Archive for the 'Technology' Category
Tesla Wins Massive Contract to Help Power the California Grid
September 16th, 2016Via: Bloomberg: Tesla just won a bid to supply grid-scale power in Southern California to help prevent electricity shortages following the biggest natural gas leak in U.S. history. The Powerpacks, worth tens of millions of dollars, will be operational in record time—by the end of this year. Tesla Motors Inc. will supply 20 megawatts (80 […]
Facebook Censored Live Stream Video Posted by Dakota Pipeline Protesters
September 15th, 2016Via: The Verge: Facebook has admitted to censoring a video posted by activists protesting the Dakota Access pipeline, with the social network blaming the removal on its automated spam filter. The live stream video, published on Tuesday by the media collective Unicorn Riot, showed police arresting around two dozen protesters at a Dakota pipeline site. […]
Pittsburgh: Fears of Uber’s Human Drivers Become a Reality
September 14th, 2016Obviously, the mass deployment of this technology is still at least a few years out, but I’d be very surprised if it didn’t happen within a decade in major cities. I think LIDAR will have to be used. Currently, LIDAR is very expensive and cumbersome. Once the MIT/DARPA LIDAR-on-a-chip gadget emerges in bulk, watch out. […]
HUD Video of Auto-GCAS Saving Unconscious F-16 Pilot
September 13th, 2016Via: Aviation Week: This newly declassified video footage from the head-up-display of a U.S. Air Force Arizona Air National Guard F-16 records the dramatic moment when its unconscious pilot is saved from certain death by the aircraft’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System (Auto-GCAS).
China Will Resurrect The World’s Largest Plane
September 11th, 2016Via: Popular Science: On August 30, members of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AICC) and the Antonov Corporation, the leading Ukrainian aviation company, signed an agreement to restart production of the AN-225, the world’s largest cargo aircraft.
Google Drones Will Deliver Chipotle Burritos at Virginia Tech
September 8th, 2016Via: WTVR: Project Wing, a drone project in Google’s X lab, will begin testing drone delivery of burritos at Virginia Tech later this month. Google expects to conduct a few hundred deliveries over the course of several days or potentially weeks. Burritos won’t be delivered just anywhere on campus. Testing will be confined to a […]
Pentagon Working Through ‘Terminator Conundrum’
September 6th, 2016Via: USNI News: The Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the Defense Department is working through the problems of future robotic weapon systems – so-called thinking weapons. “We’re not talking about cruise missiles or mines,” but “robotic systems to do lethal harm… a Terminator without a conscience,” a reference to the 1984 […]
Ship Operators Explore Autonomous Sailing
August 31st, 2016Via: Wall Street Journal: “All hands on deck” may become a thing of the past. Ship designers, their operators and regulators are gearing up for a future in which cargo vessels sail the oceans with minimal or even no crew. Advances in automation and ample bandwidth even far offshore could herald the biggest change in […]
Driverless Taxi Firm Eyes Operations in 10 Cities by 2020
August 29th, 2016Via: AFP: A US software firm which chose Singapore for the world’s first public trial of driverless taxis hopes to be operating in 10 Asian and US cities by 2020, an executive said Monday. Doug Parker, nuTonomy’s chief operating officer, said the firm is eyeing tests by early next year in three other Asian countries […]
Chicago: “Array of Things”
August 29th, 2016Via: USA Today: The Windy City has begun installing what sounds and looks a whole lot like a Fitbit that can measure the vitals of a bustling metropolis. Chicago, which partnered on the project with researchers at the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory and several corporations, last week installed the first two of […]
