A single manufacturing step can now do something that normally takes two separate chemicals. It makes a material bright white and water-repellent at the same time, without using either titanium dioxide or PFAS. Researchers at Kyoto University say the technique could remove two of the materials industry’s most persistent chemical dependencies in one move.

Professor Easan Sivaniah, at Kyoto University’s Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, led the project with collaborators from Tokyo Metropolitan University and Donghua University. The team calls the resulting process Deep Foam Photolithography.

Two chemicals under pressure

Titanium dioxide has long served as the default white pigment across packaging, films, and coatings. The European Union recently banned its use as a food additive, though, over safety concerns. PFAS compounds face a parallel reckoning. These fluorinated chemicals give materials their water- and oil-repellent properties, yet mounting evidence of their environmental persistence has manufacturers worldwide hunting for substitutes.

Sivaniah’s team set out to solve both problems using physics rather than chemistry. Rather than finding safer replacement chemicals, they asked whether a material’s structure alone could deliver the same effects.

A trick borrowed from nature

The underlying phenomenon is called structural whiteness, and it appears throughout nature without any pigment involved at all. Snow, sea spray, and clouds all owe their brightness to how light scatters off foam-like structures made mostly of air. That same principle is at work in plant tissues and the protective nests certain frogs build.

That principle even shows up in centuries-old art. The blinding white of the waves in Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa comes entirely from light scattering off bare washi paper fibers. The print itself contains no white ink at all.

Researchers engineered porous structures that replicate this same light-scattering effect, drawing additional inspiration from how light interacts with leaves and flower petals in nature.

A two-step process

Making the material requires just two steps. Light exposure first breaks a polymer down into smaller molecular fragments. A mild solvent treatment then causes those fragments to react and swell, forming an open, porous structure throughout the material.

That single process yields two properties at once. Internally, the porous structure scatters light to produce bright whiteness with no added pigment whatsoever. On the surface, that same structure becomes rough enough to repel water and oil, mimicking the effect seen on a lotus leaf.

Working with textile researchers at Donghua University, the team confirmed the process works on fabrics in addition to printable polymer films. Crucially, it required no newly invented specialty chemicals, succeeding instead with polymers already available commercially.

The resulting platform supports printing resolutions up to 20,000 DPI while delivering structural whiteness and water repellency together, all without titanium dioxide or PFAS. Rather than relying on added pigments or persistent chemical coatings, the approach builds both color and function directly into a material’s physical structure. That points toward a lighter, more sustainable way to manufacture everyday materials.

A Seattle-based company is set to boost autonomous operations in the U.S. Army. Overland AI, the leader in ground-based autonomous capabilities, has been selected by the U.S. Army’s Capability Program Executive (CPE) Mission Autonomy for the Engineer Autonomous Breaching Capability (EABC) initiative.

This $20 million contract signifies a broader shift from proving that autonomy works to delivering an operational breaching package that soldiers can employ.

Breaching mission can be executed most effectively with truly autonomous vehicles

“A breaching mission can be executed most effectively with truly autonomous vehicles,” said Byron Boots, co-founder and chief executive officer of Overland AI.

“Our proprietary software stack is the best solution for ensuring the safety of soldiers by modernizing the battlefield.”

The company revealed that its Overland AI’s software stack, OverDrive, can be integrated onto any ground vehicles to make them autonomous and enable multi-robot coordination. This technology is being leveraged for complex military operations such as breaching to overcome obstacles and facilitate the safe passage of follow-on forces.

With one operator to many robotic platforms, the company’s autonomous systems are designed to reduce the number of combat engineers needed to complete a breach. In doing so, we can reduce unnecessary risk to soldiers during these exceptionally hazardous missions. For operations that have historically cost many American lives, this shift has meaningful implications, according to a press release.

Autonomous mission capabilities, spanning software stacks, hardware platforms

CPE Mission Autonomy was established to accelerate Army acquisition of autonomous mission capabilities, spanning software stacks, hardware platforms, and modular payloads. Along with its partners and subcontractors, Overland AI is delivering the full capability, from operator to battlefield effect. 

Overland AI was selected for its innovative approach to autonomous breaching, honed through extensive work with warfighters across multiple combat engineer units and Department of War research labs, and more than 25 government demonstrations for DARPA, DIU, and the U.S. Army. The EABC program is designed to deliver a cohesive autonomous breaching package, and Overland AI is honored to bring this next generation capability to warfighters, as per the release.

Breaching is a critical combat-engineering function. Forces may need to create passages through obstacles so that troops, vehicles and other equipment can continue advancing. Traditionally, combat engineers must operate in highly exposed environments while identifying and overcoming these obstacles.

The EABC initiative seeks to change that equation by introducing autonomous systems into the process.

The objective is not simply to put a vehicle under remote control. Instead, the Army is pursuing a broader autonomous capability that combines vehicles, software, sensors, control systems and mission-specific equipment into a coordinated package.

That distinction is important as military organizations increasingly look at autonomy as a way to reduce human exposure to battlefield hazards.

The company says its approach has been developed through work with combat engineers, military research organizations and government programs. Overland AI also says it has conducted more than 25 government demonstrations involving organizations including DARPA, the Defense Innovation Unit and the U.S. Army.

This operational experience appears to have been an important factor in the company’s selection.

The Overland AI contract comes as the U.S. military is accelerating the integration of artificial intelligence and autonomous systems across multiple domains.

The Army has increasingly emphasized systems capable of operating with greater independence, while recent programs have explored autonomous intelligence, sensing, targeting, logistics and maneuver.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and industry partners are deploying advanced manufacturing technologies, such as heavy 3D printing and AI-driven automation, to repair broken US industrial supply chains.

For instance, inside an advanced Tennessee facility, a giant three-armed robot called MedUSA crafted a three-by-five-foot nuclear pressure vessel by guiding molten steel into place. Nearby was a large 12-foot model of an impact limiter, made from strong plastic instead of the usual wood. These were battle tests for the future of American industry.

America’s industrial sector is facing severe operational hurdles, driven by irregular supply chains and a shortage of skilled workers. These issues have created extreme delays in infrastructure sectors like hydropower, where acquiring major custom components can now take over ten years.

Over 350 leaders gathered at ORNL for the Materials and Manufacturing Innovation Days. They discussed ways to speed up the adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies.

The goal of M2IND was simple yet ambitious: remove the administrative and technical obstacles slowing advanced technology, and turn laboratory breakthroughs into factory-floor reality before time runs out.

“We want to make sure we have input from industry to help guide our research and ensure that the work at Oak Ridge and the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) is valuable to U.S. manufacturers and takes into account the supply chains needed to commercialize new technologies,” said MDF Director Ryan Dehoff.

Fast-track advanced manufacturing

The event featured two large 3D-printed nuclear energy structures. Researchers worked with the University of Maine to print a glass-fiber polymer model of an impact limiter. This massive component protects spent nuclear fuel shipping containers during transport and replaces traditional wood designs. 

Scientists also used a three-arm robotic system to print a steel pressure vessel with complex domed geometry. This project shows how additive manufacturing can produce large metal parts that usually face production issues. 

Standard reactor vessels use large-scale forging and welding, which face severe domestic capacity limits. The 3D-printed vessel served as a test case to evaluate additive manufacturing as a viable alternative. 

