What just happened? The US Air Force has announced the military’s latest step towards an autonomous future. This time, an F-22 Raptor pilot piloted a drone during a simulated combat. The pilot provided high-level tactical instructions to the YFQ-44A during the flight, essentially turning it into an unmanned wingman. The demonstration took place earlier this … Read more
Transportation is the backbone of the movement of goods, people and information. They are systems, vehicles and infrastructure that often go unnoticed until they fail. This category examines how transportation works in practice, how it continues to evolve, and the challenges engineers face in keeping it safe, reliable, and efficient. Interesting Engineering’s coverage includes road, … Read more
First look: Tesla has unveiled a next-generation Roadster that is said to be capable of flight, with a single-seat rocket configuration designed to lift off the ground and maneuver in the air. The Rocket is the most ambitious of the three versions, with a claimed zero-to-60 mph time of under 0.59 seconds. The technology pushes … Read more
Researchers have found a way to give plastic waste a second life. Materials chemists at the University of Vienna have found a way to convert several types of plastic waste into water-attracting polymer networks. These can absorb water even in dry climates and release it again when it warms moderately, for example from sunlight. The … Read more
With 302 neurons, 200 of which are in the head, hermaphroditic female roundworms reveal surprising sex differences in the nervous system and how these differences influence behavior, reproduction and aging. Researchers at Northeastern University compared brain activity in men and hermaphrodites Caenorhabditis elegansa microscopic worm commonly used in biological research to understand how the male … Read more
In context: The recent wave of reverse-engineered console games has focused primarily on the Nintendo 64’s library, with a few exceptions involving the Xbox 360 and other platforms. However, the trend is slowly moving towards newer consoles, including the original Nintendo Switch. There are currently several projects targeting some of Nintendo’s biggest releases for the … Read more
Culture in technology is about the people, communities and values that shape the way science and technology are developed, used and discussed. Interesting Engineering’s coverage includes professional networks, leadership, workplace culture, ethics, public engagement and the personalities who are setting trends or breaking norms. This includes technology founders, engineers, researchers and thought leaders, not for … Read more
Researchers in the United States are developing three-dimensional simulations to study how a nuclear device could be used to deflect or potentially disrupt an Earth-threatening asteroid. The team from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) uses Spheral simulation code to more accurately model how an asteroid might respond if X-rays from a nuclear device exploding near … Read more
Future-oriented: Sony has filed a patent for an AI system that predicts a game’s next frame before the graphics hardware has finished rendering. The goal is to reduce stuttering without introducing the additional latency associated with some frame generation methods. The system uses the last completed frame and optionally the last controller inputs to generate … Read more
Russia’s S-400 and S-500 are both mobile, ground-based air defense systems designed to deter long-range threats. However, they are intended to perform different tasks within Russia’s broader air and missile defense network. The S-400 is a sophisticated system designed primarily to combat aircraft, cruise missiles and some ballistic missile threats. The newer S-500 is intended … Read more