Paul Markillie

Evri’s attempt at delivery. Of course, nothing arrived and security cameras show no attempt at a delivery. Our community regularly experience lost, stolen and disputed deliveries. This company should be closed down for mass fraud. They once sent identical pics of an alleged delivery to us all.

Still there

A new bird species in our bird feeder

Spring

Deer in the mist

Nuuva V300 takes off with successful first flight - Pipistrel Pipistrel, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today announced the successful first hover flight of the Nuuva V300, a long-range, large-capacity hybrid-electric VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) unm...

Drones are a classic dual-use technology. This cargo drone from Pipistrel can carry 270kg loads for more than 500km. Looks like it can be front-loaded with cargo pallets using a forklift. www.pipistrel-aircraft.com/nuuva-v300-t...

High tech toilets! Japan is on top of that one.

Snowdrops are up

Cricket pitch a bit wet

In training for the Big Garden Bird Watch

@alastaircampbell2.bsky.social you like trees

Sign the Petition Halt the Removal of Historic Lime Trees at Tickhill's Local Garden Centre

These guys need some help www.change.org/p/halt-the-r...

‘A viable business’: Rolls-Royce banking on success of small modular reactors UK firm in vanguard of companies arguing SMRs are quicker and cheaper option than large Hinkley-sized nuclear plants

A complaint I hear from many tech bosses in the UK. Government indecision and a lack of understanding leads to project delays and a loss of advantage. Been writing about small modular nuclear reactors for a decade, and there is still no demo unit up and running. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Big tree in the mist

Another chilly morning for the herd

An American purchase of Greenland could be the deal of the century Donald Trump’s threat of force is unwise. Instead, he should come up with a price

America should offer to buy Greenland from Greenlanders, not Denmark. And it would probably be a good deal to make every one a multimillionaire in exchange for the territory. Trump should rescind all threats and instead name a price--my column

www.economist.com/finance-and-...

The biobattery that digests itself

A 3D-printed battery that you feed rather than charge (or more correctly an interesting fungal fuel cell). It could power things like sensors in remote locations. www.empa.ch/web/s604/fun...

Decarbonization of Cement 2025-2035: Technologies, Market Forecasts, and Players This report characterizes cement decarbonization technologies, markets, and players. With coverage across 40 different cement decarbonization solutions, spanning over 200 companies, and market forecas...

The world is covered in concrete. Its main ingredient, cement, is responsible for some 7% of man-made CO2 emissions. There are ways to decarbonise, but at the end of the day industry has to be prepared to pay more for these green alternatives. A good roundup:
www.idtechex.com/en/research-...

@shashj.bsky.social Rolls-Royce used to fire frozen turkeys into their jet engines to simulate bird strikes. They could handle it. The question in South Korea is why no flaps and undercarriage in an emergency landing?

AI has already given us Large Language Models for chat and questions and Large Behavioural Models for robotics. We now have Large Computational Engineering Models for rocket engines. leap71.com/2024/12/23/l...

True when driving slowly in an urban environment but not on main roads, where most of the road noise comes from the tyres, with the exception of boy racers, certain sports cars (including my 60-year-old one) and a number of motorcycles. Better tyre technology could help here.

Christmas cuddles

German institutes unveil facade with PV, weather protection, thermal insulation The Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems (Fraunhofer ISE) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (Fraunhofer UMSICHT) say their new facade combines PV mo...

The transition of PV panels from energy generator to building material continues.
www.pv-magazine.com/2024/12/17/g...

A day in the life of Toyosu, the world’s greatest fish market The best sashimi chefs on the planet rely on Japan’s Wall Street of seafood

🎶It's the most wonderful time of the year🎶 - time for The Economist's Christmas issue, in which I try to explain what makes Toyosu, in Tokyo, the world's greatest fish market:

www.economist.com/christmas-sp...

Striking hollow motor prompts new era of genre-warping vehicles A few years ago, Finnish-Estonian startup Verge launched a wild motorcycle with a rear wheel so hollow you could stick a leg straight through it. Now the moto builder has realized the powerful ring-li...

In-wheel electric traction motors are an interesting prospect that go back a long way - even Ferdinand Porsche used them for his first car, which was in fact an EV. These take the idea much further. newatlas.com/automotive/e...

A dark-themed world map showcasing data visualization of solar farm installations. Bright orange and yellow lines radiate from various locations, illustrating the rapid increase in installations over recent years.

Solar energy is booming, but we don't have to worry about covering the world with solar installations, which occupied approximately 19,000 km² in September 2024, roughly 1/3 the size of Tasmania.

www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12...

Pink sky tonight

This is worrying, especially as it’s a technology that could be supercharged by AI.

https://news.bellflight.com/en-US/244996-bell-completes-wind-tunnel-testing-efforts-to-validate-revolutionary-stop-fold-jet-transition-capability

How to turn a helicopter into a jet plane. Bell (part of Textron) has wind-tunnel tested this concept, which after a vertical takeoff folds its rotors to reduce the drag that would otherwise restrict high-speed forward flight. Complicated and a bit like the Osprey, which I remember seeing launched.