Startup Newlight Marine Technologies is fuel-injecting hydrogen to make cargo ships more efficient

Good news!

Remember the Hindenburg disaster of 1937!

Notice the website of Newlight Marine Technologies does not feature this news, but only outdated news from 2025. The company emphasises too much decarbonization and reduction in emissions.

"... The small team based in the San Francisco Bay Area has developed this hydrogen injection system as a retrofit, which it claims can be installed in less than two weeks without needing a dry dock. It cuts fuel use and emissions by more than 20%, and can save some vessels as much as $500,000 in annual costs, according to the startup.

Newlight does this by constantly monitoring the diesel engine and finding optimal moments, down to the millisecond level, to inject the hydrogen fuel. That includes measuring exhaust temperature, combustion pressure, and air intake pressure, and increasing or decreasing the hydrogen flow every time a piston moves inside the engine’s cylinders. ...

The startup says this hybrid system has completed its first long-range commercial voyage: an 8,500-nautical mile trip from Singapore to Ghana. Newlight installed its tech on a 650-foot-long Lomar Shipping bulk carrier ship for the test. The startup said its system reduced fuel consumption by 24% and carbon dioxide emissions by 28%. ...

The company claims it has signed agreements to put the hydrogen injection system on 12 vessels across multiple companies with “broader fleet rollouts planned for next year.” ..."

This startup is fuel-injecting hydrogen to make cargo ships more efficient | TechCrunch

Lomarlabs And Newlight Collaborate To Pioneer Hybrid Hydrogen-Diesel Retrofits For Greener Shipping (original, related news release, but from 2025)

Apollo Atomics wants to make nuclear power cheaper by dramatically shrinking the steam generator

Good news!

"The nuclear power industry is undergoing something of a renaissance, with startups raking in funding to develop advanced reactors in a quest to lower costs. But based on recent projections, it’s unlikely those reactors will be cost-competitive anytime soon. ...

Apollo is rethinking the way thermal energy is converted into electricity. ... the steam generator ...

While most steam generators are hand-built and several stories tall, Apollo says its version can be mass-manufactured and is about the size of a person. That has allowed the startup to build a reactor that’s 40-times smaller than one that uses a conventional steam generator. ..."

Apollo Atomics wants to make nuclear power cheaper by shrinking an overlooked part | TechCrunch

Source

Bohren, sprengen, weiterfahren: Chinas neue Tunnelmaschine

Gute Nachrichten!

"... Genau solche aufwendigen Wechsel zwischen maschinellem Vortrieb, Sprengungen und Sicherungsarbeiten will eine neue chinesische Tunnelmaschine vereinfachen. Die „Xianglong“ verbindet mechanischen Gesteinsabbau und Bohrsprengverfahren in einem System. In extrem hartem Fels versprechen die Entwickler eine um 30 % höhere Abbaueffizienz. Der Wert stammt allerdings aus Versuchen unter speziellen Bedingungen.

Die nach Angaben der Entwickler weltweit erste integrierte Bohr- und Sprengmaschine dieses Typs lief am 1. August 2026 in Wuhan vom Band. Entwickelt haben sie die Tsinghua-Universität und die China Railway Science & Industry Group. ..."

Bohren, sprengen, weiterfahren: Chinas neue Tunnelmaschine "Chinas neue 400-t-Tunnelmaschine kombiniert mechanischen Vortrieb und Sprengtechnik. Was der offene Schneidkopf ermöglicht."

Die Tunnelbohrmaschine „Paulina“ nimmt in der südlichen Störungszone des zweiten Gotthard-Straßentunnels den Vortrieb wieder auf. Der monatelange Stillstand zeigt, welchen Aufwand schwierige Geologie verursachen kann – genau hier setzt Chinas neue Hybridmaschine „Xianglong“ mit ihrem kombinierten Bohr- und Sprengverfahren an.

