Lifeboat Foundation

The energy generation site will be connected to the grid and power Google’s data centers in Nevada.

Houston-based US startup Fervo Energy has claimed that it has achieved “commercial scale” geothermal energy production from its Project Red demonstration site in northern Nevada. The site recently completed a 30-day well test, a standard for geothermal energy installations, a company press release said.

Geothermal energy is one of the sources of renewable power being explored as the world moves away from fossil fuels. Unlike wind and solar power plants, geothermal energy can be sourced around the clock and on demand to cater to increased energy needs.

Throughout history, humans have observed and sought inspiration from many aspects of nature to improve flight efficiency, maneuverability, and stability. And since the days of Leonardo da Vinci, nature-inspired design, also known as biomimicry or bio-inspired design, has played and continues to play a significant role in the development of aviation.

Now, in a paper published in Advanced Science, Masoud Akbarzadeh of the Weitzman School of Design at the University of Pennsylvania and his former Ph.D. student Hao Zheng build upon the principles of biomimicry by drawing inspiration from the wing of a dragonfly to redesign that of a Boeing 777.

“Nature’s a great teacher in telling us how to optimize systems,” Akbarzadeh says. “And when you look at a dragonfly, you see wings that have evolved over millions of years into an incredibly lightweight, efficient, and strong structure.”

2020 underwater base.

Aquanaut Fabien Cousteau — grandson of famed ocean explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau — has announced plans to build the world’s biggest underwater base for scientific research.

He calls the facility “Proteus” and envisions it being the ocean equivalent of the International Space Station — a place where scientists from across the globe can work together to solve the world’s biggest problems, from climate change to world hunger.

Continue reading “This underwater base could become the ISS of the ocean” »

While Tesla famously won’t support CarPlay, code found in its iOS app update points to at least testing of AirPlay in its cars.

It’s never been possible to use Apple’s CarPlay in Teslas — not without a hack, and a convoluted one at that — but CEO Elon Musk has previously hinted at AirPlay support.

Now according to the unofficial “Tesla App Updates (iOS)” account on Twitter, the latest version of Tesla’s iPhone app includes a mention of AirPlay in its code.

The purpose-built 35ft electric flying boat also offers a top speed of 22 knots.

How do you make an electric boat go faster and further on a single charge? Either you fit a more powerful battery that usually increases the weight, making it counterproductive, or use a hydrofoil system to reduce drag.

Continue reading “At 100 nautical miles, this battery-powered hydrofoil boat offers world’s longest range” »

Flying cars are becoming closer to reality than what sci-fi movies may lead you to believe. Another electric flying car “took flight” this week in the US. CEO Doron Merdinger of Miami-based Doroni Aerospace successfully piloted a two-seater personal vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft that fits in your garage.

Electric flying cars are all of a sudden taking the US by storm. Last month, California-based Alef Aeronautics revealed its 100% electric flying car, “Model A,” the first of its kind to receive legal approval to fly from the US government.

Continue reading “Flying electric car takes off in the US as CEO discusses industry’s future [Video]” »

BENGALURU, July 13 (Reuters) — Tesla (TSLA.O) is discussing an investment proposal with the Indian government to set up a factory with an annual capacity to produce about half a million electric vehicles, the Times of India reported on Thursday, citing government sources.

The company, led by billionaire Elon Musk, is also looking at using India as an export base to ship cars to countries in the Indo-Pacific region, the report said.

The starting price for the vehicles will be 2 million rupees ($24,400.66), the report added, which is more than double of India’s cheapest EV, MG Comet, and half a million costlier than Tata Nexon EV, the top-selling electric car in the country.

A huge solar power station in China is generating clean energy, producing salt from sunlight, and serving as a shrimp-breeding site.

State-owned China Huadian Corporation said the 1-gigawatt (GW) Huadian Tianjin Haijing power station will generate 1.5 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year – enough to power around 1.5 million households in China.

Continue reading “This 1 GW solar + salt + shrimp farm is a 3-in-1 power station” »

The European Southern Observatory continues to build the largest telescope in the world, the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). Construction of the telescope began in 2014 with flattening the top of a mountain named Cerro Armazones in Chile’s Atacama Desert.

ESO just announced that progress on construction has crossed the 50% mark. The remaining work should take another five years. When it finally comes online in 2028, the telescope will have a 39-meter (128 ft) primary mirror of 798 hexagonal segments, making it the largest telescope in the world for visible and infrared light. The new telescope should help to answer some of the outstanding questions about our Universe, such as how the first stars and galaxies formed, and perhaps even be able to take direct images of extrasolar planets.

Continue reading “The Biggest Telescope in the World is Half Built” »