Impact Lab – Page 235 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Electric Future: MIT showcases electric autonomous boat technology

February 7, 2023

If you like the idea of zero-emissions travel on the water, an electric autonomous boat might be the right mode of transportation for you.

BY MARK ALLINSON

Scientists from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Laboratory, together with Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions(AMS Institute) in the Netherlands, have been showcasing the final project in their self-navigating trilogy: a full-scale, fully autonomous robotic boat that’s ready to be deployed along the canals of Amsterdam.

“Roboat” has come a long way since the team first started prototyping small vessels in the MIT pool in late 2015. Last year, the team released their half-scale, medium model that was 2 meters long and demonstrated promising navigational prowess.

This year, two full-scale Roboats were launched, proving more than just proof-of-concept: these craft can comfortably carry up to five people, collect waste, deliver goods, and provide on-demand infrastructure.

The boat looks futuristic – it’s a sleek combination of black and gray with two seats that face each other, with orange block letters on the sides that illustrate the makers’ namesakes.

It’s a fully electrical boat with a battery that’s the size of a small chest, enabling up to 10 hours of operation and wireless charging capabilities.

Electric Automobile

With tiny EV, City Transformer takes aim at Europe’s urban markets

February 5, 2023

With tiny EV, City Transformer takes aim at Europe’s urban markets

By Nick Carey

– Israeli electric vehicle (EV) startup City Transformer aims to launch production of its small urban CT-2 model in Western Europe by the end of 2024 and will soon launch a Series B funding round to raise $50 million, the company said on Monday.

Chief Executive Asaf Formoza told Reuters the company, which has so far raised $20 million, has selected a factory in Western Europe where it will have initial annual production of 15,000 vehicles, but cannot disclose its location yet.

The additional funds the startup is raising should help speed up series production, Formoza added.

The CT-2, which is already approved for use in the European Union and Britain, has a range of 180 kilometers (112 miles) and is 1 meter (3.28 ft) wide in “city mode.” This makes it narrow enough for four of them to fit into a conventional car’s parking spot, Formoza said.

NASA

Nasa building US facility that could house alien life brought back from Mars

February 5, 2023

A CGI demonstration of the Martian samples on their journey to EarthCredit: nasa

By Millie Turner

Nasa has received the green light for a new facility to house Martian samples – and perhaps alien life.

The facility, based in Texas, should be ready by 2033, when the samples from Mars’ Perseverance rover are expected to arrive on Earth.

It will be the first time in human history that scientifically selected samples from another planet exist on Earth.

To get the samples to Earth, humans must first launch from the surface of another planet – in another first-of-its-kind feat.

Scientists from Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA) will use the facility to contain, transfer, assess the safety and coordinate scientific investigation of the samples.

The facility, known as the Mars Sample Receiving Project office, will be located at Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Samsung-backed scientists create robot dog that can jog on sand

February 5, 2023

Why not take Raibo robot dog for walkies?

By Saqib Shah

The droid can adjust itself while on the move to handle different types of terrain, including hard and soft ground.

Scientists with backing from Samsung have developed a new robotdog that can move at speeds of up to three metres per second on sand.

The four-legged droid is the brainchild of a research team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). Its creators claim the robot has the stability to traverse rough surfaces, and can agilely tackle soft ground without losing its balance.

The bot’s systems, including an advanced neural network that allows it to make decisions on the move, could be harnessed by other robots to effectively tackle all types of terrain, according to the KAIST team.

The droid follows in the footsteps of robotics firm Boston Dynamics’ canine Spot, which caused a stir when it was briefly used by New York police to assist at crime scenes, and later, the French military during training drills. On the cuddlier side, Sony has its small companion pup named Aibo that you can teach to sit, lay down, take a picture, and even sing happy birthday.

Scientists trained the new robot, called “RaiBo“, using a technique called AI-reinforcement learning. This saw them use a variety of simulations that mirrored physical trials, consequently reducing the time needed for an AI to optimise itself for its intended goals, according to Popular Science.

The team created a new artificial neural network capable of adjusting in real-time to the type of ground it was walking on, which then fed that info back to the robot. They also created a new contact modelling based on the robot’s pressure interacting with various unstable terrain, such as sand.

AI

CHATGPT’S EXPLOSIVE POPULARITY MAKES IT THE FASTEST-GROWING APP IN HUMAN HISTORY

February 5, 2023

“WE CANNOT RECALL A FASTER RAMP IN A CONSUMER INTERNET APP.”

Making History.

According to reporting from Reuters, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is now the fastest-growing app in human history, reaching an estimated 100 million active monthly users in just the two months since its November release.

