and went soft instead, wrapping the joints in 3D-knitted fabric and a felt-like body with bright chartreuse legs. The result looks like a friendly piece of furniture that happens to climb things. It debuted at last year’s Japan Mobility Show as a concept, and Toyota has announced no price or release date. Mobility for All is the company’s stated mission here, and for once the slogan comes with legs.
Designer: Toyota Motor Corporation
Four Legs are far superior than Four Wheels
Stairs create psychological barriers long before they create physical ones, and Toyota’s own design brief says as much. A wheel looks at a staircase and gives up, so the rider plans the whole day around avoiding them. Walk me swaps the wheels for four robotic legs, which lets one machine link indoor floors, outdoor paths, cars, and public transit. It climbs steps, slides sideways through tight spaces, and generally refuses to treat architecture as a personal insult. Anyone who has ever hunted for the one accessible entrance around the back of a building will understand the appeal.
Four legs can crouch for boarding and stand tall to put the rider at eye level with pedestrians, which fixes a problem wheelchairs have carried forever. Anyone who has spent a whole conversation craning upward at a taller friend knows the strain. Wheelchair users deal with that angle daily, and a chair that rises to meet the conversation changes the dynamic. Toyota says the same leg movement also makes getting on and off the chair easier. It’s a small social fix tucked inside a big mechanical one, and I’d argue it’s the most human detail in the whole design.
A polite Japanese gesture, wrapped in 3D-knitted fabric
Toyota built the posture around omotenashi, the Japanese spirit of hospitality, so the chair’s stance resembles a polite bow that welcomes its rider. A 3D-knitted fabric covers the mechanical joints, while the warm, felt-like body gives it a friendly, furniture-like silhouette. In the images, the gray hip housing and seat shell read like a premium lounge chair, and the ribbed chartreuse legs add a pop of color that says friendly rather than clinical. I never expected to call a robot cozy, but here we are. Nobody has ever been intimidated by a sweater, and that is very clearly the strategy.
Toyota started as a loom maker under Sakichi Toyoda, so wrapping a robot in knitted fabric reads as a family tradition. Its own Japan Mobility Show booth traced the company’s robotics roots back to the Toyoda Automatic Loom Type G. A century on, textile know-how and robotics meet in a chartreuse-legged chair that bows at strangers. Beneath the fabric sits a topologically optimized internal frame that keeps the structure strong and light while staying completely hidden. Toyota wants you to see an armchair with ambition, and the skeleton is nobody’s business but the robot’s.
Ten months, AI gait control, and a very promising future
Toyota took walk me from idea to working prototype in just 10 months, which is wild for a machine that has to balance a human being on four legs. AI gait control and low-waste metal additive manufacturing made that pace possible, compressing years of R&D into weeks, according to Toyota. The company calls the chair its North Star for human-centered technology. That technology is meant to deliver dignity, hope, and independence alongside plain old movement. Red Dot’s concept award honors prototypes and ideas rather than shipping products, so the Luminary measures vision more than store-shelf readiness.
Hyundai’s Elevate walking car put wheels at the end of long robotic legs, and Kawasaki’s CORLEO robot horse offers a rideable quadruped for off-road thrills. Those machines chase rescue missions and rugged trails. Walk me points similar legwork at a living room staircase, which is arguably the more relatable terrain. Among this year’s Red Dot: Best of the Best winners, it’s the one the jury crowned with the top prize. It remains a concept with no price, release date, or production plans, but a robot that bows, climbs, and wears a knitted sweater has me convinced that the future of mobility might finally have good manners.
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Sony WH-CH730N vs CH720N: Foldability or Lighter Weight?
Sony WH-CH730N adds folding portability and longer claimed battery life. Compare it with the lighter WH-CH720N, including current US store prices.
Analogue returns to the 16-bit era with the Mega Sg+ and Super Nt+
Dust off your old Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo cartridges.
If memory shortages last, tech companies should offer cheap battery replacements
If a company like Apple could offer $29 batteries before, it can do so again.