Quelle

Bis zu 268 Gigawatt aus dem Moor: Deutschlands übersehene Solarflächen. Wirklich!

Typisches aus der Bananenrepublik D! Die spinnen, die deutschen Ingenieure (VDI, Verein Deutscher Ingenieure)!

Deutsche Ingenieure im Klimawahn! Na dann!

Noch mehr Naturverschandlung! Noch mehr Zerstörung von Mooren?

"Moor-PV, also Photovoltaik (PV)-Anlagen auf wiedervernässten Moorböden, könnten den Ausbau erneuerbarer Energien mit einer deutlichen Verringerung von Treibhausgas (THG)-Emissionen aus der Landnutzung verbinden.

Eine neue Handreichung des Fraunhofer-Instituts für Solare Energiesysteme ISE und weiterer Forschungspartner fasst den aktuellen Stand der Technik zusammen, beschreibt offene Fragen und gibt Empfehlungen für Planung, Genehmigung, Betrieb und Rückbau von Moor-PV-Anlagen. ...

Seit 2023 ist die Stromproduktion auf zuvor landwirtschaftlich genutzten Moorböden im Rahmen des Erneuerbare-Energien-Gesetzes (EEG) förderfähig. Voraussetzung ist, dass die Entwässerung beendet und ein dauerhaft hoher Wasserstand hergestellt wird. ...

Entwässerte Moore verursachen hohe Emissionen [???]

Moorböden bedecken rund 5 % der Fläche Deutschlands. ..."

Bis zu 268 Gigawatt aus dem Moor: Deutschlands übersehene Solarflächen Moor-PV auf wiedervernaessten Moorböden

How to Make an Invisible Drone - Computational design generates a spinning drone that’s nearly transparent

Amazing stuff! There was something buzzing over my head yesterday! Just kidding!

"By exploiting the quirks of human vision, Northwestern University engineers have designed a drone that nearly disappears right before the eyes.

For years, researchers have tried to design invisible drones and robots using camouflage, transparent materials or light-bending optical systems. But the Northwestern team instead used a concept called “motion blur” — the same effect that makes fast-spinning fans and propellers seem to disappear.

Called the “Phantom Twist,” the drone spins up to 25 times per second, which is too fast for the human eye to see clearly. While it isn’t completely invisible, it morphs into a ghostly smudge that seamlessly blends into the background. The work eventually could lead to drones that monitor wildlife, survey the environment and inspect infrastructure with less visual disruption. ..."

From the abstract:

"We introduce Phantom Twist, a type of single-propeller UAV designed to achieve low visibility through high-speed spinning and the exploitation of motion blur.

We develop a two-stage automated design pipeline that optimizes the placement of functional components including batteries, control PCB, motor-propeller assembly, and counterweights. The pipeline minimizes visibility as measured by a human-aligned perceptual metric (LPIPS) while strictly satisfying inertial and aerodynamic constraints required for stable flight.

We validate this approach through fabrication and flight testing of multiple prototypes. These tests confirm that our pipeline produces stable, controllable designs and that the optimized UAV exhibits significantly reduced visual perceptibility compared to conventional quadcopters."

AI Design Makes a Wild Invisible Spinning Drone - IEEE Spectrum "Computational design generates a spinning drone that’s nearly transparent"

New spinning drone hides in plain sight (original news release)

Computational Design of a Low-Visibility UAV Using a Human-Aligned Perceptual Metric (conference oral presentation paper)

Phantom Twist’s spinning flight makes it nearly transparent

New propulsion system could make tiny satellites both fast and fuel-efficient

Amazing stuff!

"MIT engineers are testing a new propulsion system that combines the power and speed of conventional chemical thrusters with the precision and fuel-efficiency of electrical thrusters. 

The system could enable the design of nimbler, more flexible small satellites, which could perform both fast, powerful maneuvers and slower, precise adjustments, depending on the mission and moment at hand.

