Stories from this day
Starship’s “We Built This City”—the “worst” song?
A “worst pop song” label need not end your enjoyment. Six songs trace the changing bands and voices, from Jefferson Airplane’s Grace Slick to Marty Balin and Mickey Thomas.
MUADAILY is an online magazine covering new developments in design, technology, lifestyle, architecture, and culture.
Stories from this day
Sesc Pompeia: a former factory becomes a neighborhood living room
Sesc Pompeia in São Paulo joins an old metal-drum factory to new sports facilities. Lina Bo Bardi’s complex makes room for performances, reading, and exercise.
Alessi 9093 kettle with bird whistle
Michael Graves gave the Alessi 9093’s whistle the shape of a bird. A working part of an everyday kitchen tool also gives it character.
StoryCorps records the life stories of people close to us
StoryCorps invites people to prepare questions, talk with someone close to them, and record their voice. Preserving a conversation and sharing it publicly are separate choices.
Watching the next drop move at Teshima Art Museum
At Teshima Art Museum, water emerges from the floor as light enters through the roof. Rei Naito’s artwork meets Ryue Nishizawa’s architecture.
Solarcan records months of sunlight in a single photograph
Solarcan records light passing through a tiny hole onto photographic paper over a long exposure. The sun’s changing paths accumulate in one image.
Tripp Trapp, a chair adjusted as a child grows
Stokke’s Tripp Trapp has a seat and footrest adjustable in height and depth. The table stays in place while the chair adapts to a growing body.
Making the food replicas you see outside Japanese restaurants
At Ganso Shokuhin Sample-ya, visitors make wax tempura and lettuce. Recreating familiar restaurant displays draws attention to the shapes and textures that make food recognizable.
Muro Box, a music box that plays the tunes you choose
Muro Box uses electronic controls to change what its mechanism plays. Its metal comb produces the sound, within the limits of the N20’s 20 notes.
Editor's picks
Editor's picksStories worth a look
Loving something cute without taking responsibility for an animal’s life
Tesla’s new Roadster demonstrates a mid-air rotation
HomeView, a new smart home device announced by Apple
ContiNote Keeps Scores, Recordings, and Rehearsal Notes Together
The singers behind the Alan Parsons Project
Latest stories
Hovenring, a circular cycle bridge above the traffic
The Hovenring’s circular cycle bridge sits above a lowered junction, a design decision that made its approach slopes gentler.
RESCENE bring their new album to KGMA and take home four awards
Four trophies at the 2026 KGMA, WONI’s first awards-show hosting role, and performances of “With” and “Inside Out” from RESCENE’s fourth mini album, PULSE.
Samsung Lions win the Korean Series for the first time in 12 years
A 4–1 series win over KT, sealed in Daegu: series MVP Koo Ja-wook, Kang Min-ho’s first title, and the dugout on the day Samsung won the 2026 championship.
When a TV cowboy appeared on a lunchbox
A TV cowboy appeared on the 1950 Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox. A favourite character became another reason to choose the container that carried lunch.
The Fresnel lens that sends lighthouse beams farther
Fresnel optics arrange angled sections to concentrate light without a single massive lens. The glittering structure was a tool for distant ships.
Flat pasta that changes shape as it cooks
Surface grooves make pasta change shape as it cooks. The 2021 morphing-pasta research explored a way to reduce packing space.
A portable radio built with four transistors
Four transistors helped make the 1954 Regency TR-1 small enough to carry. Changes inside the radio let listeners take it beyond the living room.
Kodak’s one-dollar camera: the Brownie
Kodak’s 1900 Brownie lowered the price of entry to photography. Its small box began a family of many different cameras.
How Webb’s 18 mirror segments work as one
Webb’s mirror folded for launch and was precisely aligned afterward. Beneath its thin gold coating lies lightweight, stable beryllium.
Design
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Design
The Fresnel lens that sends lighthouse beams farther
Fresnel optics arrange angled sections to concentrate light without a single massive lens. The glittering structure was a tool for distant ships.
A portable radio built with four transistors
Four transistors helped make the 1954 Regency TR-1 small enough to carry. Changes inside the radio let listeners take it beyond the living room.
Kodak’s one-dollar camera: the Brownie
Kodak’s 1900 Brownie lowered the price of entry to photography. Its small box began a family of many different cameras.
Why the Swiss railway clock pauses at the top
The red second hand waits for the next minute. A movement associated with synchronizing station clocks survives in a domestic version.
Why does the tab stay on a drinks can?
A drink-can tab is a tiny lever. Its geometry opens the scored panel while keeping the used pieces attached.
