Amazon building an app that matches truck drivers to shippers

Amazon is building an app that matches truck drivers with shippers, a new service that would deepen its presence in the $800 billion trucking industry. The app, scheduled to launch next summer, is designed to make it easier for truck drivers to find shippers that need goods moved, much in the way Uber connects drivers …

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China inducting J20 stealth fighters into air force as active service planes

At least six J-20s stealth fighters are in active service, with four tail numbers 78271,78272,78273 and 78274 identified. And another six are ready to be delivered by end of Dec 2016 According to the Chinese aviation expert Dafeng Cao who posts under the Twitter handle @xinfengcao, six J-20 stealth fighters will be inducted into the …

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Nuclear Energy Startups want to make nuclear energy radically less expensive like Spacex has made orbital launch cheaper

In graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, Rachel Slaybaugh began studying the Boltzmann Transport Equation — “a single equation that describes where all of the neutrons are in a nuclear system,” Slaybaugh explains. “Anything in a nuclear system starts with where all of the neutrons are, so it lets you figure out everything else.” …

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Google’s progress on inventing the future – diagnosing disease, AI advancing genetics and much more

Eric Schmidt wants to invent the future. He sees the need to produce more entrepreneurs everywhere, right, in every industry, all around the world. This will create literally millions of jobs and ultimately trillions of dollars of wealth for all of us as shareholders and all of the people that we know. Schmidt is personally …

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Diamond on silicon chips are running at 100 Gigahertz and can also make power chips for directing 10,000 volts

Diamond computer chips running at 100-GHz have been demonstrated by Akhan Semiconductor. They are currently using design rules in the 100s of nanometers. Developers are focusing on power applications on 12-inch wafers. They hope to drive down the costs of production with higher volumes. Power devices are moving into pilot production at a fab. They …

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Cambridge overcome many of the toughest problems with lithium air battery

Scientists have developed a working laboratory demonstrator of a lithium-oxygen battery which has very high energy density, is more than 90% efficient, and, to date, can be recharged more than 2000 times, showing how several of the problems holding back the development of these devices could be solved. Lithium-oxygen, or lithium-air, batteries have been touted …

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US Army tests remote controlled weapons for base protection

Remotely-controlled weapons systems have drastically reduced the number of Soldiers needed for perimeter security at an expeditionary base camp here. “Every Soldier I have assigned to securing the perimeter is one I don’t have that can execute support missions,” said Lt. Col. Raphael Heflin, commander, 142nd Combat Service Support Battalion, or CSSB, 1st Armored Division. …

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World income distribution shows progress against poverty and increased average world income

Our World in data shows the progress against poverty made over the last couple of hundred years. Before 1500 there was virtually no progress made against poverty. This data shows that even with slower 5-7.5% annual GDP growth in China and 6-8% in India and 4-7% in some other south asian countries there will be …

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Life in GoogleVille

Google is changing your urban world. * Self driving cars * Helper robots * Augmented reality * Universal wifi * high resolution surveillance video cameras with infrared imaging and other home gadgets from Nest The latest models of Google’s self-driving cars are now cruising the streets near the Internet company’s Silicon Valley headquarters as an …

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Perovskite top layer could boost solar to over 30% efficiency and cut overall costs in half

The power conversion efficiency of silicon photovoltaics has been stuck at 25 percent for 15 years but cheap tandem solar cells could affordably boost efficiency. One cost-effective way to improve efficiency is to build a tandem device made of silicon and another inexpensive photovoltaic material, he said. “Making low-cost tandems is very desirable,” McGehee said. …

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