TLDR 2020-12-21

Amazon's Project Kuiper has completed initial development on its Ka-band phased-array antenna for its customer terminal. The antenna is based on a new architecture and can deliver high-speed, low-latency broadband in a form factor that is smaller and lighter than current antenna designs. It is capable of delivering speeds of up to 400Mbps, with Amazon promising better performance in future versions. The antenna was difficult to develop due to the wide frequency range that it needed to cover. Amazon plans to invest over $10 billion into Project Kuiper. In July, it received approval from the FCC to launch 3,236 low-Earth orbit satellites.

Elon Musk announced on Twitter that Tesla's Full Self-Driving subscription is due to roll out early next year. Tesla had previously hoped to offer the subscription by the end of 2020. The subscription service might be the key to boosting adoption as the $10,000 upgrade option might be too expensive, especially for those not completely sold on the technology.

The US Army has been researching a technological approach that uses robotics and biohybrid muscle elements. Biohybrid robotics incorporates living organisms into mechanical systems, delivering a new level of agility and flexibility. The research could show the biohybrid engineering community how to grow strong muscular tissue. Muscle tissue is excellent at generating a specific amount of mechanical power at a given moment. By using biological components, the US Army hopes to develop robots capable of going anywhere soldiers can and more.

A team of scientists has successfully teleported basic units of quantum information across 22 kilometers of fiber. Using equipment that is compatible with both existing telecommunications infrastructure and emerging quantum technologies, the research provides a realistic foundation for a high-fidelity quantum internet. Previous attempts at quantum teleportation have proven to be unstable over long distances. The team's goal is to eventually create quantum networks that use entanglement and superposition to vastly increase computing speed, power, and security. A more detailed explanation of quantum teleportation is available in the article.

Kivy is a Python framework for developing apps that use multi-touch user interfaces. It is based on OpenGL ES 2 and supports various input devices. Kivy has an extensive widget library and the same codebase can be used across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.

Flax Engine is a 3D game engine written in C++ and C#. It is designed for a fast workflow and it features cross-platform support, visual scripting, open-world tools, and more. Screenshots are available.

Quantum chess is a version of regular chess that incorporates the quantum concepts of superposition, entanglement, and interference. The game teaches players to develop an intuitive sense of the rules governing the quantum realm. There are multiple boards in which pieces exist in quantum chess, with a single board representing all the boards at the same time. As well as regular chess moves, players can perform 'quantum moves', moves in which pieces occupy more than one square simultaneously. A 12-minute video starring Steven Hawking and Paul Rudd playing a game of quantum chess is available in the article.

Ryan Kaji, a nine-year-old boy who makes unboxing and review videos on YouTube, has held onto the title of highest-paid YouTuber for the third year running. Kaji made $29.5 million from his YouTube channel and a further estimated $200 million from branded toys and clothing. His family runs nine YouTube channels, with Ryan's World being the most popular with 41.7 million subscribers. Kaji and his family are facing the threat of a US FTC investigation over allegations that their videos' sponsors were not properly disclosed. The top ten biggest-earning YouTube stars earned a total of $211 million this year. A list of the top ten YouTube earners is available at the end of the article.