A campaign to keep Britons locked down and protected from the coronavirus may have proved too successful, according to new research, with many now scared to leave their homes.

A leading Cambridge University statistician warned that the governments stay-at-home message had caused many people to grow particularly anxious about going out.

Many people are definitely overanxious about their chance of both getting the virus and the harm they might come to if they do get it, Cambridges David Spiegelhalter told the BBC.

Fully one-third (33%) of Britons said they would feel uncomfortable meeting friends and family outside their household, according to polling released by research firm Ipsos Mori on Friday. Just under two-thirds (61%) said they would feel uncomfortable using public transport or going to bars and restaurants. The data also showed 67% saying they would feel uncomfortable attending large public gatherings, such as sports or music events, compared with how they felt before the pandemic.

Keiran Pedley, research director at Ipsos Mori, said: Clear majorities of Britons are nervous about using public transport again or going to bars, restaurants or live music and sporting events.

These numbers suggest that it will take some time for parts of the British economy to return to any semblance of normality, even after lockdown has ended.

Its a very different story in parts of America as protesters in Michigan stormed the state capitol demanding an end to lockdown, and Teslas TSLA, -10.30% Elon Musk told investors on Thursday that stay-at-home orders were forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all constitutional rights.

Read:Elon Musk says coronavirus shelter-in-place order is fascist and breaking peoples freedoms

Britons, meanwhile, are not only scared for themselves but are so fearful neighbors might spread the virus more widely that 200,000 of them have called the police to tell tales about fellow citizens breaking the rules.

According to a report in the Times, police investigating illegal house parties and public loitering have issued 9,000 lockdown fines in England and Wales.

View post:

A day after Elon Musk denounced coronavirus lockdowns as infringements of freedom, research shows Britons are too scared to leave their homes anyway -...

SpaceX's Starlink internet satellites will soon sport an accessory to tamp down their surprising brightness.

That brightness worries many astronomers, who say that the huge Starlink constellation could seriously disrupt a variety of scientific observations. And Starlink will indeed be huge, if all goes according to SpaceX's plan: The company has approval to launch 12,000 craft to low Earth orbit (LEO) and has applied for permission to loft 30,000 more. (For perspective, humanity has launched just 9,400 objects to orbit since the dawn of the space age in 1957).

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk has said that the company will find a way to make Starlink craft fade from scientists' sight, predicting that the constellation will end up having no impact whatsoever on astronomical discoveries. SpaceX has been working with the astronomical community to help make this happen, researchers say, and the company has already tried out some mitigation measures.

Related: Starlink: SpaceX's satellite internet project

For example, one of the 60 Starlink satellites that launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket this past January sported an experimental coating to make it less reflective. Observations show that this "DarkSat" is considerably dimmer than its brighter Starlink cohorts, but probably not dim enough to quell most astronomers' concerns about the megaconstellation.

But SpaceX is taking additional measures as well, which brings us to the new accessory. Musk tweeted the following on Wednesday (April 22), in response to a Twitter follower who wished SpaceX luck on a 60-satellite Starlink launch that day: "Thanks! We are taking some key steps to reduce satellite brightness btw. Should be much less noticeable during orbit raise by changing solar panel angle & all sats get sunshades starting with launch 9."

He gave some details about the sunshades, which will presumably reduce solar reflection off the satellites' bodies, in a subsequent tweet that day: "Its made of a special dark foam thats extremely radio transparent, so as not to affect the phased array antennas. Looks a lot like a car sun visor."

The sunshade-equipped satellites will begin flying soon, because Starlink Launch 9 should be just around the corner. Wednesday's liftoff was Launch 7, and Launch 8 is targeted for May.

Each Starlink mission lofts 60 spacecraft. To date, SpaceX has launched 422 of the satellites to LEO, counting two prototypes that went up in February 2018. Musk has said that Starlink can provide "minor" internet coverage with at least 400 satellites and "moderate" service with about 800, so the constellation will likely be operational relatively soon.

The sunshades' effectiveness should also be apparent in short order. Astronomers will doubtless be tracking the modified satellites, hoping they don't stand out too much against the dark sky.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

Here is the original post:

SpaceX's Starlink satellites will soon get glare-reducing 'sunshades,' Elon Musk says - Space.com

BE: Me? No. Theres no reason to. I was sacked, which was all right, and theres no reason to go back.

Bernard Charles Ecclestone. Slippery as hell. But as good an interviewee as Ive ever encountered.

Bernie on...

F1 dropping grid girls: Grid girls were colourful. Thats what F1 is supposed to be: colourful. The sponsors were happy. The teams were happy. The girls had good careers that have been taken away.

Describing women as domestic appliances: I did, yes. I didnt regret it when I said it and I dont regret it now. It was said as a big joke. Nothing I can do about it now, just because people didnt take it as one.

Admiring Hitler: Correct. Actually, I didnt say I admired him. But from when he took over in the 1930s, its clear he got things done, which was impressive. Hospitals, trains and so on. What he went on to do was obviously mad and wrong.

Donald Trump: I think what hes doing is a great job a super job. Hes got ideas and he gets on with them.

Vladimir Putin: Yeah [I know him]. Absolutely. Hes got a reputation he doesnt deserve as being difficult. Hes an easy, straightforward person.

Boris Johnson: Straightforward too. Like all the people in that position, he makes mistakes, but you only remember them if theyre written down.

Brexit: The EU will have to clean up its whole act if it wants to survive. The original idea was fantastic, but it got too democratic. I dont think Britain needs to be in Europe. I think we need to do business with Europe and vice versa, but Im quite sure that will continue.

His rumoured role in The Great Train Robbery: Didnt have one. Wasnt enough money in it for me.

His car collection: I dont drive them. I dont sit in them. I trade them. I dont see the point of supercars, either. People buy them as investments. Why bother?

What he drives: Car dealers hate me, as I dont buy new ones very often. Im in an old [Mercedes] S-Class at the moment while my Range Rover is being repaired. They tried to sell me a new one, but I dont see the point.

