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.
NZ “Experts”: Don’t Panic
February 28th, 2020Via: New Zealand Herald:
People are panic-buying water, sanitiser and other essentials, causing lengthy queues at many supermarkets after confirmation of the first coronavirus case in New Zealand. But experts are urging calm, and say there is no need for panic.
Queues were out the door at at least one Pak’nSave this morning and shelves were being cleared out, following similar lengthy queues at many Auckland supermarkets last night.
One shopper said it was as if people were “stocking up for the apocalypse”.
U.S. NAVY PACIFIC FLEET ORDERS AT LEAST 14 DAY UNDERWAYS FOR SHIPS VISITING NATIONS IN 7TH FLEET AOR
February 28th, 2020Via: Navy Times:
U.S. Pacific Fleet commander Adm. John C. “Lung” Aquilino has directed all vessels visiting nations in the 7th Fleet area of operations “to remain at sea for at least 14 days before pulling into another port in order to monitor sailors for any symptoms” of COVID-19, a new and deadly strain of the coronavirus.
33 Turkish Soldiers Killed by Airstrike in Northwestern Syria
February 28th, 2020Via: CBS:
Turkey on Friday raised the death toll from a Syrian government airstrike on its forces in northwestern Syria the previous night to 33 Turkish troops, the highest number of Turkish soldiers killed in a single day since Ankara first intervened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.
The deaths, which came in an attack late Thursday, were a serious escalation in the direct conflict between Turkish and Russia-backed Syrian forces that has been waged since early February. The earlier reported death toll was 29 troops.
Related: Turkey Says Will Not Stop Syrian Refugees Reaching Europe After Troops Killed
