What seemed inevitable for quite some time now, has finally come to pass; Uber has overtaken yellow cabs in average daily ridership figures, the New York Times reports. This past July, Uber witnessed an average of 289,000 rides per day, whereas yellow cabs only managed 277,000. — Curbed New York
More than half of Uber's rides start outside of Manhattan. Yellow and green cabs are not as accessible in Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island and users prefer Uber and other ride-share apps. The company capitalized on this market by offering borough-specific promotions and moved its... View full entry
The 10 fastest-growing U.S. solar markets between the second quarters of 2016 and 2017 were Western, Midwestern or Southern states that voted for Trump, with Alabama and Mississippi topping the list. And solar firms are ramping up investments in these regions, signaling their faith that key renewable energy incentives will remain in place for years to come. — Reuters
Despite Trump's disbelief in solar power, the sector is booming in his partisan states. The growth of clean energy, particularly in the regions that showed overwhelming support for Trump, greatly undermines the president's goal of boosting the coal industry. View full entry
On 7 October 2017, almost exactly three years after the ground-breaking ceremony, the visitors‘ platform at the thyssenkrupp test tower in Rottweil will be open to the public for the first time. Located on the top floor of the artfully constructed building, it is Germany’s highest viewing platform. — Thyssenkrupp
Image courtesy of Thyssenkrupp Engineers were using the Rottweil Test Tower to test the Thyssenkrupp elevator, a rope-less high-speed elevator, going up and down but also sideways. The tower was completed three years ago and is now open to the public. The viewing platform and elevator... View full entry
Puerto Rico’s electricity grid was completely knocked out when Hurricane Maria slammed into the island Sept. 20, and repairs are expected to take months. That’s generating interest in microgrids, small-scale systems that combine solar panels and batteries that can be installed quickly to restore power to a few buildings at a time. — Bloomberg
German company Sonnen GmbH will provide 15 solar powered energy storage systems to Puerto Rico's emergency relief centers. Most of the Island is still without power after Hurricane Maria. View full entry
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a new regulation restricting unauthorized drone operations over 10 Department of Interior sites, including the Statue of Liberty and Mount Rushmore. [...]
The announcement says the action comes at "the request of U.S. national security and law enforcement agencies."
— NPR
These new FAA restrictions will be effective as of October 5 so make sure to keep your drones at least 400 feet away from these ten National Landmarks: Statue of Liberty National Monument, New York, NYBoston National Historical Park (U.S.S. Constitution), Boston, MAIndependence National Historical... View full entry
Musk's talk — which took place Friday afternoon local Adelaide time — served to update the architecture the billionaire entrepreneur revealed at last year's IAC, in Guadalajara, Mexico. That previous presentation introduced a huge, reusable rocket-spaceship combo called the Interplanetary Transport System (ITS), which Musk envisioned helping to establish a million-person city on Mars within the next 50 to 100 years. — Space.com
SpaceX, aerospace manufacturer and space transport service provider, plans to launch its first Mars cargo missions in 2022 and the first crews in 2024. These first flights are meant to initiate the construction of a permanent, sustainable city on Mars. View full entry
MCR Development officially launched the mid-century modern TWA Lounge on the 86th floor of One World Trade Center on Thursday and provided a deeper look into plans to convert Eero Saarinen’s historic TWA flight center at JFK Airport into a hotel, event space, and dining destination. According to MCR’s CEO Tyler Morse, construction of the hotel is on schedule; it will go vertical on Monday, top out in December, and have its curtainwall applied by January. — 6sqft
If everything remains on schedule, the project is expected to open in 18 months. View full entry
The Mars Science City structure will be the most sophisticated building the world, and will incorporate a realistic simulation environment replicating the conditions on the surface of Mars.
A team of Emirati scientists, engineers and designers, led by a team from the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre and Dubai Municipality, will carry out the project, in cooperation with internationally renowned architects Bjarke Ingels.
— Al Arabiya
The United Arab Emirates is set to begin work on a $136M project to build a city stimulating conditions of life on Mars. The project is a part of the country's Mars by 2117 strategy, launched earlier this year by HH Sheikh Mohammed, in which the Gulf state seeks to lead the global scientific race... View full entry
Archaeologists believe they have found the key to unlocking a mystery almost as old as the Great Pyramid itself: Who built the structure and how were they able to transport two-ton blocks of stone to the ancient wonder more than 4,500 years ago? — Newsweek
The pyramid's stones were known to have been transported from over 500 miles away but archeologists did not agree on how ancient Egyptians achieved it . Recent discoveries suggest that the stones were transported using boats and a network of waterways leading to the site of the pyramid in Giza. View full entry
Meow Wolf is a unique collaboration of more than 100 artists and designers. They use architecture, painting, sculpture, video and audio engineering to create immersive multi-sensorial environments. The works of art they create can be walked in, climbed on and played with. Truly multidisciplinary... View full entry
‘Behaviour Morphe’ is a collaboration between Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), digital artists and computer science researchers Andy Lomas and Mubbasir Kapadia, and musician Max Cooper. It consists of dynamic light mapping projections on Karlsruhe’s Baroque castle in Germany. The piece was... View full entry
Apple's latest mobile operating system, iOS 11, just released today. One of the biggest updates that should get the attention of architects is ARKit, Apple's new augmented reality framework. ARKit provides the opportunity to for Apple and 3rd party developers to create AR experiences anew, or to... View full entry
Out of over 2,600 entries, a multi-disciplinary consortium led by Fernando Romero / FR-EE was recently announced as one of the 10 winning teams in the Hyperloop One Global Challenge with the proposal “Mexloop”, the 330-mile Mexico-Guadalajara route. The Mexloop project builds on Mexico's... View full entry
Renault recently revealed their new concept for an autonomous vehicle that fully integrates into one's home. Called the Symbioz, the idea seems obvious enough—many models for self-driving vehicles have interiors that convert into arrangements typical of the living room and this one comes... View full entry
Hyperloop One just announced the winners of its global challenge, unveiling ten teams from five countries with their proposals of the strongest routes for future Hyperloop connections. As a next step, the company plans to work with the teams and expert business and engineering partners to... View full entry
