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And kick off a new cosmic economy.

NASA’s probe knows where it’s going, but it has no idea what it’s going to find.

That’s the crux of the challenge for Psyche, a spacecraft slated to blast off in 2022. Its target? An asteroid of the same name. Called “16 Psyche,” it’s one of the 1.1 million to 1.9 million large asteroids we know are in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. But information about 16 Psyche is scant. Scientists know it’s shaped like a potato, and the light that reflects off its surface suggests the asteroid is “unusually rich in metal,” according to a recent press release from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

That makes it an attractive scientific target because it could be a relic of our solar system’s earliest days. The uncertainty is a huge challenge for the mission. Without much information about its density, mass, or spin, the mission team is depending on data from Psyche to plan its encounter with the asteroid.

Continue reading “Here’s How NASA’s Psyche Will Unlock the Secrets of a Tiny Alien World” | >

And it can stay submerged for a very long time.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Phase 2 contracts for its unmanned underwater vehicles (UUVs) program called Manta-Ray, the agency said in a press release.

When it comes to drones, usually aerial vehicles come to our minds. We have covered aerial drones of all sizes, shapes, those that can be recovered, those that are dispensable, and much more. The risk to a soldier’s life in naval operations is no different and therefore, in 2020, DARPA began its Manta-Ray Program.

As DARPA states in the press release, the aim of the program is to develop underwater vehicles that can operate without the need for human intervention, even for purposes of logistical support or maintenance. The UUVs are meant to stay underwater for extended periods of time and therefore also need to have extremely high endurance.

Continue reading “Underwater Drones? DARPA’s Manta-Ray Project Just Moved to Phase 2” | >

A multipurpose electric truck with a 400-mile range.

Wolfgang, a creative agency based in Los Angeles, California has recently unveiled the Thundertruck, an electric off-roader concept with dashing, futuristic features including bat wing-shaped solar panels.

The company says that the multipurpose EV offers superior on and off-road performance and an entirely new level of versatility and functionality without zero emissions.

The team behind Thundertuck figured that since there aren’t charging stations out in the desert, a solar roof to power the vehicle would come in handy. Since the sun is an endless power source, the bat wing-shaped collapsible solar awnings provide the vehicle with the necessary battery energy while also doubling as an auxiliary shade for when you’re camping or fishing.

The 800-horsepower Thundertruck EV boasts a 180 kWh battery, a 400-mile range, and an 800 lb-ft of torque. What’s more, it can go from 0 to 60 mph in 3.5 seconds. The truck comes in two models, 4×4 and 6×6. The company website states that “Our state-of-the-art TT Range Extender easily converts the Thundertruck into a 6WD monster that quietly delivers unparalleled power and performance.”

Continue reading “A New Off-Road Electric Truck Concept Boasts Bat Wing-Shaped Solar Panels” | >

As the holidays approach, gifts are being bought, and plans are being made with family and friends. These typical holiday activities are contributing to the growth of e-commerce — which has already been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Food now represents an important part of the e-commerce landscape. Chances are if you are planning to see some friends and family, you may already be thinking about where to eat, what to eat, and how best to plan it all. The good news is that there are many more options today than there were even 5 years ago.

Food delivery — from restaurant food to groceries to well-designed ingredient bundles that remove the hassle of meal planning are all available with ‘one click’. Due to COVID and the various restrictions, concern for public health, and even lockdowns millions of people have taken the leap and ordered food online for the first time.

Coming from a mobility perspective, it is interesting to note what is happening in the food industry because at the end of the day it will require new innovations and solutions to deliver the food to people’s doors. And even better will be when those mobility solutions are more sustainable and efficient than what is being used today. With the boom in this sector, it isn’t just about switching from internal combustion engines to zero-emission, but also pushing for new form factors that can further increase efficiency (lowering the cost and energy demand).

Read more | >

In Machinia, Damon learns that the robot uprising was the result of the weapons of war simply refusing to wage war. In the article that follows, the UN is already very concerned about autonomous weapons being deployed that do not require human governance. #war, #UN

GENEVA — Countries taking part in UN talks on autonomous weapons stopped short of launching negotiations on an international treaty to govern their use, instead agreeing merely to continue discussions.

The International Committee of the Red Cross and several NGOs had been pushing for negotiators to begin work on an international treaty that would establish legally-binding new rules on the machine-operated weapons.

Unlike existing semi-autonomous weapons such as drones, fully-autonomous weapons have no human-operated “kill switch” and instead leave decisions over life and death to sensors, software and machine processes.

Continue reading “UN talks adjourn without deal to regulate ‘killer robots’” | >

Taiwan’s spycatchers are battling a sustained Chinese espionage campaign. Even the security detail of President Tsai Ing-wen has been compromised.

The operation detailed in these documents shows how Beijing allegedly sought out commanders in the Taiwan military and induced them to become spies. It comes amid a series of convictions for military espionage in Taiwan in recent years. Those cases reveal that China has mounted a broader campaign to undermine the democratic island’s military and civilian leadership, corrode its will to fight, extract details of high-tech weapons and gain insights into defense planning, according to senior retired Taiwanese military officers and current counter-espionage agents, as well as former U.S. military and intelligence officers with experience in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s spycatchers are battling a campaign that has compromised senior officers at the heart of the island’s armed forces and government agencies, a steady stream of convictions handed down in the courts shows.

Beijing has even penetrated the security detail assigned to protect Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. A retired presidential security officer and a serving military police lieutenant colonel at the unit tasked with protecting the president had their conviction upheld earlier this year for leaking sensitive information about Tsai’s security to a Chinese intelligence agency.

Continue reading “Chinese spies have penetrated Taiwan’s military, case documents reveal” | >

=O-O=.

Moscow — President Vladimir Putin used some of his most direct language to date on Tuesday in his escalating standoff with the U.S. and its European allies. The Russian leader warned that if the U.S. and NATO do not halt what Moscow considers aggressive actions along the country’s border with Ukraine 0, Russia would respond in a “retaliatory military” manner.

“If the obviously aggressive line of our Western colleagues continues, we will take adequate, retaliatory military-technical measures [and] react toughly to unfriendly steps,” Putin told senior military officials during a meeting in remarks carried by Russian state TV. “I want to emphasize that we have every right to do so.”

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