Month: November 2017

Orbital ATK

As one of two partners in NASA's commercial cargo program to deliver supplies to the International Space Station, Orbital ATK has received significantly less attention than the other provider, SpaceX. And with Orbital ATK preparing to make just its second launch attempt in more than three years from its home base of Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia, it is worth reflecting on why.

First, a few details on the launch: at 7:37am ET on Saturday, Orbital ATK will attempt to launch its Cygnus spacecraft aboard an expendable Antares rocket. The spacecraft will carry 3,338kg of cargo to the space station. The launch from Wallops Flight Facility will be at least partially visible from most of the eastern US coast, with excellent weather conditions forecast.

Enlarge / Officials announcing the driverless shuttle program in Las Vegas January. (credit: Navya)

Wednesday was supposed to be the triumphant launch of a free, driverless shuttle in downtown Las Vegas. Designed by French company Navya, operated by another French company called Keolis, and sponsored by the city and American Automobile Association, the year-long pilot project was supposed to demonstrate the potential of slow-moving autonomous vehicles to change the transit industry.

Instead, within hours, the project was greeted with the worst possible headline: "Self-driving shuttle bus in crash on first day."

The headline, and lots of others like it, were technically accurate but a little misleading. Officials say the other vehicle—a semi truck that bumped into the shuttle while backing up—was at fault. And it was such a low-speed collision that no one was injured. The accident "merely dented the plastic panels on the front of the shuttle," according to Jeff Zurschmeide of Digital Trends.

Siemens

Trucks hauling freight from ports emit a lot of greenhouse gases—in fact, freight is the number one source of smog-related emissions in the Los Angeles area—and projected US growth rates mean that by mid-century, those emissions could double unless something is done to control them. Daimler, Cummins, Tesla, and others have promised various models of electric freight-hauling trucks, but none of those models are quite yet ready for prime time (with the exception of Daimler’s trucks, which are only meant for smaller, shorter hauls).

But the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) office in Los Angeles, not keen on waiting for a private company to perfect an electric vehicle solution, has reached out to Siemens to help it build a test “eHighway” in Carson, California, near the Port of Long Beach, the second-busiest seaport in the United States. The eHighway uses electrified catenary lines along a stretch of road that trucks can connect to for electric power—exactly like trolley or light rail lines that offer electric public transportation in a multitude of cities today. The difference, however, is that the trucks don’t run on a rail, and they can disconnect from the catenary and run on independent engines when they get to the end of the line.

Enlarge (credit: YouTube, CarrotShaker)

Recent news stories and blog posts highlighted the underbelly of YouTube Kids, Google's children-friendly version of the wide world of YouTube. While all content on YouTube Kids is meant to be suitable for children under the age of 13, some inappropriate videos using animations, cartoons, and child-focused keywords manage to get past YouTube's algorithms and in front of kids' eyes. Now, YouTube will implement a new policy in an attempt to make the whole of YouTube safer: it will age-restrict inappropriate videos masquerading as children's content in the main YouTube app.

The reasoning behind this decision has to do with the relationship between the main YouTube app and YouTube Kids (which has its own dedicated app). Before any video appears in the YouTube Kids app, it's filtered by algorithms that are supposed to identify appropriate children's content and content that could be inappropriate or in violation of any YouTube policies. YouTube also has a team of human moderators that review any videos flagged in the main YouTube app by volunteer Contributors (users who flag inappropriate content) or by systems that identify recognizable children's characters in the questionable video.

If the human moderator finds that the video isn't suitable for the YouTube Kids app, it will be age-restricted in the main YouTube app. No age-restricted content is allowed in the YouTube Kids app at all. As for those using the main YouTube app, age-restricted content cannot be viewed by anyone not logged into a YouTube account, anyone under the age of 18, or anyone with Restricted Mode turned on. According to a report from The Verge, YouTube claims this policy has been in the works for some time now and is not in response to the recent online concern.