Lifeboat Foundation

“While Aravena, who is from Chile, is relatively unknown in the United States (although he taught for five years at Harvard and served for a period on the Pritzker jury), for at least the last decade he has been establishing himself on the international architecture scene as a serious and unusual practitioner who straddles, subtly but brilliantly, the worlds of formal high design and social responsibility. He has plenty of credibility as a serious designer—he was recently named curator of the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale—but his own mode of architectural practice is what sets him apart. Aravena runs Elemental, which bills itself as a “do tank”—not a think tank—and which creates “projects of public interest and social impact, including housing, public space, infrastructure and transportation.””

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As I have mentioned in some of my other reports and writings; infrastructure (power grids, transportation, social services, etc.) is a key area that we need to modernize and get funding soon in place given the changes that are coming. As Russia’s own power stations were hacked; it will not be anything to when the more sophisticated releases of the Quantum Internet and Platforms are finally releasing to the main stream. Someone last week asked me what kept me up at night worrying; I told them our infrastructure and we have not been planning or modernizing it to handle the changes that are coming in the next 5 years much less the next 7 years.

With cyberattacks gaining in sophistication and volume, we can expect to see a range of new targets in the year ahead.

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The primary reason hoverboards have become public enemy #1 in recent times is due to their unfortunate tendency to catch fire and explode due to their lithium-ion batteries overheating.

But a new lithium-ion battery developed by scientists in the US could put an end to such dramas. Researchers at Stanford University have made the world’s first lithium-ion battery that shuts off before it overheats, then restarts immediately when its temperature has cooled.

Conventional lithium-ion batteries comprise a pair of electrodes and a liquid or gel electrolyte that carries charged particles between them. However, if the battery’s temperature reaches around 150 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit) as a result of a defect or overcharging, the electrolyte can catch fire and trigger an explosion, as we’ve seen in many sad cases.

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During an interview with BBC, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says it’s “obvious” and an “open secret” that Apple is building its own electric car.

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https://youtube.com/watch?v=vShi-xx6ze8

Anyone paying attention to all of the news about autonomous vehicles from Google and other companies may have noticed a common thread in the stories, photos and videos. The roads are always dry and the sun is shining. That’s because many of the sensors used to let a car manage its own trajectory don’t work well unless they can see the road and other surroundings clearly. Ford is now claiming to be the first automaker to test its prototype autonomous vehicles in winter weather conditions.

After becoming the first automaker to use the Mcity test facility in Ann Arbor, Mich. for autonomous vehicle tests last fall, the Dearborn automaker continued its development work into December when the snow started to fly.

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“It’s probably better than a person right now (at driving),” Musk said on the call.

Musk added that in the next two years or so, Tesla cars “will be able to drive virtually all roads at a safety level significantly better than humans.”

“I think within two years you’ll be able to summon your car from across the country,” Musk said.

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Originally published on EV Obsession.

Mercedes-Benz is now aiming to bring 4 electric vehicles to market over just the next few years, rather than simply one, according to recent reports.

The reason for the speeding up of plans is apparently that competitors such as BMW and Audi (not to mention the rising competitor Tesla) have been making strong moves as of late — meaning that Mercedes needs to speed things up on the electric vehicles front or possibly get left behind.

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Yesterday, Tesla Motors released software update 7.1 for the Model S and Model X, an update that allows the electric cars to park themselves while you stand by and watch in awe. Today, CEO Elon Musk made a bold prediction: In 2018, this feature will work anywhere that cars can drive.

Called Summon, the functionality is part of Tesla’s Autopilot self-driving technology. Autopilot was introduced with version 7.0 of Tesla’s software in October 2015, and lets drivers take their hands off the wheel in certain conditions.

Continue reading “Elon Musk: You’ll be able to summon your Tesla from anywhere in 2018” »

Take a look at Hyperloop Tech.’s test site in the Nevada desert. This is where it plans to conduct its first full-system, full-scale, full-speed Hyperloop test run this year.

Full video: http://cnnmon.ie/1ZOh21S #CES2016

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