The key to the new system is a special propellant that can power both chemical and electrical thrusters, which traditionally have required separate, bulky fuel sources.  ..."

New propulsion system could make tiny satellites both fast and fuel-efficient | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology "For satellites as small as a briefcase, getting around in space just got a whole lot easier."

Performance Characterization of Electrospray Thrusters with Energetic Ionic Liquid Monopropellant (open access)

Electrospray Thrusters

YASA axial flux electric motor becomes the world's most power dense

Amazing stuff! Looks like electric motors are becoming more powerful almost by the month.

"Since 2021, YASA has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercedes-Benz Group"

"... YASA announced its latest prototype motor breakthrough this week, and this time around, it's managed to shave off close to half an ounce of weight while boosting power by over 33%.

More precisely, YASA's latest prototype axial flux motor weighs in at 12.7 kg (28 lb) while firing out a peak power of 750 kW (1,006 hp), pinning down a new unofficial world record power density of 59 kW/kg, a full 40% more than the already massive figure it achieved just a few calendar flips ago. ...

As for what the YASA prototype motor can achieve in continuous operation, YASA's team estimates that figure between 350 and 400 kW (469 and 536 hp), which gives it a 27.6 kW/kg continuous power density that lands greater than most motors' peak power densities. In fact, it's double a couple of those aforementioned figures above. ..."

YASA axial flux electric motor becomes the world's most power dense

YASA Axial Flux Motor

Startup conducts groundbreaking test of futuristic electric jet engine in India: 'This is the future of aviation'

Amazing stuff! This is dated news from about April of this year.

"SiriNor tests emission-free electric jet engine in India

SiriNor has completed ground testing of its emission-free electric jet engine in Pune, India. The engine, developed by the India-Norway-based startup, reached over 40,000 RPM and delivered 10 kilogram-force thrust, surpassing its design goals. SiriNor plans to commercialize the engine for unmanned aerial vehicles by mid next year, seaplanes by 2027 and regional aircraft by 2030."

"Startup SiriNor just completed ground testing of its revolutionary emission-free electric jet engine, which could change the entire air travel industry. 

The company, based in India and Norway, conducted the groundbreaking test in Pune, India, ET Travel World reported in April. The engine achieved Technology Readiness Level 6 (TRL6) based on NASA's framework. 

When it clocked over 40,000 RPM and generated 10 kilogram-force thrust, it exceeded its design specifications. This validates its performance under controlled lab conditions, and its scalable architecture makes it versatile.  

The engine eliminates combustion, reducing manufacturing costs by 30% and requiring up to 40% less maintenance. ..."

Startup conducts groundbreaking test of futuristic jet engine: 'This is the future of aviation'

Credits: IEEE USA Smartbrief

These women are rebuilding Somalia's capital from the ground up

Bravo! These engineers are trailblazers! Unfortunately, BBC chose the annoying narrow video format for YouTube!

Polish AI insurtech startup Ominimo bags its first investment at a $220M valuation and gives employees autonomy to innovate

Good news!

"How do you get talented engineers to work for a startup in a mundane field at a time when more exciting companies are paying well and hiring aggressively? Here’s an answer from one insurance startup out of Poland called Ominimo: make pay competitive, but more importantly, give those engineers the license to apply their talent and reinvent how the field works. 

Launched on a bootstrapped budget just 12 months ago, Ominimo believes it’s found a different and better approach to understanding and pricing risk. The company says it’s already profitable and growing fast, with 300,000 policies signed up in its first market of Hungary. Now, to fuel its next stage of life, it’s taking its first outside investment from a strategic backer, Zurich Insurance Group. ..."

AI insurtech Ominimo bags its first investment at a $220M valuation | TechCrunch

New AI cracks complex engineering problems faster than supercomputers

Good news!

"... Called DIMON (Diffeomorphic Mapping Operator Learning), the framework solves ubiquitous math problems known as partial differential equations that are present in nearly all scientific and engineering research. Using these equations, researchers can translate real-world systems or processes into mathematical representations of how objects or environments will change over time and space. ...

