Science and technology strategy
The UK Cabinet Office signed a partnership with the Department of Health and Social Security to support the use of AI technology in the UK healthcare system
According to the British government on April 25, officials from the British Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Health and Social Security respectively represented the artificial intelligence incubator (i. AI), Health Services System (NHSE) signed a partnership to support the use of AI in the UK healthcare system. Under the new agreement, i. AI will work to identify opportunities to take advantage of technology-enabled NHS and deploy responsible AI-driven solutions. It is reported that data control will always be retained by the NHS during the course of the cooperation. AI will not have access to identifiable patient data.
EU announces the creation of the "Critical Medicines Alliance"
According to the European Union on April 24, the European Union's Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Agency (HERA) and the Belgian presidency of the European Council jointly announced the establishment of a critical medicines alliance. The alliance's membership covers EU member states, the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare, and more, and will address and avoid shortages of critical medicines in the EU. The alliance's main responsibilities include strengthening supply security, strengthening the supply of medicines, and reducing external dependence on the supply chain. It is reported that since the consultation on January 16, 2024, the number of members of the alliance has exceeded 250.
Information
The U.S. Army has launched a 100-day program to identify obstacles to deploying AI
According to the DefenseOne website on April 23, the U.S. Army launched a new 100-day plan aimed at removing barriers to the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and preparing for the expanded adoption of third-party models and algorithms. The program aims to address the problem that toxic datasets, Trojan horses, and evolving cyber threats can hinder the military's widespread adoption of AI. In addition, the United States is combining the program with the currently ongoing Linchpin project. The Linchpin project aims to create a vetted digital environment that simplifies the use of artificial intelligence, especially in intelligence systems. The U.S. Army hopes to acquire algorithms from other projects and third parties to improve the availability of AI capabilities. Specific readiness will be announced after the completion of the 100-day plan, which will be followed by a 500-day implementation phase.
The U.S. Defense Information Agency (DI) is rolling out classified cloud environments to more users of the U.S. Department of Defense
According to MeriTalk on April 24, the U.S. Defense Information Agency (DISA) launched a classified cloud environment to more users of the U.S. Department of Defense. To date, more than 100,000 DoD users have migrated to the DoD 365-Secret Confidential Cloud, and more than 300,000 DoD employees have migrated to the Confidential Cloud environment, now taking advantage of the full suite of Microsoft capabilities, including Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint, and team collaboration capabilities. DoD365-Secret is the Department of Defense's classified cloud solution for securely sharing information across operational boundaries and providing warfighters with modern tools.
Micron received a $6.14 billion subsidy from the U.S. government to transfer 40% of its DRAM capacity to the United States
According to Reuters news on April 25, U.S. semiconductor manufacturer Micron Technology received a $6.14 billion subsidy from the U.S. government and plans to transfer 40% of its dynamic random access memory (DRAM) production capacity to the United States. The proposed subsidy funding will support Micron's construction of two leading DRAM factories in New York, the first step in Micron's long-term investment plan to invest approximately $100 billion in New York over the next 20 years and create approximately 13,500 facility and construction jobs. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said leading memory chips are the foundation of all advanced technologies, and the U.S. is rebuilding the ability to produce these critical capabilities for the first time in nearly two decades.
IBM spent $6.4 billion to acquire HashiCorp to expand its cloud business
According to Reuters news on April 24, IBM announced that it would acquire HashiCorp for $6.4 billion to expand its cloud-based software product line to meet the needs of artificial intelligence. Headquartered in California, HashiCorp is in the business of helping customers build and manage their infrastructure on the cloud. IBM's software business grew 5.5 percent in the first quarter, driven by growing demand for artificial intelligence. As it becomes increasingly necessary to store and process the vast amounts of data used in AI programs, the company has doubled down on its cloud business. IBM will complement its existing product portfolio and improve its competitiveness through the acquisition of HashiCorp.
creature
creature
According to Science and Technology Daily
energy
The U.S. Department of Energy has unveiled 35 funded clean energy manufacturing projects aimed at boosting production capacity for critical minerals, electric vehicle batteries, photovoltaic modules and wind power components
According to the U.S. Department of Energy on April 21, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the first batch of 35 clean energy manufacturing projects that have received qualified advanced energy project credit (48C) grants. 48C, part of the Biden administration's Invest in America agenda under the Inflation Reduction Act, will provide up to a 30% investment tax credit. Specifically, 14 clean energy and electric vehicle manufacturing projects, such as a $260 million credit awarded to Highland Materials, which will launch a 20,000-tonne-per-year solar polysilicon plant, enough to support 11 gigawatts of solar cells, a $57.6 million credit awarded to MNAe, which will build three electric vehicle component factories to supply components for Hyundai Group's electric vehicles, eight grid component projects, including large power transformers, Grid-scale batteries, voltage regulators, and underwater cables, five critical minerals projects, including electrical steel, lithium carbonate and synthetic graphite material manufacturing, as well as lithium-ion battery and blackbody recycling, such as Nth Cycle, which will build the first large-scale production facility in the U.S. for mixed hydroxide precipitate (MHP), eight industrial decarbonization projects and hydrogen projects, such as a $136 million credit awarded to Topsoe to expand electrolyzer capacity.
