From faster charging batteries and tinier chips, graphene is sometimes called the 'wonder material'. And now researchers are looking at using it to revamp hard disk drives (HDDs). 

HDDs are cheaper than faster, more compact Solid-State Drives (SSDs), which have the advantage of no moving parts, and are now ubiquitous on smartphones and many of the latest laptops. 

But researchers at the University of Cambridge Graphene Centre hope to breathe new life into the old HDD by using graphene to create ultra-high density HDDs.  

In a new paper published in Nature, the Cambridge researchers detail how they've used graphene to make HDDs that can store 10 times more data than today's HDDs. 

Their application of graphene focuses on replacing the currently used carbon-based overcoat (COC) layers that are used to protect a HDD's spinning platters when data is being rapidly written to them from the HDD's read/write heads. To achieve higher HDD densities, manufacturers have decreased the space between the head and platter. 

As the researchers note, the COC thickness has shrunk from 12.5nm in the 1990s to about 3nm today, allowing for a current storage density of about one terabyte (1 TB) per square inch. 

The researchers have shown they can use graphene's thin, one-atom-thick strong and slippery properties to boost HDD density by 10 times. 

Graphene, a single layer of graphite, was only discovered by Professor Andre Geim and Dr. Kostya Novoselov, in 2004 at the University of Manchester. The pair won a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2010 for their work on graphene, so it's still early days for the wonder material. 

The Cambridge researchers replaced commercial COCs with one to four layers of graphene. Then they tested friction, wear, corrosion, thermal stability, and lubricant compatibility. 

The researchers report graphene enables a two-fold reduction in friction and provides better corrosion and wear resistance than state-of-the-art COCs. A single graphene layer reduces corrosion by 2.5 times, they said.

"Demonstrating that graphene can serve as protective coating for conventional hard disk drives and that it can withstand Heat Assisted Magnetic Recording conditions is a very important result," said Dr Anna Ott from the Cambridge Graphene Centre, a co-author of the study. 
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"Considering that in 2020, around 1 billion terabytes of fresh HDD storage was produced, these results show a route for mass application of graphene in cutting-edge technologies," said professor Andrea Ferrari, director of the Cambridge Graphene Centre. 

Ford is finally ready to roll out over-the-air (OTA) software updates to its vehicles at scale. While Tesla and other automakers have offered OTA updates for years, Ford only delivered its first software updates to select Ford F-150 and Mustang Mach-E customers this year. But the automaker says it’s prepared to rapidly increase the number of vehicles capable of receiving software updates, with the goal of producing 33 million vehicles with the capability by 2028. 

Ford, which is fond of using the phrase “Built Ford Tough” for its trucks, is playing it cool with the branding this time, simply calling its software updates “Ford Power Ups.” Over the past two months, Ford says over 100,000 F-150 and Mach-E customers have received their first OTA updates. And there will be more to come, including owners of the new Ford Bronco. The automaker is preparing a major update later this year that will include Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. 

With this new update, Ford owners can ask Alexa for a weather update, play music, find the nearest gas station, or provide directions to their favorite destinations. Over 700,000 vehicles in the US and Canada will be eligible for the Alexa update this year, with “millions” more added over the next few years, Ford said. 

This isn’t exactly new for some Ford owners. Customers with Alexa accounts have been able to mirror the smart home assistant in their cars via their smartphones’ mobile connection. This new software update, though, will “embed” Alexa inside the car’s operating system, allowing for a more integrated user experience. And Ford is offering three years of Alexa complimentary, after which subscription fees will kick in. 

Not all the updates will come for free. BlueCruise, the automaker’s “hands free” highway driving assist system, will be available later this year to select F-150 and Mach-E customers who have purchased the relevant software updates. 

Legacy automakers have struggled to catch up to Tesla, which has long been the leader in shipping over-the-air updates to its customers to change everything from its Autopilot driver help system to the layout and look of its infotainment touchscreen. The idea that a car can be updated similarly to how Apple or Samsung can upgrade or repair the software on a smartphone has proven to be difficult and elusive for most car companies.

Most car dealers are wary of OTA updates for fear of being cut out of the lucrative service and maintenance process. Basically, if you can fix your car with an OTA update, you don’t need to take it in to the dealership as often. And that means less money for them.

