Technology, Innovation & Outdoor News

3-sided zipper from 1980s gets reborn in flexible/rigid form-shifting tech

May 22, 2026 | Shirl Leigh
A patent filed in 1985 is being dusted off as a source of inspiration for a new 3D-printed triangular-shaped zipper that seamlessly fastens chairs, tents, robots and purses, making them simpler to pack and set up just with a press of a button.

Africa's tallest tower rises with a mask-inspired design

May 21, 2026 | Stefan Ionescu
La Tour F, a 76‑story skyscraper in Abidjan, will soon be Africa’s tallest tower at 421 m. Designed by Pierre Fakhoury, it combines government offices, public access, and green certification, symbolizing modern efficiency and cultural identity.

Tiny house keeps things small and simple with single-level layout

May 22, 2026 | Adam Williams
Not every tiny house needs to be the size of an apartment to feel comfortable and livable. The Algarve embraces the simple side of small living with a single-level layout and lots of glazing that helps open the home up to the outside.

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Not everyone is cut out for climbing into cramped tiny house loft bedrooms. The Tallebudgera addresses this with a spacious layout suitable for full-time living that's arranged on a single floor.
Nissan keeps the factory camper vans coming. Its newest is built atop its smallest van, the Clipper kei van, which measures in under 3.4 meters (11.2 feet) long. To make it a micro-camper, Nissan relies on a basic household staple with which everyday DIY handymen have been familiar for ages: pegboard. The van's integrated peg panels serve as a simple, affordable means of holding up the bed and providing highly versatile storage organization for related (and unrelated) outdoor adventures.
The Byron Bay tiny house is a spacious model that's centered around an open kitchen and living area. The towable home also has multiple upgrades available, including an off-grid setup, and would be a good fit for small families.
CycloKinetics, a US propellant company, has unveiled a new family of superfuels for aircraft, missiles, and rockets that increase fuel performance by 32%. Aimed at the defense market, the fuels could allow vehicles to fly farther while carrying heavier payloads.
Winnebago's latest launch is its most ruggedly luxurious yet. Picking up where the Revel and Ekko leave off, the Arka truck camper is prepared to spend 2 full weeks at a time in the deep, dusty backcountry. Just don't expect a spa bathroom.
What better place to pull the covers off of your latest and greatest pocket camera than the Cannes Film Festival? DJI has done just that, unveiling the Osmo Pocket 4P on one of the most prestigious stages in global filmmaking.

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Health and Science news from our sister site: Refractor
Prebiotic sodas are marketed as gut-friendly alternatives to sugary soft drinks. Now, a small study suggests one may also produce lower short-term glucose spikes than Coca-Cola, but the study comes with some noteworthy limitations.
Can spending more time engaging with the arts, such as visiting galleries, museums, singing, or painting, really lead to a longer and healthier life?
For years, bees were among our readers' favorite animals we covered, but then people seemed to switch off. Maybe it was tall poppy syndrome – bees love these nectar treasure chests – but this week we lead a charge to build up their buzz again.
Domesticated from a now-extinct ox species around 10,500 years ago, cows have become a major source of protein, dairy, and leather worldwide. A study has now shown that cows can differentiate between familiar and unfamiliar faces.
A new study shows that some plants can enrich themselves by absorbing the essential minerals from dust through their leaves, forming an underexplored pathway that plays a major role in plant nutrition in nutrient-poor and dust-affected ecosystems.
The importance of bees for pollinating wild plants and crops is well known. If we lose the bees, we lose our food. But this is only part of the picture.

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Editor's Picks

In a demonstration not so much of marksmanship but more of the advantages of microwaves, an Epirus Leonidas directed energy, high-power microwave (HPM) anti-drone weapon has knocked 49 Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAV) out of the air with one shot.
This two-bedroom, skyscraper-style tiny house puts a vertical spin on downsizing. Named DQ Tower, the unusual prefab residence consists of three floors and is designed to fit into people's backyards and other small spaces.
There's newfound interest in a little-known fleshy green fruit native to the Americas, which has long been used in traditional medicine for protection against bacterial infection and even preventing and treating many cancers. But what exactly is it?
Mukaab, the world's largest skyscraper, is one of the most ambitious construction projects ever conceived. However, according to a new report, Saudi authorities have stopped work on the the gigantic building, and its future now looks uncertain.
There's a new contender for the US Navy's F/A-XX Next Generation Air Dominance (NGAD) fighter program to replace the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, and it looks like something out of Batman's hangar thanks to a peculiar triple-fuselage design.
For ages, Earth has been known as a blue planet, a vision largely shaped by the vast oceans that cover three-quarters of its surface. But what if this wasn't always the case, and our oceans used to be green?
While the price of eggs is unlikely to dip anytime soon, it might be time to find other sources of one of their key nutrients – omega-3. New research on the polyunsaturated fatty acid has uncovered encouraging signs that it can slow biological aging.
AT Overland has introduced the Aterra Slide-In to turn any Toyota Tundra or Ford F-150 into an overland explorer with its own hard-sided shelter. Buy it as a shell and outfit it yourself or pick and choose from AT Overland's long list of options.