Free Republic

A £2billion project to confine the leaking of radioactive debris at the Chernobyl nuclear plant has been unveiled. The structure – which took nine years to build – was constructed to secure the molten reactor core and 200 tons of radioactive material at the site. Officials have described the shelter as the largest moveable land-based structure ever built, with a span of 257 metres and a total weight of over 36,000 metric tons. Reactor Number 4 at the plant in what was then Soviet Ukraine exploded and burned on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation across Europe in the world's worst...

A subsea tunnel across the Strait of Belle Isle is back in conversation once again after a report was tabled this month in Ottawa. The federal government’s standing committee on transport, infrastructure, and communities is now calling on the federal government to work with the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec, as well, as the private sector, to build a fixed link across the Strait of Belle Isle and complete Route 138 along the Quebec Lower North Shore. The tunnel would link Point Amour in Labrador to Yankee Point on the Great Northern Peninsula in Newfoundland. The project would...

AUBURNDALE — Florida has one of the world’s most famous asphalt ovals in the Daytona International Speedway. A slightly smaller track recently completed in Auburndale won’t draw massive crowds for races, but it’s part of a project that could hasten the day when self-driving vehicles take over the roads. Crews finished laying asphalt for the 2¼-mile oval — phase one of SunTrax — in early May, and construction will begin in the coming months on infield elements designed for the development and testing of connected and autonomous vehicles. The second phase of SunTrax, a project overseen by Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise...

Are affirmative action and gender equality killing us?

Full title: Hummingbird Robots 1, Drones 0 Engineers just built a bird bot that can fly better than unmanned aerial vehicles. Engineers at Purdue have built a flying robot to mimic one of the most expert flyers in the natural world: the hummingbird.... ... After going through the training, the robot has an understanding, so to speak, of when to pause and when to take flight. Even more impressive? The robot can't actually see. It senses by touching surfaces, with each touch altering an electrical current.

February 20, 2019 America’s STEM Crisis Threatens Our National Security By Arthur Herman On October 4, 1957, a steel sphere the size of a beach ball and bristling with four radio antennae circled the Earth in eight minutes. Dubbed “Satellite-1,” or “PS-1” (Prosteyshiy Sputnik-1) by its Soviet fabricators, it was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviets had launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit, where it stayed for three weeks before its batteries died. Then it continued silently in a decaying orbit for another two months before burning up in the atmosphere. Its radio signal pulses were easily...

Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly. Pilots are no longer needed, but rather computer scientists from MIT. I see it all the time in many products. Always seeking to go one unnecessary step further, when often old and simpler is far better. Split second decisions are........needed, and the complexity creates danger. All of this for great cost yet very little gain. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want Albert Einstein to be my pilot. I want great flying professionals that are allowed to easily and quickly take control of a plane!

On 14 August last year, the city of Genoa in northwest Italy woke to a strong summer storm. By 11.30am, the rain was so heavy that visibility had fallen dramatically. Videos captured by security cameras show vehicles slowing down as they crossed Morandi Bridge, which grew progressively more enveloped in a grey mist. A few minutes later, a 200-metre section of the bridge collapsed, including one of its three supporting towers. The tragedy killed 43 people and left 600 homeless. It also dealt a hammer blow to Italy’s once-proud engineering history – and the country’s confidence in its mastery of...

The rugged west coast of Norway, home to thousands, is a challenge to travel along by car. It takes time. A long time. The harsh weather conditions make it an unpredictable route, with roads often closing and ferries often cancelling their departure due to snow, heavy winds or high waves. A continuous E39 highway that is accessible 24/7, with fixed links between islands and the mainland will make the western coast more accessible for people who inhabit the coast, but also for tourists and for the transportation of goods. Currently, 1,000km of road need to be improved The Norwegian parliament...

When you walk around a Maker Faire, you’re likely to see a wide variety of 3D printers, though if you look at the basic construction, you’ll find there are usually only two main types on people’s tables. There are cartesian (with a gantry at right angles) and delta (the ones with three arms holding the print head). Sure, there are a few others that appear from time to time, but these two dominate the landscape. Cel-Robox has teamed up with M-Solv to create a new entity called Q5D Technologies to push new manufacturing technologies, such as this one that caught...

Most newer concrete beams that hold up Utah highway bridges are around 145 feet long. But the Utah Department of Transportation is about to place six that are 40 percent longer — 203 feet — to help widen Interstate 15 in Lehi. They are longer than the iconic Cinderella’s castle in Walt Disney World (189 feet) is high, or the leaning tower of Pisa (185 feet). They also will be the third-longest single-component beams in the United States, slightly shorter than two in Orlando, Fla., and Seattle, said Lee Wegner, with Forterra Structural Precast, the West Valley City company that...

