Weekend Edition: Push-button snow tires, AI news anchors and record-breaking robo-dog

[New Atlas logo]( Welcome to our weekly wrap of the best stories to grace the pages of New Atlas over the last seven days. Sit back, relax and enjoy our Weekend Edition. Automotive [Hyundai unveils car tires with built-in, push-button snow chains]( [Hyundai's innovative new wheel/tire system features built-in, push-button snow chains]( Hyundai has presented a new wheel and tire design that incorporates built-in snow chains that deploy and retract at the push of a button, potentially putting an end to the fiddly, freezing process of wrapping and removing traditional snow chains. [Read more]( Home Entertainment [AI-generated news anchors show off superhuman abilities]( [Language is no longer a consideration; both the news anchors and even interview subjects or action footage are insta-translated, complete with appropriate lip movements and retaining vocal character]( There's a new global news network launching in 2024 which completely ditches humans for AI-generated newsreaders – and they're showing off some superhuman capabilities that make it very clear: the days of the human news presenter are numbered. [Read more]( Robotics [Robo-dog sets new 100-meter sprint Guinness World Record]( [A robotic dog has won a world record for being the fastest quadruped robot to run 100 meters]( A four-legged robotic dog called HOUND has demonstrated an unprecedented level of agility and speed, clocking the fastest 100-meter dash ever achieved by a quadruped robot and setting a new Guinness World Record in the process. [Read more]( Military [Raytheon to create DARPA's airborne "wireless internet for energy"]( [Raytheon has scored a $10 million contract to develop DARPA's airborne wireless energy grid]( DARPA has tapped Raytheon to design and develop a wireless, airborne relay system to "deliver energy into contested environments," as part of its Energy Web Dominance program, in which DARPA wants to be able to power anything from nearly anywhere. [Read more]( Materials [Unbreakable material nearly as hard as diamond, with high energy density]( [An image of one of the diamond anvils under an optical microscope; one of the super-hard C3N4 polymorph samples indented the anvils' surface]( It’s taken more than three decades, but scientists have cracked the code and created a material that’s near-impossible to break and rivals diamond as the hardest substance on the planet. The applications for this long-sought-after substance are vast. [Read more]( Bicycles [Battery-free ebike relies on quick-boosting supercapacitor power]( [Pi-Pop's third-generation supercap ebike is in production now]( The Pi-Pop ebike doesn't look like a hotbed of innovation at first glance, but it is. The bike houses a unique electric-assist system that trades out the battery pack mandatory on other ebikes in favor of a more active supercap-boosted system. [Read more]( Computers [World's first human brain-scale neuromorphic supercomputer is coming]( [The DeepSouth supercomputer will be the first machine ever built that can simulate spiking neural networks at the scale of an entire human brain]( Australian researchers are putting together a supercomputer designed to emulate the world's most efficient learning machine – a neuromorphic monster capable of the same estimated 228 trillion synaptic operations per second that human brains handle. [Read more]( Energy [China brings world's first Generation IV nuclear reactor online]( [The Shidao Bay nuclear power station]( China claims to have brought the world's first Gen IV commercial nuclear reactor online. The Shidao Bay Nuclear Power Plant HTR-PM high-temperature gas-cooled pebble-bed reactor in Shidao Bay, Shandong Province, reportedly went into service this month. [Read more]( Aircraft [Hybrid Electric Eel aircraft claims flight endurance record]( [The Electric Eel hybrid has just logged a record 12-hour flight]( Hybrids could have almost as much potential in the air as they do on the ground. Ampaire says the clever first-gen hybrid powertrain in its Electric Eel demonstrator cuts fuel consumption by 50-70%, and it's just logged a world record for endurance. [Read more]( Outdoors [Electric snowboard nullifies gravity to motor over the flatlands]( [The Cyrusher Ripple uses a battery backpack and handheld controller to motor its way across snow - whether downhill, flat or uphill]( Cyrusher has been going bonkers this year, releasing one electric power toy after another. With winter approaching, it's turned attention to what it calls the world's first electric snowboard. The 3,000-W Ripple can tear through snow at over 30 mph. [Read more]( Robotics [Tesla's Optimus Gen 2 humanoid: A lot more Model S than Cybertruck]( [The new Tesla Optimus Gen 2 humanoid demonstrates Tesla's extraordinary development pace]( Tesla has completely overhauled its humanoid robot. The Optimus Gen 2 is 10 kg (22 lb) lighter, 30% faster, a lot smoother and more capable, and it looks much more human in the way it moves. It's also got new hands and feet, and some of Elon's style. [Read more]( Military [US flexible interceptor destroys ballistic missile in major test]( [Rendering of the interceptor kill vehicle]( The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) has completed a major test (FTG-12) of a stage-selectable Ground-Based Interceptor (GBI) missile system that destroyed an air-launched Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM) target