🚀 Falcon 9 crash halts first-ever private spacewalk, world's first nuclear waste burial place, world's first 6th-gen DRAM chip

🗣️Discover Engineering Talks' Free Webinar!

Join us for our free webinar and explore how machine vision and quality inspection come together in the automotive industry.

Register now and don't miss out on Q&A sessions and live polls with experts!

Register now

SpaceX’s first private spacewalk mission is at risk due to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)’s grounding of Falcon 9 rockets.

A Falcon 9 booster toppled over in a dramatic fiery crash after its attempted landing on Wednesday, August 28. This prompted the immediate grounding of the rockets. For more on this story, check out our Must-Read.

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Data Engineer
> Data Engineer II (Python, AWS, Snowflake, Databricks)

Reading Time: 4 mins

Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? Subscribe here.

MUST-READ

🚀 Polaris Dawn in the dusk? Falcon 9 rocket crash may shake up SpaceX plans

The FAA is conducting a thorough investigation into this failed landing. As a result, Falcon 9 launches have been temporarily suspended until the investigation is completed and necessary safety improvements are approved.

“A return to flight of the Falcon 9 booster rocket is based on the FAA determining that any system, process or procedure related to the anomaly does not affect public safety,” the FAA said in a statement.

The agency added: “In addition, SpaceX may need to request and receive approval from the FAA to modify its license that incorporates any corrective actions and meet all other licensing requirements,” the agency said.

☢️ Onkalo: World’s first final burial place for nuclear fuel waste getting ready

Finland is soon to become the first country in the world to attempt the burial of nuclear fuel waste in a geological tomb – where it is planned to be stored for the next 100,000 years.

The plan is to pack the spent nuclear fuel in watertight canisters and deposit them about 1312 feet (400 meters) below ground level in the forest of the southwest region of Finland.

Onkalo, which means “cavity” in Finnish, is the name given to the planned facility that will store nuclear fuel waste for centuries to come.

☀️ South Korea unveils world’s 1st 6th-gen DRAM chip that consumes 30% less power

South Korean company has developed a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chip with the world’s smallest node.

SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, has surpassed Samsung Electronics in achieving a more advanced technology node.

The industry’s first 16Gb Double Data Rate 5 (DDR5), also known as the sixth generation of 10-nanometers, was built using its 1c node. The Nvidia supplier claims that this success marks the beginning of extreme scaling to the level closer to 10nm in the memory process technology.

Love what you're reading, but too many emails? Sign up to IE+ to get Blueprint Weekly, our exclusive weekly premium newsletter that gives all the insights you love in a more digestible weekly format– plus, enjoy an Ad-Free experience on our website. Try IE+ today for just $1 in the first month. Subscribe here

HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> A new study has shed light on the predatory dynamics of ancient ecosystems by uncovering evidence of a prehistoric sea cow that fell victim to not one but two formidable predators—a crocodile and a shark. (More)

> A tiny, six-legged bug called globular springtail has surprised researchers with its impressive jumping abilities. This creature performs incredible backflips, spinning at an astonishing rate of over 60 times its body height in the blink of an eye. (More)

> Researchers have recently devised a new sub-recoil Sisyphus cooling technique that could help to improve the precision of atomic clocks. (More)

ENERGY

> In three stainless steel walled containers, just six millimeters thick walls, researchers demonstrated hydrogen storage of 10 megawatt hours (MWh) for months without losing storage capacity. (More)

> Researchers are accelerating the development of next-generation solid-state batteries by using a polymer to create a robust yet flexible thin film. (More)

> Switzerland said Wednesday it was open to building new nuclear power stations in the long term, given new geopolitical uncertainties, climate targets, and population growth boosting the demand for electricity. (More)

INNOVATION

> The world’s first robotic-armed window-cleaning robot has been deployed for operations at a New York City skyscraper. (More)

> Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have unveiled a chemical process that has the potential to revolutionize plastic recycling. (More)

> When blood sugar levels go high, so does voice pitch, according to a new study. It paves the way for detecting type 2 diabetes or monitoring diabetics’ blood sugars simply by talking into a smartphone and having AI analyze their speech. (More)

VIDEO

> The grain left from beer production is being used to make alternative leather and it means no animals or plastic is used to make the material. The waste is usually used for animal feed or could even end up in landfill. So, how does the technology work? (More)

> An innovative research method helps discover sea lion behaviors and maps ocean habitats. (More)

IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

In yesterday’s quiz, we asked you, ‘How full is the bottle?’.

The answer is: 2/3

Ready for more brainy challenges? Gear up for future IE quizzes by following us on Instagram and Facebook! 

FROM THE WEB

> Researchers map 50,000 of DNA’s mysterious ‘knots’ in the human genome

> Oxford team identifies fake vaccines using mass spectrometry

> Australians are living longer than most people in English-speaking OECD countries

> Scientists reveal exercises that help detox cells

> Scientists discover 1,700 new 'zombie' viruses in ancient permafrost in the Himalayas

> All-bamboo plastic a step closer to reality with new processing recipe: study