Tech
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Tech
How Webb’s 18 mirror segments work as one
Webb’s mirror folded for launch and was precisely aligned afterward. Beneath its thin gold coating lies lightweight, stable beryllium.
A flying robot with 40 pigeon feathers
PigeonBot folds feathered wings through wrist- and finger-like movements. It studies wing shape and control rather than flapping propulsion.
A gripper for space robots, inspired by gecko feet
JPL’s Gecko Gripper explores controlled attachment and release, using directional adhesion to handle objects ordinary jaws struggle to grasp.
122 grams of oxygen made on Mars
MOXIE made 122 grams of oxygen from Martian carbon dioxide, testing a process relevant to both breathing and a return rocket.
A satellite measuring river width and water level together
SWOT records water height and width to help examine stretches of river between ground stations.
Lifestyle
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Lifestyle
When a TV cowboy appeared on a lunchbox
A TV cowboy appeared on the 1950 Hopalong Cassidy lunchbox. A favourite character became another reason to choose the container that carried lunch.
Flat pasta that changes shape as it cooks
Surface grooves make pasta change shape as it cooks. The 2021 morphing-pasta research explored a way to reduce packing space.
The 1858 date on Mason jars marks a patent, not manufacture
The 1858 inscription on Mason jars refers to a patent. It also appeared on later production, so the date alone cannot establish a jar’s age.
The bendy straw began with a daughter’s milkshake
Watching his daughter struggle with a milkshake led Friedman to corrugate a paper straw. His first customer for the flexible version was a hospital.
Brompton, a bicycle built around a compact fold
Fold the rear wheel under, then bring in the front and handlebar sections. Brompton turns a bicycle into a compact package for the space it needs after the ride.
Architecture
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Architecture
Hovenring, a circular cycle bridge above the traffic
The Hovenring’s circular cycle bridge sits above a lowered junction, a design decision that made its approach slopes gentler.
How New York’s abandoned elevated railway became a park
An elevated freight line that began operating in 1934 reopened as a park in 2009. New York’s High Line places paths, benches and planting alongside the old rails.
The Falkirk Wheel, a rotating lift for boats
A boat stays afloat while its tank moves to another level. Balance is central to the Falkirk Wheel’s enormous rotation.
City maps that recorded how fire might spread
Sanborn fire insurance maps used colors and symbols to record construction materials as well as addresses and streets.
Paris’s green fountains were built for thirsty passersby
Behind the sculpture and flowing water was a practical purpose: making drinking water available on the street.
Culture
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Culture
RESCENE bring their new album to KGMA and take home four awards
Four trophies at the 2026 KGMA, WONI’s first awards-show hosting role, and performances of “With” and “Inside Out” from RESCENE’s fourth mini album, PULSE.
Samsung Lions win the Korean Series for the first time in 12 years
A 4–1 series win over KT, sealed in Daegu: series MVP Koo Ja-wook, Kang Min-ho’s first title, and the dugout on the day Samsung won the 2026 championship.
Dokk1, the library where a bell announces a baby’s birth
At Dokk1 in Aarhus, new parents can press a hospital button to ring a great bell and share the news with library visitors.
How did Edison record a human voice?
Edison’s 1877 phonograph indented tinfoil and traced it again, linking the recording of sound to its playback.
The shield-biting warriors among the Lewis chessmen
The Lewis chessmen give individual faces to pieces with the same role. Their mouths, eyes and gestures reward a closer look.
Features
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Features
The singers behind the Alan Parsons Project
From Eric Woolfson on “Eye in the Sky” to Colin Blunstone on “Old and Wise”: the singers and studio stories behind the Alan Parsons Project.
For some, ABBA; for others, Mamma Mia!
From “Waterloo” and “The Winner Takes It All” to a mother and daughter singing in Mamma Mia!: nearly forty years passed before ABBA made a new album, while their songs kept finding other voices and stages.
Listening to Lee Moon Sae brought someone back to mind
From “소녀” to “옛사랑,” follow the people and streets in Lee Moon Sae and Lee Young-hoon’s songs, then listen onward to “봄바람” and later work.
Chicago: the seven musicians behind the ballads
From “Get Away,” which follows “Hard to Say I’m Sorry,” we explore Chicago through eight songs: Terry Kath’s guitar, Peter Cetera’s ballads, and the band’s contrasting voices.
Beyond “Take On Me”: listening further to Morten Harket
From a-ha’s comic-book hero to “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You,” solo albums and a new duet with his daughter: nine songs to follow.