🔥 US Navy's next-gen nuclear submarine, huge black hole on fire, 2024's top innovation stories

The United States Congress has presented a report that deals with the issue of the Navy aiming to procure a next-generation attack submarine. The report reveals that the US Navy estimates that the procurement of the first SSN(X) class will be pushed to financial year 2040, instead of the earlier dateline of FY 2035.

This delay is largely going to be because of the limitations on the US Navy’s total budget.

The US Navy currently operates nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), nuclear-powered cruise missile and special operations forces (SOF) submarines (SSGNs), and nuclear-powered attack submarines (SSNs). Delve deeper into our Must-Read.

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

> Software Engineer (NYC)
> Associate Director of Generative AI Platform Engineering (Hybrid or Remote)

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MUST-READ

☢️ US Navy to get next-gen beast nuclear-powered attack submarine in 2040

As per the report prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CSR), which was released on December 12, the X in the name signifies that the exact design of the boat has not yet been determined.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report from 2023 estimated that in constant FY 2023 currency, the SSN(X) would cost approximately $7.7 billion to $8 billion per unit. The US Navy projects that the average procurement cost per unit would be $6.7 billion to $7.0 billion, which is 14 to 15 percent lower than CBO’s estimates.

Regarding the size of the vessel, the CBO estimates that the SSN(X) design would have a submerged displacement of about 10,100 tons, about 11% more than that of the SSN-21 design.

🔥 Huge black hole on fire, emits gamma rays billions times stronger than visible light

In 2019, the world was mesmerized by the first-ever image of a black hole, courtesy of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The striking image depicted the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, located in the Virgo constellation.

Now, this same black hole is once again captivating scientists with an extraordinary gamma-ray flare that’s emitted photons hundreds of billions of times more powerful than visible light.

This intense flare, which has not been observed in over a decade, is helping researchers understand how particles, like electrons and positrons, achieve such high energies in the extreme conditions surrounding black holes.

🤖 Top 7 must-read innovation stories of 2024

2024 has been a landmark year for scientific innovation, with breakthroughs spanning diverse fields like sustainable energy and materials science.

At Interesting Engineering, we have witnessed incredible advancements firsthand. We have covered the emergence of bioprocessing platforms using human brain organoids, record-breaking magnets pushing the limits of materials research, and highly efficient water extraction technologies combating global water scarcity.

We have also explored hydrogen-powered drones capable of unprecedented long-range flights and groundbreaking chip-integrated lasers poised to revolutionize telecommunications and medical diagnostics.

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