World's First

The world's first flight test for an aerospike rocket engine ended in disaster, but Polaris Aerospace is back on track, preparing to fly second- and third-generation prototypes for its MIRA supersonic/hypersonic aircraft platform within weeks.

Three Danish energy tech firms have flung open the doors to the first ever green ammonia plant in the world, which is said to be capable of producing 5,000 tons of green ammonia per year, entirely from solar and wind energy.

Having front and rear suspension helps mountain bikers maintain traction, stay in control, and make (relatively) soft landings from big drops. So, why aren't there full-suspension BMX bikes? Well, now there is one, in the form of the Swamp Master.

Liquid hydrogen is a giant pain to handle, but it's one of the few technologies with a genuine chance of decarbonizing long-range flight. So it's huge news for clean aviation that H2Fly has now landed the word's first piloted liquid hydrogen flight.

Researchers have developed the world’s first oral drug to target a form of cholesterol that has previously been untreatable and is largely caused by genetics, making it difficult to control by way of exercise, diet or other lifestyle factors.

eHang is set to become the world's first company to get an electric VTOL air taxi type certified and into commercial service, after successfully completing its entire flight test program with China's aviation authority. Oh, and it's autonomous.

Of all the different types of bicycles, downhill mountain bikes have to take the most abuse. That's why Colorado-based Revel Bikes decided to 3D-print one of things out of carbon fiber, as a test of the technology – the result is the one-off Rodeo.

Italian startup iSpace2o has announced it's starting production on the first hull for its Deepseaker DS1 submersible hydrofoil. This machine will rise out of the water to hydrofoil at up to 23 knots, or dive as deep as 50 m for underwater shenanigans.

Along with eating fish and seals, killer whales (aka orcas) are also known to hunt some types of whales. For the first time ever, however, there has now been a documented case of them killing the largest animal in the world – an adult blue whale.

While robotic laparoscopic surgical systems do make certain procedures safer and less invasive, those systems are still operated by human surgeons. Now, however, a surgical robot has performed a delicate operation entirely on its own.

Despite ongoing advances in the field of underwater remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), the devices have remained tethered to the surface via communications cables. Such is not the case with the ExRay, however, which uses light instead.

December 19 marks the 60th anniversary of the first-ever voice transmission relayed from space. The Christmas address was given by then-president Dwight D. Eisenhower, via a top-secret satellite launched atop a converted Atlas intercontinental missile.