Tag Archives: Start
Tesla Model Y production to start Nov 2019 (also, Musk doesn't have time to shower): reports
Amidst nine months of “production hell” for the Tesla Model 3 electric car, the company’s next vehicle has somewhat fallen off the radar. According to a report Wednesday by Reuters, Tesla has now put out requests to suppliers for initial bids on parts for the Tesla Model Y, its high-volume crossover utility intended to be more affordable than the $ 80,000-and-up Model X. Two sources familiar with Tesla’s supply chains told Reuters those documents set a target of November 2019 for the start of Model Y production.
Fighters start to quit last rebel pocket of Syria's Ghouta
Syria’s regime drew closer to taking full control of Eastern Ghouta on Monday as state media reported that fighters began evacuating the last rebel-held pocket of the former opposition stronghold near Damascus. A Russian-brokered deal had been reported on Sunday for fighters with Jaish al-Islam, the largest rebel group still in Ghouta, to leave the enclave’s main town of Douma. The retaking of Eastern Ghouta would mark a major milestone in President Bashar al-Assad’s efforts to regain control of territory seized by rebel factions during Syria’s seven-year civil war.
Elon Musk predicts flights to Mars will start in early 2019
Flights to Mars will begin early next year, the entrepreneur Elon Musk has predicted as he said man must colonise other planets before “World War Three”. Mr Musk, whose company SpaceX is designing a rocket for interplanetary travel, estimated that “up-and-down flights” to the red planet should start in the first half of 2019. During a rare question and answer session, Mr Musk called for creative thinking as he said everything from “iron foundries” to “pizza joints” and “night clubs” would be needed on Mars. He predicted little appetite for the first interplanetary trips, saying that like Sir Ernest Shackleton’s adverts for early Antarctic exploring there would be a “good chance you’ll die”. But the US billionaire added that creating human bases on other planets could help “regenerate life” on Earth if it is turned to "radioactive rubble" by another war. Mr Musk offered his thoughts of space travel in an appearance at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas on Sunday. Future space exploration After making his money through PayPal, Mr Musk created the electric car company Tesla and the rocket and spacecraft company SpaceX. Mr Musk discussed SpaceX’s Big Falcon Rocket [BFR], which it is hoped will transport people to Mars, during his appearance. “We’ll be able to do short up-and-down flights probably sometime in the first half of next year,” Mr Musk said. He made the prediction after admitting some of his timelines had proved “optimistic” in the past. Asked about the infrastructure needed on Mars, Mr Musk said first it would be “fundamentals without which you cannot survive” such as power stations and blast domes to grow crops. He added: “And then really there’s going to be an explosion of entrepreneurial opportunity because Mars will need everything from iron foundries to pizza joints to night clubs.” A Falcon 9 rocket is launched with Spain's PAZ, a radar-imaging satellite, and two SpaceX test satellites for global broadband Credit: Barcroft Mr Musk said colonisation of other planets would help protect humankind if another major war broke out in the coming decades. “I think a moon base and a Mars base that could perhaps help regenerate life back here on Earth would be really important and to get that done before a possible World War Three,” Mr Musk said. “Last century we had two massive world wars, three if you count the cold war. I think it’s unlikely that we’ll never have another world war again. There probably will be at some point. … [Earth] could just be radioactive rubble.” He also joked that flying to Mars would have a similar appeal to the first attempts to explore Antarctica more than a century ago. Mr Musk said: “For the early people that go to Mars, it will be far more dangerous. It kind of reads like [Ernest] Shackleton’s ad for Antarctic explorers: Difficult, dangerous, good chance you’ll die. Excitement for those who survive.” The US innovator made headlines last month when one of SpaceX’s rockets successfully took his cherry-red Tesla convertible car into space. During the question and answer session Mr Musk named Kanye West, the rapper, and Fred Astaire, the dancer and actor, as among his inspirations. He also called for more regulation of artificial intelligence, saying: “I’m very close to the cutting edge in AI, and it scares the hell out of me. It’s capable of vastly more than almost anyone knows, and the rate of improvement is exponential.”
These Dreamers Were Deported to Mexico. Now, They're Helping Others Start Again
Trump's Tariff Can't Start A Trade War Because It Started Years Ago
President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would place tariffs on steel and aluminum imports has economists cringing. Conservative Republicans are dusting off the principles they learned in Econ 101, liberal Nobel laureate Paul Krugman is warning that Trump will start an economically destructive trade war, and prominent world leaders are vowing to prove Krugman right. On Friday, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker threatened to retaliate against “unfair” U.S. tariffs with new levies on American motorcycles, bourbon and blue jeans.
Erdogan says Turkey will 'thwart games' along its borders, start in Syria's Manbij
Turkey will “thwart games” along its border, starting with Syria’s Manbij region, President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday, as the Turkish military entered the fifth day of its incursion into northern Syria’s Afrin region. Speaking to local administrators in Ankara, Erdogan also called on international NGOs to support Turkey’s operation against the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG. “I have doubts of the humanity of those who support this organisation (YPG) and call Turkey an invader,” Erdogan said in a speech to local administrators in Ankara.
New CDC numbers indicate flu season off to a Brutal Start
FBI agent describes grisly warehouse in start of body broker's trial
By Steve Friess and John Shiffman DETROIT (Reuters) – The warehouse of a Michigan man who sold donated body parts to researchers was littered with dead flies, dog bowls and human remains “frozen together in flesh-on-flesh chunks,” a federal agent testified Friday. The grisly description came during the opening day in the federal trial of businessman Arthur Rathburn, who sold or leased donated body parts, including human heads, to medical researchers for two decades. Rathburn, however, is charged with defrauding customers by selling them body parts infected with hepatitis and HIV, and with lying to federal agents about shipments.