Representative Sherrill Statement on Biden-Putin Meeting – Mikie Sherrill

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Washington, DC In advance of the bilateral meeting between President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) released the following statement:

As a former Russian policy officer in the US Navy, I know that the only thing that Vladimir Putin understands is power-politics. For years now, Vladimir Putin has operated with impunity because of the former administration's failure to hold him accountable. Whether it is the harboring of cybercriminals, attacks on political free speech, especially on opposition leaders like Alexei Navalny, or military provocations throughout the region, Putin has operated as if there are zero consequences for his actions.

It is reassuring to know that there is finally an American president with the ability and the willingness to hold Putin accountable. As President Biden enters into tomorrows bilateral meeting, the message will be clear: the United States will no longer accept Putins aggressive support for violations of international law.

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India And Tech Companies Clash Over Censorship, Privacy And ‘Digital Colonialism’ – NPR

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The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a standoff with social media companies over what content gets investigated or blocked online, and who gets to decide. Bikas Das/AP hide caption

The government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is in a standoff with social media companies over what content gets investigated or blocked online, and who gets to decide.

MUMBAI AND SAN FRANCISCO One night last month, police crowded into the lobby of Twitter's offices in India's capital New Delhi. They were from an elite squad that normally investigates terrorism and organized crime, and said they were trying to deliver a notice alerting Twitter to misinformation allegedly tweeted by opposition politicians.

But they arrived at 8 p.m. And Twitter's offices were closed anyway, under a coronavirus lockdown. It's unclear if they ever managed to deliver their notice. They released video of their raid afterward to Indian TV channels and footage shows them negotiating with security guards in the lobby.

The May 24 police raid which Twitter later called an "intimidation tactic" was one of the latest salvos in a confrontation between the Indian government and social media companies over what online content gets investigated or blocked, and who gets to decide.

While the Indian constitution includes the right to freedom of speech, it also bans expression or publication of anything that risks India's security, public order or "decency." But the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced a long list of new IT rules going beyond this. They require social media platforms to warn users not to post anything that's defamatory, obscene, invasive of someone else's privacy, encouraging of gambling, harmful to a child or "patently false or misleading" among other things.

If the government orders it, platforms are required to take down such material. The rules also require platforms to identify the original source of information that's shared online or, in the case of messaging apps, forwarded among users. Company executives can be held criminally liable if the platforms don't comply.

Many tech companies are aghast. They say these rules violate their users' freedom of expression and privacy, and amount to censorship. Free speech advocates warn that such rules are prone to politicization and could be used to target government critics.

India's Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (left) and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announce new regulations for social media companies and streaming websites in New Delhi in February. India's government has warned Twitter to comply with the country's new social media regulations, which critics say give the government more power to police online content. Manish Swarup/AP hide caption

India's Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad (left) and Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar announce new regulations for social media companies and streaming websites in New Delhi in February. India's government has warned Twitter to comply with the country's new social media regulations, which critics say give the government more power to police online content.

But India with nearly 1.4 billion people is one of the tech companies' biggest markets. The country's hundreds of millions of internet users present a ripe business opportunity for companies such as Twitter and Facebook, especially since they're banned from operating in China.

And India's government like others around the world knows this, says Jason Pielemeier, policy and strategy director at the Global Network Initiative, a coalition of tech companies and other groups supporting free expression online.

"Over time, the governments have become more and more sophisticated in terms of their understanding of the pressure points that large internet companies have and are sensitive to," he says. "Those companies have also, to some extent, become more sensitive as they have increased the revenue that they generate in markets all around the world. And so where you see companies having large user bases and governments increasingly dissatisfied with those companies' responsiveness, we tend to see situations like the one that is currently flaring up in India."

Some companies, including Google, Facebook and LinkedIn, have reportedly complied, at least partially, with the new rules, which took effect May 25. Others are lobbying for changes. Twitter says it's "making every effort to comply" but has asked for an extension to do so. WhatsApp, owned by Facebook, has sued the Indian government.

The police raid last month on Twitter's offices in New Delhi came amid squabbles between India's two biggest political parties, accusing each other of spreading misinformation.

