Engineering
A large solar storm could knock out the power grid and the internet
Typical amounts of solar particles hitting the earth’s magnetosphere can be beautiful, but too much could be catastrophic.
NASA-funded scientist says “MEGA drive” could enable interstellar travel
The mega drive might provide enough thrust for a spacecraft to travel near the speed of light using only electricity, says one physicist.
Synthetic cartilage is now stronger than the real stuff
Using a heating process, Duke researchers have created a synthetic cartilage hydrogel that can outperform the real thing.
Gates-backed company is using robots to build mega solar farms
With new capital from a Bill Gates-backed VC firm, Terabase wants to automate solar farm construction.
Russians reportedly building a satellite-blinding laser. How would it work?
If Russia is able to build the laser, it would be capable of shielding a large part of the country from the view of satellites.
MIT’s new algorithm for self-driving cars is open-source
MIT scientists unveil the first open-source simulation engine capable of constructing realistic environments for autonomous vehicles.
15th century futurism: Leonardo da Vinci’s famous helicopter design finally takes flight
Da Vinci dreamed up a helicopter 400 years before they actually existed. Now, engineers have brought his design to life, but with a twist.
The sci-fi plan to create artificial gravity on the moon, Mars
To create artificial gravity for off-world explorers, Japan plans to build spinning, cone-shaped facilities on the moon and Mars.
Tapping into the million-year energy source below our feet
Quaise Energy wants to repurpose coal and gas plants into deep geothermal wells by using X-rays to melt rock.
Engineers build LEGO-like artificial intelligence chip
Engineers have created an AI chip with alternating layers of sensing and processing elements that can communicate with each other.