Construction of the two-story O House residential building, constructed using 3D printing technology, has been completed in the Japanese city of Kizuki. The project was completed by Onocom and Kizuki using a COBOD industrial printer. It is the first two-story building of its kind in Japan to receive official occupancy permits.

The house has a floor area of ​​50 square meters. The foundation is buried 0.5 meters deep, and the building's height above ground reaches 7 meters. The structure is based on a reinforced concrete frame, installed on a strip foundation with piles. The walls, floor, and roof, printed from a cement mixture, are placed within this frame. Some of the elements were manufactured off-site, and the printer was operated by four people.

The house's architecture is inspired by the shape of natural caves: it features curved, arched walls and no vertical windows. Light enters through skylights in the roof. The upper floor houses the kitchen, dining room, and living room, while the lower floor houses a bedroom with a separate bathroom.

The structure complies with strict Japanese earthquake resistance standards. The building was constructed as a demonstration project, with plans to construct similar buildings and use the technology for disaster recovery.

Photos of a camouflaged Mitsubishi electric vehicle, which is actually based on the new Nissan Leaf, have surfaced online. The company previously confirmed that it would introduce a second production electric vehicle based on the Leaf platform this summer.

The prototype's body proportions are similar to those of the Nissan Leaf: the roof shape and overall silhouette are identical. However, the model received its own design, including new headlights with multiple lighting elements, a redesigned front bumper, and unique taillights. It also features three-spoke wheels, typical of Mitsubishi.Three-spoke wheels, typical of Mitsubishi, are also installed.

The technical components are expected to be completely borrowed from the Leaf. In the US, the 2026 Nissan Leaf is equipped with an electric motor producing 214 hp and 354 Nm of torque in S+, SV+, and Platinum+ trims. A 75 kWh battery provides a range of up to 303 miles, or approximately 488 km.

Mitsubishi's new electric vehicle is expected to feature similar specifications and a price tag of around $30,000. The model's name has not yet been revealed. The new model will be part of the brand's updated product strategy and will expand its lineup of city electric vehicles.

The American company Google unveiled the Nano Banana 2 neural network. The developers call it "the newest, most advanced image processing model," Vedomosti reports.

The technology will be implemented across all of the company's services.
Users now have access to tools previously exclusive to the Nano Banana Pro version. These include the Gemini knowledge base and web search data. The updated model enables the creation of legible text for greeting cards or marketing layouts. Nano Banana 2's technical capabilities ensure consistent object consistency when working with up to 14 elements simultaneously.This feature is in demand when preparing storyboards and plots, as it eliminates the need to alter the appearance of the original data. The maximum resolution of generated content is 4K.

Nissan has released video footage demonstrating the engine's condition after 100 hours of continuous operation at maximum RPM. The Japanese automaker's specialists conducted a series of endurance tests, during which the powertrains were subjected to extreme loads.

Technical details of the tests were revealed by representatives of the Tennessee engine plant.
Naturally-aspirated 3.8-liter V6 engines designed for Frontier pickup trucks are being randomly selected from the assembly line for testing. The engine produces 310 hp and 281 Nm of torque.

In the lab, the engines are mounted on a rig and run in the "red zone" of engine speeds. The most intensive cycle lasts 300 hours, which equates to over 200,000 kilometers under real-world conditions.

"We start the engine, bring it to the red zone, and hold it there for hours. Then we completely disassemble it and examine what's broken," explained Brandon McClain, Quality Assurance Manager.

During testing, exhaust manifolds are heated to red-hot temperatures. In addition to mechanical testing, the facility uses X-ray scanning. The machine inspects every hundredth cylinder block, making 1.2 mm-thick slices to verify the integrity of the cooling channels and component walls.

Elon Musk announced that the first launch of the next-generation Starship is scheduled for March of this year. He wrote this on his X social media page.

Flight 12 will be the debut flight of the Starship V3 architecture, also known as Block 3. This is an updated and more powerful version of the ship. The launch was originally planned earlier, but in November 2025, the Booster 18 booster was damaged during testing. As a result, a different combination—Booster 19 and Ship 39—was chosen for the mission.

The first launch is expected to take place from the second launch pad, OLP-2 (Pad 2), at Starbase in Texas. The flight plan is based on the same profile as previous missions. Recovery of the booster and spacecraft is not planned for this time.
  "This year, SpaceX plans to prove the full reusability of the Starship spacecraft, which will be a huge achievement as the cost of access to space will be reduced by a factor of 100," Musk stated.