From Paper Furniture to Denim Plates: 5 Ways to Rethink Scrap Material
Modern design is undergoing a major transformation as architects, artists, and product designers begin to see waste not as a problem, but as a valuable resource. Scrap metal, discarded wood, plastic waste, broken glass, and industrial leftovers are now becoming part of luxury interiors, sustainable architecture, furniture, fashion, and public art.
This shift reflects a larger movement toward circular design, where materials are reused, reimagined, and given a second life instead of ending up in landfills. As sustainability becomes central to contemporary creativity, let’s understand why scrap is increasingly being viewed as the new gold of modern design.
1. The Rise of Circular Design
The concept of circular design is changing how industries approach materials and production. Instead of the traditional “use and discard” model, designers now focus on reuse, repair, and regeneration. Scrap materials are collected and transformed into high-quality products with a new purpose and value. This approach reduces environmental impact while encouraging innovation and experimentation.
Reclaimed metal can become sculptural furniture, discarded wood can turn into textured interiors, and industrial waste can evolve into architectural façades. Circular design proves that sustainability and aesthetics can coexist, creating products that are both environmentally responsible and visually striking.
At ISSEY MIYAKE, the iconic pleating process has long been celebrated for transforming flat fabric into sculptural garments. But instead of focusing on the finished pieces, designer Satoshi Kondo turned attention toward the overlooked byproduct of the process: compressed rolls of protective paper used during pleating. These layered paper cylinders, typically discarded or recycled, inspired The Paper Log: Shell and Core, an exhibition presented during Milan Design Week 2026. Resembling tree trunks with ring-like patterns, the paper logs became symbols of time, process, and material memory within fashion production.
For the exhibition, Kondo collaborated with Ensamble Studio to transform the discarded material into sculptural installations and furniture prototypes. The Shell series explored delicate, folded forms, while Core focused on robust stools, tables, and chairs made from the compressed paper structures. The installation highlighted contrasts between fragility and strength, permanence and impermanence. More than a sustainability project, The Paper Log: Shell and Core reimagined industrial waste as a meaningful design material, encouraging visitors to reconsider the hidden beauty within creative processes.
2. Waste as a Creative Material
Designers are increasingly treating waste as a creative medium rather than a limitation. Scraps often carry unique textures, imperfections, and histories that make each design distinctive. Recycled materials introduce authenticity and individuality into spaces that mass-produced products often lack. From patchwork furniture to recycled terrazzo surfaces and upcycled lighting installations, waste materials are inspiring bold experimentation.
Many contemporary studios intentionally leave visible marks, welds, and raw textures to celebrate the origin of recycled materials. This design philosophy transforms imperfections into beauty and allows waste to become part of the storytelling process.
Wood has remained one of the most widely used materials in furniture and product design for centuries because of its durability, texture, and natural appeal. However, growing demand for wood-based products continues to contribute to deforestation and material waste, even when recycling methods are used. In response to these concerns, Yuma Kano of Studio Yumakano developed ForestBank, an experimental material that transforms how wood-like surfaces can be created without cutting down large trees.
Instead of traditional timber, ForestBank uses forest byproducts such as bark, leaves, seeds, branches, and discarded pruning waste combined with a mineral-based binder and water-based acrylic resin free from harmful solvents. The resulting material can be shaped using standard woodworking techniques while offering a distinctive terrazzo-like appearance filled with earthy textures and organic patterns. By transforming overlooked natural waste into functional furniture and architectural surfaces, ForestBank presents a more sustainable and visually unique alternative to conventional wood production.
3. Sustainable Architecture and Reclaimed Materials
Discarded textiles are finding a second life beyond the wardrobe. Designers are transforming worn-out jeans, fabric offcuts, and recovered fibers into decorative plates, trays, and other household objects. By shredding, compressing, and binding these materials, they create surfaces that retain traces of the original fabric while taking on new forms and functions.
The appeal lies as much in appearance as in reuse. Denim’s familiar blue-and-white fibers become distinctive patterns, allowing the material’s previous life to remain part of the finished design. These projects show how textile waste can become a starting point for expressive homeware rather than the end of a garment’s story.
