Category: The Future

Electric Charging Roads – Recharging during your Journey

The number of electric vehicles on the road has increased exponentially over the last few years. This is mainly a result of environmental concerns and governments becoming more focused on finding sustainable energy sources. Sweden has recently become the first country to install a section of the road that can recharge the batteries of vehicles as they drive along it. The project consisted of embedding 2 km of electric rail, in a location near Stockholm, and is in accordance with the country’s plans to stop using vehicles that run on fossil fuels by 2030. The government has already drafted a map to install more electric charging roads to keep the batteries of electric vehicles affordable, as well as to prevent them from losing their charge during a journey.

The length of the road extends from Stockholm Arlanda Airport to a logistics site outside the capital city. Vehicles can be charged by energy being transferred from two tracks of rail in the road, using a movable arm attached to their undercarriage. This would be automatically disconnected if a vehicle stops or is overtaking another one. The electric charging road is currently divided into sections of 50m, each of which is only powered on when a vehicle is directly overhead. Citizens that take advantage of the service will be billed based on the energy consumption of their vehicle. The first vehicle to use Sweden’s ‘dynamic charging’ facilities was a truck owned by logistics firm, PostNord, which previously ran on diesel.

eRoadArlanda oversaw the project’s completion and has ensured the public that the country’s roads, as well as the vehicles currently being driven on them, could be adapted to take advantage of the technology. Sweden plans to install the technology in the 20,000km of highways that the country has. This would provide enough power to recharge any vehicle traveling in the country, as the longest distance between highways is 45km and all electric vehicles can travel that far without the need to recharge. Each km of the electric road cost U$1.2 million to install, but the government has estimated this to be 50 times less than the installation of a tram line. They also guarantee the roads’ safety, as the electricity is located five or six centimeters below the surface.

In addition to expanding within their own country, the Swedish government is making plans to provide Berlin with a similar network in the future. Other countries have already made the investment for public vehicles, including Israel which has installed roads to power their electric buses. The technology would currently not be applicable to most countries, due to the condition that many of the roads are in and the unlikely need for most vehicles to recharge during their journey. The inflated cost of installing these roads is also a deterrent. For Sweden and heavy-duty vehicles, such as the PostNord truck, EV charging roads are an ideal, convenient solution, however.

Drone Tracking – Increasing Safety by Regulating Airways

The number of drones being used worldwide is increasing rapidly, both for commercial and personal reasons. Businesses are making long-term investments, and the small aircrafts are quickly becoming the chosen method of delivery. With this increase in the number of drones, comes the need to develop a way of regulating the area that they will operate in. In 2017, SESAR Joint Undertaking, drafted a blueprint for a project, known as U-Space, which will regulate and monitor the airspace for drone operation. The blueprint outlines the stages in which the services will be implemented, to support the EU aviation strategy, while creating a regulatory framework for the drones. These sections will be put into effect between 2018 and 2022, and are:

U1 – Foundation services which would cover registration and identification of the drones. In addition, implementing spaces which will be inaccessible to the drones, geofencing, will also take place.

U2 – Initial services for the drone operation, which includes flight planning and approval, tracking and interfacing with air traffic control. This management system will be essential for U-Space to accomplish another one of their goals, which is introducing more drones to businesses.

U3 – Advanced services designed to support more complex operations in dense areas. This would include assistance for conflict detection and automated detect and avoid.

U4 – This final stage would include full services such as high levels of automation, connectivity and digitalization.

The benefits of the U-Space project, which is designed to increase the safety of European airspace for drones and their operators, would include:

  • Fair, flexible and open access to airspace, which will allow for the expansion of the drone market.
  • Noise and visual pollution can be monitored and limited, as well as offering new services to citizens.
  • Regulatory authorities would be able to maintain control over the airspace, and ensure that the privacy, safety and security of citizens, and drone users, is maintained. Registration and identification of drones will be enforced.
  • The project will also facilitate the development of new models, opening up the use of drones for business purposes. This will help to increase the growth of the business sector, and support the movement towards automation and digitalization.

Switzerland has recently begun implementing their U-Space strategies, via a joint effort with Skyguide, a Swiss air traffic control operator, and Airmap, the organization responsible for management platforms for drones. After the first phase (U1) has been implemented, there is the expectation that more drones will enter the Swiss airspace and market. The system is currently being used for ‘automated flight authorization and cataloging for drones,’ until further expansion can take place. The project will continue to grow, and Switzerland deserves congratulations for being one of the first countries to take the initiative to make their airspace safer for all.

