分类： technology

Taiwan is actively cultivating a network of international space-technology startups alongside domestic firms to develop advanced surveillance and defense systems for deployment in the Taiwan Strait. This strategic initiative is spearheaded by the Taiwan Accelerator Plus (TAcc+) program, managed by the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration (SMESA). Since launching its International SpaceTech Startup Supporting Program in 2023, TAcc+ has onboarded 42 startups specializing in satellite technology, rocket engines, and geospatial equipment, fostering partnerships with Taiwan’s established Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector for manufacturing.

A notable beneficiary is BaseTech, a local startup founded in 2021 that has received government funding. The company produces high-precision telescope mounts capable of tracking satellites from hundreds to 2,000 kilometers above Earth and monitoring swarms of military drones. Its flagship HawkView Monitoring System, as demonstrated by senior manager Henry Chen, can track over 300 targets simultaneously—from drones and aircraft to birds—at distances exceeding 15 kilometers, utilizing AI for automatic object scanning. The system also supports free-space optical (FSO) communication, a dual-use technology employing lasers for satellite-to-ground data transmission, which has civil and military applications.

BaseTech’s systems are already deployed with the Taiwan Space Agency (TASA) and the nation’s Air Force and Navy, with the company now seeking European clients. This development aligns with a ‘hellscape’ defense strategy proposed by the Center for a New American Security, which envisions using vast numbers of drones and uncrewed systems to disrupt a potential invasion across the Strait through layered, technology-intensive defenses.

Amid rising cross-strait tensions and uncertainties over U.S. military support, Taiwan is accelerating efforts to localize foreign space-defense technology. TAcc+ has facilitated international collaborations, resulting in memorandums of understanding and new orders for participants like UK-based HEX20 and U.S.-based Slingshot Aerospace. However, experts caution that ensuring resilient communications in conflict remains a challenge, prompting Taiwan to explore alternatives to U.S.-dependent systems, such as Eutelsat OneWeb’s low-Earth-orbit satellite services, recently approved for operation by Chunghwa Telecom.

China is positioning artificial intelligence as the transformative force behind the next evolution of its massive high-speed railway network, according to senior advisor Zhao Hongwei. As the country shifts from rapid infrastructure expansion to quality-focused development, AI technologies are emerging as critical drivers for operational excellence in the world’s largest high-speed rail system.

Zhao, who serves as chief researcher at the China Academy of Railway Sciences and member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, revealed that railway authorities have implemented an “AI Plus Railways” action plan to accelerate technological integration. This strategic initiative includes the deployment of a railway-specific large AI model currently in pilot testing phase.

The practical applications already demonstrate significant advancements. Sophisticated imaging systems installed along tracks capture detailed photographs of passing trains, with AI algorithms analyzing these images to identify potential component failures before they escalate into serious issues. This predictive maintenance capability allows engineers to address abnormalities proactively, substantially reducing downtime and improving safety margins.

Beyond equipment monitoring, AI systems provide comprehensive situational awareness along railway corridors. Advanced detection algorithms can identify obstacles near tracks and even detect wildlife intrusions into operational areas, enabling controllers to mitigate risks before they impact train movements. These capabilities are particularly valuable given the network’s enormous scale, with approximately 4,000 high-speed trains operating nearly 10,000 daily services across more than 50,000 kilometers of dedicated high-speed lines.

Looking toward future innovations, China has successfully tested autonomous train operations at speeds reaching 350 kilometers per hour. The next generation of trains, including the CR450 prototype currently undergoing testing, will incorporate increasingly sophisticated intelligent functions. These systems will assist human operators in identifying technical problems, optimizing energy consumption, and supporting complex operational decisions.

Concurrent research initiatives are advancing key infrastructure technologies capable of supporting 400 km/h operations, while new 200 km/h power-concentrated trains have entered operational testing phases. With China’s overall railway network expanding to approximately 165,000 kilometers by the end of 2025 and handling 4.26 billion passenger trips annually, intelligent technologies are becoming indispensable for maintaining both efficiency and safety across this vast transportation ecosystem.

A groundbreaking advancement in energy technology has emerged from China, where scientists have developed a revolutionary flexible polymer material capable of generating electricity from waste heat. Published in the prestigious journal Science, this innovation represents a significant leap forward in thermoelectric material performance.

