Free Republic

The strange flying objects have been spotted near F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming, which houses enough nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles to wipe out several cities. For weeks, mysterious unidentified flying objects over the Eastern Plains region of Colorado have vexed residents, law enforcement, the military, and state and federal officials. Those who see them say they appear in the night sky, often several at a time, their locations marked by the light they emit. Audibly buzzing, they hover and maneuver in precise formations. The mystery of their origin has gripped Colorado, where news of a sighting makes near-daily...

I’m as much a Sci-Fi fan as most anyone. I’ve read my fair share of Orson Scott Card books, seen all the Men in Black movies, think it’s a travesty that Firefly got canceled, and have sat through every cringy second of every lame attempt to improve on the original Star Wars trilogy, but until the past few months, I’d never seriously considered even the remotest possibility that humans may not be alone, at least on this planet and in this solar system.  But here we are, and if anything should unite humanity in an era seemingly as divided as...

Full Title: President Putin says five men killed in huge explosion in northern Russia that caused sudden radiation spike died trying to create a weapon that ‘has no equal in the world’ Russian President Vladimir Putin has told widows of the five scientists who died in a nuclear explosion earlier this year that their husbands were working on 'the most advanced and unmatched technical' weaponry. Putin's comments came during a ceremony of state decorations at the Kremlin today where he awarded the deceased employees of Russia's state nuclear company with the Order of Courage, posthumously.

The last time the National Transportation Safety Board came down hard on engineering and construction was in 2007. That year, the board delivered reports on the collapse of the I-35 Highway Bridge in Minneapolis that killed 13 people, and on a ceiling collapse in a Boston Central Artery tunnel that killed one motorist. Both involved completed structures. With its final investigation findings, the board also made recommendations for new standards and procedures and quality control. NTSB's report on last year’s Miami bridge collapse at Florida International University in mid-construction, which killed five motorists and one construction worker, has similar recommendations....

Wilmington, North Carolina renews deal with red light camera contractor that violated state engineering laws. The Wilmington, North Carolina City Council last week signed a red light camera contract renewal despite protests that the state had found the for-profit camera contractor in direct violation of the law. American Traffic Solutions (ATS, now known as Verra Mobility) was found to be practicing engineering without a license by the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors last year. The company has yet to remedy the violation, according to the city traffic engineer. Todd Platzer, a local resident, raised the issue...

The aftermath of two crashes of Boeing 737 Max jets shortly after takeoff has led to the global grounding of the airplane. Boeing has been forced to cut production, and even so, undelivered planes are piling up. Big buyers like Southwest American Airlines have been forced to cancel flights during their peak time of year as a result of taking their 737s off line. American lengthened its 737 grounding to June 5 and Southwest, to August 5 [Update: American sent a notice to American Aadvantage members that the grounding would last through August 19]. Even though Boeing is scrambling to...

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.