“It sounds like science fiction. Ocean-going ships with no-one on board. But this vision of the future is coming – and sooner than you might think.
You can glimpse it in a Norwegian fjord where a huge, lime-green vessel is being put through its paces. At first glance, it seems like any other ship. Look closer, though, and you suddenly see all the hi-tech kit. Cameras, microphones, radars, GPS and all manner of satellite communications.”
From BBC.
“Waymo vehicles are cruising on Philadelphia streets this summer, potentially setting the stage for a fully autonomous rideshare service here…
Waymo is also seeking permission from Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation to test its automated robotaxis in Philly. If it’s granted, that doesn’t mean you can hail a driverless cab anytime soon. Testing would be conducted with a safety driver in the vehicle. No passenger transport will be offered.”
From Axios.
“Human waste, empty oxygen cylinders, kitchen leftovers and discarded ladders.
Sherpas working on Mount Everest carry all that and more — 20 kilograms (44 pounds) per person — navigating a four-hour hike that traverses crumbling glacial ice and treacherous crevasses to bring trash back to base camp.
During the most recent climbing season, they had new assistance from two giant SZ DJI Technology Co. drones, which can complete the same journey in six minutes, sharing the task of clearing an expanding volume of refuse piling up on the world’s highest peak…
‘We’re very happy,’ said Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, a 33-year-old Sherpa at local expeditions firm Asian Trekking who has reached the summit of Everest 15 times. He estimates that about 70% of the garbage usually carted off the mountain by his team was transported by drone this year.”
From Bloomberg.
“California lawmakers on Monday night rolled back one of the most stringent environmental laws in the country, after Gov. Gavin Newsom muscled through the effort in a dramatic move to combat the state’s affordability crisis.
The Democratic governor—widely viewed as a 2028 presidential contender—made passage of two bills addressing an acute housing shortage a condition of his signing the 2025-2026 budget. A cornerstone of the legislation reins in the California Environmental Quality Act, which for more than a half-century has been used by opponents to block almost any kind of development project…
The California Environmental Quality Act was signed into law in 1970 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, at a time when Republicans were at the forefront of the nation’s burgeoning green movement. President Richard Nixon also signed groundbreaking protections, including the Endangered Species Act.
CEQA, as it is known, requires state and local agencies to review environmental impacts of planned projects and to take action to avoid or lower any negative effects. Opponents of projects have used the law to delay them by years.”
From Wall Street Journal.
“Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the automaker completed its first driverless delivery of a new car to a customer, routing a Model Y SUV from the company’s Austin, Texas, Gigafactory to an apartment building in the area on June 27.
The Tesla account on social network X, which is also owned by Musk, shared a video overnight showing the Model Y traversing public roads in Austin, including highways, with no human in the driver’s seat or front passenger seat of the car.”
From CNBC.
