Engineering (Page 9)

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

Latest in Engineering

Elemental chromium

The same metal found on hot rods and Harleys could revolutionize solar panels

food wrapped in aluminum foil

Scientists shake crumpled tinfoil to create electricity

By Charlotte Hu

Japanese bullet train leaving station at dawn

Texas could get a 205-mph bullet train zipping between Houston and Dallas

This communications company is a lifeline for far-flung operators

This communications company is a lifeline for far-flung operators

By Sarah Scoles

Nvidia's GH200 chip

A new chip can power the billions of calculations the AI age requires

By Harry Guinness

Two astronauts walking in spacesuits in a desert

How do you keep a spacesuit clean? One answer is antimicrobial fabric.

Orion space capsule capturing surface of moon during NASA Artemis I mission

An art-filled time capsule is headed for the moon

By Charlotte Hu

Trinity test color photo

How the real Trinity test was filmed and photographed, and where to watch it

By Kelsey D. Atherton

Two researchers look at green plasma ray in lab setting

Plasma beams could one day cool overheating electronics in a flash

a john deere motor grader in a factory

In photos: How John Deere builds its massive machines

By Christopher Payne, Kristin Shaw

A streak of blue lightning, representing energy, spreads horizontally across a textured cement surface.

Two ancient materials may help solve a modern energy dilemma

a robot starting at toy objects on table

Robots could now understand us better with some help from the web

By Charlotte Hu

The U.S. Air Force X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 4

What is DARPA? The rich history of the Pentagon’s secretive tech agency

By Kelsey D. Atherton

MIT breast cancer device

MIT develops an at-home mammogram alternative that fits in a bra

By Sara Kiley Watson

A TV on an entertainment console, where you'll need to figure out what HDMI 2.1 is and why it matters.

What is HDMI 2.1?

By Brandon Russell, Harry Guinness

space shuttle endeavour blasts off

What it takes to display a 176,000-pound space shuttle in a launch configuration

hyperspectral imagery next to black and white imagery

Hyperspectral imaging can detect chemical signatures of earthbound objects from space

By Charlotte Hu

A WiFi sign in a cafe.

WiFi 5 vs. WiFi 6: Which should you choose?

By Harry Guinness

Microscopic view of glass-coated DNA nanostructure

These super strong nanostructures are made of glass-coated DNA

Deep underground, robotic teamwork saves the day

Deep underground, robotic teamwork saves the day

By Kurt Kleiner/Knowable Magazine

Illustration of metal nanomaterial healing cracks

Scientists accidentally capture metals ‘healing’ themselves

Streets of New York City.

How ‘underground climate change’ affects life on the Earth’s surface

By Carla Delgado

wood cross sections

DARPA would like to make scrap wood stronger with WUD

By Charlotte Hu

deep sea bubbles

The key to bringing deep sea samples up to the coast? An underwater freezer.

By Annie Roth / Hakai Magazine

first road constructed with plastic waste in Agartala

Turning plastic waste into streets faces roadblocks

By James Bruggers/Inside Climate News

Model of the Titanic and the Boeing 737 Max at the Museum of Failure.

The Museum of Failure challenges how we think about mistakes

By Charlotte Hu

super glue invention mistake

How a shot at making better gunsights became Super Glue instead

By Kelsey D. Atherton

Arco del Tiempo (Arch of Time) mockup

This art installation will tell time and produce solar energy

By Sara Kiley Watson

Study author shows off the compressed mycelium sheets she created for the project

This fungi-based substance might protect homes from ever-worsening wildfires

By Sara Kiley Watson

the view from on a container ship

The first container ship fueled by food scraps is ready to set sail

By Charlotte Hu

person holding latest fairphone

The most sustainable phone on the market is the one in your pocket

By Carla Delgado

Fervo Energy Project Red geothermal mining site in Nevada

An American start-up claims it just set a geothermal energy record

Two hands against a white background, each holding an iPhone 14. The one on the left has its silver back to the camera, while the one on the right has its screen toward the camera.

