🚁 US, Taiwan to build 3D-printed ‘drone army’ to counter China, secret layer that makes solar panels live longer, dirty Seine causes triathlon postponement

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Learning from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, where inexpensive drones aided Ukrainian forces against Russian aggression, Taiwan plans to develop a similar ‘drone army’ using 3D printing technology to deter Chinese aggression towards the island.

The United States has played a pivotal role in Taiwan’s drone development. In June, the US pledged to sell $360 million of attack drones to Taiwan.

In the latest development, Virginia-based RapidFlight, an integrated aerospace design, development, and mass manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), has announced signing a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan drone manufacturer Thunder Tiger Group. For more on this development, check out today’s Must-Read.

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MUST READ

🚁 US, Taiwan to build 3D-printed ‘drone army’ to counter China

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has recently proposed spending roughly $175 million to acquire approximately 3,200 drones from private contractors over the next five years.

The defense base in Taiwan will have to expand rapidly to meet that goal.

Consistent with appropriate licensing and governmental approvals, this partnership will leverage RapidFlight’s extensive understanding of additive manufacturing for aerospace applications at the tactical edge and Thunder Tiger’s technological know-how to enhance Taiwan’s defense and commercial UAS capabilities.

⚡️ Engineers find secret layer to make solar panels live long, make more power 

Researchers at the School of Engineering of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have identified the flaw that makes perovskite-based solar panels unstable. By fixing the issue, the researchers have paved the way for large-scale deployment of these highly efficient solar panels.

Researchers led by Zhou Yuanyuan, an associated professor at HKUST, studied the perovskite microstructure and found that the material’s crystalline grains have concavities on their surfaces. When used in solar cells, these concavities affect the structural continuity of the perovskite film and cause it to collapse under varying conditions.

🚴🏽‍♀️ Paris pollution: Dirty Seine river douses Olympics dreams, triathlon postponed

The men’s Olympic triathlon, originally set to kick off on Tuesday, has been postponed following a critical inspection of the Seine River at 3:30 AM. The inspection revealed that pollution levels were still too high to ensure the safety of athletes swimming in the river.

Organizers, including Paris 2024, World Triathlon, and other key stakeholders, concluded that rescheduling was necessary to prioritize athlete health.

In a statement, the organizing committee attributed the postponement to heavy rainfall over Paris on Friday and Saturday, which significantly impacted water quality.

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