The Innovation Report
Mercedes Is First Automaker To Sell Level 3 AVs In The US
Mercedes is now the first automaker to sell a car with advanced autonomous features in the United States, meaning the vehicle doesn't technically require drivers to pay close attention to the road. As of April 11, Mercedes had 65 vehicles that support its Drive...
Senate Democrats Urge Crackdown On AVs And Driver Assist
Two prominent Senate Democrats are calling for increased scrutiny of autonomous vehicles and advanced driver-assist systems (ADAS) like Tesla’s Autopilot, arguing that the unimpeded flow of highly automated vehicles on public roads in recent years risks exacerbating...
Making Crops Colorful For Easier Weeding By Robots
To make weeding easier, scientists suggest bioengineering crops to be colorful or to have differently shaped leaves so that they can be more easily distinguished from their wild and weedy counterparts. This could involve altering the crops' genomes so that they...
Tesla To Cut More Than 10% Of Its Workforce
Elon Musk has reportedly announced a round of mass layoffs at Tesla, according to Electrek. In an email reportedly sent to employees, the Tesla CEO announced that the carmaker would cut “more than 10%” of its global workforce. Last year, Tesla reported having just...
NASA Greenlights 2028 Launch For Epic Dragonfly Mission To Saturn’s Huge Moon Titan
NASA's delayed Dragonfly drone mission to Saturn's largest moon Titan is on track to launch in July 2028, the space agency confirmed late Tuesday (April 16). The highly anticipated decision greenlights the mission team to proceed to final mission design and testing in...
Three-Decker, Solar And Battery Powered Yacht Hits The Water In Italy
Silent Yachts launched the first Silent 62 3-Deck yacht, outfitted with 17 kWp of SunPower X400+ rigid glass solar modules and a newly enhanced 350 kWh LiFePO4 battery storage system, propelled by dual 340 kW electric motors. The CEO of Silent Yachts, Michael Köhler,...
Lawmakers Override Guv’s Veto, Clearing AV Path
After Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear vetoed a bill earlier this month that would have cleared the way for fully-autonomous, driverless vehicles -- including trucks -- to operate in the state, lawmakers overrode the veto, allowing the bill to become law. HB 7 was...
Used EV Costs Plummeting—Great News For Mass Adoption
New electric cars are cheaper than ever, and a robust used market is finally giving prospective buyers budget options. That’s good news for EV adoption overall, but frustrating for owners who bought EVs at high prices and are seeing their cars lose value at alarmingly...
Daddy Long-Legs-Inspired Robot Could One Day Squirm Through Martian Caves
Robotic engineers are no stranger to turning to nature for inspiration. In recent years, birds, dogs, extinct sea creatures, and even humans themselves have all served as jumping off point for new mechanical designs. Now, researchers from Stanford are citing the...
Glasgow University Claims 6G Breakthrough
As part of government-funded research, the University of Glasgow has developed a next-generation antenna which researchers claim could help deliver ultra-fast and 6G networks. The dynamic metasurface antenna (DMA) is claimed to be the first ever wireless antenna...
