Science fiction delivers intriguing new ways to describe what we mere mortals are up to – and a different perspective on intriguing conceptual fundamentals I warily admit to having a wobbly weakness for good sci-fi, fully aware that such a foible can risk getting me branded as an intellectual lightweight fleeing from reality. This prompts a scramble to emphasise that only certain selected...

Finnish-built “oblique” icebreaker with an asymmetrical hull gets more done – and breaks the mould for ship design With most kinds of seriously gnarly machinery and equipment, development usually consists of upticks in easy appreciable commercial metrics like size, capacity or speed. Incremental, marginal improvements but rarely anything seriously radical. In ships, for example, the basics of hull shape haven’t really changed since prehistoric times –...