Aug 15 Watch Triumph of 100-year-old Panama Canal came with dangerous costs By PBS News Hour A century ago, the Panama Canal -- an enormous engineering feat that grew American commerce and transformed global trade -- was completed. But the waterway’s history is complicated, filled with its share of fatalities and political tensions. Gwen Ifill looks… Continue watching
Jun 18 Architects, engineers compete to save the New York coastline By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy After Hurricane Sandy devastated the New York City area, winners of the Rebuild By Design competition found that New Yorkers needed more than flood walls. They needed to change the way they live with water. Continue reading
May 23 Engineers look to scale up nanomanufacturing By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy Nanotechnology is labor intensive, so tiny sensors are expensive to produce. Mass manufacturing flat, flexible sensors would reduce the cost. Continue reading
May 16 Recycled water in Arizona staves off drought By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy The city of Tucson expects to use up its drinkable water by 2030. Civil engineers are redesigning the city's water system to recycle waste water to use every last drop. Continue reading
May 14 Poking cells, solving mysteries and other reasons scientists love basic research By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy Scientists and engineers frequently seek solutions to specific problems. But the goal -- and challenge -- of basic research is to tackle broad questions without an immediate application in mind. As part of our ongoing series on the subject, PBS… Continue reading
May 13 Watch NewsHour asks: why do you choose basic research? By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy Continue watching
May 12 Two students solve the case of the watery ketchup by designing a new cap By Lindsey Foat, The Hale Center for Journalism at KCPT High school seniors Tyler Richards and Jonathan Thompson have spent a lot of time thinking about ketchup. As students in the Project Lead the Way program at North Liberty High School in Liberty, Missouri, Richards and Thompson have researched and… Continue reading
Apr 24 The ‘Commanding General of the Solar Army’ wants to make fuel from sunlight By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy The "Commanding General of the Solar Army" wants you -- to know how the sun can make cheap fuel for your car. Continue reading
Apr 17 Engineers recreate ‘fishy’ locomotion By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy How do fish move? Engineers are trying to find out so they can make better underwater materials. Continue reading
Apr 11 How do you build a robot that’s smaller than an insect? By Rebecca Jacobson, Inside Energy How do you build a robot smaller than the tip of your finger? Inspired by the strength, speed and agility of insects, Sarah Bergbreiter from the University of Maryland is designing tiny robots. Continue reading