Methane measurement for the masses
All illustrations by Greg Mably
From high above us satellites track the destructive emissions of greenhouse gases that will change our climate. Until now, their data was private, shared only with companies or governments. MethaneSAT it changes. Launched on March 4, 2024, it will pinpoint specific problem areas more precisely and monitor methane emissions more broadly. Anyone will have access to this data when the satellite is fully operational in early 2025. Want to take a look? You can take a look right now data from MethaneAIR, a research jet capable of collecting about a quarter of the data volume from MethaneSAT.
Cleanup of millions of liters of radioactive waste
The Hanford site in eastern Washington currently houses radioactive nuclear waste from the development of the first atomic bombs seepage into the soil and environmental pollution. Now, a decades-long cleanup effort to capture this waste by turning it into glass is about to begin. This process, the so-called vitrificationit requires temperatures over 1,100°C, about as hot as lava pouring out of a volcano. The waste products are mixed with silica and other materials and heated in underground tanks to form molten glass, which is then poured into holding vessels to become solid glass. Currently it is Hanford Plant Vit is in the “cold commissioning” phase, where the facility is operating but processing non-radioactive materials as a test. If all goes well, the real cleanup will begin in 2025.
Anyone can fly an airplane
On average it takes 55 hours flight in the air to obtain a private pilot’s license in the United States, and that’s not counting the weeks of training on the ground. Airhart Aeronautics wants you ready to fly a plane in just one hour. Their new personal plane, Airhart Slingit is designed to be user-friendly, secure and as easy to learn as possible. Using a single stick, pilots simply point the direction they want to go and the aircraft follows them, even during takeoffs and landings. The Sling’s computer system translates these controls into commands for the engine and flight systems. The first test flight is planned for 2025, with orders to be shipped to customers in 2026. But with a starting price of $500,000, it may be a while before anyone can fly it.
The future of agriculture
Farmers in India are facing a financial crisis compounded by debt, long supply chains and natural disasters. With small plots of around 20,000 square meters making up roughly 80 percent of Indian farms, it is difficult to find a solution that appeals to every farmer. Enter AgriStack. Designed by India’s Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers, this database will connect farmers and their land with government agencies and other companies, helping farmers access money, knowledge and early warning of natural disasters. With a standardized protocol called Unified Farmer Service Interfaceagritech companies can design products that they know can be easily integrated into the overall system. By the beginning of 2025, the government wants to have 60 million farmers registered on its website, with this number growing as the year progresses.
New reusable rocket launcher
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy are the world’s only reusable rocket boosters. But a new challenger is coming: Rocket Lab’s Neutron. After launch in mid-2025, Neutron will be able to deliver 13,000 kilograms to low Earth orbit or 1,500 kg to Mars or Venus. It will have a reusable booster designed to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and land safely at the launch site. To be competitive, Neutron is targeting a launch price of US$50 million, slightly lower than the Falcon 9’s US$67 million price tag.
Profitable robotaxis
Robotaxis promises private, direct and comfortable rides straight into the future. But in the middle safety concerns and slow scaling, no robotaxi companies have actually turned a profit. Still, the Chinese search giant Baidu is expecting its own Apollo Go robotaxis to reach this milestone in 2025. The fleet of about 500 taxis is the largest in China and is expected to double with the addition of new taxis in Wuhan by the end of 2024. Baidu already operates more than 7 million wrinkles. According to the company, the key to the service’s profitability is that new sixth-generation vehicles cost only about $28,000 to produce. Baidu plans to expand to Hong Kong, Singapore and the Middle East.
30 years of Java
2025 will be the 30th year of the world’s second most popular programming language, according to our latest Top programming languages collapse. James Gosling released Java in May 1995 and focused on creating a programming language that made it easy for different devices to communicate with each other. Instead of a typical compiler translating code to run on a specific computer, Java compilers translate code into bytecode that can be run on any computer running a Java Virtual Machine. Java virtual machines then decode the bytecode into instructions for a specific CPU device. This is colloquially known as the “write once, run anywhere” principle, which allows Java to be widely used on the Internet and accessed from many different devices. Want to learn Java? It’s not too late start today!
More memory for AI machines
Generative AI needs massive amounts of fast and powerful memory to continue its skyrocketing achievements. High bandwidth memory (HBM), a stack of vertically interconnected DRAM dies, is a key component for the high-performance GPUs training today’s most powerful AI. The next generation of high-bandwidth memory is HBM4, which is expected to stack up to 16 memory modules in a single module. While its predecessor the HBM3E (the “E” stands for “extended”) can technically have up to 16 stacks, only stacks up to 12 have been released. The HBM4 will also have a 2,048-bit interface and transfer 1.5 terabytes per second, improving on the bandwidth of the HBM3E by 33 percent. DRAM manufacturers are expected to start producing the first HBM4 facility in 2025.
New Moore’s Law Machine
Industrial use of extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV) lithography, an essential tool for the most advanced computer chips, has been around for barely five years. But the chip industry already needs the next generation – high numerical aperture (NA) EUV. This technique increases the range of angles at which the system can manipulate light, resulting in even finer resolution. EUV tool manufacturer ASML and European research institute Imec have jointly developed the first EUV photolithography lab with high NA. They expect chipmakers to use their work to begin mass production in 2025 or 2026.
