Monthly Archives: September 2020

Fire-Fighting Rescue

This is the Colossus, a robust fire-fighting robot by Shark Robotics that was developed with Paris firemen, the Brigade de Sapeurs-Pompiers. This multi-purpose support robot for operations in high-risk areas helped extinguish the ferocious Notre Dame blaze that occurred on April 15, 2019.

While it may seem small in size, this fire-fighting beast lives up to its name. Considered to be “the most powerful electric robot in the world,” the Colossus is amazingly resistant to thermal radiation (up to 900 ° C). It can also run up to 12 hours in an operational situation and has a carrying capacity of up to 500 Kg.

Its integration is also impressive. In less than 30 seconds, the Colossus’ functions are interchangeable by a single operator without the use of tools. Super easy to use, the Colossus sets up quickly and is a low-maintenance robot that has proven to save lives as well as beloved historic structures.

— Read on www.techthatmatters.com/category/rescue/

Lia Ditton Breaks Records with her Row from CA to HI | Discovery

On September 12, 2020, Lia Ditton broke the women’s world record for a solo row when she completed her expedition from San Francisco, CA to Hawaii in just 86 days.

The London-born adventurer combatted the elements of the Pacific to set new records and experience the sea in a way some only dream about. See images from her perilous journey across the open ocean that began on June 17.

— Read on www.discovery.com/exploration/lia-ditton-completes-her-record-breaking-row-pictures

We Finally Know How Much Radiation There Is on The Moon, And It’s Not Great News

As the US prepares to return humans to the Moon this decade, one of the biggest dangers future astronauts will face is space radiation that can cause lasting health effects, from cataracts to cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.

Though the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s proved it was safe for people to spend a few days on the lunar surface, NASA did not take daily radiation measurements that would help scientists quantify just how long crews could stay.

This question was resolved Friday after a Chinese-German team published in the journal Science Advances the results of an experiment carried out by China’s Chang’E 4 lander in 2019.

“The radiation of the Moon is between two and three times higher than what you have on the ISS (International Space Station),” co-author Robert Wimmer-Schweingruber, an astrophysicist at the University of Kiel told AFP.

“So that limits your stay to approximately two months on the surface of the Moon,” he added, once the radiation exposure from the roughly week-long journey there, and week back, is taken into account.

See More (Science Alert):

https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-predict-how-long-humans-can-survive-radiation-on-the-moon

This ‘DroneGun’ Takes Down Unwanted Drones with Radio Frequencies Instead of Bullets

This is the DroneGun Tactical made by Droneshield that provides a safe countermeasure against a wide array of drone models. The DroneGun takes down unwanted drones by shooting radio frequencies instead of bullets. It’s a one-man operated rifle used as a military defense that has an effective range of one mile.

The battery-powered, single-rifle DroneGun allows for controlled management of explosive-carrying drones without damaging common drone models or the surrounding environment.
— Read on www.techthatmatters.com/this-dronegun-takes-down-unwanted-drones-with-radio-frequencies-instead-of-bullets/

Team Creates Accurate Great Hammerhead 3D Model and Brings the Shark Nemesis to Life

nemesis-3d-model-mesh

Meet Nemesis, one of the many endangered great hammerhead sharks that spends her winters in Bimini, The Bahamas. This interactive 3D project was a close collaboration between Angela Rosenberg, President of ANGARI Foundation and Captain of R/V ANGARI, Duncan Irschick, Professor at UMass Amherst and Director of Digital Life with CG artist Jeremy Bot and Casey Sapp, CEO of VRTUL.

Footage was collected during R/V ANGARI’s Expedition 33 in Bimini with Casey Sapp’s custom underwater multi-camera system to collect views of Nemesis swimming from all angles. The videos provided Digital Life modelers with the necessary imagery and data to create a high resolution and accurate animated 3D model.

The completed interactive 3D shark model is part of Digital Life’s “ark” of living organisms, which serves as an invaluable resource for educators, scientists and conservationists.

This work would not have been possible without the financial and field support of several donors.

See More [ANGARI News]

This Drone Delivers Summer Reading Books to Kids During COVID-19 Thanks to a Dedicated Librarian

Remote learning has been given “wings” during the COVID-19 pandemic as one dedicated librarian teamed up with a drone company to deliver summer reading books to students. Kelly Passek, a middle school librarian in Montgomery County, Virginia is using quadcopters from Wing, a drone company owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, to make book deliveries in under three minutes.
— Read on www.techthatmatters.com/this-drone-delivers-summer-reading-books-to-kids-during-covid-19-thanks-to-a-dedicated-librarian/

This Airplane Disinfecting Device Is the Germ Killer of the Skies

This is the GermFalcon airplane disinfection system by Dimer UVC Innovations that uses Ultra-violet “C” light (UVC) to instantly kill 99.99% of bacteria, viruses, and superbugs on any exposed surface. The process is efficient, affordable, and highly-effective especially in hard-to-reach areas on a plane. Plus, it sanitizes all surfaces without any toxic after-effects, unlike chemical disinfectants.

On average, it takes about a minute to sanitize a single-seat using a chemical disinfectant, but the GermFalcon can treat 54 seats in that same minute. To further this point, it can take over two hours to disinfect the surface of a narrow-body jet, but the GermFalcon’s UVC system could do it in less than 10 minutes.
— Read on www.techthatmatters.com/this-airplane-disinfecting-device-is-the-germ-killer-of-the-skies/

The American Late-Bloomer Helping to Win the Tour de France – WSJ

Anyone who has heard anything about Primoz Roglic, the current leader of the Tour de France, knows about his former career leaping off snowy mountains. His life in winter sports comes up so often that the words “former ski jumper” might as well be attached to his name on the road to Paris.

Less discussed is the unusual background of Sepp Kuss, the Tour de France teammate helping Roglic get there. Yet his back story is almost as exotic as the guy who gave up ski jumping for cycling. Kuss’s rare history is that he’s American.
— Read on www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-american-late-bloomer-helping-to-win-the-tour-de-france-11599919303

Great Barrier Reef showing small signs of recovery says new report – ANGARI Foundation

The world’s most famous coral reef is showing signs of recovery.

The Great Barrier Reef is a huge area of living coral off the coast of Australia, which is home to thousands of species of plants and animals.

It’s so big it can even be seen from space, and is protected with World Heritage status for its “enormous scientific and intrinsic importance”.
— Read on angari.org/great-barrier-reef-showing-small-signs-of-recovery-says-new-report/

Lamborghini launches limited-run $18,000 Cervélo R5 Lamborghini bike

Haven’t you heard? There’s a bicycle shortage in the United States as people’s discomfort with taking public transportation is met with their need to exercise. But as always, with impeccable timing, Lamborghini is here with a solution — a limited-edition street bike. Yours for merely the price of a cheap new car. 

Lamborghini teamed up with Canadian-Dutch bicycle company Cervélo Cycles to create the “ultra-limited edition” (their words) Cervélo R5 Automobili Lamborghini Edition. It wears a livery that you’ll recognize from the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ and has only Italian-made components as accessories. 

Only 63 examples of the bike will be made. It’s available now and carries a price tag of $18,000 — or about $3,000 more than a new Mitsubishi Mirage.

Read on to see more of the Cervélo R5 Automobili Lamborghini Edition.
— Read on www.businessinsider.com/lamborghini-launches-cervlo-r5-bike-limited-cycling-price-cost-2020-9