Good morning.
Welcome to yet another Sunday AM.
Morten B. Reitoft

BUSINESS

Today we are going to talk about something called an airplane. You may remember these flying carriers from before the pandemic - sorry, just kidding. The story of today is about a new and increased interest in supersonic transportation. Denver-based Boom promises Supersonic jets from 2029 without the massive problems of the once-in-service and famous French/British Concorde. One major issue was the sonic boom that comes when the plane hits the March 1 speed breaking the sound barrier. The second issue was pollution due to its massive consumption of fuel. The technical challenges were even higher - but, regardless, the dream of flying supersonic has been there for years. Boom from Denver is one vendor, NEXT from Japan another. Both are looking into making supersonic flights fast (March 2-3), but besides 'fixing' the sonic boom, energy consumption, etc., they also expect to deliver their services at prices comparable to economy plus.

However, they probably have to move fast because SpaceX plans to make their Starship available for flights from major hubs to major hubs using their technology, which will be WAY faster. For example, Musk expects a trip from Miami to Tokyo to cost almost the same as an economy plus ticket and will take you there in only twenty minutes.

This will create new opportunities business-wise, cultural, and of course, changing the world once again!

TECHNOLOGY

Have you ever heard about Eris? It's a dwarf planet, and if you asked me days ago whether I could name a dwarf planet, I would only be able to mention Pluto. Eris is almost the same size and is as far away as 38 to 68 AU. AU is short for Astronomical Units and assembles the distance from the Sun to Earth. In KM and Miles, it's approx 150,000,000 km or 93,000,000 Miles. So Eris is far away from us - and why is this interesting? Well, I am fascinated by space, and though only a fraction has been mapped, the creativity of humans able to send space ships to the Moon, Mars, and who knows in the future, maybe even to other solar systems amazes me. Some people believe that space explorations are a waste of money, but the technology spin-offs from these massive and costly programs can't be underestimated. Think of Teflon, memory foam, GPS, CMOS sensors (inside almost every phone/camera), ear thermometers, scratch-free glass, tap-water filters, cordless tools, to mention a few, are spin-offs that we use daily.

If you would like to explore more about Eris and the achievements in space exploration, NASA has created this amazing, great website, just underscoring how small we humans are, but worth checking out regardless!

MUSIC

This week's recommendation is again a Norwegian Singer. Her name is Ane Brun, and I first noticed her when she was backing singer for the Danish globally recognized Trentemoller who creates dark techno - here is a link from a live performance on Danish TV. Ane Brun is a diverse artist, and what I have been listening to this week is not the same as the link above. Take a listen to her music, and I sure that you will recognize her talent. Here is a link to my favorite album, "After the Great Storm," with her.

BOOKS

I am still reading about death sentences in the past 500 years in Denmark, which continue to surprise me. It's still an excellent book, but my God, how evil people have been are almost non-comprehensive. I will get back later!

Politics

As you probably know, former US President Donald Trump issued a travel ban to the US from Europe, and though it's been on the agenda by the Biden administration to lift the ban - it's still in effect. Like the Americans, so have the Europeans limited access for Americans, but isn't it about time to lift the ban from both sides? The pandemic is a serious threat, but I simply can't understand why the ban isn't lifted for fully vaccinated people. The impact on tourism, business, and the economies associated with the bans can't, in my opinion, be justified any longer. But again, this is just my opinion :-)

TRENDS

There is for sure a trend toward electric/hybrid cars. Whether it's the amazing driving experience many of these cars deliver or common consciousness for a better environment, I can't judge. However, two interesting takeaways from the media during the past week are whether the electric infrastructure can deliver enough energy to the cars without breaking down. If it's possible, then what if the power comes from black energy? Are electric/hybrid cars at all an environmentally friendly alternative? With wind, solar, and nuclear, energy can be produced with a limited carbon footprint. However, if the infrastructure can't transport the power, then the green car revolution will still be decades away! Interesting to see how things develop. Airbus is now betting on Hydrogen and will already deliver the first green planes flying on Hydrogen within a decade. Isn't it amazing how technology develops solutions? I love it!

See you next Sunday!

Jun 06, 2021

Author: Morten B. Reitoft

Contact

Tweets

data-height="300"> Tweets by @TwitterDev

Add/View comments for this article →

Menu