Mastering automation is a foundational skill required to safely operate any modern state-of-the-art aircraft. Under normal circumstances, automation reduces workload, creates efficiencies, and, to a fault, is highly dependable. On rare occasions, these highly reliable systems present pilots with an unexpected, obscure, or highly complex scenario that if mismanaged may quickly deteriorate and jeopardize the safety of flight. The article focuses on situations to where the human was unable to work with or override an autonomous system, resulting in lost of craft and life. This is a situation that will continue to rise in significance as we transition to more autonomy in our lives. We must understand the machines as we understand ourselves and others involved in our lives.

ZeroAvia announced a development collaboration with Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines, for a hydrogen-electric powertrain capable of flying 76-seat regional aircraft in excess of 500 NM. Alaska is also joining the list of top investors for the company, alongside a fellow Seattle-based Amazon Climate Pledge Fund and Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures. Alaska Airlines has also secured options for up to 50 kits to begin converting its regional aircraft to hydrogen-electric power through ZeroAvia's zero-emission powertrain. Zero emission would be a huge step, and nice to see Bezos and Gates both involved.

University of Utah mechanical engineering professor Jake J. Abbott is leading a team of researchers that has discovered a method to manipulate orbiting debris with spinning magnets. With this technology, robots could one day gently maneuver the scrap to a decaying orbit or further out into space without actually touching it, or they could repair malfunctioning objects to extend their life. Space debris mitigation is a growing problem without a solution, and the objects are travelling so fast that impact of even a small piece of debris with a valuable asset can render it useless. This technology allows moving the objects 'in six degrees of movement, including rotating them', as well as 'control where the debris goes without physically grabbing it.' The tactical value of space assets continues to grow, and being able to control them without contact could be a valuable capability.

McKinsey article, a 'proposal for business, government, and society leaders.' 'We propose a way for changemakers in business, government, and society to explore the problem, a mental model that might offer the best chance to reach the answer.' The article believes all three changes are needed and are synergistic. To find a way to make progress in all three areas would be significant and would be beneficial for all.

Satellite images show China has built mock-ups of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier and destroyer in its northwestern desert, possibly for practice for a future naval clash as tensions rise between the nations. Provocation involving superpowers is typically a bad idea. It's hard to understand the value in an action like this, given that China likely knows a bit about our satellite reconnaissance technology. It's a strange mentality and makes one wonder what sort of response they are hoping for.

Called "Xavier," the robots are equipped with seven cameras that enable them to detect "undesirable social behaviour," for instance if you incorrectly park your bike, if you smoke in an unauthorised area or if social distancing is not being respected. "If the robot is around and something happens, the people in the control room will have a trace and will be able to see what happened", he said. This type of activity can have huge social impacts: paranoia with anything and everything you do. Who decides 'undesirable social behavior'? How about when only part of the scenario is captured by the robot, who is believed? You or the robot? What's next - a taser-armed robot, with someone in a room with a joystick ready to deploy? On do we eventually get so many robots that we just let them decide? And how about let's hack in to a few thousand of those armed robots…

This article discusses a number of implementations of facial-recognition technology, and while this can make the specific use run smoother, there are concerns about what is done with the scans. They also discuss a number of outlandish uses - in Shenzhen, pedestrians who crossed the road at a red light had their faces beamed on to a billboard. Trying to weigh the benefits realized by the specific uses with the privacy compromise of the scanned images and how they are used. And while the data is publicly used only for specific applications there are endless opportunities to misuse the data.

This research is not focused on autonomy but on driver aides. This started with 'lane departure warning', which now also includes in some implementations a correction nudge. This work is focused on sudden avoidance manoeuvres by detecting the object and the direction it is travelling. "We can numerically determine what the optimal manoeuvre is and then decide which control principle is the best." Significant improvement in surviving accidents that would often be fatal - 233 run-off lane accidents were analyzed that ended in fatalities or very serious injury, and the team concluded that 80% were avoidable with an autonomous system.

Facebook is working on a new artificial intelligence (AI)-based system that can analyse your lives through first-person videos, recording what they see, do, and hear to assist you with daily tasks. The system is hoping to solve research challenges in 'egocentric perception' (the perception of direction or position of oneself based on visual information). Facebook AI has developed five benchmark challenges centred on first-person visual experience - episodic memory, forecasting, hand and object manipulation, audio-visual "diarization," and social interaction. On the upside, a robotic assistant could be introduced to a person via a series of videos and be able to provide a personalized presence. I would assume that if the robot could have constant access to first-person videos it could continue to learn. On the downside, even more data mining.

