Complex terrain and Yutu 2’s reliance on solar power limit driving speed.
China’s Yutu 2 lunar rover recently spotted something intriguing on the far side of the moon, but it’ll take the vehicle a few months to reach the object for a closer look.
Yutu 2 photographed a strangely cube-shaped rock last month, during the robot’s 36th lunar day of activities. The rover drive team estimates that the object, which has been dubbed the “mystery hut,” to be around 260 feet (80 meters) away. That doesn’t sound far, but it’ll take careful planning and effort by the Yutu 2 team to cover that distance safely.
Researchers at Kobe University and Osaka University have successfully developed artificial intelligence technology that can extract hidden equations of motion from regular observational data and create a model that is faithful to the laws of physics.
This technology could enable researchers to discover the hidden equations of motion behind phenomena for which the laws were considered unexplainable. For example, it may be possible to use physics-based knowledge and simulations to examine ecosystem sustainability.
The research group consisted of Associate Professor YAGUCHI Takaharu and Ph.D. student CHEN Yuhan (Graduate School of System Informatics, Kobe University), and Associate Professor MATSUBARA Takashi (Graduate School of Engineering Science, Osaka University).
Billionaire Elon Musk is pushing ahead with an attempt to utilize emissions contributing to climate change, tweeting that his rocket company will launch a program to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use it to power spacecraft.
The chairman and chief executive officer of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Musk announced the project on Dec. 13, shortly after being named Person of the Year by Time magazine.
Zurich-based Swiss Sustainable Yachts has unveiled its new luxurious yacht that is powered by not one but two sustainable fuels, solar and hydrogen. Dubbed Aquon One, the yacht has all the amenities that your heart can desire on a yacht and comes with zero guilt, the New Atlas reported.
Even as cars are going the electric way, maritime transportation is yet to see the same kind of enthusiasm. The first electric ship may have made its maiden voyage, however, the limited range offered by electric batteries is a major challenge that still needs to be overcome. The makers of Aquon One couldn’t agree more and therefore, have opted for a hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric propulsion than massive batteries.
They have gone a step further to set up a hydrogen fuel generator on the yacht itself that completely eliminates the need for a fuelling stop, taking away any limits on its range. The hydrogen generator is powered by solar panels that occupy 689 square feet (64 square meters) on the vessel rooftop, which can output more than 75 kWh/day in the summertime. Hydrogen is generated by electrolyzing desalinated water and then compressed to be stored in carbon tanks, for long-term usage.
The Tesla billionaire discussed his split from the singer and producer in a recent interview with Time’s Molly Ball, Jeffrey Kluger, and Alejandro de la Garza for its annual “Person of the Year” issue.
“Grimes and I are, I’d say, probably semi-separated,” Musk told Time. “We weren’t seeing each other that much, and I think this is to some degree a long-term thing, because what she needs to do is mostly in LA or touring, and my work is mostly in remote locations like this.”
Musk explained the situation similarly to Page Six in September, telling the publication that he and Grimes had decided to go their separate ways after three years of dating. He said at the time that they still loved each other and “are on great terms” as they coparented their 18-month-old son, X Æ A-Xii.
Neoen has doubled the size of its proposed Capital big battery, and started construction, after eyeing emerging market opportunities.
French renewables and battery storage developer Neoen says it has begun construction of a 100MW/200MWh big battery in the Australian Capital Territory, after doubling the size of the project because of emerging market opportunities.
Neoen is Australia’s most successful investor in battery storage, having built the original “Tesla big battery” at the Hornsdale Power Reserve in South Australia, which was then the world’s biggest, and then expanding that facility, adding another at Bulgana in Victoria, and last week opening the 300MW/450MWh Victorian Big Battery, now the country’s biggest.
Now Neoen has begun construction of the 100MW Capital battery, which will have two hours of storage and will be double the size of the battery canvassed in its 2020 tender win with the ACT government.
Humans have been dreaming of living on the Moon, but what would that look like exactly?
Put simply, an outpost (or outposts) on the Moon could benefit humanity in numerous ways. It would allow for regular access to the lunar surface, enable vital research into low-gravity and its effects on terrestrial organisms, and shave billions off of the cost of missions destined for Mars and other locations in deep space.
Beyond the scientific and spaceflight-related, a lunar outpost would also allow for the creation of new industries, such as lunar mining, space-based solar power, commercial space stations, and lunar tourism. The infrastructure created for this purpose could also lead to a thriving economy in the Earth-Moon system, including asteroid mining and space-based manufacturing.
**The Moon is our gateway to the rest of the Solar System and the first step in any plan for “going interplanetary.” Granted, the challenges are enormous, and the cost of developing all this architecture is nothing short of immense. But as the Loonies say, “TANSTAAFL!”
Have been dreaming of living on the Moon, but what would that look like exactly? Welcome back to our ongoing “Interplanetary” series. In our p.
Time magazine on Monday named Tesla chief and space entrepreneur Elon Musk as its person of the year, citing his embodiment of the technological shifts but also troubling trends reshaping people’s lives.
Musk — who overtook Amazon founder Jeff Bezos this year to become the world’s wealthiest person — wields impact on Earth with his Tesla electric car company and beyond our planet with his SpaceX rockets.
“Musk’s rise coincides with broader trends of which he and his fellow technology magnates are part cause and part effect,” Time editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal wrote.
The magazine said that he had been chosen for his work in space as well as on electric cars, as well as his plans to take humanity to Mars and his interest in cryptocurrency. It also noted in its announcement that Mr Musk “also likes to live-tweet his poops”, thought to be a first for a Time “Person of the Year”.
“For creating solutions to an existential crisis, for embodying the possibilities and the perils of the age of tech titans, for driving society’s most daring and disruptive transformations, Elon Musk is TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year,” the magazine wrote in its announcement.
