In the US, approximately one in every five miles of highway and major road is in poor condition. It’s a problem that’s even worse in colder states where moisture and, most of all, salt accelerate the deterioration of pavement and asphalt. A team of researchers from Washington State University believes nanomaterials like graphene oxide could help harden concrete infrastructure against the elements.

Many state transportation departments use topical sealers to protect bridges and other concrete structures from melting snow, rain and salt. Those products can help, but as is often the case with moisture, it’s a losing battle. What the WSU team found was that they could add nanomaterials – specifically graphene oxide and montmorillonite nanoclay – to a commercial siliconate-based sealer to make the microstructure of concrete denser, thereby making it more difficult for water to make its way into the material. The sealer also helped protect their samples from the physical and chemical abuse inflicted by deicing salts.

Comparing their sealer to a commercial one, they found it was 75 percent better at repelling water and 44 percent better at reducing salt damage. They also made it from water, instead of an organic solvent. That means the final product is safer to use and less harmful to the environment. Normally, water-based sealants don’t perform as well as their organic counterparts, but the nanomaterials the WSU team used helped level the performance gap.

“Concrete, even though it seems like solid rock, is basically a sponge when you look at it under a microscope,” said Professor Xianming Shi, the lead researcher on the project. “It’s a highly porous, non-homogenous composite material.” According to Shi, if you can keep the material dry, most of its durability issues go away.

Compared to most research projects involving the use of nanomaterials, this one looks like it has a chance to make it out of the lab. Sometime in the next two years, Professor Shi’s team plans to work with either the university or the city of Pullman to test the sealant in the real world.

Amazon workers at a warehouse on Staten Island in New York will hold a union vote next month. Derrick Palmer of the Amazon Labor Union (ALU), an independent group that's seeking to represent workers at JFK8, says the election will take place in person between March 25th and March 30th.

The workers refiled a union petition with the National Labor Relations Board in December after failing to obtain enough signatures in their previous attempt. This time around, the workers reached the union vote threshold, which is usually 30 percent of a workforce. More than 5,000 workers are employed at JFK8.

The NLRB has accused Amazon of threatening, surveilling and interrogating workers at JFK8 to dissuade them from unionizing. A union avoidance consultant reportedly called organizers "thugs" and said the union drive would fail.

Earlier this month, workers at another Staten Island warehouse called LDJ5 filed a petition with the NLRB to unionize with the help of the ALU.

Another union vote is taking place at a facility in Bessemer, Alabama. The NLRB ordered a second election at BHM1 after it determined Amazon interfered in the first vote, in which a majority of employees voted against unionization. Votes will be counted starting on March 28th. Last month, a union supporter at the warehouse accused Amazon of retaliating against him.

Engadget has contacted Amazon for comment.

Nick Clegg, the former UK politician turned Facebook executive, has been promoted. Clegg is now the President of Global Affair at Meta, a position that reports directly to Mark Zuckerberg.

Clegg was already seeing much of Meta’s policy positions as VP of Global Affairs and Communication, a position that reported to COO Sheryl Sandberg. But the new title underscores how much Zuckerberg has relied on the former Deputy Prime Minister as Facebook deals with numerous scandals, investigations and the prospect of increased government regulation.

He first joined Facebook in 2018, after his political career abruptly imploded. Facebook officials had hoped he could help the company improve its tarnished reputation following Cambridge Analytica, and guide its interactions with lawmakers and government officials.

Since then, Clegg has played a significant role in some of Facebook's most controversial decisions in recent years, including its handling of Donald Trump’s suspension. Clegg was also the chief spokesperson for the company’s much-maligned decision to exempt politicians from fact checking. Elevating Clegg now could also help shield Zuckerberg and Sandberg from future controversies as he becomes the face of Meta’s policies. The former politician will also likely continue to represent the company at hearings and other interactions with government officials.

“Nick will now lead our company on all our policy matters, including how we interact with governments as they consider adopting new policies and regulations, as well as how we make the case publicly for our products and our work,” Zuckerberg wrote on Facebook. “As Nick takes on this new leadership role, it will enable me to focus more of my energy on leading the company as we build new products for the future, and it will support Sheryl as she continues to focus on the success of our business.”

The new role comes amid some bigger changes at the company now known as Meta. Besides an impending pivot from social networking to the metaverse, the company also just rebranded its News Feed to “Feed” and informed employees they will now be known as “Metamates.”

