Impact Lab – Page 362 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Batteries

The three “Rs” for a more sustainable life are Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. BMW created a project in Brazil that used the first two Rs to prevent the third one. After collecting used battery modules from some i3s it sold in that country, the company joined UFSC (Federal University of Santa Catarina), Grupo Solvi, and Energy Source to create an off-grid solar charging station. 9 photos

The solution comprises eight solar panels on the roof of the charging station. They feed a tower with six battery modules from the i3 which are no longer good enough for automotive use but are perfectly fine for storing the energy generated by these solar panels. An inverter manages these modules. It controls both the energy stored and charging electric vehicles that connect to the charging tower thanks to a BMW Wallbox charger.

Tesla

Tesla Packs 50 Billion Transistors Onto D1 Dojo Chip Designed to Conquer Artificial Intelligence Training

August 31, 2021

D1 deliver 362 TeraFLOPs of power

By Aleksandar Kostovic

Artificial intelligence (AI) has seen a broad adoption over the past couple of years. At Tesla, who as many know is a company that works on electric and autonomous vehicles, AI has a massive value to every aspect of the company’s work. To speed up the AI software workloads, Tesla has today presented its D1 Dojo custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for AI training.

There are currently many companies building ASICs for AI workloads. Everyone from countless number of start-ups, all the way to big players like Amazon, Baidu, Intel and NVIDIA. However, not everyone gets the formula right and not everyone can satisfy each workload perfectly. That is the reason why Tesla opted to develop its own ASIC for AI training purposes.

Bitcoin

Second largest US mortgage lender will accept crypto payments this year

August 30, 2021

Speaking during a conference call about the firm’s Q2 results, United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia outlined plans to accept crypto payments this year.

By BRIAN QUARMBY

United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the second-largest United States-based mortgage lender, is planning to accept cryptocurrency payments this year starting with Bitcoin (BTC).

UWM CEO Mat Ishbia revealed the crypto plans on Monday in a conference call regarding the firm’s Q2 results — with the firm posting $138.7 million in net profits for the quarter.

Driverless vehicles

Waymo building autonomous trucking hub in Dallas-Fort Worth

August 30, 2021

The new Texas facility will help expand Waymo Via’s presence in the region and advance development of its transfer hub shipping model.

By Antuan Goodwin

Ryder will help Waymo Via to manage and service its fleet of autonomous trucks and help to develop the transfer hub facilities.Waymo

Waymo is building a new dedicated trucking hub in Texas’ Dallas-Fort Worth area. The facility will serve as the base of Waymo Via, its trucking and local delivery unit, and its operations throughout the southeast United States. The news is coupled with the announcement of a new partnership with Ryder trucking and fleet management to support Waymo’s fleet of autonomous trucks nationwide.

Bolstered by its previously announced partnership with Daimler Trucks to develop an SAE Level 4 autonomous truck platform, Waymo Via has since expanded testing to bring the fifth-generation Waymo Driver AV tech from its passenger vehicles to large Class 8 trucks for commercial shipping. It even landed itself a contract with J.B. Hunt to haul customers’ freight between Fort Worth and Houston.

The new nine-acre South Dallas hub is yet another big investment in autonomous trucking in Texas and will serve as Waymo Via’s primary operations center in the state. Built from the ground up to accommodate today’s commercial autonomous operations and testing, as well as Waymo’s future plans to build a network of autonomous trucking transfer hubs, the facility will help connect with Waymo Via’s Phoenix, Arizona operations center to expand the brand’s presence in the southeastern region.

drones

Soar and roll: New robot flies like a drone and drives like a train

August 30, 2021

By Ishveena Singh

Choo choo! Alternating between an uncrewed aerial vehicle and a robotic ground device, a new drone by Europe-based Nordic Unmanned promises to get maintenance and inspection tasks in the railway industry back on track.

Nordic Unmanned has specifically developed Staaker BG-300 Railway Drone in cooperation with a large European national railway infrastructure owner.

The drone is designed to lubricate rail switches and inspect critical parts of the railway infrastructure while driving on the track. And should it encounter oncoming traffic, the drone can avoid getting flattened by flying to the side of the track and letting the train pass.

Not just that, to give way to an oncoming train, the drone can also switch from one railway track to another – ensuring zero disturbance in regular traffic. The sensors onboard the drone automatically detect changes on the railway, while providing a live data feed to backend decision makers as well.

Aviation

World’s Smallest Satellite Communications System Now Integrated on Autonomous eVTOLs

August 29, 2021

by Otilia Drăgan

Electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft are evolving fast and are already starting to change cargo operations. You may not be familiar with the funny-sounding name Pipistrel, but this Slovenian light aircraft manufacturer is at the forefront of electric and autonomous aviation. Most recently, it has equipped its autonomous cargo eVTOL, Nuuva V300, with revolutionary satellite communications technology.

The Nuuva V300 is an autonomous eVTOL specifically developed for aerial cargo delivery. The 1,000 lbs (460 kg) payload, fully autonomous flight capacity and long range are just some of its main advantages. Another huge benefit is that it doesn’t require a runway, which means it can conduct air cargo operations even in areas where runways aren’t available. Plus, it’s supposed to have a ten times lower operating cost, compared to helicopters.

