Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a fully indigenous gallium nitride (GaN) power switch that can have potential applications in systems like power converters for electric vehicles and laptops, as well as in wireless communications. The entire process of building the switch—from material growth to device fabrication to packaging—was developed in-house at the Center for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE), IISc.

Due to their high performance and efficiency, GaN transistors are poised to replace traditional silicon-based transistors as the building blocks in many electronic devices, such as ultrafast chargers for electric vehicles, phones and laptops, as well as space and military applications such as radar.

“It is a very promising and disruptive technology,” says Digbijoy Nath, Associate Professor at CeNSE and corresponding author of the study published in Microelectronic Engineering. “But the material and devices are heavily import-restricted … We don’t have gallium nitride wafer production capability at commercial scale in India yet.” The know-how of manufacturing these devices is also a heavily-guarded secret with few studies published on the details of the processes involved, he adds.

A private Chinese company, Thrust-to-Weight Ratio Engine, was able to test a rotary detonation engine on a drone. This is the first such test. Previously, only bench tests were conducted.

Here’s What We Know.

The rotary detonation engine will open the way to the development of hypersonic transport systems, including aircraft and missiles. Another feature of the propulsion system is reduced fuel consumption.

Continue reading “China tested the first ever drone equipped with a rotary detonation engine — the propulsion system will open the way to the creation of hypersonic aircraft and missiles” »

The drone can travel at 45 miles an hour and read license plates from 800 feet away. It can be equipped with a speaker and a spotlight. Who needs a police car for a chase now?

A new high-tech autonomous drone, unveiled by California-based company Skydio, could help New York Police end high-speed car chases. The company which has supplied drones for both military and utility purposes, is working to use drones as first responders (DFR) for the police in the US.

A decade ago, Skydio began its journey as a company that provides athletes with a ‘follow-me-everywhere’ drone that could help shoot videos from the air while on the move. Three years ago, the company made a significant pivot as it looked… More.

Continue reading “Autonomous drone could help end high-speed car chases in NY” »

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has received its first contract from the US Space Force to provide customized satellite communications for the military under the company’s new Starshield program, extending the provocative billionaire’s role as a defense contractor.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is competing with 15 companies, including Viasat Inc., for $900 million in work orders through 2028 under the Space Force’s new “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit” contracts program, which is tapping into communications services of satellites orbiting from 100 miles to 1,000 miles (160 kilometers to 1,600 kilometers) above Earth.

The Starshield service will be provided over SpaceX’s existing constellation of Starlink communications satellites.

A high-energy laser weapon developed by Raytheon is now operationally ready and will be integrated onto the UK’s Wolfhound military vehicle from next month.

Wolfhound armoured vehicle with laser weapon system. Credit: Raytheon UK

Raytheon UK is set to receive its first high-energy laser weapon system to be tested and integrated in the United Kingdom, marking a significant advancement in the understanding of how such systems can be fielded. Raytheon UK is the British unit of RTX’s Raytheon business.

Femtotech: Computing at the femtometer scale using quarks and gluons.
How the properties of quarks and gluons can be used (in principle) to perform computation at the femtometer (10^−15 meter) scale.

I’ve been thinking on and off for two decades about the possibility of a femtotech. Now that nanotech is well established, and well funded, I feel that the time is right to start thinking about the possibility of a femtotech.

Continue reading “Hugo de Garis — Innovating Beyond the Nanoscale, Femtometer Scale Technology” »

Computer performance is measured in FLOPS, or floating-point operations per second. The first supercomputer, which was developed in 1964, could run 3,000,000 FLOPS, i.e., 3 megaFLOPS. Exa means 18 zeros, meaning 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 FLOPS. An exascale computer can perform that many operations — something that is almost impossible to imagine.

Now, there is a huge advantage to commanding that kind of computing power in today’s world. Here is what the same McKinsey report says: “Exascale computing could allow scientists to solve problems that have until now been impossible. With exascale, exponential increases in memory, storage, and compute power may drive breakthroughs in several industries: energy production, storage, transmission, materials science, heavy industry, chemical design, AI and machine learning, cancer research and treatment, earthquake risk assessment, and many more.”

Put simply, China now may have the computing power at its disposal to match, or even overtake, technology leaders like the United States in several areas that could be key to becoming the dominant economic and military power in the world. China could also pair its advances in artificial intelligence with this mind-boggling computering power and achieve technological and military dominance quite quickly.

Play EVE Online ➡️ https://eve.online/Ridddle_EN_megastructures.

In this video, we explore the biggest construction sites of the future — the ones that will one day provide us with real megastructures of all kinds and purposes.

Continue reading “The Craziest Megastructures Scientists Are Willing to Build” »

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