French engineers have been experimenting with a technique that could redirect seismic energy away from structures such as cities, dams, and nuclear power plants, sparing them from damage. It involves digging large, cylindrical boreholes into the ground, forming a defensive geometry of lace-like arrays that, researchers hope, could deflect seismic waves and thus make whole landscapes "invisible" to earthquakes.
The world’s ever-growing demand for gas is driving companies deeper and further into the ocean to drill for it. And, to do so, they’re building a new type of ship: small city-sized floating factories that drill, process, refine, and barrel gas while still out on the open sea. Think of them as one-stop gas shops that, crucially, can operate in international waters.
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Neil Armstrong
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As you settle down to watch the Opening Day night games tonight, you probably won’t be thinking about the massive array of lights that illuminate the game. But that blinding artificial sunlight was once a technological phenomenon that stunned fans and had the police threatening to shut it down.
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This tiny piece of glass may not look like much, but in fact its surface is cleverly etched to capture light, and it contains a small chip to process the incident light. Yep, it’s a tiny camera that could provide any object—however small—with the means of capturing images.
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The city of Kiruna, Sweden, is sinking—the iron mines beneath it are making the ground collapse. So, over the next two decades, its 20,000 residents will be relocated, along with their homes, offices, stores, and schools, to another, brand-new city about two miles to the east.
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This amazing 3D piece of silicone dotted with electronics looks like something out of the future—because it is. In fact, this potential pacemaker replacement fits over the human heart and is capable of monitoring and, soon, responding to, its vital signs.
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Ceramics are an increasingly common material to work with—from hard-wearing bearings to heat-proof cladding on spacecraft—but they all share one fatal weakness: they’re fragile. Now, though, inspired by nature, researchers are making a ceramic that mimics mother of pearl—and is ten times stronger than normal ceramics.
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The first ever entirely 3D-printed kayak isn’t just an impressive feat of engineering—it’s adorably child-like in its rainbow color scheme, too.
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In a story that united geologists with rare car enthusiasts last month, a massive sinkhole opened up
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