Important Innovations

Starhopper Spaceship Aces Test Launch Source:  SpaceX Big Victory for SpaceX Elon Musk's SpaceX is on a roll with victory after victory in the commercialization of space.  It's latest success happened yesterday with the successful launch of its spaceship Starhopper.  For more details, go to Important Innovations Collection: SpaceX on Target for Mars : Starhopper Rocket Prototype Passes Highest & Final Test Source:  Space X Next: On to Orbital Prototypes for 2021 Launch Another ...

Toyota & Suzuki Invest in Each Other to Develop Electric and Autonomous Technologies Source:  Toyota New Global Example of the Rules of the Road to Innovation Toyota and Suzuki are taking small equity stakes in each other.  The purpose, according to the Japanese automakers, is to develop new innovative technologies and come out on top in the rapidly changing global automotive industry. Deepening Japanese Alliance This announcement deepens the alliance between the two global automakers with Toyota taking a 4.9% stake, amounting to $908 million, in the smaller rival Suzuki, which owns Mazda and Suburu.  Suzuki is investing $453 million in Toyota for 0.2% of Toyota shares. All About Developing Expensive Electric and Autonomous Technologies Today's R&D innovation tie-up between Suzuki and Toyota is another leading example of the technology partnerships in the global automotive industry.  It's all about joining forces, with big competitors, to defray the costs

Innovative, Advanced Airbag Technology Source:  Honda Honda Will Deploy Next Generation Airbags in 2020 Vehicles Honda calls its new invention the catcher's mitt airbag.  The advanced airbag technology provides a wide protective barrier across the car dashboard and catches and cradles the front passenger's head like a catcher's mitt.  For a news blog on this new technology, go to Important Innovations Collection: Honda's Catcher's Mitt Airbag : Next Generation Airbag that Catches & Cradles the Head Source:  Honda Airbag Innovative New Passenger Front Airbag Design Honda&...

Parachute-Like Device Part of Barrier System That Captures Plastic Pollution Source:  Ocean Cleanup Pacific Garbage Patch Success The Ocean Cleanup is a foundation, headquartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, that develops advanced systems to rid the world's oceans of plastics.  They just reported the successful use of parachute-like devices as part of their Ocean Project System 001B in the Pacific's so-called Garbage Patch to aggressively capture ocean plastic pollution and it worked brilliantly. Parachute-Like Devices Attached to Barrier Worked Beautifully The Pacific Garbage Patch, loaded with plastic pollution that gets worse environmentally daily, is three times the size of France and twice the size of Texas.  Floating plastic is light, fast moving and difficult to contain on the ocean long enough for humans to recover it.  By attaching the parachute-like device to the organization's barrier, the system slowed down the fast moving plastic enough to make i

Starliner Manned Flight to International Space Station Source:  Boeing Starliner Boeing and NASA Commercial Astronauts At the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a veteran team of astronauts are training for the trip of a lifetime.  They'll be launched into space onboard Boeing's new spacecraft Starliner to the International Space Station.  The Starliner is a next generation space capsule designed to take people to and from low Earth orbit. For Boeing, NASA is the anchor company for Starliner, beginning with missions to the ISS with NASA and NASA sponsored crews.  The space vehicle will eventually take tourists on space voyages. Launch Time The Starliner mission will launch in late 2019 or in early 2020.  The five person crew, two women and three men, are Boeing and NASA veteran astronauts.  This mission underscores the importance of the growing commercial business opportunities in space.  You might call it an intergalactic global business frontier that is just opening

Tencent Launches WeChat System for Drivers Source:  Tencent WeChat Set to Deploy Late 2019 in China Tencent is launching a drivers' version of its very popular social app, WeChat, that has one billion active members globally.  The drivers' version of WeChat is voice operated, interactive and has a button on the steering wheel to make calls, send and receive messages.  The device is being offered first in China with a partnership with Chinese automaker China Changan Automobile.  For more news on the announcement, go to Important Innovations Collection: WeChat for Drivers : New Interactive Tech for Drivers Just Announced by Tencent Source:  Tencent Being Launched in China Tencent just announced a new ver...

Thin, Flexible Artificial Muscles Source:  KAIST New Invention from KAIST University, South Korea KAIST scientists have developed thin, flexible artificial muscles that can power the wings of a robotic butterfly, open the petals of a robotic flower brooch and have applications for active biomedical devices, soft robotics, wearable robotics and much more.  For a news blog, go to Important Innovations Collection: Thin, Flexible Artificial Muscles : New Innovation from KAIST of South Korea Source:  KAIST Many Potential Uses: Like Wearable Robotics, Active Biomedical Devices This i...

