News of science and technology around the world

New Volga S40, K30 and K40 cars are shown in Russia. At an exhibition in Nizhny Novgorod, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was shown new cars of the revived Volga brand. Reportedly, they plan to produce three car models: Volga C40 - class D sedan, Volga K30 - class C crossover, Volga K40 - class D crossover. There is no official information yet about the partner who is helping with the revival of the Soviet car brand. The likely donor for Russian cars is the Chinese cars Changan Raeton Plus, Changan Oshan X5 Plus and Changan Uni-Z. It is worth noting that the design of Chinese cars in recent years has become even better than European ones. All three cars use a gasoline engine with a power of 188 horsepower and a torque of 300 Nm. Presumably a seven-speed automatic transmission and a 1.5 liter engine. The cars are equipped with intelligent driver assistance systems, and Russian services are integrated into the multimedia system. Production of the machines will begin in 2024, and from 2025 - in full cycle mode.

 

 
In the Russian village of Bogoslovka, Omsk region, a curious incident occurred: an unknown man flew to a village store to do some shopping in a Robinson R44 helicopter manufactured by the American company Robinson Helicopter. It is worth noting that an hour of helicopter flight costs hundreds of times more than purchased products. The Robinson R44 helicopter is considered one of the safest, thanks to its simple but reliable design. It first took to the air in March 1990; in total, about 6,000 helicopters of this brand were produced and sold.

 
Boeing said it is working on a new quality issue for the Boeing 737 MAX and Boeing 787 Dreamliner. It is worth noting that the problem with the quality of Boeing aircraft can already be called a detective story, since two informants who reported them have already died under mysterious circumstances. Bloomberg published a report from Boeing's quality control inspector. Sam Mohawk said: Boeing lost 400 defective parts that - either intentionally or by mistake - could have been installed on new planes. Records of where and how defective components were stored disappeared from internal archives.
On June 18, a hearing was held in the US Senate, at which Boeing CEO David Calhoun spoke and answered questions from congressmen who criticized the corporation for numerous problems with the quality of aircraft. According to media reports, the head of Boeing had to justify himself in the Senate because of his salary of more than $30 million and the concealment of spare parts; he also apologized for problems with flight safety.
Problems with the Boeing 737 MAX became known 5 years ago, the same problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, in short, they are all related to the acceleration of aircraft production, a problem with parts from suppliers and savings on wages for engineers, designers and programmers. Boeing has said it continues to refine and improve its aircraft manufacturing process, but scandals have plagued the company, which has already impacted its financial performance.

 
The Soviet, the last surviving reusable spacecraft "Buran", known as "Baikal", will be restored in Russia. The collection of the museum complex in Verkhnyaya Pyshma has been replenished with the manned spacecraft "Buran" created in 1993, it will be restored. The first apparatus of the "Buran" program flew on November 15, 1988 and is now destroyed. The second Buran spacecraft, known as Burya, never flew in space and is stored at Baikonur. The third Buran spacecraft, whose flight planned for 1994 also did not take place, the program being closed at that time, will be placed in a museum near Yekaterinburg after restoration. The reusable Buran spacecraft looks like the American Space Shuttle, but unlike it, it had the ability to land in automatic mode and emergency ejection of the crew. Buran was also capable of long flights, up to 30 days, orbital maneuvering, controlled descent and aircraft landing at a specially equipped airfield. Due to lack of funding, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Buran program was transferred from the Ministry of Defense to the Russian Space Agency and was closed in 1993.

 
Rosatom showed how a Russian laser is used to dispose of 40-meter cranes at a coal storage site of a thermal power plant in Kurgan. The mobile laser complex was used at a distance of 100 meters from the object; the laser is capable of cutting metal up to 260 mm thick at a distance of up to 300 meters. Laser logging, in the link to the video in the comments to the video.

 
Footage of the US testing of the HAPS stratospheric airship by Sceye. The unmanned 65-meter HAPS airship is filled with helium and equipped with solar panels, which will allow it to stay in the air for months. Tests have confirmed that the charge from the solar panels is enough for electric motors and the use of the airship in the air around the clock. The Sceye HAPS airship is capable of rising to a height of 19 kilometers. First of all, the airship is designed to provide mobile communications and the Internet to hard-to-reach places in the USA. During the HAPS tests, it was possible to distribute the LTE network to a smartphone on the ground at a distance of 140 km, using a special antenna. The HAPS airship will also monitor climate change, forest fires and other natural disasters.

 

Researchers at Concordia have developed a novel method of 3D printing that uses acoustic holograms. And they say it's quicker than existing methods and capable of making more complex objects.
The process, called holographic direct sound printing (HDSP), is described in a recent article in the journal Nature Communications. It builds on a method introduced in 2022 that described how sonochemical reactions in microscopic cavitations regions - tiny bubbles - create extremely high temperatures and pressure for trillionths of a second to harden resin into complex patterns.
Now, by embedding the technique in acoustic holograms that contain cross-sectional images of a particular design, polymerization occurs much more quickly. It can create objects simultaneously rather than voxel-by-voxel.
 
Elon Musk showed prototypes of two new Tesla products at once: the Cybercab robotic taxi and the Robovan driverless van. The Optimus humanoid robot was also shown. The Cybercab robotic taxi can be used not only for personal use, but also rented out, making money on it. Tesla has assembled at least 50 Cybercabs and plans to launch mass production no later than 2027. The price of one Cybercab taxi for entrepreneurs will be less than 30 thousand dollars. There is no steering wheel or pedals in the Cybercab, since human control is not provided at all, the car operates completely in unmanned mode. The Cybercab car will be charged inductively, without the need to connect to the network. Musk said that autonomous cars will be 10-20 times safer than those controlled by people. A ride on a Cybercab will cost 20 cents per 1.6 km, for comparison, on a bus it costs $ 1.

The Robovan driverless van will be able to transport 20 people, it also has a numb steering wheel and pedals, it can be converted into a cargo version. The Optimus robot attracted the most attention from the public, in the future it can become one of the family members. They promise that the Optimus robot will be able to clean the house, walk the dog, mow the lawn, water the plants, set the table, wipe the dust, play with children and much more. Optimus robots are already being adapted for work in production and as auto mechanics.

 
The first hovering flight was performed by the Russian modernized Mi-34 M1 helicopter, equipped with a VK-650V turboshaft engine manufactured by UEC-Klimov. The Mi-34M1 helicopter is a modernized version of the light helicopter of the Mi-34S family, equipped with piston engines. Serial production of the VK-650V engine, designed for Russian multi-purpose and special helicopters with a takeoff weight of up to 4 tons, is planned to be launched in 2025. A new gearbox was also tested on the helicopter. It is believed that the helicopter will compete with the most popular family of GA helicopters in the world, Robinson.