The Daily Dig

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• “Yesterday I traveled on a train at close to 350 kilometers (215 miles) per hour, the fastest I’ve ever ridden on a high-speed train,” said Transportation Sec Ray LaHood, in his glowing account of Spain’s rail network. He found it all “very civilized” (or, “civilised” as they say over there). (AP)
• A big laser gun the size of a Boy Scout jamboree campground makes like the sun and fuses hydrogen atoms into helium, potentially creating vast amounts of “free” energy. Could it power the world one day? Tom Friedman and his Mustache of Understanding seem to think so. (TreeHugger)
• Obama should cut military spending and put some of that money towards infrastructure repair and building a good passenger rail system in the country, advises Democratic elder statesman George McGovern. (WSJ)
• The car industry is “sobered” by how much auto sales have fallen. The question looms: Will they return to anything close to previous levels–or are we in a new world? (NYT Business)
• It’s generally a good thing when a rock star reviews your book. David Byrne pens a piece about Jeff Mapes’s, Pedaling Revolution. (Mapes wrote a great little item about biking for the Infrastructurist a few weeks ago).
• It’s time to undertake a bold effort in restoring and improving America’s infrastructure, says the head of Georgia Tech’s civil engineering program. True high speed rail between NYC and DC or LA and SF would be “culturally and economically transcendent.” (Atlanta Journal Constitution)
• The government of Panama is about to award a $5 billion contract to construct two new sets of locks for the canal. The expansion of the channel is on target for 2014 completion and will “alter global shipping patterns” (in a good way!). (LA Times)

Photo of laser gun: Livermore Labs