Self-driving cars occasionally crash because their visual systems can’t always process static or slow-moving objects in 3D space. In that regard, they’re like the monocular vision of many insects, whose compound eyes provide great motion-tracking and a wide field of view but poor depth perception.
Except for the praying mantis.
A praying mantis’s field of view also overlaps between its left and right eyes, creating binocular vision with depth perception in 3D space.
Looking like a set of bridge supports that were accidentally installed on a cargo ship, a new wind-driven system by startup CoFlow Jet promises to reduce ship fuel costs by up to 90% using stationary cylinders with no moving parts.
Between rising fuel costs and increasing government mandates requiring shipping companies to go carbon neutral by 2050, there’s a strong push to increase the efficiency of cargo ships while reducing their emissions. One way of doing this is to take a page from the history books and readopt sails to harness the wind.
On the surface, that makes sense. Sails have been propelling ships all over the world for millennia and were still used for commercial transport until after the Second World War. However, there are two problems with sails that have pushed them out of the cargo market for all except the most local of niches.
An electric air taxi startup is developing an aircraft powered by tomorrow’s fuel: hydrogen. The concept is a hydrogen-powered version of its vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. This fueling power could enable longer routes between cities.
The electric air taxi startup Joby is known for its electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVOTL) or an air taxi. The company is testing sustainable fuel instead of a battery to power this vehicle. Hydrogen fuel cells are already used in cars, trucks, and industrial equipment. However, using the fuel in aircraft is a game changer. For example, the aviation industry faces much pressure due to its greenhouse gas emissions. Google even added an emissions tracker when looking for a flight.
The company announced that it successfully flew a 523-mile demonstration flight using its one-of-a-kind hydrogen air taxi. The aircraft was tested last month in California and involved a converted prototype of one of its eVOTL aircraft already in development. It’s equipped with a hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen-electric propulsion. And get this: the only emission is a trail of water vapor.
By Chuck Brooks
AI agents represent a great leap forward in technology, offering exponential benefits to society. From enhancing scientific research, healthcare, transportation, education, and cybersecurity. There are a lot of different applications that AI agents could help enable in our new digital world, including, foremost, for humans.
In a gold-trimmed command center on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, scientists are seeking to wring moisture from desert skies. But will all their extravagant cloud-seeding tech—planes that sprinkle nanomaterials, lasers that scramble the atmosphere—really work at scale?
BHP’s (ASX, NYSE: BHP) Spence copper mine in Chile has celebrated three months of being the company’s first fully autonomous operation, a status reached in April after a two-year journey that included converting its trucks fleet and drilling rigs.
Spence, which produced 249,000 tonnes of copper last year, is BHP’s second largest copper mine behind Escondida, the world’s biggest copper operation. In the three months to July 29, the copper operation has moved 80 million tonnes of material without any safety incidents, surpassing the production plan to date, BHP said.
StandardAero will build and help test engines for the Overture supersonic airliner, which Boom Supersonic hopes to have in the air by 2029.
We’re using AI and Google Maps driving trends to optimize traffic light patterns and improve traffic flow. Stop-and-go traffic in urban areas causes 29 times more emissions than on open roads. Researchers at Google are partnering with cities around the globe, from Rio to Jakarta. So far, local governments have saved fuel and lowered emissions for nearly 30 million car rides every month. Learn more about this research at: https://g.co/research/greenlight.
If you are a city representative or traffic engineer and are interested in joining the waiting list, please complete this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA…
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Posted in futurism, transportation
Boom Supersonic has taken another step towards its ambitious goal of reintroducing commercial supersonic air travel by the end of this decade. The Colorado-based company released key updates on Tuesday regarding its flagship Overture aircraft and the Symphony engine that will power the supersonic commercial jet. This comes a month after Boom Supersonic officially inaugurated its state-of-the-art factory located at the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina. The American company chose the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK to reveal Overture’s cutting-edge flight deck, which is built around technology developed by partner Honeywell.
“As we stand here at Farnborough in 2024, it’s now been two decades since either Boeing or Airbus has launched an all-new airliner programme,” said Chief Executive Blake Scholl. “We’re in danger of going a generation without new airliners. We’ve stopped progressing and, in many ways, we’ve gone backwards. It’s never been more clear that passengers and airlines are not well-served by the duopoly we have today.”
According to the information revealed by Boom, Overture’s state-of-the-art flight deck runs on Honeywell’s Anthem avionics suite. Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturers Lilium and Vertical Aerospace have also gone with the same futuristic system. Boom claims Overture would be the commercial jet to feature dual-force feedback sidesticks, which will give a tactile feel to the pilots of how the aircraft is flying. “Overture’s fly-by-wire system sends artificial feel to the stick, giving the pilot a tactile stick and rudder experience,” Scholl added.
