Winter is upon us. And though you may find yourself whiling away these cold months with nothing more than hot cocoa and stories around the fire, it may be that you are called to battle. Perhaps you ...

At some point during World War II, loony solutions to practical problems really started to shine. There were pigeon-guided missiles, shark repellent, and giant aircraft carriers made of ice. Well, ...

How do you top building the world's largest ice dome? Well, if you're the Eindhoven University of Technology, you build a 40-meter (131-ft)-high model of Barcelona's Sagrada Familia basilica ... and ...

“Pykrete” is an intriguing material—and while it was ultimately deemed unsuitable for military purposes in World War II, it is easy to make at home and experiment with. World War II was the largest ...

Winston Churchill had a project to produce a 2.2 million ton pykrete (ice and wood pulp) aircraft carrier that would have been 1200 meters long and 180 meters wide. This would have made it 3.5 times ...

Steel was in short supply during the height of World War II, and there was nothing to be done but invent a replacement. One proposal was called Pykrete, a mixture of ice and sawdust that melted ...

I tried to improve pykrete for months, then tossed it off a building. I spent three months of my life trying to figure out pykrete—basically ice with wood pulp mixed in—how it works and how I could ...

What’s nearly as strong as concrete, but floats on water? Pykrete! Pykrete is made up of 86% frozen water and 14% wood pulp (such as sawdust or paper). It’s easy to make, durable and strong. That’s ...

Jem has set himself another challenge - and this time it requires your help. Difficulty: low Find a suitable material and make your pykrete bars. Time/effort: The bars should be frozen for at least ...