Daily Lessons from Life 27 July 2018 - Discovered in Sgp!!

I m tired of hearing that Raffles dude discovered Temasek, previous name of Sgp, 200 yrs ago next year!

How Sgp becomes what it is total really has nothing to do with him since.

Not supporting next year 200 anniversary celebration campaign though i can appreciate the commercial tourism intent n the gov needs to hv some sort of "Love Sgp" initiative!

Now for the REAL excitement:
"NTU researchers' discovery makes key component of autonomous vehicles 200 times cheaper

SINGAPORE: Researchers from the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) have made a breakthrough in the field of light detection and ranging sensors (LiDAR), which could see the key component of autonomous vehicles becoming 200 times cheaper – and the size of a fingertip.

Driverless cars use LiDAR sensors to build a three-dimensional (3D) map of objects around the vehicle. The sensors send out light beams and detect those that are reflected back in order to measure where obstacles are.

That is how autonomous vehicles avoid collisions and keep other road users safe. 

Currently, LiDAR sensors make use of laser diodes to generate laser beams. These sensors spin furiously to cover a 360-degree view of a car’s surroundings and create the 3D map.  

But this makes LiDAR sensors expensive and ephemeral.

“Because of the mechanical moving parts, you have to actually replace the LiDAR before you have to replace your car tyres,” said Dr Nam Donguk, who is the lead researcher on the LiDAR sensors project. 

But NTU’s researchers have found a way to emit light from a silicon chip instead, which will replace the need for the diodes.

They found a way to stretch germanium – commonly used as transistors in electronics, especially in central processing units (CPUs) – and found that the element is better able to emit light when stretched. 

It is the first time scientists have been able to find a way to emit light from a material that is compatible with silicon.

In fact, it was previously thought to be close to impossible to create an on-chip laser for LiDAR – also known as a solid state LiDAR."

This truly GREAT NEWS n a GREAT DISCOVERY in Sgp! A much more memorable achievement than that of an official sent by his masters to seek out new territories for natural resources mainly!

It is significant cost saving of 200x!!

May we hv more such discoveries even if the leads r not locally born Sgp citizens.

It is precisely THIS TYPE of Foreign Talents that we want. Not just the government but the people too!

Sgp people r NOT xenophobic. They do appreciate true foreign talents who hv skills, knowledge n experiences that they don't. It will definitely b even more appreciated if some of the locals who work with these talents get developed too.

More such FTs n more such breakthrough discoveries please.

Majulah Singapura!!