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Government regulators plan to review drone designs in the same way they review other aircraft, a major step toward allowing routine drone deliveries and other flights over congested cities.
The Federal Aviation Administration on Feb. 3 announced it’s seeking comment from the public and the drone industry on what criteria should be used for determining whether these novel new devices are safe.
TOKYO – Japan’s first robot bartender has begun serving up drinks in a Tokyo pub in a test that could usher in a wave of automation in restaurants and shops struggling to hire staff in an aging society.
The repurposed industrial robot serves drinks in is own corner of a Japanese pub operated by restaurant chain Yoronotaki. An attached tablet computer face smiles as it chats about the weather while preparing orders.
The robot, made by the company QBIT Robotics, can pour a beer in 40 seconds and mix a cocktail in a minute. It uses four cameras to monitors customers to analyze their expressions with artificial intelligence (AI) software.
The University of Rochester research lab that recently used lasers to create unsinkable metallic structures has now demonstrated how the same technology could be used to create highly efficient solar power generators.
In a paper in Light: Science & Applications, the lab of Chunlei Guo, professor of optics also affiliated with Physics and the Material Sciences Program, describes using powerful femto-second laser pulses to etch metal surfaces with nanoscale structures that selectively absorb light only at the solar wavelengths, but not elsewhere.
A regular metal surface is shiny and highly reflective. Years ago, the Guo lab developed a black metal technology that turned shiny metals pitch black. “But to make a perfect solar absorber,” Guo says, “We need more than a black metal and the result is this selective absorber.”
Spacecraft’s new moniker honors NASA’s retired Earth Science Division leader Michael Freilich.
An artist’s concept depicts the Sentinel-6A satellite, which NASA and several partners have renamed in honor of noted earth scientist Michael Freilich, who retired from the space agency but oversaw many missions from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich is set to launch this fall from the Central Coast. (NASA illustration)
(Reuters) — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc ( REGN.O ) is working with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a treatment for the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 400 people in China, the HHS said on Tuesday.
The company will use the same technology that was used to develop an experimental drug to treat Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the agency said.
India’s largest commercial oil company, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd., will partner with Lod-based energy start-up Phinergy to develop and produce innovative metal-air batteries, often regarded as the solution for long-distance electric-vehicle travel.
Indian Oil said it had bought a minority stake in Phinergy on Tuesday, which specializes in aluminum-air (Al-air) and zinc-air technologies. Unlike conventional lithium-ion batteries that carry oxygen within a heavy electrode, metal-air systems produce energy by combining aluminum, water and oxygen from the air.
The future incorporation of the long-pursued battery solution into electric vehicles, Phinergy said, will enable long-range driving, five-minute energy recharges and lowering the cost of electric vehicles.
Indian Oil and Phinergy plan to form a joint venture in India to collaborate on developing an Al-air battery system, including research and development, customization, manufacturing, assembly and the selling and service of energy systems. The companies also intend to establish a factory in India to manufacture the batteries for electric vehicles and additional stationary applications.
“We are confident that this Al-air battery technology would complement lithium-ion batteries to provide a hybrid solution for large-scale adoption of electric vehicles in the country,” Indian Oil chairman Sanjiv Singh said, adding that the company is assessing numerous alternative-energy options. “Al-air battery technology has advantages on a number of factors like range, energy density, safety of operations, life cycle, etc.”
Indian Oil hopes the development of innovative battery solutions will reduce the country’s reliance on imports, which are highly susceptible to geopolitical and currency-related risks. The development of Al-air solutions is considered to be particularly relevant to the Indian market due to its natural availability and the large aluminum production industry in the country.