It was an airplane week. People tried to figure out how to make them quieter; others wrangled those abandoned by a corporate collapse. (Rule, Britannia!) Some thought critically about the way the US handles air traffic control, especially as drones become more of a thing. Others—well, the highly trained investigators at the NTSB—worked to remedy whatever went wrong inside Boeing to allow planes with insufficiently understood tech to take off, and then tragically crash. If you’re interested in the inside story of things up in the air, we’ve got you covered.
Also this week: Tesla-affiliated researchers say they’ve invented a very long lasting car battery, the Porsche Taycan is very fun, and electric buses hit a potential speed bump, courtesy of Congress. It’s been a week—let’s get you caught up.
Headlines
Stories you might have missed from WIRED this week
- We test the new electric Porsche Taycan by driving it—where else?—on the German autobahn.
- Maybe it’s time to get more obsessed with transportation efficiency, instead of speed. Y’know, for the planet’s sake.
- How a congressional bill aimed at stimulating homegrown rail car and bus manufacturing businesses might put a damper on electric buses.
- The future face of the country’s most popular rail route.
- How the UK government is getting 150,000 travelers stranded by the sudden collapse of a travel agency back to Britain.
- Software-focused developer + massive automaker = 🤑
- Researchers associated with Tesla announce a breakthrough to create a longer-lasting lithium-ion battery that might be able to power a vehicle for over 1 million miles.
- From WIRED Opinion: The US government really should spend more money on revamping air traffic control for the drones and flying cars to come.
- The NTSB says Boeing didn’t anticipate how pilots would react to the 737 MAX—a significant factor in two fatal crashes that happened just months apart.
- Uber announces a bunch of new features aimed at protecting rider safety.
- German researchers are trying to figure out how to get pilots to land their planes more quietly.
Highway Fan of the Week
Ignore the Phanatic—this guy loves I-95 more than you.
Stat of the Week
833%
The jump in autonomous-vehicle job postings between 2015 and 2019, according to the jobs site Indeed. Job searches jumped, too, by 450 percent. But note, job searchers: The sector saw a dip between 2018 and 2019, with postings dropping by 19 percent. The majority of these jobs are near the usual places: San Jose, Pittsburgh (home of Uber and ArgoAI’s self-driving efforts), and Detroit.
Required Reading
News from elsewhere on the internet
