Load/Path

The week in engineering, cut to what you need before the kettle boils. New issue every week, in two editions.

Issues

Newest first

↓ Pick an edition to read the full issue

072–6 Nov 2026
News edition · ≈ 8 min

Why Google's London backup generators never started

A controller that thought the mains was fine, five east London blocks emptied over transfer slabs, an F1 cooling fault and 7 more stories.

Read the news edition Design Desk · ≈ 7 min

Six new designs, from a plug for ships at a wind farm to a Moon engine from ex-student rocketeers

A ship that plugs into a wind farm, a car chip whose kernel boots in 66 ms, a Moon engine from ex-student rocketeers, plus the problems still open and where you fit in.

Read the Design Desk
0626–30 Oct 2026
News edition · ≈ 9 min

Finland gets the world's first licence to bury used nuclear fuel for good

The world's first licensed deep store for used nuclear fuel, a viaduct pushed over the M6, silicone recycled in the lab and 12 more stories.

Read the news edition Design Desk · ≈ 10 min

Nine new designs, from a viaduct pushed over a motorway to a heart patch with no electronics

Railway work squeezed into 18 days, solar wings that unroll with no motors, an implant that burns off blood sugar, plus the problems still open and where you fit in.

Read the Design Desk
0519–23 Oct 2026
News edition · ≈ 9 min

America proposed 13.6 GW of new nuclear power in one week

13.6 GW of new US nuclear proposed in a week, a Tesla that jumps over parked cars, a mission to fetch a piece of a Martian moon and 13 more stories.

Read the news edition Design Desk · ≈ 10 min

Nine new designs, from a two-week rescue tool to a touchscreen you can wash

Data sent on background noise, a humanoid that sits down to stay safe, robots driven by real muscle, plus the problems still open and where you fit in.

Read the Design Desk
0412–16 Oct 2026
News edition · ≈ 9 min

NASA fixed Orion's heat shield without changing the shield

Orion's heat shield fixed by a new flight path, 12.6 million °C in a UK-checked fusion machine, Portugal's first high-speed line and 12 more stories.

Read the news edition Design Desk · ≈ 10 min

Nine new designs, from a heat shield fixed by flying differently to a duct with no joints

A robot that refits a reactor, solar arrays that unroll, a one-camera racing drone, plus the problems still open and where you fit in.

Read the Design Desk
0228 Sep–2 Oct 2026
News edition · ≈ 9 min

A 365-metre wind turbine, lifted into place from the inside

The world's tallest wind turbine, £5.9bn of gas the UK didn't buy, Airbus's new freighter flies, a robot hand with four fingers and 11 more stories.

Read the news edition Design Desk · ≈ 10 min

Nine new designs, from a tower that lifts itself to a four-finger hand

A viaduct slid across a floodplain, a Venus probe cooked six times, implants that talk through tissue, plus the problems still open and where you fit in.

Read the Design Desk

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