Ford said that most of the updates will be “virtually invisible” to its customers and require “little to no action.” Others will require a reboot of the vehicle’s operating system that can happen when it’s most convenient, like overnight. 

“It’s a total reversal of the ownership model where vehicles used to just get older,” said Alex Purdy, head of business operations. “Now Fords will actually get better over time.”
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Earlier this year, Ford announced that Google’s Android would power the infotainment systems in “millions” of its cars starting in 2023. That, along with the Alexa software update that will begin rolling out later this year, is proof that Ford is committed to “giving our customers the choice to stick with the technologies and brands they’re already using and love or to try something new,” Purdy said.

Apple is working on technology to detect a user's blood pressure using neural networks and seismocardiogram data, negating the need for a blood pressure cuff.

According to a patent application published Thursday, a wearable device, potentially paired with Apple Watch, might one day be capable of monitoring a user's blood pressure without the need for any additional peripherals.

The patent application, titled "Interpretable neural networks for cuffless blood pressure estimation," explores the use of neural networks to estimate blood pressure using seismocardiogram data. Unlike an electrocardiogram, which relies on electrical signals to monitor a heart rate, a seismocardiogram measures the micro-vibrations produced by the heart beating.

There exist seismocardiogram devices small enough to be considered wearable, though these sensitive systems are typically placed over a user's sternum to measure minute vibrations in or near the heart. How Apple intends to deploy such a device was not discussed in the patent filing.

According to Apple's patent, the system would work by leveraging an individually pruned neutral network accepting a seismocardiogram as input. That neural network would then use the data to estimate blood pressure.

For example, Apple could create a baseline model by training the neural networks with seismocardiogram data and blood pressure measurements from a group of subjects. Using that as a baseline, the system could then prune the model for subsequent users. The initial dataset would be collected from users performing different sedentary activities.

From there, Apple contends that the neural network could be used to accurately estimate a user's blood pressure without a cuff. As the patent points out, the system could use the neutral network "to determine blood pressure based on accelerometer or gyroscope data," which are already present in Apple devices.

Current versions of the Apple Watch can be used to monitor and analyze different types of health data, including heart rates with an optical sensing system, heart rhythms via a built-in electrocardiogram or blood oxygen sensing on the Apple Watch Series 6. Since the Apple Watch release, Apple has been continually expanding the device's health toolkit, and Apple may be looking to build out a set of health-minded accessories. 

The patent lists Siddharth Khullar, Nicholas E. Apostoloff, and Amruta Pai as its inventors. Among them, Apostoloff has been named on a previous patent dedicated to facial analysis and emotion detection.
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This isn't Apple's first patent focused on blood pressure monitoring. In 2020, the company filed a patent application for an Apple Watch-supported system that could use pulse transit time to measure blood pressure. Another system could use pressure sensor data, and Apple has explored how to monitor blood pressure without a cuff in the past.

A respected Apple analyst recently made a startling prediction about mixed reality/augmented reality (MR/AR): “We believe that MR/AR products could replace all display-equipped electronics in the long-term,” said analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He expects Apple to play a big part in taking these emerging technologies mainstream.

He predicts that Apple will build several MR/AR products, eventually leading to augmented reality contact lenses. Because of these predictions, he believes that MR/AR could be the default human-machine interface in the future.

Part of Kuo’s job as an analyst for TF International Securities is to make projections about future technology. Often, he looks no farther ahead than the next iPhone, but a note sent to investors recently covers forecasts for at least a decade of change.

He believes Apple is committed to augmented reality because “MR/AR will be the next critical technology to define the innovative human–machine interface for electronic products,” according to the analyst. It will “redefine human behavior in creating, processing, and receiving information.”

For a look at what this prediction would mean in everyday life, a concept artist dreamed up a future Mac that uses AR to replace physical displays.

Kuo uses the term “MR/AR” in his research note, but both mean nearly the same thing. Each term has its fans. Whatever the acronym, the tech involves combining computer-generated images with reality to present additional information.