In a comment on Zuckerberg’s Facebook post, Clegg wrote that the company is at “an important inflection point.” “Our existing, and future, products will continue to be a subject of intense societal interest and debate. I am hugely looking forward to playing a role in that debate on our behalf, and ensuring that we have the right policies to both reflect our responsibilities and to support the building of innovative new products for years to come!”

Microsoft is making a handful of changes to AltspaceVR to combat harassment within the virtual reality app. As of today, the company has removed the Campfire, News and Entertainment Commons social spaces. Those were hubs where AltspaceVR users could freely gather and talk to one another. But that same freedom also meant harassment was an ongoing issue.

By default, AltspaceVR’s Safety Bubble feature is now turned on for all users. It creates a barrier to prevent other people from entering your avatar’s personal space. Last but not least, Microsoft says the app will automatically mute new attendees when they first join an event. The company has also promised to increase moderation and improve event content ratings to supplement those changes.

In the coming weeks, Microsoft said it would require people to use a Microsoft Account to access AltspaceVR. As a result of that requirement, parents will have the option to use the company’s Family Safety feature to limit how much time their kids can spend within the app.

“As platforms like AltspaceVR evolve, it is important that we look at existing experiences and evaluate whether they’re adequately serving the needs of customers today and in the future,” said Alex Kipman, the head of Microsoft’s mixed reality division. “This includes helping people better connect with those who have shared common interests while also ensuring the spaces they access are safe from inappropriate behavior and harassment.”

The changes come as other VR platforms grapple with their own harassment issues. At the start of February, Meta rolled out a feature called Personal Boundary to Horizon Worlds. Like AltspaceVR’s Safety Bubble, it’s there to prevent people from entering your personal space. More broadly, the changes appear to indicate Microsoft is committed to working on some version of the metaverse despite recent reports suggesting the company’s mixed reality division had lost a significant number of employees to competitors like Meta.

As much as we like Bose's QuietComfort 45 headphones, they haven't been a tuner's delight — you had to trust the automatic EQ adjustments would deliver a pleasing sound. You'll have more control from now on, though. Bose told Engadget it has updated the QC45 firmware with an Adjustable EQ feature that, as the name implies, lets you tweak the output to your liking. You can customize the bass, mid-range and treble to suit your tastes, or pick from presets if you're in a hurry.

The new firmware (2.0.4) is available by launching the Bose Music app and choosing "Install Update" from the QC45 control screen.

You might not be in a rush to use Adjustable EQ. The QC45s already provided balanced audio in our experience, and it might involve more effort than it's worth if you listen to a wide variety of music genres. With that in mind, the update might be just what you need if you regularly listen to a particular genre (such as bass-heavy electronic music) or otherwise want to consistently override Bose's judgment.

Epic Games says there are now more than 500 million Epic Games accounts. Many of those are used to buy and play PC games, and accounts are also utilized on consoles and mobile devices for the likes of Fortnite and Rocket League.

Those who play Fortnite on console, for instance, don't need to create a full Epic account. Instead, they'll have a "nameless" Epic Games account that doesn't have its own display name or an email address attached to it. Fortnite had more than 350 million registered players as of May 2020, and those appear to make up a significant proportion of that 500 million figure.

The Epic Games Store hit more than 194 million users in 2021, an increase of 34 million from the previous year. The company said that "daily active users peaked at 31.1 million, and peak concurrent users reached 13.2 million," while there were 62 million monthly active users in December.

The publisher has invested heavily in its free PC games program, which will continue for at least the rest of this year. Documents that emerged from Epic's legal battle with Apple showed that it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the endeavor. Last year, Epic gave away 89 different titles and 765 million free games overall.

Offering Grand Theft Auto V at no cost brought in 7 million new Epic Games Store users in a single day, as The Verge notes. Giveaways for the likes of Civilization VI, World War Z and Subnautica led to smaller, but still notable spikes in new user numbers. Rocket League switching to a free-to-play model boosted user numbers too.

Players spent around $840 million in the store in 2021, an increase of 20 percent from 2020. Just over a third of that was spent on third-party games. The biggest third-party titles on the store last year were Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade, Hitman 3, Far Cry 6, Genshin Impact, Darkest Dungeon, Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Chivalry 2 and GTA V.

Meanwhile, Epic says there have been more than 6 million downloads of The Matrix Awakens: An Unreal Engine 5 Experience across PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in two months. The tech demo, which is well worth checking out, shows off what UE5 can do. There was also a 40 percent increase in the number of Unreal Engine downloads last year, while Epic says 48 percent of announced current-gen games are being built on Unreal Engine.

