Originally shared by Alan Stainer

Electric jet startup is backed by Boeing and JetBlue

EV technology is not just about cars.

h/t Renaud Janson

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1109858_electric-jet-startup-is-backed-by-boeing-and-jetblue

Lots of questions raised here, most of them well explored by SF writers. New to me: the idea that gene manipulation might lead to less diversity, as we manipulate ourselves towards social ideals.

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

Gene Editing Might Change What Being Human Actually Means http://suhub.co/2pOyV48

I’ve thought for a while that as telecommuting becomes more feasible, the demand for housing in urban areas will reduce – which would certainly be a good thing in Auckland, where I live, as it’s one of the least affordable housing markets in the world.

Along with that comes an influx of money into rural and semi-rural areas, and probably the establishment of office centres in small towns and villages where people who still want to go somewhere outside their home and work in the presence of other people can do so. It’s just that the people they work alongside probably won’t be working for the same organization.

Originally shared by Yonatan Zunger

Today I’m going to get out my crystal ball and talk a bit about some potentially good news in the economy: a shift in telecommuting which suggests it may have a much deeper effect on the world in the next decade or two, which for once will not entirely serve to screw the workers.

It’s rare enough to be able to make a prognostication like that with a straight face that I thought this was worth sharing.

(This is a more in-depth version of an earlier post: https://plus.google.com/+YonatanZunger/posts/QZDyxcbEDjF . There are some great comments and discussion there, if you want to see how the conversation began!)

https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/the-future-of-telecommuting-4d019770d3e7

I wonder if Britain had similar issues when the prices of manufactured goods were dropping rapidly in the early 19th century? (See The Economy of Machinery and Manufactures by Charles Babbage. Yes, that Charles Babbage.)

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

“The issue, they say, is that Japan finds itself in the grips of a perfect, tech-generated storm. A situation made worse by central institutions failing to fully appreciate the magnitude of what is happening.” http://suhub.co/2peQNsq

Our future cities may well be cleaner (and not only for this reason).

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

This Drone Is on a Mission to Rid Your City of Dog Poop http://suhub.co/2nJt9UO

Synthetic biology. Useful for detecting substances and controlling responses to conditions (which is what natural biology does so well).

Originally shared by Singularity Hub

Scientists Hacked a Cell’s DNA and Made a Biocomputer Out of It http://suhub.co/2p6QvDR

At first I thought, “Remotely driven trucks? Would that be feasible?”

And then I thought about military drone pilots sitting in the US controlling an aircraft in Afghanistan.

But there are still a lot of things that you would want to get very, very right about this scenario, like what happens if the signal is lost, and how you prevent hacking.

Originally shared by Greg Batmarx

A Swedish company has today lifted the lid on an ambitious new project to bring electrically powered driverless trucks to market, with a view to cutting harmful emissions.

Einride is touting not just a truck, but what it calls “a new transportation system” consisting of futuristic-looking vehicles called T-pods that the company claims will change the entire trucking industry and “improve the sustainability of mankind.”

Bold words for sure, but the company’s goal is to have an active fleet of 200 T-pods running in Sweden by 2020, and Einride has stated that “partners and clients” have already signed contracts at 60 percent of its planned capacity.

The company plans to launch its first route between the Swedish cities of Gothenburg and Helsingborg, with the initial system carting more than two million pallets each year.

Each pod is 23 feet (7 meters) in length and can hold 15 “standard” pallets, for a total weight of 20 tons when full. The pods will be able to travel 124 miles on a single charge, and Einride is currently developing compatible charging stations.

How it works

The T-pod actually adopts a hybrid driverless approach. On highways the vehicle is capable of total autonomy, but when it exits onto main city roads it switches to remote control, with each pod controlled from afar by its own dedicated “driver.” Basically, each driver monitors several pods at once on the highways and can intervene should the situation require it, but when the truck is on city roads it’s one driver per pod.

It’s not entirely clear how much more efficient this will be than having a person sitting inside the vehicle, given that there are still people controlling the T-pod remotely. But Einride provided the following statement on some expected benefits:

The Einride system doesn’t only benefit the environment, but also improves road safety, creates new jobs, and provides more cost-efficient transports for purchasers.

A ‘T-pod’ is the height of efficiency; personnel don’t have to stand by as it charges or spend an excess of time away from family and friends, and overall client logistics will be more flexible.

The company also provided VentureBeat with this computer-generated mockup of roughly what the vehicle will look like when complete.

Importantly, there is no physical space inside the pods for a human to sit, these have been built entirely with autonomy or remote operation in mind. And based on Einride’s concept design, there will be no windows (why should there be?).

Our vision is to enhance the lives of all people through the delivery of a global, impact-positive supply chain infrastructure explained Einride CEO Robert Falck.

We don’t believe our work is done when we’ve achieved carbon neutrality. Our design process is driven by our goal to have a net positive impact, whether that’s improving the lives of transport workers or reducing road traffic accidents, every element of our system aims to have a measurable positive impact on the planet.

A number of other (non-electric) self-driving truck startups have come to the fore recently. Earlier this year, Embark launched a highway autopilot system that it hopes will serve as the brain to power autonomous trucks, and similar to Einride it’s aimed at employing autonomous driving only on the highway.

When Embark’s truck enters city boundaries, a human driver who’s sitting inside the truck takes over the wheel. Elsewhere, Uber-owned Otto reckons self-driving trucks will be cruising U.S. freeways within a decade, though both Uber and Otto are currently facing heat from Alphabet over alleged patent infringements.

Einride is self-funded, with some private investment on board, though Einride wouldn’t divulge any numbers or names.

Einride is transforming the existing transport chain from the ground up added Einride COO Filip Lilja. The big companies behind long-haul trucks keep building bigger trucks to increase efficiency, which ultimately means even more emissions. We are changing that by creating a secure solution that is not only cost-effective, but dramatically minimizes the negative environmental impact of the transportation industry.

https://venturebeat.com/2017/04/07/meet-t-pod-an-autonomous-electric-truck-that-can-also-be-controlled-remotely/