As the company that popularized the mouse and the multitouch screen, Apple has a long history of redefining the human–machine interface, which Kuo says gives it a leg up in making AR a mainstream technology.

AR Products Coming in Three Phases. Apple put a Lidar scanner in the iPhone 12 and the iPad Pro for enhanced AR, but these haven’t exactly taken the world by storm. Kuo says Cupertino won’t be successful in this area until it makes “standalone devices designed for MR/AR applications.” But the analyst believes Apple is committed to rolling out dedicated MR/AR devices over the coming years, though not as quickly as some have predicted.

Kuo says the first will be a headset. This will use “Sony’s Micro-OLED displays and several optical modules to provide a video see-through AR experience,” according to Kuo. But it might also include virtual reality capabilities and be integrated with Apple Arcade and Apple TV+.

A drawback of current VR headsets is that they are bulky. Kuo indicates Apple is trying to get its product down to between a quarter-pound and just less than half a pound (100g to 200g).

Kuo predicts the headset will launch in 2022 for about $1,000. This is in-line with a previous prediction from analysts at JPMorgan Chase.

Phase 2 will be AR glasses. And despite promises that these will debut soon by other sources, Kuo sees them launching “in 2025 at the earliest.” There’s allegedly not even a prototype yet, and the analyst didn’t guess at a price.

The headset is intended to be used in the home or workplace, but the AR glasses are for on the go. And that’s why they might not replace future headset versions in Apple’s product lineup.

And Apple augmented reality development won’t stop there. Kuo forecasts that the eventual culmination of Apple’s efforts in this area will be AR contact lenses. They will “bring electronics from the era of ‘visible computing’ to ‘invisible computing,’” according to Kuo.
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Of course, this product is well beyond current technology. That’s why the analyst will only predict, “We expect this product to be available after 2030.”

Have you ever wondered what makes 5G so unique relative to the other “G’s?” The answer, in a word, is latency. And even if you don’t know what that is yet, it makes a big difference in the way you use your phone, whether that’s hailing a rideshare like Uber, unlocking a scooter rental, or streaming a favorite show or movie.

Here’s why 5G is fundamentally different from all the other G’s, how critical cellular networking elements make it work, and all you need to know about the role that licensed spectrum plays in making it all a reality.

Defining the G’s. G stands for generation, and every cellular-service level represents a significant step up over the last. First, there was 1G, which provided voice-only services over an analog network, and the service was fraught with dropped calls and poor security. Next up, 2G brought the advent of a digital network, and with it significant improvements in security, quality, and something we pretty much all use daily today – text messaging. Then came 3G, which represented another technology leapfrog that saw mobile data support for web browsing and video calls (and Apple’s launch of the iconic iPhone). Today, 4G is the standard we enjoy. It brought improved throughput and performance and helped birth some of the disruptive services previously mentioned.

So, what makes 5G anything more than just faster? The answer is improved latency. 

Latency is the time it takes for a packet of data to travel from a sender to a receiver over a network: The lower the latency, the more responsive an application, especially if it is video intensive. Measured in milliseconds (ms), today’s 4G networks ring in at around 50ms, compared to an expected sub-5ms latency for 5G. The latter equates to nearly real-time responsiveness and is so fast it may even replace your home internet. No wonder carriers globally are eager to deploy 5G-based networks for both consumer and business applications.

The Parts That Make It Work. Core network components serve as the central part of a cellular network. They knit together mobile, fixed, and converged connectivity to ensure a more consistent user experience. The switch to 5G also brings the use of more industry-standard hardware and open-source software. Companies that deliver server, storage, and virtualization platforms such as Dell EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and VMware have made significant inroads into the telecommunications space, which has brought disruption from a cost and deployment perspective.

Some of the more recent capabilities that have come to core networking include machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), and software-defined networking (SDN) tools. There is a degree of whitewashing with some, if not all, of these platforms, but the benefits are real. Those include faster deployment, self-healing for improved uptime, and network slicing to guarantee new service quality and new monetization opportunities for carriers and service providers.

