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Robot delivery firm Starship Technologies hits 1 million autonomous deliveries milestone

January 31, 2021

Starhip has already expanded its UK operations with Co-op

Robot delivery company Starship has made its 1millionth delivery using an autonomous vehicle, a world first

Starship Technologies, provider of autonomous delivery services to. Among others the Co-op, has hit he milestone of making 1 million autonomous deliveries with its robots. It has also secured an additional $17m in finding to continue to expand.

Investors include TDK Ventures and Goodyear Ventures, and the new investment brings Starship’s total funding to $102m to date. The additional funding comes at a time of increasing interest in the autonomous delivery industry. Contactless delivery has proved to be one of the most reliable ways to protect vulnerable populations and enable social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

SpaceX’s Newest Starlink Satellites Have Space Lasers

January 31, 2021

By Ryan Whitwam

SpaceX made history recently when it launched a record 143 satellites on a single rocket. Among the plethora of spacecraft were ten new Starlink internet satellites. According to CEO Elon Musk, these are the first nodes in SpaceX’s network that have fully operational laser communication systems, allowing the satellites to talk to each other without ground stations for faster, more expansive coverage.

Last weekend’s launch was also notable because it deployed its payload in a polar orbit, which uses more fuel than placing things in an equatorial orbit. Objects in a polar orbit will eventually pass over the entire surface of the planet because their movement is perpendicular to the Earth’s rotation. That’s why most mapping satellites are in polar orbits. Starlink satellites in polar orbits can also help boost coverage, but this also means they’ll pass over areas with no ground station coverage.

The solution, apparently, is lasers. It’s always fun when the solution is lasers.

The batch of ten Starlink satellites includes a finished version of the laser intersatellite links the company tested on a few other nodes last year. As these satellites pass over the poles, there will be no visible ground stations to relay data. However, the lasers can transfer directly between satellites, keeping them connected to the rest of the constellation.

3D Printer, Science & Technology News

3D bioprinting technology to detect drugs’ toxicity

February 1, 2021

Hepnalysis is creating 3D bio-printed human liver models to detect the toxicity of drugs and reduce costs in the development of medicines.

To create liver human models bio-printed in 3D to detect the toxicity of drugs and reduce costs in the development of medicines is the objective of the Hepnalysis project, promoted by Cytes Biotechnologies, a spin-off by the UB with its base in the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), and the French company CTIBiotech.

The liver damage caused by medicines is a medical, scientific and public health-problem which is becoming more important every day. The hepatic injury induced by idiosyncratic drugs, known as drug-induced liver injury (DILI), is an usually under-diagnosed pathology that affects between one and two million patients per year worldwide. Also, it is the most common cause of acute liver failure –more than 50% of the cases– and the primary reason why the drugs are removed from the market –about 30%– and hospitalizations related to medicines.

Coronavirus, Science & Technology News

Disinfection robot developed to halt COVID-19 spread

January 30, 2021

LASER-D, developed by USC Viterbi researchers, is an animal-like robot that can crawl, crouch and disinfect surfaces and objects to fight COVID-19.

BY AVNI SHAH

A TEAM OF USC MASTER’S STUDENTS CREATED A DISINFECTION ROBOT CALLED LASER-D TO USE ON COVID-19 PREVENTION.

There are so many things robots can do on wheels, but in narrower, shallower spaces—like between desks in a classroom or on a stairwell—wheels can be limiting. Enter LASER-D (Legged Agile Smart Efficient Robot for Disinfection ) a four-legged robot created by a team of USC researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. The animal-like LASER-D combines—for the first time—locomotive agility and chemical disinfection to fight COVID-19, among other applications.

Led by USC Viterbi professors SK Gupta and Quan Nguyen, the team worked to create LASER-D—built on an earlier project, a UV disinfection robot, and adapted Nguyen’s legged robot platform.

Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News

Volta Trucks set to launch urban electric lorry

January 30, 2021

Volta Trucks aims to begin producing its electric truck this year

by Jean-Baptiste Oubrier

Anglo-Swedish startup Volta Trucks will launch its urban electric lorry this year, the group said Wednesday, tapping into keen demand for electrified transport—and increasing bans against high-polluting vehicles.

Volta Trucks has developed what it bills as the world’s first purpose-built fully-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle which is designed to criss-cross cities for short journeys.

The young firm, which was founded in Sweden in 2019, this week sealed a $20-million (16.5-million-euro) investment to help boost production of the Volta Zero which has a driving range of 150-200 kilometres (93-124 miles).

And despite humble plans so far, the truck already has an order book worth $260 million—regardless of ongoing turmoil surrounding Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are a Scandinavian company with a UK operating base and we have presence in France as well,” Volta Trucks chief executive Rob Fowler told AFP.

Employment, Science & Technology News

20 jobs that will start to disappear in the next 5 years

January 30, 2021

Angela Priestley,

We’re set for some massive jobs and skills displacement over the coming years, thanks to the adoption of various technologies, particularly AI and automation.

The World Economic Forum runs extensive research across the changing job requirements and skills demands of employers in order to determine where some of the major shifts will be.

In 2018, this research led them to make a bold prediction that they reiterated again in 2020: that is that by 2025 “the average estimated time spent by humans and machines at work will be on parity based on today’s tasks.”