In addition to demonstrating the applicability of DIMON in solving other engineering problems, ... team tested the new AI on over 1,000 heart "digital twins," highly detailed computer models of real patients' hearts. The platform was able to predict how electrical signals propagated through each unique heart shape, achieving high prognostic accuracy. ...

to study cardiac arrhythmia, which is an electrical impulse misbehavior in the heart that causes irregular beating. With their heart digital twins, researchers can diagnose whether patients might develop the often-fatal condition and recommend ways to treat it. ..."

From the abstract:

"Solving partial differential equations (PDEs) using numerical methods is a ubiquitous task in engineering and medicine. However, the computational costs can be prohibitively high when many-query evaluations of PDE solutions on multiple geometries are needed. Here we aim to address this challenge by introducing Diffeomorphic Mapping Operator Learning (DIMON), a generic artificial intelligence framework that learns geometry-dependent solution operators of different types of PDE on a variety of geometries.

We present several examples to demonstrate the performance, efficiency and scalability of the framework in learning both static and time-dependent PDEs on parameterized and non-parameterized domains; these include solving the Laplace equations, reaction–diffusion equations and a system of multiscale PDEs that characterize the electrical propagation on thousands of personalized heart digital twins. DIMON can reduce the computational costs of solution approximations on multiple geometries from hours to seconds with substantially less computational resources."

New AI cracks complex engineering problems faster than supercomputers | Hub "The shape-shifting technological solution by Johns Hopkins researchers could be a game-changer for engineering designs"

A scalable framework for learning the geometry-dependent solution operators of partial differential equations (open access)

Fig. 1: Learning geometry-dependent solution operator of PDEs on a family of diffeomorphic domains with DIMON.

Electrostatic Motors Challenge Electromagnetic Motors

Amazing stuff!

"... But “an electrostatic motor doesn’t need windings, doesn’t need magnets, and it doesn’t need any of the critical materials that a conventional machine needs.”

... C-Motive Technologies, to build macro-scale electrostatic motors. “We make our machines out of aluminum and plastic or fiberglass,” he says. Their current prototype is capable of delivering torque as high as 18 newton meters and power at 360 watts (0.5 horsepower)—characteristics they claim are “the highest torque and power measurements for any rotating electrostatic machine.” ...

For this quest he and his team found inspiration in a lesser-known accomplishment of one of the United States’ founding fathers. “The fact is that Benjamin Franklin built and demonstrated a macroscopic electrostatic motor in 1747,” says Krein. “He actually used the motor as a rotisserie to grill a turkey on a riverbank in Philadelphia” ...
C-Motive is now testing a 750-watt (1 hp) motor in applications with potential customers. Their next machines will be in the range of 750 to 3,750 watts (1 to 5 hp), he adds. "

Electrostatic Motors Challenge Electromagnetic Motors - IEEE Spectrum "It turns out that Benjamin Franklin was on to something in 1747"

C-Motive’s 360-watt motor has a half dozen each of rotors and stators, shown in yellow in this cutaway illustration.

The Scoop on Keeping an Ice Cream Factory Cool for the biggest ice cream company in the world

What a sweet job!

"... works at the Advanced Prototype and Engineering Centre of the multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Unilever’s corporate umbrella covers such ice cream brands as Ben & Jerry’s, Breyers, Good Humor, Magnum, and Walls. ..."

The Scoop on Keeping an Ice Cream Factory Cool - IEEE Spectrum

Rolls-Royce cranks world's largest jet engine up to maximum power with Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Amazing stuff! When was the last time you saw a Rolls Royce car?

I am not sure what this Sustainable Aviation Fuel is all about.

"Rolls-Royce has taken a major green step, announcing that not only has its giant UltraFan demo jet engine been run at full power on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), but tests have proven all its current civilian engines are compatible with 100% SAF. ...

