Reference Terms
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Safety engineering
Safety engineering is an applied science strongly related to systems engineering. Safety engineering aims to insure that a life-critical system behaves as needed even when pieces fail.
In the real world the term "safety engineering" refers to any act of accident prevention by a person qualified in the field. Safety engineering is often reactionary to adverse events, also described as "incidents," as reflected in accident statistics. This arises largely because of the complexity and difficulty of collecting and analysing data on "near misses".
Increasingly, the importance of a safety review is being recognised as an important risk managament tool. Failure to identify risks to safety, and the according inability to address or "control" these risks, can result in massive costs, both human and economic. The multidisciplinary nature of safety engineering means that a very broad array of professionals are actively involved in accident prevention or safety engineering.
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Matter & Energy News
October 19, 2025
Oct. 18, 2025 — A collaboration between the University of Michigan and AFRL has resulted in 3D-printed metamaterials that can block vibrations using complex geometries. Inspired by nature and theoretical physics, these “kagome tubes” demonstrate how geometry ...
Oct. 17, 2025 — Researchers discovered how to stabilize a high-performance sodium compound, giving sodium-based solid-state batteries the power and stability they’ve long lacked. The new material conducts ions far ...
Oct. 11, 2025 — A team of engineers at North Carolina State University has designed a polymer “Chinese lantern” that can rapidly snap into multiple stable 3D shapes—including a lantern, a spinning top, and more—by compression or twisting. By adding a ...
Oct. 11, 2025 — Scientists have developed an ultra-thin, paper-like LED that emits a warm, sunlike glow, promising to revolutionize how we light up our homes, devices, and workplaces. By engineering a balance of red, yellow-green, and blue quantum dots, the ...
Oct. 10, 2025 — Scientists at EPFL have reimagined 3D printing by turning simple hydrogels into tough metals and ceramics. Their process allows multiple infusions of metal salts that form dense, high-strength structures without the porosity of earlier methods. ...
Oct. 8, 2025 — Researchers have found a way to extract almost every photon from diamond color centers, a key obstacle in quantum technology. Using hybrid nanoantennas, they precisely guided light from nanodiamonds into a single direction, achieving 80% efficiency ...
Oct. 8, 2025 — In a remarkable leap for quantum physics, researchers in Japan have uncovered how weak magnetic fields can reverse tiny electrical currents in kagome metals—quantum materials with a woven atomic structure that frustrates electrons into forming ...
Oct. 7, 2025 — An international team has confirmed that large quantum systems really do obey quantum mechanics. Using Bell’s test across 73 qubits, they proved the presence of genuine quantum correlations that can’t be explained classically. Their results show ...
Oct. 7, 2025 — Researchers at Columbia have created a chip that turns a single laser into a “frequency comb,” producing dozens of powerful light channels at once. Using a special locking mechanism to clean ...
Oct. 7, 2025 — Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power worldwide, driving a massive shift toward renewables. Falling battery prices and innovations in solar materials are making clean energy more reliable than ever. Yet, grid congestion and integration ...
Oct. 5, 2025 — A Penn State research team found that streetlights could double as affordable EV charging stations. After installing 23 units in Kansas City, they discovered these chargers were faster, cheaper, and more eco-friendly than traditional stations. Their ...
Oct. 4, 2025 — Scientists at OIST have, for the first time, directly tracked the elusive “dark excitons” inside atomically thin materials. These quantum particles could revolutionize information technology, as they are more stable and resistant to ...
Latest Headlines
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Oct. 18, 2025 — Researchers have unveiled a new model for the universe’s birth that replaces cosmic inflation with gravitational waves as the driving force behind creation. Their simulations show that gravity and ...
Oct. 16, 2025 — Auburn scientists have designed new materials that manipulate free electrons to unlock groundbreaking applications. These “Surface Immobilized Electrides” could power future quantum computers or ...
Oct. 15, 2025 — Scientists at TU Wien have uncovered that quantum correlations can stabilize time crystals—structures that oscillate in time without an external driver. Contrary to previous assumptions, quantum ...
Oct. 15, 2025 — Researchers analyzing pulsar data have found tantalizing hints of ultra-slow gravitational waves. A team from Hirosaki University suggests these signals might carry “beats” — patterns formed by ...
Oct. 15, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Cambridge have uncovered a surprising quantum effect inside an organic material, something once thought impossible outside metals. The team found that a special ...
Oct. 14, 2025 — MIT researchers found that metals retain hidden atomic patterns once believed to vanish during manufacturing. These patterns arise from microscopic dislocations that guide atoms into preferred ...
Oct. 14, 2025 — New observations from the James Webb Space Telescope hint that the universe’s first stars might not have been ordinary fusion-powered suns, but enormous “supermassive dark stars” powered by ...
Oct. 13, 2025 — A team of international physicists has brought Bayes’ centuries-old probability rule into the quantum world. By applying the “principle of minimum change” — updating beliefs as little as ...
Oct. 13, 2025 — Scientists from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and Caltech have finally solved a decades-old mystery about how photosynthesis really begins. They discovered why energy inside plants flows ...
Oct. 12, 2025 — Geophysicists have modeled how Earth’s magnetic field could form even when its core was fully liquid. By removing the effects of viscosity in their simulation, they revealed a self-sustaining ...