Paying a $100m fine to void bribery charges: I hadnt bribed him, but I couldnt prove it, as he was in jail. Sending the money over wasnt that bad. Its like going into a casino and playing with chips: you never think youve lost the money. The prosecutor was a nice guy, actually. I could have been locked up for 10 years. It seemed a reasonable price.

Lawyers: Theyre expensive. Id rather have a mistress and spend it on her. But anyway, sometimes you need them.

Frank Williams: I supported Frank for years. He used to come and borrow money when times were hard. Hed turn up and ask for 500, and Id give it to him on the condition that he paid it back on Tuesday. Hed turn up on the Tuesday, give me my 500, have a cup of tea, chat a bit and then ask if he could borrow 700

Original post:

Bernie Ecclestone on the future of F1, dictators and Elon Musk - Autocar

WASHINGTON DC, USA - MARCH 9: Elon Musk, Founder and Chief Engineer of SpaceX, speaks during the ... [+] Satellite 2020 Conference in Washington, DC, United States on March 9, 2020. (Photo by Yasin Ozturk/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

So, Elon Musk is having what the internet might call a normal one. The billionaire Tesla CEO is no stranger to social media explosions, but his twitter feed over the past two days has been exceptional even by those standards. Much of this is doesnt require too much explanation: he pivoted on Friday from talking about how businesses needed to open despite the risk of coronoavirus to more existential content, saying that he was going to sell all his possessions and that his girlfriend was mad at him. He also changed his profile picture, which might confuse someone not all that familiar with video game history.

The game from his profile picture is Deus Ex, released in 2000 by Eidos Interactive and Square Enix. Its a seminal cyberpunk game and one of the sterling examples of interactive sims and first-person RPGs, but its setting is probably a little more relevant here. In it, a conspiracy has released a man-made plague called the Gray Death as a kind of mass culling pandemic, and are using their military might to restrict access to the vaccine.

Deus Ex

Its relevant to our current situation in broad strokes, mostly, but also in the more specific notion of a deadly disease that disproportionately effects the already poor.

Its unclear what, exactly, Musk wishes to communicate by bringing Deus Ex into an already perplexing Twitter rant, but most on social media have pointed out that he bears a certain resemblance to the power-hungry billionaire that becomes the games main antagonist. Musk recently attempted to force his employees to show up to work despite the statewide stay-at-home order, and has vocally downplayed the seriousness of COVID-19 for months.

In the game, Pages ultimate plan is to merge with an AI to become a kind of all-powerful God, which does seem like it would be up Musks alley. Again, his choice to switch his profile picture to plague-oriented fiction doesnt seem like a coincidence given the current circumstances, but its unclear what, beyond that, hes trying to say.

Tesla stock was down more than 10% at market close on Friday.

Original post:

Heres Whats Happening With Elon Musks Twitter Picture - Forbes

Elon Musk has been one of the most vocal figures spouting coronavirus misinformation on Twitter. Hes touted unproven medications, falsely claimed kids are immune, over-promised on ventilators, and made wildly inaccurate prediction that new US cases would be probably close to zero by the end of this month. Now, the Telsa founder has doubled down on his coronavirus panic is dumb remarks in a series of anti-lockdown tweets.

Musks latest spree was focused on reopening the country, with the most recent tweet reading simply, FREE AMERICA NOW. He also shared stories about social distancing restrictions being lifted in Texas and Iowa, praising the moves and demanding governments Give people their freedom back!

He even agreed with a well-known Trump firster (someone who responds to Trumps tweets first to gain prominent placement in threads) who tweeted that the scariest thing about the crisis was seeing American so easily bow down & give up their blood bought freedom to corrupt politicians who promise them safety [sic].

Now, there are arguments to be made that the careful rolling back of restrictions in certain locales could be okay; even New York, the worldwide hot spot, is beginning to discuss it. At the same time, the very reason the infection and mortality rate hasnt been as bad as some projected is because those measures are in place, and removing them too quickly could easily cause a renewed spike in cases and deaths.

The fact that Musk, ostensibly a man of science and above-average intelligence, would promote such coronavirus truther theories without an appropriate level of nuance has set Twitter ablaze. For one, pop star Ariana Grandes mom wasnt shy about voicing her opinion on Musks careless words.

How incredibly irresponsible of you, Joan Grande tweeted. And you think you are a person of science and technology Youre a disgrace. and now I have to get ride of my TESLAs. (Yeah, we caught that pluralization there, Mama Grande. #HumbleBrag is back.)

As it has been since the start, the coronavirus pandemic is a very fluid situation, and the scientific community is learning new information daily. Even the numbers we do have are likely flawed due to a lack of accurate, widely available testing, especially when it comes to antibodies. While its true the curve has begun to flatten and its understandable workers are itching to get back to earning a living, theres a reason experts are called experts and Musk is called engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist.

Some have even pointed out Musks own belief in this, posting screenshots of a November 2017 tweet he sent out quoting Mustafa Kemal Atatrk: If one day, my words are against science, choose science.

That said, Musk has tried to help, sending CPAP and BiPAP machines to hospitals (though the safety and effectiveness of the non-invasive ventilators without modifications has been questioned). Regardless, guidelines from the CDC and the White House caution against opening states back up too soon instructions a number of states are already ignoring.

See the article here:

Elon Musk Demands COVID-19 Restrictions Be Lifted: Give People Their Freedom Back! - Consequence of Sound

There's no room for Zoom at SpaceX, it would seem.

Elon Musk's aerospace manufacturing firm has barred its staff from using Zoom over security concerns and is said to have disabled all company access to the videoconferencing service, effective immediately.

People familiar with the matter told Reuters that SpaceX staff members had been told to use email, text, or phone calls instead.

In a whirlwind 48-hour period this week, reports surfaced that Zoom didn't use end-to-end encryption for its video meetings and had leaked thousands of users' email addresses to strangers.

It's also been suggested that attackers could use the Zoom Windows client to steal network credentials.

The security concerns have emerged in spite or perhaps because of a huge surge in Zoom use around the world. Amid a coronavirus-induced increase in remote working, Zoom is thought to have gained more users so far this year than it did in all of 2019.