Energy

China reveals plans to launch a fleet of mile-long solar panels into space to beam energy back to Earth by 2035 – and says the system could have the same output as a nuclear power station by 2050

August 29, 2021

By RYAN MORRISON

Chinese officials have begun work on a new space-solar-power research centre
The researchers there will work out how to send power over very large distances
It is hoped solar panels orbiting 23,000 miles from Earth will send power back
The facility has a 25 acre exclusion zone in case of problems with wireless power

China plans to launch a fleet of mile-long solar panels into space by 2035 and beam the energy back to Earth in a bid to meet its 2060 carbon neutral target.

Reports suggest that once fully operational by 2050, the space-based solar array will send a similar amount of electricity into the grid as a nuclear power station.

3D Printer

A new nanoengineered bioink allows scientists to print 3D, anatomically accurate, multicellular blood vessels.

August 29, 2021

Researchers have designed a 3D-bioprinted model of a blood vessel that mimics its state of health and disease, thus paving the way for possible cardiovascular drug advancements with better precision.

Vascular diseases such as aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, and clots inside blood vessels account for 31% of global deaths. Despite this clinical burden, cardiovascular drug advancements have slowed over the past 20 years. The decrease in cardiovascular therapeutic development is attributed to the lack of efficiency in converting possible treatments into approved methods, specifically due to the discrepancy between studies that take place outside the body compared to inside.

The team’s research aims to remodel current methodologies to minimize this gap and improve the translatability of these techniques by directing 3D bioprinting toward vascular medicine. This interdisciplinary and collaborative project was recently published in the journal Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Bioprinting in 3D is an advanced manufacturing technique capable of producing unique, tissue-shaped constructs in a layer-by-layer fashion with embedded cells, making the arrangement more likely to mirror the native, multicellular makeup of vascular structures. A range of hydrogel bioinks was introduced to design these structures; however, there is a limitation in available bioinks that can mimic the vascular composition of native tissues. Current bioinks lack high printability and are unable to deposit a high density of living cells into complex 3D architectures, making them less effective.

Blockchain

Cambridge Researchers Devise New Blockchain Impervious Even to Quantum Computers

August 28, 2021

The superior power of quantum computing poses a threat to blockchain technology and the cryptocurrency segment. However, Cambridge Quantum, the quantum software leader in the UK, might prevent that from happening.

Cambridge Quantum has recently released a new study and its partners from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Monterrey Institute of Technology (TEC de Monterrey). In the new report, now available in the preprint repository arXiv, researchers demonstrate a new blockchain technology that can supposedly resist attacks even from a quantum computer.

Driverless vehicles

Baidu Apollo unveils autonomous vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals

August 28, 2021

Human drivers may become a thing of the past.

by Mengyuan Ge

Baidu’s autonomous driving unit, Apollo, has developed a new vehicle capable of Level 5 vehicle autonomy, meaning the car requires no human intervention during operation. Notably, it has no steering wheel, gas pedal, or brake pedal, signifying that drivers are completely unnecessary.

The “robocar,” as Baidu founder and CEO Robin Li called it, was showcased during a livestream event on Wednesday. It is equipped with two passenger seats, a large curved screen, an intelligent console, and electrochromic glass with varying tints based on natural brightness. This follows Apollo’s showcase of its Moon model in June.

During the event, Apollo indicated that the new vehicle will incorporate machine learning to analyze passengers’ needs and respond to verbal commands. In some scenarios, the system may even anticipate demands made by people in the vehicle.

Alzheimer's Disease

Genome-editing strategy developed for potential Alzheimer’s therapy

August 28, 2021

An international research team led by scientists from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has developed a novel strategy using brain-wide genome-editing technology that can reduce Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathologies in genetically modified AD mouse models. This advanced technology offers immense potential to be translated as a novel long-acting therapeutic treatment for AD patients.

In China alone, over 500,000 patients are estimated to be living with a hereditary form of AD — familial Alzheimer’s disease (FAD), which is a congenital form of AD highly associated with family history. Although FAD has a clear genetic cause and can be diagnosed before cognitive problems occur, no effective treatment currently exists.

There is enormous potential in the use of genome-editing technology* as therapeutic strategies for diseases caused by inherited mutations, such as FAD. It is especially useful for correcting disease-causing genetic mutations before symptoms appear, for which it is considered a “once-and-for-all” treatment as its effects can last a lifetime. However, several hurdles have prevented its clinical development and application — most notably the lack of an effective, efficient, and non-invasive means to deliver genome-editing agents into the brain. Furthermore, existing genome-editing technologies are unable to generate beneficial outcomes throughout the whole brain.

Automobiles, Science & Technology News

Mazda Is Working on a New Hydrogen Rotary Engine: Report

August 28, 2021

Remember the RX-8 Hydrogen RE? Probably not, but it’s proof that Mazda has done this before.

BY CHRIS TSUI

While most of the automotive world pivots toward battery-electric, Mazda is apparently following in part-owner Toyota’s footsteps in betting on hydrogen. What’s more, the Hiroshima automaker is said to be pairing the niche energy tech with another niche propulsion method: the rotary. If a new report from Japan’s Best Car Web is to be believed, Mazda is currently working on a hydrogen rotary engine, that is, a rotary engine that runs on hydrogen instead of gasoline.

Decrypted via Google Translate, “Although it is a small scale, development has progressed. As the world has suddenly turned to decarbonization, the view that ‘hydrogen rotary is an important technology’ is rapidly expanding,” a Mazda official reportedly told the publication.