Turmoil at CD Projekt Red appears to have an upside. Gamesindustry.biz and The Verge report former CDPR executive Konrad Tomaszkiewicz has formed a new studio, Rebel Wolves. The fledgling company has barely started work on its first title, but the company said it would be a dark fantasy role-playing game based on Unreal Engine 5. Tomaszkiewicz wants it to be the "holy grail" of digital RPGs, with the open-ended feel of a pen-and-paper game where decisions affect the world around you. The game is currently expected to launch in 2025 on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Rebel Wolves plans to expand its 12-person roster to more than 80 people in the years ahead, but the goal is to keep the team relatively small, flexible and focused. Tomaszkiewicz also saw this as a chance to break free from CDPR's focus on licensed material — he told GI.biz the new development house offered the freedom to create an original universe that suited his team's preferences.

Tomaszkiewicz played a crucial role at CDPR, having directed the critically acclaimed The Witcher 3 and served as secondary director for the ambitious but flawed Cyberpunk 2077. Co-founder Jakub Szamałek also hails from these teams, while other staffers have worked on games like Shadow Warrior 2 and Thronebreaker. However, Bloombergnotes Tomaszkiewicz left CDPR in May 2021 over allegations he bullied coworkers. A commission found him not guilty, but CDPR was also accused of requiring crunch time to finish Cyberpunk despite promises to the contrary.

The industry figure has vowed not to repeat those mistakes, however. Tomaszkiewicz told The Verge Rebel Wolves wanted a supportive environment with collaborative input and transparent decision-making. He also acknowledged the challenges of hiring a diverse workforce when the first employees are veterans, and told GI.biz he hoped the studio would provide "many different voices and perspectives" in time. As with some other new studios from industry legends, this is as much about correcting the industry's bad habits as it is obtaining creative independence.

The first major No Man's Sky patch of the year has arrived. Among other things, Hello Games says the Sentinel update improves the space exploration sim's AI and introduces a buildable AI mech. You can put an AI pilot in your Exomech and have it follow you and help out in battles. Players can build a drone companion too.

Hello Games

As the name suggests, the update brings in changes for the Sentinels, robots that will attack if you try to change an environment or they catch you on a planet that hosts rare items. There are new enemy types (including repair drones and a giant mech with a jetpack) and headquarters for the machines, which are able to deploy shields as part of a big overhaul of combat and weapon systems.

You'll have some fresh tricks up your sleeve as well. Along with active camouflage, there are more weapons for you to wield, including a flamethrower and stun grenades. You can expect to see new visual effects for weapons and multi-tools too.

Regardless of which graphics card they have, Hello Games says that all PC players can now take advantage of an AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution upscaling feature. Those with compatible RTX cards can switch on NVIDIA's AI-based DLAA anti-aliasing mode too. Also, No Man's Sky has been optimized for the upcoming Steam Deck, including the addition of touchscreen controls.

Hello Games has added more lore and missions as well as a new expedition, which offers those who complete it a fresh customization for their jetpack. What's more, players can now freely rotate build pieces in the build menu, opening up more ways to construct bases. Teleporting between bases and space stations in the same star system is faster too.

No Man's Sky is currently available on PC, Xbox and PlayStation. You should be able to access all of these features on Nintendo Switch (hopefully including touch controls) when the game lands on that console this summer.

If you're looking for a way to take your game streaming to the next level, Elgato's Stream Deck could do the trick. Amazon currently has the Stream Deck MK.2 for $10 off, bringing it down to a record low of $140. While not a huge discount, it's a good one for a device like this that rarely goes on sale. The last time it was this low was in December.

This latest version of the Stream Deck has 15 programmable keys that let you trigger actions more easily while you're streaming. You can do things like launch apps, mute your mic, turn on lights, post to social media and more with just a press of a button, making it a handy tool to have if you want to make your setup more professional. We included the Stream Deck Mini in a recent gift guide as a smaller, more affordable option, but the MK.2 gives you more flexibility — plus, you can inject more of your style into the MK.2 by customizing it with a faceplate. 

While Twitch streamers and the like are the primary users of the Stream Deck, others can get use out of it, too. Think of the device's hotkeys almost like keyboard shortcuts, but more powerful — you can program them to launch your most-used apps, open folders, control audio and video feeds and more. If you spend a ton of time on your computer, the Stream Deck could become an indispensable tool that makes your workflow more efficient.