Jeans are among the most commonly discarded fashion items, despite denim being an extremely durable material with long-lasting potential. Exploring new ways to reuse textile waste, Junghyun Kim developed The Denim Project, transforming discarded denim into decorative household objects. Instead of allowing worn-out jeans to end up in landfills, the project experiments with grinding and compressing denim fibers before combining them with materials such as wood glue, plaster, and resin to create functional design pieces.
The result is a series of decorative plates and trays featuring soft blue-and-white textures inspired by the familiar tones of denim. The aesthetic subtly recalls traditional Japanese wave patterns, giving the objects a handcrafted and artistic character. Available in hexagonal serving trays and smaller coaster-like forms, the pieces blur the line between utility and decoration. By turning textile waste into durable homeware, The Denim Project highlights how discarded fashion materials can be repurposed into sustainable objects with a significantly longer lifecycle.
4. Luxury Through Sustainability
Luxury design is no longer defined only by rare or expensive materials. Today, exclusivity often comes from craftsmanship, sustainability, and originality. Upcycled and recycled materials are appearing in high-end interiors, designer furniture, fashion collections, and automotive design. Handmade pieces created from reclaimed materials carry a sense of uniqueness that cannot be replicated through mass production.
Consumers, especially younger generations, are increasingly attracted to products that reflect environmental awareness and ethical values. As a result, sustainability is becoming a symbol of sophistication, transforming scrap materials into premium design elements.
Electronic waste continues to be one of the fastest-growing environmental challenges as discarded gadgets, appliances, and computer accessories increasingly end up in landfills. Responding to this issue, Joe Doucet created the OLO Table, a sculptural furniture piece made from recycled electronic waste. The project transforms discarded materials such as old refrigerators, keyboards, and computer mice into a visually striking table that combines sustainability with contemporary design.
The table is crafted using Polygood Oyster, a recycled material developed from polystyrene extracted from electronic waste by The Good Plastic Company. Through thermoforming techniques, the material is shaped into the table’s flowing monolithic form, while colorful fragments from the recycled electronics remain visible within the surface, creating a terrazzo-like texture filled with traces of its previous life. More than a functional object, the OLO Table serves as a statement on circular design, indicating how discarded electronic materials can be transformed into durable and aesthetically refined furniture pieces.
5. The Future of Waste in Design
The future of design may depend heavily on how effectively industries manage waste and resources. Technological innovation is making recycling more efficient, while designers continue to push creative boundaries using unconventional materials. Cities are beginning to view construction debris, plastic waste, and industrial leftovers as valuable urban resources rather than disposable trash.
Emerging trends in biomaterials, modular systems, and zero-waste manufacturing further reinforce this shift. As environmental concerns continue to grow, the ability to transform waste into meaningful design solutions will become increasingly important for architects, brands, and creative industries worldwide.
As rising material costs continue to impact the 3D-printing industry, Creality introduced the Filament Maker M1 and Shredder R1, a desktop system designed to recycle failed prints and produce new filament on demand. With standard PLA filament prices increasing sharply in recent months, the system offers makers and small studios a more affordable and sustainable alternative by converting discarded print waste into reusable material. The Shredder R1 breaks down failed prints, support structures, and plastic scraps into small pellets, while also drying the material internally before feeding it directly into the M1 extruder.
The Filament Maker M1 then transforms these pellets into fresh filament with controlled diameter precision and customizable material properties. Users can experiment with colors, textures, and additives such as wood dust, carbon fiber, or natural powders to create unique filament blends for specialized applications. Supporting multiple materials, including PLA, PETG, ABS, TPU, and composite filaments, the compact desktop system combines shredding, extrusion, cooling, and automatic spooling into a single workflow. Beyond reducing material waste, the project highlights how localized filament production could reshape sustainable manufacturing and lower long-term 3D-printing costs for creators and small businesses.
