Skip to content

Surprising Science — March 20, 2015

Tesla May Begin Testing ‘Autopilot’ Feature as Early as June

In an announcement earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a range of innovative new features to be tested this summer, including the much talked-about self-drive mode.

Robert Montenegro

In an announcement earlier this week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced a range of innovative new features to be tested this summer, including a much talked-about self-drive mode. Tracey Samuelson of Marketplace has the scoop:

“Tesla announced a few software updates it’s planning for its electric vehicles on Thursday, including one where the car tracks its distance from charging stations to try to alleviate driver anxiety about running out of juice. CEO Elon Musk said that the company could push another update — autopilot — to its Model S fleet as soon as June.”

Samuelson’s piece includes a few quotes from industry experts who say this move fits with a trend in which manufacturers move forward with automated vehicles despite the sluggish progress of governmental regulation. We’ve covered this sort of problem before; it’s a common issue when dealing with innovative technologies. With liability issues being such a big deal in today’s world, regulators are spinning their wheels trying to determine who would be at fault in the case of an accident.

Read more at Marketplace.

Photo credit: VanderWolf Images / Shutterstock

Related

a computer generated image of a human brain.

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

▸

7 min

—

with

jwst Abell 2744 450 million

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Homeopathy Doesn’t Work. Why Are We Still Buying It?

Dishonesty in one domain doesn’t excuse hucksterism in another. Yet as long as healing remains a lucrative business, it’s going to remain a challenge weeding through the pretty designs and catchy slogans to find medicine that works.