In a statement on its website published Wednesday, Zoom's founder, Eric Yuan, said the firm was "looking into each and every one" of the security concerns raised and "addressing them as expeditiously as we can."

"We did not design the product with the foresight that, in a matter of weeks, every person in the world would suddenly be working, studying, and socializing from home," he added.

See original here:

Elon Musk's SpaceX bans Zoom over security and privacy concerns - Business Insider - Business Insider

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 09: Elon Musk, founder and chief engineer of SpaceX speaks at the 2020 ... [+] Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9, 2020 in Washington, DC. Musk answered a range of questions relating to SpaceX projects during his appearance at the conference. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Last week, the most famous person in tech started retweeting posts about the coronavirus. His goal? To counter the argument that the pandemic is getting worse.

The problem is: Most predictions are proving accurate.

Experts have certainly stated on the record that there are serious concerns. Just today, Dr. Deborah Birx, representing The White House, said as many as 200,000 people could die in the U.S. if the outbreak is handled perfectly in every way.

Who and what you retweet can reveal a lot.

Musk had retweeted a book author and journalist named Alex Berenson, saying the estimates for infection and deaths are inflated. Berenson also mentioned how the lockdown in the U.K. is working after only two days. Its all a bunch of theories and counter-arguments, but it seems as though Musk agrees with them.

Earlier this month, Elon Musk noted how it is dumb to panic during the pandemic. I was surprised he didnt parse out the fact that the word panic is literally part of pandemic (the first three letters and the last two). Not all panic is 100% negative, by the way. Panic is a valid response in some situations where we need to act fast and find workable solutions.

In one post late last week, Musk mentioned the idea of administering an antibody test for COVID-19 to see if you are immune. Heres the tweet:

(Side note: To find out more about giving blood in your area, visit this link. Another great piece is here with information about how you can get involved with the counterattack. Ill keep adding more links soon with helpful info.)

Its all good information about antibodies and I appreciate the efforts Tesla is putting into the problem. Last week, the company Musk co-founded donated hundreds of ventilators.Great! Now for the open letter portion of this post.

Dear Elon Musk, please stop.

I dont want to hear about overestimates or counter-arguments or whether we should panic. As the Governor of Michigan recently explained to President Trump (saying she doesnt have time for every slight and just needs help), its not the best time for rhetoric. What we really need is for smart entrepreneurs to figure out solutions and to focus on resolving problems. I want more tweets about that.

Im not sure what the retweets were designed to accomplish, to be honest. Maybe its to calm people down and help us all to think logically. I dont care. I want to read about solutions. There are enough good sources for information about the pandemic, including the CDC website. In fact, there are thousands and thousands of links and millions of tweets. Adding more links doesnt help. One quick check of the BuzzSumo site that shows trending stories and you can see that everyone has an opinion and there are hundreds of news articles.

You have almost 33 million followers.

When you say anything, people jump into action. Instead of a series of retweets about how things are not so bad, how about a series of tweets about how people can get involved, how they can help and how you can be part of the solution.

Were running out of time.

Read the original:

Dear Elon Musk: Stop Tweeting About Coronavirus And Focus On Solutions - Forbes

"If you could have any superpower, what would it be?" Eyalasks his daughter. But before she can answer, Eyal's phone buzzes and an email distracts him from the conversation.

"I wish I could tell you what she said in that moment, but I can't. While she was telling me her dream superpower, I was busy staring at my phone," Eyal recalls. "By the time I looked up, she had left the room. I'd blown a perfect daddy-daughter moment because I was distracted." At that moment he decided on his dream superpower. Forget flying or X-ray vision, Eyal wantedto be indistractable. Eyalwrote a whole book to figure out how to get there.Here are some insights from the book that can help you get there, too.

It's called timeboxing, or a zero-based calendar,and it boils down to scheduling literally every minute of your day, even periods you devote to daydreaming or eating breakfast.

That might sound like a level of organization only required of billionaire moguls, but Eyal offers a version of the technique that anyone can use. Startup RescueTime has a helpful in-depth explainer. Here are the basics:

Reflect on your priorities. Why are you doing this? Knowing what yourgoals arewill help you decide what to schedule and how you'll put it intoyour day.

Start with your routine. Most basic tasks--meals, exercise, spending time with loved ones--follow a daily rhythm. Start filling in your calendar with those activities, such as "Eat breakfast and get ready" every day from 6 to 7 a.m.

Schedule your most focused tasks. Now that you have a basic framework for your day, schedule in the most complex and meaningful tasks that demand unbroken blocks of concentration.

Block out "reactive" time.Deep work isimportant, butthat's not your entire day. You need time toreactto stuff and putout fires, so block out reactive timeeach day.

Add a daily to-do list. What's left? All the little minutiae of day-to-day life. "Write out your tasks for the day and fit them into the appropriate slots,"instructs RescueTime.

Is this time consuming? Sure, timeboxing demands real effort. But Eyal suggestsif you want to tame your distractions and control how you spend your time (and your life), you should take the time to schedule every minute.

Published on: Apr 1, 2020

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Read more:

Being Indistractable is a Modern Superpower. Elon Musk Has It (Thanks to How He Schedules His Days) - Inc.

Stargazers in the UK have reported seeing trains of bright lights shooting across the sky in recent days, as Elon Musk's Starlink satellite network grows.

One Britonsaid he had seen as many as 60 of the satellites shooting over the UK yesterday evening. "It's getting like Star Wars up there," he wrote on Twitter.

Another commented that there were "weird and mysterious UFO-like lights spotted in the Somerset sky".

Similar sightingsare likely in the days and weeks ahead, experts claim. You can see the best time to spot a satellite passing here.

Mr Musk's SpaceX business has been launching the satellites in batches of 60 since last May, with a total of 300 having been fired into the sky so far. However, the numbers are expected to ramp up rapidly.

The company has US approval to launch12,000 satellites, and is hoping to do so by the mid-2020s. Last year, it filed paperwork to launch an extra30,000 Starlink satellites.

The plan is ultimately to create an orbiting network which can provide global internet coverage.

