Robotics

3 min read Willie Jones covers transportation for IEEE Spectrum and the history of technology for The Institute. Workers at Wärtsilä Gas Solutions’ engine lab in Vaskiluoto, Finland conduct tests before their Ammonia Fuel Supply System (AFSS) is used to power Eidesvik’s Viking Energy vessel. Christoffer Björklund/Wärtsilä The Viking Energy, an oil platform supply shipundergoing a pioneering retrofit to run on ammonia fuel, is now scheduled to begin operations in 2026—two years later than initially

2 min read The world’s largest car manufacturing plant, Hyundai’s in Ulsan, South Korea, is switching over to a low-power private 5G network called 5G Reduced Capacity, or RedCap. Original photos: Hyundai This past week at the 2025 Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Samsung and Hyundai Motor Company unveiled a private 5G network streamlined for low-power devices that connect across large facilities. The companies reported their factory’s private 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) network will transmit

4 min read This realistic rendering shows what the Athena lunar lander might look like on the moon. Nokia’s Lunar Surface Communication System is being deployed on the lander. Intuitive Machines This is a guest post. The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent positions of IEEE Spectrum, The Institute, or IEEE. Although it might seem as though there is intense interest right now in exploring Mars, many people don’t

2 min read Chris Philpot On 1 May the IEEE Board of Directors is scheduled to announce the candidates to be placed on this year’s ballot for the annual election of officers—which begins on 15 August. The ballot includes IEEE president-elect candidates and other officer positions up for election. The Board of Directors has nominated IEEE Senior Member Jill I. Gostin and IEEE Senior Member David Alan Koehler as candidates for 2026 IEEE president-elect. IEEE

4 min read Evan Ackerman is IEEE Spectrum’s robotics editor. An inside look at Boston Dynamics’ Atlas. Boston Dynamics Video Friday is your weekly selection of awesome robotics videos, collected by your friends at IEEE Spectrum robotics. We also post a weekly calendar of upcoming robotics events for the next few months. Please send us your events for inclusion. RoboCup German Open: 12–16 March 2025, NUREMBERG, GERMANY German Robotics Conference: 13–15 March 2025, NUREMBERG, GERMANY

6 min read Glenn Zorpette is editorial director for content development at IEEE Spectrum. The purpose of the now notorious meeting between president Donald J. Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 28 February was to finalize an agreement on critical minerals, including rare earths. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images When a seemingly routine Oval Office press conference degenerated into a shouting match on 28 February, the world looked on in astonishment. That is, except