Improved carbon-cement supercapacitors could turn the concrete around us into massive energy storage systems. Concrete already builds our world, and an MIT-invented variant known as electron-conducting carbon concrete (ec, pronounced "e c cubed") holds out the possibility of helping power it, too. Now that vision is one step closer. Made by combining cement, water, ultra-fine carbon black, and electrolytes, ec creates a conductive "nanonetwork" that could enable walls, sidewalks, and bridges to store and release electrical energy like giant batteries. To date, the technology has been limited by low voltage and scalability challenges. But the latest work by the MIT team that invented ec has increased the energy storage capacity by an order of magnitude.

A few months ago, I flew to Houston to visit a small startup called Lunar Resources, which aspires to build the largest telescope in the solar system--not on Earth but on the far side of the moon. Houston is nicknamed Space City; on the ride from the airport, I passed the ballpark where the Astros play, and, outside a McDonald's on East NASA Parkway, I saw a giant sculpture of an astronaut holding French fries. I found Lunar Resources in a boxy building where the company leases square footage from the aerospace contractor Lockheed Martin. Elliot Carol, the C.E.O. and co-founder of Lunar Resources, is thirty-three, with a cherubic face and curly hair speckled with gray. Although he grew up in Connecticut and previously worked as a hedge-fund manager, he was wearing black cowboy boots.

Research on Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is being conducted in various sectors, from analyzing building materials and components to comprehensive evaluations of entire structures. However, reviews of the existing literature have been unable to provide a comprehensive overview of research in this field, leaving scholars without a definitive guideline for future investigations. This paper aims to fill this gap, mapping more than twenty years of research. Using an innovative methodology that combines social network analysis and text mining, the paper examined 8024 scientific abstracts. The authors identified seven key thematic groups, building and sustainability clusters (BSCs). To assess their significance in the broader discourse on building and sustainability, the semantic brand score (SBS) indicator was applied. Additionally, building and sustainability trends were tracked, focusing on the LCA concept. The major research topics mainly relate to building materials and energy efficiency. In addition to presenting an innovative approach to reviewing extensive literature domains, the article also provides insights into emerging and underdeveloped themes, outlining crucial future research directions.

Drones working together can create large 3D-printed structures made of foam or cement. The experiments are paving the way for a future where swarms of drones could help construct extremely tall or intricate buildings and other structures like bridges without the need for support scaffolding or large construction machinery. "We're talking about being able to build something of limitless size, theoretically speaking," says Robert Stuart-Smith at the University of Pennsylvania. Such creations would only be restricted by structural engineering constraints and factors like drone flight logistics. The drone swarm construction takes inspiration from animals such as wasps and termites.

This dreadful September could be stuck in neutral. After the market saw a bit of a bounce on Monday, Tuesday, the Dow fell nearly 300 points, with broad losses across the other indices. The S&P 500 closed Tuesday at its lowest since Aug. 20, the Nasdaq NDAQ continued a 5-day losing streak, and the Dow, S&P 500, and Russell 2000 saw red for the sixth time in the last seven days. Investors continued to worry about how the delta variant could derail the economic recovery, along with worries about what moves the Fed could make. Inflation continues to be a concern, too.

THIS EVENT IS 100% FREE! Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing – these are the buzzwords that are floating around manufacturing facilities across the United States. What does this mean for you? How are you gaining knowledge about these new technologies? Are you keeping up with your competitors who are being innovative and implementing smart manufacturing in their facilities?

David Aguilar has built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. Aguilar, 19, who studies bioengineering at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain, is already using his fourth model of the colorful prosthetic and his dream is to design affordable robotic limbs for those who need them. Once his favorite toys, the plastic bricks became the building material for Aguilar's first, still very rudimentary, artificial arm at the age of nine, and each new version had more movement capability than the one before. David Aguilar has built himself a robotic prosthetic arm using Lego pieces after being born without a right forearm due to a rare genetic condition. 'As a child I was very nervous to be in front of other guys, because I was different, but that didn't stop me believing in my dreams,' Aguilar, who is from Andorra, a tiny principality between Spain and France, told Reuters.

This example of programmable architecture uses lightweight materials and drones to help it adapt to environmental changes. Digital fabrication and automation is changing the way we build, allowing for cutting-edge concepts to take form through computer-aided design tools and integrating robotics into building techniques. Three graduate students over at University of Stuttgart's Institute for Computational Design and Construction (ICD) and Institute of Building Structures and Structural Design (ITKE) recently unveiled a modular architectural canopy that can be reconfigured in real-time, using drones. Dubbed Cyber Physical Macro Material, the 2.5-metre (8.2-foot) high canopy is designed as a "new dynamic (and intelligent) agile architecture for public spaces," which can respond to weather conditions. Built with lightweight carbon fibre filament, magnets and a variety of sensors and processors, the canopy demonstrates the possibility of'live' construction processes, facilitated by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

The future of construction just got a little bit more real. Researchers at MIT have created a mobile robot that can 3-D-print an entire building in a matter of hours -- a technology that could be used in disaster zones, on inhospitable planets or even in our proverbial backyards. Though the platform described in the journal Science Robotics is still in early stages, it could offer a revolutionary tool for the construction industry and inspire more architects to rethink the relationship of buildings to people and the environment. Current construction practices typically involve bricklaying, wood framing and concrete casting – technologies that have been around for decades in some cases, and centuries in others. Homes and office buildings are often built in the same boxy, cookie-cutter-like templates, even though the environment from one area to another may change dramatically.

When you think of the rapid evolution of technology, the first thing that comes to mind is likely self-driving cars or artificial intelligence, not the real estate industry. But just because the real estate industry is not at the forefront of the technological revolution, it doesn't mean there aren't exciting new developments happening in the sector – and some of them can benefit you as a real estate investor. Nearly every industry has benefited from the advent of "big data," but what does that really mean for real estate? Together, these factors mean we're now able to access and analyze higher volumes of data more quickly. As a result, real estate data companies can now deliver more insightful information to the investment community faster, allowing investors to make better decisions.