Politicians from Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, had been tweeting screenshots of what they claimed was a "media toolkit" used by their main rival, the Indian National Congress party, to amplify online complaints about Modi's handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Twitter's rules about platform manipulation prohibit users from "artificially amplifying" messages.

But the screenshot BJP politicians were tweeting of this alleged "toolkit" was fake. Some of India's most reputable fact-checkers concluded it was a forgery. After its own investigation, Twitter slapped a "manipulated media" label on those tweets by BJP politicians.

The government then asked Twitter to remove that label. Twitter did not. Police raided its offices three days later.

"We, alongside many in civil society in India and around the world, have concerns with regards to the use of intimidation tactics by the police in response to enforcement of our global Terms of Service, as well as with core elements of the new IT Rules," a Twitter spokesperson wrote in a statement emailed May 27 to NPR and other news organizations.

To many observers, it looked like the Indian government was trying to drag Twitter publicly into a dispute between rival political parties, by sending the police to serve Twitter executives with a notice that could have been sent electronically especially during the pandemic.

"Serving a notice of that kind, in the form that played out, just confirms the idea that this is just theater," said Mishi Choudhary, a technology lawyer and founder of India's Software Freedom Law Center.

Choudhary says the optics are troubling. It looks like the Indian government has rewritten the country's IT rules to endow itself with extraordinary powers to silence its critics online. In February, on orders from the Indian government, Twitter blocked more than 500 accounts but then reversed course when it realized many belonged to journalists, opposition politicians and activists.

More recently, the Indian government demanded that social media companies remove news articles or posts referring to the B.1.617 coronavirus variant as the "Indian variant." (The WHO has since renamed this variant, which was first identified in India, as "Delta").

"The government has been trying to either block handles or curb dissent," Choudhary says. "Both the government and [social media] companies are claiming they're protecting users, when it's convenient for them, but users are really the ones left without much power."

Modi's government published its new IT rules on Feb. 25 and gave social media companies three months to comply. So the rules took effect May 25. Twitter is asking for another three-month extension.

"We will strive to comply with applicable law in India. But, just as we do around the world, we will continue to be strictly guided by principles of transparency, a commitment to empowering every voice on the service, and protecting freedom of expression and privacy under the rule of law," a Twitter spokesperson said in the May 27 statement.

One of the requirements Twitter finds most onerous is that it name an India-based chief compliance officer who would be criminally liable for content on the platform. The company says it's worried about its employees in that situation.

Indian government officials say Twitter has already had three months to comply with this and the rest of the requirements.

"You are a giant, earning billions of dollars globally! You can't find a technological solution?" India's IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, recently said on India's CNN-News18 channel.

Prasad acknowledged that India's social media rules might be more onerous than what tech companies are used to in the United States. But India is a place where mob violence has erupted over rumors shared on social media. The government needs to take extra precautions, he said. And big tech companies could comply with these rules, he insisted, if they really wanted to.

"The same Twitter and social media companies are complying with all the requirements in America! In Australia! In Canada! In England!" Prasad said. "But when it comes to India, they have a double standard."

Tech executives have been grilled about misinformation by members of the U.S. Congress. But when India summons them, they often don't show up. Choudhary says this has fueled anger among Indian politicians, who fume that they're not taken seriously.

"The companies say, 'Our servers are in California. So we don't have this information.' Or, 'We can't come and talk to you,'" she says. "That gives the government justification to say, 'How can you monetize our users, but when we want to have a discussion with you, you claim you're only a sales office?'"

India has reason to be sensitive to the threat of being taken advantage of by foreign powers. It has a colonial past. Even before Great Britain ruled India, a foreign corporation, the East India Company, pillaged it for centuries.

Choudhary calls what big tech companies are doing in India "digital colonialism."

"It's now the Silicon Valley 'bros' who think they can tell us what to do and what not to do," Choudhary says.

In a particularly harshly worded statement issued May 27, the Indian government called Twitter a "private, for-profit, foreign entity" that needs to "stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land." It accused Twitter of "seek[ing] to undermine India's legal system" and blamed the company for what it called "rampant proliferation of fake and harmful content against India."