Radio access network (RAN) components, on the other hand, play an essential role in how your smartphone or mobile device communicates across a cellular network. These include base stations, antenna arrays, and small cell platforms. Base stations are fixed points of communication within a cellular network designed to cover a specific geographic area. Based on the need for radio coverage, they can take the form of:

• Macrocells that cover a wide area and are typically found on towers
• Microcells that are used for densification of coverage in highly populated areas that can be found mounted to streetlight poles and traffic signals
• Picocells that boost coverage within buildings.

There has recently been an intense focus on Open RAN, which started as an effort by some U.S. government agencies to decrease dependence on foreign suppliers in the name of national security given the critical nature of telecommunications infrastructure. Open RAN also promises to lower operator capital and operational expenses, given some of the similarities mentioned earlier of core networking trends. As a result, several organizations make it a reality, such as the Open RAN Policy Coalition, O-RAN Alliance, and Telecom Infra Project (TIP). This alphabet soup may be tough to follow, but the takeaway is that Open RAN is poised to reduce costs and speed deployment, which could be a positive thing for new subscribers.

Licensed Spectrum. The best way to view licensed spectrum is in three buckets: The low, mid, and high bands.

For 5G, the low band provides comprehensive coverage, but only a modest improvement over 4G LTE. T-Mobile has been keenly focused on building out its low-band spectrum assets to offer the most expansive 5G coverage area, and it is an intelligent move to bring new 5G subscribers on board rapidly. The mid band balances 5G coverage with exceptional performance. It is no wonder that the recent Federal Communications Commission C-Band auction was a record-breaker in raising roughly $82B, with Verizon and AT&T spending billions of dollars to fill gaps in their respective spectrum portfolios. Finally, high band, or mmWave, provides the best 5G performance but the worst coverage. Reception is thwarted through buildings and trees, requiring many small towers to bolster signal strength. Verizon has prioritized its high band 5G buildout (branded Ultra-Wideband). Still, the challenge is that subscriber reach is limited, and service is available in just a handful of major metropolitan areas. That will improve over time, but it will not be a fast process.
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Still Seeking the Killer App. The hype cycle for 5G may be at its apex, but don’t be dismayed if it feels long in coming. The reality is that 5G is not a light switch – it’s a slow dawn. New infrastructure and unlicensed spectrum, especially in the high band mmWave, will combine to deliver a fantastic 5G subscriber experience. New service offerings for both consumers and enterprises will rival 4G, thanks to the dramatic improvements in both throughput and latency. Ridesharing was the “poster child” disruptive use case in a 4G world. It will be exciting to see what unfolds in a 5G world.

Given how much valuable information we entrust to computers these days, it’s more important than ever to ensure that your work and home networks are safe. All it takes is one chink in your Wi-Fi’s armor to compromise your system, leading to ransomware, invasion of privacy, and the loss of invaluable personal data. Learn how to secure your Wi-Fi network today, and rest easier knowing you’ve prevented future outrages.

Wi-Fi works by broadcasting the signal from your modem via a wireless router up to several hundred feet away, allowing any compatible device to connect to the internet. While this is undoubtedly a major convenience for both work and home networks, it also raises the unpleasant possibility that a cybercriminal could compromise the network and access your devices and information. Should any crime be committed using your PC, such as spamming or harassment, the investigation would lead back to your computer, potentially putting you at legal risk.

However, as long as the wireless signal is sufficiently encrypted or rearranged into a coded transmission, your network should be safe from digital eavesdroppers and intruders. Two types of encryption are commonly used on routers, computers, and other devices: Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP). The most current and robust encryption is known as WPA3, though the weaker WPA2 is more common. Either should protect you from all but the most determined cybercriminals, though WPA3 will give you greater security against the latest threats. If you’re still using WEP to protect your Wi-Fi network, even the most common hacking programs could pose a threat, so consider upgrading your router for one with WPA3 included.

Upgrade Your Wi-Fi Security. It is worth noting that even though many routers now come with WPA3 encryption as standard, some do not have encryption enabled right out of the box. Fortunately, enabling the encryption is a simple matter of following the router’s instruction manual or manufacturer’s website. Additionally, there are several steps to take during the router’s setup to minimize the risks to your network, though these settings can also be adjusted at a later time.

