Tag: research: Page 4

Roadbuilding

Out of my way, lower-class person!!! Why rich drivers cut us off.

Surely you aren’t surprised when the driver of the luxury sedan cuts you off and pretends to never have seen you as he speeds away. You are dirt under his high-end radials. You know that drivers of more expensive cars are more likely to cut off other drivers and violate pedestrians’ right of way. Now […]

July 17, 2013

Construction Equipment

Adopting ancient Roman recipe could result in stronger concrete that is less harmful to the environment

Using a sample from the bottom of Italy’s Pozzuoili Bay that dates back to 37 B.C., researchers have deciphered the formula that ancient Romans used to create the most resilient concrete the world has ever seen in the hopes that modern processes will incorporate them as well. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the sample comes from concrete breakwaters […]

June 20, 2013

Roadbuilding

Make a Shake: Researchers simulate a big quake

It’s a little bit of earthquake apples and earthquake oranges, but it’s valuable nevertheless. A two-story building was a broken up mess at the University of Nevada, Reno’s world-renowned earthquake engineering laboratory after researchers set in motion the final highest amplitude tests in the six-year long, multi-institutional research project that is testing the nonstructural elements […]

April 26, 2013

Technology

Drones may one day build skyscrapers

We’ve seen how unmanned aerial vehicles can be used for surveying. But how about being used to construct a full-fledged skyscraper on their own? The Smithsonian Magazine’s Design Decoded blog has a really interesting piece just that. According to the article, Swiss architects Gramazio & Kohler, in collaboration with Professor Raffaello D’Andrea, developed a method they call “Flight […]

March 4, 2013

Home

Construction crew uncovers fossils of four new whale species

Construction crews on both coasts of the U.S. have been doing double duty as archaeologists as of late. First was a report of a crew in Charleston uncovering 27 American Revolution-era graves, and now comes a report from CBS that a road construction crew in Southern California has discovered the fossils of four new […]

February 22, 2013

Home

Study swings cargo containers to build stronger structures for tsunamis

During a tsunami, water isn’t the only problem structures in its wake face. There’s also the debris being carried by the massive waves. One such piece of debris that has proved especially problematic are cargo containers that, when fully loaded, weigh in at 60,000 pounds, reports Science Daily. “These shipping containers are surprisingly ubiquitous,” Ronald […]

February 11, 2013

Business

Do you have the leadership gene?

If you’ve struggled with managing your company or crew, you may have tried to improve your skill set, either through seminars or research. You’re not alone: Googling “leadership” will give you about 460,000,000 results. However, a study has determined that leaders can also be born, as well as bred. British researchers have found in a […]

January 30, 2013

Construction Equipment

Longer-lasting metals, building materials on the way?

One of the properties of metal that makes it such an attractive building material turns out to also be a cause for its tendency to weaken over time. According to ScienceDaily, two researchers have discovered that the mechanism that allows for a metal’s pliability, or ability to be shaped or molded, attracts hydrogen atoms, an […]

December 10, 2012

Construction Equipment

Discovery could lower cost of making biofuel

Scientists at the United States Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) have discovered a breakthrough that could lead to greater sugar yields and lower costs to make biofuels, Science Daily reported. In the production of biofuels, enzymes gently break down cells by speeding up fermentation and […]

December 6, 2012

Equipment

Century-old fermentation process may produce cleaner-burning diesel

University of California, Berkeley scientists have discovered a way to produce renewable diesel fuel by using a fermentation process once used to produce explosives.

November 13, 2012

Construction Equipment

Researchers to shake 1920s building to study its earthquake durability

This two-story building in El Centro, California built in the 1920s has withstood four major earthquakes in its storied past. Its fifth will be manmade.

October 26, 2012

Equipment

Thunderbolts and lightning very, very … concrete recycling?

Citing “no effective recycling method for concrete,” German researchers are developing an electrifying method of their own. And it involves bolts of lightning.

October 15, 2012