GPS III isn’t fully operational yet, but when it is, it’ll be great

 FECD01F7-3DA5-4B6F-86D8-A5439DD95042

The GPS III satellite armada will eventually make our GPS technology more accurate, but we’re not quite there yet.

Just three satellites have been launched thus far, and only one of them is operational at the moment.

Elon Musk recently tweeted that our ‘GPS just got slightly better,’ but that isn’t entirely true.

We tend to take GPS for granted these days. It works pretty well already and it feels like it’s always been there, even though it’s a relatively new technology, all things considered. It’s not perfect, of course, and we can see evidence of that in our map apps and games like Pokemon Go that sometimes send us flying all over the map as it tries to zero in on our position.

But like any technology, it’s improving, and the launch of a new GPS III satellite is a tiny step toward a more accurate Global Positioning System for the future. Elon Musk is obviously very proud that he has played a part in this and tweeted out a not-entirely-accurate boast that your GPS just got better.

Continue reading… “GPS III isn’t fully operational yet, but when it is, it’ll be great”

Dutch study shows hyperloop may be substitute to short-haul flights

B2038520-2C50-416B-AC08-11556451E915

An artist’s impression of a proposal by Dutch company Hardt Hyperloop to build a hyperloop system linking Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to major European cities is seen in this handout image obtained by Reuters on June 10, 2020.

LONDON (Reuters) – Passenger-packed pods speeding through vacuum tubes linking Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport to European cities could prove a viable low-carbon alternative to short-haul flights, according to a study published on Wednesday.

Although hyperloop technology, which uses magnetic levitation to allow near-silent travel at airline speeds, has not yet proven feasible in large-scale operations, the airport said it was seriously exploring it as a potential form of sustainable transport.

“We are genuinely interested in where hyperloop could go,” said Hassan Charaf, head of innovation at Royal Schiphol Group, which owns and operates the airport, one of Europe’s busiest.

Continue reading… “Dutch study shows hyperloop may be substitute to short-haul flights”

Tesla will develop a new 12-seater electric van for Boring Company airport tunnel

CEC6F5C0-B678-47E0-BEFF-1EAE7C2FCED9

A new electric van could replace the prototype Tesla Model X for future The Boring Company tunnels.

A Southern California airport connector project will work with Elon Musk’s The Boring Company to build a high-speed underground tunnel and a new Tesla vehicle is reportedly part of the plan.

The San Bernardino County Transportation Authority approved a connector line between Rancho Cucamonga with the Ontario International Airport last week. The proposal is for a 2.8 mile-long tunnel that would move riders at 127 mph in electric vehicles. But which electric vehicles?

A county supervisor said that the new system would work with Musk’s electric car company Tesla to develop 12-seater electric vans, as reported in The Mercury News. The projected $60 million project is expected to carry 1,200 people per day to the airport and back.

Continue reading… “Tesla will develop a new 12-seater electric van for Boring Company airport tunnel”

Tesla’s readying a ‘million mile’ battery that could greatly lower the cost of EVs

58A11514-1998-437E-8505-5FBF036E9433

Reportedly coming first to China

Tesla is getting ready to introduce a long rumored lower-cost, longer-lasting battery for its electric vehicles in China sometime later this year or early next year, according to a new report from Reuters. The battery — which has been colloquially called a “million mile” battery in reference to how long it can last in a car before breaking down — is being co-developed with Chinese battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd (CATL) and was designed in part by battery experts recruited by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Tesla is already the industry leader when it comes to squeezing range out of lithium-ion batteries in electric cars, and it’s expected to reveal more about the new technology at an upcoming “Battery Day” for investors. Musk told investors and analysts earlier this year that the information “will blow your mind. It blows my mind.” The company originally planned to hold the event in April, but has had to reschedule it until at least late May thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company held a similar event focused on self-driving technology in April 2019.

Continue reading… “Tesla’s readying a ‘million mile’ battery that could greatly lower the cost of EVs”

Tesla’s next factory is going to be in Austin, Texas, and it’s going to happen quickly

5B98B9D2-ABAC-473C-AD3B-918E0DA0B402

A source familiar with the matter told Electrek that Tesla has chosen Austin, Texas, for its next factory, and it’s going to happen quickly.

 The race to secure Tesla’s next factory is apparently over.

According to a reliable source familiar with the matter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set on bringing the next Tesla Gigafactory, or now Terafactory, to Austin, or at least close to the city.

The people familiar with the project said that Musk has tasked the engineering team working at Gigafactory Nevada to start the process for the new factory, which is expected to make the Tesla Cybertruck electric pickup truck and the Model Y.

Tesla’s CEO also reportedly wants to move extremely fast.

Continue reading… “Tesla’s next factory is going to be in Austin, Texas, and it’s going to happen quickly”

Tesla’s ‘million-mile battery’ could sound the death knell for combustion engines

86B386A6-6FA0-49F0-A44F-73BF3EFBB581

New battery tech may make EVs cost the same as traditional smog spitters.

 Tesla has long been locked in a battle with fundamental chemistry to reach its holy grail: the point on the curve at which its electric vehicles can be sold at a price comparable to gasoline cars. The company might be reaching that inflection point, with Reuters reporting that Tesla will soon introduce a low-cost, long-life battery in its Model 3 sedan in China. Given Tesla’s ongoing ascent and technological dominance in the EV sector, the news must be giving rival carmaker’s execs sleepless nights.

The report comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been teasing a “Battery Day” expected to take place in June, where he says the company’s announcements will make it “one of the most exciting days in Tesla’s history.”

