RAY HAMMOND’S GLIMPSES OF THE FUTURE
| Tiny Drones Flying From A Mothership – Very Sci-Fi DARPA is designing fleets of small drones which will drop out of bombers, to then be yanked out of the sky by cargo planes. Sci-Fi as it may sound—as is the case with so many deadly-serious but still far-out military concepts—it makes a lot of sense. Darpa has just selected four companies to push the idea forward. Called Gremlins, the project calls for a new type of reusable unmanned aerial vehicle that can be air-launched on intelligence-gathering missions from cargo airplanes, bombers, or other military aircraft over “denied” (i.e., hostile) airspace. |
| Will Electric Planes Fly? European plane maker Airbus Group SE and German industrial conglomerate Siemens AG have announced they are joining forces to work on electric aircraft technology. The companies said they would pool about 200 engineers to demonstrate by 2020 the possibility of using electric or hybrid-electric technologies on aircraft. The project partners said European targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions require investing in new technologies. In addition to reducing fuel burn, aircraft using more electric power would also be quieter, they said. Noise remains one of the greatest complaints about commercial aviation. App Taxi Service For Women And Children Only It’s sad that we need it, but it’s good news that an Uber-style taxi service just for women and children has just launched. Clumsily called Chariot For Women, former Uber driver Michael Pelletz decided to create a female-run, fully female-staffed alternative exclusively for women and children. Drivers for Chariot must be women, and must all be thoroughly background checked before being allowed to take passenger requests. The announced security protocols for rider and driver verification also seem pretty. When a driver starts her shift she must answer a random security question that changes daily to verify her identity, and when a ride is requested, a “safe word” appears on both the driver and the customer’s phones. |
Would You Drink Your Wine From A Smart Wine Box?
Somm is a new countertop wine dispenser that is controlled by an app to keep your wine in the best possible condition.The device is filled with a 2.25-liter Sylo cartridge of wine, the equivalent of three bottles.The makers of the device say they employ a special pump that is normally used for medical-grade blood extraction to remove wine from the Sylo, which keeps the remaining wine fresh. This means you could have a glass of pinot noir one night, then switch over to white for brunch the next day without any degradation to the wines.The Sylos are also embedded with technology that allows the dispensing unit to know exactly what wine is inside, and adjust the temperature and aeration controls accordingly.Of course, like all devices that are part of the Internet of Things, Somm also works through an app on your phone to give you detailed information about your wines, let you know how much is left in a Sylo, and make suggestions for new bottles as you rate what you like and what you don’t. Should you want one of the recommended bottles, the company will ship new Sylos straight to your door.