Lifeboat Foundation

Computers may be growing smaller and more powerful, but they require a great deal of energy to operate. The total amount of energy the U.S. dedicates to computing has risen dramatically over the last decade and is quickly approaching that of other major sectors, like transportation.

In a study published online this week the journal Nature, University of California, Berkeley, engineers describe a major breakthrough in the design of a component of transistors—the tiny electrical switches that form the building blocks of computers—that could significantly reduce their energy consumption without sacrificing speed, size or performance. The component, called the gate oxide, plays a key role in switching the transistor on and off.

“We have been able to show that our gate-oxide technology is better than commercially available transistors: What the trillion-dollar semiconductor industry can do today—we can essentially beat them,” said study senior author Sayeef Salahuddin, the TSMC Distinguished professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley.

And they could enter service by 2030.The automotive world is transforming to meet the needs of the future.

Hyundai has already made it very clear that it’s making a serious play at next-gen electric aviation, establishing its own eVTOL subsidiary Supernal late last year and promising to flex its automotive-grade manufacturing muscle to get air taxis built in bulk. Now, the company has made a presentation at the Vertical Flight Society’s H2 Aero workshop to confirm that it’s also bringing its hydrogen expertise into the aviation world.

Hyundai/Kia and Toyota, of course, have been the two main hydrogen fuel cell stalwarts in the automotive industry. Batteries make more sense for most passenger car applications globally, but Japan and Korea are committed to building a “hydrogen economy” powering much more than personal transport, so these companies in particular have persisted with building and selling relatively small numbers of fuel cell-electric cars like the Nexo and Mirai.

Continue reading “Hyundai outlines its hydrogen aviation plans, including regional eSTOLs” »

Nearly two months after its debut at the Super Bowl, DeLorean Motor is inching closer to revealing itself to the public.

The Humble, Texas, electric-vehicle maker, which shares the name of the vehicle from the “Back to the Future” film franchise, started getting buzz after a 15-second spot during The Super Bowl this year.

Captured CO₂ products include non-petroleum fuels, vodka, perfume, foam, insulation, mattresses, and carbon fibre for buildings and cars.

Standard image sensors, like the billion or so already installed in practically every smartphone in use today, capture light intensity and color. Relying on common, off-the-shelf sensor technology—known as CMOS—these cameras have grown smaller and more powerful by the year and now offer tens-of-megapixels resolution. But they’ve still seen in only two dimensions, capturing images that are flat, like a drawing—until now.

Researchers at Stanford University have created a new approach that allows standard image sensors to see light in three dimensions. That is, these common cameras could soon be used to measure the distance to objects.

The engineering possibilities are dramatic. Measuring distance between objects with light is currently possible only with specialized and expensive lidar —short for “light detection and ranging”—systems. If you’ve seen a self-driving car tooling around, you can spot it right off by the hunchback of technology mounted to the roof. Most of that gear is the car’s lidar crash-avoidance system, which uses lasers to determine distances between objects.

Tesla released production numbers for the first quarter after a record-setting close to 2021.

Will it be the next Black Hawk?

NASHVILLE March 31, 2022 — After three years of proving its transformational flight capabilities, the Lockheed Martin Sikorsky-Boeing SB1 DEFIANT® helicopter arrived in Nashville this week to give U.S. Army Aviators a first-hand look at this impressive aircraft at the Army Aviation Association of America’s annual summit.

Army aviators at the summit will be able to see how Team DEFIANT is revolutionizing Future Vertical Lift, one of the Army’s top modernization priorities, with a focus on transforming the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft program’s capabilities, production and sustainment resulting in lower-life cycle costs. The result is DEFIANT X® a complete weapon system that builds on the handling qualities and capabilities proven by the team’s technology demonstrator, SB1 DEFIANT®.

Continue reading “SB>1 DEFIANT Helicopter Completes Long-Endurance Flight to Nashville” »

The study found that if such a system were put in place nationwide, 94 percent of human operator hours may be affected, which could account for as many as 500,000 jobs.

In a situation where automation is restricted only to Sun Belt states, as rough weather poses a challenge to automation, about 10 percent of worker operator hours will be affected. If automation is deployed nationwide only during the spring and summer months, about half the nation’s trucking hours could go driverless.

“I think the most surprising thing there was that everyone we spoke to basically said ‘yeah, this can be done,’” Vaishnav said.

Ever wondered what to do with old cooking oil? It turns out it could power the world’s largest passenger airliner.

Airbus performed the first-ever A380 flight powered by 100 percent Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) derived mainly from cooking oil and other waste fats, a press statement reveals.