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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

November 15, 2025

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Hypersonic flight could one day make long-haul travel as quick as a short movie. Researchers are testing how turbulence behaves at extreme speeds, a critical hurdle for designing these aircraft. ...
Researchers engineered “gyromorphs,” a new type of metamaterial that combines liquid-like randomness with large-scale structural patterns to block light from every direction. This innovation solves longstanding limitations in quasicrystal-based ...
Scientists have developed a new way to build rare-earth crystals that boosts quantum coherence to tens of milliseconds. This leap could extend quantum communication distances from city blocks to entire continents. The method uses atom-by-atom ...
Boron arsenide has dethroned diamond as the best heat conductor, thanks to refined crystal purity and improved synthesis methods. This discovery could transform next-generation electronics by combining record-breaking thermal conductivity with ...
UC Santa Barbara physicists have engineered entangled spin systems in diamond that surpass classical sensing limits through quantum squeezing. Their breakthrough enables next-generation quantum sensors that are powerful, compact, and ready for ...
New research from UBC Okanagan mathematically demonstrates that the universe cannot be simulated. Using Gödel’s incompleteness theorem, scientists found that reality requires “non-algorithmic understanding,” something no computation can ...
Stanford scientists found that strontium titanate improves its performance when frozen to near absolute zero, showing extraordinary optical and mechanical behavior. Its nonlinear and piezoelectric ...
Researchers have discovered quantum oscillations inside an insulating material, overturning long-held assumptions. Their work at the National Magnetic Field Laboratory suggests that the effect originates in the material’s bulk rather than its ...
A team at the University of Stuttgart has engineered a compact short-pulse laser that achieves up to 80% efficiency—far surpassing current models. Their new multipass design reuses light within a small crystal, combining power and precision in a ...
MIT scientists uncovered direct evidence of unconventional superconductivity in magic-angle graphene by observing a distinctive V-shaped energy gap. The discovery hints that electron pairing in this material may arise from strong electronic ...
Researchers are exploring MXenes, 2D materials that could transform air into ammonia for cleaner fertilizers and fuels. Their atomic structures can be tuned to optimize performance, making them promising alternatives to expensive ...

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updated 12:56 pm ET