Engineering

Blue Abyss Ltd. is building the world's largest and deepest indoor pool in Cornwall. Holding as much water as 17 Olympic-sized swimming pools, it will be used for advanced undersea robotics and as the world's first commercial astronaut training facility.

Surfaces in contact with salty water usually end up with a corrosive layer of salt caked on. Now, engineers at MIT have made these minerals so easy to remove that they often just fall off on their own – by forming “crystal critters.”

Scientists have discovered a fascinating new example of impressive teamwork among army ants, in which the insects join their bodies together to form scaffolds that stop nest mates from tumbling down steep terrain.

In anticipation of future space projects involving giant structures in orbit and on the Moon, DARPA has announced the start of its Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design (NOM4D) program.

What connects the America's Cup, a dinner in Egypt and a house with no knocker? The answer is a man called Robert, born 216 years ago today, and his ill-fated sail boat: a schooner by the name of Titania.

The Australian National Maritime Museum has installed the country's largest lightweight solar roof on its Heritage Centre. By using flexible, glass-free solar panels from SunMan Energy, buildings traditionally unsuitable for solar panels can now take part in the renewable energy revolution.

A new footbridge has been installed at Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, England, that replaces a land bridge lost over 500 years ago. The project consists of two sections of bridge that don't quite meet in the middle, creating a small gap at the center.

According to a recent study by Newcastle University, if you want to build a replica of Stonehenge, get some lard. By studying neolithic pottery from a site near the ancient stone circle, archaeologists suggest that pig fat was used as a lubricant to help move the gigantic megaliths.

To develop a new artificial muscle for robots MIT researchers are taking inspiration from an unlikely source – the cucumber. It's not the fruit of the plant, but the tendrils that wrap themselves around solid objects to support the growing plant by coiling and pulling with surprising force.

Heat loss is wasted energy. If we're to successfully create smaller, more efficient technology, then the thermal energy that our gadgets waste needs to be put to better use. This new device, which works at the nanoscale where the theoretical "blackbody limit" falls apart, could be the answer.

Researchers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, and the University of Bath are developing a technique that uses satellite radar imaging to monitor the safety of bridges and other large-scale infrastructure.

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.