Transformers are very difficult vehicles to design, and even harder to create. This is especially true when it comes to the idea of combining a conventional vehicle with a giant robot. However, the humanoid form has many advantages and capabilities that cannot be matched by the average car or truck. [...]

I mentioned in a previous article that transforming vehicles is very difficult and requires expensive devices to accomplish. However, the many technical and feasibility issues presented by creating a vehicle that changes from one form to another have not prevented inventors from attempting to create such machines. Attempts to create [...]

By Rebecca Ford Imagine a pitch-black concert hall, dimly lit by flickering candles. The only other light comes from the stage—a soft glow emanating from the musicians’ music stands, capturing their expressions as they lean into their instruments. The mood is set, the audience captivated. Then the music begins. There’s [...]

Although they were made popular in the west by the Transformers television series that first aired in 1984, the idea of vehicles that could change into giant robots had already appeared in the Japanese Macross series, later be released in the United States as Robotech. Much of Robotech’s fame came [...]

Bane, often known as “the man who broke the bat,” is one of Batman’s deadliest foes. The villain earned his nickname by breaking Batman’s spine and leaving him as a paraplegic for a period of time, becoming the only villain who has ever immobilized Batman. Besides being a master martial [...]

Science fiction is so filled with starship crews walking and running around their vessels… it is easy to forget that in reality astronauts spend their time in space weightless. Although floating around inside a spacecraft may be enjoyable, long-term weightlessness has many negative effects on human health. Long periods of [...]

In the previous two blogs in this series, I examined ion engines and plasma engines – two technologies that have a great deal of potential for powering the spacecraft of the future. Although these two engine types attract a great deal of attention and research, a wide range of other [...]