7 THINGS WORTH KNOWING / 27 September 2026

Little Discoveries

Design · Philosophy · Plants · Curiosities · Words · Food · Cultures & peoples. 7 discoveries in this edition.

01Design

Editorial interpretation of Margaret Calvert at her desk with a pencil and studies of generic signs: a triangle containing a road and a white arrow on a blue circle. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

Margaret Calvert: the sign that lets you concentrate on the road

In depth · 3 min read

Letters, pictures and spacing work together in her road signs: the most useful design makes sense before you notice it.

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02Philosophy

Editorial interpretation of Karl Popper in front of four white swan models and one black swan model, with a magnifying glass on the table: a metaphor for a counterexample. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

Karl Popper: what would make you change your mind?

In depth · 3 min read

A useful test does more than look for supporting evidence: it leaves room for an explanation to need correction or replacement.

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03Plants

Dandelion with toothed leaves at its base, leafless stalks, a yellow flower head, a white seed head and three tiny fruits suspended from their pappus hairs. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

Dandelion: a tiny flight full of empty space

In depth · 3 min read

A dandelion clock is not one seed: many tiny fruits travel with a crown of hairs that interacts with the air.

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04Curiosities

An imaginary scene: a child with a backpack looks at a giraffe and rests a hand on its long neck; the bones inside are not shown. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

A giraffe’s neck: longer, not more crowded

In depth · 3 min read

Giraffes have seven neck vertebrae too: counting the parts and measuring them are different ways to understand a body.

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05Words

One person reads at a table while another arranges a green book on a shelf, in an illustrated library without lettering. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

Biblioteca: books and a place to keep them inside one word

In depth · 3 min read

The Italian word reached us from Greek through Latin: its origin connects a collection with its container and its place.

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06Food

A person whisks egg white in a transparent bowl; a second bowl beside it contains white foam, with eggshells on the table. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

Whipped egg white: air finds a network

In depth · 3 min read

A whisk does not make extra egg white: it adds bubbles and changes how proteins arrange themselves around the air.

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07Cultures & peoples

Four people wearing aprons and gloves season halved napa cabbages and pack them into containers, in an editorial kimjang scene. — Positive Times · ImageGen · AI-assisted illustration

Kimjang: preparing for winter and sharing the work

In depth · 3 min read

In the Republic of Korea, a kimchi-making practice connects ingredients, cooperation and different ways of passing practical knowledge between people.

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Original writing and illustrations made with AI assistance. Each discovery includes its sources. Our editorial method