Daily Archives: February 7, 2017

The Bore-ing Company

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been moving quickly on the development of what he calls The Boring Company.In January of last year, he presenteda proposal at the Hyperloop Pod Competition for a company that would lighten traffic through the use of underground tunnels. One year later, Musk mentioned that construction of a tunnel could begin in Los Angeles by the end of February.

Musk hasnt fallen short of his promise his new boring machine began to dig a tunnel as part of a demonstration at SpaceXs Hyperloop Pod Competition last weekend. Although the machine has only created a mere hole, his team plans to eventually construct a full-fledged tunnel.

Musk hasntbeen too clear about how the tunnel will function, but the Hyperloop could be involved after, it is supposed to be able to work above or below ground. Musk has, at the very least, not denied the connection:

For those that are curious enough to see what Musks boring machine looks like, he released a photo of it on Twitter recently. This might be only one part of a massive machine without the cutting head attached.

Although tunneling machines already exist, Musks company would be unique because the machines would make tunneling faster, speeding up the digging process almost tenfold compared to conventional methods. If Musks boring machine can make tunneling quicker and easier, underground transit could also become more popular. Tunnels would be a solution to heavy traffic, especially in urban areas, as well as a potential way to bring transportation into buildings.

Musk isnt exactly serious about creating a separate entity called The Boring Company. Thankfully, the project fits into Teslas mission to alleviate traffic which, in turn, will reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

His boring machine is also in line with SpaceXs mission to eventually settle a colony on Mars. It could be used to test the viability of tunnel construction on the Red Planet, creating underground habitats that would protect people from extreme cold, low pressure, and high radiation.

Read this article:
Elon Musk Has Released Photos of His Underground Tunnels - Futurism

Shooting Stars

If you havent noticed, the Super Bowl LI is trending on social media the Patriots won in overtime and Lady Gaga impressed during halftime. But the pop superstar wasnt the only one that lit up the night Intel literally did so with 300 drones thatmoved behind Lady Gaga as she sangon the stadiums roof.

The Intel Shooting Star drone is the companys first drone created for entertainment light shows, says Anil Nanduri, VP for Intels New Technology Group. Weve also worked with the FAA to receive a Part 107 Waiver to fly these drones as a fleet with one pilot at night in the U.S.

These Shooting Star dronesare actually quite simple. They use a desktop software suite of programs, allowing them to follow a pre-programmed route. The software also keeps the drones form colliding with one another, as they dont have hardware to detect collisions, nor do they communicate directly with each other.

Each of Intels drones can be assembled in less than 15 minutes.There are no screws and everything snaps together. They have a large, multicolored LED light on the bottom, are encased in a styrofoam housing, and weigh about the same as a volleyball. Currently, Intel uses these drones to conduct fantastic, well-coordinated light shows in the night sky. Intel says these are near-limitless in its scale they re able to control more than 10,000 drones at a time.

In the future, Intel hopes that this fleet drone technology will find other applications beyond that of entertainment. As Josh Walden, senior VP and GM at the New Technology Group said: The potential for these light show drones is endless, and we hope this experience inspires other creatives, artists and innovators to really think about how they can incorporate drone technology in new ways that have yet to even be thought of.

These drones, combined with Intels other proprietary technologies, could even be used in search and rescue operations, or for industrial inspection. Intels leaders are positioning the company to provide the compute, sensor, communications, and cloud integration for the growing drone ecosystem, the company notes.

See the original post here:
Lady Gaga's Backup Dancers Were Actually 300 Drones from Intel - Futurism

In Brief

Last year, Elon Musk released the second half of his Master Plan, which was strongly anchored in creating a more sustainable future for our planet. It included plans to create a solar roof with seamlessly integrated battery storage, improve driverless vehicles, and expand its electric-powered product line. Included in the last piece of the plan is the development of electric semi-trucks.

Today, Musk has assured the public via Twitter that Teslas semis are well on their way.

However, as the Tesla Semi becomes a reality, the Model 3, a new Tesla car design slated for a 2017 release with over 400,000 reservations behind it, remains Teslas priority. Nevertheless, despite the companys current main focus, the Tesla Semi is apparently already in early development work, reports Electrek.

One of the biggest challenges that Tesla might face in bringing these large, battery-powered trucks might be their size. So far, we have seen Teslas current technology work exceptionally well for compact cars and sedans. But modifying this technology for heavy trucks designed to carry cargo and drive long-distance means that Tesla will most likely have to significantly adjust charging mechanisms, drastically increase the energy-capacity of its batteries, and work to make the vehicle lighter overall. But, since Tesla is one of the most forward-thinking and innovative companies of our time, its probably only a matter of time before we see the inventive new ways that they will address these challenges.

Read this article:
Elon Musk: Electric Semi Trucks Are On Their Way - Futurism

In Brief

Bill Nye, everyones favorite science guy, recently appeared on the youtube series Big Thinkto answer a very difficult question from a young engineering student: What technology can we expect to have 50 years from now? Thinking back 50 years from 2017, it would have been impossible to imagine in 1967 that we would soon have computers, cameras, calculators, and phones all in our pockets and that jetpacks and flying cars would be a reality. So this was a difficult question to answer.

Bill spoke at length about the crossroads we find ourselves approaching, and that what might have been easy to predict before is now much more challenging. However, he hopes that in 50 years, at least 80% of our energy will be made using renewable resources. He also thinks that almost all cars will be both autonomous self-driving vehicles and powered by electricity. And while he discussed the grim possibilities of our future, he recognized that the progressive influence of younger generations can give us hope.

Though rising automation makes some fear job loss, many believe that if a universal basic income is implemented alongside these growing developments in automation, companies and citizens alike would benefit.

According to Bill Nye, either, in the next decade orfifteen years, the US becomes the world leader in renewable technologies or the US just continues to divide the rich and the poor and global climate change gets stronger and stronger and the ocean gets bigger and bigger as it gets warmer and the quality of life for a lot of people goes down. Well see.

Bills a cheerful guy, as you can see; either way, heemphasized, I want you to change the world!

See the article here:
Bill Nye: This is The Technology We Can Expect to Have 50 Years From Now - Futurism