Hacker News with Generative AI: Engineering

Tensegrity (wikipedia.org)
Tensegrity, tensional integrity or floating compression is a structural principle based on a system of isolated components under compression inside a network of continuous tension, and arranged in such a way that the compressed members (usually bars or struts) do not touch each other while the prestressed tensioned members (usually cables or tendons) delineate the system spatially.
Engineering, Architecture, Structural Design
7 points by RetroTechie 31 days ago | 0 comments
Show HN: AI for Building Design, Planning, and Permitting (spacial.io)
With AI-generated Structural & MEP Plans — reviewed, stamped by licensed engineer, and ready to submit.
AI, Architecture, Engineering, Design, Construction
16 points by pscsbs 32 days ago | 8 comments
A new class of materials that can passively harvest water from air (seas.upenn.edu)
A serendipitous observation in a Chemical Engineering lab at Penn Engineering has led to a surprising discovery: a new class of nanostructured materials that can pull water from the air, collect it in pores and release it onto surfaces without the need for any external energy.
Nanomaterials, Materials Science, Water Harvesting, Engineering
401 points by Tycho 32 days ago | 205 comments
The Ingredients of a Productive Monorepo (swgillespie.me)
So! Suppose you’re an intrepid engineer in a nascent Developer Productivity team. Your engineering organization has decided that it wants to move towards a monorepo. You’ve heard the stories told of Google, Meta, Uber - each a large technology company with developer productivity organizations consisting of hundreds of engineers - and you want to capture some of their magic in a bottle and give it to your users. You wonder - what work lies ahead of you?
Software Development, Engineering, Productivity, Monorepos
300 points by mifydev 33 days ago | 260 comments
Worlds first petahertz transistor at ambient conditions (news.arizona.edu)
A team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Arizona, are working to make that possible.
Science, Nanotechnology, Engineering, Transistors
119 points by ChuckMcM 34 days ago | 82 comments
Guide to the Systems Engineering Body of Knowledge (SEBoK) (2024) (sebokwiki.org)
On behalf of the Editorial Board, the Governing Board, and our authors and sponsors, welcome to SEBoK version 2.11.
Systems Engineering, Knowledge Management, Engineering, Technology, Education
19 points by Tomte 35 days ago | 0 comments
My Incorrect Bias About Corporate Engineers (inessential.com)
Before I went to work for Audible (five years ago now — time flies!) I had a bias about engineers that worked for large corporations. I assumed that they weren’t as good as indies and engineers at small companies, or else they’d actually be indies or work at small shops like Omni.
Engineering, Corporate Culture, Personal Experiences, Bias
12 points by brycewray 35 days ago | 2 comments
Types of optical systems in a lens designer's toolbox (2020) (pencilofrays.com)
As an optical lens designer, there were times I used to think that “I can get the performance that I need for this system with the software, but I want to understand what I am doing”.
Optics, Lens Design, Software, Engineering
83 points by picture 35 days ago | 14 comments
Japan and the Birth of Modern Shipbuilding (construction-physics.com)
During WWII, the US constructed an unprecedented shipbuilding machine. By assembling ships from welded, prefabricated blocks, the US built a huge number of cargo ships incredibly quickly, overwhelming Germany’s u-boats and helping to win the war. But when the war was over, this shipbuilding machine was dismantled. Industrialists like Henry Kaiser and Stephen Bechtel, who operated some of the US’s most efficient wartime shipyards, left the shipbuilding business.
History, Shipbuilding, Engineering
59 points by m463 35 days ago | 54 comments
Into The Tunnel: The secret life of wind tunnels (jordanwtaylor2.substack.com)
The NASA Ames low speed open wind tunnel is a cavern: A vast 120 foot wide yawning gulf, its ceiling studded with lights, it makes humans look puny & insectile. In its centre, a rotating disc holds full size aircraft or trucks. Shadow swallows the rear as the cylcopian duct disappears into a bank of colossal fans, relentlessly grasping. Up front, a huge grid shapes and straightens the air as it builds past gale force to 115 miles per hour.
Science, Engineering, Aeronautics
67 points by iamwil 35 days ago | 15 comments
Startup enables 100-year bridges with corrosion-resistant steel (news.mit.edu)
Allium Engineering, founded by two MIT PhDs, is tripling the lifetime of bridges and other structures with a new technology that uses a stainless steel cladding to make rebar resilient to corrosion.
Construction, Engineering, Materials Science, Sustainability
6 points by FinnKuhn 35 days ago | 1 comments
32 bits that changed microprocessor design (ieee.org)
In the late 1970s, a time when 8-bit processors were state of the art and CMOS was the underdog of semiconductor technology, engineers at AT&T’s Bell Labs took a bold leap into the future.
Microprocessors, Computer Architecture, History, Engineering
136 points by mdp2021 36 days ago | 53 comments
How Japan Invented Modern Shipbuilding (construction-physics.com)
After the war, practitioners brought them to Japan, where they would continue to evolve, eventually allowing Japan to build ships faster and cheaper than almost anyone else in the world.
Japan, History, Shipbuilding, Engineering
7 points by chmaynard 36 days ago | 0 comments
Ask HN: Engineering Statics and Dynamics book recommendation (ycombinator.com)
Hey HN, I'm trying to learn how to analyze static structures for a project I'm building! I'd love a good grounded introduction book for engineering statics and dynamics!
