Foster + Partners has collaborated with Virgin's Hyperloop One and Dubai port management company DP World to develop a vision for an infrastructure for moving cargo using the high-speed, clean transportation of Hyperloop technology. As shown in its video, the team proposes a network of Hyperloop pods that travel via electric propulsion and magnetic levitation at the speed of an airliner, but at the cost of a truck. "The movement of people and goods is part of the vital infrastructure that binds all our cities together—and cities are the future of our society," said Foster + Partners founder Norman Foster, Hon. FAIA, in a press release. "As Hyperloop looks to reinvent urban transport and logistics, the city of the future is closer than we think. It is important we develop an integrated sustainable vision of infrastructure that will enable us to evolve and adapt our existing cities, and design new ones that will be in harmony with nature and our precious planet." The team proposes initializing plans for such infrastructure in Dubai. [Foster + Partners]
Scientists at the University of Exeter in the U.K. have developed a greener concrete using graphene during manufacturing. The resulting material is twice as strong and four times more water resistant than conventional concrete. [University of Exeter]
In the latest episode of ArchitectChats, Stephen Cavanaugh, AIA, principal at Chicago-based DLR Group and architect-of-record for the 220,000-square-foot T3 North Loop building in Minneapolis, discusses tactics for designing commercially viable mass-timber buildings. [ARCHITECT]
This week, researchers at Stanford University unveiled a manganese-hydrogen battery prototype that can store solar and wind energy that can be later fed back to the grid. According to a press release, the team "coaxed a reversible electron-exchange between water and manganese sulfate, a cheap, abundant industrial salt." They then attached a power source, which interacted with the manganese sulfate to create hydrogen gas to store as power for redistribution. [Stanford University]
California is leading a coalition of 17 states and the District of Columbia in filing a suit against the the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to block the federal government from changing existing vehicle emission standards. Administrator Scott Pruitt announced that the Obama-era regulations would be rolled back last month; the new lawsuit was filed on Tuesday. “The states joining today’s lawsuit represent 140 million people who simply want cleaner and more efficient cars,” said California Gov. Jerry Brown in a press release. “This phalanx of states will defend the nation’s clean car standards to boost gas mileage and curb toxic air pollution.” [The New York Times]
Popular software titles Autodesk Revit and Dynamo get major releases that increase usability and add new features. [ARCHITECT]
