Engineering

If you wanted to build a Great Pyramid in today's market, you would need to take into consideration a lot of factors. How much labor would you need? What about materials? And how much would it cost you?

By Marshall Brain

Domed cities would provide the same temperature year-round, no rain or snow, and the ability to go outside without worrying about a sunburn. Have they been tried before, and what about the people who enjoy their seasons?

By Marshall Brain

Steam technology powered the Industrial Revolution, transformed the global shipping industry and revolutionized modern warfare. But how do steam engines actually harness the power of steam?

By Robert Lamb & Yara Simón

Bots with a badge? Police robots are no longer the stuff of sci-fi movies like "RoboCop." Some cities are using robots to patrol beats, although they're more commonly used in dangerous scenarios.

By Jonathan Strickland

Michelangelo was not only a great sculptor; he was also a master builder. He loved cities over nature and although had many architectural feats under his name, he often declared that he was not an architect. See the famous buildings of Michelangelo.

By Lauren Mitchell Ruehring

When it came to building or improving things, the ancient Romans really knew their stuff. Which cool engineering tricks did they pass along to us?

By Gallagher Flinn

Pisa without its precariously tilted landmark is like San Francisco without the Golden Gate or London without Buckingham Palace. Will the peculiarly enduring tower ever vanish from the Italian skyline?

By William Harris

Robots continue to work their way into every aspect of our lives, but these advancements aren't self-sustaining. The fields of robotics, engineering and science depend on a steady pipeline of young minds. And that's where FIRST comes in.

By Marshall Brain & Robert Lamb

Dyneema is trademarked as the world's strongest fiber. Find out how this high-strength synthetic is capable of protecting an individual (or an entire vehicle) from IEDs or even shots fired from an AK47.

By Christopher Neiger

Artificial intelligence has advanced very quickly. Some believe that it's possible that machines will eventually be able to improve themselves. But could machines ever truly achieve consciousness?

By Jonathan Strickland

Nanotechnology is one of the hot buzzwords of the 21st century. You know that it has to do with things that are very small, but just what are the implications of technology on the molecular scale, anyway?

By Jonathan Strickland

If people could create nanomachines, they might be able to help fight diseases on the molecular level. They might even be able to replicate themselves. But what happens if that process gets out of hand?

By Jonathan Strickland

Move over, Gaudi, Gehry and Wright. There are some new architectural players on the scene, and they're shaping our world in unique and innovative ways.

By Shanna Freeman

If you've traveled recently, you probably raised your arms above your head and waited for a millimeter wave scanner to do its screening thing. During those 10 seconds or so, did you ever wonder exactly how the device produced your image?

By William Harris

Nope, these advanced imaging technologies are not the same. So whether you're concerned about privacy, safety or time as you're shuffling through the airport security line, we can tell you how these two types of scanners stack up against each other.

By William Harris

"Hahaha ... we've come to destroy your world!" Or so it must read in the chapter of the "Evil Robot Handbook" on what to say when you first encounter humans. Here are 10 robots you really don't want to mess with.

By Patrick J. Kiger

It's a recipe for disaster: Venice is sinking, and the waters around it are rising. Can the controversial MOSE project save Italy's famous city with a series of aqua gates?

By Nathan Chandler

It's always been a dilemma for humans: how to move that super-heavy object to a new place. But we always seem to find a way, don't we?

By Patrick J. Kiger

Underground mining has come a long way from the days of men with pickaxes and canaries. It relies much more heavily on machinery that makes it much safer than in the past. Which techniques are used in mining today?

By Julia Layton

If we're ever going to live in a world in which machines behave like people, we humans have some teaching to do. But as this writing robot attests, we're not as far away as you might think.

By William Harris

Until 2022, the longest suspension bridge in the world was in Japan. Now, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge in Türkiye has taken the title

By Austin Henderson

Underwater tunnels are so commonplace that we rarely think of the great dangers -- and extreme construction techniques -- these modern wonders require. With the opening of the Marmaray Tunnel in October 2013, it's time to take a second look.

By Nicholas Gerbis

Welding isn't the only way to make metals, like the ones on your aviator shades, meet up. Brazing can do the trick, too, with a little heat, some filler and some capillary action.

By William Harris

Environmental engineering existed long before it had a name. It began at the dawn of civilization when we started changing our surroundings to meet our needs.

By Bernadette Johnson

Some architects and engineers go big. Others get fancy. And yet others aim squarely for the completely bizarre. These imagination-bending, gravity-defying products may induce more than a few OMGs.

By William Harris