2of5 Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters 4
Sinking bridges, deadly fires and sickening collapses serve as lessons to generations of engineers to create a safer future. In engineering, it is a rare disaster that does not hold a valuable lesson within its wreckage. The latest installment in the popular MODERN MARVELS® series examining catastrophes heads from America’s highways, where the Corvair was famously dubbed “unsafe at any speed” and a floating bridge sank in Seattle, to the skies, where crashes of the world’s first commercial jet pointed the way to a simple design change that made the modern air transportation industry possible. Each segment features interviews with experts like Asif Siddigi (author of Challenge to Apollo) and auto safety consultant Byron Bloch, along with compelling footage of disasters, re-creations and laboratory tests demonstrating the failures and analysis of the changes they helped spur. Dark clouds with silver linings, engineering disasters are the tragic, yet invaluable, handmaidens of technological progress.
Video Rating: 5 / 5
“Ask stupid questions”
A video series about the impact of design and design thinking on business and your personal life, by Warren Berger, author of GLIMMER: How Design Can Transform Your Life, Your Business, and Maybe Even the World
Video Rating: 0 / 5
At one point I loved this coaster, yet now I HATE IT! I only put it up because I invested so much time and money ( see below to understand the money aspect ). It’s not 100% completed and never will be. I’m too burned out on it. Looking at the video I think to myself “Man this sucks”. Maybe I’m just burned out on this project. Who knows. Hopefully you enjoy it. I think it looks childish to be honest. This was originally designed to be entered into a contest; however, because it took SO LONG to mod my computer to handle this large of a project I missed the deadline by a few minutes. I know I didn’t finish up the supports. I don’t care. I could not stomach working on this any longer. To get this to work properly I had to do the following. 1.) Drill 2 holes in my computer case and install 2 120mm fans that blow 88cfm of air. 2.) Apply a new high quality heat sync to my Processor. 3.) Upgrade my Power Supply from 450W to 620W. ( Modular is the way to go ) 4.) Install a new Video Card. 5.) Overclock the S#!t out of everything except my memory. My RAM doesn’t have heat spreaders. Stupid design that I should have noticed. I could have purchased replacement RAM that did have them but oh well. These are the Stats. Excitement 8.25 Intensity 5.05 Nausea 3.25 Positive G’s 3.2 Negative G’s -1.4 Lateral G’s 0.91 Drops 27 Inversions 14 I don’t think I used any scenery that came with the game except a few trees. Everything was CS. Thanks to Vodhin who helped more than he knows.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
I bought product Sony camcorder. Two yrs. later it is not working. $200.00 to fix? Consumer fraud? Sony recall
Question by lawyergirl2007: I bought product Sony camcorder. Two yrs. later it is not working. 0.00 to fix? Consumer fraud? Sony recall
Sony admitted to CDD problem. Fixed my camcorder once and now it records but I cannot play back any of the recorded information. Sony tells me now I have to pay 0.00 to fix it. Before I could not record anything, but could see any tape prerecorded. I am so frustrated. I have used the camcorder about 10 times since I bought it. It was over 0.00. I am ready to never buy Sony products again. Please help me if possible with my problem.
Best answer:
Answer by ISBN51499
Have you tried Customer Service rather than Support? Try contacting BBB or your states Attorney General to see if they can help you resolve this with Sony.
What do you think? Answer below!
Q&A: please help, I need a good website to design my own myspace layout without stupid advertisments on my page!?
Question by Sean V 🙂: please help, I need a good website to design my own myspace layout without stupid advertisments on my page!?
please can someone give me a website were i can design my own layout without having some sh*t advertisments on my page????? ty ty
-sean V:)
Best answer:
Answer by Quintin
go to coolchaser. once you get the code, there should be a little section at the beginning of the HTML coding. It will say something about coolchaser and banner blah, blah, blah… just delete that part. And there u have it no ads
Add your own answer in the comments!
Minneapolis bridge collapse caught on DOT traffic cam!
Bridge collapses, traffic slows, MNDOT moves camera after receiving 911 calls, drivers scramble in fear of more failures… mojointhemorning.com
Collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.
Video Rating: 4 / 5
me and my friend try to design stupid machine, need info? ?
Question by Aaron S: me and my friend try to design stupid machine, need info? ?
ok once this has been answered i’ll tell you how all these things relate:
what is the average weight of a male and female (i mean human, for all those pedantic out there, keep up the good work ; ))
what is the weight of the moon
what is the density of steel
what is the highest amount of rpm achieved by a man made engine including jet turbines and stuff like that.
generally at what speed would a human impacting with water disintegrate or come close to disintegrating (been squashed to about the thickness of a pancake by surface tension is good too)
and just for comparison how many joules was produced when the largest atomic bomb went off.
answer all these and you get best answer and explanation of what the hell we are thinking of making (well not actually making but lathing over, man we’re sadistic).
Best answer:
Answer by Dave D
1 million tons of TNT contains 4.2E15 joules of energy. So the largest atomic bomb ever tested was 60 megatons, or 2.5E17 joules.
When Mythbusters dropped Buster into water from a height of 100 feet, he was utterly destroyed. So you can compute the velocity from that.
The highest RPM ever attained was a small diameter magnetically levitated steel needle, which was spun up to 60 million RPM before the centrifugal force caused it to fail.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
Is it true that Menu Foods confirmed their recall by feeding the product to live dogs?