Engineering, Books, Recommendations, Mechanics
10 points by areoform 37 days ago | 2 comments
A broken thruster jeopardized Voyager 1, but engineers executed a remote fix (npr.org)
Earlier this year, NASA mission controllers faced a challenging decision that could have marked the end of Voyager 1's decades-long journey.
Space Exploration, Engineering, NASA, Voyager 1
4 points by namanyayg 38 days ago | 1 comments
A broken thruster jeopardized Voyager 1, but engineers executed a remote fix (text.npr.org)
Earlier this year, NASA mission controllers faced a challenging decision that could have marked the end of Voyager 1's decades-long journey.
Space Exploration, Engineering, Voyager 1
4 points by BostonFern 38 days ago | 0 comments
Lightweight plastic mirrors drop cost of solar thermal energy by 40% (newatlas.com)
Researchers in Australia are working on a way to lower the cost of producing solar thermal energy by as much as 40% with the help of shatterproof rear-view mirrors originally designed for cars.
Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Engineering, Cost Reduction
5 points by wjSgoWPm5bWAhXB 38 days ago | 1 comments
We need 'revolutionary' cooling tech (bbc.com)
Climate change is making staying cool more challenging
Climate Change, Cooling Technology, Engineering, Sustainability
11 points by southernplaces7 39 days ago | 3 comments
Tallest Wooden Wind Turbine (modvion.com)
We build wind turbine towers. In wood.
Renewable Energy, Engineering, Sustainable Materials
186 points by Bluestein 39 days ago | 139 comments
$30 Homebrew Automated Blinds Opener (2024) (sifter.org)
In the spirit of my thermostat and dishwasher controller, I managed to cobble together a decent blinds opener in a short weekend almost entirely from spare parts on hand.
Home Automation, DIY, Engineering, Smart Home
329 points by busymom0 40 days ago | 151 comments
Why the Boeing 777X Won't Have Engine Chevrons (jalopnik.com)
You may have noticed them on certain planes when looking out the terminal windows — a kind of shark-toothed look on the back of some planes' engines. Commercial airplanes, outside of their livery, are designed for function, not aesthetics, so those shark teeth must serve some kind of purpose, right? In fact, they do: Called engine chevrons, they reduce jet engine noise, which can be pretty deafening.
Aviation, Engineering, Noise Reduction
5 points by rntn 40 days ago | 0 comments
NASA's Voyager 1 Revives Backup Thrusters Before Command Pause (nasa.gov)
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have revived a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft that had been considered inoperable since 2004.
Space Exploration, NASA, Voyager 1, Engineering
13 points by taubek 40 days ago | 2 comments
We Know Why Ancient Roman Concrete Lasts Thousands of Years (sciencealert.com)
The ancient Romans were masters of building and engineering, perhaps most famously represented by the aqueducts. And those still functional marvels rely on a unique construction material: pozzolanic concrete, a spectacularly durable concrete that gave Roman structures their incredible strength.
Ancient Rome, Engineering, Construction, Materials Science
29 points by tomcam 41 days ago | 15 comments
What Is Dating Like in Starbase (SpaceX HQ) by SpaceX Engineer? (ianbrown.substack.com)
When dealing with a tough problem, the best thing one can do is describe it in as much detail as possible.
SpaceX, Dating, Engineering, Substack, Personal Experiences
6 points by jdcampolargo 41 days ago | 0 comments
Voyager 1's Primary Thrusters Revived Before DSN Command Pause (hackaday.com)
As with all aging bodies, clogged tubes form an increasing issue. So too with the 47-year old Voyager 1 spacecraft and its hydrazine thrusters. Over the decades silicon dioxide from an aging rubber diaphragm in the fuel tank has been depositing on the inside of fuel tubes. By switching between primary, backup and trajectory thrusters the Voyager team has been managing this issue and kept the spacecraft oriented towards Earth.
Space Exploration, Engineering, Robotics, Spacecraft
4 points by droideqa 42 days ago | 0 comments
Ed Smylie, Who Saved the Apollo 13 Crew with Duct Tape, Dies at 95 (nytimes.com)
Robert “Ed” Smylie, the NASA official who led a team of engineers that cobbled together an apparatus made of cardboard, plastic bags and duct tape that saved the Apollo 13 crew in 1970 after an explosion crippled the spacecraft as it sped toward the moon, died on April 21 in Crossville, Tenn. He was 95.
Space Exploration, Apollo 13, Engineering, History
116 points by sohkamyung 42 days ago | 35 comments
NASA keeps ancient Voyager 1 spacecraft alive with Hail Mary thruster fix (theregister.com)
NASA has revived a set of thrusters on the nearly 50-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft after declaring them inoperable over two decades ago.
Space Exploration, NASA, Engineering, Spacecraft, Technology
342 points by nullhole 43 days ago | 88 comments
Improving Naval Ship Acquisition (construction-physics.com)
US Naval vessels today regularly take far longer to build than scheduled, and greatly exceed their already-high cost estimates.
Military, Engineering, Construction
72 points by Luc 43 days ago | 130 comments
NASA's Voyager 1 Revives Backup Thrusters Before Command Pause (nasa.gov)
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have revived a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft that had been considered inoperable since 2004.
Space Exploration, NASA, Voyager 1, Technology, Engineering
12 points by voxadam 43 days ago | 1 comments
NASA's Voyager 1 Revives Backup Thrusters Before Command Pause Science (nasa.gov)
Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have revived a set of thrusters aboard the Voyager 1 spacecraft that had been considered inoperable since 2004.
Space Exploration, Engineering, NASA, Voyager 1
22 points by rbanffy 44 days ago | 2 comments