Page 23 - Aruba Today

TECHNOLOGY A23
Wednesday 13 January 2016

Chinese drone maker unveils human-carrying drone

The EHang 184 autonomous aerial vehicle is seen at the EHang booth at CES International in Las it looks like a small helicop- ing to lay out guidelines for
Vegas. The drone is large enough to fit a human passenger. ter but with four doubled drone use, and a human-
propellers spinning paral- passenger drone seems
(AP Photo/John Locher) lel to the ground like other certain to face strict scru-
drones. tiny.
RYAN NAKASHIMA what it calls the world’s first the cloth off the Ehang 184 The electric-powered Federal Aviation Admin-
AP Business Writer drone capable of carrying at the Las Vegas Conven- drone can be fully charged istration administrator Mi-
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Chinese a human passenger. tion Center during the CES in two hours, carry up to 220 chael Huerta was at CES
drone maker Ehang Inc. The Guangzhou, China- gadget show. In a compa- pounds and fly for 23 min- but could not immediately
on Wednesday unveiled based company pulled ny video showing it flying, utes at sea level, accord- be reached for comment
ing to Ehang. The cabin through a spokesman.
fits one person and a small Ehang co-founder and
backpack and even has air Chief Financial Officer
conditioning and a reading Shang Hsiao said the
light. With propellers folded company hopes to sell
up, it’s designed to fit in a the device for $200,000
single parking spot. to $300,000 beginning this
After setting a flight plan, year but acknowledged
passengers only need to it occupies a legal “grey
give two commands, “take area.”
off” and “land,” each con- “The whole world never
trolled by a single click on had something like this be-
a Microsoft Surface tablet, fore,” he said.
the company said. A passenger would have
It is designed to fly about no controls as a backup, he
1,000 to 1,650 feet off the said. In the event of a prob-
ground with a maximum lem the company plans
altitude of 11,500 feet and a remote control center
top speed of 63 miles per that would take over the
hour. vehicle and ensure it lands
U.S. authorities are just start- safely, he said.

Powerful replacement in works for climate-modeling computer

modeling of effects, the lihood of drought and tic sea ice from decade to
center said. change the extent of arc- decade?
A more powerful comput-
This photo shows the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center er will allow researchers to
(NWSC) “Yellowstone” supercomputer, among the 60 fastest in see results in higher resolu-
the world, used to study weather, climate, oceanography, and tion, like a higher density of
other areas of earth science in Cheyenne, Wyo. “Yellowstone” pixels sharpens images on
will be replaced in 2017 by an even faster machine, officials a television or a stronger
announced Monday, Jan. 11, 2016. The new supercomputer, to telescope brings a greater
be named Cheyenne, will be at least 2 1/2 times more power- number of far-off galaxies
ful, the National Center for Atmospheric Research said. into focus, explained Rich
Loft, the center’s director
(Alan Rogers/Casper Star-Tribune via AP) of technology.
Scientists since 2012 have
MEAD GRUVER in the world. The new super- been using the Yellow-
Associated Press computer, to be named stone supercomputer near
CHEYENNE, Wyoming (AP) Cheyenne, will be at least Cheyenne for a range of
— One of the most power- 2 1/2 times more powerful, research that also includes
ful computers in the world the National Center for At- modeling air pollution and
dedicated to climate mospheric Research said. ocean currents.
change, weather and oth- Capable of 5.3 quadrillion The atmospheric research
er earth science research calculations, or petaflops, center plans to install
will be replaced in 2017 by per second, Cheyenne Cheyenne later this year
an even faster machine, will be some 100,000 times and put it to work early
officials announced Mon- faster than a typical home next year. Questions it
day. computer. The speed pro- might help answer include:
The Yellowstone supercom- vides unprecedented de- — Is the California drought
puter in Wyoming currently tail in climate-change pre- a fluke or due to global cli-
ranks among the 60 fastest dictions, including regional mate change?
— Can scientists predict
the intensity of solar flares
— streams of radiation re-
leased by the sun that can
endanger satellites and
astronauts — during an up-
coming solar cycle?
— How might climate
change increase the like-