Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
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Category: transportation

Carbon fiber composites—lightweight and strong—are great structural materials for automobiles, aircraft and other transportation vehicles. They consist of a polymer matrix, such as epoxy, into which reinforcing carbon fibers have been embedded. Because of differences in the mechanical properties of these two materials, the fibers can detach from the matrix under excessive stresses or fatigue. That means damage in carbon fiber composite structures can remain hidden below the surface, undetectable by visual inspection, potentially leading to catastrophic failure.

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Whether they’re in airplane wings, bridges or other critical structures, cracks can cause catastrophic failure before they’re large enough to be noticed by the human eye. A strain-sensing “skin” applied to such objects could help, though, by lighting up when exposed to laser light.

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You’ve probably heard a lot about electric bicycles and electric scooters by now. These small personal electric vehicles (PEVs) are often touted as last mile vehicles that can help commuters travel short distances between home or work to other mass transit hubs, or as complete commuting alternatives in cities.

But one PEV you might not have heard about yet are electric unicycles. These odd-looking little EVs consist of just a single wheel that a rider straddles. They self balance like a Segway or hoverboard, but are much more narrow and nimble. Though they look like a toy, electric unicycles might be a more serious transportation alternative than many people think. Read on to learn why.

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After years of speculation, Tesla finally confirmed today that Model 3 is getting a CCS Combo 2 plug in Europe and an adapter is coming for Model S and Model X.

With growing third-party fast-charging infrastructure in Europe, electric vehicle owners are starting to have many options.

Tesla owners have access to those networks on top of Tesla’s own Supercharger networks, but they had to use an expensive CHAdeMO adapter, which has its own limitations and isn’t yet compatible with Model 3.

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Today, Volkswagen is announcing that it is converting two more factories to electric vehicle production and it is partnering with SK Innovation for battery cells.

Earlier this year, VW announced that its Zwickau factory will be the first to go all-electric.

The German automaker plans to produce 1,500 electric cars per day at the plant.

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The technology and innovation that Alibaba has developed to serve the needs that arise from Singles’ Day have allowed Alibaba to expand into a variety of services, including Alibaba Cloud, logistics, and artificial intelligence.

Within minutes of the clock striking midnight on November 11 this year, consumers across China will be racking up billions in purchases on Alibaba’s e-commerce marketplaces. Alibaba engineers and employees watching the transaction numbers on big screens will whoop as the figure instantly crosses the hundred million yuan mark, then zooms into the billions.

As the orders start to roll in, the company’s proprietary cloud computing platform Alibaba Cloud will, at its peak, process hundreds of thousands in transactions and payments per second. Robots in the automated warehouses of Alibaba’s logistics arm Cainiao will begin sorting and packing the orders that come in, readying them for the battalion of trucks, scooters and millions of deliverymen that will send an estimated 1 billion packages to their rightful owners within days of November 11.

For China’s largest e-commerce firm, Singles’ Day is not just its most important shopping event of the year. It is also the day that the Alibaba pushes the boundaries on its technology and services, stress-testing its technology systems during the world’s largest shopping festival that grows in scale every year.

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