Top TechTop Tech Ten: Fusion, color, commuting robots
Spotlighting the most interesting or important innovations.
Today’s highlights:
• Lockheed Martin says it will soon sustain fusion
• Sunglasses correct color blindness
• Self-driving cars could cut commutes
Lockheed says it will soon sustain fusion
Aeronautics giant LockheedMartin claims it is nearing completion of a compact fusion reactor that could sustainably deliver energy.
“It’s no secret our Skunk Works team often finds itself on the cutting edge of technology,” the company says. As they work to develop a source of infinite energy, our engineers are looking to the biggest natural fusion reactor for inspiration – the sun. By containing the power of the sun in a small magnetic bottle, we are on the fast track to developing nuclear fusion reactors to serve the world’s ever-growing energy needs.”
The “compact magnetic container” reactor may be “small enough to fit on a truck” and yet could “provide enough power for a small city of up to 100,000 people.”
Eweek reports it may be “running in prototype form in five years and operating commercially in ten.”
Here’s a video of the process.
Sunglasses correct color blindness
California-based EnChroma is creating lenses that allow some to see colors for the first time.
The Smithsonian magazine reports the finding was all-but accidental: a materials scientist had engineered the glasses for laser surgery. But he and others found they “make the world look really bright… all colors look incredibly saturated.” And when a colorblind friend borrowed his pair, he could suddenly see colors.
The company’s eyewear is now able to treat up to 80 percent of the customers who come to them.
There’s more information here.
(Being partially color blind myself, I’d like to try these out.)
Self-driving cars could cut commutes
Yep, they’d be better drivers than you.
Self-driving cars promise to do more than let you snooze on the way to work: as the robotized vehicles would maneuver more efficiently and safely, they’d cut commutes by 50 minutes per day, cut accidents enough to save billions of dollars. That’s according to a look at the future of autonomous vehicles from the McKinsey and Co., Silicon Beat reports.