Limit Wi-Fi Access. First and foremost, you should consider enabling any available options to limit the number of devices that can access your network, which you can do either through your computer’s Wi-Fi or directly through your router’s app. While it might be convenient to get that Wi-Fi-connected slow cooker you saw online, Internet of Things (IoT) devices can serve as easy entry points for hackers. Each device will be assigned an individual Media Address Control (MAC) that will allow your approved devices to access Wi-Fi while blocking those without a MAC – though hackers have spoofed MAC addresses before, so don’t rely solely on this feature to secure your network.

Protect Your Router. Since your router is the primary point of contact between your network and the internet, you need to make sure it’s been well-secured as your primary form of cyber defense. Failure to secure your router can allow hackers to seize control of it, redirect your web traffic, and steal personal and financial info. If you’re still using the generic network name and password the router came with, you could be in some severe trouble and not even know it.

PC users can check their router’s encryption status by right-clicking on the Internet Access toolbar icon and selecting Properties. From there, scroll down to Properties at the bottom of the window, and you’ll be able to check the security type that’s running, which should be WPA2 at a minimum.

Mac users can check the encryption status by opening System Preferences, clicking on “Network,” and then selecting the Wi-Fi network listed and then clicking on the “Advanced…” button. The network will be listed with its encryption status.

Changing the stock password the router shipped with is of paramount importance since these manufacturer-provided details are not always randomized and are well-known by hackers. Find your router’s IP address and use that to access it. Log in and change the default password. You should also ensure that their router’s service set identifier (SSID) has been changed to a unique name that only you know.

Update Your Router’s Firmware and Software Regularly. We all update our smartphones regularly. But updating your router is even more critical. You can accomplish this by either accessing your router directly or using an app, if available. Most routers have an option to update it directly in the admin panel.

Disable Remote Access. While the idea of accessing your router from anywhere with an internet connection might seem appealing, keep in mind that anyone else with the right skills can do the same. Remote access can be disabled via accessing your router directly or using an app. 
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Essentially, by following the same practices to protect your computer from digital intrusions (frequent updates, attention to detail, malware protection, etc.), you can help keep your wireless networks safe and sound.

The Biden administration is calling for action to stem climate change for a wide range of sectors, including buildings and transport, as major emitters. It’s going to require the rapid implementation of innovative new ideas and products.

Enter ready-to-roll – literally – “organic energy company” GO-OPV, which manufactures a thin film called ORENgE that can capture any light and convert it to clean energy in a more efficient way than traditional solar panels. The panels are thin, flexible, ultra-lightweight, and can be used both vertically and horizontally.
GO-OPV, a Florida-based company, launched ORENgE in November. GO-OPV claims ORENgE is “is the only commercial organic technology available in the US that is transparent, non-toxic, flexible, thin, durable, recyclable, sustainable, and cost-competitive.”

“The new electric economy requires energy producers to generate power in the most efficient combination of suitability and sustainability possible, which has always meant harnessing the power of light - indoor and outdoor. Organic energy, as built around the ORENgE technology solution, is pure power technology in a lightweight, flexible, and zero carbon footprint that can be applied to places like windows and transportation equipment, where organic energy transforms the power of light into energy,” says Felipe Travesso, COO of GO-OPV.

Organic energy relies on any form of light to produce power, whether it’s indoor, low, or diffused – unlike solar power, which is dependent on sunlight. ORENgE is a recyclable product that provides power through an earth-abundant, low CO2, and sustainable energy solution. ORENgE is an energy source that is printed from organic ink. It is the most sustainable organic energy alternative because it uses recyclable materials abundant in nature. It has the lowest carbon footprint and the lowest energy payback among organic technologies. 

ORENgE’s use of organic materials is another major differentiator to silicon solar panels that rely on chemicals like cadmium telluride, silicon tetrachloride, and hydrofluoric acid, among others. ORENgE is semi-transparent and integrates to any surface, like building facades, home siding, tractor-trailers, park benches, and more, for applications in vertical or horizontal installation – something else solar can’t do. While ORENgE can be hung vertically, on the sides of buildings, solar panels must be placed on roofs, directly facing the sun. Thanks to its flexibility, ORENgE can also be applied to tractor-trailers and semis, unlike fragile silicon panels.

