| | | | | | | Presented By Charter Communications | | | | Axios What's Next | | By Jennifer A. Kingson, Joann Muller and Erica Pandey ·Oct 01, 2021 | | How cool is this: Drone landing pads — with tulip-shaped petals that open and close to receive automated deliveries — could become a common urban sight in one company's scenario that Joann Muller writes about today. - Today's reader photo comes from Joan Buchanan, whose image is of something we don't tend to see here in the NYC area (where Jennifer and Erica live).
- Want to show us something that tells a story about What's Next? We'd love to see it: whatsnext@axios.com.
Today's Smart Brevity count: 1,175 words ... 4.5 minutes. | | | | | | 1 big thing: A drone station on every corner |  | | | Matternet Station, where delivery drones take off and land, in Lugano, Switzerland. Photo: Matternet | | | | City landscapes could one day be dotted with automated drone landing pads like the one that Matternet — which makes drones and equipment for drone logistics networks — debuted Thursday in Switzerland, Joann reports. Why it matters: Urban drone operations could radically change on-demand and last-mile deliveries by making it faster, cheaper and more sustainable to transport packages. - Matternet's futuristic pod could one day enable automated package deliveries with minimal human involvement.
Driving the news: Matternet, based in Mountain View, California, announced the deployment of its first fully automated drone station at a hospital in Lugano, Switzerland, where its autonomous aircraft have been flying for four years. - Until now, human operators have been responsible for loading the packages into the aircraft, ensuring the drone has a fully charged battery and then managing its takeoff and landing.
- Now — following a trial period — Matternet's 10-foot-tall, tulip-shaped station will replace those human operators.
- "The whole idea is to co-locate with our customer, so it can't be ugly," Jon Michaeli, Matternet's head of global sales and business development, tells Axios.
- The elevated drone stations could pop up all over cities like Abu Dhabi, where Matternet last month launched its first citywide service.
How it works: In one scenario, a hospital worker loads a patient's blood sample into a box with a designated QR code on the side. - The employee walks outside to the drone station, scans his or her badge, and a tray emerges from an automated door. The employee puts the box containing the blood sample onto the tray, and the door shuts.
- Inside, a robot scans the box and loads it onto the drone, along with a fresh battery, if needed.
- Automatically, the tulip "petals" open, and the drone rises up on a pre-planned route to a nearby lab.
- At the lab, another station opens its petals to reveal a drone landing pad. The aircraft recognizes its beacon technology and automatically descends into the flower, which closes its petals again.
- A lab worker then scans a barcode to retrieve the samples.
What to watch: The technology is not ready to be deployed in the U.S. because regulators still don't allow drones to fly beyond the operator's visual line of sight. - But Matternet, which is running several FAA-sanctioned pilot programs with UPS, expects FAA certification for its aircraft soon.
The bottom line: Matternet's end-to-end autonomous air delivery system is the equivalent of a hospital's pneumatic tube system. Read the full story. |     | | | | | | 2. Growing demand for athleisure products |  | | | Runners in front of the New York Stock Exchange this week. Photo: on-running.com | | | | Investors rushed to buy shares this week of a running shoe company called On in its stock market debut, amid new signs that consumer spending remains resilient, Axios' Hope King reports. Why it matters: Apparel sales rebounded earlier this year as the economy reopened — and buying athletic apparel, especially sneakers, is one pandemic habit that's not dying out. - Shares of Switzerland-based On started trading close to 50% above the IPO price, which put the value of the company at more than $6 billion.
Flashback: Brooks, Puma and Hoka were among the top-performing running shoe brands during the early months of the pandemic last year, according to the NPD Group. What they're saying: There's been "strengthening demand" for athleisure products and running shoes and sneakers because people are now getting back outside their homes, says Brian Nagel, managing director at Oppenheimer. - It's a continuation of the running boom trend that began with the start of the pandemic, he adds.
Watch to watch: Allbirds is set to start trading on the Nasdaq next. Share this story. | | | | | | | | 3. What we're driving: 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz |  | | | The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is somewhere between a crossover utility vehicle and a pickup truck. Photo: Hyundai | | | | The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is one of those "neither fish nor fowl" vehicles: It's an SUV crossed with a pickup truck — and I love it, Joann writes. The big picture: Truck devotees will complain that the 4-foot-bed is too short, or that the Santa Cruz can't haul a giant RV or motorboat. (For the record, it can tow up to 5,000 pounds.) - But for the vast majority of urban dwellers whose big adventure is an outing to the garden center, this is the perfect vehicle.
Details: The Santa Cruz drives like a crossover SUV, which isn't surprising, since it's based on the same basic underpinnings as the Hyundai Tucson. - That means it's refined and easy to park, which non-truck people will appreciate.
- Some reviewers have complained that the standard 2.5-liter engine is underpowered, but I drove the turbocharged all-wheel-drive option, which, at 275 horsepower, had plenty of get-up-and-go.
One of my favorite features was the Santa Cruz's lockable, roll-up metal tonneau cover. - At a tailgate, we packed our valuables in the bed and safely locked them away while we went to the game.
- The extra storage below the bed (similar to a Honda Ridgeline) was especially handy.
Other goodies: The Santa Cruz Limited also featured a 360-degree camera system, heated and cooled seats, a premium Bose sound system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. - Android smartphone users can use a phone app as their digital key.
- The optional 10-inch touchscreen is lovely but difficult to use, with no buttons — keeping your eyes off the road for too long.
The Santa Cruz comes with a full suite of standard safety and available assisted driving technologies. - Hyundai's highway-assist technology was a bit overbearing at times, though.
The bottom line: The Santa Cruz starts at about $24,000, which is higher than Ford's new Maverick compact pickup. And at $39,720, the Limited AWD I drove seems downright expensive. - But if it fits the bill for weekend warriors, that's OK.
Share this story. | | | | | | | | A message from Charter Communications | | Charter is #1 in rural internet service | | |  | | | | We're proud to announce that Spectrum Internet ranks No. 1 in the U.S. News & World Report 2021-22 "Best Rural Internet Service Providers" survey. This recognition underscores our ongoing commitment to connecting more communities from coast to coast. | | | | | | 4. Climate news that caught our eye |  | | | The Windy Fire continues to spread Sept. 27 south of California Hot Springs, California. The wildfire has burned through numerous groves of giant sequoia trees. Photo: David McNew/Getty Images | | | | "More than a dozen groves of giant sequoias may lose significant numbers of trees in the wildfires now raging in the southern Sierra Nevada," the paper reports. "Scientists surveying the damage of two active fires say the biggest losses will likely be at the south end of Giant Sequoia National Monument, where already 29 large trees have been listed as dead and many more are expected to follow." Boston "will require all buildings over 20,000 square feet to achieve zero carbon emissions by 2050," under a new ordinance that "applies to about 4% of the city's structures." While other cities have taken similar steps, this puts it in the vanguard. - How the world's first chief heat officer plans to keep Miamians cool (Bloomberg CityLab)
As the "first in the U.S." chief heat officer (for Miami-Dade County), Jane Gilbert's job is to "protect the region's 2.7 million residents as temperatures continue to rise." That includes safeguarding people who can't afford air conditioning. | | | | | | | | 5. Reader photo of the day |  | | | A meat vending machine in Osage, Iowa: Photo: Joan Buchanan | | | | What's Next: Oddball vending machines Joan Buchanan writes: "In a small town in Northern Iowa — Osage — there is a Main Street meat market/liquor store and this meat vending machine is outside the front of the store. "I can get a steak and some fresh cheese curds on a Sunday when nothing else in town is open … so long as I have a credit card. … 😊" | | | | | | | | A message from Charter Communications | | Charter is #1 in rural internet service | | | | | | | | We're proud to announce that Spectrum Internet ranks No. 1 in the U.S. News & World Report 2021-22 "Best Rural Internet Service Providers" survey. This recognition underscores our ongoing commitment to connecting more communities from coast to coast. | | | | Thanks for reading! If this email was forwarded to you, please subscribe here. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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