Elon Musk – Page 8

Tesla CEO Musk breaks ground at Shanghai Gigafactory to launch China push

January 17, 2019

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) broke ground on Monday for its Shanghai Gigafactory where it plans to begin making its Model 3 electric vehicles (EV) by year-end, a first step in localizing production in the world’s largest auto market.

At a ceremony at the site of the plant on the outskirts of Shanghai, Chief Executive Elon Musk joined the city’s mayor and other local government officials to formally begin construction of a factory that Tesla has said will cost around $2 billion.

“We think with the resources here we can build the Shanghai Gigafactory in record time and we’re looking forward to hopefully having some initial production of the Model 3 towards the end of this year and achieving volume production next year,” Musk said at the event.

Continue reading… “Tesla CEO Musk breaks ground at Shanghai Gigafactory to launch China push”

Batteries, Electric Vehicles, Elon Musk, Tesla

Life-blood of Tesla batteries hits supply limits in Andean mine

December 29, 2018

For the past nine months, a U.S. company that is the world’s largest producer of lithium—a key ingredient in electric-car batteries—has been locked in battle with the Chilean government over pricing issues, production quotas, and environmental compliance. With no resolution in sight, the fight is sending tremors all the way up the electric vehicle supply chain that provides batteries to Tesla Inc., Nissan Motor Co., Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, and other car makers.

The drama is playing out in the northern reaches of Chile’s Andes Mountains amid the arid and austere Atacama Desert, a vast, high-altitude bowl surrounded by snow-capped volcanic peaks named after ancient gods of the indigenous people. The U.S. company, Albemarle Corp., has taken over a massive salt-flats mine, pumping scarce briny water through dried-out salt marshes and lagoons to extract the prized mineral. A dozen or so miles away, thick flocks of Andean flamingos feed peacefully in a lagoon teaming with tiny shrimp, as they have for countless millennia. But as mining activity surges, water tables are falling amid growing environmental concerns.

Continue reading… “Life-blood of Tesla batteries hits supply limits in Andean mine”

Elon Musk, Hyperloop, Transportation

We are closer than ever to achieving the Hyperloop – But not the one we first imagined

December 29, 2018

More recent designs closely resemble high-speed trains.

The Hyperloop One’s recent speed record of 308 kmh (192 mph) is an important step (however small) toward surpassing the first goal of the Hyperloop: to achieve quicker transit than other alternatives. But, while the hyperloop was initially designed to achieve 1,200 km/h (750 mph) with a chic micro-craft built for three passengers, it is developing into something quite different.

In his original outline, Musk illuminated some glaring problems at the conceptual stage of several other “high speed” rail systems — namely the high expense per mile, the cost of operation, and that other propositions were less safe than flying by two orders of magnitude.

No one thought the proposal would come so far a mere four years after Elon Musk released his initial plans for Hyperloop system. But with tubes 3.3 meters (11 feet) in diameter, the craft looks more like the cargo version from Musk’s original concept. Instead of a bobsled, we’re seeing something more like an ordinary train. Additionally, the thin concrete pylons planned for minimal terrestrial footprint will be significantly larger. Since this is more on the scale of a train or highway, the disruptive potential of compact tubes would seem, alas, reneged.

Continue reading… “We are closer than ever to achieving the Hyperloop – But not the one we first imagined”

Elon Musk, Hyperloop, People Making a Difference, Science & Technology News, SpaceX, Tesla

We need Elon Musk much more than he needs us

November 5, 2018

Heroes are not created equal. Most people recognize the name Sully Sullenberger, but far fewer can tell you what Alan Turing did during World War II.

Fewer still could tell you that Turing was chemically castrated because he was gay, and committed suicide shortly thereafter. But thanks for bringing one of the most horrifying wars in history to an abrupt end, I guess?

Society isn’t always kind to its heroes. We ask for an ill-defined yet idealized sort of perfection, and when our heroes fall short, we make sure they fall twice as hard.

Some might write this phenomenon off as a minor inconvenience for the rich, successful or famous, but times have changed. The human costs of war pale in comparison to the battles humanity will face in the years to come.

Continue reading… “We need Elon Musk much more than he needs us”

Elon Musk, Science & Technology News, Space, Space Flight, SpaceX

This crazy ambitious timeline shows when and how Elon Musk and Space X plan to colonize Mars

October 25, 2018

Elon Musk is hell-bent on colonizing Mars.

That’s the spirit with which he founded SpaceX, his rocket company, in 2002. Musk was frustrated that NASA wasn’t doing more to get people to the red planet – and concerned a backup plan for humanity wasn’t being developed (for when Earth becomes an uninhabitable wasteland).

Since then, SpaceX has developed several impressive aerospace systems: Falcon 1, SpaceX’s first orbital rocket; Grasshopper, a small self-landing test rocket; Falcon 9, a reusable orbital-class launcher; Dragona, a spaceship for cargo and soon NASA astronauts; and Falcon Heavy, a super-heavy-lift launcher.

But Mars is a cold, unforgiving, and almost airless rock located some 140 million miles (225 million kilometres) from the Sun.

Continue reading… “This crazy ambitious timeline shows when and how Elon Musk and Space X plan to colonize Mars”

Elon Musk, Engineering, Space Flight, SpaceX

Elon Musk is building a spaceship that’s so ambitious that some experts are calling it ‘science fiction.’ Here’s what SpaceX and its engineers are up against.