The U.S. Department of Energy is funding $82 million to strengthen local solar module manufacturing, recycling, and integration with the grid
According to the news on April 23, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a funding of $82 million to promote the manufacturing and recycling of solar modules, the commercialization of advanced technologies and the integration of solar energy and the grid, strengthen the domestic solar supply chain in the United States, and improve energy security. The focus is on funding the R&D and commercialization of cadmium telluride thin-film cells and perovskite-silicon tandem solar cell technology, and the funding direction mainly includes three aspects: providing 24 million US dollars to the "Solar Manufacturing Incubator" project, supporting the research and development of 9 projects to continuously reduce the cost of solar energy, and developing next-generation solar technology and promoting the development of solar energy manufacturing in the United States, among them, funding the United States First Two projects totaling $16 million for the demonstration research and development of cadmium telluride photovoltaic technology from Solar and Toledo Solar, and $28 million for the "photovoltaic research and development" (PVRD) project to support the research and development of 10 projects to solve the problems that limit the durability, power and efficiency of perovskite solar cells, and achieve the efficient recovery of degradation and components, among them, the research team led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Colorado Boulder (CU). Boulder) led two projects totaling $18 million to develop durable (more than 25 years long-lived) and efficient (more than 28% efficiency) perovskite-silicon tandem solar cells, and $30 million to the "Inverter-based Resource Management and Availability Operational and Planning Tools in Future Power Systems" project to support solar technology applications and grid integration research.
The U.S. Department of Energy released its first Transmission Interconnection Roadmap and committed $331 million in investments to add 2,000 megawatts of transmission capacity to the Western Power Grid
According to the U.S. Department of Energy on April 25, the U.S. Department of Energy released the "Transmission Interconnection Roadmap" (Transmission Interconnection Roadmap), which provides a solution for the United States to deal with the backlog of clean energy projects and accelerate the interconnection of these projects. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, a sharp increase in clean energy projects and inadequate existing interconnection procedures have led to a large backlog of about 12,000 solar, wind and storage projects. The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report shows that the U.S. has about 2,600 gigawatts of clean energy projects backlogged and waiting to come online. The roadmap offers 35 solutions organized around improving data access, transparency, and security for interconnection projects, improving processes and timelines for interconnection and interconnection projects, improving the economic efficiency of interconnection projects, maintaining a reliable, resilient, and secure power grid with the goal of reducing the average time from online application to internet agreement to 12 months by 2030, reducing interconnection cost differentials to less than $150 per kilowatt, and increasing the completion rate of projects entering the facility study phase to 70% and so on. In addition, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) unveiled new transmission permitting rules that will establish the Interagency Coordinated Transmission Authorization and Permitting (CITAP) program, improve the federal environmental review and permitting process for qualified transmission projects, and commit $331 million in investment to add 2,000 megawatts of transmission capacity to the Western Power Grid through the Transmission Facilitation Program (TFP) (construction begins in 2025).
ocean
挪威康斯伯格海事公司首款量产版“HUGIN Endurance”无人潜航器完成工厂验收试验
According to the Defense Post on April 25, Norway's Kongsberg Maritime Company (Kongsberg) completed the factory acceptance test of the first mass-produced version of the "HUGIN Endurance" unmanned underwater vehicle. The 11-meter-long, lithium-ion battery, 15-day endurance, and equipped with a "wide-format high-resolution synthetic aperture sonar (HISAS 1032 Dual RX), multi-beam echo sounder (EM 2040 MkII), seabed profile analysis system, color camera, laser profiler, magnetometer and environmental sensors for seafloor mapping and ocean monitoring."
