the future of building

In this episode of Cocktail Party Science, host Chuck Cage sits down with Popular Science writer Rena Pacella, author of Extreme Engineering and Executive Editor Mike Haney to get the inside scoop on all six of the Extreme Engineering projects featured in the March issue. From the tallest skyscraper to the deepest oil well, today's most ambitious projects are bigger and wilder than ever. Prepare to be amazed.

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Name: Oasis of the Seas
Where: Florida
Cost: $1.2 billion
Estimated Completion: This year
The Challenge: Build an 18-story-tall superliner with more outdoor space

When the Oasis of the Seas sets sail later this year, it will claim the record for biggest passenger ship, with space for 6,300 passengers, 2,000 more than any other ship. But it will also claim the most rooms with balconies, the biggest onboard swimming pool, and the first at-sea, tree-filled, outdoor park.

Name: Burj Mubarak al Kabir
Where: Kuwait
Cost: $7.37 billion
Estimated Completion: 2016
The Challenge: Erect a 3,300-foot building that’s strong enough to withstand 150mph winds

Name: Perdido Spar
Where: Gulf of Mexico
Cost: Undisclosed
Estimated Completion: First oil, 2010; all wells online, 2016
The Challenge: Moor a skyscraper-size floating rig to the seafloor, then drill the world's deepest subsea well

Two hundred miles off the coast of Galveston, Texas, below 10,000 feet of water and another 9,000 feet of mud, salt and rock, lies Shell Oil's most ambitious new target, a swath of seabed the size of Houston that holds enough oil and natural gas to produce up to 130,000 barrels a day.

Name: Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Crossing
Where: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cost: $817 million
Estimated Completion: 2012
The Challenge: Construct the world's tallest arch bridge on a bed of sand

Name: Alternative Multifunctional Underground Space
Where: Amsterdam
Cost: $14.4 billion
Estimated Completion: 2028
The Challenge: Hollow out 900 million cubic feet of earth to make a watertight underground urban oasis

Name: Gotthard Base Tunnel
Where: Swiss Alps
Cost: $8 billion
Estimated Completion: 2017
The challenge: Dig the longest tunnel ever, perfectly level, through the base of the Alps