GOING CHIRAL

Chiral—pronounced Kai-ral after the Greek letter Chi—is not a word Hideo Kojima made up while developing Death Stranding. Sam Bridges’ Chiral Network is complete nonsense, obviously, but chirality is a common property of molecules and even light that occurs naturally and, with a bit of help from us, is helping create the electronics of the future.

Consider the mantis shrimp, if you dare. These predatory crustaceans come in two types: The smashers with a pair of legs adapted as clubs, and the spearers who have evolved barbed tips to their appendages. What they both have in common are incredible eyes, with up