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Some structures, like ancient churches, castles or monuments, have managed to stay intact for centuries or even millennia. What makes it possible for them to stay standing for so long?

Structures stay in place largely thanks to the compressive forces acting upon them. Unlike tensile forces,...

Stress isn’t just a psychological problem affecting humans – structures can suffer from stress as well.

Stress tells us the degree to which atoms are being pushed apart. Strain, on the other hand, measures how far they’re being pushed apart

Structures are a fundamental part of both the man-made and natural worlds. And while a rooftop and a horse would seem to have little in common, they're affected by the same scientific concepts that keep structures intact.

Stress, strain, force and strength are the keys to designing and mai...

Galileo’s prestige brought greater academic attention to the subject. In the mid-1650s, scholars began researching the ways in which different materials and structures behave under heavy loads. That same century, Robert Hooke also discovered how matter behaves at an atomic level.

When a person gets frustrated or stressed out, they will often dwell on their problems, which only serves to increase their stress levels. A similar phenomenon occurs in metal – and, appropriately enough, it's called fatigue.

Fatigue occurs when the heavy load on a metal fluctuates and caus...

What are structures?

What holds an airplane together as it moves through the air or keeps a bridge from collapsing under the strain of cars? It’s all in the design of their structure.

A structure is a ...