In 2020, they predict that 85 million jobs may be displaced by massive shifts in how labour is divided between humans and machines by 2025.

But it’s not all doom and gloom.

Farming, Science & Technology News

This stunning light display could make crops more sustainable

January 29, 2021

The display highlights the surprising science behind how light design can help plants grow.

BY LILLY SMITH

When you think of twinkling lights at night, you probably imagine sparkling cityscapes rather than fields of rural farms.

Not so with Studio Roosegaarde’s latest project, Grow. Founder Daan Roosegaarde and his team swathed over 215,000 square feet of leek crops in undulating red, blue, and UV LED light. They activate the lights at night, giving the field the appearance of glowing creatures at the bottom of the ocean instead of a farm. The agency calls it an “homage to the beauty of agriculture,” but it also highlights the surprising science behind how light design can help plants grow

Science & Technology News, SpaceX

ELON MUSK’S SPACEX IS CONVERTING OIL RIGS INTO SPACEPORTS FOR MARS-BOUND STARSHIP

January 29, 2021

SpaceX has acquired two oil rigs stationed in the Gulf of Mexico (Getty Images)

By Anthony Cuthbertson

Private space firm previously said it is ‘actively developing the technologies…with the ultimate goal of enabling human life or mars’.

SpaceX has acquired two offshore oil rigs that it is in the process of converting into spaceports for its Mars-bound Starship spacecraft, according to reports.

The rigs, renamed Deimos and Phoibos after the two moons of Mars, cost $3.5 million (£2.6m) each after the previous owner filed for bankruptcy, Spaceflight’s Michael Baylor reported.u

The oil rigs were confirmed by aerospace and launch photographer Jack Beyer, who posted photos of their transformation to Twitter on Tuesday.

Work on the rigs is taking place in the Port of Brownsville near SpaceX’s Boca Chica facility in Texas where the Starship craft is being developed.

Elon Musk, Science & Technology News

Elon Musk’s project to bring satellite internet to Latin America

January 29, 2021

Starlink is the initiative that the great businessman has among his plans, it consists of providing satellite internet to countries that are part of Latin America.

The Starlink project , developed by Elon Musk , aims to bring satellite internet to Latin America . In fact, on the same day it received a license from the National Communications Agency (Enacom) to start operations in Argentina . This was determined in the legislation already announced in the official gazette in December 2020.

To achieve connectivity and internet access in places where there are none, it is intended to use the network of more than 42 thousand satellites that would orbit around the Earth. This initiative is already in trials and tests in the United States and Canada, where it operates at a monthly price of 99 dollars plus the 499 dollars for installation equipment, but seeks to expand to Latin America, taking its first official steps in Chile and Argentina.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Milton Keynes to trial 5G drones, robots and driverless shuttles

January 28, 2021

By Christopher Carey

The trials will be hosted at the Stadium MK sports arena on the outskirts of the city.

Milton Keynes Council has secured more than £4 million (US$5.4 million) in funding, including £2.3 million from the government, to create and test mobility services using 5G technology.

Trials will include the use of driverless shuttles and road vehicles for moving people and goods, autonomous surveillance vehicles and drones for enhancing security, and robots and drones for goods delivery and hospitality use. E-scooters could be included in the trials in future.

The initiative, which builds on a £10 million investment by the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), industry and academic partners, will be hosted at the Stadium MK sports arena on the outskirts of the city.

Speaking to Cities Today, Brian Matthews, Head of Transport Innovation, Milton Keynes Council, said: “The trials will be designed to provide useful input into thinking how visitors move around the venue, which includes an arena, a large hotel, restaurants and a retail complex.

Science & Technology News, Virtual Reality

Audi’s New Virtual Office Program Sure Looks Like the Second Coming of Second Life

January 28, 2021

IT’S LIKE A EUROPEAN OEM SIMULATOR, IF YOU WORK AT AUDI AND ARE INTO THAT SORT OF THING.

BY HAZEL SOUTHWELL

Audi likes to pride itself on innovation—few car companies don’t—and in these trying, socially distant times, that can mean effectively developing a system where employees recreate themselves as The Sims and wander around a virtual office.

If that seems bleak (and it does, there’s no way around it) then it’s not intended that way. Audi Spaces was built by Audi Akademie to create more natural and spontaneous interaction, allowing employees to be in a virtual office together in some capacity without the direct intensity of a video call.

Employment, Science & Technology News

8 fields seeing real growth in remote jobs: Some pay more than $75,000 per year

January 28, 2021

By Gili Malinsky

SENIOR TAX ACCOUNTANTS MAKE AS MUCH AS $78,000, ACCORDING TO INDEED.

2020 brought a lot of changes to the workplace as employers worldwide tried to grapple with the social distancing and health protocols of the coronavirus pandemic.

More than 4 in 10 (43%) HR professionals saw remote-work flexibility to be the top change within organizations, according to an October-November 2020 Monster survey of 3,100 recruitment and HR professionals from around the world. That priority is reflected in the array of positions now increasingly offered as remote jobs.

Jobs board FlexJobs recently highlighted career categories where remote job listings have grown by more than 25% since March 2020. Read on for eight career categories with growing remote work opportunities according to the site, including popular job titles and their average annual salaries, organized from highest to lowest growth.