Engineering

These rocks don’t lose their shape: thanks to recent advances, scientists can grow gems (from Apollo) and industrial diamonds in a matter of days.

Diamonds on Demand

Lab-grown gemstones are now practically indistinguishable from mined diamonds. Scientists and engineers see a world of possibilities

None

Life Unplugged

Bundle up your power cords—wireless energy transfer is here

Though sundials have been around 3,000 years, William Andrewes (indicating the lateness of the hour in his garden in Concord, Massachusetts) is perhaps the first to build one showing the time in multiple places simultaneously.

The Shadow Knows

Why a leading expert on the history of timekeeping set out to create a sundial unlike anything the world has ever seen

The first step in making charcoal from sugar cane bagasse is setting it on fire in a used oil drum.

Interview: Amy Smith, Inventor

Amy Smith, a practitioner of humanitarian engineering, wants to solve everyday problems for rural families in the developing world

None

Peewee Power

The invention of a gas-fueled generator the size of a quarter heralds a future of ever-smaller machines

None

Reaching Toward Space

His 1935 rocket was a technological tour de force, but Robert H. Goddard hid it from history

None

Othmar Ammann's Glory

Genius, willpower and thousands of miles of steel wire went into the George Washington Bridge

Print advertisement for Erector Set, circa 1922

"Hello Boys! Become an Erector Master Engineer!"

With no "hanky-panky gimcracks," A. C. Gilbert's Erector sets taught boys more than just the nuts and bolts

None

Decibel by Decibel, Reducing the Din to a Very Dull Roar

At RH Lyon Corp, noise-busting engineers tackle everything from leaf blowers to ticking clocks in their search for the right sound

Page 22 of 22