Construction

A lab worker removes crane hoist from a load of rebar used to construct full-scale buildings and bridge spans that are then pushed to the limit in field tests.

This ‘earthquake lab’ is designing buildings to withstand natural disasters

Infrastructure

At Spain’s Institute of Science and Concrete Technology, engineers are trying to find ways to keep buildings and bridges from falling down. The lab is getting attention after the deadly earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February.

A tiger crosses a road in India’s Ranthambore National Park.

GPS tracking could help tigers and traffic coexist across Asia

Environment
A man stand next to a machine with large slabs of wood.

Building high-rises, hotels and stadiums out of wood — for climate’s sake

The Big Fix
A view of the old quarter of Sanaa, Yemen, November 14, 2018.

UNESCO project aims to save Sanaa’s historic mud brick towers

Culture
a man mixes cement in argentina

Prefabricated homes may fix Argentina’s housing crisis — and put builders out of work

Design for the Real World: Excavator

Arts, Culture & Media

Industrial engineer James Dyson is the creator of the Dyson Cyclone Vacuum, but he also digs the elegant design of another dirty machine — the excavator.

A woman scrapes mortar off of a salvaged brick with a flat end of a chisel so the brick can be reused.

‘Symbolic rubble’ from crumbling adobe homes preserves the past and eases trauma after Mexico earthquake

Culture

Oaxaca is moving along with rebuilding after Mexico’s worst earthquake of the century. But some are hoping to slow down the process.

Mexico City

When disaster hits home: The Mexico City quake one month on

Environment

When The World’s Monica Campbell returned to her home in Mexico City, she arrived to chaos. People were trying their best to rebuild or they were leaving altogether. Her neighborhood in particular was among the hardest hit.

The elevator at Washington DC's historic Old Post Office Pavilion.

Elevators are kind of a big deal

Technology

Tom Sybert, host of the Elevator Radio Show Podcast, believes elevators are one of the most important inventions of the modern world. Here are three reasons why.

How the Hunger Games salute is inspiring Thai protesters

Global Scan

The military coup in Thailand hasn’t been popular. Protests are frequent, and now they’re using a popular symbol from the movie The Hunger Games, a three-finger salute, to signal their displeasure. That story and more in today’s Global Scan.The military coup in Thailand hasn’t been popular. Protests are frequent, and now they’re using a popular symbol from the movie The Hunger Games, a three-finger salute, to signal their displeasure. That story and more in today’s Global Scan.