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Engineering
1hr 3mins
Astronomer Jill Tarter explains why SETI is really about technology, patience, and learning how to tell alien signals from our own.
The deep study of friction and surfaces — so crucial to industrial manufacture — emerged from a mid-century engineering conference.
For millennia, diamonds were the hardest known material, but they only rank at #7 on the current list. Can you guess which material is #1?
The story of how the world high jump record was smashed in 1968 contains golden lessons for business and innovation.
Magnificent time-tested buildings are filled with lessons in resilience and stability — and the benefits for investment strategy can be huge.
Astro Mechanica’s “turboelectric” jet engines offer a way to transform both commercial flights and space launches.
Hypersonic aircraft can fly at least five times the speed of sound. They would make for terrifying weapons.
The Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) will have a light-collecting power 10 times greater than today's best telescope.
For well over a century, engineers have proposed harnessing the ocean’s tides for energy. But the idea hasn’t seemed to register in many places.
It’s 50% stronger than comparable materials used in aerospace.
What would it take to create a truly intelligent microbot, one that can operate independently?
On the morning of April 20, 1961, all conditions were "go" for an attempt at free flight. A man was on standby with a fire extinguisher. Just in case.
6mins
“You’re not meant to understand what I just said, because I don’t understand what I just said…” Physicist Brian Cox on one of the most complex theories in space science.
The $21.5-billion project could involve tunneling hundreds of feet under Lake Geneva.
It’s not just fun: DNA origami has the potential to revolutionize engineering at the nanoscopic scale.
A unique combination of DNA and silica is the strongest known material for its density (but you’ll need a lot of it before you can build a suit from it).
These astounding inventions show that civilizations of the past were a lot more advanced than we might have thought.
A woman’s name would undermine the credibility of the mission. Names of former Nazis, however, were no problem.
You can’t farm spiders — but putting spider genes into silkworms works even better.
Time to rewrite our understanding of structural engineering.
Smarter building materials can control indoor temperatures without external power.
The National Ignition Facility just repeated, and improved upon, their earlier demonstration of nuclear fusion. Now, the true race begins.
Recent claims put LK-99 as the first room temperature, ambient pressure superconductor ever. Has the game changed, or is it merely hype?
With U.S. infrastructure crumbling, an honor oath and iron ring remind engineers of their profession's ethical weight.
The material is both stronger and lighter than those used to make conventional power plant turbines.
Without modularization, many epic projects simply would be impossible.
Lockheed Martin's Skunk Works engineering division has devised many jaw-dropping aircraft. Here are some of the best — and one ship.
The 1,200-year-old "Book of Ingenious Devices" contains designs for futuristic inventions like gas masks, water fountains, and digging machines.
What if we could harvest energy from human heat, sweat, or vibrations?