It is an expensive process, and sightings of the Starlink satellites in the UK comes just days after rival satellite company OneWeb filed for bankruptcy and laid off most of its staff.

It said talks for a new funding round with its bigger backer SoftBank had broken down"because of the financial impact and market turbulence related to the spread of Covid-19".

OneWeb had launched around 70 satellites into orbit and had been planning to grow its network to around 640, but experts had suggested this would take a lot more cash to implement than the 2.6bn OneWeb had already raised.

BossAdrian Steckel had said it was a "difficult day for us at OneWeb".

"So many people have dedicated so much energy, effort, and passion to this company and our mission.

"Our hope is that this process will allow us to carve a path forward that leads to the completion of our mission, building on the years of effort and the billions of invested capital."

Excerpt from:

Elon Musks Starlink satellites light up skies over the UK - Telegraph.co.uk

Though the fate of Tomorrowland in July is still uncertain, fans will be pleased to know that the epic TomorrowWorld is making its official return this year, and organizers have some huge plans in store. According to a press release from the festival, it will now invariably ring true to its name as it moves tospace.

The problem we faced with the last TomorrowWorld was the inclement and unpredictable weather, festival organizers said. So we thought, why not take weather out of the equation?

In order to bring the idea to fruition, the festival had to find a partner who was well-versed in large gatherings, space, and logistics no small feat. Thankfully, Elon Musk turned out to be the consummate individual for the job.

Once we brought the idea to Elon, we could immediately see the wheels start turning in his head. He offered a bunch of ideas, but nothing that would quite match with the vision we had in mind. Thankfully, SpaceX has been developing a floating fortress secretly ever since Elon saw Captain America: Winter Soldier and theyve graciously agreed to not only unveil it for the first time for the return of TomorrowWorld this year, but also give us use of its facilities for the whole weekend!

Attendees will travel to Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada where theywill board sub-space shuttles to take them to the fortress where they will walk through military-grade sanitizing rooms to avoid any contamination. The ship sports nearly 50,000 individual crew bays where ticket holders will be able to bunk by themselves, along with 20,000 doubles and 10,000 triples, for a maximum of 120,000 attendees for this one-of-a-kind event.

Artists will apparently be shuttled in by day and will leave all together after the night is done to alleviate any overcrowding on the fortress.

Of the partnership, Elon Musk says, Im honored to be debuting our Air Fortress for the first time with TomorrowWorld, a company that shares many of the values that I prioritize in my own companies. We will work night and day to make sure everything is ready by the time all 120,000 people are ready to board and party until they drop well, not off the fortress, that would be bad.

Disclaimer: Happy April Fools. We know right now that everyone is hurting, and #NoAprilFools is even trending, but we felt that to not bring levity and laughter to an otherwise very grim period in our lives wouldnt be in line with how we do things. Though we aim to briefly deceive, our aim is not to anger or inflame any pre-existing issues, but to flip the script and examine a world where the inconceivable thrives. We hope you and yours are staying healthy during these trying times.

Photo via Rukes.com

See the rest here:

TomorrowWorld Returns As New Space-Bound Festival In Partnership With Elon Musk - Your EDM

KEY POINTS

Johnny Depp accused Amber Heard of having an affair with Elon Musk while she was still married to the Pirates of the Caribbean star.

In the lawsuit obtained by People, Depp alleged that Heard received late-night visits from Musk while he was out of the country filming. The actor also said that Musk was allowed entry into his and Heards home on the same night that the Aquaman star stepped out in public with her battered face.

However, a representative for Musk denied Depps claims. He said that Heard and Musk did not start seeing each other until May 2016. This was the month that Heard and Depp separated. Musks representative also said that Heard and Musks relationship didnt become romantic until a few months later.

This frivolous action is just the latest of Johnny Depps repeated efforts to silence Amber Heard. She will not be silenced. Mr. Depps actions prove he is unable to accept the truth of his ongoing abusive behavior. But while he appears hell-bent on achieving self-destruction, we will prevail in defeating this groundless lawsuit and ending the continued vile harassment of my client by Mr. Depp and his legal team. Heards attorney, Eric M. George told the publication.

Meanwhile, Depps $50 million defamation case against Heard will head to trial after the coronavirus pandemic. The former couple was scheduled to face each other in court last week but Depp had the meeting adjourned due to the global health pandemic.

However, Heards team was not convinced that this is the real reason why Depp had the trial canceled. They said that Depp refused to face his ex-wife in court because hes afraid that the truth will finally come out.

Todays decision leaves it to a jury to decide the meaning of Ms. Heards op-ed and the truth of what she said. As we have said, the courts have strong mechanisms in place for determining the truth. Here, we remain confident that Ms. Heard will prevail at trial when the jury is presented with evidence on the question that the Court identified namely, whether Ms. Heard was abused by Mr. Depp, they told Deadline.

Amber Heard and Johnny Depp attend The Art of Elysium HEAVEN Gala in Culver City, California, Jan. 9, 2016. Photo: Getty Images

See more here:

Johnny Depps Shocking Cheating Allegations Against Amber Heard, Elon Musk Denied By Representative - International Business Times

Stats

Age48

Source of WealthTesla Motors, SpaceX, Self Made

ResidenceLos Angeles, California

CitizenshipUnited States

Marital StatusDivorced

Children5

EducationBachelor of Arts/Science, University of Pennsylvania

Musk was accepted to a graduate program at Stanford, but deferred attendance to launch his first business, software company Zip2.

As a kid Musk taught himself to code; he sold his first game, Blastar, for about $500.

$12B

Billionaires March 2015

$13.3B

Forbes 400 September 2015

$10.7B

Billionaires March 2016

$11.6B

Forbes 400 October 2016

$13.9B

Billionaires March 2017

$20.8B

Forbes 400 October 2017

$19.9B

Billionaires March 2018

$19.6B

Forbes 400 October 2018

$22.3B

Billionaires March 2019

$19.9B

Forbes 400 October 2019

I operate on the physics approach to analysis. You boil things down to the first principles or fundamental truths in a particular area and then you reason up from there.

