Engine

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An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input. An engine whose purpose is to produce kinetic energy output from a fuel source is called a prime mover; alternatively, a motor is a device which produces kinetic energy from other forms of energy (such as electricity, a flow of hydraulic fluid or compressed air). A motor car (automobile) has a starter motor and motors to drive pumps (fuel, power steering, etc) – but the power plant that propels the car is called an engine. The term 'motor' was originally used to distinguish the new internal combustion engine -powered vehicles from earlier vehicles powered by a steam engine (as in steam roller and motor roller).

Military engines included siege engines, large catapults, trebuchets and battering rams.

For more information about Engine, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

News tagged with engine

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Plasma Rocket Could Travel to Mars in 39 Days

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Oct 06, 2009 | 4.8 / 5 (121) | 72

(PhysOrg.com) -- Last Wednesday, the Ad Astra Rocket Company tested what is currently the most powerful plasma rocket in the world. As the Webster, Texas, company announced, the VASIMR VX-200 engine ran at ...

Wolfram Alpha Could Answer Questions that Google Can't

Technology / Internet

Mar 09, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (34) | 17

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new search engine described as an "electronic brain" could make searching the Internet more intelligent. Called Wolfram Alpha, the search engine computes its own answers rather than looking ...

Gasoline-diesel 'cocktail': A potent recipe for cleaner, more efficient engines

Technology / Energy

Aug 03, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (27) | 6

(PhysOrg.com) -- Diesel and gasoline fuel sources both bring unique assets and liabilities to powering internal combustion engines. But what if an engine could be programmed to harvest the best properties ...

'Omnivorous engine' hopes to run on many fuels

Technology / Energy

Sep 08, 2008 | 4.9 / 5 (23) | 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- The 'omnivorous engine' is no picky eater. Gasoline? Down the hatch. Ethanol? Butanol? It'll slurp those up too. The creators of the omnivorous engine, engineers at the U.S. Department of ...

Wolfram Alpha 'Knowledge Engine' is Like a Modern Farmer's Almanac

Technology / Internet

May 08, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (22) | 5

(PhysOrg.com) -- Currently, there's a lot of hype and skepticism surrounding the latest "Google rival," a so-called search engine named Wolfram Alpha. In the near future, anyone with Internet access will be ...

The rocket that thinks it's a jet

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 19, 2009 | 4.9 / 5 (16) | 12

(PhysOrg.com) -- A reusable spaceplane that can take off from a conventional aircraft runway, carry over twelve tonnes to orbit and then return to land on the same runway could be less than a decade away thanks ...

Low-emission, high-performance engine for future hybrids

Technology / Energy

Sep 15, 2008 | 4.7 / 5 (15) | 2

In an advance toward introduction of an amazing new kind of internal combustion engine, researchers in China are reporting development and use of a new and more accurate computer model to assess performance ...

Airliners could save fuel by taking a hint from birds flying in formation

Technology / Engineering

Jun 01, 2009 | 4.5 / 5 (14) | 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- From Leonardo da Vinci to the Greek tragedy of Icarus, birds have emboldened scientific minds to master flight. Now, Stanford researchers can be added to the list of ornithologically inspired ...

This computer-generated image released by Plantagon shows the design of a vertical greenhouse project

Skyscraper greenhouses to sprout in crowded cities: expert

Space & Earth / Environment

Jun 05, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (15) | 13

Vertical greenhouses that grow organic fruit and vegetables smack in the middle of crowded cities where land is scarce may soon be a reality, a Swedish company developing the project said Friday.

Children are searching online for videos, social networks, games and, yes, porn as they grow up in an Internet Age

Sex, videos, friends, games hot with kids online: Norton

Technology / Internet

Aug 12, 2009 | 3.6 / 5 (17) | 8

Children are searching online for videos, social networks, games and, yes, porn as they grow up in an Internet Age, according to computer security firm Symantec.

New metasearch engine leaves Google, Yahoo crawling

Technology / Computer Sciences

Mar 25, 2009 | 3.7 / 5 (15) | 6

One day in the not-too-distant future, you'll be able to type a query into an online search engine and have it deliver not Web pages that may contain an answer, but just the answer itself, says Weiyi Meng, ...

New combustion strategy accelerates hydrogen-engine development

Technology / Engineering

Mar 16, 2009 | 4.1 / 5 (13) | 1

(PhysOrg.com) -- Car manufacturers aspire to create hydrogen-powered vehicles that could one day allow energy-efficient, cost-effective travel that emits no greenhouse gases or other pollutants. To further ...

NASA Spacecraft Falling For Mars

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

Feb 13, 2009 | 4.3 / 5 (12) | 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- Launched in September of 2007, and propelled by any one of a trio of hyper-efficient ion engines, NASA's Dawn spacecraft passed the orbit of Mars last summer. At that time, the asteroid belt ...

Toyota Not Too Keen On Plug-In Hybrids

Technology / Energy

May 22, 2009 | 3.8 / 5 (13) | 34

(PhysOrg.com) -- Toyota is recognized as one of the leaders in hybrid technology, so it may come as a surprise to some that the company is not terribly keen on selling hybrid plug-ins to consumers. Even though ...