Question by stcroixalta: Is it true that Menu Foods confirmed their recall by feeding the product to live dogs?
I heard that after the recall hit the press, they fed the various dog foods to a number of dogs and something like 7 out of the 10 died, so they “confirmed” that the food should be taken off the shelf. Is that really true? If so, is anyone (i.e. PETA) making this public or making an issue of it? I find it almost too cruel to believe, especially that they would allow the public to know this info.
Best answer:
Answer by Lori K
It sounds like an internet rumor. I’m sure you can contact Menu Foods (a Canadian company) and ask them.
What do you think? Answer below!
Having some stupid web design trouble, need help.?
Question by KPizzle: Having some stupid web design trouble, need help.?
So yeah, basically I haven’t even really added anything yet. All I’m trying to do is get a background color and a background image set and to repeat horizontally in a external style sheet. I can’t seem to find any errors in my XHTML file and everything seems like it should. I did link the file in the XHTML so I don’t know whats happening, maybe I did something wrong, I don’t know. I can’t find the problem. When I upload it to my host to see if it works, absolutely nothing comes up, not the colors, nor the image. I’m not very good at web design yet, so any tips will also be appreciated.
Here’s the XHTML part of it:
And here’s the style sheet link:
http://www.anakesmedia.com/style.css
Thanks
Damn, I still have a shit-load to learn. Thanks James. you got +10 once I can pick.
Best answer:
Answer by James
Take out the # sign in the CSS.
You only use a number sign if you are referring to a div’s id, like if you had done this:
Then, you would have to refer to that by #body. When you just want to address the actual body of your HTML, you don’t use it.
Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!
3 Unbelieveable Engineering Disasters
3 Unbelieveable Engineering Disasters
As impressive as some our modern inventions may seem, there is always a chance for our designs to fail. To err is human, as the old adage states. Major endeavors, such as the design and construction of a new building, rely on the collective knowledge of hundreds of individuals. Having said that, the success of any project will depend greatly on the weakest link in the chain of knowledge. This is precisely the reason mechanical engineering jobs are in such high demand. The following is a collection of the three worst engineering failures in the modern era.
Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster
On January 28, 1986, the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated off the coast of Florida causing the deaths of its seven crew members. It is believed that an O-ring seal on the right solid rocket booster failed, causing a breach in the joint and allowing hot, pressurized gas from within the rocket motor to escape. This led to the structural failure of the external tank and precipitated, with the assistance of aerodynamic forces, the complete breakup of the vehicle. The failure of the O-rings was attributed to a faulty design by the Rogers Commission.
Chernobyl Nuclear Meltdown
On April 26, 1986, the world witnessed the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine. The resulting explosion(s) resulted in the release of significant amounts of radiation into the atmosphere, producing over 400X more fallout than the bombing of Hiroshima. While human error may have played a role in the disaster, flaws in the design of the control rods are thought to have been the root cause of the accident. The authorities remain largely unsure of the effects of the radiation exposure, and the area is still heavily contaminated over 20 later.
New Orleans Levee System
In August of 2005, a series of hurricanes hammered the areas in and around New Orleans, Louisiana. It is believed that there were over 50 individual failures in the levee systems and flood walls intended to protect the city of New Orleans. These levee failures contributed to the flooding of over 85% of the city, with some areas under ten feet of water or more. In 2006, the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, in testimony before the U.S Senate Subcommittee on Energy and Water, conceded that there were “problems with the design of the structure”. New Orleans, Louisiana remains a disaster zone to this day.
Brandon Weber likes to tinker with things in his workshop when he’s not busy helping his clients solve complex engineering problems. To explore the latest mechanical engineering jobs or learn more about engineering in general, join the conversation at Engineering dot com.
Can ANYone help me design a UFo type vehicle with jet engines providing vertical takeoff without rotary blades?
Question by blakedellefave: Can ANYone help me design a UFo type vehicle with jet engines providing vertical takeoff without rotary blades?
Not talkin helicopters. More along the lines of UFO alien vehicle type designs that use micro jet engines for lift. Only need it to fit 1 person in cockpit with glass dome for windshield and instrument reading board to hold portable gps system and CB radio. Preferably a more modern design. Doesn’t have to b proffesional evn a picture will do. No design is stupid. * all design welcome example=
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.labnews.co.uk/cms_images/Image/news/UFO.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.labnews.co.uk/news_archive.php/1057/5/classified-report-reveals-ufo-secrets/&usg=__o1TPqV1Ky_y5YCwQ9ttsbbEo0wo=&h=866&w=1120&sz=119&hl=en&start=11&um=1&tbnid=RhfOCOO2VVU__M:&tbnh=116&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dufo%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den-us%26sa%3DN
Ive got about 900 pounds of thrust with all three engines
Two for thrust and 1 for stabilizing the aircraft
Best answer:
Answer by metaphoricwolf
It is possible but probably but not very practical while flying. The problem is not going up but moving around in the air and then landing. I guess I could make the body move like a Frisbee but that could take years to actually come up with the right design. As for jet engines you might want to consider them not being micro but built into the vehicle so where people only see the bottoms. As for trying to land something like that I have no idea.
Add your own answer in the comments!