24,532 views|

Mar 14, 2020

Elon Musk tweeted that coronavirus panic was dumb last Friday. Since then, the value of his Tesla stock has tanked by $5.5 billion.

24,920 views|

Mar 13, 2020

Since then, concerns over the disease have spread exponentially.

3,240 views|

Mar 10, 2020

Concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus may be causing many CEOs to hold off on new multibillion-dollar capital investment projects. Not Elon Musk.

6,463 views|

Mar 10, 2020

The breathless surge in Tesla shares raised expectations Musk would soon hit the first tranche of a jaw-dropping pay package worth at least $55 billion over a decade

5,945 views|

Mar 9, 2020

SpaceXs Starlink constellation will not cause any problems for astronomy, the companys CEO and founder Elon Musk said today, Monday, March 9, despite many astronomers already being affected by the rapidly growing constellation.

45,361 views|

Mar 9, 2020

Case in point: The latest tweet from Elon Musk about the coronavirus now has almost two million likes on Twitter, and its gaining more retweets, replies, and likes by the hour.

95,027 views|

Mar 4, 2020

How about REVERSE smart summon?

1,115 views|

Mar 4, 2020

Your cell phone call is dropped, no problem. Your AV loses all communication, is this a problem ?

35,335 views|

Mar 4, 2020

Elon Musk, who's still running his victory lap after his electric car company Tesla proved its detractors wrong, has once again gone out to bat for his "fav" bitcoin alternativesending its price sharply higher...

8,217 views|

Mar 2, 2020

A billionaire investor may want Jack Dorsey out from Twitter. But some of Dorsey's employeesand another high-profile tech billionairedon't seem to share that sentiment.

8,246 views|

Mar 2, 2020

It was bold but wrong for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO to proclaim the end of manned fighter aircraft in front of U.S. Air Force officers. Here's why manned fighters will hold the competitive edge over drones and remote-piloted aircraft for decades into the future.

24,793 views|

Feb 29, 2020

Tesla's CEO tells a roomful of 'fighter mafia' that their days are numbered. In many respects he's right, but here's why it may take a lot longer than he predicted before drones displace manned fighter aircraft.

19,518 views|

Feb 21, 2020

Tesla raised $2.3 billion from a secondary stock offering it announced a week ago. In the same time frame, Musks net worth surged by an even higher figure.

11,804 views|

Feb 18, 2020

We live in the crazy world of social media where famous billionaires take swipes at one another.

29,943 views|

Feb 14, 2020

The handbook is like its founderno-nonsense, direct and to the point.

4,919 views|

Feb 13, 2020

The new offering is a surprise as Musk recently said the company didn't need to raise funds.

More Articles

Tesla

Holds stake in Tesla Motors

Continue reading here:

Elon Musk - forbes.com

Outspoken entrepreneur Elon Musk has sent a memo to SpaceX employees informing them that they're more likely to be killed in a car crash than dying from COVID-19.

Exactly what point Musk was making in his email on Friday to SpaceX workers isn't clear, but he appears to have wanted to allay panic by pointing out the relative risks of driving versus being infected by the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.

SpaceX is gearing up for its first launch with NASA astronauts onboard in May, but that, like so many other events in all industries, could be disrupted by COVID-19.

The World Health Organization says there are currently 164,837 confirmed cases and 6,470 deaths due to COVID-19. Ina March 12 updateit warned that a surge in "critically ill patients requiring mechanical ventilation has strained some health systems and exhausted biomedical supplies and staff".

Musk's email, seen by BuzzFeed News, tells workers that all the evidence he had seen about COVID-19 "suggests that this is *not* within the top 100 health risks in the United States". In the US, there have been 1,678 confirmed cases.

"As a basis for comparison, the risk of death from C19 is *vastly* less than the risk of death from driving your car home," Musk wrote to SpaceX employees. "There are about 36,000 automotive deaths per [year], as compared to 36 so far this year for C19."

The message is consistent with a tweet Musk posted on March 6 that "the coronavirus panic is dumb" a week before Donald Trump announced a ban on travel to the US from the EU that has since been extended to the UK and Ireland.

Of course, health officials across the globe have highlighted that the point of measures like self-isolation are aimed at preventing the spread of the novel coronavirus to vulnerable people, including the elderly and those with medical conditions, who have a much higher chance of dying than the young and healthy.

Per CNBC, Musk has reportedly told employees that if they're feeling ill "it's always better to stay home and take care of yourself".

However, unlike others in the $400bn space industry, SpaceX appears to be proceeding with business as usual. NASA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin have put restrictions on business travel and implemented remote-working arrangements.

NASA last week saidon March 8 it had confirmed that an employee at its Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley had tested positive for COVID-19. Another worker at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama has also tested positive for COVID-19. NASA has since implemented 'Stage 3' mandatory telework status at Marshall.

On Saturday, NASA said all NASA centers had moved to Stage 2, which means "telework is strongly encouraged for employees who can work remotely".

"I've directed employees to take home their laptop computer, power cord, NASA badge, and any other equipment needed to work effectively from an alternate location, as well as essential personal items they may need," said NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.

"The workforce is asked to stay in regular contact with supervisors. Travel that is not mission-essential, as defined in the response framework, will be limited agencywide."

The US Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday issued new guidance that all events with more than 50 people should be cancelled or postponed for eight weeks.

The rest is here:

Elon Musk tells SpaceX workers: 'Driving is deadlier than coronavirus' - ZDNet

It will take 1,000 spaceships and "a million tons" of vitamin C to make life on Mars sustainable, says SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Otherwise "you're going to die slowly and painfully."

That's because in order to live on Mars, "we need to have a self-sustaining city" there, Musk recently told Ars Technica.

A city on Mars "has to survive if the resupply ships stop coming from Earth for any reason whatsoever," Musk told Ars Technica. "Doesn't matter why. If those resupply ships stop coming, does the city die out or not?"

And "in order to make something self-sustaining, you can't be missing anything. You must have all the ingredients.It can't be like, well this thing is self-sustaining except for this one little thing that we don't have. It can't be."

