Air Bag Design

Using automobile crash test footage, this video segment adapted from NOVA shows some of the challenges in designing the air bag.

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Airplanes: Designing for Stealth

Explore this NOVA interactive activity to see how engineers have modified a military plane's sound, shape, and heat emissions to minimize detection.

Anatomy of a Rover

In this interactive activity from NOVA, learn about the sophisticated scientific instruments on two identical robotic rovers that have explored Mars — Spirit and Opportunity.

The Beginnings of the Telescope

This animated essay from the NOVA Web site examines the design of Galileo's refracting telescope and Sir Isaac Newton's reflecting telescope.

Chernobyl: What Really Happened?

This text excerpted from Richard Rhodes' book, Nuclear Renewal and reprinted on the FRONTLINE Web site examines the causes of the Chernobyl accident.

Eduardo Torres-Jara

In this video from Science City, meet Eduardo Torres-Jara, a postdoctoral associate in electrical engineering and computer science at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. He describes his work on innovative robots that use tactile feedback to locate and grasp objects.

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Easy-Fit Design

In this video produced for Teachers' Domain, Chi-An Wang, a mechanical engineering graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, describes her process when working with New Balance to design a new triathlon shoe.

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Energy Sources

This video segment produced for Teachers' Domain illustrates a variety of energy sources used to generate electricity, some of which are in use and some of which are under exploration.

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Energy Transfer in a Trebuchet

On NOVA, a team of carpenters, timber framers, engineers, and historians recreate a medieval throwing machine called a trebuchet. This adapted video segment explores how understanding energy transfer informs their design.

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Engineering for the Red Planet

In this video segment from NASA, robotics researcher Ayanna Howard uses engineering to improve the intelligence of robots in space exploration.

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Fuel Cells

In this video segment adapted from NOVA scienceNOW, hydrogen fuel cell cars promise pollution-free driving, but will we see them anytime soon?

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Get Close to a Nuclear Fission Reaction!

Learn how scientists regulate a nuclear reactor in this animation-enhanced essay from the FRONTLINE Web site.

Global Warming: Beyond Fossil Fuels

Martin Hoffert, professor of physics at New York University, discusses global warming and alternative energies in this interview from the NOVA/FRONTLINE Web site.

Hoover Dam and Hydroelectric Power

How does a dam generate electricity and what are the environmental impacts of operating these mammoth structures? Find out in this video segment adapted from Building Big.

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The Impact of Technology: Cars

This video segment adapted from A Science Odyssey looks at the invention of the automobile and the development of mass production.

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Mars Dead or Alive: A Hostile Environment

This NOVA video segment describes the challenges presented by the frozen desert environment of Mars to NASA engineers designing two robots that will journey millions of miles to the red planet.

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Materials Lab

This interactive activity from the Building Big Web site explores the properties of different types of building materials.

Motorcycles for Health

In this video segment adapted from Rx for Survival, health care workers in The Gambia learn to use and maintain motorcycles in order to travel to isolated villages with a uniquely designed ambulance attachment that can mean the difference between life and death.

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Nuclear Reaction: Fission

This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE looks at nuclear fission as an energy source that can be used to generate electricity.

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Nuclear Reaction: Meltdown

What happens when a nuclear reactor overheats? This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE looks at the nuclear reactor meltdown at Chernobyl, the worst accident of its kind.

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