John Goodenough, a 94-year-old professor at the University of Texas at Austin and inventor of the lithium-ion battery, is still going and going, contributing to yet another breakthrough in the field of battery technology. Goodenough with Maria Helena Braga, a senior research fellow at the university's Cockrell School of Engineering and her team have invented a solid-state battery that uses glass electrolytes instead of liquid matter link in lithium-ion batteries. This alternative is not only more cost-effective and capable of storing three times more energy than a lithium-ion battery, but also eliminates the lithium dendrites that can cause short circuiting and spontaneous combustion in electronics. The new battery is suitable for energy storage and electric cars. [Engadget]
New Mexico startup Descartes Labs has come up with a platform called GeoVisual Search, with which users can find similar satellite imagery of areas or objects from around the world by comparison. The search engine divides public aerial images into smaller tiles, comparing each square for similarities of what has been searched, and providing results accordingly. [Fast Company]
The American Society of Civil Engineers has released its quadrennial Infrastructure Report Card, giving the United States an underwhelming and worrisome grade of D+ after assessing the conditions of the country's existing infrastructure, including roads, bridges, levees, and potable water. [2017 Infrastructure Report Card]
On Tuesday, the Mountain View City Council, in California, approved Google's plans for a 595,000-square-foot campus designed by Bjarke Ingels Group and Heatherwick Studio. According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, construction on the new campus, named Charleston East, might begin as soon as next month and finish in 2019. The canopied campus will incorporate solar panels on its roof (expected to generate about 4 megawatts of power) and capture water to reuse. [Silicon Valley Business Journal]
This week, Los Angeles–based Hyperloop One released its first images of the Hyperloop rail system test track located in Nevada. The 0.3-mile-long structure measures 11 feet wide and would operate using an electric motor to propel or stop a magnetically levitated pod through a low-pressure tube at up to 760 mph. The ambitious project is eyeing a public track test withing the first quarter of this year. [Ars Technica]
Danish toymaker (and creator of the most painful object man has ever stepped on) Lego is working to reduce its carbon footprint by decreasing the use of petroleum-based plastic in its famous bricks. Instead, the company looks to more sustainable ingredients such as recycled or plant-based materials. [The Wall Street Journal]
Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) have developed a new 3D printing method that outputs delicate but strong structures similar to the composition of wood and bone. [WSU News]
Virtual reality system Oculus Rift has collaborated with NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency to recreate a simulated International Space Station. Los Angeles–based visual development and experience company Magnopus designed the program called Mission: ISS, which allows users to virtually experience tasks real astronauts perform, such as conducting spacewalks and docking cargo capsules. [The Verge]
Call for Entries: ARCHITECT's 11th annual R+D Awards is open for submissions. This longstanding and distinctive program honors advances in architecture at every scale, from novel design and construction solutions to high-performance building systems and details, game-changing products and digital tools, and newfound building typologies. Enter by April 19. [ARCHITECT]
