The Chinese delivery giant Meituan flies drones between skyscrapers to kiosks around the city. Many big corporations have had their eyes on drone delivery: Amazon first proposed doing it in 2013, but its progress has […]
arketyp. News Feed
Digital, tech & innovation narratives curated from across the web
Category: Logistics
JetZero’s Next-Gen Aircraft Could Change How We Fly for the First Time in Decades
A California-based startup called JetZero is changing the shape of commercial planes and the material they’re made of. The company unveiled its designs for the midsize commercial and military tanker-transport markets this spring, and has […]
The Rise of Tanker Shipping’s ‘Shadow Fleet’
Sanctions have split the world’s tanker fleet in two. On one side, those that follow Western rules; on the other, those that don’t. The European Union and G-7 nations, together with Australia and Japan, implemented […]
Local Ride-Hailing Startups Thrive in the Towns that Uber Forgot
Uber and Didi spent billions in Latin America. Now homegrown contenders are flourishing in the places they ignored. Back in 2015, Alécio Cavalcante visited São Paulo, Latin America’s largest megalopolis, and used Uber for the […]
Meet Midnight, the eVTOL Air Taxi That Archer Will Take to Production
Archer is targeting FAA certification by the end of 2024, and its first air taxi flights in 2025. With its Maker prototype logging successful test flights, the company has now unveiled Midnight, the four-passenger aircraft […]
GoFreight Raises $23M to Become the “Shopify of Freight Forwarding”
Unicorn Flexport is revolutionizing the world of logistics, serving as a freight forwarder with software that enables customers to manage their shipments. Unicorn Flexport is revolutionizing the world of logistics, serving as a freight forwarder […]
Relativity Space Seeks to Join SpaceX as “Disruptor”
Relativity Space is preparing to roll its Terran 1 rocket out to the launch pad in Florida in the next few weeks, setting the stage for its debut flight. While the rocket is modest in […]
The Long March Into Space
While private actors drive the space industry in the West, China’s state-led approach continues to bear fruit. Human activity in space is undergoing a transformation. For most of the 20th century, this frontier was dominated […]
UK Government Gives Green Light for Longest Drone ‘Superhighway’
The UK government has announced it has given the go-ahead to for the network of drone superhighways to be built in the UK. The drone superhighway will link cities and towns throughout the midlands to […]
Swiss Company to Build an Intercity Network of Tunnels for Robotic Cargo Pods
How can we plan for a future where there’s more stuff being moved and our streets aren’t overwhelmingly clogged with semis and delivery vans (and the polluting emissions that come with them)? If what we […]
China Launched the World’s First AI-Operated ‘Mother Ship’
China has launched the world’s first crewless drone carrier that uses artificial intelligence to navigate autonomously in open water. The autonomous ship, the Zhu Hai Yun (pictured here) is around 290 feet long, 45 feet […]
Electric Planes Take Off
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that 170 projects worldwide are focused on developing electric planes — double the number underway in 2018. A report from NREL — one of the laboratories that serves the […]
Startup’s Autonomy Workaround: ‘Teledrivers’ to Operate Cars from Remote Location
German startup Vay proposes a ‘human teledriver’ sitting at screens to run a vehicle remotely, at least some of the time. It’s an interim measure on the way to full autonomy. Vay, which is based […]
Why Global Supply Chains May Never Be the Same
The pandemic exposed breaking points in the system that would fundamentally alter consumer expectations of getting anything we want whenever we want it. Every day, millions of sailors, truck drivers, longshoremen, warehouse workers and delivery […]
In Maglev Innovation, Chinese Researchers Transfer Power Wirelessly to Moving Train
Chinese scientists have developed a method to wirelessly transfer power to a maglev train while it runs aloft. The energy efficiency of a typical smartphone wireless charger is around 50 per cent. When charging a […]
Boeing Invests $450 Million in Flying Taxi Developer Wisk
Boeing is investing a further $450 million in Wisk Aero to support development of future pilotless flying taxis. California-based Wisk, owned by Boeing and Kitty Hawk – the air vehicle firm launched by Google co-founder […]
Apple Accelerates Work on Car Project
Apple Inc. is pushing to accelerate development of its electric car and is refocusing the project around full self-driving capabilities, according to people familiar with the matter. For the past several years, Apple’s car team […]
The Jeff Bezos of Narcotics
Tse Chi Lop, the suspected ringleader of a $21-billion crime syndicate, may be the world’s most innovative drug lord. Guaranteed delivery was the source of Tse’s power. Why would Australian biker gangs struggle to bring […]
Uber is Still Betting on Flying Taxis
Fortune magazine sits down with Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Joby chairman Paul Sciarra, to discuss Joby and its future. Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber: Through Elevate, we had access to all the various players […]
Joby Aviation Aims to Go to Market in 2024
Joby Aviation has completed the longest test flight of an eVTOL to date: Its prototype aircraft concluded a trip of over 150 miles on a single charge. The test was completed at Joby’s Electric Flight […]
Skyrocketing Import Costs are Hammering Amazon Sellers
Before the pandemic, U.S. retailers could import a 40-ft container from China for $2,000. Now, that same container runs as much as $15,000. The shipping cost surge is most acutely hitting Amazon’s third-party sellers — […]
Velodyne, Qualcomm team up to Deploy Lidar
Velodyne Lidar has joined the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program to promote using lidar technology in smart cities to improve public services. Velodyne’s lidar sensors will be used to help improve pedestrian safety, monitor vehicle […]
Former Airbus Chief Joins Lilium
Thomas Enders, a former chief executive of aviation giant Airbus, is joining the board of a fledgling flying-taxi company. Enders’s appointment is a coup for Lilium, a Munich-based company that has pioneered the use of […]
GM Unveils Flying Car Concept
General Motors showed off a single-seater electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft during its keynote CES address on Tuesday. Both vehicles are part of Cadillac’s Halo Portfolio and probably won’t be going into production […]
Why the Driverless Car Revolution has Stalled
As Uber parks its plans for robotaxis, experts admit the autonomous vehicle challenge is bigger than anticipated. By 2021, according to various Silicon Valley luminaries, bandwagoning politicians and leading cab firms in recent years, self-driving […]
Carmakers Race to Shut Down “Stranded Assets”
Traditional manufacturers are currently playing a “zero sum game” because growth in electric car sales eats into the value of internal combustion engine factories, which “are effectively stranded assets”. Philippe Houchois, an analyst at Jefferies, […]
This Student has Taken over 60 Driverless Waymo Rides
One young Arizonan has leapt at the chance to document the real-world performance of Waymo’s driverless taxis. Joel Johnson is an Arizona State University student who is taking a break from college during the pandemic. […]
Drone Deliveries Could Solve Supply Chains’ “Last Mile”
Market pressures incentivize adding more automation to online shopping. Drone deliveries could be the next frontier. In 2016, Amazon Prime Air was developed as an autonomous drone delivery service. For orders weighing less than 5 […]
Google’s Wing is Set to Expand in Australia
Google’s drone delivery service, Wing, is set to expand to new locations in Australia in the coming months after successful trials in Canberra and Logan, Queensland. The business’ head of policy and government affairs, Margaret […]
New Rules Integrate Drones into our Airspace
Drone-Crowded Skies Get a Step Closer With U.S. Safety Rules. Commercial drone use for deliveries and services cleared a major hurdle in the U.S. with new rules allowing the devices to fly over populated areas […]