H-1B visa applications cap out in just five days

Enlarge / The Chet Holifield Federal Building in Laguna Niguel, California. Tens of thousands of visa applications were delivered to the building last week, which is home to one of several USCIS service centers. Last Monday, the government began accepting applications for H-1B visas that are often granted to foreign tech workers. Trucks full of thick Fedex applications lined up before dawn to get their applications in. By Friday, the door was shut. US Customs and Immigration Service (USCIS) said on Friday they have already maxed out , hitting the limit of 65,000 H-1B visas set by Congress and an additional 20,000 visas that are reserved for applicants who have masters degrees. It’s the fifth year in a row that the cap has been met within five days. Some H-1B employers aren’t subject to the visa cap, including universities and some non-profits. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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H-1B visa applications cap out in just five days

A Room-Sized 3D Printer Will Make Freeform Concrete Design Easy

Concrete is an amazing building material: cheap to create, strong when used correctly, and hard-wearing, too. But turning it into exotic and shapely forms can be prohibitively complex and expensive. Now, a 3D printer capable of producing one-off moulds as large as a phone booth could help turn architectural dreamw into affordable reality. Read more…

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A Room-Sized 3D Printer Will Make Freeform Concrete Design Easy

How a Simple Design Error Could Have Toppled a NYC Skyscraper

When it was built in 1977, Citicorp Center (later renamed Citigroup Center, now called 601 Lexington) was, at 59 stories, the seventh-tallest building in the world. You can pick it out of the New York City skyline by its 45-degree angled top. Read more…

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How a Simple Design Error Could Have Toppled a NYC Skyscraper

Can China Really Build the World’s Tallest Building in 90 Days?

The race to build the world’s tallest building has taken on an urgent tone these past few years. Like the mountaineers of the 1930s, or the astronauts of the 1960s, the developers struggling to out-build each other are also struggling to articulate something deeper—something that smacks of national (or maybe economic) pride. But a Chinese plan to build the world’s tallest building in mere months takes the latest salvo in this architectural arms race to new heights. Read more…        

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Can China Really Build the World’s Tallest Building in 90 Days?