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For years, Alienware eschewed thin-and-light gaming laptops, opting instead to make slightly bulkier systems with more affordable pricing. But all that changed last year with the introduction of its X-series notebooks. And now, Alienware is pushing its quest for sleekness even further with the new x14, the company's thinnest and lightest gaming laptop yet. To add even more rum to the punch, the x14 is also one of the first gaming laptops available featuring Intel's latest 12th-gen mobile CPUs. And while the x14 isn’t without its quirks, the result is a machine that makes me wish Alienware had gotten into portable gaming rigs years ago.

Design

Sporting Alienware's Legend 2.0 design language, the x14 is without a doubt a striking system, though ultimately you'll need to decide how much you fancy its sci-fi aesthetics. What's not in question is the laptop's thinness, which stands at just 0.57 inches thick while weighing barely more than four pounds. That’s even thinner and almost a pound lighter than the x15 (0.63 inches and 5 pounds), while making Alienware’s more mainstream M15 R7 seem almost bloated (0.8 inches and 5.3 pounds).

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Now I'm not normally the type to lust after a few ounces or tenths of an inch getting shaved off a device, but on the x14, every little reduction matters. That's because while most gaming laptops don't even come close to fitting in my everyday messenger bag that’s not meant to stash anything larger than a 13-inch ultraportable, the x14 actually fits, if just barely.

That means I'm much more likely to bring this thing with me on trips, which is kind of the whole point of a thin-and-light gaming notebook. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate beastly 17-inch gaming rigs, but when my back starts to hurt at the mere thought of carrying one around, in practice those systems often function more like mobile desktops than any sort of travel-friendly gaming machine.

Sam rutherford/Engadget

The main innovation on the x14 is Alienware's new dual-torque which adds strength and stability to the laptop's display, while once again reducing weight and thickness compared to previous X-series machines. And, as you'd expect from Alienware, the x14 comes with customizable RGB lighting on its lid and keyboard. That said, compared to its larger siblings you do lose the extra RGB light ring that would normally outline the system's rear ports. (Fun fact: That pill-like shape is actually called a stadium.) Inside, there's a lovely soft-touch finish on x14's wrist rest, which may feel a bit cramped for people with larger hands.

Display and sound

On the x14 there's only one display option, and it's a good one. The 144Hz 1,920 x 1,080 screen is plenty sharp, while support for NVIDIA's G-Sync helps prevent screen tearing while gaming. But the thing that impressed me most is the way colors pop. At first, I almost mistook the x14's display for an OLED panel. And while its black levels aren't quite deep enough for that, thanks in part to support for Dolby Vision HDR, colors look rich and vibrant regardless of whether you're gaming or watching a movie. And with a tested brightness of just under 400 nits, the x14's screen looks good in both dim and sun-filled rooms (though trying to game outside in direct sunlight is still a challenge).

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Dolby tech is also available on the x14's speakers thanks to support for Dolby Atmos, which adds an extra dimension to audio through the use of extra height channels. Unfortunately, I felt like the x14's audio sounded a bit distant, despite its upward-firing speakers being located right behind the laptop's keyboard. And even though the x14 had no issues turning up the volume, it's almost too much of a good thing, because in certain situations you can hear the x14's chassis rattle when the speakers are set above 80 percent.

Performance

While the x14 isn't quite as powerful as its larger siblings and doesn't have the space to accommodate beefier GPUs, Alienware's thinnest gaming laptop still punches well above its weight. I was able to easily hit 60 fps on high settings in a number of AAA games like Halo Infinite, and you can push things even higher if you don't mind fiddling with a game's graphics settings. And for people more focused on getting a competitive advantage, maxing out the x14's 144Hz display is a cinch in titles like CS:GO on lower settings (which is what you'd probably use anyway).

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider on the highest settings, the x14 averaged 102 frames per second, with similar results in Far Cry 5 of 96 fps on Ultra. And while the x14 posted a slightly lower average frame rate of 55 fps in Metro Exodus on ultra, lowering the game's texture settings a touch was more than enough to boost frame rates firmly back above 60 fps.

