NASA’s first large scale, piloted X-plane in more than three decades is cleared for final assembly and integration of its systems following a major project review by senior managers held Thursday at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
Image of the X-59 main assembly coming together.
Similarly, quantum computing started as a specialized field, only accessible to researchers and scientists. Today, millions of developers can access quantum processors via the cloud, bringing about a surge in early adoption and the identification of hundreds of early applications. We’re already seeing companies apply quantum computers in problems with potential real-world impact — everything from optimizing taxi routes to digital advertising.
A major catalyst for this momentum toward commercialization was the aforementioned emergence of cloud access to quantum computers at accessible price points. Now that the barriers to access have dramatically diminished, we’re seeing three key indicators emerge that signal quantum’s commercial viability: an increase in early adoption from category leaders, the emergence of entrepreneurial “quantum pioneers” and the rise of a supporting ecosystem in the form of independent software vendors (ISVs) and consulting firms.
The first driverless cars were supposed to be deployed on the roads of American cities in 2019, but just a few days before the end of the year, the lofty promises of car manufacturers and Silicon Valley remain far from becoming reality.
Recent accidents, such as those involving Tesla cars equipped with Autopilot, a driver assistance software, have shown that “the technology is not ready,” said Dan Albert, critic and author of the book “Are We There Yet?” on the history of the American automobile.
He questioned the optimistic sales pitch that autonomous cars would help reduce road deaths — 40,000 every year in the United States, mostly due to human error — because these vehicles themselves have caused deaths.
Amazon has been steadily growing its logistics operation over the last decade, and it now delivers more than half of all Amazon packages in the US, according to an estimate from Morgan Stanley published on Thursday and reported by CNBC. That’s a staggering increase over the course of the last few years. It means Amazon, which now operates its own freighters and cargo planes, is accelerating its push to own the entire logistics chain and end its relationship with companies like FedEx and UPS.
At the current rate, Amazon is set to pass both FedEx and UPS in US package volume, with the company currently delivering 2.5 billion packages per year compared to FedEx’s 3 billion and UPS’s 4.7 billion, Morgan Stanley says. Amazon’s number doubled in just the last year alone, from delivering about 20 percent of all of its own packages to now about half. A substantial contributing factor here is Amazon’s new one-day Prime shipping initiative, which it kicked off earlier this year and promises to bring to more markets and more products as time goes on.
“Customers love the transition of Prime from two days to one day — they’ve already ordered billions of items with free one-day delivery this year. It’s a big investment, and it’s the right long-term decision for customers,” CEO Jeff Bezos said of one-day Prime shipping on an earnings call in October. Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding its package volume.
In 1893, Japanese entrepreneur Kokichi Mikimoto succeeded in creating the world’s first cultured pearls in the coastal city of Toba, Mie Prefecture. Mikimoto changed the world of jewelry and launched a new industry. Today, steps away from the island where Mikimoto created the pearls, Toba is aiming to launch another new industry: flying taxis to offshore settlements. Earlier this year, NEC showed off its eVTOL flying car concept, which hovered 3 meters off the ground for about a minute. These developments are part of a global push to develop autonomous aircraft that could become a $1.5 trillion market by 2040, according to Morgan Stanley Research.
MENLO PARK, Calif. (KYMA, KSWT, KECY/NBC News) — In the future, California firefighters may battle blazes with all-electric engines.
On Thursday, the world’s first all-electric fire truck made a stop at a fire station in Menlo Park.
This vehicle is one of a kind. It looks, and functions, differently than any other fire truck currently on the streets. It also smells different, and Chief Harold Schapelhouman says that’s a good thing.
China’s ART has succeeded where its “Straddling Bus” could not, launching for commercial use for the first time in the Sichuan city of Yibin.
Dubbed the “Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit,” the ART is essentially a driverless tram that runs on “virtual rails” mapped out by cameras and censors — so, it’s kinda like a bus too.
The Yibin ART T1 line extends for 17.7 kilometers. It’s expected to serve more than 10,000 passengers daily, a number that will go up to 25,000 once the line is extended to a high-speed railway station.
A California startup made the first cross-country trip completed by an autonomous truck, delivering 40,000 pounds of butter in under three days. The self-driving truck drove from the west coast to Pennsylvania.
The world’s first fully electric commercial aircraft took its inaugural test flight on Tuesday, taking off from the Canadian city of Vancouver and offering hope that airlines may one day end their polluting emissions.
“This proves that commercial aviation in all-electric form can work,” said Roei Ganzarski, chief executive of Seattle-based engineering firm magniX.
The company designed the plane’s motor and worked in partnership with Harbour Air, which ferries half a million passengers a year between Vancouver, Whistler ski resort and nearby islands and coastal communities.