The United States promoted the construction of the Global Ocean Observing Array (Argo) and allocated $2.7 million to purchase observation buoys
According to the Guangzhou Maritime Administration on April 25, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Department of Commerce announced that they will purchase a series of ocean observation buoys for Argo to supplement and expand the ocean observation data collection capacity in the Gulf of Mexico, California waters, tropical Pacific and Arctic regions. In October 2021, the International Argo Organization proposed the OneArgo plan, which was approved by the United Nations Ocean Decade, and plans to build a global, full-water, multidisciplinary ocean observing network composed of 4,700 buoys by 2030, and the deployment of 4,000 buoys has been completed. The new U.S. grant will add 40 Argo buoys, seven Deep Argo buoys and six biogeochemical buoys to the program.
aviation
According to the United Kingdom, Russia used the "Tobol" electronic warfare weapon to interfere with NATO's eastern flank flight
According to the Foreign Defense Front on April 25, the United Kingdom said that Russia's "Tobol" electronic warfare system in the Kaliningrad enclave may interfere with civilian flight signals, causing nearly 4,000 flights on NATO's eastern flank to encounter radar interference in the past few months. The "Tobol" electronic warfare system is a top-secret Russian top-secret large satellite dish system that transmits false signals to pilots by interfering with the aircraft's wireless communication systems, resulting in misguided positioning decisions and deviations from the target. Currently, Russia is armed with at least 7 Tobol systems.
QinetiQ of the United Kingdom has achieved the first demonstration of manned aircraft and UAV marshalling cooperation
According to the Defence-industry website on April 25, the British company QinetiQ successfully conducted the first marshalling demonstration between manned aircraft and UAVs. The trial was conducted in collaboration with the UK's Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), the Royal Navy and the Aerospace Operations Centre (ASWC). In the test, a QinetiQ jet took off from the Boscombe Down base in Salisbury, while a modified Banshee jet 80 drone was launched from the Hebrides launch site off the northwest coast of Scotland. The former quickly took control of the drone, and the latter, before autonomously performing the task, received a command from a manned aircraft to fly at a speed of 350 knots.
space flight
The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency awarded Lynk Global a contract to provide satellite mobile phone direct connectivity services to the U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security Agency and other agencies
The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded Lynk Global a contract to provide direct satellite handset connectivity to the U.S. Department of Defense, the Department of Homeland Security, and other federal government agencies. Under the contract, U.S. government agencies will receive direct satellite cell phone connectivity such as text messages, emergency radio alerts, and LynkCast weather and information broadcasts for five years, with the option to renew for five years. It is reported that this contract is the first direct contract for mobile phone satellites awarded by the US Department of Defense.
The American rocket laboratory "Electron" successfully launched the South Korean imaging satellite and NASA's solar sail system
According to Microvision Aerospace on April 26, the American Rocket Laboratory "Electron" rocket successfully launched South Korea's NEONSAT-1 remote sensing imaging satellite and NASA's advanced composite solar sail system (ACS3) in New Zealand. Among them, the NEONSAT-1 satellite weighs about 100 kilograms and will be deployed in an altitude of 520 kilometers above the earth, mainly providing satellite images with 1-meter resolution to provide support for civil and national security. ACS3 will be deployed at an altitude of 1,000 km above the ground to test a new lightweight boom and sail deployment system made of composite materials and test its ability to maneuver.
Materials
The U.S. Department of Energy announced $17.5 million for four critical minerals projects to develop technologies for the production of rare earths and critical minerals from coal-based resources
According to the U.S. Department of Energy on April 23, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that it will provide $17.5 million to four critical minerals projects through the Invest in the United States agenda, making full use of unconventional coal-based resources and secondary resources to produce rare earths and critical minerals, and reducing dependence on foreign critical minerals. The four projects include the University of Kentucky, which will conduct a pilot test to produce aqueous solutions for rare earths and critical minerals from acid mine wastewater, West Virginia University will produce and separate high-purity rare earth elements and critical mineral oxides from acidic mine wastewater, and Microbeam will produce and separate high-purity gallium and germanium from blended rare earths derived from lignite.
Advanced manufacturing
Japan's Honda will invest USD 11 billion in Canada to build a plant for electric vehicles and batteries
According to Bloomberg news on April 25, Japan's Honda Motor Company will spend 15 billion Canadian dollars ($11 billion) to build an electric vehicle battery and car plant in northern Toronto, and Canadian authorities have promised to provide financial assistance. The new plant will be able to produce 240,000 vehicles per year, in addition to the construction of a stand-alone battery plant with a capacity of 36 GWh. To advance the battery supply chain, Honda has also begun negotiations with South Korea's POSCO Future M Co. for a cathode material plant, and plans to enter into a contract with Japan's Asahi Kasei Corp. Cooperative production of diaphragms.
Researchers in the United States have developed a new system that uses machine learning and extended reality to train welders
According to the TechXplore website on April 25, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States have developed a new method to use extended reality (XR) technology to train welders to solve the problem of welder shortage in the United States. The technology integrates virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) to help welders master the necessary experiential knowledge through a purpose-built XR welding helmet and flare system. The system provides visual feedback and audible prompts in real-time to help trainees better understand and adjust welding techniques during training. The technology not only enhances the interactivity and realism of the training, but also assists in sound recognition through machine learning models to detect and feedback welding errors in real time.
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