In parallel with launch preparations, SpaceX is completing construction of the Pad 2 launch pad and has already begun preparatory work to upgrade Pad 1.

GAC Toyota and Pony.ai unveiled a production robotaxi based on the Toyota bZ4X 
electric crossover in China.The vehicle is equipped with a seventh-generation
autonomous driving system that completely replaces the driver.

Externally, the robotaxi is almost identical to the regular bZ4X and features
Toyota's current design.The main innovation is hidden inside: 
The car is controlled by the Pony.ai computing platform,
developed through years of testing in major Chinese cities—Beijing,
Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. The developers note that the 
new system better handles complex road and weather conditions.
Toyota and Pony.ai's partnership began in 2020, with the Japanese company
investing approximately €341 million. Pony.ai's autonomous taxis previously
used other Toyota and Lexus models, including the Sienna and RX450h.
The partners plan to scale up the project: by the end of 2026, thousands
of bZ4X robotaxis will be on the roads of China's largest cities. Pony.ai's
fleet of  autonomous vehicles has grown from approximately 200 vehicles in 
2024 to nearly 1,000 by the end of 2025, with a target of 3,000 units in 2026.
Long-term, the company aims to reach 100,000 vehicles by 2030 and become profitable.

BMW is once again testing the limits of traditional car ownership
Having abandoned the subscription for heated seats and steering
wheel, the company has not completely closed the issue of monthly
payments. The new electric BMW iX3 model will have several functions
at once, but you will have to pay a separate fee for them after purchasing 
the car.

We are talking about a surround view system with 360-degree cameras
and a package of electronic assistants Driving Assistant Pro. Technically,
all of these devices will be installed in every iX3 model, regardless of the
configuration. However, these functions will only become available after
the subscription is formalized. How much the subscription will cost is not 
et known.

BMW explains the logic of this situation in simple terms: not all drivers are
ready to pay for functions that they are not sure they need.
The subscription can be formalized at any time - even after a
long time after purchasing the car. The decision remains with the owner.
The Australian publication "Drive" reports that such a model is already
being used.For example, adaptive suspension is available on some
BMW models for 29 Australian dollars per month. The service
for receiving information about road conditions in real time also works
in the same way - here the company pays for cloud services
and transfers part of the costs to the customer.

BMW previously admitted that its experiment with heated seats and steering
wheel was a failure and abandoned the subscription last fall. But as the iX3
shows, the brand is moving away from the idea of ​​"on-demand functions."

Northvolt manufactured its first battery cell from 100% recycled nickel,
manganese and cobalt. It has shown performance on par with its counterparts
made from freshly mined metals.
Northvolt notes that all processing and manufacturing processes were carried
out at the same facility at Northvolt Labs in Westeros, Sweden.
This development marks a breakthrough for the battery industry and a milestone
for Northvolt in its strategy to ensure a sustainable battery supply to support the
decarbonization of society.

“The recycling process can recover up to 95% of the metals in a battery to a purity
level comparable to fresh virgin material. We now need to increase our recycling
capacity in anticipation of future battery volumes requiring recycling, ”said Emma
Nehrenheim, director of environmental protection at Northvolt.

Recycled nickel, manganese and cobalt used in battery cells have been recovered
from battery waste using a low-energy hydrometallurgical treatment, which involves
using an aqueous solution to separate metals and separate them from impurities.

Northvolt is now looking to expand its recycling to industrial scale. To this end, it will
build a separate facility for recycling batteries next to the future battery Gigafabrika in
Skellefteå, Sweden. The design capacity of the factory is 125,000 tons of batteries per
year, its construction will begin in the first quarter of 2022, and operation in 2023.

The recycling plant will receive materials from two sources: used batteries of electric vehicles

and scrap from its own production of new batteries. Recycled materials from Revolt Ett will supply

the neighboring Northvolt Ett battery plant with enough recycled metals to produce 30 GWh of batteries

per year, half of the facility's total annual production. Northvolt is a European manufacturer of battery cells

and power systems. The company was founded in 2016 and has more than $ 27 billion in contracts to date

with companies such as BMW, Fluence, Scania, Volkswagen, Volvo Cars and Polestar. More than 2,300 people

work at Northvolt factories.