This report focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the underdeveloped world, and outlines 'six essential solutions to build a safer world.' 'The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed a world that is unequal, divided, and unaccountable. The health emergency ecosystem reflects this broken world. It is not fit for purpose and needs major reform. Hundreds of expert recommendations have been made over the last two decades, new structures have been created, but the level of ambition and action has failed to match the global need. We know what to do. We just cannot seem to do it'

Princeton researchers have developed a new way to make fuel from cellulose-Earth's most abundant organic compound, found in all plant cells-speeding up a notoriously slow chemical process and in some cases doubling energy yields over comparable methods. Cellulosic biomass has long been seen as a key ingredient in curbing greenhouse gas emissions, providing the feedstock for a renewable and clean-burning transportation fuel. The U.S. Department of Energy has conducted a series of studies showing that at least one billion tons of biomass could be sustainably harvested each year in the United States without disrupting forests or food production to produce biofuels, largely from cellulose.

Travellers will use facial scanners to print and attach a bag tag from a self-serve kiosk and place their bag on the conveyer. They will also use facial scan to pass through the domestic checkpoint in dedicated TSA PreCheck lanes (no need to show a government ID or boarding pass) and at the gate another facial scan will produce a boarding pass. Automation of these services will result in fewer jobs as well as enhanced tracking and identification of passengers.

A Houston-based company called Axiom Space has been most public about its intentions, talking for a few years now about developing the world's "first commercial space station." But this week, two other options emerged for NASA: Nanoracks and Lockheed Martin announced their intent to build a space station called "Starlab," and another team led by Blue Origin and Sierra Space revealed plans to construct an "Orbital Reef." If multiple options become available for space travel the price will be forced down, allowing for more people to travel and experience The Overview Effect. This could result in more influential people aligning with addressing climate change. Microgravity also allows some sections of science to mature much faster, resulting in more breakthrough technologies coming to market faster.

Starlink has set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in India called Starlink Satellite Communications Private, with a a "stretch goal" to deploy 200,000 Starlink user terminals in more than 160,000 rural districts in India by December 2022. Starlink is also in talks with two telecommunications companies in the Philippines, where it also wants to launch its satellite service. This project would result in Internet availability to more people - Starlink wants to introduce its internet to schools in and near to the capital city of New Delhi.

Technologists in the U.S. and China, experts in Japan and researchers within the European Space Agency and the United Kingdom Space Agency are all working to make space-based solar power a reality. Over the past decade, researchers have made impressive advances that increase the likelihood that space solar power (SSP) will be realized during the next decade. "Two of the biggest hurdles to the realization of SSP have always been the cost of launch and the cost of hardware. Add flight rate, and all of a sudden you're looking at numbers always talked about for solar power satellites." The experts believe that solar power satellites at scale could be available within a decade, and envision "a world in the year 2100 where about 20% of electrical power comes from terrestrial nuclear and renewables, with 80% supplied by astroelectricity."

An all-electric plane capable of carrying 100 people may be available within six years, significantly accelerating the timeline for the introduction of a non-kerosene powered commercial airliner. U.S. startup Wright Electric Inc. plans to retrofit electric motors into a BAe 146 regional aircraft, replacing its four jet engines and transforming it into a zero-emissions model. The planes will have a range of about one hour or 460 miles. Zero emissions would be a game-changer for the airline industry, and this timing would make the company first to market. The converted planes would be suited to linking close city pairs such as New York and Boston, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo and many European locations currently served by regional jets.

Stronger, lighter and more flexible than graphene, borophene has the potential to revolutionize batteries, electronics, sensors, solar cells and quantum computing. And if growing one layer was difficult, growing multiple layers of atomically flat borophene seemed impossible. Because bulk boron is not layered like graphite, growing boron beyond single atomic layers leads to clustering rather than planar films.

3D printing technology, using heat-resistant metal alloys, is revolutionizing trial-and-error rocket development. Whole structures that would have previously required hundreds of distinct components can now be printed in a matter of days. The key to fast engine development is to reduce the number of parts, which reduces the time it takes to assemble the engine and the disruption caused by supply chain delays. The easiest way to do this is to change manufacturing processes. Space companies are now moving away from subtractive manufacturing processes-which remove material to shape a part-to additive manufacturing processes that build up a part by adding material to it bit by bit.

A fun set of four short videos with differing scenarios titled 'Future of Buildings - 2040'

A very interesting but lengthy read. The report describes a system for using foresight to develop EU R&I policy, which includes: - a set of future scenarios for different World Regions, - a mechanism for signposting relevant trends and - a process for assessing policy options combining standard policy assessment mechanisms with future scenarios. The regional scenarios include: ● China ● Japan, South Korea & Taiwan ● ASEAN ● India & its Neighbours ● Australia & New Zealand ● Russia & Central Asia ● The Middle East & North Africa ● Sub-Saharan Africa ● Central & South America ● United States, Canada & Mexico