“How the Other Half Lives” in 1890s NYC
March 4th, 2020Via: My Modern Met:
Like the hundreds of thousands of other immigrants who fled to New York in pursuit of a better life, Riis was forced to take up residence in one of the city’s notoriously cramped and disease-ridden tenements. Living in squalor and unable to find steady employment, Riis worked numerous jobs, ranging from a farmhand to an ironworker, before finally landing a role as a journalist-in-training at the New York News Association.
SpaceX Aims to Launch 70 Missions a Year from Florida’s Space Coast by 2023
March 4th, 2020Via: Space.com:
SpaceX is planning a huge boost to the number of rocket launches from its Florida launch sites in the next few years as the company builds its Starlink satellite megaconstellation while meeting flight demands from its customers, according to a federal environmental report.
The missions for SpaceX’s Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets will also have more options than in the past, according to the report, which was first reported by SpaceNews. One change will be a new mobile service tower allowing some missions to be assembled vertically, rather than horizontally. Another will be the capability to launch to polar orbits — quite the feat, since Florida is located close to the equator and better optimized for missions that operate close to the equator. SpaceX also plans to test recovering payload fairings as the company pushes for greater mission reusability.
Coronavirus: Italy Will Close All Schools and Universities
March 4th, 2020Via: Daily Mail:
Italy will close all schools and universities, the government said today, to protect against the coronavirus which has infected more than 2,500 in the country and killed 79.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s government is also expected to release new rules which will tell the nation they cannot kiss because of the virus.
As part of today’s measures, schools and universities will be shuttered until mid-March, while the government is advising against kissing, hugging and shaking hands, ANSA reported.
The guidance expected to be circulated nationwide later today also advises people to stand three feet apart at all times, even indoors, to protect against saliva droplets which can transmit the disease.
Honeywell Says it Built the World’s Most Powerful Quantum Computer
March 3rd, 2020Via: Engadget:
When it comes to quantum computers, we tend to think of companies like Google and IBM as the big players in the field, but there could soon be more competition in the space. Honeywell says sometime in the next three months it will unveil a quantum computer that is at least twice as powerful as any current device.
Fed: Coronavirus Emergency Rate Cut, 50 Basis Points
March 3rd, 2020Via: Yahoo Finance:
The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points in an impromptu meeting on Tuesday as a response to the coronavirus.
The Fed said the “fundamentals of the U.S. economy remain strong” but that the coronavirus “poses evolving risks to economic activity.” The cut, which amounts to a half percentage point, lowered the current target range to between 1% and 1.25%.
Missouri Farmer Wins $265 Million Verdict Against Monsanto
March 2nd, 2020Via: Sierra Club:
A Missouri peach farmer notched a rare courtroom victory this month, defeating the former Monsanto Co. and chemical giant BASF in the first of what is expected to be a series of court fights over claims that the companies are responsible for pesticide damage that has wiped out orchards, gardens, and organic farm fields in multiple states.
On February 14, a unanimous jury awarded Bill Bader and his family-owned Bader Farms $15 million in compensatory damages. The following day, they added on another $250 million in punitive damages to be paid by Bayer AG (Monsanto’s German owner) and BASF. The jury found that Monsanto and BASF conspired in actions that created what Bader’s attorney called an “ecological disaster” designed to increase profits at the expense of farmers such as Bader.
The verdict followed three weeks of documentary evidence and testimony introduced in US District Court in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. The evidence proved that Bader Farms suffered extensive damage to its peach business from dicamba, a herbicide sprayed by neighboring farmers that drifted into the Bader orchard. The dicamba did so much damage that the Bader farm is essentially being forced out of business due to the loss of 30,000 peach trees, according to Bader attorney Bill Randles.
Tesla and PG&E to Build 1GWh Energy Storage System, Largest In the World
March 2nd, 2020Via: Electrek:
According to Tesla’s plan, they will deploy 449 Megapacks at the site…
Tesla is listing the project as having a total capacity of 1,200MWh, which would mean that each Megapack has a capacity of 2,673kWh.
That’s more than 12 times the capacity of Powerpack 2 in a package that could potentially fit about 8 Powerpacks.
The total capacity of those 449 Megapacks represents more energy capacity than Tesla Energy deployed throughout its first 3 years of operation – all Powerpacks and Powerwalls combined.
China Sending Uighurs to Factories
March 2nd, 2020Via: AFP:
China is transferring tens of thousands of Uighur detainees out of internment camps and into factories that supply some of the world’s leading brands, an Australian think tank said Monday.
Top global brands such as Apple, BMW and Sony have been accused of getting supplies from factories using the forced labour, an explosive allegation that could reverberate in boardrooms across the world.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute said the Chinese government has transferred 80,000 or more Uighurs out of camps in Xinjiang and into factories across the country.
“Uighurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of at least 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors,” the think tank said.
United Launch Alliance Factory Tour
March 2nd, 2020Via: Smarter Every Day:
China’s Factory Activity Slumps in February to Weakest Reading on Record
March 1st, 2020I happened to be listening to this in the background:
Via: CNBC:
A private survey showed China’s manufacturing activity slumped in February, as the coronavirus outbreak hit the world’s second largest economy.
On Monday, the Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) came in at 40.3 for February — the lowest reading since the survey was launched in early 2004.