Supply chain issues

Participants highlighted urgent needs for resilient supply chains, alternative materials, and faster part qualification. They also pushed to combine manufacturing with AI, robotics, and digital engineering. New partnerships were formed to quickly turn laboratory research into practical tools for manufacturers.

Representatives from four Department of Energy offices and defense officials joined leaders from energy, manufacturing, and technology sectors at the event. Together, several key obstacles facing American industry were identified. These challenges include limited local capacity for large metal parts and long component lead times. 

ORNL formed key industrial partnerships to bring research into practical factory use. Yet, as forum participants repeatedly emphasized, printing a part is only half the battle. Getting it certified for real-world use is where momentum often dies.

To bridge that gap, ORNL announced a joint research effort with Idaho National Laboratory to standardize digital qualification methods across different facilities

Researchers hope to give regulators the data needed to certify 3D-printed nuclear and energy components in months rather than years. They plan to do this using real-time sensors, machine learning, and defect-tracking algorithms during the build process.

With new partnerships signed with energy titans like SLB and Kairos Power, the push is clear. Urgency has replaced routine. America is racing to rebuild its domestic manufacturing core, starting right on the laboratory floor.

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Airline operations across the UK have reportedly resumed following an air traffic control failure that cancelled over 2,000 flights and left hundreds of thousands of travelers stranded at airports throughout the country.

British airports restarted operations on Wednesday, September 9, after the hours-long shutdown a day earlier. London-based aviation data and analytics company, Cirium, reported that around 1,750 flights were cancelled Tuesday, September 8.

The National Air Traffic Services (NATS), UK’s air traffic control body, reported that the departure disruption was caused by a “technical issue” in its flight processing system. Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester, and Birmingham experienced the most severe delays.

Reports said more than 290 further flights were cancelled on Wednesday. The first day saw 30 percent of departures grounded. Cirium revealed that the figure fell to five percent the following day.

Martin Rolfe, NATS CEO, apologized to the travelers affected by the reported “IT failure”. However, Yvonne Moynihan, Wizz Air UK managing director, and Neal McMahon, Ryanair COO, have both called on Rolfe to resign over the recurring technical issues.

UK flights come to a halt

The issue began Tuesday following a technical problem at NATS, the company in charge of Britain’s air traffic control system. The failure led to the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights and stranded hundreds of thousands of passengers.

According to the media, Ryanair was among the hardest-hit carriers. The airline said approximately 150,000 of its passengers were affected and that it canceled more than 200 flights. British Airways, meanwhile, canceled or diverted around 100 flights, affecting tens of thousands of passengers.

Rolfe disclosed that the organization was investigating the incident and believed the problem was different from those behind previous failures. However, while he apologized for the disruption and said that a cyberattack had been ruled out, he was summoned to meet Transport Minister Heidi Alexander on Wednesday.

Alexander urged all passengers to “continue to check with airlines” to confirm if their flights were operating as scheduled. “I am seeking assurances that lessons will be learned and systems that support aviation are up to the job,” she said on the social media platform X.

Earlier issues spark concern

The disruption has nevertheless raised fresh questions over the resilience of the UK’s air traffic infrastructure. Tuesday’s outage was not the first major technical problem to hit Britain’s air traffic network in recent years.

A system failure in August 2023 caused widespread cancellations during one of the busiest travel periods of the year. It apparently cost airlines around USD 135 million (GBP 100 million). Another technical problem emerged in July 2025 when a radar-related fault disrupted flights at major airports, including Heathrow.

In an interview with Reuters, Michael O’Leary, Ryanair CEO, said the outage was a repeat of the 2023 shutdown caused by a rogue flight plan. “Fire him. He’s been there since 2015. He is useless,” O’Leary said.

The firm also issued a statement saying that over 65,000 of its passengers were affected by the outage. “How many more failures do passengers have to suffer before overpaid failure NATS CEO, Martin Rolfe, accepts responsibility for his repeated mismanagement and resigns,” McMahon noted. “Families traveling on holiday, people traveling for work and thousands of visitors to the UK have once again paid the price for NATS’ abhorrent failure,” he added.

Moynihan also joined Ryanair in calling on Rolfe to resign. “I think in any industry, when you’ve had three failures, you need to consider that three strikes and you’re out. So I think it’s certainly something that he needs to look at,” she said. “A third time and a third excuse is not enough anymore.”

Rolfe took full responsibility for the incident. He has been given one week to investigate what happened and report his findings to Alexander.

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Eclipse Space has unveiled three satellite platforms designed to let nations and companies build and operate their own space-based constellations, rather than leasing capacity from someone else’s network. The Redmond, Washington-based company was founded by engineers who previously built and scaled SpaceX’s Starlink system. It announced the platforms alongside a new power systems partnership with France’s Gama, ahead of World Space Business Week in Paris.

Eclipse designs and integrates everything a customer needs to run an independent constellation, including satellites, payloads, ground infrastructure, launch, and ongoing operations. CEO Derek Huerta said the company built its business around a different model than typical satellite operators. It gives customers complete infrastructure they can operate themselves, rather than infrastructure Eclipse continues to control.

Three platforms, one architecture

CitraSat, the first of the three platforms, handles direct-to-device communications, connecting standard mobile phones without requiring a dedicated dish or terminal. Its flat-panel design integrates a 3.5-meter S-band phased array, multi-gigabit E-band backhaul for ground connectivity, and V-band links for communicating between satellites in the same constellation.

The flat-stack design maximizes how many satellites fit on a single launch, and each unit carries an operational life of more than five years.

SliceSat targets high-throughput broadband instead, delivering high-speed connectivity directly from orbit without relying on terrestrial fiber networks. It packs four Ku-band phased arrays alongside multi-gigabit V/E-band feeder links and the same V-band inter-satellite connectivity found on CitraSat. The design aims at building resilient, low-latency broadband networks at regional or global scale.

SurgeSat extends the platform into an entirely new mission category: high-performance computing and data storage conducted directly in orbit. Designed for 100-kilowatt-class power output, SurgeSat is built to process and store data for large-scale AI and computing workloads. It does so without routing that data through third-party systems, keeping both the data and the infrastructure processing it fully under customer control. It shares its core architecture, inter-satellite networking, and manufacturing approach with the two communications platforms.

Power built to scale

Powering SurgeSat’s computing ambitions, along with Eclipse’s broader plans for high-capacity constellations, drove the company’s new partnership. That partnership is with Gama, a Paris-based developer of large deployable space structures and power systems. The two companies plan to combine Gama’s deployable solar array expertise with Eclipse’s spacecraft power systems. They’re targeting scalability up to more than 100 kilowatts and a first in-space demonstration in 2028.

Andrew Nutter, Gama’s CEO, said both companies share an engineering culture built around high-volume production, since many of the same engineers previously worked together scaling hardware for Starlink. Eclipse described the arrangement as an example of its broader fabless approach. The company owns system architecture, design, and software, while relying on specialized partners for individual subsystems rather than manufacturing every component in-house.

From stealth to platforms

Eclipse emerged from stealth in June 2026. The company was founded roughly a year earlier by CEO Derek Huerta, a former SpaceX satellite payload engineering manager, alongside other SpaceX alumni. The company has said it targets a minimum production rate of five satellites per day, with an integrated demonstration spacecraft planned for 2027. This week’s platform announcements mark the company’s first detailed public look at the spacecraft hardware underpinning that broader ambition.

