The Innovation Report
Why Scientists Launched Two Little Robots To The Moon
Two tiny transforming robots landed on the moon! They accompanied Japan's first successful lunar lander called SLIM - Smart Lander for Investigating Moon and are the size of a baseball. They rolled out of SLIM as balls and transformed into a rover by cracking down the...
High Oil Prices Drive A Surge In Chinese Electric Vehicle Sales, But Charging Networks Lag Behind
The war in Iran has helped reshape the global electric vehicle market, giving Chinese automakers an opening across the developing world as soaring fuel prices push drivers towards electric vehicles, even as charging infrastructure lags behind a wave of imports. The...
UK: “Temporary” 50-Year Solar Farm Approved
A solar farm has been approved for farmland near a stately home for a "temporary" period of 50 years. The site, near Thornton in Buckinghamshire, is expected to generate almost 50MW of electricity, enough to power 15,000 houses. Opponents said it would increase flood...
Spacex Launches Starfall Mission For In-Space Manufacturing
SpaceX launched a demonstration mission Tuesday to send a reusable capsule into space and then recover it, part of a new program that may allow the Elon Musk-led company to tap into the emerging market of in-space manufacturing. Under the Starfall program, which...
Astemo Engineering Careers Tour Meets Marcis Jansons, Wayne State University
The Global Auto Mobility and Smart Mobility Today team spent the day on campus at Detroit’s Wayne State University just before winter break. During our visit, Cindy Polakowski and John Petty met with Marcis Jansons, Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering...
EVs Can Power The Grid; Why Aren’t More Of Them Doing It?
When some EV owners in California and Massachusetts plug in their cars, the large batteries inside now serve a second purpose: sending power back to the grid when the vehicles do not need it and earning cash for their owners in the process. In one Massachusetts pilot...
GM Installs Robots At Flagship EV Factory After Laying Off 1,300 Workers
Dozens of new robot arms have been installed at General Motors’ flagship electric vehicle factory in Detroit—even as 1,300 workers remain out of work following what was supposed to be a temporary layoff. The latest automation push has spurred union pushback over a...
AI-Driven Velocity Is Manufacturing’s New Competitive Edge
In the volatile world of manufacturing, one factor is emerging as the ultimate differentiator in 2026: speed, and in particular, operational velocity. This is the ability to sense market changes, make decisions quickly and decisively, and recover swiftly across the...
UK Electric Car Sales Target Set To Be Weakened
The UK government is set to water down its target for how many new cars that are sold need to be electric vehicles (EVs). Under the current rules, 80% of all new cars sold in the UK need to be EVs by 2030, but car makers and trade unions have been lobbying government...
First Turbine Installed At Ocean Winds’ 500MW EMDT Wind Farm
Ocean Winds ("OW"), the international offshore wind energy company jointly owned by EDP Renewables and ENGIE, announces the successful installation of the first wind turbine at the Dieppe Le Tréport offshore wind farm ("EMDT"), marking a key milestone in the project's...
