Archive - Construction Physics

How China Became the World’s Biggest Shipbuilder

Since 2017, China has been the largest shipbuilder in the world.

12 hrs ago •

Reading List 07/12/2025

25 years of earthquakes, Google’s 2013 efforts to build a phone in the US, bear attacks in Japan, coal seam fires, and more.

Jul 12 •

Should the Federal Government Sell Land?

An early version of the US Senate budget bill which passed last week included a provision to sell off between 2 and 3 million acres of federal land in…

Jul 10 •

Reading List 07/05/2025

A microscopic electric motor, California’s CEQA rollback, a US shipbuilding startup, Chinese map obfuscation, and more.

Jul 5 •

June 2025

Reading List 06/28/25

Fannie and Freddie’s mortgage blacklist, the air traffic controller shortage, the largest landowners in the US, a blended wing airliner, and more.

Jun 28 •

Why Are Homes in Western States So Expensive?

Earlier this month I came across the following graphic, originally posted on Reddit in 2022, showing the state of housing affordability in the US.

Jun 26 •

Reading List for 06/21/2025

Construction Physics email stats, why appliances break so often, a special economic zone for Silicon valley, a river filtering pool, and more.

Jun 21 •

How Batteries Are Making the Electrical Grid More Reliable

To operate reliably, the US electrical grid needs to balance supply and demand: to make sure, at any given moment, that the amount of electricity…

Jun 19 •

Reading List for 06/14/25

Figure’s new humanoid robot demo, what it would take to create the data for a robot foundation model, “right to repair” on naval vessels, electricity…

Jun 14 •

Reading List for 06/07/2025

Risks to US battery storage, un-affordable affordable housing, a major Supreme Court NEPA ruling, making chip materials in space, and more.

Jun 7 •

How Common Is Multiple Invention?

When Alexander Graham Bell filed a patent for the telephone on February 14th, 1876, he beat competing telephone developer Elisha Gray to the patent…

Jun 5 •

May 2025

Reading List for 05/31/2025

Wind wars, ALARA, power plant water use, grassroots opposition to data centers, and more.

May 31 •

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