Most rocket launches are watched on the way up. Engines ignite, the vehicle climbs through the atmosphere, and its stages separate as it heads toward space.

But for reusable rockets and spacecraft, reaching space is only one part of the mission. They must also find a way back to Earth.

The return is far more complicated than simply falling from the sky. The vehicle has to reduce its speed, survive the heat of re-entry, and remain stable as it descends. 

Depending on its design, it may then use engines, parachutes, or wings to complete the landing. That journey begins by establishing a controlled path back toward the planet.

Slowing down to return to Earth

A spacecraft remains in orbit not because it has escaped Earth’s gravity, but because it is moving sideways fast enough to keep falling around the planet. To come home, it must first slow down.

The spacecraft performs a deorbit burn by firing its engines against its direction of travel. This slows it enough to lower its orbit and enter the upper atmosphere, where drag further reduces its speed.

Reusable rocket boosters follow a different path because they usually separate from the vehicle before reaching orbit. 

After separation, a booster may perform a boost-back burn to reverse part of its trajectory and head toward land. Alternatively, it can continue downrange toward a landing platform at sea.

The booster then fires its engines again during its descent. These burns help control its speed and position it for the final approach.

Every maneuver must be precisely timed. Even a small error in the vehicle’s angle, speed, or orientation could cause it to miss its landing zone.

Surviving atmospheric re-entry

Entering Earth’s atmosphere at high speed creates extreme heat. As the spacecraft strikes the air, the gas in front of it compresses rapidly and heats up. This can produce a layer of intensely hot plasma around the vehicle.

Spacecraft use heat shields to survive these conditions. Capsules commonly carry ablative shields made from materials designed to char and gradually wear away. 

As the outer material is removed, it carries heat away and prevents the extreme temperatures from reaching the cabin.

The angle of entry is also critical. A spacecraft entering too steeply could experience excessive heating and deceleration. 

One approaching at an angle that is too shallow could travel beyond its planned landing area or briefly skip back out of the atmosphere.

The vehicle must also remain stable during this phase. Capsules adjust their orientation to produce limited lift and control their path. Reusable boosters use grid fins, which interact with the surrounding airflow to steer the descending rocket toward its target.

Completing the landing

Once atmospheric drag has removed most of the spacecraft’s speed, its landing system takes over. The method used depends on the vehicle’s design and mission.

Crew and cargo capsules generally deploy parachutes during the final stage of descent. The parachutes open in a sequence, gradually reducing the capsule’s speed. 

Some capsules splash down in the ocean and are collected by recovery teams, while others return to designated landing areas on land.

Reusable boosters rely on powered landings. Grid fins guide the rocket during descent before one or more engines restart for the final landing burn. This burn rapidly reduces the booster’s speed as its landing legs deploy.

Onboard computers continuously calculate the booster’s altitude, orientation, and velocity. They make rapid adjustments to engine thrust and steering, allowing the rocket to land vertically on a pad or a platform at sea.

Spaceplanes use another method. After re-entry, they glide through the atmosphere using wings and aerodynamic control surfaces before landing horizontally on a runway.

Returning to Earth is therefore not one action but a carefully coordinated sequence. Engines place the vehicle on the correct path, heat shields protect it during re-entry, and guidance systems control the descent. 

Parachutes, landing engines, or wings then complete the journey, bringing the spacecraft back to Earth intact and, in some cases, ready to fly again.

Launching a rocket requires enough power to break free from the ground, but returning one demands precise control at every stage. It is this combination of speed, heat management, and split-second navigation that turns a fall from space into a safe landing.

The Trump administration is putting $1.9 billion toward restarting a nuclear plant in Iowa as the U.S. works to keep up with rising electricity needs from artificial intelligence. On Tuesday, the Department of Energy said it had finalized a loan of up to $1.9 billion to help NextEra Energy bring the Duane Arnold Energy Center back online.

The 615-megawatt plant is set to restart in early 2029. It will be able to power almost 500,000 homes and support the expanding cloud and AI infrastructure in Iowa.

Federal cash backs nuclear comeback

Duane Arnold ran for over 45 years before closing in 2020. It was supposed to shut down later that year, but a derecho damaged the facility and forced it offline several months ahead of schedule.

NextEra now plans to bring the plant back online. The federal loan will help pay for the work needed to restore the facility and add its power back to the regional grid.

The Energy Department expects the project to boost electricity supplies and lower power costs. When it restarts, Duane Arnold will be Iowa’s only working nuclear power plant.

Deputy Energy Secretary James Danly said the financing “marks another step in advancing America’s nuclear renaissance.”

Google locks in nuclear power

Google is a key partner in the restart. In October 2025, Google and NextEra announced a deal where Google agreed to buy electricity from the plant through a multi-year contract.

This agreement gives NextEra a steady customer for the electricity the plant will produce. For Google, it means a reliable power source for its growing cloud and AI operations in Iowa.

“We expect Duane Arnold to be back online in early 2029, and the plant will provide more than 600 MW of clean, safe, “always-on” nuclear energy to the regional grid,” Google said in a blog post last year.

Google also pledged an additional $7 billion investment in Iowa over two years. The spending includes new and expanded infrastructure supporting its cloud and AI businesses.

AI pushes tech toward nuclear

The deal shows how tech companies are changing as AI increases electricity demand. Running advanced AI models needs big data centers, which use a lot of power.

Google is far from alone in seeking nuclear generation. A Microsoft-backed project to restart Pennsylvania’s Crane Clean Energy Center, formerly known as Three Mile Island Unit 1, received a $1 billion Energy Department loan in 2025.

Meta has also reached agreements supporting up to 6.6 gigawatts of new and existing nuclear capacity by 2035. Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Meta are all expanding data center infrastructure as AI workloads continue to grow.

Washington accelerates atomic power

The Duane Arnold financing also fits into the Trump administration’s broader nuclear strategy. President Donald Trump signed several executive orders in 2025 aimed at accelerating nuclear development in the U.S.

One order directed the Energy Department to halt most previous plans for diluting and disposing of surplus plutonium. It instead called for a program to process the material and make it available to private companies.

The Iowa project now adds another major nuclear investment to that push. If the restart stays on schedule, Duane Arnold will return 615 MW of generating capacity to the grid in 2029, giving Iowa a major new source of dependable electricity as demand from AI infrastructure continues climbing.

The Ministry of Science and Information and Communications Technology (MSIT) and the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) have announced that the next-generation national supercomputer will be launched by December this year.

Dubbed Supercomputer No.6, the machine will be equipped with 8,496 graphics processing units (GPUs) and boast a 614 petaflops performance, likely pushing it into the Top 10 supercomputers in the world. 

Supercomputers are extremely fast and large computers that can carry out extremely complex mathematics to solve problems of engineering and science that regular computers cannot handle. From energy exploration to weather forecasting, space research to drug discovery, supercomputers are tasked with carrying out simulations that help us better understand these fields and help scientists make discoveries. 

Countries typically built these large-scale computers at their national institutes to make scientific breakthroughs and attain economic leadership, while also deploying them for national security measures. 

The world’s top supercomputers are listed in the TOP500, with the latest edition listing China’s LineShine and ending US dominance at the top of the list. South Korea has 15 supercomputers on the list, with KISTI’s Supercomputer No. 5 occupying the 109th spot. KISTI and MSIT aim to break into the top 10, with Supercomputer No. 6 coming this December. 

