Old technology, new promise
Promising new solar technology to generate electricity is almost a cliché these days. Let’s look at some promising, old, technology. Today, on Engineering Works!
When people talk about solar energy, they usually mean one of two things. Photovoltaic panels or solar concentrating plants. Some engineers are trying something else. An updated version of a 200-year-old invention [...]
Heavy duty road trip
Who’s up for a road trip? We’re going to take one. A heavy-duty road trip. Today, on Engineering Works!
Just about everybody’s taken a road trip at some point in their lives. Vacation. Visiting relatives in another state. Finding yourself. This trip was more ambitious than any of those.
First, when we say heavy-duty, we’re not kidding. [...]
Bridge in the sky
Bridges are some of the coolest things engineers build. We’ll check out a nifty one. Today, on Engineering Works!
The Hoover Dam on the Colorado River is one of the biggest and most complex engineering projects ever. The water and electric power it provides made Las Vegas and other Western sun belt cities possible. But it [...]
Riding green — leafy green
It sounds like the opposite of high-tech engineering, but it’s not. High-end racing bikes built of bamboo. Today, on Engineering Works!
If you’re a serious cyclist or know someone who is, you probably know that over the years, the stuff really good bikes are made of has changed. From steel and aluminum to exotic alloys and [...]
Energy — there’s an app for that
csaila/flickr.com
It seems sometimes like there’s an app for everything. Some of them are even useful. Save energy with your smart phone. Today, on Engineering Works!
Smart phones are learning to do amazing things. What’s the weather going to be like this afternoon? Bring up your weather app and find out. Out to dinner with friends? One [...]
Electricity from the Sahara
Fossil fuels are running out. CO2 is building up. What to do? You’ve heard it before. But not like this. Bigtime sunshine. Today, on Engineering Works!
Engineers in Germany are combining old and new solar technology into what may be the biggest solar energy project ever.
They plan to erect solar collectors in the Sahara Desert, where [...]
Riding green — leafy green
It sounds like the opposite of high-tech engineering, but it’s not. High-end racing bikes built of bamboo. Today, on Engineering Works!
If you’re a serious cyclist or know someone who is, you probably know that over the years, the stuff really good bikes are made of has changed. From steel and aluminum to exotic alloys and [...]
Energy — there’s an app for that
csaila/flickr.com
It seems sometimes like there’s an app for everything. Some of them are even useful. Save energy with your smart phone. Today, on Engineering Works!
Smart phones are learning to do amazing things. What’s the weather going to be like this afternoon? Bring up your weather app and find out. Out to dinner with friends? One [...]
Electricity from the Sahara
Fossil fuels are running out. CO2 is building up. What to do? You’ve heard it before. But not like this. Bigtime sunshine. Today, on Engineering Works!
Engineers in Germany are combining old and new solar technology into what may be the biggest solar energy project ever.
They plan to erect solar collectors in the Sahara Desert, where [...]
Electric words
It’s hard to fix something if you don’t have words to describe what went wrong. We’ll look back at how they did it. Today, on Engineering Works!
The problem started about 150 ago. That’s when the first transatlantic cable connected the east and west shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
Now, people could send telegrams across the ocean [...]