The research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Chemistry, led by Professors Zhu Daoben and Di Chong’an, has created what they term an Irregular Hierarchical-Porous Thermoelectric Polymer (IHP-TEP). This novel material achieves an unprecedented thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT value) of 1.64 at 343 Kelvin (approximately 70°C), establishing a new performance standard for flexible thermoelectric materials in this temperature range.

Thermoelectric technology enables direct conversion between thermal and electrical energy, offering both power generation and cooling capabilities without fuel consumption or pollution. With global energy systems losing over 60% of generated energy as waste heat, this technology holds immense potential for energy conservation and emission reduction efforts worldwide.

The IHP-TEP’s unique architecture represents a engineering marvel, featuring an irregular porous structure that effectively suppresses heat conduction while maintaining exceptional electrical conductivity. This creates charge-transport channels that approach the theoretical ideal for thermoelectric materials. The material’s compatibility with spray-coating technology enables large-scale, cost-effective manufacturing processes comparable to newspaper printing.

This flexibility allows the material to conform to various curved surfaces, opening vast application possibilities in wearable technology, adhesive refrigeration systems, and Internet of Things sensors. The technology promises to revolutionize power supply solutions for distributed sensors, enabling continuous operation wherever temperature differentials exist – whether on human skin, building exteriors, or in field environments.

The development addresses critical limitations of existing thermoelectric materials, where flexible inorganic variants typically achieve ZT values around 1.4 and organic materials reach approximately 1.2, both hampered by complex manufacturing processes. This breakthrough effectively eliminates previous performance bottlenecks while simplifying production methods.

A growing chorus of experts is raising urgent concerns about the military application of artificial intelligence following Israel’s unprecedented use of autonomous targeting systems in recent conflicts. The debate has intensified as evidence emerges of AI-driven targeting with minimal human oversight in both Gaza and Iran.

Trita Parsi, executive vice president at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, highlighted disturbing parallels between Israeli operations in Gaza and Tehran. “In both cases, it appears Israel is using AI without any human oversight,” Parsi stated on social media platform X. He cited the bombing of a Tehran park mistakenly identified as a police facility due to its name—’Police Park’—which AI systems apparently targeted based on keyword association rather than actual military function.

Technology journalist Jacob Ward has characterized Israel’s post-Gaza AI deployment as “lethal beta” testing, describing Gaza as the “prototype” and Iran as the “launch.” This approach represents what Ward calls “a live-fire, live-ordnance lab experiment on people” that has subsequently become “a big industry in Israel” with export potential worldwide.

The controversy centers on systems like Habsora, an Israeli AI platform capable of automatically selecting airstrike targets at exponentially faster rates than traditional methods. According to intelligence sources, this technology has transformed military operations into what one insider described as a “mass assassination factory” prioritizing “quantity over quality” of targets.

Recent investigations reveal troubling operational protocols. Following the October 2023 Hamas-led attack, mid-ranking IDF officers received authorization to target any Hamas fighter regardless of rank, with initial civilian casualty limits of 20 per airstrike and 500 daily being quickly abandoned. Senior commanders occasionally approved strikes expected to kill over 100 civilians when targeting high-value objectives.

One particularly devastating AI-assisted strike on Jabalia refugee camp in October 2023, targeting a single Hamas commander with multiple 2,000-pound bombs, killed at least 126 people including 68 children while wounding 280 others. Hamas reported that seven hostages also perished in the attack.

The United States has similarly advanced its AI warfare capabilities, with the Washington Post reporting that Palantir’s Maven Smart System—incorporating Anthropic’s Claude AI language model—assisted US commanders in selecting 1,000 Iranian targets within the conflict’s first 24 hours.

Paul Scharre of the Center for a New American Security emphasized the critical need for human oversight: “AI gets it wrong… We need humans to check the output of generative AI when the stakes are life and death.”

The rapid militarization of AI has prompted international response. Academics and legal experts recently convened in Geneva for UN-sponsored talks on lethal autonomous weapons systems, examining risks posed by machines that can select and engage targets without meaningful human control. Craig Jones, a military targeting researcher at Newcastle University, warned that “the current failure to regulate AI warfare, or to pause its usage until there is some agreement on lawful usage, seems to suggest potential proliferation of AI warfare is imminent.”

