For two centuries, students have learned that heat flows and engines work according to rigid limits that no machine can beat.

Almost exactly 200 years ago, French physicist Sadi Carnot determined the maximum efficiency of heat engines. The Carnot ...

For the first time, a quantum engine has outperformed its traditional equivalent, without any special tweaks to its environment. The device harnesses the weird physics of very small objects to produce ...

Engineers have built a modern Stirling engine that quietly turns the cold of outer space into steady mechanical power, using the night sky as a heat sink instead of a fuel tank. By radiating heat away ...

The quantum advantage: Coherent superposition in quantum heat engines can enhance power output over classical machines. Credit: iStock Traffic-Analyzer Heat engines have had a huge impact on everyday ...

Power boost: a quantum heat engine in synthetic diamond. (Courtesy: Jonas Becker) Physicists have in recent years built a number of microscopic heat engines to investigate how the laws of ...

Heat is a byproduct of combustion. Both air-cooled and water-cooled engines need to dissipate that heat to keep the engine from running too hot. Can piston rings play a role in managing that heat?