7 THINGS WORTH KNOWING / 11 November 2026

Little Discoveries

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

Issey Miyake: the pleat comes afterwards

In depth · 3 min read

In Issey Miyake’s clothes, changing the order of sewing and pleating creates a different relationship between fabric and the body.

In depth · 3 min read

A city seen from different sides helps Leibniz explain multiple perspectives on a single universe, within his philosophical system.

In depth · 3 min read

The staghorn fern combines branching fronds with rounded shields: recognising both changes how we understand and care for the plant.

In depth · 3 min read

In a breakfast bowl, small objects can move together because they deform the surface, linking buoyancy and surface tension.

In depth · 3 min read

The Italian word mosaico leads towards the Muses through medieval Latin; an identical adjective tells a different etymological story.

In depth · 3 min read

Rhubarb often appears in desserts, but the ingredient is a leaf stalk: cooking and botany are asking different questions.

In depth · 3 min read

In Saudi Arabia’s Asir region, domestic geometric painting also tells a story of women’s work and the transmission of local knowledge.

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