Chris Young

London, Málaga

Journalist and Editor at Freelance

Freelance Writer at Interesting Engineering

Freelance journalist, writer, editor — @IntEngineering, Le Cool News (at https://t.co/LP1gswaNmG), @BourbonCreative, @AFP_Services , @Lifehackorg

Articles

NASA 'deeply concerned' over ISS safety, warns of emergency deorbit risk

6 days ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

The ISS orbiting Earth. dima_zel / iStockThe ailing state of the International Space Station (ISS) serves as a sad indicator of shifting priorities amid reports that Trump’s administration is planning to slash NASA funding by 20 percent. For years, NASA has emphasized budgetary and aging hardware concerns regarding the ISS.
Repurposed rocket powers classified US spy satellites into space

1 week ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

A Minotaur IV rocket launching from Florida in 2017. NASAA Northrop Grumman Minotaur IV rocket launched multiple classified payloads for the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) on Wednesday, April 16. The Minotaur IV rocket, a repurposed intercontinental ballistic missile, lifted off from the Vandenberg Space Force Base at 3:33 pm EDT (1633 GMT, 12:33 pm local time). It carried with it “multiple” classified payloads – likely spy satellites for the NRO.
Scientists commit sound sorcery beyond 'human perception limit' in dome

1 week ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

A team of researchers has tested a state-of-the-art system called the AudioDome to push surround sound capabilities to the limit. The AudioDome faithfully re-creates a three-dimensional soundscape with its spherical arrangement of speakers. However, until now, scientists did not know whether it was accurate enough to use in human testing.
New EV battery material may finally fix cell degradation, extend life

1 week ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

Scientists from Dongguk University in Seoul, South Korea, claim they have achieved an important breakthrough in lithium-ion battery technology. The team has developed a new hybrid anode material that could dramatically improve battery storage and cycle life. According to a press release, they introduced “a hierarchical heterostructure composite that optimizes material interfaces at the nanoscale, resulting in remarkable enhancements in energy storage capacity and long-term cycling stability.”
Katy Perry flies to space with all-female crew aboard Blue Origin

1 week ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

Lauren Sánchez (left), Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket, and Katy Perry (right). Blue Origin / YouTubeJeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has launched an all-female crew to suborbital space. The private space company’s NS-31 flight fired a star-studded crew skyward, including singer Katy Perry and Bezos’ partner, Lauren Sánchez. Blue Origin’s space tourism service launches a crew capsule to just over 100 km altitude.
Shoulder-mounted drone-zapping guns coming soon to US Marines

1 week ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

A Marine Corps Srgt. engaging a target with a NightFighter S counter-unmanned aerial vehicle system. Sgt. Amelia Kang / Marine CorpsThe US Marine Corps has announced new measures to defend them against the rising threat of drone warfare. The Corps will deploy a new handheld counter-drone system prototype on the battlefield. The move comes amid a rise in drone attacks worldwide. The new system will be easily deployable and defend small units from the threat of weaponized small drones.
Ex-Tesla Optimus engineer launches start-up in China to build robots

2 weeks ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

A former Tesla engineer left the electric automaker’s humanoid robotics team to co-found a startup operating in Palo Alto, California, and Shenzhen, China. The engineer, Shuo Yang, was part of the team developing Tesla’s Optimus robot, which is part of a recent surge in humanoid robotic announcements – in June 2024, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said the company would have 1,000 Optimus robots working at the company’s factories this year.
Anduril tests hypersonic rocket motor for US Navy's missile program

2 weeks ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

Anduril Industries, a US-based defense technology company co-founded by the inventor of the Oculus Rift VR headset, has successfully test fired its 21-inch hypersonic solid rocket motor for the US Navy. The company performed the successful test last month, a significant milestone on the road to developing the motor for the Navy’s STANDARD Missile Program.
China's Starlink-rival satellite swarms pose serious threat for orbit

2 weeks ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

China’s satellite megaconstellation plans could clog low Earth orbit with large spent rocket stages, analysts warn. Those rocket stages could stay in orbit, increasing the risk of collisions, for over a hundred years. The government’s Guowang and the commercial Qianfan (Thousand Sails) internet constellations will each consist of 10,000 satellites. The first launches for these constellations started last year. Over a thousand launches will be required to finish lifting the constellations to space.
US firm’s modular satellites set stage for orbit-to-Earth solar power

2 weeks ago | interestingengineering.com | Chris Young

Last year, Aetherflux, a startup founded by a physicist with a background in financial services, announced it was developing a novel space-based solar power technology. Instead of the large arrays in geostationary orbit that others have proposed, Aetherflux aims to send a constellation of modular satellites to low Earth orbit. The company has announced it raised $50 million in a Series A funding round led by Ventures and Interlagos.