Tag Archives: Elon Musk
Sci-fi past the science
There’s an interesting remark in the introductory portion of this article by Zeynep Tufekci (emphasis added): At its best, though, science fiction is a brilliant vehicle for exploring not the far future or the scientifically implausible but the interactions among science, technology … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Arthur C Clarke, Elon Musk, human condition, human spaceflight, Jeff Bezos, politics, sci-fi, science fiction, social science, Zeynep Tufekci
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Starlink and astronomy
SpaceX’s Starlink constellation is currently a network of 120+ satellites and which, in the next decade, will expand to 10,000+ to provide low-cost internet from space around the world. Astronomers everywhere have been pissed off with these instruments because they … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Scicomm
Tagged Blue Origin, Cerro Tololo, Elon Musk, Facebook Athena, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Communications Commission, geosynchronous orbit, International Astronomical Union, International Telecommunications Union, Iridium constellation, Jeff Bezos, low-cost internet, low-Earth orbit, OneWeb, satellite constellation, SpaceX, Starlink, Starlink mega-constellation, VLEO
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Playing the devil’s advocate on Starlink
After SpaceX began to launch its Starlink satellite constellation to facilitate global internet coverage, astronomers began complaining that the satellites are likely to interfere with stargazing schemes, especially those of large, sensitive telescopes. Spaceflight stakeholders also began to worry, especially … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds, Science
Tagged Challakere science city, Elon Musk, environmentalism, India-based Neutrino Observatory, ISRO, Kulasekarapattinam, low-cost internet, Mauna Kea, mega-constellation, non-rivalry, Outer Space Treaty, satellite constellation, space-based internet, SpaceX, Starlink, Sterlite, Thirty Meter Telescope, Thoothukudi
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Solutions looking for problems
There’s been a glut of ‘science projects’ that seem to be divorced from their non-technical aspects even when the latter are equally, if not more, important – or maybe it is just a case of these problems always having been … Continue reading
Posted in Op-eds
Tagged Bharati script, Chandrayaan 2, Chinese Space Station, Elon Musk, Gaganyaan, Hyperloop, IIT Madras, Indian Space Research Organisation, Indian Space Station, International Space Station, space science
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SpaceX rocket blows up but let’s remember that #SpaceIsHard
The Wire June 30, 2015 “… it’s not all or nothing. We must get to orbit eventually, and we will. It might take us one, two or three more tries, but we will. We will make it work.” Elon Musk … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged autonomous spaceport drone ship, Cape Canaveral, Elon Musk, Falcon 9, Roscosmos, SpaceX
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Desperate Toyota does a Tesla
Let go to take control. That’s what Elon Musk did with the patents on his Tesla brand of electric cars. That’s what Toyota has done now with its patents on fuel-cells, releasing 5,680 licenses for royalty-free use at the Consumer Electronics … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged CES Las Vegas, distributed energy resources, Elon Musk, fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen economy, Hyundai ix35, Tesla Motors, Toyota Mirai
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Elon Musk’s altruism powertrain is just good business
In 1907, the Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla sold all his patents to Westinghouse, Inc., for a heavily discounted $216,000, including one for alternating current. In 1943, he died penniless. In 2014, another Tesla has given away its patents but signs … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged battery swapping, Beter Place, Big Cars, electric vehicles, Elon Musk, Joint Center for Energy Storage Research, lithium-ion battery cells, patents, Shai Agassi, Tesla Motors
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