Supercomputer No.6

KISTI’s Supercomputer No. 6 is built around NVIDIA’s GraceHopper 200 chips that integrate the central processing units (CPUs) and GPU units. The upcoming unit will feature 8,496 GPUs and 9,936 CPUs, 205 petabytes (PB) of onboard storage, and networking speeds that exceed 400 Gbps. 

Theoretically, Supercomputer No. 6’s computing performance is 614 petaflops, which is a huge leap when compared to its predecessor, Supercomputer No. 5, “Nurion, unveiled in 2017 with computing performance of 25.7 petaflops. Apart from a 24x increase in theoretical computing performance, the successor supercomputer will also get a 10x increase in storage and 4x faster networking speed. 

MSIT and KISTI signed an agreement with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise for system installation last year. Post-installation inspections began last month, and performance and stability testing is underway as South Korea looks for a December launch. 

Once operational, the supercomputer will enable access to massive computing resources for researchers engaged in computational science, data simulation, and AI-based scientific research. Plans include redistributing the resources across three programs: National Strategy (30 percent), R&D Innovation (55 percent), and Industrial Innovation (15 percent). 

Not smooth sailing

The announcement of the new supercomputer and its likely availability in the near term is great news for researchers. However, the acquisition was not this smooth sailing. Soon after the Supercomputer No. 5 was introduced in 2018, South Korean researchers began looking for its successor as early as 2021. 

However, the boom in generative AI, which has matured with ChatGPT and Claude, has now caused a huge surge in demand for GPUs. As prices for GPUs skyrocketed, South Korea couldn’t secure the chips at budgeted prices and had to spend 448.3 billion won (~US $334.9 million), a 53 percent jump over its initial budget of 292.9 billion won (~ US$218.8 million) to make the supercomputer a reality. 

“Supercomputer No. 6 is core infrastructure that will drive a major leap in scientific and technological research productivity in the AI era,” said Kim Sung-soo, Director General of the R&D Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT in a press release. 

“We expect it to generate tangible outcomes that contribute to securing national strategic technologies, including K-Moonshot and the 7 Major SEEDs, as well as research innovation across industry, academia, and research institutes.”

Bluecore Energy, a startup building small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) on floating barges, announced an oversubscribed $50 million seed round led by Silverton Partners.

Within just nine months of launch, Bluecore Energy has rapidly accelerated its path toward floating nuclear power by securing a port terminal, receiving its first barge, and starting construction on a test reactor.

Designed specifically for commercial applications, the reactor incorporates multiple layers of protective shielding and continuous water-based cooling to ensure safe, resilient operation out at sea.

The company’s founder, Kofi Asante, announced in the LinkedIn post: “Our focus is simple. Create and deliver zero-emission energy as safely and quickly as possible. Over 3 billion people live within an hour of water. We want to power them all.” 

Powering roughly 15,000 homes

Bluecore Energy emerged from stealth on 21 July with $10 million in pre-seed funding to deploy floating SMRs directly on mobile barges. 

The startup is the first SMR developer based inside a major U.S. shipping hub, operating directly out of its headquarters at the Port of Long Beach, California. 

The goal is to build a 10 MWe water-cooled reactor system using established maritime nuclear physics enclosed in steel pressure vessels and concrete shielding. The reactor will be capable of powering roughly 15,000 homes and can operate for years on a single fueling.

Designed to be modular, multiple units can be chained together to scale up and deliver reliable, long-term power to major ports, utilities, AI data centers, offshore facilities, and energy-constrained coastal communities.

Bluecore’s initial target is its hometown Port of Long Beach — the first American port to publicly back floating nuclear energy. 

“Nuclear energy at sea is not a new idea. Our opportunity is to take lessons from decades of maritime nuclear experience and combine them with modern engineering to build systems for a new generation of commercial applications,” stated Asante, who is a former Uber Freight executive.

The startup has already secured and delivered its first physical barge alongside an electric test reactor to its port site. This will allow the engineering team to actively construct, test, and refine system components in real-world conditions. 

Alongside these hands-on development milestones, Bluecore is rapidly advancing its formal regulatory, design classification, and commercialization pathways by deepening its technical engagement with both the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the US Coast Guard.

Accelerating development

Its platform leverages offshore mobility to overcome land-based energy constraints. 

The company’s small modular reactors will be mounted on mobile barges that can be moored or anchored like offshore oil rigs. These will be connected directly to land infrastructure using high-capacity subsea power cables. Positioned out in open waters, the units naturally draw on the ocean for continuous cooling. 

According to TechCrunch, this seed round drew strong support from returning pre-seed backers, including Slauson & Co., Harlem Capital, and Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen. And high-profile new investors, such as Collab Capital, Kevin Hart’s HartBeat Ventures, and angel investors from Tesla, Uber, Amazon, and Google.

With the new capital, Bluecore will place its first order for nuclear fuel. The primary operational challenge facing the company is navigating hardware supply chain issues. 

The startup, staffed by veterans from SpaceX, Rivian, and Navy submarine units, is already undergoing joint design review with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Coast Guard.

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Europe has added another powerful machine to its growing supercomputing network with the inauguration of Arrhenius, a new system in Sweden capable of more than 60 petaflops, or over 60 million billion operations per second.

The supercomputer was inaugurated at Linköping University and will be available to researchers, companies and public-sector organizations across Europe. It is designed to tackle computationally intensive work ranging from climate simulations and materials research to life sciences, engineering and artificial intelligence.

A 60-petaflop machine for European research

Arrhenius is classified as a mid-range supercomputer, but its performance places it among the world’s most powerful machines. It ranked 42nd on the TOP500 list published in June 2026.

Its computing capacity is intended for workloads that would be impractical or take considerably longer on conventional computing systems. Researchers can use it to run complex simulations, analyze large datasets, and develop compute-intensive AI applications.

Potential applications include climate modeling, materials science, drug discovery, life sciences, and engineering. The system is also designed with security and data integrity in mind, allowing organizations to use it for proprietary product development and research involving sensitive personal data, according to the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking.

Arrhenius is already being used by European researchers. Users gained early access through the EuroHPC AI for Science access call before the official inauguration, while broader access is now available through regular EuroHPC access calls as well as benchmark and development modes.

Designed to deliver more computing for less energy

Raw performance is only one measure of a modern supercomputer. The amount of electricity required to achieve that performance has become increasingly important as computing systems grow larger.

According to EuroHPC, Arrhenius delivers more than 61 billion operations per watt. That placed it 24th on the Green500 list, which ranks supercomputers according to energy efficiency. The system was procured through a contract with HPE signed in July 2025, with an estimated total value of €68.5 million. 

Up to 35% of the cost is co-funded by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking through the Digital Europe Program, with additional contributions from the Swedish Research Council to Sweden’s National Academic Infrastructure for Supercomputing (NAISS). EuroHPC and NAISS, hosted by Linköping University, jointly manage access to the machine.

Part of Europe’s push for computing sovereignty

Arrhenius is more than a standalone Swedish research computer. It joins 12 supercomputers already procured by the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking as Europe attempts to build computing infrastructure that it can control and access across the continent.

The initiative is also expanding beyond traditional high-performance computing. EuroHPC is overseeing the implementation of 19 AI Factories and 13 AI Factory Antennas across Europe, while also developing a European quantum-computing infrastructure that will integrate quantum technologies with conventional supercomputers.

