Engineering
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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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.
These African American men and women were trailblazers, and in some cases, business leaders in the field of engineering.
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
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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.
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.
Is 1 mile out of 5 on U.S. interstates really supposed to be straight so that planes can land on them in an emergency? Find out the truth about this long-held urban legend.
Until 2022, the longest suspension bridge in the world was in Japan. Now, the 1915 Canakkale Bridge in Türkiye has taken the title
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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?
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?
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.
"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.
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Ever heard of a little unit called a femtometer? Can you tell us how much you weigh -- in petagrams? We know you can't, so hurry up and start reading. We have work to do.
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?
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?
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.
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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.
So you like to complain about your demonic boss, moronic co-workers and fancy company coffee machine that never, ever works? You need to zip it and meet these 10 hard-working bots. They could tell you stories.
By Robert Lamb
Sometimes it seems as though Earth has been hitting the caffeine a little too hard, with all the shakes from earthquakes. So, how do structures stand strong amid all those quakes?
The Bay Bridge is a wonder of structural engineering. Find out how multiple architectural styles were incorporated into the bridge that unites Oakland with San Francisco.
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A soft-story building has a first floor that's more flexible than the ones above -- think apartments over a department store that's mostly open space. How does soft-story retrofitting keep such buildings from collapsing in a quake?
Steel is getting more expensive because the prices of iron and coal are rising. Are there alternatives to steel that can do the same job -- or better -- for less?
If you think regular old domes took the world of structural engineering by storm, you should meet their geodesic cousins. What is a geodesic dome, and who first came up with the idea of building triangle-covered spheres as practical structures?
Bridges span the gap and help us get from point A to B, but who knew they could float, too? Find out what the deal is with floating bridges in this article.
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Jenga seems like such a simple game -- all you have to do is keep a tower of wooden blocks from toppling over. It may be simple, but it's anchored by several complex structural engineering concepts.
By Dave Roos
Playing with Lego blocks isn't just child's play. In fact, these blocks and products present a hands-on opportunity to learn the basics of structural engineering.