Engineering (Page 2)

A guide to the structures, machines, and systems that power and connect our world.

Latest in Engineering

A portrait of two brothers, Nico and Matteo Mucchetti, posing with their homemade, full-sized replica of a purple ride vehicle from Disney's "Big Hero 6" attraction. The younger brother sits inside the purple wooden structure, which is detailed with orange accents and a string of LED lights along the edge, while the older brother leans over the back. They are positioned in a dimly lit room, creating a dramatic spotlight effect on them and their project.

Teen brothers build a Disney-inspired ride in family basement

By Laura Kiniry

An illustration symbolizes new battery technology: Proteins (red) hold tiny clusters of metal (silver). Each yellow ball in the structures at center represents a single atom of nickel or iron. Credit: Maher El-Kady / UCLA

Thomas Edison’s failed rechargeable battery may get a second life

Candidates for Luna 9's landing site. Credit: Pinault et al.

Astronomers close in on long-lost Soviet lunar lander

a tatoo-like image of the mona lisa printed on synthetic skin

Synthetic skin reveals hidden ‘Mona Lisa’ when exposed to heat

By Mack DeGeurin

a man holds a light blue torch and a flame

MIT professor designs 2026 Winter Olympics torch

By Laura Baisas

a pulley system with a ceiling fan chain

Man solves ceiling fans’ most annoying problem

By Mack DeGeurin

Large group of used dirty sleeping mattresses. Abandoned in wild landfill

Fungi help turn old mattresses into insulation

a stingray swimming in clear blue water

Stingray-inspired robot cracks the mystery of how rays swim

By Mack DeGeurin

a black robot shaped like a human hand

This robot hand can detach from its arm and crawl around

By Mack DeGeurin

Four images side-by-side showing angles of a saxophone-inspired instrument called the Post Digital Sax

The 10 weirdest and wildest musical instruments of 2026

hand in glove holding a chip

5 remarkable engineering innovations of 2025

By Andrew Rosenblum

A humanoid robot is carried by technicians after being knocked out in a kickboxing match at the World Humanoid Robot Games on August 15, 2025 in Beijing, China.

2025 proved humanoid robots are here to stay. And fall down.

By Mack DeGeurin

a global density map of the world's buildings

Browse a 3D map of the world’s 2.75 billion buildings

red and white and red and green candy canes on a green background

The magic of making candy canes by hand

By Laura Baisas

E-scooter on fire in safety demonstration video from CPSC

Cozy up (safely) to an e-scooter’s lithium battery yule log

three white 3D printed animal skulls

3D printed skulls make mounting antlers less of a bloody mess

By Mack DeGeurin

3D printed Christmas tree made from ice

Physicists 3D-printed a Christmas tree made of ice particles

Water flowing through the Hamlin Lake Dam in Ludington Michigan.

2,500 ‘high-risk’ U.S. dams are sinking into the ground

A salt grain-sized microrobot on a human finger to illustrate size

Dancing robot is the size of a grain of salt

A thin sheet of plastic covered in transparent MOCHI film

Bubble wrap-like material could help insulate glass windows

Tesla made a $350 pickleball paddle

By Mack DeGeurin

Close up of musician playing 3D printed carbon fiber cello

This 3D-printed cello puts a carbon fiber spin on a classic

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander. This rendering does not have the new LightPort, but it will sit atop the lander in future models.

Wireless power grids head to the moon

By Mack DeGeurin

Tumbleweed inspired robot next to actual tumbleweed

Tumbleweeds inspire this rolling, resilient robot

An ancient Pompeii wall at a newly excavated site, where Associate Professor Admir Masic applied compositional analysis (overlayed to right) to understand how ancient Romans made concrete that has endured for thousands of years.

Pompeii’s ruins challenge Rome’s famous concrete recipe

Electric plane flying over green mountains

Air New Zealand tests a new generation of electric planes

white urinals separated by green plants

Swiss startup turns urine into plant fertilizer

By Margherita Bassi

Inside the mouth of this anchovy, plankton particles are captured by the gill arch system.

Sardine-inspired washing machine filter removes 99% of microplastics

several full fish laying on ice. the fish are orange, white, and multicolored

Afraid your fish is too fishy? Smart sensors might save your nose

By Mack DeGeurin

Arm in noninvasive glucose monitoring device

Goodbye, finger pricks? Diabetes patients could monitor glucose with lightwaves.

a scared man with several dental tools in his mouth

Quieter dental drills may be on the horizon

By Laura Baisas

A 3D printer printing a green plastic shoe.

