The 2020 Lexus Design Award’s Winner: Bell Tower’s “Open Source Communities”

The Kenya-based team's winning entry aims to empower communities

Launched in 2013, the Lexus Design Award celebrates innovations by emerging designers from all over the world. This year’s call to “Design for a Better Tomorrow” fielded responses from 79 countries. Finalists included proposals for a “breathing cloud,” a life jacket that can attach to others to form a raft, a sewing machine for the visually impaired, a portable body washer and more. The grand prix …

Terra Kaffe’s Design-Forward, Super-Automatic Espresso Machine, the TK-01

Pod-free and precise, a high-quality coffee machine for bean enthusiasts

Brooklyn-based company Terra Kaffe aims to make the ritual of home-brewing coffee more accessible and sustainable. The brand’s 23-pound debut machine, the TK-01, is capable of grinding, tamping, extracting, crafting, and even cleaning up after itself. Existing between the high-end manual espresso machine and the most entry-level pod-pouring product, the TK-01 costs $775—more expensive than the latter but far more affordable than the former. Designed …

Link About It: This Week’s Picks

Virtual joyrides, magic history, revelations in space and more discoveries from around the web

Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Will Reveal Hidden Rogue Planets A new study conducted by researchers at The Ohio State University posits that NASA’s upcoming launch of the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope could reveal that rogue planets (those that float in space without orbiting a sun) outnumber the stars in the Milky Way. The telescope—which is named for NASA’s first chief astronomer—promises a field …