Leah Feiger: Zoë, I am obsessed with this story. Before you continue, I think that it’s really important to say that Caroline, the lovely reporter of this story on your business desk, obtained 1,665 pages of documents about the dispute about Zuckerberg’s house. This story is canon now.

Zoë Schiffer: Caroline Haskins is a complete star. Our fact-checking team literally cried when I asked them. They were like, “Wait, sorry, how many documents are we looking through?” I was like, “Yes.”

Leah Feiger: Shout out to the WIRED research team.

Zoë Schiffer: Absolutely. The school, I think we just have to say, is named after one of the Zuckerberg family chickens. It’s called the Bicken Ben School.

Leah Feiger: I mean, hearing you say this, it’s, I know you’re being serious, but again.

Zoë Schiffer: So, the Crescent City neighborhood in Palo Alto, where the Zuckerbergs live, as you can imagine, is some of the best real estate in the entire country. It’s filled with these gorgeous homes, a ton of greenery. Mark Zuckerberg has been expanding his presence throughout the years in this ultra fancy neighborhood. The plot of land that the Zuckerbergs live on has expanded to include 11 previously separate properties. This is so funny and just such a nightmare. If you’re living on the street, you paid whatever, $5 million for your house, and suddenly all of your neighbors are Mark Zuckerberg.

Leah Feiger: Important to note that not all of them are connecting either. I don’t totally understand what that means. Do they walk through a neighbor’s porch to get to their horse’s pool? What does this entail?

Zoë Schiffer: We have more questions. We have to Google Earth this. I think there’s some holes in this story that we need to fill in. The expansion first became a concern for Mark Zuckerberg’s neighbors, back in 2016, due to fears that his purchases were driving up the market pretty dramatically. But then, about five years later, neighbors started noticing that a school appeared to be operating out of the Zuckerberg compound. So, this is illegal to do without a permit, at least under the area’s residential zoning code. And so, naturally, the neighbors started to alert the city. Caroline Haskins, the reporter on the story, obtained over a thousand documents, like you said, outlining the resulting fight between the neighbors and the city authorities, basically arguing that, it felt to them like the Zuckerbergs were getting special treatment.

Many developed nations are facing the simultaneous aging of infrastructure built during periods of rapid economic growth. Japan has reached a critical turning point where numerous buildings and structures constructed in the post-war boom era now require demolition and renewal. The catalyst intensified dramatically after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, which exposed vulnerabilities in structures failing to meet modern disaster prevention standards, leading to sharply increased demolition activity in urban areas.

When structures are demolished, the foundation piles must be removed and classified as industrial waste, yet conventional backfilling methods consistently produce an uneven distribution of material throughout the borehole depth. This technical limitation creates serious risks, including ground settlement, structural tilting of adjacent buildings, and misalignment of newly installed foundations. As a result, the critical backfilling process lacks scientific rigor and quality control mechanisms.

In a recent breakthrough, a team of researchers led by Professor Shinya Inazumi from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan, has developed a novel method that can ensure uniform backfilling throughout the entire borehole depth, addressing both immediate safety concerns and long-term infrastructure sustainability. Their innovative findings were published in the journal Cleaner Engineering and Technology.

The proposed circulating mixing method was validated through model tests, field experiments, and advanced numerical simulations using the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) method within a computer-aided engineering (CAE) framework. These tests demonstrated exceptional uniformity with a coefficient of variation of only 0.036, approximately ten times better than conventional soil improvement methods that typically range from 0.3 to 0.5. In addition, the field tests on 15-meter-deep boreholes confirmed that all samples exceeded the target strength of 1,500 kN/m² with no detection of structurally inadequate weak zones.

“Most significantly, our approach allows engineers to optimize process parameters and improve quality control by employing advanced MPS-CAE computer simulations to predict mixing behavior before construction. Moreover, it addresses Japan’s urgent infrastructure renewal needs while promoting sustainability by preventing soil degradation, reducing construction waste, and minimizing the carbon footprint of urban projects,” says Prof. Inazumi.

The findings reveal that this method is especially valuable when constructing high-rise buildings on sites with existing pile foundations, where improperly backfilled boreholes could compromise the stability of new structures worth millions of dollars. Notably, the proposed method prevents ground settlement and structural tilting that could lead to catastrophic failures during seismic events, addressing critical safety concerns in earthquake-prone regions.