The Swedish system is named after Carl Axel Arrhenius, the Swedish geologist and chemist who discovered the mineral gadolinite in 1787. Gadolinite was later found to contain several previously unknown elements belonging to the rare-earth group.

For European researchers and businesses, however, the machine’s more immediate significance is its computing capacity. By making tens of petaflops of processing power accessible across borders, Arrhenius gives scientists and industry another resource for workloads that conventional computing simply cannot keep pace with.

Replicating the cold, airless void of space inside a high-vacuum chamber on Earth, defense giants Lockheed Martin and L3Harris Technologies have cleared a massive technical hurdle in the race to protect the American homeland.

The companies successfully completed a static hot-fire test for the Stage 2 solid rocket motor of the Next Generation Interceptor (NGI). It was a demanding proof-of-concept run. Through simulated low-Earth orbit conditions, engineers proved the motor could deliver reliable performance where standard atmospheric tests fall short.

On-time fielding of the NGI fulfills an urgent need for advanced U.S. missile defense capabilities, with recent static-fire testing confirming its steady progress toward Critical Design Review.

“The test demonstrated the L3Harris Technologies’ Stage 2 motor will sustain the extreme thermal and pressure stresses expected during interceptor missions,” the company stated.

Test performance

The Next Generation Interceptor is the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s upcoming homeland anti-ballistic missile system, designed to defend against intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). As part of the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) architecture, it will replace older Ground-Based Interceptors (GBIs) currently housed in Alaska and California silos with an upgraded, modernized defense capability.

During the test, the L3Harris-built motor sustained intense thermal and pressure stresses. It did far more than survive; key metrics like thrust output, chamber pressure, and combustion stability matched design expectations across the board.

That stability is crucial. At hypersonic speeds, even a microsecond of thrust fluctuation can cause an interceptor to miss an incoming threat entirely.

“This successful static fire test is a significant milestone on the path to the Critical Design Review and confirms our confidence that the NGI motor will meet the demanding performance envelope required for fielding by 2030,” said Christopher Jewell, Lockheed Martin NGI vice president. 

The raw test data will now feed directly into finalizing the interceptor‘s complete blueprint, paving the way for full integration into the nation’s Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) network.

Other advancements in NGI tech

In early August, Lockheed Martin achieved another key milestone for the NGI program by successfully completing a critical burst test on its second-stage motor case. 

Engineers pressurized the carbon-fiber composite structure with water beyond expected launch limits. The testing confirmed its strength-to-weight ratio and ability to withstand extreme launch forces while delivering necessary orbital thrust.

NGI is progressing toward a key December design review, clearing the way for qualification testing, initial 2028 deliveries, and flight tests starting in 2029.

Despite an 18-month delay caused by supply chain problems and solid rocket motor design issues, it is said that recent performance has been strong, though the agency remains vigilant regarding potential component risks.

Also, in June, Lockheed Martin opened a new assembly facility in Courtland, Alabama, dedicated to manufacturing the NGI. Reportedly, the plant features a digitally driven production line engineered for flexible scalability and reconfiguration to meet evolving military demands. 

In 2024, the Missile Defense Agency awarded Lockheed Martin a $17 billion contract to deliver 20 NGIs. The system is expected to serve as a core component of “Golden Dome,” the Defense Department’s multi-domain missile shield linking sensors and interceptors. For this initiative, the Pentagon is requesting nearly $18 billion in fiscal 2027 as part of a projected $185 billion long-term investment.

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Researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland and Technical University of Munich, have developed a new approach that reveals the motion of electrons in the Wigner crystal, one of the most elusive states of matter. The team was able to access properties of the crystal in its fragile quantum state using light. 

First predicted nearly a century ago, the Wigner crystal is a solid phase of electrons that forms a organized crystal-like lattice structure at low densities. When moving in an inert, neutralizing background, a gas of electrons tend to crystallize at low densities as their potential energy is more dominant than their kinetic energy. 

Depending on the number of dimensions, the electrons are spread in, they can either form a crystal lattice in 3D, a triangular lattice when in two dimensions or an evenly space latticed when in a single dimension, as the electron cloud looks to minimize its potential energy. Physicist Eugene Winger predicted this in 1934 and has fascinated scientists since because it does not arise from an internal structure from the host material. 

While these crystals have been observed extensively, little was known about their internal behavior, their movements, interactions or responses to external disturbances. So, a team of researchers led by Tomasz Smoleński, assistant professor at the University of Basel, probed the crystal using light. 

Hidden quantum behaviour

The research team cooled a single layer of tungsten diselenide to temperatures just above absolute zero and illuminated it using light. 

“Our measurements show that light can do more than simply detect the presence of this exotic state—it can reveal how the state behaves internally,” explained Lujun Wang, who carried out the experiments at the University of Basel. 

Their work showed that the optical signatures were influenced by the strength of the interactions among the electrons, which is useful in exploring other systems which have multiple interacting particles. 

To make sense of their find, the researchers also needed a strong theory of what was happening inside the Wigner crystal. So, the team collaborated with Michael Knap, a professor of collective quantum dynamics at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) to understand what was happening. 

New window for other materials

Knap and his team came up with the theory that the incident light generated excitons which interacted with the orderly arrangement of electrons in the Wigner crystal and resulted in the formation of hybrid quasiparticles called polarons. These polarons served as optical probes for the crystal and its collective dynamics.

“What is particularly exciting is that these signals carry information not only about how the electrons are arranged, but also about their quantum dynamics,” explained Fabian Pichler, a PhD student at TUM and member of Knap’s research team. “This allows us to connect the experimental observations directly to the underlying many-body physics.”

The study demonstrates that atomically thin materials are promising platform for viewing collective motion of electrons in ordered quantum states. This opens up possibilities of investigating other materials and understanding its internal dynamics even if it may have strongly correlated matter. 

The research findings were published in the journal Nature Physics. 

Chinese researchers have developed a high-energy lithium-metal primary battery that combines long endurance with powerful bursts while operating at temperatures as low as -40°F (-40°C).

Developed by a team led by researchers from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the 25Ah pouch-type battery is designed to maintain stable performance in extreme cold.

According to Chinese online media reports, validation tests showed that the battery achieved an energy density exceeding 750Wh/kg at a low discharge rate.

The technology could support applications requiring reliable, high-energy power in harsh and low-temperature environments.

High-energy battery

The new lithium-metal primary battery is designed to combine high energy density, long storage life and rapid power delivery, while continuing to operate reliably in temperatures as low as -40°F.

The researchers developed a 25Ah pouch-type lithium-metal primary battery that achieved an energy density of more than 750Wh/kg under low-rate discharge conditions, according to Science and Technology Daily. Testing by the safety laboratory of the China Electronics Standardization Institute also found that the battery could increase its discharge rate by as much as 100 times, enabling short bursts of high-current output at up to 10C, reports the Global Times (GT).

The C-rate indicates how quickly a battery can charge or discharge relative to its rated capacity. A 1C discharge means a battery can theoretically deliver its full rated capacity in one hour, while a 10C discharge allows the same capacity to be delivered in roughly one-tenth of an hour. This capability is particularly important for primary batteries, which are designed for single-use operation and are not intended to be routinely recharged.

At room temperature, the new battery reportedly reaches a specific power of 4,487W/kg. It can sustain discharge at 4C and deliver short bursts at up to 10C, addressing a major limitation of conventional lithium primary batteries, which can offer high energy density and long shelf life but may struggle to release large amounts of energy rapidly.