Last weekend, the Indian government appeared to reject Twitter's request for an extension. It sent the company what it called "one final notice" as a "gesture of goodwill," urging the tech giant to comply with the new social media rules. The government warned of "unintended consequences" if Twitter refuses to comply.

Nigeria's government recently banned Twitter after the company took down a tweet from President Muhammadu Buhari that appeared to threaten separatists. There are fears that India could do the same.

For Twitter, that would be a blow not just to its business interests, but to its avowed commitment to fostering public conversation.

"As much as these kinds of centralized corporate platforms can be frustrating in a number of ways, they are, when it comes down to it, the place where the majority of the world interacts," says Jillian York, director for international freedom of expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"Years ago, I would have said that companies should stand up to authoritarian governments to tell them, 'Hey, block us if you want to, but we're not going to comply with these restrictions,'" she says. "But as time has gone on, that's become less and less of a viable option. ... For some people, these are really vital channels for accessing a global audience, for reaching people outside of their normal space, especially during the pandemic."

In India, for example, people took to Twitter to source medical supplies and raise money during a devastating COVID-19 resurgence.

On Monday, a Twitter spokesperson told NPR that the company remains "deeply committed to India," has been "making every effort to comply" with the new IT rules and has been sharing its progress with the Indian government.

The same day, Twitter also disclosed to a Harvard University database that it had restricted access within India to four accounts including those of a hip-hop artist and a singer/songwriter that had criticized the Modi government online. To comply with Indian law, Twitter sometimes blocks content in India but allows it to remain visible outside the country.

Twitter and other companies face pressure from other governments too. Around the world, free speech advocates say, there are increasing demands to restrict certain types of speech and for governments to play a greater role in regulating online platforms.

Germany, for example, has a law requiring social media platforms to act quickly to take down illegal speech or face financial penalties.

In the U.S., Democrats are pushing companies to curb misinformation, while Republicans have turned their own complaints about social media censorship into laws like one passed in Florida last month that bars platforms from banning politicians.

Another part of the showdown between India's government and tech companies hinges on privacy.

The government wants to be able to trace misinformation that's shared online. So as part of its new IT rules, it's asking social media companies to be able to identify the "first originator" of any piece of information. It says it will ask for that information only in rare cases where a potential crime is suspected to have been committed.

WhatsApp filed a lawsuit over this last month in the Delhi High Court. The company says it's unable to provide "first originator" information unless it traces every message on its platform which would amount to what it called "a new form of mass surveillance."

"To comply, messaging services would have to keep giant databases of every message you send or add a permanent identity stamp like a fingerprint to private messages with friends, family, colleagues, doctors, and businesses," WhatsApp wrote in an FAQ about traceability on its website. "Companies would be collecting more information about their users at a time when people want companies to have less information about them."

Experts say messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal would likely have to break their end-to-end encryption which ensures only the sender and recipient, not the company or anyone else, can read a message to comply with Indian law. Namrata Maheshwari, an India-based lawyer and policy consultant for the Center for Democracy and Technology, predicts that will have a "chilling effect" on free speech.

"This is problematic for users' right to privacy, because the core promise of end-to-end encryption is that users can communicate safely and securely without any unauthorized access by any third party, including the service provider," she says.

Maheshwari says the WhatsApp lawsuit is one of many filed in various high courts across India challenging India's new IT rules. They bring a key third party judges into the ongoing standoff between the Indian government and social media companies. The lawsuits will be decided over several months, or even years.

"As far as the question of who the stronger entity here is, I actually think it's now the Indian courts," she says. "The battleground has moved."

Editor's note: Facebook, Google and LinkedIn are among NPR's financial supporters.

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Tesla Bulls Look for Stock Catalysts. They Found Three. – Barron’s

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Weak performance from Tesla stock has bullish analysts feeling disappointed these days. They are looking for catalysts to break shares out of their recent funk.

