News by Subject Technology & Engineering

Targeted engineering projects to hold off glacier melting could slow down ice-sheet collapse and limit sea-level rise, according to a new The Cryosphere study. While an intervention similar in size to existing large civil engineering projects could only have a 30 percent chance of success, a larger project would have better odds of holding off ice-sheet collapse. But the researchers caution that reducing emissions still remains key to stopping climate change and its dramatic effects.

Newly identified bridge forms could enable significantly longer bridge spans to be achieved in the future, potentially making a crossing over the Strait of Gibraltar, from the Iberian Peninsula to Morocco, feasible. The new bridge forms -- identified by a team of researchers from the University of Sheffield and Brunel University London, working with long span bridge expert Ian Firth of engineering consultants COWI -- use a new mathematical modelling technique to identify optimal forms for very long-span bridges.

A joint article of the scientists of the Samara University and the University of Missouri (Columbia, USA) was published in the IEEE Transactions on Network and Service Management journal. The publication presents an algorithm that provides a fast and reliable access to powerful data processing centers (Big Data) for solving high-tech tasks.

New mathematical models developed by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory with collaborators at Sam Houston State University and the University of Chicago can help guide changes to the layout of poor urban neighborhoods to improve access to resources with minimum disruption and cost.

After an earthquake, hurricane, tornado or other natural hazard, it's considered a win if no one gets hurt and buildings stay standing. But an even bigger victory is possible: keeping those structures operational. This outcome could become more likely with improved standards and codes for the construction of residential and commercial buildings, according to a new report recently delivered to the U.S. Congress by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

It may seem off-putting to some, but human waste is full of nutrients that can be recycled into valuable products that could promote agricultural sustainability and better economic independence for some developing countries, says a new study by University of Illinois researchers.