Cold-ready battery

The battery also demonstrated significant performance at extreme cold. At -40°F, it retained an energy density of 447Wh/kg when discharged at 1C. Its annual self-discharge rate remained below 1 percent, indicating that the battery can retain most of its stored energy during extended periods of standby, reports GT.

The combination of high specific energy, low self-discharge and high power output could be valuable in situations where batteries must remain ready for long periods but suddenly deliver substantial power. Potential applications include drones and robots operating in remote locations, spacecraft systems, field-deployed sensors, rescue equipment and other devices where regular battery replacement or recharging is difficult.

Primary batteries are particularly useful in applications where charging infrastructure is unavailable or impractical. They can remain stored for long periods and provide power immediately when required, making them relevant to military operations, emergency response, rescue missions and forest-fire monitoring.

According to the team, they achieved the performance improvement through a new cathode material based on a high-entropy oxide. The team has also established a pilot production line with an annual capacity of 10 tons, providing a pathway from laboratory-scale material development toward battery manufacturing.

The battery has completed third-party testing and is undergoing additional validation for potential use in drones, robots, spaceflight simulators, and field sensor nodes. Further testing will determine how the technology performs under specific operating conditions and whether it can be scaled for broader commercial applications.

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Australia is taking another step toward operating its future nuclear-powered submarine fleet, awarding Lockheed Martin a two-year, AUD$26.5 million contract to establish a sovereign Combat Systems Integration (CSI) capability for its future Virginia-class submarines.

The work is being undertaken through the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) as part of the AUKUS partnership, with Australian engineers working alongside U.S.-based Virginia-class submarine specialists.

The technical capability being developed may sound like a relatively small part of a submarine program, but it sits at the heart of how a modern attack submarine turns information from its sensors into decisions and, ultimately, weapons effects.

What does combat-system integration actually mean?

A submarine’s combat system is essentially the technological nervous system connecting its sensors, communications, tactical information, and weapons.

A modern submarine can detect contacts using sonar and other sensors, build a picture of what is happening around it, determine whether a contact is a potential threat, and coordinate an appropriate response. Making all of those components work together reliably is the job of combat-system integration.

It is also an ongoing process rather than something completed when a submarine leaves the shipyard. Software, sensors, weapons and other components evolve throughout a submarine’s service life, requiring testing and integration to ensure new capabilities work with the rest of the system.

Australia’s Defense Department says the Combat System Integration Partner will help implement and test combat-system improvements and support submarine crews with maintenance and repair of the system.

Why Australia wants the capability at home

The objective is not simply to have Australian engineers working on American-designed equipment. Canberra wants to develop a sovereign integration capability that can support its own submarines over decades of operation.

That is particularly important for a fleet expected to remain in service for many years. A submarine’s combat system cannot simply be treated as a fixed piece of equipment; maintaining its effectiveness means continually integrating improvements as technology and operational requirements change.

Australia has already been involved with the AN/BYG-1 submarine combat control system, which is used by both Australian and U.S. submarines. The U.S. Navy describes AN/BYG-1 as a joint U.S.-Australian program and has been demonstrating its capabilities to AUKUS partners as part of broader efforts to ensure interoperability.

The new CSI capability builds on that broader experience while creating a larger Australian industrial and engineering base around the future Virginia fleet.

Building an Australian industrial base

Lockheed Martin says the contract will initially create more than 20 CSI engineering positions, with work beginning in Western Australia. Australia’s government previously said the broader CSI partner program could ultimately create around 100 additional jobs at Lockheed Martin Australia.

The companies will also examine Australia’s supply chain to identify local businesses that could contribute to Virginia-class combat-system integration.

That could become an important part of AUKUS. The partnership is not only about acquiring submarines and transferring technology; Australia is attempting to develop enough domestic expertise to operate, maintain and eventually sustain an advanced nuclear-powered submarine force.

The submarines behind the program

Australia’s future Virginia-class boats will be conventionally armed, nuclear-powered attack submarines operated under Australian command. The Australian government currently plans to acquire three Virginia-class submarines, with the first expected in the early 2030s.

The Virginia class is designed around long-duration submerged operations and combines nuclear propulsion with sophisticated sonar, combat-management and weapons systems. Australia’s future boats will therefore require a substantial technical workforce capable of supporting complex U.S.-origin systems within Australia’s own operational and maintenance structure. The CSI work is one piece of that much greater effort.

Australia is also building expertise through the broader AUKUS submarine ecosystem, including preparations for future SSN-AUKUS submarines that will eventually be designed and built jointly by Australia and the United Kingdom. The significance of the new contract is therefore less about the AUD$26.5 million itself and more about what it is intended to create.

Looks like an entire orbital launchpad could be hitched to a semi-truck and driven anywhere on Earth, thanks to space launch provider Rocket Lab. 

The company has unveiled GHOST, which is short for Global Hypersonic and Orbital Spaceport Technology. GHOST is a deployable, containerized launch infrastructure designed to fire rockets into orbit or suborbital trajectories from nearly anywhere on Earth. 

It is like a spaceflight in a box. GHOST houses everything required to execute a flight campaign: the rockets themselves, ground support equipment, launch pads, and complete range control systems. 

With this technology, Rocket Lab aims to make launch operations fully portable, especially for national security and international space defense.

Furthermore, GHOST’s primary advantage is its ability to support both Electron orbital rockets and HASTE hypersonic test vehicles using a single shared ground infrastructure. 

“We’ve been leading the field in small launch for missile defense and national security for years. Our reliability, repeatability, and affordability sets us apart from everybody else, and creating GHOST is about packaging that up into a deployable system that can serve the world’s most important programs from wherever those missions need,” said Sir Peter Beck, founder and CEO of Rocket Lab. 

Dual mission profiles

Rocket Lab depends on two primary vehicles: Electron, its 59-foot workhorse launcher with 83 missions under its belt since debuting in 2017. It is the second most frequently launched US rocket annually after SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

And HASTE (Hypersonic Accelerator Suborbital Test Electron) is a suborbital derivative designed for testing hypersonic flight technologies. First launched in June 2023, HASTE has flown nine times to date, offering customers dedicated testing environments alongside Electron’s small-satellite orbital rides.

This new containerized setup supports dual-vehicle launches out of a single system. As a result, defense partners and international allies can rapidly establish independent launch points while completely overcoming the high costs of fixed concrete infrastructure.

“Whether it’s for missile defense and deterrence, or opening up more trajectories, orbital missions, and sovereign launch capabilities in allied nations, GHOST is the answer to launching anywhere, anytime, and without compromise,” Beck added. 

GHOST: Launch-anywhere capability

Rocket Lab will debut its containerized GHOST system in 2027 with a suborbital launch from its newly established Launch Complex 4 at Alaska’s Pacific Spaceport Complex. 

Featuring two pads built for high-frequency flight campaigns, this addition brings Rocket Lab’s global network to six operational pads across two hemispheres, expanding beyond its active sites in New Zealand (LC-1) and Virginia (LC-2 and LC-3).

Rocket Lab has expanded its Virginia facility with a second launch pad to support Neutron, its upcoming medium-lift rocket designed to be larger, more powerful, and partially reusable — similar to SpaceX’s Falcon 9.

