MIT TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: The Engineering issue features ‘Go big or go home’. That may be true—sometimes. But, just as often, solving engineering challenges means thinking small. From the tiny transistors powering the AI boom to the machines digging the world’s longest tunnels, human ingenuity is tackling problems at every scale. Plus: A fresh spin on air conditioning, stratospheric cell service, and more.
As the data-center boom puts pressure on the grid, some companies say the answer isn’t just more power plants but software that dials down centers’ energy-guzzling ways when demand spikes.
California has failed to protect private property from squatters. Desperate owners are turning to katana-wielding enforcers to reclaim their homes. Christian Britschgi
AI Is Already Beating Human Doctors in Medical Tests
Robo-docs are not likely to take over healthcare anytime soon, but they could do more to assist human doctors—if we let them. Elizabeth Nolan Brown
Our magazine has refused to accept what contributor Gore Vidal once described as the “cozy unremitting war” that puts this country in a state of conflict, year after year. Katrina vanden Heuvel for The Nation