Winners and Losers: Like many consumer electronics products today, the PlayStation 5 Pro is facing significant shortages in parts of the world. In Japan, Sony is resorting to a lottery system to sell its newly manufactured consoles to real gamers while keeping criminals and speculators out. Despite the significant backlash over its plan to stop … Read more
Northrop Grumman has unveiled a new gallium nitride chip designed to handle demanding high-frequency workloads with less hardware. The FORTITUDE™ chip can combine signal switching and filtering in a single device. According to Northrop Grumman, it delivers three times more power and 20 times better signal quality. This performance could be important for systems operating … Read more
The takeaway: Payments organizations have launched a new joint venture to promote Europe’s sovereignty in the payments industry. The European Payments Network (ENP) aims to improve interoperability between competing networks and build a common EU infrastructure that, in theory, should make it very difficult for Visa, Mastercard and other US-based giants to operate on European … Read more
The race to build cheaper, longer-range electric cars has taken a big step forward in central Tennessee. Ultium Cells has announced that it will produce prismatic lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) battery cells at its facility near Nashville. The company is a joint venture between General Motors and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. Once operational, the facility is … Read more
What we know so far: Flock’s AI-powered surveillance cameras have already sparked widespread controversy, even as authorities have fully disclosed their use. Communities across the U.S. are terminating contracts with the company due to concerns about privacy and police abuse. However, in some areas, officers have found more cameras than permitted and don’t always know … Read more
US researchers have demonstrated a way to convert powdered eggshells into stronger, harder magnesium alloys by using waste material to replace traditional calcium ingredients from mined ores. The proof-of-concept study uses friction stir extrusion to incorporate eggshell powder into magnesium. The process creates calcium materials during manufacturing and bypasses the separate ore processing step. Magnesium … Read more
WTF?! OpenAI didn’t try to hide the fact that its AI agents were involved in unauthorized activities against other organizations, but how many organizations were affected? Hugging Face grabbed most of the headlines, and we know of several others, but the company has now revealed that it has notified more than 100 organizations. The ChatGPT … Read more
Innovation is often described as a breakthrough. In practice it is slower, messier and far less predictable. This category examines how new ideas actually go from concept to implementation and why many don’t make it very far. Interesting Engineering’s coverage includes new technologies, novel manufacturing methods, and unconventional approaches to long-standing problems. But the focus … Read more
Face palm: With AI demand driving memory prices to record highs, consumers are hoping that a quick end to the AI boom could make RAM affordable again. However, memory maker Micron believes that even if the AI bubble bursts, the rapid growth of humanoid robot manufacturing could keep memory demand high through 2027 and beyond. … Read more
Raytheon has won a potential $24.4 billion U.S. contract to produce Standard Missile-6 interceptors over the next five years. The agreement also includes two option years, giving the U.S. Navy a longer path to expanding its SM-6 inventory. The missile supports both defensive and offensive missions from ships and land-based launchers. The size of the … Read more