Although Neutron‘s maiden flight slipped past its original 2024 target, developmental delays are typical for new launch vehicles, and the company continues to make steady progress toward its operational debut.

Earlier this year, Rocket Lab secured its largest launch agreement to date through a $190 million Department of Defense contract for 20 flights of its suborbital HASTE rocket.

Serving as the core testbed for the DOD and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, HASTE allows defense agencies to evaluate payloads and maneuverable hardware at Mach 5+ speeds. This high-cadence testing pipeline directly supports the U.S. military’s drive to accelerate its capabilities in hypersonic technology and defense systems against fast, low-altitude aerial threats.

National security space strategy is shifting fast. Fixed launch pads are stationary targets. Through compact, modular launch systems, GHOST could bring mobility-driven deterrence to space defense, allowing swift, on-demand launches directly from allied lands.

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A New Zealand engineer who goes by Bruce online has built a 3D-printable robotic system. It attaches to an acoustic guitar and plays it from a digital tab file. The output is real acoustic sound, not a digital or synthesized approximation. The device, called MegCell Pulse, is now funding on Kickstarter. Backers receive STL files for printing most of the components themselves, along with a parts list and assembly instructions.

The premise behind the Pulse is simple as a question and difficult as an engineering problem. What if a digital music file could control a physical instrument, producing sound with all the natural qualities of that instrument in its room? Most approaches to digital music run in the opposite direction, converting acoustic guitar recordings into digital files. The Pulse reverses that pipeline, taking a digital guitar tablature file and converting its instructions into physical finger and pick movements on a real guitar.

From tab file to acoustic sound

The Pulse attaches to the guitar body and uses two mechanical arms to replicate the movements of a human player. The fretting arm presses strings down between frets, taking the role of the guitarist’s left hand. The picking arm plucks those strings in time, taking the place of the right hand. The two arms are coordinated by gears and magnetic actuators. They draw their timing and positioning directly from a standard digital tab file. No custom programming is required for each piece of music — the system reads the tab notation as written.

What comes out of the guitar is the instrument’s own acoustic sound, shaped by its body, its strings, and the room it is in. That is meaningfully different from a synthesizer or playback system, which would produce a digitally modeled approximation. The Pulse makes the strings vibrate. The guitar amplifies those vibrations in the way it was built to.

What makes this one different

Robots playing instruments are not new, but most existing systems require significant engineering work to teach the machine a new song. The Pulse skips that by reading standard tablature. Any piece of music already encoded in tab format is immediately available without additional programming.

Bruce has also demonstrated the system as an assistive tool. It can take over fretting duties, allowing a one-handed player to produce a full performance. The human handles one mechanical role while the robot handles the other, creating a collaborative performance rather than a fully automated one.

The 3D-printable design has a practical advantage beyond accessibility: the system can be repaired and upgraded by reprinting individual components, rather than replacing a proprietary unit.

What it cannot do yet

The system does not cover the full length of most guitar fretboards, which constrains the range of music it can play. It cannot slide between frets, which rules out legato techniques and string bends. Chord strumming is also a more difficult motion to replicate than single-note picking, and the system’s handling of this technique is still developing.

Bruce acknowledges the Pulse is a work in progress. The key question now is whether the system can incorporate the small timing variations and embellishments that make a guitar performance sound human. That is the engineering problem that will determine how far the project can go.

Lockheed Martin has launched a new family of modular radio-frequency sensors, missile datalinks, and seeker technologies designed to help the United States and its allies respond faster to evolving battlefield threats.

Announced on August 10 in Orlando, Florida, the Strigo family uses common hardware and software architectures that can be rapidly reconfigured for air defense, missile defense, and air-to-surface engagements.

Lockheed has invested $250 million in a dedicated product center intended to move new technologies from initial concepts to tested systems in months rather than years.

Modular missile sensor tech for multiple missions

The Strigo portfolio is built around a common technical baseline, allowing Lockheed Martin to adapt individual solutions without developing every system from scratch.

This approach could shorten integration timelines while reducing development, lifecycle, and long-term sustainment costs.

Its technologies include RF sensors that detect and track targets, datalinks that allow missiles to receive updated information during flight, and seekers that guide weapons toward their targets.

Because these components are modular, they can be tailored to different weapons and operational requirements.

The architecture is intended to support a broad range of missions, including intercepting aircraft and missiles or striking targets on the ground.

It could also allow existing munitions to receive upgraded sensing and communications capabilities as new threats emerge.

Developing missile systems before formal demand

Lockheed Martin established the dedicated product center less than two years ago to accelerate the journey from concept to operational capability.

The facility functions as a storefront of ready and near-ready technologies that can be adapted to meet specific customer requirements.

Instead of waiting for the US military to formalize a requirement, engineers at the center conduct proactive research and build hardware around anticipated battlefield needs.

Lockheed said several concepts have already progressed from early design to successful testing.

Technologies developed through the modular family have also informed aspects of the seeker package for the Precision Strike Missile Increment 2.

The weapon is being developed to provide the US Army with a longer-range capability against moving maritime targets and other threats.

“By putting proactive research and development at the forefront, the Strigo Product Center lets us test and deploy new solutions at unprecedented speed. That’s how we turn ‘what if’ into ‘what’s next’ faster than ever before,” said Stacy Kubicek, vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin Sensors and Global Sustainment.

Preparing for rapidly evolving threats

The $250 million investment reflects a wider defense-industry effort to increase missile production and accelerate the introduction of new capabilities.

Conflicts are demonstrating how quickly electronic warfare, countermeasures, and target profiles can change, placing pressure on traditional development cycles.

“Leveraging our deep expertise in advanced sensor and missile technologies, this long-term investment reshapes the way we develop and deliver next-generation, mission-ready capabilities, ensuring our warfighters have the solutions they need the moment threats evolve,” Kubicek added.

Lockheed plans to continue investing in RF sensors, missile seekers and datalinks.

The company says the technologies will support current efforts to accelerate munitions development while creating a foundation for future US military capabilities.

US-based Agility Robotics is preparing to launch its Digit V5 humanoid robot, with the company positioning it as a step toward safer human-robot collaboration in warehouses and factories.

The robot is designed to operate alongside workers without traditional safety fencing, addressing a key challenge in deploying humanoids in real-world workplaces.

Digit V5 is expected to support 20-hour operational days and use interchangeable end-effectors for different material-handling tasks, with autonomous tool changes planned for the future.

Recently, Agility Robotics revealed its plans to go public through a $2.5 billion SPAC deal, raising over $620 million to fund product development, research, and expansion.

Robots go cageless

Agility Robotics is preparing to deploy its next-generation Digit V5 humanoid robot to early customers in December, marking a major step toward wider commercial use of humanoid machines in industrial environments.

Digit V5 is designed specifically for warehouse and factory operations, where it can work alongside people without requiring the extensive safety fencing typically used around industrial robots. The humanoid platform combines a human-scale form factor with autonomous mobility, allowing it to navigate facilities and perform material-handling tasks in spaces designed for human workers.

Agility says Digit V5 incorporates upgraded safety systems intended to let the robot operate in close proximity to people. This could eliminate the need for dedicated cages and barriers that can consume valuable floor space, require costly facility modifications, disrupt traffic patterns and force changes to existing workflows, reports Humanoids Daily.

The ability to operate without conventional fencing could make Digit V5 particularly useful in crowded warehouses and factories where installing a dedicated robotic enclosure is impractical. Workers could also move through areas where the robot is operating, potentially allowing more flexible collaboration between humans and machines.

