ENGGtalks Newsroom

30 Apr 23

Skylab: The Space Station That Fell on Australia

Aerospace & Aeronautical

Fifty years ago, on 14 May 1973, a modified Saturn V rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center carrying Skylab, the United States’ first space station. Six years later, in the early hours of 12 July 1979, Skylab reentered Earth’s atmosphere in a fiery blaze, spreading debris across the Indian…

30 Apr 23

Meet Mr. Internet: Vint Cerf

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation

It was June 1973. For the past three months, Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn had been working together on a problem Kahn had been pondering for some time: how to connect ground-based military computers seamlessly to communications satellites and mobile radios. The ARPANET and the way it handled communications was…

30 Apr 23

A tribute to Alan Rickman’s life and roles

Computer & Information Technology

The latest Google Doodle celebrates late British actor Alan Rickman and his impact on culture in the U.K. and around the world.

29 Apr 23

7 ways Google products can help you celebrate the Asian community

Computer & Information Technology

How you can use Google products to celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander culture for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

29 Apr 23

This AI Hunts for Hidden Hoards of Battery Metals

Metallurgy & Material Science

In June 2022, six Boeing 737s—fully loaded with tents, food, satellite Internet equipment, drones, geophysical survey gear, drilling equipment, and a team of experienced geologists—flew to a remote airstrip in northern Quebec. The geologists were hunting for major deposits of the minerals needed to power a clean-energy future. Given the…

29 Apr 23

Timber! The World’s First Wooden Transistor

Computer & Information Technology

Transistors inside modern computer chips are several nanometers across, and switch on and off at hundreds of gigahertz. Organic electrochemical transistors, made for biodegradable applications, are milimeters in size and switch at kilohertz rates. The world’s first wooden transistor, made by a collaboration of researchers through the Wallenberg Wood Science…

29 Apr 23

Self-taught Engineer Builds Brain-Controlled Prosthesis

Biotechnology & Biomedical

The Big Picture features technology through the lens of photographers.Every month, IEEE Spectrum selects the most stunning technology images recently captured by photographers around the world. We choose images that reflect an important advance, or a trend, or that are just mesmerizing to look at. We feature all images on…

28 Apr 23

IEEE Leaders Are Planning Now for 2050 and Beyond

Metallurgy & Material Science

The year 2050 might sound like a long way off, but it’s just around the corner for IEEE leaders. Technology developments are happening so quickly and on so many fronts that if the organization wants to continue to thrive, it needs to begin preparing for changes now.“IEEE must become exceedingly…

28 Apr 23

Video Friday: Reflex Grasping

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion.Robotics Summit & Expo: 10–11 May 2023, BOSTONICRA 2023: 29 May–2…

28 Apr 23

Little Robots Learn to Drive Fast in the Real World

Electrical, Electronics & Instrumentation, Mechanical, Production & Manufacturing

Without a lifetime of experience to build on like humans have (and totally take for granted), robots that want to learn a new skill often have to start from scratch. Reinforcement learning is a technique that lets robots learn new skills through trial and error, but especially in the case…