Tesla stock (ticker: TSLA) is down about 14% year to date and off about 32% from its January 52-week high of $900.40. Tesla has ceded leadershipfrom a stock perspectiveback to traditional auto makers: General Motors (GM) and Ford Motor (F) shares are up 45% and 70% year to date, respectively.

That performance is flummoxing Tesla bulls. Lets begin with a healthy dose of intellectual honesty on the starting point for the stock, writes Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas in a Monday evening report. He is a Tesla bull rating shares Buy. His price target for the stock is $900 a share, almost 50% higher than recent levels. Even bulls should admit that the rise in the stock price during the second half of 2020, while perhaps deserved in principle, was packed into a highly concentrated time frame, he writes.

Tesla shares rose 227% in the second half of 2020, buoyed by strong earnings, strong deliveries, and the stocks inclusion in the S&P 500.

The stock had the better part of five years-worth of performance packed into about five month, Jonas adds. He says his clients are now looking for the next big thing that can drive the stock forward again. His ideas include capacity expansion in Texas and Germany. After that, he predicts Tesla will open up five more plants between now and the middle of this decade.

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Jonas is also looking for Tesla to unveil another new vehicle model. By his estimation, Tesla covers only about 15% of the total addressable market for the auto industry with its Y, X, 3, and S models. Model expansion will be a positive. That isnt on the near-term horizon, though the company is due to deliver its Cybertruck later in 2021.

Canaccord analyst Jonathan Dorsheimer is looking in a different area for a catalyst: residential solar power. Part of the reason he is bullish is that Tesla is creating an energy brand and an Apple-esque ecosystem of products with customer focused connectivity, seamlessly marrying car, solar, and back-up power, he wrote in a report released Sunday.

Dorsheimer is bullish, but feeling a little down lately. He still rates the stock Buy, but he cut his price target to $812 from $974 in his report. Among other things, he is disappointed by battery delays. Tesla is planning to use larger battery cells that promise better range, charge time, and costs. Those batteries arent available yet.

Looking a little further back, Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney was watching Teslas Model S Plaid delivery event last week. The Plaid can go zero to 60 miles per hour in less than two seconds. Delaney was impressed by the technology, but pointed out the Plaid, at roughly $130,000, is a niche vehicle. He is looking for 2021 deliveries to exceed expectations. Delaney is modeling 875,000 vehicles for Tesla in 2021. The Wall Street consensus number is closer to 825,000.

Delaney rates shares Buy and has an $860 price target.

New production ramping up, strong deliveries, and a growing solar business is what these three will watch for in coming months. If all goes well, those catalysts should be enough to drive Tesla stock higher, as long as there is no bad news in the meantime.

Tesla stock is down 2.1%, at $604.97, in recent trading, and down slightly for the week.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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Tesla Bulls Look for Stock Catalysts. They Found Three. - Barron's

Bitcoin on the Balance Sheet Is an Accounting Headache for Tesla, Others – The Wall Street Journal

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Elon Musk reignited his curious Twitter relationship with bitcoin on Sunday, giving the cryptocurrency a small boost.

More pertinent to Tesla Inc. shareholders, however, is the hit to the companys bottom line this quarter from Mr. Musks sometimes hot, sometimes cool attitude toward bitcoin.

Mr. Musk is widely blamed by investors for starting the digital currencys most punishing slide of the year after announcing on Twitter that Tesla would stop accepting bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles. He added fuel to the fire earlier this month, tweeting breakup memes with #bitcoin and a broken-heart emoji. Bitcoin had slumped 30% since the original May 12 tweet.

On Sunday, Mr. Musk said Tesla would resume bitcoin transactions when miners increase use of renewable energy sources.

The price jumped about 8% from its Friday 5 p.m. EDT level to trade at about $39,816 Monday. He also said that Tesla had sold only about 10% of its bitcoin holdings earlier this year to confirm that the cryptocurrency could be liquidated easily without moving market.

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Tesla is getting closer to production at Gigafactory Texas as Model Y body is spotted on-site – Electrek.co

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Tesla is showing signs of getting closer to production at Gigafactory Texas, as a Model Y body has been spotted at the new factory.

The start of production at Gigafactory Texas and Gigafactory Berlin is the most important thing for Teslas growth this year.