“In 20 years following the internet space,” UBS analysts reportedly wrote in a note to Reuters, citing a report from web traffic analytics firm SimilarWeb, “we cannot recall a faster ramp in a consumer internet app.”

Per that report, an average of roughly 13 million unique visitors were using ChatGPT per day in January — a jaw-dropping figure, and double the average number of individual users that were using the tech each day in December.

To say this thing has taken off like wildfire hardly cuts it, and VCs have paid attention.

Green Friendly

‘Liquid windows’ inspired by squid skin could help buildings react to changing environments, save on energy costs

February 5, 2023

By Tyler Irving

Prototypes designed and built at U of T Engineering contain several layers of channels, each of which contain fluids with various optical properties. By pumping the fluids in and out of the channels, the system can optimize the type, quantity and distribution of light passing through. (Artist’s impression courtesy Raphael Kay, Adrian So)

U of T Engineering researchers have developed a multilayered fluidic system that can reduce the energy costs of heating, cooling and lighting buildings by optimizing the wavelength, intensity and dispersion of light transmitted through windows.

The platform was inspired by the dynamic colour-changing skin of organisms such as squid. Compared with existing technologies, it offers much greater control while keeping costs low due to its use of simple, off-the-shelf components.

“Buildings use a ton of energy to heat, cool and illuminate the spaces inside them,” says recent graduate Raphael Kay (MIE MASc 2T2), lead author on a new paper published in PNAS.

“If we can strategically control the amount, type and direction of solar energy that enters our buildings, we can massively reduce the amount of work that we ask heaters, coolers and lights to do.”

new technology

MIT grows 2D crystals on existing silicon to make new semiconductors and catch up to Moore’s law

February 5, 2023

By Hope Corrigan

Moore’s law might not be dead, just in need of a rewrite.

Get out of the way silicon, you’re not our top transistor anymore. We’ve had enough of your inability to maintain electrical properties at tiny scales. That’s right, we’re leaving you. Moving onwards and upwards onto better things that can truly grow with us. To put it simply: it’s not us, it’s you. We’re probably going to have to rename that valley, too.

We’ve had a really good run with silicon, but companies like TSMC have been seeking alternatives for a while, largely as a way of trying top keep up with Moore’s law. Moore’s law observed that the number of transistors able to be manufactured on silicon doubled approximately every two years, while the cost of computers fell.

This remained true for a long time, but is petering out. Some companies like Nvidia consider it mostly dead, while AMD say it’s just expensive to keep pace with. Regardless of where Moore’s law is now, it’s set to come crashing to a halt in the near future due to the limitations of Silicon.

Thankfully, researchers at MIT(opens in new tab) have found what may well be our next transistor romance, and the good news is that silicon can kinda stick around to watch. To get those tiny sizes, researchers are working with substances so thin they’re called 2D materials. These delicate sheets of crystals are as thin as a single atom. The idea is to begin integrating these perfect crystal structures into current industry-standard silicon wafers.

DNA

Scientists reversed aging in mice. Is it possible in humans?

February 4, 2023

Aging is a natural part of life that changes the body in ways we sometimes might not like.
Researchers from Harvard Medical School believe that epigenetic changes — and not just changes to the DNA — affect aging.
This view is supported by experiments where epigenetic changes caused mice to first age and the reversal of the induced changes caused reverse aging.

Aging is a life process everyone goes through. As we age, the body changes in different ways — sometimes good and sometimes not as good as we might like.

Scientists have looked for ways to slow down, stop, or reverse the aging process. While research and medical advances have helped increase life expectancy, aging continues.

For many years, most researchers have believed changes to a body’s DNA — called mutations — are a leading cause of aging.

Now a team led by researchers from Harvard Medical School finds support for an alternative hypothesis: it is the changes that affect the expression of the DNA — called epigenetics — that affect aging. Scientists demonstrated this via a mouse model where changes in epigenetic information caused mice to first age and then reverse aging.

The study appears in the journal Cell.

NASA

NASA and DARPA Collaborating on a Nuclear-Powered Rocket for Quick Trips to Mars

February 4, 2023

An artist’s impression of the DRACO spacecraft, which will feature the new nuclear thermal rocket engine.

By Kevin Hurler

CALLED DRACO, THE DEMONSTRATION SPACECRAFT COULD REACH MARS THREE TIMES FASTER THAN VESSELS RUNNING ON TRADITIONAL CHEMICAL-BASED PROPULSION.