Fusion Power – Possible Success in Harnessing the Energy of the Sun

The ability to successfully harness fusion power, the energy source of the stars, would change the future of the entire world. Tremendous amounts of energy are formed when lighter atoms, such as hydrogen, smash together to form heavier ones. This energy release takes place at temperatures of hundreds of millions of degrees, which would cause it to melt every material we currently have available to us on earth. In an effort to harness fusion power, researchers use magnetic fields to keep it away from the walls of any chamber in which it is being produced. These efforts have all resulted in more energy being expended, than being harvested, for our use.

MIT has collaborated with a new company, Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS), in the hopes of bringing the world’s first successful fusion power plant to working order within the next 15 years. The collaboration is using a unique form of production, called SPARC, which will build smaller, more powerful field magnets using new high-temperature superconductors. The material that will be used in their creation has recently been introduced to the market, and will result in the magnets being four times stronger than any previously used in fusion experiments. Development time for these has been estimated to be within the next three years.

These superconducting electromagnets are the key component towards creating a more compact version of a fusion device, known as a tokamak. This will result in more than tenfold the amount of power the tokamak will produce. The magnets would also make it possible to build smaller plants to achieve the required amount of energy. SPARC is expected to produce, in 10 second pulses, as much power as is used by a small city. The success of the magnets would result in fusion power being used as an alternative energy source, helping to decrease climate change due to its lack of emissions.

MIT and CFS plan to carry out rapid research, which would lead to the formation of these new plants. CFS has already attracted a $50 million investment from Italian energy company, Eni, and  continues to seek further investments. The collaboration’s ultimate goal is to establish a new industry by commercializing fusion power. Eni CEO, Claudio Descalzi, pointed out that fusion is the energy source of the future as it is completely sustainable, does not release emissions or long term waste, and is potentially inexhaustible. After SPARC has proven successful, the collaboration will begin its final construction of a new power plant approximately twice the size of SPARC’s diameter. The plant would be the first true fusion power plant in the world, and would have the ability to produce a capacity of 200 MW of electricity.

The Future of the Internet – Google’s Quick-Loading AMP Pages

Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages project is designed to bring a faster web browsing experience to mobile devices. The company has been using the technology for a while, but wants to expand the number of users. The speed at which many websites load on mobiles is significantly slower than on computers, because of the design and the high number of advertisements on these pages. Google praised their solution, AMP, as an open-source website-publishing technology that will be available for all site owners to take advantage of. It will allow them to increase the speed of their pages, without losing the value of having ads on their website.

To take advantage of the product, developers would need to make an alternate version of their website using the open-source library provided by AMP. It is advertised as being compatible with most browsers, and having the ability to work across multiple platforms. In addition to being mobile friendly, some of the other advantages of AMP are: the inclusion of ads and analytics, shorter loading times, a lower bounce rate, enhanced SEO and compatibility with any browser. AMP would enable articles on all websites to load as quickly as on Facebook, which applies a similar technology.

Google is placing emphasis on the product’s benefits, in an effort to convince the company that controls the internet’s web standards to adopt this technology for the benefit of all. The tech lead for the AMP project, Malte Ubl, has written ’We now feel ready to take the next step and work to support more instant-loading content not based on AMP technology in areas of Google Search designed for this.’ The blog post in which this was addressed also noted that Google has learnt a significant amount from their research and application.

Many people question Google’s motives, however, as there is the widespread belief that the company pushes new technology for selfish reasons, rather than in an effort to make the internet better for all users. Web developers and publishers, although excited about the product, have expressed their concern about the implications of Google leading the way with AMP technology. An open letter was written in which the company was accused of planning to use this as a method of keeping users ‘within Google’s domain’ and diverting traffic away from other websites. Arguments against the product also state that even though it is open-source, doesn’t mean it is impartial.

Google is already one of the biggest controllers of the internet, and the major fear is that this will increase their dominance. The company has denied that this is the reason behind their pushing of the product. The controversy continues as they try to find ways of proving how genuine their intention is, while many experts urge companies to increase their website’s speed by simply ‘not doing things that are slow.’

Elon Musk’s Q & A – An SW Tech Conference to Remember

Worldwide interest in the achievements being made by Elon Musk’s companies is at an all-time peak. It therefore comes as no surprise that the vast majority of his followers pay close attention to his every move. The entrepreneur recently treated them to a Q & A session at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Tech Conference, held on March 11, 2018, in Austin, Texas. The announcement had been made the night before, via email, and the audience’s questions were thrown at him by Jonathan Nolan, the co-writer of Interstellar. Musk’s answers shed light on the progress already made by his companies, and showed the direction each one would be moving in.

