New Florence. New Renaissance.

"Evolution simulation software"

"Affinnova's premise is that over time, consumer markets evolve much like the natural world: Strong products survive while weak ones die out. Its software, a "genetic algorithm" called IDDEA, essentially simulates evolution, creating generation after generation of possible products or packaging until the strongest possible design emerges. It's not truly design by machine—human designers choose what's going to be tested and consumers then select their favorite options from each generation, thereby determining which survive—but the software is able to process and analyze these preferences in a way no focus group could."

BusinessWeek

Frustration-Free Packaging

In recent years, a cottage industry of tools has emerged to help consumers pry into product packaging. Consumer Reports introduced its Oyster Awards for the packaging "hall of shame"

So it is good to see amazon has launched "frustration-free packaging" 

"designed to alleviate "wrap rage," features recyclable boxes that are easy to open and free of excess materials such as hard plastic clamshell cases, plastic bindings, and wire ties."

The Making of a Popular Science cover

"The Future of Sports issue was quite unusual for us, bringing together both an unfamiliar image and an unfamiliar topic, and presented some unique challenges. The process, however, is pretty typical. in this film, we'll take you from concept to complete image and hopefully reveal just how much work goes into producing our unique 3-D CG images."

Coke's New Designs

"Instead it's because he has learned the most effective way to implement design strategy at a company as large and complex as Coca-Cola: avoid the word "design" as much as possible. "If I'm at a meeting with manufacturing people, I'll say: 'How can we make the can feel colder, longer?'," he says as an example. "Or, 'How can we make the cup easier to hold?'" "

"In other words, he talks about the benefits of smart design in a language to which those he's talking to can relate. Based on several recent brand redesigns—including the new Coke identity work that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Lions awards program in June—and innovations such as an aluminum bottle and a new family of coolers, this surreptitious approach seems to be working."

BusinessWeek

"Autodesk's Digital Dreams"

"What do Peter Jackson's digitally reincarnated King Kong, Mercedes-Benz's S-Class luxury sedan, and the yet-to-be-built Freedom Tower in New York City have in common? All were designed with the aid of sophisticated modeling tools from the San Rafael (Calif.) software maker Autodesk."

BusinessWeek

with a picture gallery including the planned Aquatic Center for the 2012 London Olympics

The "Bird's Nest" at the Olympics

Reuters reports on the opening of the spectacular stadium for the Beijing Olympics. Popular Science has a photo gallery.

Photo credit: inhabitat.com

See pictures of the equally impressive Water Cube swimming arena here.

Most Creative Super Bowl ads

Traditionally the show to roll out new ads, BusinessWeek scores the batch from yesterday's game

The full catalog of ads is on the NFL site

Each 30 second ads cost $ 2.7 million, but the close game and the demographics of teams from the Northeast made it the most watched Super Bowl - 97.5 million viewers

Data Center Cabling as Art

The "art gallery" at Pingdom

You will appreciate it more after you contrast with this.

"The Building, Digitally Remastered"

Fascinating new buildings around the world, courtesy of MIT Technology Review. 

And they did not even cover some of the incredible architectures in Shanghai and Dubai.

Popular Science Best Products of 2007

From engineering to gadgets to alternative fuels, Popular Science lists innovations from around the world.