High tech for highway safety
We’re going to take a look at accidents on the highway. And technology that could prevent them. Today, on Engineering Works! Cars and trucks have been getting safer for years. Seat belts. Airbags. Safety cages. Crumple zones. All kinds of technology that helps us survive a car crash. It works pretty well, but not well [...]
Heat to electricity to heat to …
If you sneer at science fiction, think again. Interchangeable electricity and heat. Today, on Engineering Works! Science fiction has always been full of nifty gadgets that would almost work in real life. Almost, but not quite. Put away your skeptical hat. Engineers are turning some of these far-out gadgets into reality. How about a jacket [...]
Nukes on the moon?
When astronauts move in with the man in the moon in a few years, they’re going to need power. Nuclear energy on the moon. We’ll check it out. Today, on Engineering Works! When the Apollo astronauts were on the moon, they only stayed a few days at a time, and batteries or fuel cells did [...]
Borrowing from butterflies
Butterflies are free, the saying goes. They’re also giving materials engineers useful hints on producing vivid colors. Today, on Engineering Works! The next time you see a butterfly flutter by, take a moment to notice the colors on its wings. They’re some of the most vivid colors you’ll ever see. No matter how carefully we [...]
Materials engineering long, long ago
Just about everybody’s bounced a rubber ball. But making that ball bounce the first time was quite an accomplishment. Who did it? We’ll see. Today, on Engineering Works! We’re used to high-tech materials. Lightweight composites. Superstrong adhesives. Polymers that shift shape on command. And it’s easy to think that coming up with new materials or [...]
Flying in the sunshine
No matter how you look at it, flying around the world is a big deal. Especially in an electric airplane. We’ll check it out. Today, on Engineering Works! Engineers in Switzerland are getting ready for the first flight around the world in an electric-powered airplane. It’s pretty much the last word in high technology. The [...]
Printing in three dimensions
Some of the gadgets engineers come up with are just cool. We’re going to check out one of them. Printing in three-dimensions. Today, on Engineering Works! Most of us have home computers these days, and they’re all connected to desktop printers. Hit the print key and out comes that report you needed for work or [...]
Seeing in the dark … with your cell phone?
It seems like nifty new apps for your smart phone appear every day. How about one that helps you see in the dark? Today, on Engineering Works! If you like war movies or just keep track of the news from Iraq and Afghanistan, you know something about night vision devices. They’re goggles, mated to a [...]
A dark side of high tech
Most of us like most of the things engineers do. Maybe we need to be careful, too. A dark side of high tech. Today, on Engineering Works! Most of the time, the digital world seems like a good place to be. You can talk on your cell phone, text-message to friends and surf the web. [...]
Traffic jam: build it and they will come
It’s one of everybody’s favorite topics: how bad the traffic is. We’ll check it out. Today, on Engineering Works! Nobody likes their morning and evening commutes. Even in small towns, people complain about the traffic. And they’re right. Across the country, we waste a lot of time sitting in our cars. Waiting. In its latest [...]