SpaceX, one of his companies with a shaky past, has surpassed expectations with its recent achievements. In February it achieved a successful launch of Falcon Heavy, and Musk said that their new aim was to complete the BFR in the shortest amount of time possible. The goal is for this rocket to be the first to transport humanity to Mars, which Musk believes is essential to the survival of our species. He declared that test flights are expected in 2019, even though he did acknowledge that his enthusiasm does sometimes result in unrealistic deadlines. In addition to the test next year, SpaceX is expected to conduct their first cargo journey to Mars in 2022, with crewed missions following by 2024.

Musk believes that the distance between the Earth and Mars makes it the perfect place to begin setting up a self-sustaining base, as it is more likely to survive a catastrophic event than a base on the moon. The entrepreneur insisted that we needed ‘enough of a seed of human civilization somewhere else to bring it back and shorten the length of the dark ages,’ in the event of a disaster wiping out our species. Musk believes that there are several scenarios that might cause this, including a third World War, and the irresponsible development of artificial intelligence. This led him to stress the importance of developing AI safely, a field in which he is ‘very close to the cutting edge.’ It was apparent in his manner, however, that this concept both fascinated and terrified him simultaneously. In Musk’s own words, ‘AI is much more dangerous than nukes,’ and requires a ‘regulatory oversight.’

On the other hand, Musk spoke about the same technology being applied to the advancement of autonomous cars. Within 18 months, Musk believes that self-driving technology will be applicable to all vehicles, increasing road safety between 100 and 200%. He spoke about Tesla’s autonomous driving system, Autopilot 2.0, being 2 – 3 times safer than the average human driver. Tesla is currently working towards achieving Level 5 (full) autonomy, in their vehicles. In addition to these projects, Musk has others that are changing the way technology is developing and followers look forward to his next (spontaneous) Q & A session.

Geoengineering – A Possible Solution to Global Warming

Global warming has been mainly a result of humans releasing various chemicals and gases into the atmosphere. Researchers have demonstrated that unless we drastically change the way we treat our planet, the temperature of our atmosphere will reach a ‘tipping point.’ This will result in extreme weather conditions, a disastrous rise in sea levels and massive droughts which will lead to widespread diseases and starvation. Geoengineering is a possible solution to global warming, and consists of altering the planet’s climate to ensure that we can continue to inhabit it safely.

Geoengineering methods are currently being researched, with the biggest obstacle being the inclusion of all nations. There are also questions about the safety of changing the planet’s atmosphere. Scientists are currently divided over whether geoengineering might be a solution to our problem, or may become a bigger one in itself. The high levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere show where the planet may continue to heat up, despite drastic changes being implemented to reduce emissions. In this event, geoengineering is currently the only proposed solution.

Different methods of accomplishing geoengineering have been proposed, which would also require reducing the amount of greenhouses gases being emitted. These include: 

Iron fertilization – A layer of iron sulphate crystals would be placed on a large part of the Earth’s oceans, to stimulate the growth of phytoplankton. These plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen, which could help cool down the planet. The low cost of the materials and availability of the technology, makes this idea appealing to many researchers. On the other hand, this method has been opposed because of the bacteria that phytoplankton attract when they die. These bacteria would use up the oxygen in the surrounding area creating an oceanic ‘death zone,’ preventing any animal venturing nearby without getting sick or dying. In addition, models of iron fertilization show that the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would not decrease enough to make any difference to global warming.

Reflecting or Blocking Sunlight – In 2006, NASA funded a research effort which demonstrated that reducing the amount of sun entering the atmosphere by just 2% would cool the Earth significantly. This led to the proposition of positioning massive mirrors, or ‘parasols,’ in outer space in a ring around the planet to deflect the sun’s rays. In addition to the exorbitant costs associated with setting up these mirrors, scientists believe that side effects could include: altered weather patterns, a shift in the ice coverage at the poles and a change in the ocean currents.

Stratospheric Aerosol Injection – This theory would involve releasing particles into the upper atmosphere, which would reflect sunlight upon its entry. This effect has previously been observed after volcanic eruptions, which have resulted in the planet cooling down. Scientists have predicted that this method could cause severe climate changes, depending on where the particles are released. The particles would also have to be replenished at regular intervals.