🚘 Self driving puts Musk in China, 46,000 year-old kangaroo, lunar-landing tech

Just days after postponing his trip to India, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, achieved significant breakthroughs for his electric vehicle (EV) business during his visit to China. The U.S. automaker received the go-ahead to deploy its driver-assistance system in China, which is the world’s largest automobile market.

This visit comes amidst setbacks his EV business is encountering in the U.S. market and globally. For more on this development, check out today’s Must-Read.

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MUST READ

🚘 Elon Musk lands in China to promote Tesla’s self-driving technology

Musk’s visit coincides with the 2024 Beijing Auto Show, where over 1,500 exhibitors display their innovations. Surprisingly, he also met Chinese Premier Li Qiang, the second most powerful government official in Beijing, during his visit.

The visit proved successful for Tesla, as the U.S. automaker received the go-ahead to deploy its driver-assistance system in China, which is the world’s largest automobile market. Tesla has also cracked a mapping and navigation deal with Chinese tech giant Baidu.

That said, the company’s cars have been banned from Chinese military compounds and some other government venues in the past over data collection concerns.

🦘 Almost-intact fossil of kangaroo extinct for 46,000 years discovered

Scientists at Museums Victoria (Australia) have uncovered a remarkably intact skeleton of a young Simosthenurus occidentalis, commonly known as the short-faced kangaroo. The animal is known to have fallen victim to an extinction event that decimated 85 percent of Australia’s large-bodied mammals, reptiles, and birds.

This fossil, recovered from a cave near Buchan in Gippsland, Australia, is one of the most complete skeletons of an extinct species found in the country. An impressive 71 percent of the animal’s bones have been preserved.

Researchers speculate that the stout build of S. occidentalis and its kin might have influenced their locomotion. There’s the suggestion that its gait is more akin to walking rather than the characteristic hopping associated with kangaroos.

🚀 SpaceX’s Starship lunar-landing tech passes a key in-space refueling test

A NASA official recently announced that SpaceX’s Starship in-space refueling technology has passed a key test. The technology will play a crucial role in NASA’s Artemis moon landings.

The first Artemis lunar landing mission will launch astronauts aboard an Orion capsule atop NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS). SpaceX’s Starship HLS will launch separately. It will rendezvous and dock with the Orion spacecraft in lunar orbit.

Two of the Artemis astronauts will then transfer across to Starship HLS and descend to the lunar surface. They will be the first humans to land on the moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. When it first reaches orbit, Starship HLS will have to refuel to travel to the moon with enough propellant to land and take off once again from the lunar surface.

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HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> The MoEDAL (Monopole and Exotics Detector) experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is the world’s largest and highest-energy particle collider, has made a significant leap in its quest for magnetic monopoles. (More)

> A talk with CEO and Co-founder Laurent Marfisi takes a closer look at the tech powering Unistellar's smart telescopes. Controlled by a smartphone, these enable even the most amateur city dwellers in light-polluted areas to gaze upon distant galaxies within minutes. (More)

> How smart was the T. rex? Some studies are concluding that due to the high number of neurons present in a T. rex’s brain, they must have been cognitively similar to monkeys. (More)

ENERGY

> Scientists have overcome two key barriers to producing power from nuclear fusion, which could pave the way for producing near-limitless clean energy. (More)

> Engineers in Switzerland are aiming to promote the use of vertical axis wind turbines through new research and innovations they claim can mitigate some of the technology’s shortcomings and release its potential. (More)

> Workers at the UK's last active coal-fired power station say, "It'll be a sad day" when the plant closes for good in September. The cooling towers have dominated the Nottinghamshire skyline for decades. (More)

INNOVATION

> Chinese startup Shengshu Technology and Tsinghua University have officially unveiled China’s answer to OpenAI’s Sora, Vidu. The AI-powered text-to-video app can generate 16-second clips at 1080p resolution with a single click. (More)

> For the first time, researchers have unlocked a very specific state of thorium atomic nuclei that promises many technological applications. To achieve this feat, they used lasers. (More)

> A cargo ship the size of 10 basketball courts? Dubbed Greenwater 01, it’s the world’s largest electric cargo ship and has already started regular service between China’s Shanghai and Nanjing. (More)

VIDEO

> Scientists at Caltech are taking a unique approach by harnessing the natural abilities of jellyfish, equipping them with advanced technology to explore marine environments, particularly the deep ocean. (More)

> The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted global supply chains, highlighting the vulnerabilities in traditional design and manufacturing paradigms. Cloud technology is emerging as a pivotal solution. (More)

> Three daredevil wingsuit fliers recently undertook a breathtaking flight around the iconic pyramids of Giza, showcasing their aerial prowess in a stunning display captured on GoPro. (More)

IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

In yesterday’s quiz, we asked, Which glass contains the most water?

The answer is: We know that glass sizes and water levels are equal. Since we know that the level of water is corresponding with the weight of object inside, glass C contains the most amount of water since weight of paperclip is less than the other objects.

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