Reading List 10/31/26
Reading List 10/31/26
Space fiber optic cable manufacturing, nuclear district heating, Spain’s high-speed rail crash, China’s spaceplane, and more.
Welcome to the reading list, a weekly roundup of news and links related to buildings, infrastructure, and industrial technology. This week we look at space fiber optic cable manufacturing, nuclear district heating, Spain’s high-speed rail crash, China’s spaceplane, and more. Roughly 2/3rds of the reading list is paywalled, so for full access become a paid subscriber.
Housing
An independent committee’s report on the huge Hong Kong apartment complex fire last year found that it was probably started by a lit cigarette, and accelerated by flammable foam boards and scaffolding nets. [BNN Bloomberg]
Bloomberg Philanthropies wants to spread strategies that have helped get housing built in the cities of Atlanta, Austin, and (checks notes) San Diego to other metros in the US. [The New Localism]
Manufacturing
Space-based data centers seem to be taking up most of the oxygen for what sort of things become possible if Starship or other technologies makes launch costs much cheaper, but it’s interesting to consider what else might be unlocked from vastly cheaper access to space. Here’s one: incredibly high-quality fiber optic cable. [IEEE Spectrum]
Last week we looked at a report that noted the US produces a very small amount of aluminum, despite our huge demand for it. Apparently one big reason is that we import a large amount of aluminum from Canada, which can produce it thanks to an abundance of cheap hydropower. “...the enormous power requirements for making aluminum have meant that Canada, where abundant hydropower has kept electricity prices from rising as sharply as in the U.S., has supplied about 70% of U.S. aluminum imports in recent years.” [WSJ]
Defense startup Anduril wants to make a laptop in the US. [Anduril]
The Wall Street Journal on the crisis in US explosives manufacturing. “Following the widespread closures of government-owned plants in the 1990s, the entire production of the powerful explosives HMX and RDX came from a single supplier, Holston Army Ammunition Plant. The 84-year-old plant makes about 3% of what it did during peak production in 1944, according to Hacker’s research, and it has been beset by explosions and pollution violations. There is a one- to two-year wait for products coming out of Holston, said industry experts.” [WSJ]
The ultra-competitive Chinese car industry is apparently struggling in the domestic market, thanks to a drop in demand — domestic sales are down 22% compared to last year. This is part of what’s driving the huge export push from Chinese manufacturers. [WSJ]
Energy
US utility company First Energy estimates that every 1 GW of data center demand requires about $250 million worth of transmission upgrades. [Utility Dive]
Per Exxon, roughly 10% of global refining capacity is currently offline, mostly refineries in Russia and the Middle East. [Exxon]...
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© 2026 Brian Potter