In 2015, Colorado School of Mines writing instructor Dr. Jon Leydens delivered a TED talk titled “engineering and social justice.” According to Leydens, in the mid-2000s students started asking him about how they could combine their “passion for social justice” with their “interest in engineering.” Leydens is part of a growing movement that seeks to incorporate social justice into engineering, in both the professional code and the curriculum. Far from being a marginal movement, on the fringes of the profession, it enjoys support at the highest levels. The movement began during the Vietnam War era when left-wing engineers founded the...

PORTLAND, OREGON—Venus flytraps have a well-known way of dispatching their victims: They snare inquisitive insects that brush up against trigger hairs in their fly-trapping pods (above). But now, physicists have discovered that the triggering process may involve the release of a cascade of exotic chemicals similar to the whiff of ozone that tingles your nose after a lightning bolt. To study this process, scientists used an electrical generator to ionize air into a “cold plasma,” which they then gently blew toward a flytrap in their lab. Normally, the flytrap’s closure is caused by an electrical signal created when two or...

A $20-billion bridge connecting Hong Kong and Macau to the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai is set to finally open this week, marking the completion of the longest sea-crossing bridge ever built, nine years after construction began. Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to attend a ceremony in Zhuhai on Tuesday, along with top officials from Hong Kong and Macau, with the bridge opening to public traffic Wednesday. The 55-kilometer (34-mile) bridge was originally due to open in 2016, but repeated delays pushed that to this year.

3D printing is fast becoming one of the most useful tools ever developed by humans. The technique can be used to print pretty much anything from food to new body parts. 3D printers can also be used to print novelty items, tools, weapons and even buildings. The technology has already had a huge impact on the modern world and is set to become ever more important in many industries of the future. In most cases, the only real limitation to what can be 3D printed is our imagination, as these 15 amazing 3D printed objects testify to. The following list...

The University of Maine unveiled an innovative, rapidly deployable bridge system July 12 at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center. Engineers, Maine Department of Transportation officials, business leaders, investors, researchers, members from Advanced Infrastructure Technologies (UMaine's licensee for the original “Bridge-in-a-Backpack”) and staff attended the event, at which a bridge span was strength-tested in the laboratory using computer-controlled hydraulic equipment that simulates the heaviest highway truck loads. The strength-test was conducted for the first time to prove the design modeling predictions, and demonstrate the bridge system can withstand the truck loading specified in the American Association of State Highway and...

Hat Tip: Alan Cooperman Understanding Engineers #1 Two engineering students were biking across a university campus when one said, "Where did you get such a great bike?" Birth of an engineer The second engineer replied, "Well, I was walking along yesterday, minding my own business, when a beautiful woman rode up on this bike, threw it to the ground, took off all her clothes and said, "Take what you want." The first engineer nodded approvingly and said, "Good choice: The clothes probably wouldn't have fit you anyway." Understanding Engineers #2 To the optimist, the glass is half-full. To the pessimist,...

A recent academic journal article claims that "meritocratic ideology" and "depoliticized" classroom environments contribute to a sense of exclusion and isolation among female students. The professors argue that the emphasis on "meritocracy," "individualism," and "technical prowess" in engineering all contribute to a "masculine culture" that marginalizes women. Four professors are warning that the “hegemony of meritocratic ideology” and other manifestations of “masculine culture” in engineering courses are detrimental to women. Led by Carroll Serron, who teaches at the University of California-Irvine, the March 1 study contends that the sense of exclusion and isolation felt by female engineering students is exacerbated...

By imposing tariffs on certain Chinese imports, President Trump has followed through on a significant campaign promise to address his entirely understandable concerns about Chinese unscrupulous trade practices and in that nation’s theft of U.S. intellectual property, otherwise known as espionage. China ceaselessly and belligerently hacks U.S. computers, including corporate computers and government computers.  China constructed an artificial island in the South China Sea and has threatened military action if our vessels approach too closely. Even as China rattles its sabers at the United States, it is arguably building up its military forces faster than any other country on earth...

Engineering experts say investigators looking into the collapsed ‘instant’ bridge in Miami will want to know why a central tower which is usually built to support a suspension bridge was not in place when it collapsed onto Tamiami Trail on Thursday afternoon. Last week, Florida International University’s official Twitter account posted a rendering of the bridge in its completed form as envisioned by the planners before its opening to foot traffic in early 2019. The rendering shows a tall central column with cables connecting it to the main span. Engineers say the design is known as a ‘cable-stayed bridge,’ which...