Engineering (Page 7)

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

Latest in Engineering

The Apple Car is dead

Hand holding cube of 3D printed titanium allow metamaterial

A 3D-printed titanium ‘metamaterial’ design solved a longtime engineering issue

Image taken of JAXA SLIM lunar lander on moon upside down

SLIM lives! Japan’s upside-down lander is online after a brutal lunar night

Close up of laser etching optical disk

This DVD-sized disk can store a massive 125,000 gigabytes of data

Concept art of NASA Mars habitat

How to apply for NASA’s next Mars habitat simulation

Edible soft robot on table

This edible, wriggling robot mimics experience of eating moving food

Minesto Dragon 4 undersea kite turbine traveling atop water

Huge underwater ‘kite’ turbine powered 1,000 homes in the Faroe Islands

pleurocystitid soft robot

A sea creature extinct for half a billion years inspired a new soft robot

Interior of JET fusion reactor with plasma superimposed

Aging reactor sets new fusion energy record in last hurrah

Abandoned car in aluminum red mud spill

Aluminum’s notorious, toxic red mud could one day help make ‘green steel’

Antique zimingzhong mechanical clock

It’s time to check out these incredible antique musical clocks

Screenshot showing shaded rendering of Doom via E. Coli bacteria display

Running ‘Doom’ on E. coli cells… very, very slowly

Ingenuity rotocopter on Mars

RIP Mars Ingenuity, the ‘little helicopter that could’

GIF of Sierra Space LIFE module exploding during pressure test

Watch a giant, inflatable space station prototype explode during its intentional ‘ultimate burst’

A colorized view of the DOLCE structure finalizing its uncoiling process, as seen from the boom camera, over Antarctica, on August 22, 2023.

The first-ever space solar power tests are finished after a year in orbit

John Deere 8R Autonomous Tractor in field

John Deere and Starlink partner to provide satellite internet for rural farmers

Interior of Boeing 737-9 Max with emergency passenger door plug blown off

Boeing faces FAA audit after its 737 Max 9 plane’s door plug blew off mid-air

GIF of Ouroboros-3 test rocket igniting

Watch this rocket ‘eat’ its own body for fuel

Microscopic view of Oikopleura dioica

This tiny sea creature builds a ‘snot palace’ to capture food

Closeup of carbon nitride material

This new synthetic material is nearly as durable as diamonds

Illustration of biofiber within cracked concrete

Bacterial ‘blood’ could heal cracks in concrete

Completed JT-60SA experimental nuclear fusion facility in Japan

The world’s largest experimental tokamak nuclear fusion reactor is up and running

A cicada sitting on a green leaf. The insect has bright orange eyes and large wings. Cicadas live underground for 13 or 17 years, before emerging to mate.

Fiber optic cables can pick up cicadas’ droning din

By Laura Baisas

Google and Fervo's geothermal power plant in Nevada at dusk

Geothermal energy now helps power Google’s desert data centers

Army ants building living bridge between two ledges in lab

Army ants could teach robots a thing or two

Robot dog at Hyundai factory working on car

Hyundai’s robot-heavy EV factory in Singapore is fully operational

A detailed view of a drain cover on the track as seen from the McLaren VISTA during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Las Vegas at Las Vegas Strip Circuit on November 16, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Formula One race car cracks a drain cover during Las Vegas Grand Prix practice run

Computer simulation of Apollo 12 lunar lander effects on lunar surface

Watch NASA’s supercomputer simulation of the Apollo 12 lunar landing

Side by side of 3D printed robot hand gripping pen and bottle

This 3D-printed soft robotic hand has ‘bones,’ ‘ligaments,’ and ‘tendons’

a Ford Mach-E electric car parked in front of the woods in autumn

How do electric cars work? By harnessing the magic of magnetism.

