That’s more or less what happened to Graydon Hoare. In 2006, Hoare was a 29-year-old computer programmer working for Mozilla. After a software crash broke the elevator in his building, he set about designing a new computer language; one that he hoped would make it possible to write small, fast code without memory bugs. 

That language developed into Rust, one of the hottest new languages on the planet. But while it isn’t unusual for someone to make a new computer language, it’s incredibly rare for one to take hold and become part of the programming pantheon. How did Rust do it? Read the full story.

—Clive Thompson

This story is from our forthcoming print issue, which dives into the intersection between technology and design. Sign up for a subscription to read the full edition when it comes out later this month.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 The US has recovered sensors from China’s ‘spy balloon’ 
The FBI is now working out whether it’s the weather monitoring device China insists it is. (BBC)
+ Beijing has been forced into damage-control mode. (The Atlantic $)
+ You’ve heard of space trash, but what about sky trash? (The Guardian)
+ We still don’t know if the truth really is out there. (NY Mag $)