Why building codes should be open

Who gives a crap about the history of toilets? Francis de los Reyes does. He's a professor of civil engineering at North Carolina State University whose research focuses on "wastewater treatment plant design, environmental biotechnology and microbiology, fundamentals of environmental engineering, and water and sanitation for developing countries." In this TED-Ed video, de los Reyes… READ THE REST

On June 17, 1946, a fellow driving through St. Louis made the first mobile phone call. It was the result of decades of engineering work at Bell Labs and Western Electric. Two years later, the service was available in nearly 100 cities and counted 5,000 subscribers. The monthly fee was $15, equivalent to $207 in… READ THE REST

The fact that we have two ears on opposite sides of our head provides us with directional hearing to determine where a sound comes from. While we have two nostrils though, we can't smell in stereo to find the source of an odor. Now, University of Chicago engineers have demonstrated a small electronic device that… READ THE REST

Whether you work from home, are a gamer, or simply own a smart gadget or two, finding enough outlets to plug everything into feels a lot like hunting for the world's hottest toy at Christmas time. In other words, it's a little chaotic, to say the least. And while traditional power strips are an obvious… READ THE REST

iPhones, AirPods, Apple Watches, oh my! Okay, that may not be what Dorothy said in The Wizard of Oz, but if she lived in today's world, she very well may. While all these Apple gadgets have become a part of our daily lives, necessary for many of our routines and tasks, caring for them and… READ THE REST

You've heard for years that you need to be using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) to protect all of your activities online. But while it's become a vital layer of web protection, that doesn't mean it needs to cost you an arm and a leg for that coverage either. In fact, you can take advantage… READ THE REST