Manufacturing Technologies

You may have seen this video doing the rounds; it peers through the lens of a microscope at a smartphone chip and starts zooming in, giving you a visceral sense of just how insanely tiny today's transistors have become.

There are no humans working the new Xiaomi production lines – this new Smart Factory is 100% automated. Indeed, the company says the system is smart enough to diagnose and fix problems, as well as optimizing its own processes to "evolve by itself."

These remarkable modular wind turbines stack themselves up section by section, removing the need for gigantic cranes and promising to slash the cost of offshore wind installation by as much as half. New investment has kicked off the first project.

These electric cars & trucks use battery-swap recharging, offer immediate replacement if damaged, and roll out at prices down to $0.25 per hour, with no upfront fees... That's $6 a day plus electricity. The idea is potentially massively disruptive.

Part of the exorbitant cost of offshore wind energy is the massive crane ships required to install the damn things – but Norwegian company Windspider has come up with a brilliantly lightweight crane system that promises to slash costs in half.

New cars bought in the last few years have twice as many quality problems as they had in 2010. Some well-known brands are averaging more than five issues per car – and the stats show things will probably get a lot worse before they get better.

California startup Varda has celebrated the deployment of its first satellite, a test run of a fascinating space-based pharmaceuticals factory that moonlights as a hypersonic test rig during its Mach 25 re-entry to keep costs down.

Tesla told investors it can reduce costs by 50%, by expanding on the modular, parallel manufacturing innovations it developed for the Model Y. Tesla's next-gen vehicles will be built and tested in chunks that won't come together until the final line.

The German steel giant is investing $1.9 billion in a hydrogen-powered direct-reduction system that can create high-quality steel without needing the rare, high-grade iron ore required by most green steel processes. This could open the floodgates.

Sales of vinyl records have been on the rise over the last few years, but how they're made hasn't changed much in more than 50 years. The UK's elasticStage is looking to shake up vinyl record production with a new manufacturing and distribution model.

The world produces more than 1.8 billion tons of steel a year, releasing nearly twice that weight in carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. It's a huge decarbonization challenge, but steel giant ArcelorMittal is starting on a new green plant in Spain.

Metal fatigue is a huge problem when it comes to building and maintaining everything from aircraft to wind turbines. An Australian system is redefining how to pinpoint structural stress using a compact alternative to traditional mechanical strain gauges.