vehicle. [Read more]( Technology [Heavy duty wheeled crane lifts turbine blades to nacelle 107 meters up]( [The XCA3000 has been specifically designed for wind farm construction projects, and is reported "ideal for installing wind turbines up to 10 MW"]( China's Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group recently took its new XCA3000 wheeled crane to a wind farm in the Liaoning Province to lift a 25-ton blade some 107 meters above the ground, before it was installed in the turbine hub. [Read more]( Space [Solar wind vanishes completely, causing Mars' magnetosphere to swell]( [An artist's impression of NASA's MAVEN spacecraft]( The solar wind is constant in the solar system – except on Christmas Day 2022 when it suddenly vanished completely. The event was detected by a NASA spacecraft orbiting Mars, which found that the Red Planet’s magnetosphere tripled in size in response. [Read more]( Computers [Cyborg computer with living brain organoid aces machine learning tests]( [The "Brainoware" system uses a ball of self-organized, living human brain cells, mounted on an electrode chip]( Scientists have grown a tiny brain-like organoid out of human stem cells, hooked it up to a computer, and demonstrated its potential as a kind of organic machine learning chip, showing it can quickly pick up speech recognition and math predictions. [Read more]( Technology [DARPA program breakthrough promises more practical quantum computers]( [The breakthrough is based on combining classical and quantum computing technologies]( A DARPA program is claiming a major breakthrough in quantum computing. The Optimization with Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum devices (ONISQ) program has created the world's first quantum circuit with logical quantum bits (qubits). [Read more]( Medical [Purr-fect storm: House cats linked to 2x risk of schizophrenia]( [Scientists are yet to narrow down the time frame when, and why, kids might be most at risk]( In the largest study of its kind, researchers have found that sharing a childhood home with a kitty can more than double the risk of later developing schizophrenia-like disorders. However, in what may surprise some, it's not entirely the cat's fault. [Read more]( Marine [Yamaha hydrogen combustion outboard brings more clean H2 to boating]( [Yamaha teases a hydrogen-fueled outboard ahead of February's Miami Boat Show]( Yamaha has become an early leader in hydrogen engine development for autos, and now it's looking to launch its hydrogen-combustion program into the water. Its new hydrogen outboard prototype will debut at the 2024 Miami International Boat Show. [Read more]( Medical [Scientists discover new "cause" for diabetes, opening new treatments]( [Scientists have identified an enzyme that plays a key role in developing insulin resistance, and may lead to new treatment options]( Scientists have discovered a new mechanism for how type 2 diabetes takes hold, and demonstrated in mice that blocking a particular enzyme could open a new avenue of treatment for the disease. [Read more]( Medical [MS drug to treat and repair nerve damage is edging closer to reality]( [This new small drug molecule may help rescue repair damaged myelin sheaths]( Restoring damaged nerves caused by multiple sclerosis could be within reach, thanks to a breakthrough in small molecule drug research. Scientists say their new compound has a "stunning effect on rescuing myelin," which would be pivotal in reversing MS. [Read more]( Aircraft [Active turbulence cancellation makes bumpy flights 80% smoother]( [Five-hole pressure sensors mounted in front of each wing]( Austrian company Turbulence Solutions claims it's already flight-testing a system that can detect and neutralize air turbulence, reducing the forces felt by passengers by up to 80% – and reducing fuel burn by up to 10%. It's set to launch in 2024. [Read more]( Space [Ancient extragalactic star discovered at the heart of the Milky Way]( [Sagittarius A*, the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy]( You’d never notice one star in the galaxy that wasn’t from around here. Astronomers have now found that a star right near the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way likely originated in a smaller galaxy that ours devoured. [Read more]( Outdoors [Top 12 pickup campers, toppers and all-out adventure RV trucks of 2023]( [A Ford F-150 Raptor with Tune M1 topper sure looks like a fun weekend]( 2023 felt like the year van life ceded some real ground to truck life. It saw camper van specialists turn attention to camper trucks, welcomed a few innovative e-truck campers, and added some new styles of pickup topper. Here are a dozen highlights. [Read more]( Robotics [DNA-folding nanorobots can manufacture limitless copies of themselves]( [Tiny nano-robots have been developed that can grab tiny snippets of DNA and assemble them into new nano-machines – including copies of themselves]( Researchers have demonstrated a programmable nano-scale robot, made from a few strands of DNA, that's capable of grabbing other snippets of DNA, and positioning them together to manufacture new UV-welded nano-machines – including copies of itself. [Read more]( You are receiving this email because you signed up for our daily newsletter at [newatlas.com]( (or [gizmag.com]( before August 2016). [Update profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( Copyright New Atlas © 2022