Rocket Labs will launch a NASA mission to Mars. The Escape and Plasma Acceleration and Dynamics Explorers (ESCAPADE) mission will orbit two Rocket Lab-built Photon spacecraft around Mars to understand the structure, composition, variability, and dynamics of Mars’ unique hybrid magnetosphere. The mission will also support crewed exploration programs like Artemis through improved solar storm …
SpaceX is adding laser crosslinks to Starlink satellites. These links allow satellites to transfer information to one another and communicate in other ways as well. SpaceX will use lasers to communicate between satellites in space and reduce the use of ground stations. This will allow satellite internet coverage to reach areas where ground stations cannot …
Caltech has disclosed that in 2013, Donald Bren, chairman of Irvine Company and a lifetime member of the Caltech Board of Trustees, donated over $100 million to form the Space-based Solar Power Project (SSPP). Space-based solar power will generate solar power in space and beaming it back to Earth. Donald Bren made his fortune with …
Elon Musk says that Tesla will release FSD 10.0 on Friday September 3. His best guess for the public beta FSD button will be in about 4 weeks. Beta 10 will be next-level — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 26, 2021 We should be there with Beta 10, which goes out a week from Friday (no …
Solvency is a concern for non-Tesla car companies. The Z-score formula for predicting bankruptcy was published in 1968 by Edward I. Altman, who was, at the time, an Assistant Professor of Finance at New York University. The formula may be used to predict the probability that a firm will go into bankruptcy within two years. …
Sandy Munro is the CEO of Munro Associates. Munro is working with manufacturers on the designs of two large EVs and several three-wheel electric vehicles, as well as several major OEM’s in the legacy auto sector looking to stay competitive in the EV shift. Munro has also secured several long-term defense contracts, and these projects …
The Caldor Fire is 11% contained and is threatening Lake Tahoe. The Caldor Fire is about 126,000 acres and is smaller than the Dixie Fire (734,000 acres). The Caldor Fire is the number one priority with over 2,100 firefighters, 22 helicopters, 50 fire crews and 200 fire trucks. Winds have shifted and are pushing the …
Isaac Asimov’s classic science fiction series Foundation will debut globally September 24, 2021, exclusively on Apple TV+. Hari Seldon is the hero of the series. Hari is played by Jared Harris. Harris played Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes movies and was in the Expanse for half a season. He is the son of Richard Harris. …
Skydio gave the keynote to the 2021 HotChips Conference. They have raised $340 million and are the first US Unicorn drone company. Consumer drones are still mostly a hobby because drones are difficult to fly. World changing capability gets unlocked with easy automated drones. Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular …
China is completing a 2 megawatt molten salt reactor this month (August) and will start tests next month. Professor Yan Rui of the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, was a lead researcher on the TMSR (molten salt reactor). He wrote in a paper published in the Chinese journal Nuclear Techniques. The commercial reactor (100 MW …
On Aug. 8, 2021, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL’s) National Ignition Facility (NIF) made a significant step toward ignition, achieving a yield of more than 1.3 megajoules (MJ). This is still twelve times less than the 20 megajoules that simulations indicate can be achieved. Everything would need to be redesigned to try to get to …