Students build one of Leonardo da Vinci's bridges — out of ice

One of Leonardo da Vinci's most stunning engineering plans is getting a decidedly chilly welcome to the modern world.

Students in the frigid hinterlands of Finland plan to recreate one of the Renaissance man's many iconic sketches: a massive stone bridge spanning the Bosphorus River. But instead of relying on stone, the students plan to use a more local, sustainable material: ice.

Leonardo da Vinci, who lived between 1452 and 1519, is perhaps most famous for painting the "Mona Lisa." But the polymath also made impressive contributions to the fields of astronomy, engineering and anatomy. In 1502, da Vinci sketched the plans for a massive stone bridge, about 790 feet (240 meters) long, that would span the strait of Bosphorus, which separates Asia from Europe. The entire bridge is subject only to compressive loads, meaning all of the elements in the bridge get shorter with applied force, according to a statement from Eindhoven University of Technology. (Most real bridges experience both compressive loads and tensile, or lengthening, forces.) Despite its graceful lines and audacious design, the bridge was never built. Read more...