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Infrastructure Systems
From landscaped gardens to road systems, the Persians were among the first to create many things we still enjoy today.
At the foundation of America’s progress movement are immigrants who still believe this country can build.
Bold megaprojects could turn dry depressions into thriving new hubs of life.
Nuclear chemist Tim Gregory joins Big Think to make the case that nuclear energy can still transform the world for the better.
A next-generation collider is required for studying particle physics at the frontiers. Here's the fastest, cheapest way to get it done.
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"I'd prefer to think about a different axis, which is, should government be more or less effective? Should government work faster or slower?"
Retrofitting America's aging dams for hydropower — while removing ecologically harmful ones — may be a productive path forward.
With undersea cables, AI education, and more, the tech giant is helping create Africa’s “digital decade.”
A new railway will switch the Baltic region's train gauge from Soviet to standard European — a megaproject with political, economic, and military dimensions.
Electric vehicle sales are rising but public charging in cities is still lacking.
For well over a century, engineers have proposed harnessing the ocean’s tides for energy. But the idea hasn’t seemed to register in many places.
London’s busiest airport seems to be rebounding well from the pandemic — but Istanbul has better prospects in the long run.
Bathtubs and toilets each got their own rooms until health professionals urged architects to put all the plumbing in one room.
According to the CDC, 50 countries worldwide have drinkable tap water. But look closer, and the picture is more nuanced.
The Pan-American Highway began a century ago with a vision of unfettered motor-vehicle access between Alaska and Tierra del Fuego. What happened to the dream?
France’s notorious disregard for washing gradually changed as military authorities and public schools promoted a modern regime of cleanliness.
Burj Al Babas may one day be full of wealthy vacationers, but for now it’s a ghost town in the center of Turkey.
Dig a 70-mile tunnel under the Bering Strait, and you get this amazing InterContinental Railway, which will reshape the world.
The typical car is parked 95% of the time.
Almost 18,000 projects, brought together on one clickable map.
Capacitors, acid batteries, and other methods of storing electric charges all lose energy over time. These gravity-fed batteries won't.
An unexpected ancient manufacturing strategy may hold the key to designing concrete that lasts for millennia.
The shift from steam to electricity was inevitable — but some foresaw it earlier than others.
Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep, building on the sea floor is out of the question.
All roads may not lead to Rome, but many of them lead to wealth and prosperity — even 1,500 years after the fall of the Roman Empire.
A new bridge joins a divided Croatia, but it cuts Bosnia out of Europe — literally and figuratively. A bridge meant to unite also divides.
Wyoming's roads are nine times deadlier than Ireland's. California's road safety is on par with Romania's.
An effect called the "urban heat island" means that temperatures are often 10 degrees higher in cities, according to NASA.
The hyperloop would be a great idea for a completely flat planet. With topography and infrastructure, it's a very different story.
France is split in two by its very own "desert," the Empty Diagonal. The area’s depopulation is fairly recent, and Paris is to blame.