Blue Origin's NASA lawsuit was struck down

Australia just hosted the world’s first drag race between two flying cars, a new quantum computing method is 2,500 percent more efficient Nov 05, 2021 # Good morning. Bad news for Jeff Bezos. A federal judge ruled against his aerospace company Blue Origin in its lunar lander lawsuit, allowing NASA to proceed with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, and its Starship prototype we love so much. As for Bezos: that must have hurt. Also, in today’s edition, a new quantum computing method proved 2,500 percent more efficient, carrying us years closer to viable quantum computers. Years! Meanwhile, Australia hosted the world’s first drag race between two flying cars, signaling the dawn of eVTOL racing. This is The Blueprint. Hop in, and hold on tight. CULTURE [Blue Origin's Lawsuit Against NASA Was Just Struck Down]( [Jeff Bezos (left), and Elon Musk (right).]( SpaceX just scored another major win in Space Race 2.0. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims [struck down Blue Origin's lawsuit against NASA]( solidifying SpaceX's $2.9 billion lunar lander contract from the agency and bringing a months-long dispute to a definitive end with one strike of the gavel. In a statement from NASA. And with no sign of further dispute, this means Elon Musk's SpaceX can finally resume test flights of its Starship prototype vehicles in the wake of the new ruling. - Space court. NASA was originally looking for two companies to provide landing vehicles to touch down on the Moon, but the space agency decided to award the contract solely to SpaceX. The $2.89-billion contract is more than three billion dollars cheaper than Blue Origin’s proposal. NASA immediately faced objections from Bezos' company, which protested to the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), arguing it had only made an initial offering that it hadn't known would not be followed with a second opportunity to bid. The GAO denied Blue Origin's appeal in July, and this is when Bezos' firm escalated the dispute into full-blown legal action. But it’s all over now. Feuding space barons. Jeff Bezos tweeted that the ruling was "not the decision he wanted," but conceded the loss: "we respect the court's judgment". In other words, it looks like Blue Origin will no longer contest NASA's award to SpaceX, or appeal the court's findings. - In contrast to Bezos’ highly diplomatic tone, Elon Musk took to Twitter to needle him (surprise, surprise), posting a meme of a 2012 remake of a 1990s sci-fi flick "Judge Dredd” to celebrate the loss: "You have been judged," it read. Musk has been [less than subtle about his disdain]( for the Blue Origin founder. The dark side. Losing on this contract is only one slice of the issues Blue Origin faces. The company has experienced ballooning employee turnover rates amid allegations of safety issues, in addition to unethical work environments. In a damning open letter titled “[Bezos Wants to Create a Better Future in Space. His Company Blue Origin Is Stuck in a Toxic Past]( current and former employees of Jeff Bezos' firm have accused him of allowing sexist behavior in the workplace, and also highlighted safety concerns regarding the rockets. But this isn't the end for Blue Origin, any more than SpaceX is [a perfect model of aerospace ethics](. The second space race will go on, but it's important to note that moral and ethical gray areas will multiply in the coming decades. [Read More]( INNOVATION [Australia Just Hosted the World’s First Drag Race Between Two Flying Cars]( [Drag race.]( Airspeeder, a startup that is on course to kickstart a flying car racing series, successfully completed its maiden drag race in Southern Australia. For the race, two teams from Alauda Aeronautics, Airspeeder’s parent company, [sent drone-like flying cars shooting down]( a short stretch of Southern Australia's deserts. - The rundown. Alauda Aeronautics is the engineering brain behind the new flying car racing series. The eVTOL "Speeders" completed their first successful flight test on June 17, and at the time, the company said it would start a remote racing series, called EXA, this year before launching its eVTOL Grand Prix piloted racing series in 2022. In Airspeeder’s first-ever pre-season test race, two remotely flown MK3 Speeders were pitched in a battle of pure speed down a 984-foot (300-m) drag strip. What to expect. Airspeeder's piloted MK3 Speeder will weigh only 220 lbs (100 kg) and be powered by a 96-kW electric engine, allowing it to achieve high speeds of 125 mph (201 km/h). The startup is also developing LiDAR and Machine Vision-enabled "virtual force fields," which will eventually be used as a safety feature for its human-piloted series. - Be on the lookout. Airspeeder's remote-piloted EXA racing series is now set to kick off next year, with the teams to be revealed in January. The EXA races will be longer than the drag race, though they will still be a test of sorts, leading to Airspeeder's ultimate goal of running a global piloted flying car racing series sometime in 2023, around the same time that several flying taxi firms aim to take to the skies. Airspeeder is positioning itself as a test-bed for technologies that will help boost the eVTOL sector. In turn, this will hasten the transition to cleaner, zero-emissions transportation, thanks to technologies being developed by the flying taxi firm Volocopter, which [aims to start services by 2023](. With the flying taxi market expected to reach a valuation of $6.63 billion by 2030, these are indeed exciting times. [Read More]( SCIENCE [A New Quantum Computing Method Is 2,500 Percent More Efficient]( [A depiction of a highly advanced computing network.]