Free Republic

FEATURE — Anyone wanting a dose of authentic European architecture and ambiance does not have to hop on a plane and “cross the pond” but drive just over four hours south of St. George to what one writer called “The largest antique ever sold.” That large antique is the London Bridge, which is now located in Lake Havasu City in northwestern Arizona. It’s not the original London Bridge, nor is it one that inspired the nursery rhyme or song. Even so, it is an impressive sight in the United States. A series of bridges have spanned the River Thames in...

The surface transportation construction industry has long had to rely on Washington for its prosperity. We spend most years holding our breath and hoping we will receive more Federal funding to fix our crumbling roads, bridges and highway systems. Currently in the United States, 7 percent of bridges are structurally deficient, and 19 percent of major highway pavements have deteriorated. Yet, our existing financing structure has few tools to address the looming reconstruction challenges facing existing infrastructure. In 2020, Congress passed a one-year extension of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. While the one-year extension of the FAST Act...

Epic, hugely successful first high-altitude test of Starship. The belly flop maneuver test of Starship's aerodynamics was especially impressive. So very much to build on here for the Starship program.

One huge advantage of drones is that these little robots can go places where people can’t, including areas that might be too dangerous, such as unstable structures after a natural disaster or a region with unexploded devices. Researchers are interested in developing devices that can navigate these situations by sniffing out chemicals in the air to locate disaster survivors, gas leaks, explosives and more. But most sensors created by people are not sensitive or fast enough to be able to find and process specific smells while flying through the patchy odor plumes these sources create. Now a team led by...

Beijing has succeeded in copying and stealing their way forward, but they have hit a snag. The Chinese military is building up a meaningful force of J-20 stealth fighters, Y-20 strategic airlifters and other high-tech military aircraft while also developing a new stealth fighter, fighter-bomber and heavy bomber. But for all of these advancements, Chinese industry still is struggling to manufacture arguably the most important subsystems for these new planes. Their engines. Aviation website Alert 5 spotted a stock-exchange filing by the Hebei subsidiary of China’s Central Iron & Steel Research Institute. The filing including production projections for military engines...

This boy fused two deuterium atoms together in a reactor he built in his family home! This is what happens when kids are given the means and opportunities to follow their dreams: 12-year-old Jackson Oswalt achieved nuclear fusion using the reactor he had built in his house in Memphis, Tennessee, officially making him the world's youngest person to achieve nuclear fusion, per Guinness World Records! Now, at 15 years old, he has become one of this year's Guinness World Records 2021 edition stars.

It stands just over 18 metres tall and weighs 25 tonnes. And, after years of painstaking work, a life-size Japanese Gundam robot has just proved to its legions of fans that it really can move. Modelled on one of the robots from the hugely popular 1970s anime series Mobile Suit Gundam, the huge machine was put through its paces this week at its new home in the the port city of Yokohama. The humanoid was due to become the centrepiece of Gundam Factory Yokohama, south of Tokyo, on 1 October, but the virus pandemic means it will not be officially...

*sigh* OK. On Friday, 6/26, I underwent an upper GI endoscopic exam for my Hemo/oncology specialist, to check for varices, bleeders, portal hypertension, etc. After I came out of the fog, they unhooked all with wires, tubes, etc., and allowed me to dress. The endo doc came by and said, with the exception of some 'changes' due to GERD (which has been treated for years), nothing was amiss. In the midst of shaking the fuzz out of my ears, they mentioned that I'd have a follow-up for it. Here's where it gets good: They called me this afternoon to confirm...

Care and feeding of Software Defined Radios We will cover the various kinds of antennas available to optimized your SDR radio for different types of spectrum monitoring. We will also explain why RF filters are necessary on most SDR's and when Low Noise Amplifiers help, and when Low Noise Amplifiers hurt reception.

More than half a century ago a fellow grad student invited me into his laboratory to show me his doctoral research. He introduced me to the science of animal reflexes. A novel stimulus induces in an animal, however briefly, a freeze reaction. This is called an “orienting reflex.” What happens next depends on the animal’s response to the potential threat. If the novel stimulus does not seem to be a threat the animal gradually relaxes. Repeats of this type of stimulus gradually habituate its orienting reflex so that the animal, in effect, learns to ignore this particular stimulus. On the...

This is the frightening moment a bridge with heavy traffic moved up and down like waves after reportedly being hit by high winds. Shocking footage shows the Humen Bridge, which spans across the Pearl River in southern Chinese province Guangdong, shaking dramatically while being jam-packed by cars. Local authorities have temporarily shut down the traffic link. They said the structure wobbled after being hit by whirlwinds, according to the press.

Container's material properties affect the viscosity of water at the nanoscale Sep 19, 2013 Enlarge Georgia Tech associate professor Elisa Riedo poses with a glass water bottle and a plastic water bottle. While container materials don't significantly affect the rate at which water pours from bottles of this size, a new study shows that the properties of containers at the nanoscale dramatically affect the viscosity of water. Credit: Rob Felt Water pours into a cup at about the same rate regardless of whether the water bottle is made of glass or plastic. But at nanometer-size scales for water and potentially...

The Harris County Toll Road Authority plans to take a three-week pause in construction on the new Houston Ship Channel Bridge along the Sam Houston Tollway so engineers can agree on a solution to a possible design flaw found nearly 20 months into the project. The $1 billion bridge — the costliest infrastructure project in the county’s history — was designed by the Dallas office of FIGG Bridge Group. The company, based in Florida, came under scrutiny when its Tallahassee office designed a pedestrian bridge that collapsed in February 2018 at Florida International University, killing six. FIGG and its consultants...

HOUSTON – Following 20 months of construction of the new Ship Channel Bridge along the Beltway 8, the county has issued a pause. Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia said the decision was made following the discovery of a design flaw with part of the bridge. “I want to make sure that we are doing everything on behalf of public safety to ensure that everything is well,” Garcia said. “This was obviously concerning and alarming for me." John Tyler, the deputy director of engineering with the Harris County Toll Road Authority and in charge of the project, said the flaw was...

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...