Why scientists used these radio transmitters to create artificial auroras

By Charlotte Hu

Pathfinder 1 outside of Hangar 2

Giant electric airships could one day deliver humanitarian aid

By Harry Guinness

NASA's Super Guppy rocket transport prop plane landing on tarmac in Alabama

Watch NASA’s bizarre and bulbous Super Guppy cargo plane touch down in Alabama

Rimac Nevera hypercar action shot driving in reverse

Rimac’s electric speed demon tore through a world record in reverse

California Forever concept art of utopian cityscape

Billionaire-backed company has bought all the land it needs for its ‘city of yesterday’

elephant seal wearing tag like a hat

Seals with funny hats are helping map the Antarctic seascape

By Charlotte Hu

How smart trailers could give trucking a clean, electrified boost

How smart trailers could give trucking a clean, electrified boost

Offshore wind turbine being constructed with nearby supply ship

A Danish company just scrapped its ambitious plan for a New Jersey offshore wind farm

Watch a heavy-lifting drone land a perfect delivery on an offshore wind turbine

Watch a heavy-lifting drone land a perfect delivery on an offshore wind turbine

This new haptic glove uses tiny valve ‘pixels’ to simulate pressure

This new haptic glove uses tiny valve ‘pixels’ to simulate pressure

Man holding HULC lunar camera in rocky outdoor environment

A sneak peek at the lunar camera destined for the Artemis missions

Woman's hands holding up cloth woven with smart fiber

This liquid crystal fabric is ‘smart’ enough to adapt to the weather

Chicken feather fibers could help make less toxic hydrogen fuel cells

Chicken feather fibers could help make less toxic hydrogen fuel cells

a giant bumper car

This giant bumper car is street-legal and enormously delightful

This weird-looking British ship will keep an eye out for sabotage beneath the surface

This weird-looking British ship will keep an eye out for sabotage beneath the surface

By Kelsey D. Atherton

Orsted offshore wind turbines in the UK

Atlantic City’s massive offshore wind farm project highlights the industry’s growing pains

2024 Chevy Corvette E-Ray driving down the road

The new electrified E-Ray is the quickest Corvette ever

Stella Terra solar powered car action shot on road

This off-roading, solar-powered vehicle just sped across the Sahara

Workers at rare earth mineral mine next to equipment in China

China says it discovered potentially vast amounts of a rare superconducting material

Watch this new Canada-made troop transport pass its explosive tests

Watch this new Canada-made troop transport pass its explosive tests

By Kelsey D. Atherton

This non-invasive device blasts apart tumors with sound waves

This non-invasive device blasts apart tumors with sound waves

By Charlotte Hu

Why NASA will launch rockets to study the eclipse

Why NASA will launch rockets to study the eclipse

By Charlotte Hu

Parker Solar Probe in front of sun concept art

The fastest ever human-made object keeps breaking its own speed record

Two US Coast Guard officials handling remains of OceanGate Titan submersible

What the US Coast Guard found on their last OceanGate Titan salvage mission

Man with cerebral palsy drinking from RoboCup

College students invented an easy device for cerebral palsy patients to drink on their own

Close up of Axiom Space Prada lunar spacesuit glove

Moon-bound Artemis III spacesuits have some functional luxury sewn in

aurora supercomputer at Argonne

The world’s most powerful computer could soon help the US build better nuclear reactors

By Charlotte Hu

Orbital cubesat plasma brake concept art

A new satellite’s ‘plasma brake’ uses Earth’s atmosphere to avoid becoming space junk

nuclear submarine

Shipbuilders 3D-printed a part for a nuclear submarine

By Kelsey D. Atherton

Archax robotic mech suit in warehouse

This gigantic mech suit can be yours for $3 million

The world’s internet traffic flows beneath the oceans—here’s how

The world’s internet traffic flows beneath the oceans—here’s how

By Harry Guinness

Green architecture homes

The EPA wants to tighten up their ‘zero-emission’ building definition

Solar sail concept art from NASA

How tiny spacecraft could ‘sail’ to Mars surprisingly quickly

The 2024 Polaris Xpedition vehicle crossing a river

This new Polaris off-roader is the ultimate vehicle for rugged adventures

By Kristin Shaw