ORENgE is the greenest option among all alternative, renewable power sources due to its printing production process and the organic materials used. To make ORENgE, GO-OPV uses a rollable film made up of eco-friendly materials (fullerene and non-fullerene-based inks) and recyclable earth-abundant materials. The printing production process has the lowest energy demand in manufacturing, resulting in the lowest carbon footprint among renewables.

ORENgE allows for the installation of the ultimate zero-carbon power solution within the building-integrated photovoltaics, trucking, and outdoor sustainability markets. For example:

As building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) continues to be integrated into more buildings as a principal or ancillary power source, ORENgE offers a solution that can be applied to glass surfaces and façade applications to power lights in conference rooms 24/7, entire office floors across multiple real estate applications, and UL 924 backup at a zero-carbon footprint.

The transportation industry is in desperate need of solutions addressing zero-carbon power generation. Because ORENgE is lightweight, flexible, and durable, it can be applied to semi-trucks and tractor-trailers to power on-board electronics (printers, credit card machines, lighting, tracking systems, electronic locks, etc.), semi-trailers (wagons that often remain detached from the tractor for long periods), and reefer (the refrigeration system of tractor-trailers). With ORENgE, trucks have a longer lifespan, resulting in more income per truck. ORENgE increases battery lifetime and reduces unscheduled maintenance and its direct cost. 

ORENgE on a picnic table can provide light and tech-charging capabilities.

ORENgE brings its zero-carbon power source to outdoor furniture, so you can charge your phone on park benches and ensure safety at public bus stops with 24/7 light. Because of its sleek design and flexibility, the application possibilities are endless. From beach umbrellas to carports, ORENgE can provide 24/7 outdoor power for daytime and added battery storage for nighttime.
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ORENgE is cost-competitive with all renewable energy sources since organic energy power is delivered onsite of the required power load demand and, in many cases, the lowest form of energy. ORENgE benefits from the lower cost since the onsite delivery of ORENgE power removes the cost of transmission lines, distribution lines, and higher cost of AC systems.

When we think about privacy and who can access our location data, we’re often focusing on our phones and not on the machine that actually takes us places: our car. A recent report from NBC News goes into just how much data is collected by our vehicles and how it can be used by police and criminals alike.

Your car, depending on how new it is and what capabilities it has, could be collecting all sorts of data without your knowledge – including location data, when its doors were opened, and even recordings of your voice. The NBC article uses the example of Joshua Wessel, a man charged with murder because the victim’s truck has a recording of his voice at the time of the killing. The report also looks at a company called Berla Corp., which has built a business out of extracting that data on behalf of the police.

In broad strokes, it’s hard to guarantee any kind of data protection, simply because cars collect so much sensitive data. Berla’s software boasts the ability to read the unique IDs of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi devices that have connected to a car’s infotainment system, as well as call logs, contacts, and text messages. But infotainment data isn’t all it can read – it can also look at the logs kept by the car’s internal computer, revealing when specific doors were opened, as well as providing a location log from its built-in GPS.

It’s not just the police that can get at this information. NBC mentions an Australian man who used an app to access live data from his ex-girlfriend’s Land Rover. Not only was he able to access live information about the car, but he was also able to control it, remotely turning it on and off and opening windows.
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The heart of the problem is that we’re sharing our private data with more and more devices, and the systems we rely on to keep that data safe are getting more complicated. If we really want to deal with the issue, we may have to take a hard look at our cars and start thinking about how much data they need.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) wants to invest in new materials and processes that could enable manufacturing in space and on the moon’s surface.

To that end, the agency is launching the Novel Orbital and Moon Manufacturing, Materials and Mass-efficient Design program, or NOM4D.

“NOM4D’s vision is to develop foundational materials, processes, and designs needed to realize in-space manufacturing of large, precise, and resilient Defense Department systems,” said Bill Carter, program manager in DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office.

DARPA said it is launching the program in response to the natural limitations of rocket launches in placing larger structures and systems in orbit. While the launch industry has expanded significantly in recent years, with dozens of new launch providers entering the fray, rocket launches are inherently limited – even the largest rockets have weight and volume restrictions. The solution? Place smaller pieces of a structure on-orbit with multiple launches, and then assemble them in space. Or better yet, collect materials from the moon to build with.