How does 3D printing work?

By Charlotte Hu

a wearable device that looks like a bandage swiping on a smartphone

New wearable device lets you touch fabric online, read braille, and more

By Mack DeGeurin

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 08: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB21 on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 08, 2025 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Zak Mauger/LAT Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202511080876 // Usage for editorial use only //

4 billion equations calculated for F1 team during race weekend

By Kristin Shaw

a piece of sliced turkey on a white plate with a side of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green beans. a dish of cranberry sauce is on the left side

Tired of turkey? Try gene edited, meat-like fungi.

By Mack DeGeurin

Scanning electron microscopy image of the engineered 3D bone marrow tissue colonized with human blood cells (red). Andrés García García, University of Basel, Department of Biomedicine

New lab-made bone marrow model is a bioengineering first

By Laura Baisas

a gloved hand scraping a frosty windshield

Need to melt ice? Try high voltage metal

By Mack DeGeurin

Artist illustration of two ESCAPADE satellites orbiting Mars

Meet Blue and Gold: NASA’s first twin satellites bound for Mars

Fragment of a Roman milestone erected along the road Via Nova in Jordan. Credit: Adam Pažout, Itiner-e.

Travel ancient Rome’s 186,000 miles of roads in new online atlas

a close up of food scraps being poured into a compost bin

Food scraps could power future airplanes

By Mack DeGeurin

Muddy tire in pothole puddle anchored by bricks

New asphalt could make potholes extinct

Back angle of man scratching head and looking at rows of TVs in electronics store

Your eyes can only handle so much HDTV

The tree is constructed from a metal pole, with sea glass strung down from the top.

Meet the man who built a 15-foot-tall sea glass Christmas tree

By Laura Baisas

Reconstructed image of the compact, fast-rotating asymmetric disc around β CMi. The white scale bar at the bottom right marks 1 milliarcsecond — equivalent to a 6 feet scale at the distance of the moon.

Astronomers’ telescope ‘hack’ uncovered a lopsided star

ROV screenshot of dive to Titan submersible debris on ocean floor

OceanGate’s ‘Titan’ went on 7 dives with a damaged hull before implosion

Aerial photo of ancient ice storage facility excavation next to photos of a burial jar containing Chinese coins

Ancient underground freezer unearthed at South Korean castle

a pitcher-like device

This portable, 3D-printed device can pull drinking water out of thin air

By Mack DeGeurin

Exploration Acres corn maze seen from aerial photograph

Inside the making of a world-class corn maze

Research team lowering Redwing submersible into ocean from a boat

Self-piloting submarine set to begin historic mission to circle Earth’s oceans

several rotary turns and a hand

Google made a rotary phone-inspired keyboard

By Mack DeGeurin

Man standing next to single seat personal helicopter in landing field

Flying in an open-air, single-seat helicopter is a true test of nerves

a large SUV offroading

The tug-of-war between engineering and design to build the Hyundai Palisade XRT Pro

By Kristin Shaw

a hand and the umbrella

Redesigned umbrella is smaller than an iPhone

By Mack DeGeurin

a mannequin with its neck skin being removed

3D-printed skin stretches, bleeds like the real thing

By Mack DeGeurin

a bright pink mesh oval

Researchers created a soft squeezable computer mouse

By Mack DeGeurin

A graphical representation of what a real Gerver’s sofa might look like.

This is the biggest sofa you can fit around a corner, according to a mathematician

airplane airbags illustration

Engineers propose massive airbags for airplanes

By Mack DeGeurin

a rectangular cassette tape with lots of loose brown tape coming out

A single DNA cassette tape could store billions of photos

By Laura Baisas

a robot dog walking with three humans

The perfect robot guide dog shouldn’t be cute

By Mack DeGeurin

A green chameleon on branch extending tongue to catch an insect

A chameleon’s ‘ballistic tongue’ may inspire blood clot-clearing robots

a backyard version of fenway park complete with a green monster, signs, and scoreboard

A dedicated son brings Fenway Park to his dad’s backyard

By Laura Baisas

On the set of the TV series Star Trek

The ‘Star Trek’ technology that came to real life

By Popular Science Team

Concept art of Top Tower in Prague, Czech Republic

A ‘post-apocalyptic’ shipwreck tower will be Prague’s tallest building

Lunar rover concept going up hill with US flag mounted on rear

NASA offers $155,000 to design moon tires