Tuesday, July 28, 2026

Poetry for Engineers: A Martian Rover Sends a Postcard Home

Already, I’ve almost forgotten rain;I know I will never know that again.I move forward with the powers you gave meto live up to my name, Curiosity.This is a land without leaves, fronds, or spines.If there are plants, they are small and supine,dust hidden, like light here, filtered and sandsoftened, at home in the thin air,…

2022 IEEE President K.J. Ray Liu Honored for His Leadership

Unlike many budding engineers, K.J. Ray Liu wasn’t inspired to enter the field by tinkering with electronics or following in the footsteps of a family member. Growing up in Taichung, Taiwan, he answered his government’s call for students to become electrical engineers to help manufacture semiconductors in the 1970s, when the country’s economy was struggling.“Students…

Mural Discovered at Urartian Fortress in Armenia

YEREVAN, ARMENIA—Public Radio of Armenia reports that a fragment of a polychrome mural has been found at the Erebuni archaeological site, a fortress founded in the eighth century B.C. in the Kingdom of Urartu. The mural has been dated to the end of the seventh century B.C. or the beginning of the sixth century B.C.…

Roman Military Camp Excavated in Slovakia

ŠURANY, SLOVAKIA—A Roman military camp dated to the late second century A.D. has been discovered in southwestern Slovakia, Live Science reports. Five entrance gates, fortifications, and a curved ditch-and-rampart system have been identified at the site. The camp is thought to have been used by troops under the command of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (reigned…

Early Medieval Palace Structures Unearthed in Uzbekistan
Ancient Engineering

Early Medieval Palace Structures Unearthed in Uzbekistan

Sculpture uncovered at Mingtepa, Samarkand, Uzbekistan SAMARKAND, UZBEKISTAN—The possible remains of an eighth-century a.d. palace have been uncovered at the Mingtepa archaeological site in southeastern Uzbekistan, according to a KUN.UZ report. Amriddin Berdimuradov, Khusniddin Rakhmonov, and Nigora Makhkamova of the Yahyo Gulomov Samarkand Institute of Archaeology uncovered the palace complex within the citadel at the…

Byzantine Shipwreck Near Croatia Studied
Ancient Engineering

Byzantine Shipwreck Near Croatia Studied

Gold buckles and coins MLJET, CROATIA—Reuters reports that a shipwreck found more than 10 years ago off the southern coast of Croatia near an island in the Adriatic Sea dates to the seventh or eighth centuries A.D. After analyzing finds from the site, archaeologists have also determined that the vessel was carrying a high-ranking person…

Two Iron Age Axes Evaluated
Ancient Engineering

Two Iron Age Axes Evaluated

Axes from Kazakhstan (A) and Germany (B) KIEL, GERMANY—According to the Greek Reporter, Matthias Christian Hüls of Kiel University and his colleagues compared two Iron Age axes—one unearthed in a burial mound in Kazakhstan and the other discovered among a collection of tools in northern Germany. Radiocarbon dating determined that the tool from Kazakhstan was…

Ancient Burial Uncovered in El Salvador
Ancient Engineering

Ancient Burial Uncovered in El Salvador

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR—Phys.org reports that a burial estimated to be 3,000 years old has been discovered in western El Salvador. The human remains had been placed face down in the pit, which also contained a ceramic vessel shaped like a sea turtle and cassava branches preserved by layers of volcanic ash. Radiocarbon dating and…