On a cloudy Christmas morning last year, a rocket carrying the most powerful space telescope ever built blasted off from a launchpad in French Guiana. After reaching its destination in space about a month later, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) began sending back sparkling presents to humanity--jaw-dropping images that are revealing our universe in stunning new ways. Every year since 1988, Popular Science has highlighted the innovations that make living on Earth even a tiny bit better. And this year--our 35th--has been remarkable, thanks to the successful deployment of the JWST, which earned our highest honor as the Innovation of the Year. But it's just one item out of the 100 stellar technological accomplishments our editors have selected to recognize. The list below represents months of research, testing, discussion, and debate. It celebrates exciting inventions that are improving our lives in ways both big and small. These technologies and discoveries are teaching us about the ...

Nissan Motor Co. is betting that its experience pioneering lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles over a decade ago will give it an upper hand in producing a new battery type that, despite being new and still relatively unproven, is considered by some as key to unlocking the future potential of EVs. Nissan is producing prototype solid-state battery cells -- which replace the electrical current-conducting liquid found in conventional batteries with a solid substance -- at a facility resembling a pop-up lab inside its research grounds near its Yokohama headquarters. The Japanese automaker plans to bring the new type of batteries to market by fiscal year 2028, readying a pilot plant for them ahead of that around 2024. If they can be manufactured, solid-state batteries would unlock cheaper, safer and faster-charging EVs, according to automotive executives and battery experts. Using different material combinations, Nissan predicts it will eventually be able to produce a solid-state battery pack that costs $65 (¥8,063) per kilowatt-hour -- a level at which analysts say EVs could reach price parity with gasoline-engine cars.

The TriRhenaTech alliance presents the accepted papers of the 'Upper-Rhine Artificial Intelligence Symposium' held on October 27th 2021 in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Topics of the conference are applications of Artificial Intellgence in life sciences, intelligent systems, industry 4.0, mobility and others. The TriRhenaTech alliance is a network of universities in the Upper-Rhine Trinational Metropolitan Region comprising of the German universities of applied sciences in Furtwangen, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Offenburg and Trier, the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University Loerrach, the French university network Alsace Tech (comprised of 14 'grandes \'ecoles' in the fields of engineering, architecture and management) and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland. The alliance's common goal is to reinforce the transfer of knowledge, research, and technology, as well as the cross-border mobility of students.

GM has increased the money it's earmarking for its combined EV and self-driving investment from 2020 through 2025 to $35 billion. The largest automaker in the US originally planned to pour $20 billion into the endeavor but decided to give it a boost and up it to $27 billion late last year. Now, as CNBC reports, it's spending even more on efforts to go electric and driverless. The company will use the additional investment to accelerate the production of its battery and fuel cell technologies. It will build two more battery plants to the US in addition to the two that are already in construction, most likely in an effort to ensure that it doesn't come across battery shortages as it ramps up its EV production.

New York (CNN Business)Talk of a possible Apple car is back. Apple (AAPL) hasn't commented publicly on its plans for the project, nicknamed Titan, so it's not clear exactly what will come of the effort. Some who follow the company think it could release a whole Apple-branded, electric, self-driving car. Others think it's more likely Apple will partner with existing automakers to sell an operating system (iDrive, maybe?), self-driving tools or other technology. There are some clues available, though.

We've been hearing bits of information about Apple's secretive Project Titan self-driving car division for years now, but a new report from Reuters finally provides some more concrete details on the tech giant's automotive plans. According to the report, Apple could start production on its own electric vehicle as early as 2024. At the heart of the car is a battery that features a "breakthrough" monocell design. It would reportedly allow the company to add more active material to the power cell, thereby offering greater range. Apple is also exploring the possibility of using a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry.

Apple plans to start producing its own electric vehicle in 2024, according to a report this afternoon by Reuters that says the company's on-again, off-again Project Titan has a renewed momentum. According to the report, by Reuters's Stephen Nellis, Norihiko Shirouzu, and Paul Lienert, multiple unnamed sources have told the news outlet that Project Titan is aiming to make a passenger vehicle for the mass market. The article relates that sources say things at Project Titan have "progressed" since Apple brought in a veteran of both Tesla and Apple, Doug Field, to take over operations in 2018. The car effort has seen something of a revolving door of executives over the years. The New York Times in 2016 said the effort had been rebooted at Apple, and that dozens of layoffs happened.

SAN RAMON, California – Tesla is working on new battery technology that CEO Elon Musk says will enable the company within the next three years to make sleeker, more affordable cars that can travel dramatically longer distances on a single charge. But the battery breakthroughs that Musk unveiled Tuesday at a highly anticipated event didn't impress investors. They were hoping Tesla's technology would mark an even bigger leap forward and propel the company's soaring stock to even greater heights. Tesla's shares shed more than 6 percent in extended trading after Musk's presentation. That deepened a downturn that began during Tuesday's regular trading session as investors began to brace for a potential letdown.

Elon Musk is hailed as an innovator and disrupter who went from knowing next to nothing about building cars to running the world's most valuable automaker in the space of 16 years. But his record shows he is more of a fast learner who forged alliances with firms that had technology Tesla lacked, hired some of their most talented people, and then powered through the boundaries that limited more risk-averse partners. Now, Musk and his team are preparing to outline new steps in Tesla's drive to become a more self-sufficient company less reliant on suppliers at its "Battery Day" event on Tuesday. Musk has been dropping hints for months that significant advances in technology will be announced as Tesla strives to produce the low-cost, long-lasting batteries that could put its electric cars on a more equal footing with cheaper gasoline vehicles. New battery cell designs, chemistries and manufacturing processes are just some of the developments that would allow Tesla to reduce its reliance on its long-time battery partner, Japan's Panasonic, people familiar with the situation said.

Since the last decade, the auto industry has experienced technological breakthroughs that have transformed the automotive landscape. Keeping up with the growing demand, almost every major carmaker has launched or has plans to dive into the electric vehicles market. Mumbai -based ION Energy was born out of the desire to tackle the threat of climate degradation by enabling a much more environment-friendly mobility solution. Founded in 2016, ION acquired an 8-year-old French Battery Management System (BMS) developer – Freemens SAS, in a first of its kind cross-border acquisition. In 2018, ION came out of stealth mode and unveiled its first product UDYR, a portable battery for electric scooters and started commercialising its flagship BMS platform.