Technology and transportation overall ratings This site has information about roads, bridges and other civil engineering projects in the USA. There are some interesting activities; you can try designing a bridge or road, and see what your efforts would look like. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Land speed record sites overall ratings General information about the world land speed record, with links to other interesting sites. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No How a Challenger tractor is made overall ratings The Challenger is a huge tractor with caterpillar tracks, used for farming and on construction sites. The site shows the whole process of building a Challenger in photos and text, from the steel rails that make the frame through to painting and testing. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No How bicycles work overall ratings A simple but useful rundown of the parts of a bike, and how they work. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Propelled by pedals overall ratings A fun site on cycling created by school students. Get tips on choosing a bicycle, learn how it works, read about cycling pros, and check out the jokes, games and quizzes. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Shinkansen overall ratings A good introduction to the Shinkansen, the high-speed railway network of futuristic 'bullet trains' in Japan. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No byun byun Shinkansen overall ratings This is a rather ordinary-looking site, but it's easy to get drawn in by the wealth of information here about the Japanese Shinkansen bullet trains. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No National Railway Museum, UK overall ratings The National Railway Museum is home to many famous trains, including Robert Stephenson's Rocket, and Mallard, the fastest-ever steam locomotive. You can see these and many other trains on the virtual tour. There are also locomotive fact files, digital exhibitions and much more. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Railway technology: current projects overall ratings Browse a list of photos and information about railways currently being built around the world: freight railways, high-speed trains and light railways. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Transrapid (maglev train) overall ratings Transrapid is a German maglev (magnetic levitation) train company. The excellent technology section shows just how the maglev works. It's just a pity that they haven't managed to translate the labels on some of the diagrams. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Japanese superconducting maglev development overall ratings Another good site about maglev trains. The explanations here are not so clear, but it is interesting to read about these high-tech trains, which hold the world speed record for maglevs. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Monorails of the world overall ratings A list of monorails running in all parts of the world, with information and photos of most of them. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No How things fly overall ratings How does an aeroplane weighing many tonnes get into the air? Find out on this museum website. As well as explanations of how balloons and aeroplanes fly, there are try-it-yourself experiments and a virtual tour of the gallery. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Milestones of flight overall ratings A short timeline of the history of flight, based on the exhibits in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, USA. Most of the timeline is about space travel, but there are some good pictures. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Air force link gallery overall ratings Photos and illustrations of US military aircraft: bombers, fighters, helicopters, tankers and transports. There are also videos of selected aircraft, sounds and news items. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Dryden Flight Research photo gallery overall ratings Photos of many of the research aircraft flown at the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center in California, USA. These images date from the 1940s to the present, and range from prototype fighters to solar-powered aircraft. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Boeing (aircraft manufacturer) overall ratings The website for Boeing, the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world. There are news stories, pictures and other information about the wide range of Boeing planes, and the kids' page has word games and other activities. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Boeing military aircraft overall ratings A good site for fact sheets, photos, and even sounds of Boeing's military aircraft. These include the Harrier, the B2 stealth bomber, research aircraft and missiles. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Airbus overall ratings Information and news stories about the European Airbus airliners. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No To fly is everything overall ratings This virtual museum tells the true story of how the Wright brothers developed, built and flew the first heavier-than-air, powered aircraft. The site includes a simulation of the Wright Flyer that you can pilot yourself (very tricky!). Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes First flight overall ratings The simulation of the Wright Flyer at the above site comes from First flight, and here there are many other animations, movies and simulations. There is also a short timeline, and information about other leading figures in the history of flight. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Ship Technology project list overall ratings A list of ships currently being built around the world. Read about Voyager of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise liner, or the Happy River heavy lifter. There are interesting facts and good photos for all the projects. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No US Navy ships overall ratings All kinds of information about the ships of the US Navy: facts and figures, photos, news stories, and interviews with sailors. Some of the individual sites are quite large, and take a while to open. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No US Submarines Inc. overall ratings US Submarines are a company that makes submersibles and tourist submarines. As well as information about their own subs, the section on manned submersibles has information on other craft. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Onboard the Titanic overall ratings Read real-life accounts of passengers aboard The Titanic. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes How GPS works (navigation) overall ratings If you really want to understand the ins and outs of the GPS navigation system, check out this site. It goes through the principles of GPS step by step, with animations to help you along the way. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Spacelink overall ratings The best place to start for anything to do with space. Spacelink is an online library, with connections to the vast resources of the NASA website. Use the search engine to find what you want, or look through the A-Z listings, or check out the Hot topics and cool links. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No NASA human spaceflight overall ratings Find out what's happening today in spaceflight. When is the next Space Shuttle flight? How is the International Space Station progressing? There's lots of other information on this site, but it's easier to get at through the Spacelink site. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Destination space overall ratings Take a virtual-reality trip to Mars with the Mars Pathfinder probe, fly around the Solar System, or learn about work on a manned Mars mission. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No Lunar and Planetary Institute overall ratings Explore the Moon or Mars, take a 3-D tour of the Solar System, and read everything the Apollo astronauts said to each other during their Moon walks. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? Yes Beagle2 (mission to Mars) overall ratings What do these three things have in common: the rock group Blur, a beagle, and the artist Damion Hurst? They're all going to Mars (well, sort of). Go to this page to find out all about the European Space Agency's Mars Express Mission. Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No ESA (European Space Agency) overall ratings We hear a lot about NASA, but what's going on at ESA - the European Space Agency? Easy to use? Friendly language Lots of info? Good pics? Any goodies? No