Taking photographs used to be a careful, conscious act. Photos were selective, frozen moments in time carefully archived in albums and frames. Now, taking a photograph is almost as effortless and common as breathing – it’s something that people do all the time in the age of smartphone cameras with seemingly endless digital film.
But the downside to capturing every moment is that it creates a mountain of those moments to save for the future. Those photos can be easily lost if they’re not archived properly. All it can take is one accidental dip in the toilet for your phone, and all that data is lost forever.
So what’s a practical backup strategy for the average person? Here are a few ways to make sure memories are never lost:
Cloud storage
The simplest way to archive your photos is cloud storage. For Apple users, there’s iCloud, which starts at US$0.99 per month for 50 gigabytes all the way to $59.99 per month for 12 terabytes with various tiers in between. With an average iPhone photo clocking in at 3 megabytes, that’s a little over 16,000 photos for the cheap plan and 4 million or so for the largest plan. Google’s Google One cloud storage is most cost effective for yearly plans, with 2TB going for $99.99 per year and 5TB going for $249.99 per year.
The actual amount you can store in that space does vary greatly with how a file is shot. Video has larger file sizes than photos. HEIF files, a newer format on Apple phones, compresses files into smaller packages, but long-term compatibility is unknown since the format hasn’t been in use for as long as the standard JPG file, which has been around since 1992.Storing your photos in a cloud service like iCloud is probably the easiest method. Chris Messina/Flickr, CC BY-NC
While cloud services from big providers generally provide the easiest way for most average folks to back up their photos, and operate with little to no intervention via apps that are already on the phone constantly uploading every photo taken, there are risks involved.
Big companies often change their policies about how photos are saved. For instance, depending on what phone and when it was bought, Google’s cloud storage may have saved photos in a “storage saver” format that lowers the quality of images by sizing them down or compressing them differently. This affects your ability to make high-quality prints or view the photos on high-resolution screens down the road. Unless someone is astute enough to notice small text here and there that mentions it, most users won’t even realize it’s happening.
And what happens to cloud services when things go badly wrong? Users of photo backup service Digital Railroad found out the hard way. In 2008, the company abruptly shut down and gave its users 24 hours to download everything before the servers were shut down. Photographers rushed for the exits, trying to grab their photos on the way out, only to strain the servers to the point where few were able to recover anything at all. If this was the only way photos were backed up, it’s a lost cause.
So while the cloud is easy, costs can add up and terms of service can change at a moment’s notice. What are some ways for photographers to control their own fate?
Hard drives and network-attached storage
Manually taking photos off a phone may take some extra time, but the approach offers peace of mind that cloud services can’t necessarily match.
Almost all phones can plug into a computer’s USB port and use the built-in photos app on both Windows or MacOS to download photos to a computer. Apple users can use a method called AirDrop to send photos wirelessly to other Apple devices as well, including laptop and desktop computers.
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Now loading photos onto a local hard drive built into the machine can fill it up quickly, but there is a cost-effective way to get around that – namely, external hard drives. Theses are storage devices that you can plug into your computer as needed. They can be of the older and less expensive type with spinning platters or more modern solid-state drives that can survive a drop and greater temperature changes than the older drives can.
These are different than flash drives, more commonly known as thumb drives because of their small size, that are designed as temporary storage to shuffle photos from one place to another.
It’s easy to buy more than one hard drive to have duplicate backups in case of failure or catastrophe, but the downside is that there’s no easy access from the internet to your photos, and backup is generally a process that users must remember to do.
Network-attached storage is one way to solve the cloud storage problem while retaining the ability to access photos from the internet. These are essentially hard drives – sometimes multiple hard drives linked together for even greater or faster storage – that are connected to a router that allows for access to the internet through specialized software.
While not as easy as most third-party cloud storage services, once it’s set up, a network-attached storage unit is a flexible way to store your photos safely and accessibly. There are even companies that specialize in fireproof and waterproof units for extra insurance in case of disaster.
Printing photos
If cloud storage and hard drives seem too complicated, there’s always the old-fashioned approach of printing. There’s still something magical about seeing a photo on a wall or in an album, and thankfully there are ways to print professional-quality archival prints without having to go to a drugstore.Desktop photo printers are a way to bring those digital photos into the physical world, ready for organizing in photo albums. Leksey/Wikimedia
The easiest and most cost-efficient types of printers are dedicated 4×6 printers using a technology similar to professional labs called dye-sublimation. These yield high-quality, waterproof prints that cost about the same as what one would pay for drugstore developing. HP makes its popular Sprocket line of printers, though those require a phone and an app to print from, which makes plugging in a memory card from a professional camera out of the question. However, Canon’s Selphy lineup includes many models with screens and a card slot to make that possible.
The rabbit hole goes very deep, and there are many professional printers that can print even larger sizes. Canon and Epson dominate this space, marketing a range of pigment- and dye-based printers that can emphasize archival needs or color saturation, respectively.
Another option is ordering a photo book, which, as the name suggests, is a physical bound book of your photos. However, photo books are probably more appropriate for memorializing an event – trip, wedding, project – than general archiving, given the typical costs and number of photos involved.
There’s little reason to not make some sort of backups of photos in 2024, whether that’s on printed media, hard drives or in the cloud. The important thing is not which method to use, but to do it at all.
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AI Spacecraft Propulsion: Machine Learning’s Role in Space Travel
AI Spacecraft Propulsion: Discover how AI and machine learning are transforming spacecraft propulsion systems, from nuclear thermal engines to fusion technology, making interplanetary travel faster and more efficient.
Machine learning is a branch of AI that identifies patterns in data that it has not explicitly been trained on. It is a vast field with its own branches, with a lot of applications. Each branch emulates intelligence in different ways: by recognizing patterns, parsing and generating language, or learning from experience. This last subset in particular, commonly known as reinforcement learning, teaches machines to perform their tasks by rating their performance, enabling them to continuously improve through experience. As a simple example, imagine a chess player. The player does not calculate every move but rather recognizes patterns from playing a thousand matches. Reinforcement learning creates similar intuitive expertise in machines and systems, but at a computational speed and scale impossible for humans. It learns through experiences and iterations by observing its environment. These observations allows the machine to correctly interpret each outcome and deploy the best strategies for the system to reach its goal. Reinforcement learning can improve human understanding of deeply complex systems – those that challenge the limits of human intuition. It can help determine the most efficient trajectory for a spacecraft heading anywhere in space, and it does so by optimizing the propulsion necessary to send the craft there. It can also potentially design better propulsion systems, from selecting the best materials to coming up with configurations that transfer heat between parts in the engine more efficiently.In reinforcement learning, you can train an AI model to complete tasks that are too complex for humans to complete themselves.
Reinforcement learning for propulsion systems
In regard to space propulsion, reinforcement learning generally falls into two categories: those that assist during the design phase – when engineers define mission needs and system capabilities – and those that support real-time operation once the spacecraft is in flight. Among the most exotic and promising propulsion concepts is nuclear propulsion, which harnesses the same forces that power atomic bombs and fuel the Sun: nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. Fission works by splitting heavy atoms such as uranium or plutonium to release energy – a principle used in most terrestrial nuclear reactors. Fusion, on the other hand, merges lighter atoms such as hydrogen to produce even more energy, though it requires far more extreme conditions to initiate.Fission splits atoms, while fusion combines atoms.Sarah Harman/U.S. Department of Energy Fission is a more mature technology that has been tested in some space propulsion prototypes. It has even been used in space in the form of radioisotope thermoelectric generators, like those that powered the Voyager probes. But fusion remains a tantalizing frontier. Nuclear thermal propulsion could one day take spacecraft to Mars and beyond at a lower cost than that of simply burning fuel. It would get a craft there faster than electric propulsion, which uses a heated gas made of charged particles called plasma. Unlike these systems, nuclear propulsion relies on heat generated from atomic reactions. That heat is transferred to a propellant, typically hydrogen, which expands and exits through a nozzle to produce thrust and shoot the craft forward. So how can reinforcement learning help engineers develop and operate these powerful technologies? Let’s begin with design.The nuclear heat source for the Mars Curiosity rover, part of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator, is encased in a graphite shell. The fuel glows red hot because of the radioactive decay of plutonium-238.Idaho National Laboratory, CC BY
Reinforcement learning’s role in design
Early nuclear thermal propulsion designs from the 1960s, such as those in NASA’s NERVA program, used solid uranium fuel molded into prism-shaped blocks. Since then, engineers have explored alternative configurations – from beds of ceramic pebbles to grooved rings with intricate channels.The first nuclear thermal rocket was built in 1967 and is seen in the background. In the foreground is the protective casing that would hold the reactor.NASA/Wikipedia Why has there been so much experimentation? Because the more efficiently a reactor can transfer heat from the fuel to the hydrogen, the more thrust it generates. This area is where reinforcement learning has proved to be essential. Optimizing the geometry and heat flow between fuel and propellant is a complex problem, involving countless variables – from the material properties to the amount of hydrogen that flows across the reactor at any given moment. Reinforcement learning can analyze these design variations and identify configurations that maximize heat transfer. Imagine it as a smart thermostat but for a rocket engine – one you definitely don’t want to stand too close to, given the extreme temperatures involved.
Reinforcement learning and fusion technology
Reinforcement learning also plays a key role in developing nuclear fusion technology. Large-scale experiments such as the JT-60SA tokamak in Japan are pushing the boundaries of fusion energy, but their massive size makes them impractical for spaceflight. That’s why researchers are exploring compact designs such as polywells. These exotic devices look like hollow cubes, about a few inches across, and they confine plasma in magnetic fields to create the conditions necessary for fusion. Controlling magnetic fields within a polywell is no small feat. The magnetic fields must be strong enough to keep hydrogen atoms bouncing around until they fuse – a process that demands immense energy to start but can become self-sustaining once underway. Overcoming this challenge is necessary for scaling this technology for nuclear thermal propulsion.
Reinforcement learning and energy generation
However, reinforcement learning’s role doesn’t end with design. It can help manage fuel consumption – a critical task for missions that must adapt on the fly. In today’s space industry, there’s growing interest in spacecraft that can serve different roles depending on the mission’s needs and how they adapt to priority changes through time. Military applications, for instance, must respond rapidly to shifting geopolitical scenarios. An example of a technology adapted to fast changes is Lockheed Martin’s LM400 satellite, which has varied capabilities such as missile warning or remote sensing. But this flexibility introduces uncertainty. How much fuel will a mission require? And when will it need it? Reinforcement learning can help with these calculations. From bicycles to rockets, learning through experience – whether human or machine – is shaping the future of space exploration. As scientists push the boundaries of propulsion and intelligence, AI is playing a growing role in space travel. It may help scientists explore within and beyond our solar system and open the gates for new discoveries. Marcos Fernandez Tous, Assistant Professor of Space Studies, University of North Dakota; Preeti Nair, Master’s Student in Aerospace Sciences, University of North Dakota; Sai Susmitha Guddanti, Ph.D. Student in Aerospace Sciences, University of North Dakota, and Sreejith Vidhyadharan Nair, Research Assistant Professor of Aviation, University of North Dakota This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Dive into “The Knowledge,” where curiosity meets clarity. This playlist, in collaboration with STMDailyNews.com, is designed for viewers who value historical accuracy and insightful learning. Our short videos, ranging from 30 seconds to a minute and a half, make complex subjects easy to grasp in no time. Covering everything from historical events to contemporary processes and entertainment, “The Knowledge” bridges the past with the present. In a world where information is abundant yet often misused, our series aims to guide you through the noise, preserving vital knowledge and truths that shape our lives today. Perfect for curious minds eager to discover the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of everything around us. Subscribe and join in as we explore the facts that matter. https://stmdailynews.com/the-knowledge/
Now, that futuristic vision has gained some serious thrust. Archer Aviation — one of the leading players in electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft — has announced a major move that could change how the city thinks about air mobility.
Archer Takes Control of Hawthorne Airport
In a landmark deal, Archer announced plans to acquire control of Hawthorne Airport — just three miles from LAX — for approximately $126 million in cash.
The 80-acre site, home to 190,000 square feet of hangars and terminal facilities, will become the company’s operational hub for its Los Angeles air-taxi network and a testbed for AI-driven aviation technology.
Alongside the purchase, Archer raised an additional $650 million in new equity funding, bringing its liquidity to more than $2 billion — a strong signal that the company is serious about turning concept into concrete.
What This Means for LA’s Mobility Future
This isn’t just a real estate move. It’s a strategic infrastructure play.
If Los Angeles is to handle Olympic crowds and long-term congestion, new vertical mobility hubs are essential. Hawthorne could serve as the first of several vertiports forming a network across the metro area.
It also puts Archer in a prime position to work alongside city planners and mobility partners preparing for the LA28 Games — potentially transforming how visitors move between venues, airports, and downtown.
Caution: Not Quite “Jetsons” Yet
While this progress looks promising, it’s not smooth skies ahead just yet.
FAA certification remains the biggest hurdle; only about 15% of compliance documentation has been approved. Production and scaling still pose risks — building and maintaining a fleet of electric aircraft at commercial levels isn’t cheap. Public acceptance will matter too. Even the quietest aircraft need to earn the city’s trust for noise, cost, and safety.
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Still, compared to even a year ago, the vision of air taxis over Los Angeles feels far less like science fiction.
A Step Toward the Olympic Future
Archer’s move aligns perfectly with the question we raised earlier:
Can Los Angeles turn the 2028 Olympics into a showcase for sustainable, futuristic transportation?
By securing its own hub near LAX and backing it with fresh capital, Archer seems determined to make that answer a yes. Whether passengers will be hailing flying taxis in time for LA28 remains uncertain, but the groundwork — both financial and physical — is clearly being laid.
The skies over LA might just get busier — and cleaner — in the years to come.
Dive into “The Knowledge,” where curiosity meets clarity. This playlist, in collaboration with STMDailyNews.com, is designed for viewers who value historical accuracy and insightful learning. Our short videos, ranging from 30 seconds to a minute and a half, make complex subjects easy to grasp in no time. Covering everything from historical events to contemporary processes and entertainment, “The Knowledge” bridges the past with the present. In a world where information is abundant yet often misused, our series aims to guide you through the noise, preserving vital knowledge and truths that shape our lives today. Perfect for curious minds eager to discover the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of everything around us. Subscribe and join in as we explore the facts that matter. https://stmdailynews.com/the-knowledge/
Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art. View all posts
Slate Automotive captured national attention earlier this year when it unveiled what many called the most anticipated “budget” electric pickup truck in America. Promising a minimalist design, domestic manufacturing, and a base price under $20,000 (after incentives), the Slate Truck was positioned as the EV industry’s boldest answer to the affordability problem.
But since its April 2025 debut, several developments have reshaped that story — including pricing adjustments, production plans, and questions about whether “affordable” will still apply once federal incentives fade.
🚨 Slate Auto’s $20K Electric Truck Is No More — Here’s Why
⚙️ From Concept to Production
In April, Slate Auto revealed its small two-door electric pickup — a compact, customizable EV designed for simplicity over luxury. The company’s philosophy is centered around what it calls the “Blank Slate” concept: a base model stripped of unnecessary features but built for expansion.
Base range: ~150 miles, with an optional battery upgrade to ~240 miles
Length: ~175 inches (roughly the size of a compact SUV)
Body style: 2-door truck, with a conversion kit planned for a 5-seat SUV variant
Manufacturing site: Warsaw, Indiana — a repurposed 1.4-million-square-foot former printing plant
When Slate’s founders — backed by investors including Jeff Bezos and Mark Walter (Guggenheim Partners) — launched the concept, they confidently pitched a price “under $20,000 after incentives.”
However, recent developments have changed that equation. The loss of a key federal EV tax credit under recent legislation means the base price now sits closer to $27,000 before incentives. Even with state-level rebates, the total cost will likely land in the mid-$20K range for most buyers.
That’s still lower than most EVs on the market, but Slate’s base model is extremely minimal: manual windows, no touchscreen infotainment, and unpainted exterior panels in the entry trim. The company argues that the simplicity keeps prices low and durability high — echoing the utilitarian design of early pickups.
“We don’t believe an affordable EV should start at $60,000,” a Slate spokesperson said during the reveal. “Our truck is for people who want a reliable tool, not a gadget.”
🧩 Reservations and Early Demand
According to TechCrunch, Slate logged over 100,000 $50 refundable reservations within two weeks of launch — an impressive early show of interest.
That figure, however, does not guarantee actual orders. As seen with other EV startups, reservation enthusiasm doesn’t always translate into deliveries. Still, with $700 million in investor funding and a clear U.S. manufacturing plan, Slate’s prospects appear stronger than many early EV challengers.
🏭 Building in America
The company’s decision to set up shop in Indiana is strategic. It provides central U.S. access to suppliers and a lower-cost workforce compared to coastal hubs. The plant conversion is underway, and Slate aims to ramp up to 150,000 units annually by 2027, according to industry reporting.
If successful, the Slate Truck could become the first mass-produced electric pickup under $30K built entirely in the U.S.
🚦 What It Means for Affordable EVs
Slate’s progress comes at a pivotal moment for electric mobility. As other manufacturers focus on high-margin luxury vehicles, the affordable-EV space has thinned out. Slate’s entry signals a renewed interest in accessible electrification — but also highlights the fragile balance between price, policy, and practicality.
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If production holds, the Slate Truck could mark the beginning of a new chapter for everyday EV ownership — proof that electric doesn’t have to mean expensive.
Rod: A creative force, blending words, images, and flavors. Blogger, writer, filmmaker, and photographer. Cooking enthusiast with a sci-fi vision. Passionate about his upcoming series and dedicated to TNC Network. Partnered with Rebecca Washington for a shared journey of love and art. View all posts
