Very large baseline optical astronomy

Large baselines will be required in the future to perform direct imaging and, in some cases, spectroscopic observations of exoplanets. Therefore, astronomers will inevitably be led to design large interferometers, even at short visible wavelengths. If around 2020–2030 we have found a promising biomarker candidate on a nearby planet [for instance, around Proxima Centauri, such …

Read more

Vehicle fuel efficiency in 2025 expected to be about 45mpg

The EPA, California Air Resources Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Admin have a 1217 report on Midterm Evaluation of Light-Duty Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Standards and Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards for Model Years 2022-2025 Under the National Program, consumers continue to have a full range of vehicle choices that meet their needs, and, …

Read more

Fiat and Google will make 100 self driving Chrisler Pacifica Hybrid Minivans

Google plans to integrate its autonomous tech [self driving car technology] into 100 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans, expanding the fleet of 70 autonomous Lexus RX SUVs it built in-house. Engineers from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Google will work together in Michigan to integrate Google’s tech into the vans, a big upgrade from the cobbled-together look …

Read more

Passive Wi-Fi at 10,000 times lower power

The upside of Wi-Fi is that it’s everywhere – invisibly connecting laptops to printers, allowing smartphones to make calls or stream movies without cell service, and letting online gamers battle it out. With Passive Wi-Fi, we can envision a true “Internet of Things” in which household devices and wearable sensors will be able to communicate …

Read more

The Days of human driving are numbered as big bucks and partnerships flow in a race for the self driving car

Big companies are partnering and laying hundreds of millions to billions of dollars to commercialize the self driving car. GM President Dan Ammann believes transportation will change more in the next five years than it did in the last fifty years. General Motors is investing $500 million and partnering with Lyft Ford is partnering with …

Read more

India will pay Russia for customized improvements of the Yasen Submarine

The new Economic Times report said that in contrast to previous Indo-Russian submarine deals, under the “Chakra 3” project, Russia will build India a customized submarine. The report speculates that the boat may be one of Russia’s new Yasen-class submarines, or else a derivative with a similar design. India is in final talks with Russia …

Read more

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. …

Read more

China signs more high speed rail deals for Africa and is in talks for Asian projects

China has signed a deal to build a 480km railway link between Kenya’s largest seaport of Mombasa and the capital Nairobi — the first stage of a line that will eventually link Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan. The railway, built at a cost of US$3.8 billion, is the first to be built in …

Read more

IEEE panel agree Moore’s Law via Lithography scaling will be dead by 2035 and explore Beyond CMOS

An IEEE symposium panel concluded that “there is no chance that it (Moore’s law) will continue until 2035”. Moore’s Law is not dead, but it has clearly reached old age, and no fundamental technology has emerged to replace it. Whatever comes next is likely to challenge old assumptions both for technologists and society at large. …

Read more

Genetic Basis of intelligence involves about twenty times the genes as the genes for height

Scientists looking for the genes underlying intelligence are in for a slog. One of the largest, most rigorous genetic studies of human cognition1 has turned up inconclusive findings, and experts concede that they will probably need to scour the genomes of more than 1 million people to confidently identify even a small genetic influence on …

Read more