DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF by Maryanne Kane, Journalist

 DAILY INNOVATION BRIEF

                                                                      

                 By Journalists Edward Kane & Maryanne Kane

FLYING ON HYDROGEN & MAKING HISTORY

                                    Source:  ZeroAvia

• In the UK, the world's largest aircraft powered by hydrogen took flight for a history-making 10 minutes
• ZeroAvia, which is a British-American hydrogen-electric aircraft developer, produced the breakthrough prototype aircraft, Dornier 228, which performed exceedingly well during the flight
• The hydrogen plane taxi'd, took off, did a full circle pattern in the sky & then safely landed
• Dornier 228 is a 19-seat passenger plane with a twin-engine setup, retrofitted with a hydrogen-electric engine on the left wing
• Company is focused on developing 20-seat regional hydrogen commuter planes to 100-seat, long distance hydrogen planes
• ZeroAvia has a pipeline of customer orders including from Alaska Airlines
• The successful test flight bodes well for an emissions free, flying future as the aviation industry works to develop green aircraft that don't require jet fuel
• Why is this imporant: Aviation is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions
• There is an expectation that ZeroAvia's hydrogen powered plane could be certified to fly by British aviation authorities this year
• Dornier is part of UK 's Hyflyer II project, backed by the British government, to have zero emissions flying in 9 to 19 seat aircraft very soon.

AI IMAGINES THE NEXT, PERFECT JAMES BOND 007

                                                        Source:  Unwind Media

• This is stranger than a James Bond thriller:  AI has created the next, perfect Agent 007 James Bond
• This is yet another highly innovative example of the vast number of potential uses of AI, which seem to prolifically grow every day
• Video game company Unwind Media enlisted DeepDream artificial intelligence software to create the ideal 007, while simultaneously the producers of the James Bond film series are looking for the replacement of Daniel Craig who is retiring from the iconic role
• This the devilishly handsome AI Bond as seen in the photo
• They also used AI to generate the next gorgeous Bond girl
• Ironically, according to some British newspapers, the AI James Bond is said to be a "dead ringer" for British A-list actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who happens to be one of actors in competition to become the next James Bond
• Will be interesting to see if the producers go with the closest look-alike to the AI generated 007.

YOU CAN HAIL A ROBO-TAXI IN CHINA

                        

                                        Source:  Didi Global

• China's Didi Global just rolled out a new piece of innovation on wheels:  its autonomous taxi service
• The autonomous taxi, called Didi Neuron, is at the Level 4 autonomy level, which is just a tad shy of total autonomous driving
• Didi says the robotaxi is "fully self-reliant & controllable"
• The Didi service, called Robotaxi, is now operational in Shanghai & Guangzhou where you can hail one for a ride
• Some data:  

1. Robotaxi is 4.5 meters long
2. 3 screens in the front and 2 in the back supporting 8 cameras
3. Self-driving sensors
4. Huge robotic arm that swings out of the trunk to help passengers with luggage or help them in and out of the car

• Big picture:  by 2025 Didi wants to create an "ecosystem" of robotaxis in China and elsewhere by partnering with renewable energy automakers
• This is a comeback story for Didi, which was under a year-long security investigation by the Chinese government, ordered to delist its stock in the US at a loss of $60 billion & is now launching a robotaxi business in China - Stay Tuned!

For more news stories like this, THE FUTURE OF FLYING

"Daily Innovation Brief" © By Edward Kane