Musk likened it to a long sea voyage: "That'd be like saying, 'Well ... we had everything except vitamin C.' OK, great. Now you're going to get scurvy and dieand painfully, by the way. It's going to suck. You're going to die slowly and painfully for lack of vitamin C. So we've got to make sure we've got the vitamin C there on Mars," he said.

"Then it's like, OK, rough order of magnitude, what kind of tonnage do you need to make it self-sustaining? It's probably not less than a million tons," he added. (The average adult needs between 75 and 90 milligrams of vitamin C each day, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Assuming a 90 milligram dose, a million tons of vitamin Cwould be more than 10 trillion doses.)

Musk tweeted in January that the goal of his Starship transportation system to Mars will be to launch each of SpaceX's reusable Starship rockets about three times per day, on average, while carrying a 100-ton payload on each flight. with roughly 1,000 flights per year carrying more than 100 tons of cargo on each flight. At that rate, Musk theorizes, each Starship rocket would make roughly 1,000 flights per year, launching a total of 100,000 tons of cargo into orbit.

"So, every 10 ships yield 1 megaton per year to orbit," Muskalso tweetedin January.

And 1,000 Starships could send "maybe around 100k people per Earth-Mars orbital sync," Musk added on Twitter, referring to the period, every 26 months, when Earth's and Mars' orbits are best aligned for an interplanetary journey. "That's the goal."

(Currently, Musk has SpaceX engineers working day and night building his Starship system, according to Ars Technica.)

Musk has thought about how other things would work on Mars too.

For instance, there will be "a lot of jobs" on Mars, he tweeted in January.

And on the "Third Row Tesla" podcast, also in January, Musk said there will be a "direct democracy" on Mars so that the inhabitants will make decisions for themselves.Musk alsobelieves there should befewer and less complicatedlaws on Mars than there are on Earth.

As for the city itself, it will have "an outdoorsy, fun atmosphere," Musk told Popular Mechanicsin February 2019. So "you'd probably want to have some faceted glass dome, with a park, so you can walk around without a [space] suit."

Food would be grown on solar-powered hydroponic farms, located either underground or in an enclosed structure, he said.

Musk plans to send a SpaceXrocket to Mars, with cargo only, by 2022, according to the SpaceX website. A second mission, which would take more cargo and crew, is targeted for 2024. Musk has also said he'll send a million people to Mars by 2050.

"I'll probably be long dead before Mars becomes self-sustaining," Musk told Ars Technica. "But I'd like to at least be around to see a bunch of ships land on Mars."

Check out: The best credit cards of 2020 could earn you over $1,000 in 5 years

Don't miss:

Read more here:

Elon Musk on planning for Mars: 'The city has to survive if the resupply ships stop coming from Earth' - CNBC

Elon Musk at the 2020 Satellite Conference and Exhibition March 9 in Washington, DC.

The breathless surge in Tesla shares that gained steam through February raised expectations that CEO Elon Musk would soon hit the first tranche of a jaw-dropping pay package worth at least $55 billion over a decade for hitting performance targets set by Teslas board. He could qualify for a payout of $435 million as early as late April, though the timing is increasingly clouded as Tesla shares plunge amid coronavirus concerns.

Musks long-term compensation package, approved in March 2018, set a series of specific market cap, revenue and adjusted profit targets to be attained over a decade. To receive the maximum payout, Teslas market cap must hit $650 billion, more than six times the current level; annual revenue from Teslas electric vehicles, batteries and solar panels has to be $175 billion, with adjusted earnings of $14 billion. Forbes estimates Musks net worth is $34.6 billion as of March 10.

Payouts to Musk come in the form of a dozen individual awards of about 1.69 million Tesla shares, assuming hes met one of 12 market cap goals, along with revenue and adjusted profit targets. If he falls short in a particular period, he gets nothing. Hes well on his way to fulfilling the first set as Teslas revenue of $24.6 billion in 2019 and annual adjusted pre-tax earnings of at least $1.5 billion represented two operational milestones, the company said in its annual report filed on Feb. 13. At that time, no market capitalization milestones have been achieved.

But Teslas surge that pushed its market cap to $100 billion for the first time on Jan. 22 kept going for more than 30 days. Retaining that level for both 30 days and six-months is looking harder to predict. Currently, Teslas six-month trailing valuation is $80 billion, from Sept. 11 through March 10.

Tesla

U.S. markets were hit particularly hard on March 9, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 7.8%, the S&P 500 off 7.6% and the Nasdaq Composite falling 7.3%. Tesla rebounded a bit on Tuesday, up about 6% to $645.33.

Since closing at a record $917.42 on Feb. 19, which inflated Teslas market cap to $168.8 billion, the stock has plunged 31% through March 10, cutting its valuation to $119 billion. If the current level holds for another six weeks, Musk could see his first payout by the end of April. The 1.69 million shares in the first award have an exercise price of $350.02 each, so if Tesla shares were still at the $608 level of March 9, the awards net value for him would be about $435 million.

A review of Musks package by The New York Times in January 2018 called it the boldest pay plan in corporate history. Not to be outdone, Musk himself told the paper: I actually see the potential for Tesla to become a trillion-dollar company within a 10-year period.

In February, as the stock was surging, one estimate calculated the six-month market cap target could come as early as April 17, assuming the shares didnt fall below a Feb. 11 closing price of $774.38. Currently, in a best-case scenario in which the stock stays at or above its current price of $608 a share, Forbes estimates the six-month average could still be met by as early as April 22. But with ongoing market turbulence as companies and investors try to get a grasp of the scope of economic damage from the COVID-19 outbreak, the odds of that happening are getting tougher.

Musk hasnt commented directly on either his pay package or stock drop recently, though he lashed out at coronavirus panic late last week, telling his 32 million Twitter followers on March 6 the coronavirus panic is dumb.

That drew a rebuke from former options trader and risk analyst Nassim Nicholas Taleb, best known for his book The Black Swan:The Impact of the Highly Improbable, who told Musk on Twitter saying the coronavirus panic is dumb is dumb.

Aside from his potential disappointment of a delayed stock payout, the often sleep-deprived Musk may have even more on his mind these days than the usual challenges of running both Tesla and SpaceX. His romantic partner, Canadian singer Grimes, told Rolling Stone in an interview this month that shes pregnant with Musks sixth child.

