Beyond the hype: are humanoid robots ready for work?

In this episode, we sit down with Manuel Hartong, CTO of Dynamic E-Flow, to unpack how a breakthrough in direct cooling could unlock higher power and smaller motors.From electric aircraft to ships, we explore how thermal management is shaping the future of electrification.Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content! 

In this week's episode, we sit down with Peter Cabauy, CEO and founder of City Labs, to explore how nuclear micropower could transform the future of space exploration. From surviving the harsh two-week lunar night to enabling long-duration missions to the Moon and beyond, Peter explains why reliable power may be the biggest challenge facing the next era of spaceflight. He also shares the remarkable story of how City Labs went from the brink of collapse to working with NASA, DARPA, and the U.S. Air Force, and why he believes we're entering the commercial nuclear space age.Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

In this episode, we sit down with Rick Balzano, Vice President of Go-to-Market for AI Services, Safety and Robotics at TaskUs, to explore what it will take to move humanoid robots from impressive demonstrations into real-world workplaces. We discuss embodied AI, simulation, training data, human oversight, and why safety could ultimately determine whether humanoid robots achieve mass adoption. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content! 

In this episode, we sit down with Paleolithic archaeologist Dr. Ariel “Arik” Malinsky-Buller to reverse engineer the Stone Age. We explore how tiny fragments of obsidian and chert reveal the sophisticated toolmaking, long-distance travel, and shared knowledge that helped ancient hunter-gatherers survive the rugged Armenian Highlands tens of thousands of years ago.Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content! 

In this episode, we sit down with Salar al Khafaji, founder and CEO of Monumental, to explore how autonomous robots are moving beyond the lab and onto real construction sites. We discuss robot bricklayers, construction’s labor shortage, the challenge of building in unpredictable environments, and whether coordinated robot fleets could one day build a house in just 24 hours.Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

In this episode, we are joined by Winnie Lai, founder and CEO of Auriga Space, to explore how electromagnetic launch technology could transform counter-drone defense. We discuss why using multimillion-dollar missiles against low-cost drones is becoming unsustainable, how Auriga’s frictionless magnetic-launch system works, and why the same core technology could one day help launch satellites, or even transport materials from the Moon. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content! 

In this episode of Lexicon, we sit down with Philippe Berlan, CEO of EverDye, to explore one of fashion's biggest environmental challenges: textile dyeing. With dyeing responsible for a significant share of the industry's carbon emissions, Philippe explains how new biobased technologies could dramatically reduce energy use, water consumption, and reliance on petrochemicals. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

A boy who once woke up in his own sweat during blackouts grew up to build the machine ending them. In this episode we sit down with Johannes Amo Aye, founder of Minaji Energy, to talk about the Fusion Wind Turbine: a gearless, oil free hybrid system combining wind and solar in one unit, built to run 20 to 25 years with almost no maintenance. He shares the story of a night when midwives delivered a baby using two phone torches, why 90% of the system is manufactured in Ghana, and what it means to build Africa's energy future with African engineers.In this episode:A blackout tragedy in a maternity ward and the turnaround a year laterThe engineering behind a gearless, lubricant free wind turbineThe MTED program training local youth as techniciansShortlisted for the Royal Academy of Engineering Africa PrizeThe roadmap to scaling past 100 turbinesAlso, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

AI is making cyberattacks faster, cheaper, and more accessible by allowing attackers to automate tasks such as reconnaissance, vulnerability discovery, infrastructure mapping, and attack planning. In a recent Lexicon interview, Redsift CEO Rahul Pavar explains how AI is shifting cybersecurity from human speed toward machine speed, why critical infrastructure such as water utilities could become softer targets, and why organizations need to focus on fundamentals like MFA, continuous asset discovery, attack surface management, and faster threat detection. He also expects the next 6 to 18 months to bring a surge in vulnerabilities as AI uncovers weaknesses that may have existed for years but were previously too difficult to find.Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!

Lithium runs out. Batteries degrade. But sand? It lasts billions of years.In this episode of Lexicon, Interesting Engineering sits down with Annette Haglund-Dones (CCO at Polar Night Energy) to reveal how they turned ordinary sand into a massive thermal battery—and survived one of Finland’s coldest winters on record.Here is what you’ll discover:Zero Degradation: Why sand beats lithium for long-duration heat storage.The Scaling Surprise: What happened when they built a battery 20x larger than the prototype.Industrial Decarbonization: How 250°C heat stored in sand can replace fossil boilers. Listen now to discover why the future of clean energy might be beneath our feet.Also, don’t forget to subscribe to IE+ for premium insights and exclusive content!