Billed as the largest and most powerful jet engine in the world, the UltraFan has a 140-in (356-cm) fan and can produce 64 MW of power. In static tests, it has generated a maximum thrust of over 85,000 lb and the technology can be scaled to as high as 110,000 lb for narrow-body or wide-body aircraft of the 2030s. ..."

Rolls-Royce cranks world's largest jet engine up to maximum power 

Is India Falling Out of Love with Engineering? with Palki Sharma

Sounds serious!

Scientists develop AC that uses solid refrigerants and doesn’t hurt the environment

Good news!

This is my second blog post regarding A/C technology today!

"Solid refrigerants could be an ideal solution. Unlike gases, solids won’t leak into the environment from A/C units. One class of solid refrigerants, called barocaloric materials, work similarly to traditional gas-liquid cooling systems. They use pressure changes to go through heat cycles, but in this case, the pressure drives a solid-to-solid phase change. That means the material remains a solid, but the internal molecular structure changes. ...

A disadvantage of barocaloric systems, however, is that most of these materials require massive pressures to drive heat cycles. To produce these pressures, the systems need expensive, specialized equipment that’s not practical for real-world cooling applications. Mason and his team recently reported barocaloric materials that can act as refrigerants at much lower pressures. They’ve now shown that the refrigerants, which are called metal-halide perovskites, can work in a cooling system they’ve built from scratch. “The materials we reported are able to cycle at about 3,000 psi, which are pressures that a typical hydraulics system can work at,” ...

The team has now built a first-of-its-kind prototype that demonstrates the use of these new materials in a practical cooling system. The device has three main parts. One is a metal tube packed with the solid refrigerant and an inert liquid — water or an oil. Another piece of the device is a hydraulic piston that applies pressure to the liquid. Finally, the liquid helps transfer that pressure to the refrigerant and helps carry heat through the system. ..."

"... Other scientists have investigated using plastic crystals or shape-memory alloys as potential solid state refrigerants. With more work, this new class of materials could help make cooling devices more environmentally friendly. ..."

Scientists develop AC that uses solid refrigerants and doesn’t hurt the environment It could one day replace existing air conditioning that uses refrigerants that are thousands of times more powerful than CO2 at trapping heat.

Solid-state refrigerant works under pressure for greener cooling

A more environmentally friendly air conditioner

The team's prototype set up to test the solid-state refrigerant

AI Could Make Air Conditioners 10x Better

Good news! When was the last time A/C technology saw a major innovation? Billions of people do not even have any significant access to air conditioning!

"The energy we spend on cooling indoor spaces has tripled since 1990, and it’s going to triple again by 2050 as developing and middle-income countries embrace air-conditioning. Researchers are putting a lot of sweat into innovative cooling technologies that consume less energy, but none seem ready for prime time in the near future. ...

Cooling consumes over 16 percent of the energy used by buildings today, with the heat exchanger being the most energy-intensive component of an A/C unit. ...
By using AI to generate a radically new heat-exchanger design that can then be printed with a 3D metal printer, Hyperganic says it is developing a residential A/C unit that is 10 times as efficient as conventional air conditioners, while costing the same amount of money to buy and operate for a year. [Remark: Costs the same to operate???] ...
Hyperganic’s AI-based design platform allows engineers to make heat exchangers with radically different structures, using elements inspired by the intricate designs found in nature, like corals, ... By increasing the surface area and optimizing air flow, these designs boost the component’s energy efficiency. “We take knowledge from engineering about how to build a heat exchanger, but now you can do it automatically,” ... “You can create, test, and iterate faster.” ..."

AI Could Make Air Conditioners 10x Better - IEEE Spectrum Hyperganic is using AI to design new heat exchangers that can be 3D-printed in metal

Launcher shows off its 3D-printed rocket engine doing a full-scale burn

Good news!

