Engineering, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 22, 2021

US military picks 3 companies to test nuclear propulsion above low-Earth orbit

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has picked three big space companies for the first phase of a larger project to test nuclear propulsion above low Earth orbit by 2025. General Atomics, Blue Origin and Lockheed Martin each received contracts for the Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations (DRACO)...

Oct 27, 2021

What's the world's longest bridge?

The world's longest bridge is the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. The bridge, which opened in June 2011, spans 102.4 miles (165 kilometers). China constructed the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in just four years, employing 10,000 workers, at a cost of...

Feb 1, 2022

6 simple machines: Making work easier

Throughout history, humans have developed several simple machines to make work easier. The most notable of these are known as the six simple machines: the wheel and axle, the lever, the inclined plane, the pulley, the screw, and the wedge, although the latter three are actually just extensions or combinations...

Feb 28, 2022

What is engineering?

Engineering is the application of science and mathematics to solve problems. Engineers figure out how things work and find practical uses for scientific discoveries. Scientists and inventors often get the credit for innovations that advance the human condition, but it is engineers who are instrumental in making those innovations available...

Mar 4, 2022

Who invented the bicycle?

You might think that an invention as simple as the bicycle would have an uncomplicated past. But as it turns out, this highly popular invention has a history fraught with controversy and misinformation. While stories about who invented the bicycle often contradict one another, there's one thing that's certain: the...

Mar 10, 2022

Bionic eyes: How tech is replacing lost vision

The creation of bionic eyes, as a result of recent advances in science and technology, are restoring hope to many who are unable to see or are partially sighted due to injury, illness or genetics. With nearly 40 million people suffering from blindness worldwide and another 135 million affected by...

Mar 23, 2022

Jaws of Life: Invention, tools and uses

The Jaws of Life is a hydraulic rescue tool that is used to cut through cars and rip open vehicles' doors to release stricken occupants. Modern vehicles are built with strong, durable frames designed to prevent damage to passengers and internal car parts, even during a collision. However, in the...

Mar 25, 2022

Who invented the car?

Working out who invented the car is a long and winding road, and pinpointing a single person responsible is not a simple matter. If you rewind the development of cars past GPS, past antilock brakes and automatic transmissions and even past the Model T, eventually you'll get to the Benz...

Apr 5, 2022

Infrared cameras: Invention and uses

Thermal imaging cameras, or infrared cameras, are unlike the cameras found in your smartphone. A typical camera observes the wavelengths of light in the visible spectrum that bounce off objects and hit receivers in the camera. The camera will then turn that light into an image. Thermal cameras, on the...

Oct 27, 2022

Bluetooth: Who invented it and how does it work?

What devices use Bluetooth? If you look around the room right now, chances are you can spot at least half a dozen electrical devices. From mobile phones and speakers to the best running headphones and health monitors, many of these will use Bluetooth. Without Bluetooth, each device would have to...

Feb 26, 2023

Who invented the telephone?

Phones are integral to the everyday lives of most people, but who should be regarded as the device's mastermind? The Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell is routinely credited as the inventor of the telephone and the first person to speak over the phone. In that first telephone call, on March 10,...

Dec 2, 2023

Scientists uncover the secret to building Star Wars-style laser weapons — but don't worry, we won't have a Death Star anytime soon

High-powered infrared laser weapons could be on the horizon after scientists figured out how to make lasers nine times more powerful. Militaries have already deployed laser-powered weapons, as popularized by films like Star Wars,, but they're much weaker than those seen on screen and can only disable small airborne targets....

Jan 23, 2024

New DragonFire laser weapon can shoot drones out of the sky, UK says

The U.K. military has successfully tested a high-power laser weapon designed to knock drones out of the sky. The laser weapon, dubbed DragonFire, passed its first field test by shooting down several drones over the Hebrides off the coast of Scotland, the U.K. government announced on Jan. 19. Currently, drone...

Jan 23, 2024

Watch the world through different animals' eyes in this stunning high-tech footage

A zebra swallowtail butterfly foraging on flowers as a honeybee would see it. (Credit: Vasas V, et al., 2024, PLOS Biology, CC-BY 4.0) Scientists have combined a new camera system with open-source software to generate stunning video clips of the world as different animals see it — including the specific...

Jan 24, 2024

This tiny radioactive battery can last 50 years without recharging — and it's coming in 2025

Chinese scientists have built a nuclear battery that can produce power for up to 50 years without being recharged. The technology, which contains a radioactive isotope, or version of nickel, as its power source, will be the first of its kind available for general purchase, Betavolt representatives said on Jan....