"The Putin Limousine" Taking Orders Now Russia's first post-Soviet era luxury sedan just went on display and sale in Moscow this weekend with an official showroom. The car is part of the Aurus brand, used by President Vladimir Putin in his inauguration in 2018. Hence, the nickname the "Putin Limousine".   The Aurus Senat sedan is based priced at $274,000.  Aurus is taking orders for the vehicle. Targeted, Global Customer Base Aurus says that the targeted customer base is government officials and businesspeople in China, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.  Russia has invested $189 million in the Aurus limousine project since 2013.  There are plans to open a showroom in China in 2020-2021. Electric Vehicles on the Horizon and a Lot More The vehicles are produced by a Russian research institute NAMI in partnership with Russian carmaker Sollers.  Luxury hybrid and electric models are targeted for 2024.  They are also developing a SUV, minivan, an e

Highly Advanced Robotics from FAU Source:  FAU's Astro Astro, One of the World's Smartest Robodogs Florida Atlantic University's Astro is a very smart robodog.  It's loaded with cameras, sensors, radar imaging, a directional microphone and four teraflops of processing power which enables up to 4 trillion computations per second.  Astro learns like your dog, through repetition, trial and error. It could be a big player in search and rescue, bomb detection, work as a service dog and much more.  For a great news blog on this new invention, go to Important Innovations Collection: Smart Robodog Learns Like a Dog : Astro May Be One of the World's Smartest Dogs Source:  Florida Atlantic University New Invention from Florida Atlantic University...

Fedor in Orbit Source:  Russian Space Agency Roscosmos - Fedor Spacebot Docking at ISS Aborted Today Russia's first humanoid robot Fedor or Skybot F850 is travelling in space aboard an unmanned spacecraft to the International Space Station.  The Russian Soyez spacecraft tried to dock with the ISS to deliver Fedor today but the docking was aborted.  Russian cosmonauts issued the order to abort the approach to the ISS because the Soyez wasn't on target to properly lock-on. Second Try on Tuesday The crewless, automated Soyez backed away safely and Russian flight controllers are determining next steps.  They believe the problem was a radio failure aboard the ISS not the Soyez.  The Director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos says they'll try again to dock on Tuesday morning. Fedor, Astronauts' Assistant Once on board the ISS, Fedor will start learning how to serve as an astronauts' assistant.  His actions are human-like and he'll perform light tasks

Multitasking, Foldable Smartphone Source:  Samsung Samsung Just Filed Patent The Z-Fold smartphone by Samsung is a three in one device:  smartphone, tablet and small computer.  It's a prototype and Samsung just filed a patent on it.  It folds out into a widescreen tablet that's designed for multitasking including gaming, watching videos and films.  For a detailed news blog on this new smart device, go to Important Innovations Collection: Samsung's Z-Fold Smartphone : 3 Function Multitasker Patent Filed Samsung has a new smartphone that can expand to the size of a widescreen tablet.  The South Korean ...

Brazil May Send Its Army In to Combat the Amazon Fires Source:  Amazon Burning Global Environmental Concern About the "Lungs of the World" It's mind boggling and clearly an international crisis.  The Amazon Rain Forest, which is the world's largest, is engulfed in raging fires.  In Brazil alone, there have been 74,000 fires in the Amazon this year.  The Amazon Rain Forest covers parts of nine countries, but Brazil is key.  Importantly, the Amazon produces 20% of the oxygen on Earth.  The situation is so severe that French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for it to be included on the agenda at the G-7 Meeting in Biarritz.  The President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro, whose environmental policies are under attack, has just announced he may call in the Brazilian Army to fight the unprecedented fires in the Amazon, which is known as "the lungs of the world." Fires Sending Smoke 2,000 Miles Away The fires are so extensive that smoke extends 2000 miles a

Naturbeads from the UK - Green Replacement for Plastics Source:  Naturbeads New Innovation to Replace Plastic Microbeads in Cosmetics These biodegradable microbeads invented by engineers at the University of Bath in the UK are an eco-friendly replacement to plastic microbeads found in cosmetics. Their invention is called Naturbeads and they've created a company around it that's receiving investment money from Innovate UK and Sky Ocean Ventures.  Naturbeads are made of cellulose which is a naturally occurring material.  Unlike plastics, it causes no environmental damage. Scalable Tech The engineering team creates their Naturbeads by pressing liquid cellulose through tiny holes to create drops and then detach them with vegetable oil.  There are many uses for this new invention including safer, greener cosmetics.  The bottom-lime:  Naturbeads are biodegradable, cellulose microparticles that replace plastic microbeads.  They are plastic alternative products that are prod