Magazine

The Engineering issue

July/August 2026

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.

Read the issue

Letter from the editor

All challenges big and small

Peter Crowther Associates

Features

Categorized in Artificial intelligence
The $400 million machine powering the future of chipmaking
The AI era needs ever faster chips. ASML has a monopoly on the expensive contraptions needed to pattern them. Can anyone catch up?
Categorized in Climate change and energy
Hacking the atmosphere: Geoengineering gets a reality check
Researchers are starting to explore the tools and systems we need to develop to cool down the planet.
Categorized in Artificial intelligence
Want to get a data center online quickly? Give it some flex.
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.
Categorized in Space
The search for dark matter has been blown wide open
After decades of hunting, physicists still don’t know what makes up most of the universe’s matter. Now they need to cast a wider net.
Categorized in Culture
Inside the world’s deepest and longest subsea road tunnel
Norway’s Rogfast is an exceptional engineering feat, opening a route for drivers deep below the North Sea. We went down to see it.

Also in this issue
- This flying solar-powered platform could deliver better internet from the air
  It’s like a cell tower, but in the stratosphere.
  
  Categorized in Engineering
- These new solid-state ACs promise a cool future. Scientists aren’t so sure.
  A wave of unconventional coolers are making their way to the air-conditioning market—and aiming to dial down its emissions.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- Job titles of the future: Nature’s drug designer
  Chemist Tim Cernak is using two decades of experience in Big Pharma to try to save Gila monsters, loggerhead sea turtles, and many more creatures.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- Entrepreneurs in Nairobi make the case for going solar
  For one shopkeeper, a solar-powered grain mill is transforming her ability to maintain a thriving business.
  
  Categorized in Dispatch
- Elephant alert! AI warning systems aim to avoid deadly clashes
  From infrared sensors to drones, a range of early-detection systems are rolling out across India.
  
  Categorized in Climate change and energy
- Inside soccer’s data renaissance
  Many of the insights hitting soccer pitches today trace back to Jesse Davis and a team of computer scientists open-sourcing tools for some of the sport’s trickiest problems.
  
  Categorized in Profile
- The inevitable weakness of metrics
  Quantifying our lives is easier than it’s ever been. But a philosopher of games warns that external metrics and data can never capture what’s truly important.
  
  Categorized in Book Review
- 10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now
  MIT Technology Review's authoritative overview of the 10 technologies, emerging trends, bold ideas, and powerful movements in AI in 2026.
  
  Categorized in Artificial intelligence
- You do your own time
  A story about saving
  
  Categorized in Fiction
- The AI Hype Index: AI gets booed in graduation season
  MIT Technology Review’s highly subjective take on the latest buzz about AI
  
  Categorized in Artificial intelligence

Updated

Magazine

The Engineering issue

Letter from the editor

Features

The $400 million machine powering the future of chipmaking

Hacking the atmosphere: Geoengineering gets a reality check

Want to get a data center online quickly? Give it some flex.

The search for dark matter has been blown wide open

Inside the world’s deepest and longest subsea road tunnel

This flying solar-powered platform could deliver better internet from the air

These new solid-state ACs promise a cool future. Scientists aren’t so sure.

Job titles of the future: Nature’s drug designer

Entrepreneurs in Nairobi make the case for going solar

Elephant alert! AI warning systems aim to avoid deadly clashes

Inside soccer’s data renaissance

The inevitable weakness of metrics

10 Things That Matter in AI Right Now

You do your own time

The AI Hype Index: AI gets booed in graduation season

Past issues

The latest iteration of a legacy

Advertise with MIT Technology Review

About

Help