( We just moved years closer to viable quantum computers. A company called Q-CTRL has revealed the results of benchmarking studies [showing how an advanced error-suppression method increased]( the chance of success for quantum computing algorithms on real hardware by an astonishing 2,500 percent. - Quantum in a nutshell. Today, most quantum computers are notoriously fragile and can only handle the simplest and shortest algorithms, since they're so wildly error-prone. But by employing specialized software to alter the building blocks of quantum algorithms, which are called "quantum logic gates," Q-CTRL discovered a way to reduce the errors. According to the results obtained via several IBM quantum computers, the new quantum logic gates were more than 400 times more efficient in stopping errors than any methods seen before. It's difficult to overstate how much this simplifies the procedure for users to experience vastly improved performance on quantum devices. According to the CEO and Founder of Q-CTRL Michael J. Biercuk, the novel method "will likely enable organizations to achieve useful quantum computing years ahead of current projections." - Out of the shadows. This is a substantial breakthrough in advancing quantum computing, a technology that's expected to transform the applications of modern computing, from finance and enterprise logistics to drug discovery and defense. Enter China. But the hardware needed for these advancements is highly fragile and unstable, preventing these computers from achieving next-gen goals. In October, physicists in [China claimed they'd constructed a quantum computer]( 10 million times faster than Google's 55-qubit Sycamore. But the new machine can only work in highly pristine environments, and only for an extremely limited set of tasks. Most crucially, it still makes a lot of blunders. However, if Q-CTRL's method can be applied to the fastest quantum computers in the world, at Google and elsewhere, we could soon see a world-historical breakthrough in quantum computing software that would shorten the timeline for [bringing the next generation of computing technology]( to market. [Read More]( MAIL & MUSINGS For decades, quantum computing has been little more than a hypothesis, as researchers wrestled with the gargantuan technical complexities to perform useful calculations. Now, tech giants like IBM, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are increasingly investing in quantum computing, and the future seems promising. But, when will quantum computing live up to its hype? Be sure you check back tomorrow for the results! [Soon. It’ll do much more than we can ever imagine.]( [In 10 to 30 years.]( [Quantum computing advances are nearing an end.]( [Never! The field is overpromising.]( Yesterday’s Results And now the answer to yesterday’s question! We asked readers when flying cars will really take off. And the results are... well, all over the place. It looks like 28% of you think we are closer than ever to flying cars, while, by a small margin, 27% think only the rich will have them. Not far behind them, 20% think they’ll be here soon to carry freight and packages. Let’s hope the majority won’t get to say “I told you so!” We are closer than ever. Be patient. 28% The rich will enjoy them while we watch jealously from our wastelands below. 27% Never. I don’t want car parts raining down on me just because of a fender-bender miles over my head. 24% They'll be here soon to carry freight and packages, but not for us. 20% QUOTE OF THE DAY “ Engineering, especially as embodied in its central activity of design, was in fact more than math and science. As engineers, we were going to be in a position to change the world — not just study it. ” Henry Petroski in ‘The Essential Engineer’ [Video]VIDEO OF THE DAY [Building a Dam 101: The Basics You Need to Know]( These marvels of engineering have complex construction processes. [Building a Dam 101: The Basics You Need to Know]( TODAY IN HISTORY In 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers and Architects, shortened later to the American Society of Civil Engineers, was founded. It was the first U.S. national civil engineering society, and its purpose was "the advancement of the sciences of engineering and architecture in their several branches, the professional improvement of its members, the encouragement of intercourse between men of practical science, and the establishment of a central point of reference and union for its members." Our entire public world is shaped by the tireless and creative work of civil engineers. And [several visionary projects]( might help define the future horizons of civil engineering. AND ANOTHER THING... - People routinely live beyond the age of 100 [in these rare Blue Zones of the Earth](. And so can you! - China's unprecedented and sweeping crackdown stunned private enterprise in one of the most drastic realignments in the country’s history. One year on, [it may have to cut business some slack](. (CNN) - Small modular reactors could be the future of nuclear power: Two companies are joining forces [to deploy Romania’s first-ever small modular reactor](. - A clever photographer has used some camera trickery to capture a stunning shot of what appears to be around [a dozen "dancing" jellyfish in a Spanish lake](. But there's a twist. (Live Science) - How much information is in the universe? [We may finally have an answer](. - Can you trust Dr. Google? Data scientists say [search engines are giving bad health advice]( and suggest that asking them high-stakes questions about your health can be problematic. (Fast Company $) - The U.S. [blacklisted the Pegasus spyware firm for]( malicious cyber-surveillance, including activities like remotely activating your phone’s camera. Prepared by Derya Ozdemir and Brad Bergan Enjoy reading? Don't forget to forward to a friend! Was this email forwarded to you? [Subscribe]( [About Us]( | [Advertise]( | [Contact Us]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to our newsletter. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe [here.]( © Copyright 2021 | The Blueprint is by Interesting Engineering, Inc. 201 Spear Street, Suite 1100 San Francisco, CA 94105 | All Rights Reserved [Interesting Engineering]