The Great Indoors Guest: Emily Anthes, author of “The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness” Research shows that kids who grow up with a rich diversity of microbes are healthier, and our homes have a rich microbiome ecosystem. Beyond that, designers can encourage us to be more healthy and active by bringing more of the outside in, including light, air, and microorganisms. That's the opposite of what builders have done over the last several decades. Hospitals have made big changes in their indoor environments, with dramatic health results. Prisons could take note if they truly wanted to be "correctional." Making Windows Out of Wood Guest: Céline Montanari, Materials Science Engineer, KTH Royal Institute of Technology A group of Swedish researchers has discovered a way to make wood transparent. More durable, renewable, safer, and better at insulation, transparent wood could one day replace glass as the go-to material for windows. But that’s not all: now new wood material can absorb heat when it’s too hot and release it when it’s cold.