Agility expects early customer deployments to validate Digit V5’s safety capabilities under real-world conditions before broader production begins. The company believes the technology could expand humanoid applications beyond logistics and manufacturing into sectors such as retail and pharmaceuticals, where earlier systems faced greater operational restrictions.

Advances robot safety

Agility is placing safety at the center of its next-generation Digit V5 humanoid robot, with a new system designed to let it operate in close proximity to people without traditional safety fencing.

The robot combines cameras, sensors and software that can detect and interpret people in its surroundings with hardware designed to respond safely to unexpected movements. Its proprietary cycloidal actuators in the hips and knees provide the strength and dynamic stability needed to react quickly without losing balance, dropping a payload or falling.

Agility has tested this capability by suddenly removing the surface beneath the robot, prompting it to take a corrective step and maintain its load. The company considers this dynamic stability an important part of its overall safety approach.

Digit V5 also introduces other features intended to support safer and more flexible operation. Its battery system is designed to support more than 20 hours of work per day, potentially allowing one robot to operate across three shifts. The humanoid also uses an ISO-standard flange that allows it to work with a broad range of robotic end-effectors. Agility has demonstrated Digit changing grippers and plans to eventually enable autonomous tool changes.

These capabilities could expand the robot beyond bulk material handling into tasks such as kitting and sorting, while maintaining the safety requirements needed for workplaces where humans and robots operate together.

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DEEP Robotics’ intelligent robots are helping researchers observe Tibetan antelopes in the high-altitude Serling Tso Nature Reserve in China.

Located at an average elevation of 4,700 meters (around 15,420 feet), the reserve becomes a key observation site between July and September, when large herds return with newborn calves during the annual migration season.

The robots captured footage of the animals migrating, nursing, and foraging around Cuo’e Lake, providing researchers with visual data that could support wildlife behavior.

Recently, Deep Robotics’ DR02 humanoid showcased enhanced mobility, running on grass, jumping obstacles, climbing stairs, and operating near hazardous electrical infrastructure for industrial applications.

Robots aid wildlife

At an average elevation of about 4,700 meters, China’s Serling Tso Nature Reserve provides an important habitat for Tibetan antelopes. From July through September, large herds return to the region with newborn calves, creating an ideal period for researchers to study migration, nursing and feeding behavior.

During this year’s migration season, DEEP Robotics deployed its robots around Cuo’e Lake to support wildlife research and ecological conservation. The machines captured natural footage of Tibetan antelopes while minimizing human interference, providing researchers with valuable visual data for long-term population and behavioral studies.

Advancing into High-Altitude Ecological Zones – Intelligent Robots Assist in Scientific Observation of Antelopes pic.twitter.com/QvNNUk1yeH

— DEEP Robotics (@DeepRobotics_CN) August 10, 2026

DEEP Robotics has previously used robotic systems for high-altitude wildlife observation. In 2025, its X30 quadruped robot operated in the Hoh Xil region at an elevation of around 4,800 meters (around 15,750 feet). Its biomimetic design helped it blend into the environment and reduce disturbance to animals.

This year, the company deployed its Lynx M20 wheeled-legged robot in the Serling Tso Reserve, primarily for close-range visual documentation. The robot was required to operate across soft meadows, uneven permafrost and scattered gravel, where conventional equipment can struggle with stability.

Cold temperatures, rain, snow and other harsh weather conditions further complicate fieldwork, highlighting the potential of rugged robotic platforms for scientific observation in extreme environments.

Lynx M20 advances

DEEP Robotics’ Lynx M20 wheeled-legged robot is being used to support ecological research in the challenging high-altitude environment in Serling Tso Nature Reserve.

Designed for all-terrain operation, the Lynx M20 combines the speed of wheeled movement with the obstacle-crossing ability of legged locomotion. Its IP66 protection rating helps shield the robot from dust and water, while its operating temperature range of -20°C (-4°F) to 55°C (131°F) allows it to function in unpredictable plateau conditions.

The robot is also equipped with LiDAR and depth cameras that enable it to perceive changes in terrain, including meadows, uneven permafrost and gravel slopes. Using this environmental data, the system can adjust its posture and movement in real time, helping it maintain stability while navigating difficult ground.

A key advantage is its low-interference operation. Tibetan antelopes are highly sensitive to unfamiliar sounds and movements, making conventional close-range observation difficult. The Lynx M20’s relatively quiet movement allows researchers to approach herds with less disturbance and remotely document behaviors such as migration, grazing, and nursing.

Researchers observed the robot approaching a herd near Cuo’e Lake without causing the animals to flee. According to DEEP, the exercise demonstrates how increasingly capable mobile robots can extend scientific monitoring into remote and extreme environments.

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Astronomers have released the largest-ever 2D color map of the universe. The 5.6-trillion-pixel image contains nearly 4 billion celestial objects, assembled from more than 263,000 telescope exposures taken over 2,285 nights. The release comes from the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys, led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The data is publicly available through the Legacy Survey Sky Viewer, where anyone can explore the full map.

The map is not a single photograph. It is a composite of images from multiple telescopes, including the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera at Cerro Tololo in Chile and the Mayall 4-meter Telescope at Kitt Peak in Arizona. Each image was taken under different atmospheric and telescope conditions. Merging those images required about a year of software development. The actual processing took eight weeks on the Perlmutter supercomputer at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center in Berkeley.

A deep photo, not a distance map

A 2D sky map and a 3D map of the universe serve fundamentally different purposes. The 2D map is essentially a deep photograph. It records where galaxies and stars appear on the sky and how bright they are, across visible and near-infrared wavelengths. The 3D survey is DESI’s primary scientific mission. It adds the third dimension by measuring spectra from individual objects to determine their redshifts and therefore their distances from Earth. Before DESI can measure a galaxy’s distance, it must know the galaxy exists, and the 2D Legacy Surveys map is how it finds them.

The new map has been guiding DESI’s target selection since June 2026. Its release follows DESI completing its original five-year 3D survey in April, ahead of schedule. The instrument captured 47 million galaxies and quasars when the original target was 34 million, plus more than 20 million nearby stars.

DESI outran its own target list

The expansion of the 2D map was driven by a practical problem of success. DESI performed so efficiently that astronomers working on the project became concerned they would exhaust their pool of available targets. “It became clear we might run out of galaxies to look at and run out of sky, and we better start doing something about that,” said David Schlegel of Berkeley Lab, who works on both DESI and the Legacy Surveys.

Expanding the target catalog required expanding the 2D imaging survey it is built on, which produced the record-setting 5.6-trillion-pixel map now publicly available. With DESI continuing observations through 2028, the new catalog will support the instrument’s extended mission.

What the 3D survey has already found

The larger purpose of both the 2D and 3D maps is the study of dark energy, the unknown force that makes up roughly 70 percent of the universe and drives its accelerating expansion. DESI’s early results have produced one of the most consequential hints in modern cosmology: that dark energy may not be constant but weakening over time. If confirmed, that finding would require a fundamental revision of cosmology’s standard model.

The Legacy Surveys map is also being made available as a foundational reference for the next generation of astronomical instruments. This extends its scientific life well beyond DESI’s own mission. Astronomers and citizen scientists can access the Sky Viewer and search for rare phenomena across the nearly four billion objects now catalogued in visible form.