One of the bigger questions surrounding NASA’s interest in sending a crewed mission to Mars surrounds the best way to get there, and it appears the agencymight have found its answer. NASA announced today that it will be developing a nuclear thermal rocket engine in collaboration with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

The collaboration is called DRACO, or Demonstration Rocket for Agile Cislunar Operations, and it’s expected to reduce the travel time it takes to get astronauts to Mars—and potentially more distant targets in deep space. According to a press release, NASA will lead technical development of the nuclear thermal engine that will be combined with an experimental DARPA spacecraft. The two agencies will further collaborate on combining the rocket with the spacecraft ahead of its demonstration in space as early as 2027.

“Our intent is to lead and develop a blueprint for human exploration and sustained presence in the solar system,” said NASA deputy administrator Pam Melroy in a NASA fireside chat this morning. “DRACO will be a critical part of evaluating the technologies that will take us deeper into the solar system.”

drones, Science & Technology News

MightyFly unveils its Cento second-generation cargo drone

February 4, 2023

By Bruce Crumley

San Francisco Bay Area cargo UAV developer MightyFly has unveiled the second generation of its hybrid-powered vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone, Cento, which it plans to produce and operate for end-to-end freight services on flights of up to 600 miles.

Formerly known as the potentially wise-crack generating MF-100, the new Cento version of MightyFly’s cargo drone has already begun testing following the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issuing the craft a Special Airworthiness Certificate and a Certificate of Authorization (COA) for long-range operation. The company says the approval to begin demonstrations of autonomous VTOL flights of up to 600 miles with 100 pounds of freight aboard is “unprecedented in the industry.”

Founded in 2019, MightyFly is wasting no time in getting its innovative approach to air freight transport aloft.

Mightyfly says presentation of its Centro cargo drone comes less than two years since the company raised $5.1M seed funding for the second-generation VTOL, and just nine months after its initial concept stage. The 13.1 x 16.7-foot autonomous UAV is made up of a high wing carbon fiber airframe, eight electric vertical lift fans, one forward propulsion propeller, and a 6 x 1 x 1- foot internal payload bay that can hold 96 small USPS packages.

The cargo drone’s hybrid powertrain shifts between an internal combustion engine that recharges depleted batteries that will otherwise be used for flight, enabling Centro to make multiple deliveries along a route, or single long-haul run, that MightyFly will operate from start to finish as a seamless service to customers.

The relatively compact size of the craft requires limited landing and takeoff space, while an automated conveyor belt handling loading and offloading of packages obviates the need for human intervention.

Continue reading…MightyFly unveils its Cento second-generation cargo drone“

Aviation, Science & Technology News

How these new electric aircraft could disrupt the $49 billion helicopter industry

February 2, 2023

Why United Airlines-backed Archer Aviation thinks eVTOLs could replace helicopters

By Andrew Evers

Vertical lift aircraft have existed for more than a century in the form of helicopters. But the $49 billion industry faces a rapidly emerging threat.

An estimated 200 companies are working to build electric vertical takeoff and landing vehicles (eVTOLs), a new type of small passenger aircraft designed for transportation within congested urban environments.

“Helicopters are very expensive to operate for a number of reasons, but the biggest reason is that they have multiple points of failure, which eVTOL aircraft won’t,” said Michael Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures, which has invested in startups in the space called Eve and Archer Aviation. “The electrification makes the aircraft safer. Safer aircraft also becomes less costly to maintain.”

Space

Asteroid-Mining Startup Plans First Private Mission to Deep Space

February 2, 2023

The OrbAstro ORB-50 satellite platform will host a variety of instruments needed to evaluate the target asteroid from a distance.

By George Dvorsky

SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH IN OCTOBER, ASTROFORGE’S PROSPECTOR SPACECRAFT WILL SEEK TO INSPECT AN ASTEROID LOCATED 22 MILLION MILES FROM EARTH.

AstroForge has announced an ambitious commercial mission to observe a distant asteroid—an important step for the California startup as it strives to become the world’s first deep space mining company.

AstroForge seeks to capitalize on the rapidly evolving state of the spaceflight industry and become the first firm to mine for metals in deep space. The California startup raised $13 million in seed funding last year—its first year of existence—and has now formally announced two mining-related missions that are scheduled to launch within the calendar year. The company is partnering with several others to make it happen, including OrbAstro, Dawn Aerospace, and Intuitive Machines.

Space is the place, as Sun Ra famously said, and it most certainly has plenty to offer, including rare-earth metals like platinum, gold, iridium, palladium, and osmium, among other minerals. Materials on a single asteroid could fetch trillions of dollars, making asteroid mining a tantalizing prospect. This idea has been around for decades, but the excessive costs associated with the endeavor have largely made it impossible. That’s changing, however, as it’s never been more affordable to launch rockets and manufacture satellites and spacecraft.