Nanotopia [Concept]: In his “Future Farm” series, designer Michael Burton anticipates one application of nanotechnology: The poor earning money by using their bodies to grow products for the medical industry. “There is some darkness in the exhibition, but the presumption is that designers have to be constructive,” says Antonelli. “Even when Michael Burton shows something highly dystopic—bodies transformed into farms—he’s doing it so we know in advance what could happen and so we can fix it.” Photo by Michael Burton

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Starting next week, nanophysics and biomimicry get celebrated alongside sculpture and painting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. “Design and the Elastic Mind,” MoMA’s most science-centric exhibition to date, explores recent collaborations among scientists and designers. The results—teddy bears impregnated with the chicken pox virus, lollipops that deliver a visual explosion with every lick—are sometimes far out. “I thought that designers and scientists could have a conversation,” says curator Paola Antonelli. “There are many ways that they can collaborate—some really frivolous and cute and some deadly serious.” The exhibition is on display from February 24–May 12. If you’re not in New York, catch a sneak peak in our photo gallery, where Antonelli walks us through some of the pieces.