“We will explore the unique advantages afforded by on-orbit manufacturing using advanced materials ferried from Earth,” Carter said. “Large structures such as antennas and solar panels can be substantially more weight-efficient and potentially much more precise. We will also explore the unique features of in-situ resources obtained from the moon’s surface as they apply to future defense missions.”

Manufacturing in space could also enable more flexibility in designing space systems. Today, most satellites are designed to be as compact as possible to be integrated with and launched on rockets. But by assembling systems in space, systems can be designed without some of those volume restrictions, allowing them to be more mass efficient.

“We’re looking for proposers to come up with system designs that are so mass efficient that they can only be built off-earth, and with features that enable them to withstand maneuvers, eclipses, damage, and thermal cycles typical of space and lunar environments” Carter said. “Given the constraints of ground test, launch, and deployment, the traditional approach to designing space structures is not likely to result in dramatic improvements in mass efficiency. To take the next step, we’ve got to go about materials, manufacturing, and design in a completely new way.”

The idea of assembling systems and structures in space isn’t exactly new. Famously, the International Space System was assembled in space using several components individually launched into space.

“People have been thinking about on-orbit manufacturing for some time, so we expect to demonstrate new materials and manufacturing technologies by the program’s end,” Carter added.

With NOM4D, DARPA will work with participants over three 18-month phases to develop precise, mass efficient structures that could be used for on-orbit construction. Each phase will focus on one of three applications: Large solar arrays, large radio frequency reflector antennas, and segmented infrared reflective optics.
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The agency is hosting a proposers day webinar on Feb. 26 and expects to release a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) solicitation later in the month.

The shift to digital work and play from home, hastened by the pandemic, has wreaked havoc on commercial real estate. But experts say it has also generated one surprising bright spot for the industry: data centers.

The growing reliance on cloud-based technology – and the huge, blocky buildings that house its hardware – has created greater opportunities for developers and investors as businesses and consumers gobble up more data in a world that has become increasingly connected.

“Our houses are connected, our cars are connected, our streetlights and parking meters are connected, and every single one of those connections is passing data back and forth,” said Sean O’Hara, president of the exchange-traded funds’ division at Pacer Financial, an investment advisory firm in Malvern, PA.

Companies that provide data storage are preparing for even greater demand as new technologies like 5G, and artificial intelligence become more widely used.

“Our business has continued to grow through the pandemic,” said Nelson Fonseca, chief executive of Cyxtera. This company owns 62 data centers across the United States and five markets in Europe and Asia. “It actually accelerated all the drivers that were growing the industry in the first place.”

Mr. Fonseca said Cyxtera, which typically leases space in its centers for three-year contracts, was on the hunt for new markets. “We’re seeing demand across the board,” he said. “Our pipeline going into 2021 is even larger.”

The acceleration of existing consumer behaviors and workforce trends has driven companies to demand more space for their data, said Patrick Lynch, senior managing director of the data center solutions group at the real estate services and investment firm CBRE.

“Things like working from home and online shopping and distributed workforces all just layered into the momentum the industry had,” he said.

And investors have taken note. “Over the past 90 days, we’re seeing a massive shift in capital toward this industry by big investment funds,” said Andy Cvengros, senior vice president and a member of the technology solutions practice at JLL, a real estate services, and investing company.

In October, Goldman Sachs announced an investment of up to $500 million in data center infrastructure, and the private equity firms Blackstone and KKR have recently announced data center investments.

Real estate investment trusts focused on data centers delivered returns of 19% in the first half of 2020 – one of only two real estate investment trust (REIT) sectors that showed growth, according to a recent report by JLL. (The other sector, industrials, yielded a modest 2% return.) By comparison, returns for hotel and resort REITs plunged 49%, those for retail fell 37%, and office space dropped 25%.

“It’s an acknowledgment that this is not a niche real estate market anymore,” Mr. Lynch said.
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Data centers have emerged as a critical part of the digital infrastructure that connects people and businesses to one another and the rest of the world, said Jon Lin, president for the Americas region at Equinix, one of the largest global data center companies.