"Rocket engines are tough pieces of hardware to build, but it’s possible that 3D printing them could be the next big thing.  ... after demonstrating full thrust on its 3D-printed E-2 engine. ...

The Launcher Light will be small and very efficient, aiming for a low cost to orbit and quick turnaround. ....

Last week saw the first full-scale thrust test of the E-2, down at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The test demonstrated about 22,046 pound-feet of thrust (about 10 metric tons) using LOX/Kerosene at 100 bars of combustion pressure.

This is the thrust they’ve been aiming for in spec sheets and inching toward in other measures, and they reached it “without the hardware melting,” ..."

Launcher shows off its 3D-printed rocket doing a full-scale burn | TechCrunch

Flying-V plane could be the future of sustainable flight

Good news! New civilian air planes in the age of video conferencing! 😄

This new design is still in a very early stage of development.

"... According to the Dutch researchers who came up with this design, the “Flying-V” could cut fuel costs by as much as 20% while it takes over 300 passengers to their destination. It could also be powered by fuel cells to make it carbon neutral.

The Flying-V is the brainchild of Justuce Benad, an intern at Airbus in Hamburg who holds the patent, and Roelof Vos, an assistant professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at TU Delft University in the Netherlands, who is leading a team that is currently manufacturing and testing scale models of the design. ...
By contrast, the Flying V’s wings are part of the fuselage, not separate. Passengers literally ride inside one of the two wings, with the cargo sitting at the back of the wings. The aircraft has no tail. Passengers enter the aircraft through two doors placed side by side that speed up boarding and deboarding and improve emergency evacuation. ...
Vos and colleagues at TU Delft, in collaboration with Airbus and KLM, only made a single test flight using a three-meter scaled version of the Flying V. However, this was a rudimentary proof of concept test which involved an engineer running down a field holding the model aircraft above his head. ..."

Flying-V plane could be the future of sustainable flight The revolutionary aircraft design could cut fuel consumption by 20%

This is only an illustration!

A major advance in creating a tuneable high-quality thin film chalcogenide perovskites

Recommendable!

"MIT engineers report creating the first high-quality thin films of a new family of semiconductor materials. ...
Chalcogenide perovskites were made as early as the 1950s by French chemists. Similar work was repeated in the 80s and early 90s, but “the idea that these materials would be useful semiconductors didn’t come along until the early 2010s ...

Jaramillo and colleagues used a technique called molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to grow their high-quality films. The technique allows atomic-level control over crystal growth ... 

As its name implies, MBE essentially points beams of molecules at a specific arrangement of atoms on a surface (“taxy,” as in epitaxy, means arrangement, or orientation). That arrangement of atoms provides a template for the beamed molecules to grow on. “That’s why epitaxial growth gives you the highest-quality films. The materials know how to grow,” ..."

From the abstract:

"The making of BaZrS3 thin films by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is demonstrated. BaZrS3 forms in the orthorhombic distorted-perovskite structure with corner-sharing ZrS6 octahedra. The single-step MBE process results in films smooth on the atomic scale, with near-perfect BaZrS3 stoichiometry and an atomically sharp interface with the LaAlO3 substrate. The films grow epitaxially via two competing growth modes: buffered epitaxy, with a self-assembled interface layer that relieves the epitaxial strain, and direct epitaxy, with rotated-cube-on-cube growth that accommodates the large lattice constant mismatch between the oxide and the sulfide perovskites. This work sets the stage for developing chalcogenide perovskites as a family of semiconductor alloys with properties that can be tuned with strain and composition in high-quality epitaxial thin films, as has been long-established for other systems including Si-Ge, III-Vs, and II-VIs. ..."

Engineers report a major advance in creating a new family of semiconductor materials | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Ultrastable and made of inexpensive, nontoxic elements, chalcogenide perovskites could find applications in solar cells, lighting, and more.

Making BaZrS3 Chalcogenide Perovskite Thin Films by Molecular Beam Epitaxy (no public access)