Musk has made it clear repeatedly that the cost per kilowatt-hour of Tesla’s batteries has been a major roadblock to selling the cars at a price competitive with traditional internal combustion vehicles. That, in turn, has been an obstacle to their mass adoption. But beyond boosting sales, Musk envisions the new batteries having a second life on the power grid as storage devices, which could help him achieve another goal: A move to a sustainable-energy focused economy.

Continue reading… “Tesla’s ‘million-mile battery’ could sound the death knell for combustion engines”

Elon Musk’s Boring Company finishes digging Las Vegas tunnels

1602140D-7D4B-485D-95B3-BB42016421F6

The Boring Company’s test tunnel in Hawthorne, California. Image: The Boring Company

 The city’s Convention and Visitors Authority is still planning to open the ‘Loop’ in January 2021

Elon Musk’s Boring Company has completed digging a second tunnel underneath the Las Vegas Convention Center, marking the end of the first phase of the $52.5 million project to build a “people-mover” system to shuttle visitors from one side of the venue to the other. The first of the two tunnels was finished in February.

Workers will now turn their attention to completing the above-ground passenger stations on either end of the tunnels, as well as a third underground station in the middle of the system. The people-mover, which is being formally called the Convention Center Loop, is still scheduled to open to the public in January 2021 in time for the next Consumer Electronics Show — if CES happens, that is.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk’s Boring Company finishes digging Las Vegas tunnels”

Elon Musk reveals when Starlink internet service will go live

D19CFFD6-84A5-43CB-B03C-A8454CDCD359

SpaceX’s Starlink broadband service will begin private beta testing in around 3 months, with a public beta opening in around 6 months.

Elon Musk revealed this tentative timeline in a tweet after the Wednesday launch of 60 new Starlink satellites.

On Wednesday afternoon, SpaceX sent one of its Falcon 9 rockets into space. It was carrying 60 shiny new satellites that will eventually become part of the company’s Starlink communications network. SpaceX has been launching the pint-sized satellites into space for months already, with over 400 of them now in orbit around Earth.

The long-term plan is for Starlink to serve high-speed data to just about every corner of the globe, but with an estimated 40,000 satellites needed to fulfill the company’s most grand ambitions, it was unclear exactly how long it would take before the system was up and running in any capacity. Thanks to some tweets by SpaceX boss Elon Musk, now we know.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk reveals when Starlink internet service will go live”

Check out these images that reimagine what Tesla’s Cybertruck camper add-on could look like

94F65C81-1E30-41F1-BFBC-8E3CCC1DFC91

 Tesla’s electric Cybertruck has more than 600,000 pre-orders and is scheduled to be released in late 2021, but in the meantime, a Canadian concept artist reimagined what Tesla’s camper attachment could look like.

The design renderings, which we first saw via Robb Report, take Tesla’s general camper design and run with it. Instead of imagining a more temporary camper with a pop-up topper or a tow trailer, the artist’s redesign depicts overhead space incorporated into the body of the vehicle. The renderings also showcase two different options for either a single or dual sleeper.

“So I’m liking something a bit larger, like this insert camper that you can add to the vault of the Cybertruck,” the artist wrote on Cybertruck Owners Club, a fan website. “These renders need work, but I want something in the vault so no need to tow and can travel almost anywhere all the time.

Continue reading… “Check out these images that reimagine what Tesla’s Cybertruck camper add-on could look like”

SpaceX’s first manned flight gets a launch window

B1DC997F-B407-4B2F-BF07-0A49E1129F0E

When will SpaceX’s first manned flight launch? No earlier than mid-to-late May, the company declared via its Twitter account Wednesday. The “Demo–2” Crew Dragon flight will see astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley fly to the International Space Station. A successful mission will enable SpaceX to send NASA astronauts to the space station, giving the agency a new means of ferrying crew.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX: Now 1 million Starlink user terminals OKed for US internet service

7AB56BC4-2B5E-4BA6-A8AC-FEC61F7F2D68

The Federal Communications Commission has approved SpaceX’s application to roll out a million user terminals in the US to connect with its growing Starlink satellite broadband network.

The approval gives SpaceX a 15-year “blanket license for the operation of up to 1,000,000 fixed earth stations that will communicate with its non-geostationary orbit satellite system”.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk’s SpaceX: Now 1 million Starlink user terminals OKed for US internet service”

Human settlements in space are closer than we think. Here’s what it will look like

3CB0CD79-3703-4783-874B-6B2A2AAB561E

From vast spaceships orbiting close to Earth to tunnels the size of Los Angeles under the surface of the moon

 European Space Agency’s plan for the Moon Village.

“We already have, or at least understand, the technology needed for a moon base,” says Lewis Dartnell, an astrobiologist from the University of Westminster in London. “The time frame could be in a matter of years,” he adds, “if money were no object and nations around the world were to decide that they needed to build a lunar base together.”

Prof. Dartnell is not alone in his optimism. Many scientists, space engineers and industrialists believe that humanity is on the brink of a breakthrough in settlement. Recent developments could advance the realization of this vision.

For example, a report published last month stated that the radar used by the Chinese spacecraft that was the first to reach the far side of the moon is particularly useful for locating subterranean ice layers. One day, that ice may make it possible for people to remain on the moon for lengthy periods.

Continue reading… “Human settlements in space are closer than we think. Here’s what it will look like”

Discover the Hidden Patterns of Tomorrow with Futurist Thomas Frey
Unlock Your Potential, Ignite Your Success.

By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.

Learn More about this exciting program.