Important Innovations

  Big, New Innovations from Asia                                                  Source:  Amazon Just Published on Amazon & Kindle Journalist Edward Kane's latest book "ASIA: THE INNOVATION POWERHOUSE" has just been published on Kindle and Amazon.  It's available as a paperback and e-book.  If you're interested in learning about the latest, big innovations coming out of Asia - from China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and more - this is the book for you. For a free preview, go to  https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B08PS8F3NF&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_NBmZFbJ727GM4   I co-authored the book with Ed.

  BE-7 Lunar Lander Rocket Engine:  4th Successful Test     Source:  Blue Origin BE-7 Test Bezos Says BE-7 Will Land 1st Woman on the Moon Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos has announced that his space company Blue Origin has completed its fourth successful test of its lunar lander rocket engine, the BE-7.  He added the BE-7 will land the first women astronaut on the Moon.  This comment is interesting because Bezos is not taken to making predictions.  Unlike SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, he is very conservative and quiet about what he wants to target, until he achieves it. NASA's Big Artemis Competition For Blue Origin, SpaceX and Dynetics, the stakes couldn't be higher.  They are competing to be NASA's partner in the Artemis mission which will take astronauts to the Moon in 2024.  It will be the first time US astronauts will land on the Moon since the 1972 Apollo Mission. NASA has awarded a total of $1 billion among the three companies to develop initial lunar lander designs.  Fro

  Austin Russell's Luminar Technologies                                                Source:  Austin Russell Autonomous Driving Tech with Lasers Leading the Way This morning, 25 year old entrepreneur Austin Russell woke up a billionaire.  His company Luminar Technologies of Florida went public yesterday on the Nasdaq.  By the end of day, it hit $22.98 a share with a market value of $7.8 billion.  Russell founded the company at the age of 17.  He owns more than 100 million shares and his net worth overnight skyrocketed to $2.4 billion. He has created lidar sensor technology that uses lasers to power autonomous vehicles.  His technology is considered breakthrough.  Forbes is calling Russell the world's youngest, self-made billionaire. Lidar & Laser Tech with Big Investors Backing It Luminar Technologies' (LAZR) lidar tech utilizes lasers to bounce off the car's surroundings and lets it see where it is going.  It provides 360 degree surroundings' intelligence to

  Jupiter and Saturn Will Align Source:  Image of the Christmas Star Christmas Light Show On this year's winter solstice December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will align so closely that, from Earth, they will appear as though they have merged.  This radiant point of light from the two planets hasn't been seen in 800 years or since March 4, 1226.  The celestial phenomenon is known as the Christmas Star and The Star of Bethlehem. Space Phenomena According to astronomers, alignments between Jupiter and Saturn are very rare.  The alignment is known as the Great Conjunction and happens every twenty years.  But this year's light show is exceptionally rare and was last seen in the Middle Ages. As one astronomers put it, the two planets will appear to have a distance between them of less than the diameter of a full moon.  From Earth, they will look as though they have converged into a brilliant flash of light. Viewing Venue Experts say check out the southwest sky about 45 minutes after s

  Roboats Loaded with Tech to Communicate and Connect                                             Source:  MIT C-SAIL In Service, Self-Navigating Amsterdam Canals From the world famous MIT C-SAIL a team of engineers and roboticists created the Roboat, a robotic boat that uses the same autonomous self-driving technology for cars but adapted for the water. That adaptation was extremely innovative.  Roboat II has been under development for five years.  It is now large enough to carry passengers through the tricky canals in Amsterdam. It does so autonomously.  Importantly, the Roboats are capable of communicating and connecting with each other because of greatly advanced control algorithms and navigation systems.  That capability opens up new forms of transportation possibilities on water. Tremendous Tech Layered In The Roboat has four propellers that enable it to move in any direction.  It contains GPS, Lidar and inertial sensors.  At the moment, it is six feet long and can carry two pass

  Airbnb With a Possible $35 billion Valuation                                                       Source: Airbnb Fast, Dramatic Turnaround from COVID-19 Business Hit Airbnb, the San Francisco based home rental company, will debut on the Nasdaq on December 10, aiming for a valuation of $35 billion.  It along with DoorDash (my blog 10/30) are expected to be blockbuster U.S. IPO's to close out the year.  Airbnb was devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic.  As travel came to a halt, Airbnb had to layoff 25% of its workforce and get $2 billion in emergency funding from investors.  As people started traveling again in Q3 2020, the company's business turned around and it scored a surprise profit for Q3.  Two new trends moved the company forward.  People opted to book homes rather than hotels.  And, they preferred to book a home away from major cities. Entrepreneurial Success Story Airbnb was founded as a website in 2008 by two entrepreneurs:  Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia. They started t

  New Tech Making Electric Cars A Lot Easier to Use                                                                                           Source:  WiTricity New Global Standard Operating an electric car is about to get a lot easier.  New technology has been developed that allows a driver to charge their EV without plugging into an outlet.  The baseline technology has been developed by WiTricity, an MIT spin-off company that designs wireless charging for vehicles and appliances.  Automakers and suppliers have signed on to developing it as a universal standard.  Luxury vehicles like the BMW53oe hybrid are ready to use the system with moderately priced EVs expected to follow suit. Pad and Receiver The wireless power transfer (WPT) system is composed of a pad and a receiver.  The system delivers DC current from a pad mounted on the floor to a receiver on the vehicle.  Charging efficiency is 94%.  The SAE International engineers' association has brought in a large,  number of automa