Contrary to claims that AI reduces civilian harm, Jones stressed that “there is no evidence that AI lowers civilian deaths or wrongful targeting decisions—and it may be that the opposite is true.”

The technological infrastructure enabling these systems includes Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud-computing and AI contract between the Israeli government and tech giants Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. The agreement specifically prohibits the companies from refusing service to Israeli military or intelligence agencies.

As autonomous weapons systems continue evolving without comprehensive international regulation, the ethical and practical implications of AI-driven warfare remain among the most pressing security concerns of the modern era.

A groundbreaking advancement in digital human technology has emerged from China, where scientists have constructed the industry’s largest high-precision 3D facial database. This development marks a significant leap toward creating exceptionally realistic virtual humans capable of natural emotional expression and identity recognition.

The research collaboration between Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (Chinese Academy of Sciences) and Fujian University of Technology addressed a critical bottleneck in 3D facial landmark detection—the scarcity of large-scale, precisely annotated datasets. Previous methods predominantly relied on 2D texture assistance or synthetic 3D faces, resulting in limited generalization capabilities.

At the core of this breakthrough is a novel curvature-fused graph attention network (CF-GAT) architecture that can directly predict facial landmarks from raw point clouds. This innovative approach facilitates a fundamental shift from generic ‘one-size-fits-all’ modeling to truly personalized facial reconstruction.

The research team established a customized 3D/4D facial acquisition system to collect standardized data, ultimately compiling approximately 200,000 high-fidelity 3D facial scans. The comprehensive database system encompasses multiple specialized datasets including multi-expression 3D faces, standardized 3D facial landmarks, high-precision 3D human bodies, and dynamic 4D facial expressions.

According to corresponding author Song Zhan, these databases now form the foundational infrastructure for humanoid robot development, enabling high-fidelity perception, expression modeling, and behavior generation. The technology promises to revolutionize human-computer interaction by creating more natural and intelligent interfaces.

The study, recently published in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, anticipates applications extending beyond digital humans to data-driven large-model humanoid robot systems, potentially transforming how humans interact with artificial entities across various sectors.

KUNSHAN, China — A groundbreaking demonstration in southeastern China offered a compelling vision of urban air mobility’s future. At a low-altitude flight test facility in Kunshan, approximately 60 kilometers west of Shanghai, Chinese aviation company AutoFlight showcased its massive Matrix aircraft—a 5-ton electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle recognized as China’s largest electric aircraft to date.

The Matrix prototype, developed since AutoFlight’s 2017 founding, represents a significant engineering achievement with its substantial dimensions: a 20-meter wingspan, 17.1-meter length, and 3.3-meter height. The electric aircraft boasts capacity for up to 10 passengers and can operate for one hour on a single charge.

During a recent demonstration observed by The Associated Press, the colossal eVTOL executed a flawless performance. After meticulous pre-flight checks, the aircraft ascended smoothly from a helipad, generating noticeably less noise than conventional helicopters. The Matrix completed two circuits around the test facility before executing a perfect landing after approximately 10 minutes of flight.

Despite the successful demonstration, significant regulatory challenges remain before such aircraft can transform into operational air taxis. AutoFlight Senior Vice President Steven Yang acknowledged the uncertainty surrounding commercialization timelines, noting the company anticipates securing crucial type certification from regulators by 2027—confirming the aircraft’s compliance with safety standards. Additional operator certifications would subsequently be required before passenger transport can commence.

The Chinese eVTOL landscape continues evolving, with Guangdong-based EHANG having already received certification for commercial passenger services, though operational implementation remains pending. Industry experts emphasize that beyond aircraft certification, developing supporting infrastructure represents a critical hurdle. The emerging ‘low-altitude economy’ already demonstrates practical applications through drone-based food delivery services in cities like Shenzhen.

Gary Ng, senior economist at Natixis Corporate and Investment Banking, highlighted various challenges including safety assurance, infrastructure development, and logistical coordination. ‘The entire ecosystem surrounding this technology remains underdeveloped currently,’ Ng observed, projecting that at least three additional years will be necessary before viable commercial operations emerge.

While the Matrix demonstration makes electric air transportation appear increasingly feasible, Yang emphasized that realizing this future requires collective effort: ‘We truly believe it will happen, but this is not AutoFlight’s job alone—it’s about developing the entire ecosystem.’