The Official SpaceX Hyperloop Competition will be held this weekend (Jan.27-29, 2017) at the SpaceX facility in Hawthorne, California.

Alan Boyle reports on the unveiling of the Univ. of Washington team’s pod racer last week: UW Hyperloop team unveils its purple pod racer – Geekwire –

In the beginning, 1,200 teams applied. The field was trimmed down to 150, and then to 30. A week from now, UW’s team and the other finalists will send their three-quarter-scale pods through a 1-mile-long tube track that’s been constructed next to SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif.

The winner will be determined on the basis of speed as well as design elegance and safety. These test pods aren’t expected to go supersonic, but they could hit 300 mph or more.

Miles O’Brien, science and technology reporter for the PBS NewsHour, made the following profile of the commercial fusion power company Tri Alpha Energy, which I have mentioned here a few times over the years.

Here is the Transcript for “Is alluring but elusive fusion energy possible in our lifetime?” PBS NewsHour.

There is also this BBC video report from last summer: BBC – Horizons – A Slice of the Sun. See also the videos there on other commercial fusion power projects.

Here is the latest video update from EHANG of China on the development of the EHANG 184 autonomous aerial vehicle for single passenger air taxi services:

AvWeek has a brief article about the project: Video: EHang Reports Progress With Autonomous Air Taxi – Aviation Week –

The company says it is on its third generations of propeller, electric motor, electronic speed controller and battery for the EHang 184, which has eight sets of motors and props mounted in upper/lower pairs at the ends of four arms.

EHang is also developing its own flight controller system and algorithms for stable and effective control of a large multi-rotor aircraft with high inertial and load. A third version with increased reliability, security and accuracy is under development.

===

A November posting here included a video from UrbanAero of Israel showing a test flight of the Cormorant UAV, which is large enough to carry one or two passengers and cargo. (The video is show again below.) The BBC has a short article about the project: Passenger rescue drone airborne ‘by 2020’ – BBC News 

A passenger drone, which completed its first flight over low terrain in November, could be in use by 2020, the Israeli company behind it has said.

Developed over 15 years for rescue or military use, the $14m (£11m) Cormorant (formerly AirMule) can carry 500kg (1,100lb) at 185km/h (115mph).

With yet another New Years celebration upon us, a Baby Boomer’s thoughts may turn to mortality. To brighten up the melancholy of oldsters still surprised the 1960s are long gone, here are some reports on understanding aging and what can be done about the diseases of aging:

** The Future of Human Aging, by Michael D. West, Ph.D,.CEO of BioTime  – An excellent review for the non-expert of the fundamental causes of aging and the prospects for doing something about them.

** Changing the future with stem cells | Crystal Ruff | TEDxLondonBusinessSchool – A nice explanation for a general audience of what exactly stem cells are and how they can be used to treat diseases.

** All The Basics – Stem Cells as the Engine of Regenerative Medicine – More about stem cells and how they can be used to treat the effects of aging – 

** Everything You Need to Know About Gene Therapy’s Most Promising Year – Technology Review  – Gene therapy for a wide range of diseases is making real progress and the field is accelerating.

Following up on the Hyperloop One update posted here several weeks ago, below is an interview with Shervin Pishevar, Executive Co-Chairman and co-founder of  the company, about Hyperloop One‘s plans and projects, which include a full-scale demo system that will begin running next spring. (The video is from the symposium IGNITION 2016 “Future of Digital” held this week in New York City. You can find more videos of the symposium sessions at Business Insider – YouTube.)

And here is a video of an event in November that presented a partnership between Dubai and the company on a study of a hyperloop system to connect Dubai to the greater United Arab Emirates: Full Presentation: Hyperloop One’s Historic Agreement With The Dubai RTA | Hyperloop One –

Here is a short promo video showing work underway on the demo project: