🛫 Boeing 737 Max exposes dozens of flaws, High-energy laser weapon, 100MWh sand battery

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently conducted a thorough six-week audit of Boeing’s 737 Max production lines and found some alarming problems. This follows the bizarre incident in January when a door panel ripped off an Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 mid-flight. For more on this story, have a closer look at today's Must Read.

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MUST READ

🛩️ FAA audit finds dozens of flaws in Boeing’s 737 Max production

Looks like there’s another PR disaster for Boeing. The aviation mammoth has come under fresh fire over another safety scandal. That is, the recent death of John Barnett, an ex-employee turned whistleblower at Boeing, puts a harsh spotlight on ongoing issues with quality control at the aerospace company.

A detailed presentation reveals Boeing and its key supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, might be cutting corners – putting passenger safety at risk. The audit presented a list of troubling findings, including multiple instances of noncompliance.

Of the 89 product audits conducted on Boeing, only 56 passed, while 33 failed, resulting in 97 instances of noncompliance. Similarly, Spirit AeroSystems fared even worse, with just 6 of their 13 product audits passing and seven failing.

⚡ UK laser weapon that can kill a coin kilometer away, close to production

Successful tests of a UK high-energy laser weapon system, DragonFire, were recently conducted in Scotland's Hebrides — perhaps a pointer to its possible way to full production. According to reports, the British Royal Navy could place the system on its ships in as little as five years.

It has been claimed that the UK DragonFire LDEW is capable of emitting 50 kilowatts (kW) and is so accurate it can hit targets as small as a "coin" from over a kilometer away. It is also cheap, with each shot costing approximately £10 (not including the initial outlay for building and installing the system).

The Royal Navy could engage and destroy targets from drones to small surface craft by pinpointing accuracy high-energy light beams from Dragonfire. This applies to both land and maritime missions. 

⏳ Finnish company to build 100MWh ‘sand battery’ using crushed soapstone

Polar Night Energy (PNE), a Finland-based company working on renewable energy storage solutions, will now build a 100 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery using crushed soapstone. The battery will be installed in Pornainen in the southern part of the country, where soapstone is an industrial byproduct.

The sand battery consists of a tall tower filled with low-grade sand. When excess energy is generated, it generates heat using resistive heating. The heat is then sent through an exchanger, and the sand in the container is heated up. The battery can be used till the temperature of the sand reaches a whopping 932 degrees Fahrenheit (500 degrees Celsius).

PNE’s patented high-temperature, large-scale heat storage is intended to help scale energy generated from wind and solar plants. With the world looking to increase its renewable energy generation capacity, there is a need for large-scale energy storage solutions that are cost-effective and scalable.

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HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> Four astronauts who completed NASA’s commercial crew rotation mission to the ISS returned safely to Earth yesterday. The Crew-7 safely splashed down in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft (Endurance) off the coast of Pensacola, Florida, after 199 days of stay in orbit. (More)

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> Giant sequoia trees, imported to the UK 160 years ago, are flourishing despite the dramatically different climate to their native California, U.S., a new study has found. (More)

ENERGY

> A plan to build a barrier across the Mersey is starting to take shape. If it goes ahead, the ambitious project would become the largest tidal range facility in the world. (More)

> Renewables hit a milestone not seen since World War II this year. The U.S. added 32.4 gigawatts of solar capacity, which shatters the 2021 record of 23.6 gigawatts. (More)

> Chinese shipbuilding company Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard has commenced retrofitting the world’s first Maersk Halifax, a 14,000 TEU containership, for the Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller–Maersk to run on methanol fuel. (More)

INNOVATION

> Researchers from Penn State have developed a new “GPS nanoparticle” that delivers therapeutic payload to cancer cells. When injected intravenously, this nanoparticle showcases homing abilities on cancer cells. (More)

> China has now fully transitioned to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the operation and maintenance of its rail network. This 45,000-kilometer high-speed rail network is the largest on Earth and is controlled by an AI system in Beijing. (More)

> India’s decade-old dream of becoming a semiconductor hub is turning into a reality. On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for three plants. (More)

VIDEO

> Explore the history of the automobile, a symbol of modern mobility and innovation. In this video, IE traces its roots back to ancient China, where Ferdinand Verbiest’s steam-propelled trolley marked the first glimpse of vehicular propulsion. (More)

> In the world of aviation, where innovation meets the boundless sky, a groundbreaking aircraft is poised to redefine the future of air travel. Meet the Celera 500L, the brainchild of the Otto Aviation Group, an aircraft that boasts a distinctive egg-shaped design. (More)

> Here IE takes a wander into origami-inspired designs which are transforming both law enforcement, with a bullet-absorbing shield, and space exploration, as seen in NASA’s large-scale, foldable Starshade project. (More)

IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

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The answer is: 160

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