Science Art: Building the Forth Bridge, by Charles J. de Laoy, 1909
Click to embiggen This is the Forth Bridge, spanning the famous Firth of Forth (on the way to Fife)*. And for Archibald Williams, editor of […]
engineering
“The first human-humanoid handshake in space.”
That’s how ISS Commander Daniel Burbank describes his interaction with Robonaut 2 yesterday. PhysOrg has more on the space station’s new, robot crew member: On […]
Science Art: “Engine of the Veteran Association” from Our Firemen: A History of the New York Fire Department, 1899.
Click to embiggen slightly This device paraded at the inaugurations of President Grover Cleveland and the Statue of Liberty. It also put out fires, nobly, […]
Science Art: Quiet Engine Sonic Inlet, NASA Glenn Research Center
Let us take a moment, while contemplating the sleek engineering of the quiet engine sonic inlet, to consider that tie. That man is not a […]
Science Art: Leavitt Pumping Engine, from Appletons’ cyclopaedia of applied mechanic, 1880.
Click to embiggen vastly E.D. Leavitt, Massachusetts mechanical engineer, designed many huge machines in the 1870s.They moved things, macerated and mangled them, mined and melted […]
Science Art: From United States Steel International, a porfolio of probabilities, by Syd Mead
Click to embiggen This early ’60s vision of the future (in all likelihood, right now) was painted by visual futurist Syd Mead, who worked in […]
Wearing the senior citizen suit.
That’s what designers will be doing to make stores and furniture and *everything else* comfortable for aging Baby Boomer consumers. Discover looks at the way […]
DARPA’s open factory.
Ars Technica looks at the defense industry of tomorrow, when secure factories are replaced by crowds of tinkerers: [T]he agency’s Adaptive Vehicle Make project may […]
Science Art: Testing Machine, from The New Students’ Reference Work, 1914.
Click to embiggen This wasn’t a machine for giving new students tests. It was a machine for testing how strong materials were. My understanding is […]
Laser zeppelins. You know, for spies.
No, really. PopSci has more info on the Air Force’s new flying intelligence hub – an airship that uses lasers as fiber-optic cables: …DARPA will […]
Turning on the first tractor beams.
BBC reports on three ways scientists are bringing tractor beams into reality: The $100,000 (£63,000) award will be used to examine three laser-based approaches to […]
Air miner.
Lando. Lando Calrissian. Cloud miner. Sounds like a great space opera profession, doesn’t it? But National Geographic is talking about exploiting the atmosphere for fuel: […]
SONG: Move It Close to You.
SONG: “Move It Close to You.” (To download: double right-click & “Save As”) ARTIST: grant. SOURCE: Based on “Mind-guided robotic arm lets paralyzed man touch […]
Science Art: “Good News for Bad Writers” (The Typewriter, Punch, September1867)
Click to embiggen In 1867, the typewriter was a ridiculous leap in technology. The editor of Punch anticipated the next step: “Writing Superseded. — Mr. […]
Touching robot fingers.
You wouldn’t think it would be emotional, but as this CBS report illustrates, that depends on if it’s the first time you’ve held hands with […]