Catalog Search Results
Author
Publisher
Doubleday
Pub. Date
[2018]
Physical Desc
xx, 339 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm
Language
English
Description
Formerly the domain of fiction, moving human civilization to the stars is increasingly becoming a scientific possibility--and a necessity. Whether in the near future due to climate change and the depletion of finite resources, or in the distant future due to catastrophic cosmological events, we must face the reality that humans will one day need to leave planet Earth to survive as a species. World-renowned physicist and futurist Michio Kaku explores...
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Consider an approach to creating robots that’s inspired not by maps but by the simple sense-and-act behavior of animals. You’ll learn the benefits of behavior-based robotic architecture (including quicker reactions and stronger sensors), and see how simple animals including ants have inspired roboticists to build fascinating inventions..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Step into the work boots of a highway engineer, tasked with designing a freeway across hilly terrain to connect two other highways. Discover that features of a safe road that you take for granted—constant-radius curves, gentle grade, sturdy construction, and a well-drained surface—require detailed planning..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Probe the tradeoffs of oil, natural gas, and nuclear fission for generating electrical power. For example, natural gas is plentiful and flexible, but it involves fracking and produces carbon dioxide emissions. By contrast, nuclear power produces essentially zero emissions but poses potentially catastrophic safety risks..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (30 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Wouldn’t it be great to have a robot that took out your trash or put away your books? Explore how robots are designed to perform specific tasks, and the choices roboticists must consider in doing so—including the stability of the workplace and the minute steps of the task itself..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (35 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Study the technological marvel called the grid—the system that transmits electricity from its point of generation to users. Learn why electrical transmission lines come in threes, why AC power is used instead of DC, and the reason transmission voltages are so high..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Traffic engineers help to ensure the safe and efficient movement of vehicles and pedestrians within a road system. Focus on their approach to intersection design, examining the many factors that go into determining whether you’re faced with a traffic signal, an overpass, a flyover ramp, or some other means of traffic control..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Lane changes, off-roading, irregular traffic patterns—how do robotic cars handle it all? Find out in this lecture on the trade-offs (especially between speed and safety) involved in creating self-driving vehicles. Peer into the future of how you’re likely to get from place to place, perhaps without having to do a thing..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (36 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Turn to the third major technique for building a house: platform-framed construction, which is a flexible arrangement of lightweight modular floor platforms, wall panels, and roof trusses. This efficient approach has been widely used in the U.S. for over a century..
11) Everyday Bridges
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (35 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Find that everyday highway overpass bridges are more interesting than they appear. These ubiquitous structures deserve to be admired for their simplicity and practicality. Plunge into the principles of multi-girder spans, and learn that new construction techniques make highway bridges more efficient and elegant than ever..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Examine one of the most important aspects of modern building codes: the design of a house for structural load carrying. Focus on two of the three major approaches to this crucial function: bearing wall construction and heavy timber frame construction. Both have been used for thousands of years..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (33 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Why just watch robots when you can understand how they actually work? Deconstruct a Roomba to learn the five functional categories of parts all robots need. Then, explore a universal lesson about robotics: because robots can’t do everything well, trade-offs (such as simplicity versus maneuverability) are always involved..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (29 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Now that your house is framed, it needs a building envelope that can shed rainwater and melting snow, and also keep precipitation from entering through the foundation. Learn about the five integrated layers of protection: shingles and cladding, drainage plane, insulation, vapor barrier, and drywall..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Compare the three main methods of dealing with the 700,000 tons of solid waste generated every day in the U.S.: landfill, incineration, and recycling. Explore the distinction between recycling, which is practical with many metals, and down-cycling, which is the fate of most plastics..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (34 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Investigate robot actuators: the motors and transmissions that underlie all robotic movement. You’ll learn about the early use of springs as motors in automata; how electricity spins the magnets that make motors move; how movement defines what a robot is; and different types of motors (including DC and servo motors)..
17) The Railroad
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Ride the rails to learn why rail transportation continues to thrive, two centuries after the modern railroad was introduced. Trace the origin of the standard rail gauge used in the U.S., probe the forces a locomotive must overcome to get rolling and then stop, and chart the rise of a revolutionary way of handling cargo: the intermodal container..
18) Social Robots
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (32 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Enter the brave new world of social robotics, where robots are built specifically to communicate with humans and other autonomous physical agents. With the help of the robot Baxter, discover how simple signals like spoken words, expressions, and body language can create a dynamic user interface between human and robot..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (31 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Delve into tunnel engineering, a discipline every bit as impressive as bridge building, only less visible. Consider the challenges presented by the type of soil or rock being excavated for a tunnel, marvel at the work of mammoth tunnel boring machines, and weigh the tradeoffs between tunnels versus bridges..
Publisher
The Great Courses
Pub. Date
2015.
Physical Desc
1 online resource (streaming video file) (29 minutes): digital, .flv file, sound
Language
English
Description
Learn how raw water from nature is treated to make it safe for drinking. Then trace the distribution system that supplies water under pressure to users. Professor Ressler demonstrates two crucial technologies in this system: the flocculation chamber and the water tower..
In Interlibrary Loan
Didn't find what you need? Items not owned by Pueblo Library can be requested from other Interlibrary Loan libraries to be delivered to your local library for pickup.
Didn't find it?
Can't find what you are looking for? Try our Materials Request Service. Submit Request