“Our study establishes a new standard for geotechnical engineering in urban redevelopment with potential worldwide applications, particularly in cities facing aging infrastructure challenges. In densely populated metropolitan areas like Tokyo, New York, or London, where numerous buildings constructed during post-war economic boom periods now require demolition and reconstruction, this technology ensures safe and efficient site preparation,” says Prof. Inazumi.

The amalgamation of engineering techniques with numerical simulation in the proposed method enables the industry to shift from reactive quality assessment to proactive process optimization, improving the efficiency, safety, durability, and sustainability of urban redevelopment projects, especially in disaster-prone regions.

The paradigm shift in geotechnical engineering practice can help engineering consultancies and construction companies to reassure their clients of construction quality through pre-construction numerical analysis, enhancing transparency and accountability in urban infrastructure projects.

“Our innovative method supports sustainable urban development by minimizing construction waste and reducing the carbon footprint associated with material transportation and disposal. It further offers a pathway to improved geotechnical performance in urban infrastructure development, contributing to disaster resilience, protecting lives and property investments,” concludes Prof. Inazumi.

A research team at Rice University led by James Tour has developed a two-step flash Joule heating-chlorination and oxidation (FJH-ClO) process that rapidly separates lithium and transition metals from spent lithium-ion batteries. The method provides an acid-free, energy-saving alternative to conventional recycling techniques, a breakthrough that aligns with the surging global demand for batteries used in electric vehicles and portable electronics.

Published in Advanced Materials, this research could transform the recovery of critical battery materials. Traditional recycling methods are often energy intensive, generate wastewater and frequently require harsh chemicals. In contrast, the FJH-ClO process achieves high yields and purity of lithium, cobalt and graphite while reducing energy consumption, chemical usage and costs.

“We designed the FJH-ClO process to challenge the notion that battery recycling must rely on acid leaching,” said Tour, the T.T. and W.F. Chao Professor of Chemistry and professor of materials science and nanoengineering. “FJH-ClO is a fast, precise way to extract valuable materials without damaging them or harming the environment.”

Quick, controlled heating

The rapid increase in the use of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and consumer electronics has intensified the need for sustainable recycling technologies. Existing recycling methods are often costly and inefficient while producing significant amounts of wastewater.

To tackle these challenges, the research team developed a two-step process that uses brief bursts of heat and air instead of harsh chemicals. First, the battery materials are briefly heated with chlorine gas, which breaks them down. They then undergo a second heating in air, transforming most of the metals into forms that can be separated from lithium. Because lithium does not form an oxide as easily as other metals, it remains as the chloride, which can be easily extracted using water.

Previous methods required lengthy processes and strong acids. The FJH-ClO approach, however, uses fast, controlled heating and simple reactions to make the separation process cleaner and faster.

Holistic recovery

Tests have shown that the new process can recover nearly all valuable materials from used batteries, including lithium, cobalt and graphite, with high purity. Early analyses suggest that even at a small scale, it may require about half as much energy, 95% fewer chemicals and significantly lower costs compared to existing methods.

These results establish a scalable, acid-free approach for the comprehensive recovery of lithium-ion battery materials, offering both environmental and economic advantages while setting a new standard for sustainable battery recycling.

“It’s rewarding to see a process that’s both scientifically sound and practically useful,” said Shichen Xu, the study’s first author and a Rice postdoctoral researcher. “That balance is what makes real-world impact possible.”

Future implications

This process paves the way for large-scale implementation and integration into the battery supply chain. It provides a foundation for recovering valuable materials while reducing the need for virgin mining.

With the FJH-ClO process already proven at the laboratory scale, the researchers plan to scale the process through their startup, Flash Metals U.S., a division of Metallium Ltd.

“This is more than just a lab experiment,” Tour said. “It’s a blueprint for how the industry can meet the demand for battery materials without further straining the planet.”

Co-authors of this study include Justin Sharp, Qiming Liu, Jaeho Shin, Haoxin Ye, Kaiwen Yang, Carter Kittrell, Haojie Zhu, Carolyn Teng, Bowen Li, Shihui Chen and Karla Silva from Rice’s Department of Chemistry; Ralph Abdel Nour from its Applied Physics Program and Smalley-Curl Institute; and Khalil JeBailey, Boris Yakobson and Yufeng Zhao from its Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering.