Freethink

"The war over microchips is coming." Chris Miller, author of "Chip War," sat down with Freethink to explain why all eyes are on Taiwan. https://lnkd.in/gm5nCmjW

Arc'teryx Equipment?and?Skip created the "world's first pair of powered pants." Why? Anna Roumiantseva, co-founder of Skip, said they were "grappling with 'who is this thing actually going to be for?' and we found time and time again that those are people who used to be incredibly active in the outdoors and over time, for many different reasons, that sort of started to go." Kathryn Zealand, co-founder of Skip, says "movement is so core to the human experience so we were really motived to help keep people experiencing physical activity and that will hopefully help keep their long-term mental and physical health really strong." So they partnered with the Arc'teryx in-house design and R&D team to make something smaller, smarter, and more useful in real-world activities than traditional exoskeleton devices. The end product? Robotic pants can make hikers feel up to 30-pounds lighter and even recharge downhill.

San Francisco to Tokyo in under 3 hours? This turboelectric jet could make it a reality. In the 20 years since The Concorde has flown, there really hasn’t been a new supersonic travel service for passengers. But Astro Mechanica (YC W24) is here to change that, while revolutionizing flight as we know it. This new kind of jet engine could unlock affordable supersonic flight for everyone, allowing a trip to anywhere on the globe in a fraction of the time it takes now. Astro Mechanica’s Generation 3 turboelectric adaptive jet engine is paving the way for cheaper, faster flights, and doing it with carbon neutral fuel. The Freethink Hard Reset team got to witness one of? the company’s first hotfire tests of the Gen 3 engine in their San Francisco headquarters, and see if this tech is truly set to unlock a whole new future of air travel. https://lnkd.in/gDRjtU_x

The idea of building a self-driving car at home would’ve been unthinkable just 10 years ago. Now, it is possible – and this garage engineer has proved it. What started as a pandemic project to keep busy, Shane and his kids took advantage of 2-day shipping and how-to videos on YouTube to build a self-driving car at home. By day 9 they already had a drivable vehicle. $20,000 and 100 days later, they had done it. And their company NIFT Inc. is now working on a flying ATV. With cheap hardware and YouTube tutorials, a DIY engineering boom could change the world.

Our latest deep-dive on AI and data centers with Freethink !

This robot dog eats cigarette butts ?? Designed by: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

Samsung Electronics and Toyota Motor Corporation aim to mass-produce solid-state batteries for electric vehicles by 2027, boasting a 9-minute charge and a 20-year lifespan

The dream of self-driving cars dates back to 1939, but in 2024, that vision is inching closer to reality. From Waymo's leadership to Tesla's bold ambitions, here’s why the future of AVs may be cars that are shared, not owned. Link to story in the comments.

We're looking for talented freelance writers to pitch and contribute feature articles to the Freethink publication. If you're passionate about exploring the intersection of tech, business, and society, we want to hear from you. Reach out with your ideas here: https://lnkd.in/eNx5dprv

Use technology, don’t let it use you. Yuval Noah Harari argues that our relationship with information is a lot like our relationship with food –?too much junk and it can be harmful. Nowadays, we are flooded with information and much of it is filled with hatred and fear. Could it be time for an information diet? Catch the full conversation with Yuval Noah Harari, founder of Sapienship, on October 18th.