Memory vs. storage: What to know when buying a new smartphone

By Harry Guinness

Two people sitting in mycocrete dome structure

Fungi spores and knitting combine to make a durable and sustainable building material

a military model of an embassy and a hummer

Why US intelligence wants a new way to make virtual, 3D models

By Kelsey D. Atherton

a rendering of an electric jet in flight

These tiny electric fans are powerful enough to propel drones and jets

a model of a Kia EV9

A look at the weird intersection of taxidermy and car design

By Kristin Shaw

VIPER moon rover coming down a ramp during a test at the NASA Ames Research Center

NASA’s quirky new lunar rover will be the first to cruise the moon’s south pole

a marine fires a stinger missile

Raytheon asks retirees for help making new Stinger anti-air missiles

By Kelsey D. Atherton

Eco-runner 13 model

This tiny hydrogen-fueled car just broke a world record for going the distance

By Sara Kiley Watson

the bottom of AWS' chandelier for quantum networks

Peek inside the lab working on quantum memories

By Charlotte Hu

A close-up of a Raspberry Pi computer circuit board.

How bits, bytes, ones, and zeros help a computer think

By Charlotte Hu

Joby’s latest electric air taxi will head to an Air Force base for tests in 2024

This company put a huge cell-tower-like satellite in space

This company put a huge cell-tower-like satellite in space

By Harry Guinness

Microsoft's quantum computing infrastructure

Microsoft sets its sights on a quantum supercomputer

By Charlotte Hu

Monarch butterfly during migration perched on leaf with wings spread out

Monarch butterflies’ signature color patterns could inspire better drone design

Why scientists want to banish barnacles from ship hulls

Why scientists want to banish barnacles from ship hulls

By Chris Baraniuk / Hakai Magazine

How GM is moving its autos into an accessible and inclusive future

How GM is moving its autos into an accessible and inclusive future

By Kristin Shaw

OceanGate Titan submersible side view in water

Why finding the missing Titanic-bound tourist submersible is so challenging

Tesla coil experiment to demonstrate how electricity works.

How does electricity work? Let’s demystify the life-changing physics.

cryostat infrastructure of a quantum computer

Quantum computers are starting to become more useful

By Charlotte Hu

The world’s first self-driving ferry is now in service

By Harry Guinness

inside of large airplane engine

The metallic guts of GE’s massive jet engines, in photos

By Christopher Payne, Rob Verger

humvees in Kuwait in 2005

The Pentagon wants to retrofit vehicles to drive themselves

By Kelsey D. Atherton

Agent Smith clones from The Matrix to show the concept of singularity in AI and AGI

What happens if AI grows smarter than humans? The answer worries scientists.

Spotted lanternfly adult on leaf

This lanternfly-egg-hunting robot could mean fewer bugs to squish

By Charlotte Hu

a tunnel in a sewer system

Taiwan sent mosquito-fighting robots into its sewers

By Charlotte Hu

a drone flies over the water

Watch a ‘flying fish’ drone hover in the air and then swim underwater

By Harry Guinness

Person underwater looking up at outer space to represent Blue Abyss training tank. Illustrated.

Inside Blue Abyss’ plan to build super-deep pools for astronauts and military bots

By Sarah Scoles

Look inside London’s new Super Sewer, an engineering marvel for rubbish and poo

Look inside London’s new Super Sewer, an engineering marvel for rubbish and poo

Air 4 All prototype wheelchair seat in airplane cabin

Prototype airline seat would make the skies friendlier to passengers in wheelchairs

Apple Vision Pro being worn by someone typing

Apple released a ‘spatial computer.’ Here’s what that means.

By Harry Guinness

Loxley Browne (right) CEO and founder of Club Athena in California with Akshaya Koramutla, the Student Advisory Board President.

This STEM club for girls turned a real BMW into a sweet racing simulator

By Kristin Shaw

Ephemeral exhibit at London Design Biennale

Bendy, eco-friendly wooden walls were inspired by guitar curves