Regardless, he was more sanguine about stock exchange turbulence on March 9, tweeting market was bit high anyway, so due for a correction.

Follow this link:

Elon Musks Drive To $55 Billion Tesla Payday Slowed By COVID-19 Stock Slide - Forbes

Tesla chief Elon Musk called coronavirus a "pandemic" on Twitter five days before the World Health ... [+] Organization officially designated it as one.

Topline: Tesla CEO Elon Musk received the most likes and retweets during the past 7 days on Twitter, according to data compiled by the social media tracking firm NewsWhip, for his dismissive March 6 Tweet claiming the coronavirus panic is dumb, before the virus had upended industry and American life, showing just how much can change in seven days.

Big number: 15%. Thats how much Teslas stock price has dropped during this weeks massive sell-offs.

Key background: Over the last few months, coronavirusofficially named COVID-19has spread quickly from Wuhan, China to the rest of the world, with Italy, Iran and South Korea dealing with the most severe outbreaks outside of China. In the U.S., state and local governments have begun limiting large gatherings of people to fight disease transmission. According to the New York Times, more than 135,000 cases have been confirmed worldwide and nearly 5,000 have died as of Friday. Critics have slammed the Trump administrations response to the outbreak, accusing Trump of downplaying the threat of the virus, and flubbing his national address on the crisis, while the administration has faced heat for creating botched test kits and then being too slow in making working kits available.

Read more:

Twitters Most-Liked Tweet Of The Week: Elon Musk Calls Coronavirus Panic Dumb - Forbes

Elon Musk has never been particularly shy about, well, anything. He'sknown for sharing his thoughts about competitors, critics, and the products his companies produce. Sometimes, you might argue, he shares more than he should. However, it's usually worth paying attention to what he has to say.

On Monday, Musk was onstage at the Satellite 2020 conferenceand shared his thoughts about the future of innovation. Specifically, Musk said he believes "technology does not automatically improve."

Sure, that doesn't sound overly profound, until you start to unpack it and realize that most of us do assume that the next versionof something will automatically be better than the previous. As Musk points out, however, that's not necessarily the case. In fact, often it'sthe opposite.New is not always the same as better.

As an example,Musk had a few choice words for Apple, especially when it comes to the iPhone:

I'm an iPhone user, but I think some of the recent software updates have like been not great, certainly feeding into that point. It, like, broke my email system ...which is quite fundamental.

That's a fair assessment.

Musk is likely referring to the release of iOS 13, which was widely criticized as a result of a number of bugs and flaws. In fact, the Department of Defense even encouraged people not to upgrade their devices because of the problems. One of the worst problems related to the Mail app, where the list of messages would show "No Sender" instead of whoever actually sent you the message.

Apple didn't become one of themost valuable companiesin the world by making poorly designed products. On the contrary, it has long beenknown for its product design and the relationship between device and software. Still, even the big guys get it wrong on occasion.

That's because sometimes, in our effort to innovate, we break things--including things that people depend on.The changes you make--even in the name of innovation--have a real impact on your customers'lives.

Obviously, technology improves as a result of the innovation and work done by the people who design and build it. It doesn't just happen on its own. That's an important lesson for every entrepreneur.

The future of technology depends on the people who build it, and their acknowledgment that innovation doesn't just happen. It requires discipline and a commitment to the overall user experience. That doesn't mean that every innovation will be a home run,but your job is to build something that adds value for your customers.

And, by the way, Musk is right: Breaking email doesn't add value to anything.

Published on: Mar 11, 2020

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Read the original:

With 5 Words, Elon Musk Just Told Us What He Really Thinks About the Future of Innovation - Inc.

On the hot topic of Starlink, Musk shut down the idea that SpaceX is considering splitting it off for a potential IPO.

We are thinking about that zero, Musk said. He emphasized the key focus with Starlink is on making it work, as he namechecked the failed LEO operations in the late 1990s such as Teledesic, ICO, and Iridium (the first inclination). We need to set the stage of LEO constellations. Guess how many LEO constellations didnt go bankrupt zero, Musk said. Iridium is doing OK now, Teledesic and others went bankrupt. We are focusing on making it not go bankrupt.

The SpaceX founder believes the world had an insatiable appetite for bandwidth, and he said he doesnt think Starlink would destroy the business plans of other satellites.

Also, in terms of Starlink, Musk said he did not see it as some super threat to telcos.

It will serve the hardest to serve customers. 5G is great for high density situations, but it is not great for the countryside. So, any kind of sparse environment, 5G is not well suited. Starlink will serve the 3% to 4% hardest to reach customers for telcos. So, I think it will be actually helpful and take a significant load off the traditional telcos. We wont have a lot of customers in [Los Angeles], for example, he said. We are targeting latency of below 20 milliseconds. Bandwidth is a very complex question. Somebody will be able to do all the things they want to do without noticing anything. The ground equipment looks like a UFO on a stick. It will have actuators on it, so it can improve the pointing accuracy. You dont need a specialist to install it. Point at sky and then plug in.

With Starlink looking to launch lots of satellites, there have been concerns raised from astronomers regarding Musk said, I am confident will not cause any impact in whatsoever in terms of astronomic discoveries. We will take corrective action if it is above zero. When the satellites are first launched, they are tumbling a little bit, and havent stabilized. Now, they are on orbit, I would be impressed if someone could tell me where all of them are. It cant be that big of a deal.

SpaceX launched its fifth batch of Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 on Sunday, but did not complete the booster landing, which would have been its 50th successful landing. Photo: SpaceX

When Musk reflected on his career, he said if he could go back, he would make a far fewer mistakes. Hindsight is 20/20. I have made so many foolish mistakes, I have lost count. Simple mantra, management by rhyming. If the schedule is long, the design is wrong. The acid test is how long will it take for this to fly. If it takes too long, dont do it.You need to simplify your product as much as possible. How does a smart engineer make a dumb mistake? You optimize something that does not exist. A lot of times you should say this is the wrong question. Your goal is to make your design less wrong over time, Musk said.

