California

Along with the big names, smaller players are pushing to nail the autonomous driving formula with their own kits. One such company is AImotive, where we dropped by to chat with senior team member Lorant Pocsveiler about how self-driving cars see, understand and react to the world around them.

No one wants to put their lives in the hands of a driverless car with less than bulletproof reliability, forcing Google to subject their cars to millions of miles of testing. Those miles are starting to make a difference, with new figures showing the number of self-driving errors is dropping.

The roll-out of electric vehicle fast charging facilities in the US is gathering pace. Earlier this month, the White House revealed details of 48 charging corridors that will run along 55 interstate highways, while work has also now started on the DriveTheArc corridor in Northern California.

While it's unlikely that George Lucas will appreciate the irony, it seems fitting that a museum of storytelling should have such complex plot twists. Indeed, the troubled saga of the building of his Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is now on episodes three and four.

​A new species of millipede has been discovered in a cave in California. Dubbed Illacme tobini, it's been studied from a single male specimen and boasts 414 legs, four penises, 200 poison glands that spray an unknown chemical, mysterious mouthparts and a body covered in hairs that secrete silk.

Lawmakers are covering new ground as they regulate autonomous car testing, trying to balance the need for technology to progress with public safety. With this in mind, California has approved unmanned testing, allowing self-driving cars to roam the streets with no human backup behind the wheel.

California’s central coast could become the site of the world’s largest working offshore wind farm, a 765-megawatt producer surpassing the 630-megawatt London Array off the coast of Kent. The project would include around 100 wind turbines set on floating platforms 33 miles from shore.

A desalination project proposed for California’s central coast would draw water from one of the world's deepest submarine canyons, making it potentially less harmful to ocean life. The Deep Water Desal facility would require substantially less energy to operate than typical desalination plants.

​A home in Stanford, California, commissioned by a professor at the area's esteemed university, will have a net zero energy usage once it has been built. That build process too, though, is low-impact, employing a recycled light steel frame that is quick to erect and easy to build upon.

The California Public Utilities Commission has approved a pilot program that will see public utility San Diego Gas & Electric install and operate 3,500 new charging stations for electric vehicles.

To many, the concept of self-driving cars will still seem absurd. In California, however, they are very real. Not only has testing been allowed on its public roads since last year, but the California Department of Motor Vehicles has now drafted regulations for the public use of autonomous cars.

According to the Silicon Valley Business Journal, Apple has secured a deal for an already-approved building in Sunnyvale, California. Assuming the report is accurate, the development will provide Apple with a sustainable campus that boasts space for over 3,000 employees.