In many ways, scrap is becoming the material that defines the future of modern design. What was once overlooked or discarded is now being transformed into architecture, interiors, products, and artworks that reflect innovation, responsibility, and creativity. By rethinking waste as a resource, designers are reshaping the relationship between sustainability and beauty.
The growing value of reclaimed materials proves that the future of design may not come from extracting more resources, but from rediscovering the hidden potential of what already exists.
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Amazon’s new Bee AI devices help you remember more without taking notes
Remembering details from meetings, conversations, and everyday interactions is hard when you’re splitting your attention between listening and taking notes. Amazon is addressing this with Bee Frontier and Bee Eclipse, two personal AI devices designed to capture conversations and turn them into summaries, reminders, and actionable tasks.
Both devices connect to the Bee app, where users can revisit key details without manually documenting every interaction. Integrations with Gmail, Google Calendar, and Microsoft Outlook turn discussions into follow-up emails and scheduled events, while Alexa+ lets you access personal notes and reminders hands-free.
Designer: Amazon
With one device worn on the body and the other attached to a phone, Amazon offers two ways to bring AI-assisted note-taking into everyday life without adding another screen to manage.
Bee Frontier Wearable AI Companion
Bee Frontier is designed for people who want to keep track of conversations without repeatedly reaching for their phones. Worn on the wrist with a soft silicone band or clipped onto clothing, the lightweight device can accompany users through meetings, lectures, interviews, and everyday interactions. Someone attending back-to-back work meetings, for instance, could stay focused on the discussion instead of splitting their attention between colleagues and a notebook, then review the main decisions and follow-up tasks afterward.
The wearable features dual microphones with noise filtering to pick up conversations in everyday environments. Its summaries can be organized using templates for different situations, including meetings, lectures, care plans, and brainstorming sessions. This gives users a way to revisit the information that matters, whether that means remembering a client’s requirements, reviewing a class discussion, or keeping track of tasks agreed upon during a team meeting. Available in Onyx, Lavender, and Sage, Bee Frontier also offers IP67 water resistance, USB-C charging, and up to seven days of battery life.
Bee Eclipse Adds AI to Your Phone
Bee Eclipse brings similar functionality to a familiar device rather than introducing something users need to wear. The slim magnetic attachment sits on the back of a compatible smartphone, making it a potential fit for people who prefer to keep their everyday technology consolidated around their phone. Its design also lends itself to situations where conversations move between calls and face-to-face discussions.
Measuring approximately 4.6mm thick and weighing 48.9g, Eclipse is roughly the size of a credit card. It uses four MEMS microphones and a vibration microphone to capture in-person conversations and both sides of phone calls. That could be useful for someone handling client calls throughout the day who wants to revisit important instructions later, or for professionals who need a record of discussions without interrupting the flow to type notes. Its battery is rated for more than 21 days on a single charge.
Privacy remains important for both devices. Amazon says its Bee Private Compute architecture processes audio in real time and deletes it afterward rather than retaining audio recordings. Transcripts are encrypted using keys controlled by the user’s device, and users can delete their summaries and transcripts. A physical button controls audio processing, while an LED indicates when the devices are active. Users should obtain permission from other participants before capturing conversations.
Bee Frontier is available for $74.99, while Bee Eclipse is expected to launch soon at $99.99. Both include basic conversation summaries and a 14-day memory history. The optional Bee Pro subscription costs $11.99 per month and adds expanded integrations, daily memories, suggested tasks, a personal AI assistant, and desktop access, with a 30-day trial for new customers.
By offering a wearable and a smartphone attachment, Amazon gives users two ways to make everyday conversations easier to revisit, with the choice largely depending on how they prefer to carry and use their technology.
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What Is the Porsche Mission S? Inside the Brand’s Bold Supercar Vision
The Porsche Mission S concept car has made a striking debut, showcasing the brand’s ambitious vision for high-performance engineering. Positioned as a potential successor to the iconic Porsche 918 Spyder, this mid-engine supercar concept combines retro-inspired aesthetics with innovative technology. With competitors such as the Ferrari SF90 and Lamborghini Revuelto in its sights, the Mission […]
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