Remarkably, despite limited space inside for cooling, Alienware's proprietary Element 31 thermal paste and vapor chamber (which only come on systems with RTX 3060 graphics) did a good job of preventing throttling from becoming a major issue. The downside is that the x14's fans are quite aggressive, often spinning up the instant you launch a game, while producing a somewhat high-pitched whine that you can't really escape unless you put on some headphones. Thankfully, Alienware's Command Center app supports a number of thermal profiles including a Quiet setting to help reduce fan noise, though depending on the game, that might cause your frame rate to dip a bit.

Keyboard, touchpad and ports

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Trying to cram a full-size keyboard with media controls on a 14-inch laptop is always a bit of a challenge, and while the x14 generally makes good use of space, it ain't perfect. The function keys are half-sized, and even the x14's keycaps are a touch smaller than what you'd get on Dell's non-gaming systems like an XPS 15.

It's a similar situation for things like the Windows key, the Function button, and the Shift key, all of which are smaller than normal. And for those who use the Delete key a lot, watch out, because it's a little too close to the laptop's power button for my liking. On the flip side, I do appreciate the extra row of media control keys on the right, which includes an always useful mic mute button. In short, I wouldn't go as far to say the x14's keyboard is a dealbreaker, it just requires more adjustment time than usual.

As for the touchpad, at 4.5 x 2.15 inches it's definitely on the small side. Though on gaming laptops, having a less roomy touchpad is a bit more forgivable as the vast majority of gamers typically prefer to use an external mouse, even when they're using the laptop's built-in keyboard.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Meanwhile, when it comes to connectivity, Alienware definitely didn't skimp on ports. The x14 features three USB-C connections (two of which support Thunderbolt 4), one USB 3.2 Type-A socket, HDMI 2.1, a combo audio jack, and even a microSD card slot. While I would have liked to see an Ethernet jack too, my only real gripe with the x14's ports is that they are located around back. Putting all the ports in the rear of the system helps cut down on clutter, but when you just want to quickly insert something like a thumb drive, spinning the laptop around to do so feels clunky (especially if you have any other peripherals plugged in).

Note: Just don't expect much from the x14's 720p webcam. It's fine in a pinch, but the fairly low resolution combined with mediocre image quality means you'll likely want to use an external camera if you plan to show your face while livestreaming.

Battery life and charging

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The x14's battery life varies a ton depending on how you use it. If you're just browsing the web or streaming video, the x14's battery life won't quite last through a full workday, but it's more than serviceable. On our local video rundown test, the x14 lasted just short of eight hours. The bigger issue is that if you have any dreams of gaming without plugging in, you might want to squash those now. I found that while playing Teamfight Tactics (which isn't a demanding game), the x14 conked out after about an hour and 15 minutes.

That said, I do want to credit Alienware for equipping the x14 with a 130-watt USB-C power cable instead of a proprietary charger like so many gaming laptops. Because the x14's power cable is USB-C, you can use it to charge other USB-C devices like a phone or tablet, potentially reducing the number of cords you need to carry around while traveling, Alternatively, you could use a universal USB-PD charger instead, though you'll want to make sure that charger has the required power output and an appropriate cable to properly juice up the x14, as many of Dell's systems can be picky about USB-C charging if you're using old or out of spec accessories.

Configurations

The x14 starts at $1,650 for an Intel Core i7-12700 CPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of NVMe storage and an NVIDIA RTX 3050 GPU, with fully loaded systems like our review unit topping out at around $2,300 with 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage and an NVIDIA RTX 3060. In my opinion, the sweet spot is around $1,800, which gets you 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and an RTX 3060. Though I should mention that while you can upgrade storage post-purchase, you won't be able to upgrade your RAM as it's soldered onto the laptop's motherboard.

Wrap-up

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The x14 might not be quite as powerful as its bigger siblings, but given its even more portable dimensions, there's a lot to like. When compared to a $1,800 x14 with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and an RTX 3060, a similarly equipped x15 costs just $50 less. The main trade-offs being a little less thermal headroom, a more cramped keyboard and a slightly slower 144Hz screen (instead of 165Hz on the x15). That's not a lot to sacrifice for an even more travel-friendly thin-and-light design.

However, if you don't need a new gaming laptop right now, the smart move would be to wait a month or two for some of Alienware's competitors to release updated systems for 2022. Both Razer and ASUS are coming out with refreshed versions of their 14-inch gaming laptops later this spring, and once those become available, we'll have a much better idea of how the x14 fares against its biggest rivals. But if you like the x14’s combination of style and sleekness, this is a slick gaming laptop that’s made to move.