As to the value of a college education, Musk said You dont need college to learn stuff. You can learn anything you want for free. There is a value that colleges that have, can someone work hard at something, and annoying homework assignments and get it done. That is the main value of college. I think colleges are not for learning, they are for fun and doing your chores. I dont consider going to college as evidence of exceptional ability. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, they all dropped out.

While Musks words may not have been music to the ears of colleges across the United States, one of the other main themes of his fireside chat was talking about Starship, as human spaceflight draws ever closer. However, while progress on this front is likely imminent, Musk talked about an accelerated rate of progress needed if we are to have resettlement on Mars. He said, I hope I am not dead when resettling on Mars happens. But, if dont improve our rate of progress, I will be dead. It has taken 18 years to get the first people ready. We have to improve our pace of innovation a lot. I dont want to be dead [to see this happen.] It is great that we are about to launch people to orbit. It has been a long time 18 years. But, we havent done it yet. Unless we improve our rate of innovation dramatically, we wont be able to have a base on the moon or a city on Mars.

In terms of some of the significant challenges facing Starship, Musk said SpaceX has a big focus on Starship in terms of new technology development. We need a whole new architecture, and that is what Starship is about. It needs to be completely re-usable. It needs to be re-launched an hour after landing. It is like commercial aircraft. The only thing you expect to change on a regular basis is propellant. It has got to be fast. We are building a production line. Designing rockets is not that hard. The hard part is building a production line, and that is 1000 percent harder, maybe more. Production and manufacturing is something I see as very under-appreciated in the U.S.

See the rest here:

Elon Musk Talks Starlink, 5G, Education and More at SATELLITE 2020 - Aviation Today

It seems one of the most unlikely relationships in the celebrity world may have turned into a blissful love story. When Grimes and Elon Musk first met, nobody would have thought theyd gel considering the formers stance on how she felt about billionaires and political power in general. Then again, since everyone knows opposites usually attract, maybe it wasnt so unusual.

One thing Grimes has said, though, is Musk is more in tune with her beliefs than people think. Apparently this is the reasoning behind her agreeing to get pregnant with him in recent months.

Yes, its now confirmed Musk is indeed the father of Grimes yet-to-be-born and future genderless baby, something creating plenty of online chatter. With Musk already a controversial international figure and Grimes an equal one in music, one might wonder what this child will experience later in life.

In a recent interview with Paper Magazine, Grimes (aka Claire Boucher) said she and Musk are more politically simpatico than some might think. Part of this comes in the extensive work he does in helping the environment and progressing technology/science.

There is a good argument to be made there, despite his billionaire status and penchant for supporting politicians from the Republican party. Grimes says Musk kind of changed her outlook on the good billionaires can do when they have the right purpose in life. It is true Musk has done some good, if also arguably wasting money on things people dont needlike his controversial Tesla Cybertruck.

Living with Musk probably isnt easy either when hes working long days to keep his Tesla company operating at full capacity. Add to that Grimes own full schedule touring around the world and it doesnt seem like a love story headed to a perfect conclusion.

Having children can change everything, though. Once Grimes gives birth to their child this fall, its going to be interesting to see if both will truly settle down for a while.

Those familiar with Grimes songs will know she wrote one called So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth, supposedly mirroring the tragedy of getting pregnant. To her, the whole process is like a violation of the womans body, including sacrificing ones power in capitulation to a man. Clearly, her beliefs in wanting to stay independent of that have changed, particularly due to her admitted love for Musk.

Some might think its an ill-fated situation since Grimes admitted to Page Six she worries how being pregnant will affect her life. Since she says she enjoys working in the night, being pregnant wont be easy on her body. Plus, she also has anxiety about whether her child will inherit her once-wild ways as a teen.

Some billionaires with world influence arent the types to settle down with kids. There isnt any track record of that happening well, or at least without serious breakups later. Then again, Musk does have kids from a prior marriage and claims to be a good dad.

If its true Grimes tamed her wild streak, it seems hard to believe shell be able to tame herself completely either. Everything seems to say these two dynamic notables livingtogether might lead to disaster down the road. Adding a baby to this equation might be the magic formula for couples who really stay together.

Read more here:

Grimes Reveals Elon Musk Is Indeed the Father of Her Baby - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Even during this time of crisis and despair for many in the world, the scammers are still hard at work trying to swindle crypto from innocent victims.

If you remember during the crypto boom of 2018, the scammers used to go around twitter using misspelled @elonmusk accounts trying to scam victims into sending them crypto. After the hype died down, most of them crawled back into their caves.

As the world is dealing with the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 the scammers are back at it, exploiting unsuspecting victims. This time they claim Elon Must and Tesla are hosting a crypto giveaway and all you need to do in order to enter is to send them 0.1-10BTC to their address

While most of us crypto OGs wont fall for a scam like that, the average Joe will be easily fooled. Heres an example of such an offer as a reply to one of Donald Trumps tweets:

*backup photo in case tweet gets removed:https://gyazo.com/3d2d2ec879b3ac199025178b8185f635

If you head over to the website bitcoingives.info you will see a medium post supposedly written by Elon Must himself:

If you click the Elon Must profile on the page it will take you to Musks official medium profile, just another tactic to deceive their victims.

Scrolling down you will see links to enter the giveaway. The links are for BTC, ETH, and LTC.

The way the scam works is they ask you to send them roughly $500 worth of BTC, LTC, or ETH in order to enter the fake giveaway.

To trick you even further, if you take a look at the transaction history for each address, you will see a payment of around $500. Heres an example of a $1,600 payment to their ETH address:0x7f0dD36F14f21a10f560caa3d7567f483613BaaF

Dont be fooled! This is just the scammer sending himself money to legitimize his offer.

Before I could even write this article, this domain has been flagged by Google Chrome as a dangerous domain, and will display a warning if you try to access it. We can only hope that these scammers are caught and punished appropriately.

There should be zero tolerance for this kind of behavior during a vulnerable time like this.

Here is the original post:

Elon Musk Crypto Giveaway Scams are Still Rampant - The Merkle Hash