Engineering

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.

By Cherise Threewitt

We think of robots as modern inventions, or maybe even retro creations meant to realize futuristic visions. But automata go back - way back - into history.

By Nathan Chandler

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...

By Laurie L. Dove

There's more to replacing human riders than just using cool tech, as the advancement helps solve a serious human rights issue.

By Chris Opfer

The android known as FEDOR used pistols to display its decision making and dexterity, officials said, not as a preview of robot warfare.

By Patrick J. Kiger

What do you do when you're out of land but want to expand an airport? Try building on water.

By Jonathan Strickland

That is, if you're under the age of 25 and your hearing's intact.

By Julia Layton

A robot to simulate mudskipper locomotion gives scientists a look into the success of the first land vertebrate ancestors, and points to our future on other planets.

By Jesslyn Shields

You might be surprised to learn that the twists and turns of streets in the suburbs date all the way to the Industrial Revolution.

By Adina Solomon

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

Researchers in China have developed a non-toxic "smart" wallpaper that won't burn and triggers an alarm when it gets hot.

By Laurie L. Dove

Plastic road materials-maker MacRebur is paving the way to a greener environment, using recycled waste to build roads.

By Patrick J. Kiger

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

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

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

This postwar era architecture has a heavy, raw look, hence the name. But the designs are sensible and authoritative, and many Brutalist buildings are experiencing a revival.

By Carrie Whitney, Ph.D.

Uncover the impact of the Bessemer process, which revolutionized steel production and shaped modern society.

By Desiree Bowie

SCIFs are spy-proof, highly secure facilities designed for viewing and working with sensitive national security secrets. We talk to a former general counsel for the NSA to find out how they work.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Computer-generated artificial celebrities, created with cutting-edge technology, have become some of the hottest social media stars on the planet, selling everything from insurance to perfume.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Crinkle crankle walls undulate, mimicking the shape of a snake's slither. But what's the purpose of these wavy walls?

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

Splish-splash is not the sound you want to hear when you're standing in front of a urinal. A new design is being touted as the answer to the splashless pee.

By Kate Morgan

Bridges connect people and places, with inspired engineering and views that can't be beat. Here are the 10 longest in the world.

By Laurie L. Dove

The Kola Superdeep Borehole in Russia is the deepest hole in the world. It's deeper than the Mariana Trench and deeper than Mt. Everest is tall. Why did the Russians dig this deep, and why did they stop?

By Jennifer Walker-Journey

The U.S. has some of the longest highways in the world, but the nine longest are scattered all over the globe.

By Jesslyn Shields

Could a computer chip implanted in our brains make the necessity of actually learning anything, like a language, obsolete because knowledge will be available for streaming 24/7?

By Patrick J. Kiger