The Innovation Report
Why Some Planes Are Now Flying Without Pilots Onboard
The shift towards unmanned planes is driven mainly by cost efficiency and the need to address pilot shortage issues. Operating unmanned planes can significantly reduce labor costs, and they can also help mitigate the risk of human error, which is a leading cause of...
Smart Mobility Today: 8 September 2025
There has always been a tug of war between humans and nature, and nature more often wins. In this week's Smart Mobility Today, listen to stories about how researchers and inventors are using science and technology to find solutions to the constant pull between us and...
Drones Blasting AC/DC And Scarlett Johansson Are Helping Biologists Protect Cattle From Wolves
For millennia humans have tried to scare wolves away from their livestock. Most of them didn’t have drones. But a team of biologists working near the California-Oregon border do, and they're using them to blast AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck,” movie clips and live...
How Autoworkers Are Retraining For The Robot Revolution
General Motors Co. worker Annie Ignaczak spent years walking in circles on concrete factory floors, assembling the same parts and counting down hundreds of pieces she and her coworkers needed to finish before lunch. "You're doing the same movement hundreds, if not...
Irvine Deploys Robots To Scout Sidewalks For Accessibility Issues
If Pixar’s Wall-E and Eve had a kid, it might look a lot like Smokey and Turbo — two white, tread-wheeled service robots with big blue eyes that can light up into smiles or even heart shapes. Aim a camera at them, and they cock their heads as if they’re posing. The...
Calfire Partners With Sikorsky To Evaluate Autonomous Capabilities For S-70i Firehawk Firefighting Operations
The California state fire agency is partnering with rotorcraft manufacturer Sikorsky to explore how autonomous vertical-lift solutions can improve wildfire response. Under a five-year initiative announced on 3 September, Sikorsky and CalFire plan to test the...
37 To Lose Jobs As Holland Battery Plant Closes
In a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter filed with the state, Natron Energy, Inc. said it is closing both its manufacturing plant at 70 W. 48th St. near I-196 in Holland and its facility in California. A total of 95 employees, including 37 in...
Joby Logs 7,000 Autonomous Miles in Military Exercise
Electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air taxi developer Joby Aviation has now logged thousands of autonomous flight miles as it seeks to field a self-flying aircraft. The company on Wednesday revealed it participated in the Defense Department's Resolute Force...
Autonomous Rideshare Expanding To Seattle, Waymo Announces
The autonomous rideshare company Waymo announced that it’s expanding its fleet of self-driving vehicles to the cities of Seattle and Denver. “We’re heading North – the Pacific Northwest to be exact! Today, we’re returning to Washington State as we lay the groundwork...
Michigan: Gov. Whitmer Announces $95M Astemo Investment For New Michigan Headquarters
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has announced a $95 million investment from automotive supplier Astemo Ltd. to establish a new regional headquarters in Wixom, Michigan. The company will construct a new facility to accommodate the physical space needed to showcase its...