September 20, 2018

Elon Musk plans to blast a tourist around the moon in a ship made by his rocket company, SpaceX.

The private lunar mission is meant to demonstrate a new two-part launch system called Big Falcon Rocket, which is designed to eventually bring humans to Mars.

Engineers are said to be building a prototype of the BFR’s spaceship primarily out of carbon-fiber composites.

Exactly how SpaceX is building that spaceship isn’t publicly known, but industry experts have some guesses.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk is building a spaceship that’s so ambitious that some experts are calling it ‘science fiction.’ Here’s what SpaceX and its engineers are up against.”

Alternative Transportation, Automobiles, Elon Musk, Tesla

Boring Company gets approval to build a tunnel connecting a garage to a hyperloop

September 19, 2018

Elon Musk’s Boring Company continues to gain validation from city governments. In June, the company was selected to build a multibillion-dollar rapid transit link between downtown Chicago to O’Hare International Airport, and just this week, it got approval from the Hawthorne City Council in California to start building a prototype garage that would transport cars to an underground hyperloop.

A REAL-LIFE BATCAVE

The garage will be built on a private residence near SpaceX’s headquarters, which will be rented by the company. The Mercury News reports that, as part of the conditions of the approval, the test elevator will be closed to the public, and no cars will be able to move from the garage to the street in order to keep the project from impacting traffic. Instead, cars must start at SpaceX HQ and stay in the one-mile stretch of tunnel between the residence garage and the company. A sketch of the prototype, seen above, shows an elevator shaft that would lower cars into the tunnel that connects to the hyperloop. More than 100 residents have been notified of the project and assured that the noise would be minimal, but it’s to be seen how quiet drilling tunnels will actually be.

Continue reading… “Boring Company gets approval to build a tunnel connecting a garage to a hyperloop”

Artificial Intelligence, Elon Musk, Robotics, Robots

OpenAI creates Dactyl robot hand with “unprecedented” dexterity

August 9, 2018

Open AI — a non-profit started by Elon Musk — has found a way to programme a robot hand so that it can nimbly manipulate an object using human-like movements it has taught itself.

“We’ve trained a human-like robot hand to manipulate physical objects with unprecedented dexterity,” said OpenAI of its Dactyl system, which is shown in a video twisting a block into 50 different requested orientations.

Dactyl works by training the robot hand in a simulation and then transferring the knowledge gained there to the real world.

Continue reading… “OpenAI creates Dactyl robot hand with “unprecedented” dexterity”

Alternative Transportation, China, Elon Musk, Engineering, Transportation

Chinese city signs up for hyperloop project

August 1, 2018

The city of Tongren, in the southwestern Chinese province of Guizhou, has signed an agreement with Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HyperloopTT) to develop the futuristic tube-travel system envisaged by Elon Musk.

HyperloopTT and Tongren Transportation & Tourism Investment Group announced the agreement yesterday, saying HyperloopTT would provide technology, engineering expertise and equipment, while Tongren will be responsible for certification, the regulatory framework and construction of the system.

Continue reading… “Chinese city signs up for hyperloop project”

Elon Musk, Space Flight, SpaceX

SpaceX: “Mr Steven” giant net tested at high speeds in stunning video

July 21, 2018

SpaceX’s component-catching ship has got an upgrade. Mr Steven, the vessel designed to catch the fairing from the Falcon 9 as it returns to Earth after launch, has been demonstrating its larger net around the port of Los Angeles. New images on Tuesday and a video earlier this week show the ship conducting sea trials at speeds of up to 20 knots, or 20 mph.

Images captured by Teslarati and video captured by YouTuber “Drone Dronester” show the ship conducting tests between July 12 and 15, with the crew and recovery technicians sending the ship out after a multi-week installation of the new net. The ship is what’s known as a “fast supply vessel,” meaning it’s ranked to move 400 metric tons of cargo at regular speeds of 23 knots, or 27 mph. The ship itself weighs almost 200,000 pounds and is around 200 feet long. The crew focused on sharp corners at high speed less than half an hour after setting sail, testing the stability with a net that’s four times bigger than its predecessor with an area of 0.9 acres.

Continue reading… “SpaceX: “Mr Steven” giant net tested at high speeds in stunning video”

Batteries, Elon Musk, Energy, Tesla

Tesla and PG&E are working on a massive ‘up to 1.1 GWh power pack battery system

July 10, 2018

For the past few months, Tesla and CEO Elon Musk have been teasing a giant battery project that would dwarf even the company’s 129 MWh Powerpack project in Australia.

Today, we learn that Tesla is working with PG&E on a massive battery system with a capacity of “up to 1.1 GWh” in California.

Continue reading… “Tesla and PG&E are working on a massive ‘up to 1.1 GWh power pack battery system”

Artificial Intelligence, Elon Musk, Space, SpaceX

SpaceX is flying an artificially intelligent robot named CIMON to the International Space Station

July 5, 2018

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Unlike HAL, it won’t be able to open the pod bay doors.

Its programming is limited, capable of conversation and technical support but not much else, at least for now. And instead of the searing red eye of the super computer gone rogue in Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi film, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the artificially intelligent robot launched into space Friday has a screen displaying a genial face prone to smiles.

CIMON, as it is known (an acronym for Crew Interactive Mobile Companion), is designed to help astronauts on board the International Space Station perform their work — namely the science experiments they are sent aboard the orbiting laboratory.

Continue reading… “SpaceX is flying an artificially intelligent robot named CIMON to the International Space Station”