You might not realize it when you've been trapped behind the same red light for five minutes, but traffic lights, when they're timed and tuned correctly, are actually pretty good at making traffic move. Really.

It is rather fitting for Ulaanbaatar, the modern-day capital of the country which was once the largest contiguous land empire in the history of the world, to have traffic lights which depict horsemen. After all, the Mongol Empire was built on the back of a fast-moving equestrian army, and modern Mongolia, with less…

Ever wondered whether a suspiciously long (or short) traffic signal change, combined with a police cruiser hiding nearby, was an attempt to boost tickets? Could police be changing signal timing? In theory, sure. In reality, not so much. Here's why.

In Johannesburg, South Africa, some thieves have found that there's an even cheaper and more anonymous way to make phone calls than buying disposable "burners" (like those featuring so prominently in The Wire): Traffic lights.

A system of traffic lights designed to optimize flow during average conditions never works perfectly because the "average" never happens. So Researchers in Dresden, Germany are working on smarter sensors that react to actual, not estimated, traffic flow.

Our traffic lights use nothing but color to convey information. A trio of South Korean designers aim to fix that by augmenting the standard traffic light with shapes.

A patent application filed by IBM engineers reveals the company's developing technology that will allow governments to shut down the engines of private automobiles via traffic signals. It's like Skynet... only much worse.

The inherent inefficiency of the three-light traffic signal is clearly demonstrated in this proposal for a two-light LED system, which produces the same three colors in one enclosure by combining red and green. Unfortunately, it still can't melt snow.

New-fangled LED traffic lights last longer, pierce the darkness more effectively and consume 90% less energy than incandescent bulbs. That's also their drawback. They're not hot enough to melt snow that sticks to their lenses, causing dozens of accidents.

Belgrade-based designer Damjan Stanković has developed a concept for a red light which tells you quite intuitively the amount of time remaining until you can blast off the line.