Category Archives: Technology

Reviews: ’10 Best Electric Bikes Under $2,000′ (Video)

Looking for the best electric bikes for under $2000? Beginning only a fun fad and an interesting twist on the humble bicycle, electric bikes have seen a considerable rise in popularity over the past decade. Improved designs, high-capacity batteries, and fast charging capabilities have transformed the electric bike into a multi-billion-dollar industry. So, let’s check out our picks for the 10 best electric bikes in 2021, highly-rated and affordable, between $600 and $1699.

Racing Design: ‘Airspeeder’ Flying Electric Car (Video)

“It’s not a concept anymore, it’s not abstract anymore – it’s real.” Meet flying racing car Head Designer Felix Pierron, tasked with creating future flying machines.

Airspeeder is the world’s first racing series for electric flying cars. Our mission will accelerate eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) advanced aviation technology through intense sporting competition. This mobility revolution, underpinned by future tech will transform urban air mobility (UAM), global logistics and even medical applications with a clean-air electric vehicle (EV) solution.

Our racing multicopters are developed at our advanced aerospace engineering hub in Adelaide, South Australia by engineers drawn from elite motorsports, automotive, aviation and even FPV drone, electric plane, electric vehicles and passenger drone backgrounds. Airspeeder’s vision will deliver the most exciting and future focused motorsport on the planet. Following an inaugural unmanned season, elite pilots will take to the skies to race prop-to-prop while navigating electronically governed racetracks in the skies above some of the most visually arresting scenery in the world.

These manned multirotor electric vehicles will define a new era in advanced air mobility (AAM). Airspeeder’s first unmanned air race is scheduled for 2021 and will feature a full grid of multirotor unmanned Airspeeder Mk3 racing craft. The best pilots from drone racing will utilise latest RPAS (remotely piloted aircraft systems) in aerial battles across the globe. Our innovations will hasten the arrival of new advanced air mobility (AAM) technologies. Close but safe air racing is assured through latest LiDAR and radar technologies that create virtual forcefields around the sport’s cutting edge quadcopter format flying cars.

Rapid hair-pin turning manoeuvrability is delivered using a multicopter layout. This pioneering approach to aircraft design also enhances stability while electronic speed control (ESC) systems empower pilots to exploit the full potential of our advanced electric powertrains.

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Review: ‘Pocketalk S Voice Translator’ – Better Than Learning New Language?

Can a device replace the need to learn a new language? WSJ asked Alex Rawlings, author of “How To Speak Any Language Fluently,” and an expert in over 15 languages, to test out the new Pocketalk S Voice Translator on the streets of Barcelona.

Space Programs: ‘The Search For Life On Mars’

China, the UAE and the U.S. all have spacecraft visiting Mars in February to study the Red Planet. WSJ explains how out-of-this-world technology is being used by NASA’s Perseverance and China’s Tianwen-1 in the search for evidence of life beyond our planet. Photo: NASA

Electric Vehicles: ‘The EV Charging Problem’ (Video)

Tesla Supercharger is a 480-volt direct currentfast-charging technology built by American vehicle manufacturer Tesla, Inc. for their all-electric cars. The Supercharger network was introduced on September 24, 2012 with six Supercharger stations.[1] As of December 31, 2020, Tesla operates over 23,277 Superchargers in over 2,564 stations worldwide[2] (an average of 9 chargers per station). There are 1,101 stations in North America, 592 in Europe, and 498 in the Asia/Pacific region.[3] Supercharger stalls have a connector to supply electrical power at maximums of 72 kW, 150 kW or 250 kW.[4]

The original V1 and V2 Tesla supercharging stations charge with up to 150 kW of power distributed between two cars with a maximum of 150[21][22] kW per car, depending on the version.[23][14][24] They take about 20 minutes to charge to 50%, 40 minutes to charge to 80%, and 75 minutes to 100% on the original 85 kWh Model S. The charging stations provide high-power direct-current (DC) charging power directly to the battery, bypassing the internal charging power supply.[25]

In September 2017, Tesla announced the availability of urban Superchargers. The urban Superchargers are more compact than the standard Supercharger stalls, and will be primarily deployed in urban areas such as mall parking lots and garages. Compared to the standard Superchargers, urban Superchargers have a maximum power delivery of 72 kW. Instead of 150 kW distributed between two vehicles at a Supercharger A/B stall pair, each Urban Supercharger stall provides dedicated 72 kW capacity.[26]

A few of the Tesla supercharging stations use solar panels to offset energy use and provide shade.[27] Tesla plans to install additional solar power generation at Superchargers.

Protein Vaccine: Novavax Primes Immune System To Make Antibodies (Video)

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Science Podcast: Human Genome Sequencing – 20 Years Of Research & Data

This week we’re dedicating the whole show to the 20th anniversary of the publication of the human genome. Today, about 30 million people have had their genomes sequenced. This remarkable progress has brought with it issues of data sharing, privacy, and inequality.

Host Sarah Crespi spoke with a number of researchers about the state of genome science, starting with Yaniv Erlich, from the Efi Arazi School of Computer Science and CEO of Eleven Biotherapeutics, who talks about privacy in the age of easily obtainable genomes. Next up Charles Rotimi, director of the Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health at the National Human Genome Research Institute, discusses diversity—or lack thereof—in the field and what it means for the kinds of research that happens. Finally, Dorothy Roberts, professor in the departments of Africana studies and sociology and the law school at the University of Pennsylvania, talks about the seemingly never-ending project of disentangling race and genomes. 

Remote Work: ‘How Big Tech Is Revamping It’ (WSJ)

Prominent tech companies are embracing remote work amid an exodus of skilled labor from Silicon Valley. WSJ looks at what that could mean for innovation and productivity and what companies are doing to manage the impact.

Analysis: ‘2021 iPhone 13’ – New Technology (Video)

Clues to the Next iPhone Are in Samsung’s New Galaxy S21 Years of smartphone launches all plotted on one evidence board. A fingerprint sensor embedded in the screen? An ultra-zoom camera? A faster 120Hz display? Samsung’s latest tells us a lot about what might come from Apple this year in the iPhone 13. WSJ’s Joanna Stern sifts through years of Galaxy and iPhone evidence. Photo illustration: Preston Jessee for The Wall Street Journal Personal Technology With Joanna Stern