This Week in Tech: The Science Behind Valyrian Steel

Scientists at the American Chemical Society get help debunking Valyrian steel—the hard and durable, spell-forged metal of “Game of Thrones” fame—and the popular opinion that its swirled appearance and indestructibility would have (in reality) derived from a fabrication process similar to that of Damascus steel. Not likely, it turns out. [The Washington Post]

Autodesk has invested $10 million from its Spark fund in 3D printing startup Carbon3D. [Read ARCHITECT’s coverage here]

Imaging technology developed by researchers at the California Institute of Technology could soon allow smartphone users to scan high-resolution 3D images of objects and send them to a 3D printer. The device uses laser scanning beams to detect the size and location of each pixel comprising the object, resulting in a clearer final image than was previously possible. [Gizmag]

Design firm rat[LAB], which has offices in London and New Delhi, recently debuted a dynamic façade system that adapts to changing environmental conditions. As a test, the team applied a prototype of the design to a building in New Delhi. The façade’s hexagonal components were designed by algorithm to be more or less dense and at angles that can block or welcome sunlight. [Inhabitat]

#longread: Inside the University of Manchester’s rapidly expanding graphene research hub. [Motherboard]

Sunnyvale, Calif.–based Olea Sensor Networks has developed sensing technology that can distinguish between moving and stationary humans, animals, and other objects within five meters. Applications include equipment safety on jobsites and in manufacturing plants, collision avoidance on roadways, and more. [Engineering.com]

One maker has repurposed the kit of parts for the robotic Lego Mindstorms EV3 into a 3D printer that builds with Lego bricks. The unit can create structures up to five bricks tall, 14 studs wide, and 16 studs long. The company is now competing to have the invention turned into a Lego set. [3dprint.com]

IBM is investing $3 billion over the course of the next four years in an Internet of Things business unit. [The Wall Street Journal]

The city of Los Angeles has added Philips’ CityTouch cloud-based management system to its LED street lights, which allows them to be controlled and monitored from the Web. L.A. is the first city to install the company’s smart technology, which can also alert city workers to outages sooner, and track a fixture’s energy consumption. [Philips]