New Atlas

Good Thinking Audio available

Elegant Iris drawing tool runs rings around other compasses

Matt Kennedy May 8, 2019

A London-based design team has combined a love of engineering, drawing and cameras to create one of the most elegant tools for drawing circles seen to date. Dubbed "Iris," this ingenious compass is part objet d’art, part engineering wonder, and part Spirograph for grown-ups.

The Iris, shown with its wooden base, alongside Makers Cabinet's first Kickstarter project, the Høvel

Automotive

It's all about the chassis: A closer look at Ram's heavy-duty work trucks

Aaron Turpen February 28, 2019

Ram Truck unveiled new chassis cab heavy-duty work truck models at the Chicago Auto Show in February. With towing maxing at over 35,000 pounds, it’s clear that something is happening with these trucks. We’ve had a chance to get more up close and learned that the secret is in chassis engineering.

Most of the secret to the maximum 35,220-pound towing capability in the new Ram heavy duty ...

Automotive

Formula One guns for hire: Williams Advanced Engineering offers F1 tech to the masses

Loz Blain November 30, 2018

What do you do when you've got a crack team of F1 engineering experts with time on their hands, as well as dream-level facilities for aerodynamics, carbon composites, electrification and low-volume manufacturing? All sorts of things, as it turns out. We spoke to WAE Technical Director Paul McNamara.

Williams Advanced Engineering: Formula One guns for hire

Architecture

Structural Awards honor the most impressive engineering feats of 2018

Michael Irving November 21, 2018

The winners of the Structural Awards 2018 have been announced. This year’s top prize was awarded to the sleek and elegant Tamina Canyon Crossing in Switzerland, while the rest of the honors went to an assortment of outstanding bridges, stadiums, and other buildings.

The Steve Jobs Theater Pavilion in California was given the Award for Structural Artistry

Architecture

World's tallest statue opens to the public in India

Michael Irving November 1, 2018

Right on schedule, the world’s tallest statue has officially opened in India. Standing almost 600 ft (182 m) tall, the new Statue of Unity depicts Indian freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel, and was dedicated by India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi at a ceremony on October 31.

The Statue of Unity, the tallest statue in the world, has officially opened to the public

Good Thinking

Potato plastic and 3D-printed ant nests feature in the 2018 James Dyson Awards

Rich Haridy October 18, 2018

The finalists for this year’s James Dyson Award offer an exciting array of clever design solutions. Some of the highlights include biodegradable plastic made from potato starch and prefabricated ant nests designed to help rural communities easily harvest insects for food.

Science

Hat trick: How the Easter Islanders capped off their huge statues

Michael Irving June 5, 2018

It’s easy to look at the pyramids or the giant stone statues of Easter Island and wonder how ancient civilizations built them. Now, anthropologists have put forward a new theory of how the Rapa Nui people pulled off their impressive hat trick.

A row of moai statues on Easter Island, with the second from the right wearing a ...

Architecture

Engineers uncover the Leaning Tower of Pisa's secret to shrugging off earthquakes

Michael Irving May 9, 2018

The Leaning Tower of Pisa has stood at a precarious angle for more than 600 years, surviving numerous large earthquakes without damage. Now, a team of engineers has identified how it managed that feat.

Engineers have uncovered how the Leaning Tower of Pisa has managed to withstand several large earthquakes ...

Architecture

World's largest statue on track for completion later this year

Rich Haridy March 21, 2018

After more than three years of construction the world's largest statue is on track for an October 2018 opening. The massive Statue of Unity in India is set to tower an extraordinary 600 feet (183 m), almost double the height of the Statue of Liberty.

An artist impression of the complete monument due to be finished later in 2018

Space

New sensors to monitor inflatable space habitats for impacts

David Szondy March 8, 2018

Are inflatable habitat modules like Bigelow Aerospace's BEAM safe? To help minimize the risk, researchers from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and LUNA Innovations Inc are developing ultrasensitive sensors made from carbon nanotubes that can detect impacts by almost invisible small objects.

The Bigelow BEAM experimental inflatable habitat module being tested on the ISS