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Archive for the ‘transportation’ category: Page 141

Oct 13, 2021

A Different Kind of VTOL Nails Its First Test Flight, Uses a New Type of Thrust System

Posted by in category: transportation

An Austrian-based company is working on a patented propulsion technology for VTOLs (vertical take-off and landing) and has recently shared the first test flight of a prototype aircraft using the unique approach.

Oct 12, 2021

Worries That AI Self-Driving Cars Will Charge Sky-High Monopolistic Prices

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

There is quite a bit of handwringing going on that AI-based true self-driving cars are going to be a monopoly. This is based on the assumption that only a few purveyors will be able to attain true self-driving cars. A tiny set of automakers or self-driving tech firms will hold all the cards when it comes to self-driving cars.

We are not there yet, since the invention of self-driving cars is still being figured out.

But, if you are thinking ahead, those purveyors might be the only entities able to field self-driving cars and therefore be able to charge monopoly rent, as it were. This could include charging sky-high prices for the use of self-driving cars.

Continue reading “Worries That AI Self-Driving Cars Will Charge Sky-High Monopolistic Prices” »

Oct 11, 2021

Automakers are spending billions on battery development. Lucid Motors’ CEO says they’re missing what will really make buyers want an electric car

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

While most automakers are laser-focused on improving their batteries, the CEO of EV startup Lucid Motors says the battery pack is “totally overrated.”


Tesla has unveiled its latest structural battery pack with 4,680 cells during a Gigafactory Berlin tour ahead of Model Y production at the new factory. The start of production at Gigafactory Berlin is not just significant for Tesla’s growth in Europe, but it will also mark the launch of an important new version of the […].

Oct 11, 2021

Tesla unveils new structural battery pack with 4680 cells in Gigafactory Berlin tour

Posted by in categories: sustainability, transportation

Tesla has unveiled its latest structural battery pack with 4,680 cells during a Gigafactory Berlin tour ahead of Model Y production at the new factory.

The start of production at Gigafactory Berlin is not just significant for Tesla’s growth in Europe, but it will also mark the launch of an important new version of the Model Y. Tesla plans to build the new Model Y at Gigafactory Berlin on a whole new platform with its structural battery pack.

Earlier this year, Electrek obtained the first image of a Tesla structural battery pack prototype.

Oct 10, 2021

Antimatter Could Provide Electric Propulsion To Vehicles

Posted by in categories: particle physics, sustainability, transportation

Circa 2009


The futuristic thought of antimatter that is typically related to sci-fi movies may one day be able to provide propulsion to vehicles. Antimatter, is an exact oppposite copy of matter. Identical to matter, but with its electrical charge completely opposite of the original matter. Think of a battery with a positive and negative pole. The positive pole repsresenting matter, and the negative pole representing antimatter.

Antimatter is the exact oposite of matter. A definition as provided by Wikipedia concludes that antimatter is composed of antiparticles in the same way that normal matter is composed of particles. For example, an antielectron (a positron, an electron with a positive charge) and an antiproton (a proton with a negative charge) could form an antihydrogen atom in the same way that an electron and a proton form a normal matter hydrogen atom. Furthermore, mixing matter and antimatter would lead to the annihilation of both in the same way that mixing antiparticles and particles does, thus giving rise to high-energy photons (gamma rays) or other particle–antiparticle pairs.

Continue reading “Antimatter Could Provide Electric Propulsion To Vehicles” »

Oct 10, 2021

Bothering And Even Spying On Your Neighbors Via An AI Self-Driving Car

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Speaking of cars, consider the future of transportation and mobility, entailing the advent of self-driving cars.

It would seem that self-driving cars will be a welcomed boon to humanity. Predictions are that the regrettable 40,000 annual fatalities due to car crashes in the United States alone will be reduced enormously, and likewise, the estimated 2.3 million car crash injuries will nearly disappear.

What’s not to like about the emergence of self-driving cars?

Continue reading “Bothering And Even Spying On Your Neighbors Via An AI Self-Driving Car” »

Oct 10, 2021

Airless bike tires made of space-age metal never go flat

Posted by in category: transportation

In 2,022 a startup will begin selling airless bike tires that never go flat because they’re made out of a special NASA-developed metal alloy.

Oct 9, 2021

How to Move More Goods Through America’s Clogged Infrastructure? Robot Trains

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, transportation

Self-driving trains could be greener, carry more stuff, and help unclog America’s congested supply chains. And making them a reality will likely be far easier than perfecting autonomous vehicles.

Oct 9, 2021

Artificial intelligence is evolving all by itself

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI, transportation

Circa 2020


Artificial intelligence (AI) is evolving—literally. Researchers have created software that borrows concepts from Darwinian evolution, including “survival of the fittest,” to build AI programs that improve generation after generation without human input. The program replicated decades of AI research in a matter of days, and its designers think that one day, it could discover new approaches to AI.

“While most people were taking baby steps, they took a giant leap into the unknown,” says Risto Miikkulainen, a computer scientist at the University of Texas, Austin, who was not involved with the work. “This is one of those papers that could launch a lot of future research.”

Continue reading “Artificial intelligence is evolving all by itself” »

Oct 9, 2021

Tool for predicting pedestrian flow expands its reach

Posted by in categories: business, employment, transportation

When urban development takes place, a traffic impact assessment is often needed before a project is approved: What will happen to auto traffic if a new apartment building or business complex is constructed, or if a road is widened? On the other hand, new developments affect foot traffic as well — and yet few places study the effects of urban change on pedestrians.

A group of MIT researchers wants to alter that, by developing a model of pedestrian activity that planners and city officials can use in much the same way officials evaluate vehicle traffic. A study they have conducted of Melbourne, Australia, shows that the model works well when tested against some of the most comprehensive pedestrian data available in the world.

“Our model can predict changes in pedestrian volume resulting from changes in the built environment and the spatial distribution of population, jobs, and business establishments,” says Andres Sevtsuk, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP) and lead author of a newly published paper detailing the results. “This provides a framework to understand how new developments can affect pedestrian flows on city streets.”