HowStuffWorks Newsletter
Engineering is the discipline of design and construction of mechanical devices, equipment, structures and public works systems. Topics include aircraft technologies, buildings, bridges, robotics and heavy machinery.
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A new robot ant uses the same technology desert ants use to safely, efficiently navigate through the searing Saharan sun.
There's a mysterious tower in Texas that strongly resembles Nikola Tesla's Wardenclyffe Tower. Its constructors say they're testing some new forms of electromagnetic waves. But is something else going on?
In 17th century Japan, wealthy citizens built homes with "nightingale floors" that squeaked, warning them of intruders. In fact, the floors squeaked louder when the steps got lighter.
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We humans may 'know it when we see it,' but the bots sure don't. At least not yet.
By Greg Fish
We may finally know how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids.
These days, you can do a lot more at a transit hub than simply catch a train or a bus.
Well, heck yeah, we can, and we have. Let's take a look.
By Robert Lamb
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The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is 34 miles (55 kilometers) long and connects the territories of Hong Kong and Macao to mainland China for the first time.
Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi masterpiece '2001: A Space Odyssey' premiered 50 years ago, and it got a lot of things right. But what about HAL? How close are we to those kinds of capabilities?
By Oisin Curran
Researchers at Harvard University have developed a method of printing objects using the pressure of sound waves on even the most viscous liquids.
Plastic road materials-maker MacRebur is paving the way to a greener environment, using recycled waste to build roads.
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Researchers in China have developed a non-toxic "smart" wallpaper that won't burn and triggers an alarm when it gets hot.
China's newest unmanned submersible isn't designed to be cute — it can go deeper underwater, stay under longer and maneuver more deftly than its predecessors.
With the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots heating up, we step back a few decades to look at the first human death by robot.
By Bryan Young
A massive solar-powered clock being constructed inside a mountain in Texas is designed to keep time for 10,000 years.
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City workers have pulled 46 tons of the colorful beads from New Orleans' clogged catch basins, mostly from a five-block stretch along St. Charles Avenue.
Controversy surrounds the removal of public monuments honoring the U.S. Confederacy. But who or what determines which monuments go up or come down?
By Dave Roos
Defensive design is becoming increasingly important in cities around the world.
Cosmic rays sound like something out of sci-fi, but they're helping scientists unlock the secrets of one of the oldest human-made structures in the world.
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You might be surprised to learn that the twists and turns of streets in the suburbs date all the way to the Industrial Revolution.
Old books smell a lot like chocolate and coffee, thanks to certain chemical compounds.
And guess what? You can browse them all for yourself.
Researchers want to make it easy for beginners and nonengineers to design a custom robot in minutes, then print and assemble the parts themselves.
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Is honesty the best policy? New York subway delays have been couched in mystery for years, but the MTA is now dishing out hard truths about why trains are running behind.
The ancients were able to devise a mix for concrete that actually gets stronger over time thanks to chemical reactions. If only we could rediscover the recipe...