Starting production in any vehicle program is always difficult, and even more so when you are building a brand new factory from scratch.

But Tesla has done it before, and its looking to do it again with two new factories coming up almost simultaneously.

Gigafactory Texas is going to first produce an updated version of the Model Y for the North American market.

The new version is expected to use Teslas latest megacasting technology that replaces a lot of body parts with single giant cast parts produced using the worlds largest casting machines.

Last month, we reported on Tesla producing its first Model Y megacast at Gigafactory Texas after installing the first machines.

It was the first sign of Tesla getting much closer to production at the new factory, which is still very much under construction, but Tesla has been known to not let that stop it.

Now a new drone flyover spotted what looks like an almost completed Model Y body, which is another sign that the automaker is getting closer to production.

Heres the new Tesla Gigafactory Texas drone flyover filmed yesterday by Joe Tegtmeyer:

The video shows a lot of progress in building the giant new structure, which looks about half completed, but production is expected to start before the entire structure is completed, since a single section is as big as some other car factories.

It also caught Tesla storing a Model Y body:

Tesla has also been ramping up listing production jobs at the factory, which is also a good sign that the automaker is getting closer to production.

The automaker is officially guiding the start of Model Y production at the factory by the end of the year.

However, the actual start of production is not as important as the speed of the ramp-up, which isnt likely to be significant until early next year.

We know for sure that the new Model Y produced at Gigafactory Texas is going to feature more megacast parts, but its not clear if it will be powered by the new 4680 cells and structural battery pack.

That would be a big deal.

Its also interesting to see who can bring the Model Y to production first, the Berlin team or the Austin team, and while the internal competition is fun, they can also benefit from what they learn from each new production site.

Its a really interesting time for Tesla, and the timing of new production capacity coming up at Gigafactory Texas couldnt be better with the new EV incentives coming to the US.

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Heres what happened when a Tesla owner built a robot to plug in his car – Electrek

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A Tesla owner built a robot to automatically plug his electric car for overnight charging something that Tesla has previously announced that it is working on.

Heres what happened.

The idea of automatically charging electric vehicles have been around for a while.

It seems to have emerged from the idea that electric vehicles are not as convenient to charge as gasoline-powered vehicles are to fuel.

This is not exactly true.

Electric vehicles can be charged overnight at home, which makes them way more convenient than gas-powered cars.

The only aspect that can be seen as less convenient is the charge time versus refueling time when on the go.

But even then, the actual act of plugging in an electric car is actually not in any way less convenient than pumping gas.

However, like Elon Musk said last week, every input is an error, and its one more thing to automate, which could be particularly useful once self-driving cars become a reality. They could plug themselves and come back to you fully charged.

Years ago, Tesla unveiled its metal snake charger robot, which we recently learned is not dead yet, but there hasnt been a lot of development on that front.

It doesnt stop some owners to take the matter into their own hands.

Tesla owner Pat Larson just unveiled his own homemade robot that can automatically plug in and charge his Tesla at home:

Its not pretty. Its not fast, but it works, and thats the important part. Also, it fits quite flat on the wall of his garage, which is exactly what you want from your home charger.

At the heart of the build, Pat is using a Raspberry Pi 4 as the brain with a camera to detect the charge port.

The system actually uses computer vision and machine learning to detect the reflector on the charge port door and the lighted Tesla logo to help align the connector.

He is using few actuators and cervos to move the connector.

Interestingly, since theres nothing to press the button on the connector to open the charge port door, Pat is using the Tesla API to automatically open it, as you would through the Tesla mobile app.

Once plugged in, the system again relies on Teslas API to initiate charging based on a specific schedule, which a lot of owners are starting to use to get the best electricity rates at night.

Again, the robot doesnt solve a very big problem of plugging in your car when you get home, but it is still a technology that makes sense. If you are to imagine a future with electric self-driving vehicles everywhere, I can see the charging process also being automated.

Obviously, this is an early prototype, but its an impressive one. What do you think? Let us know in the comment section below.

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I rode the Tesla of electric bikes and it completely changed the way I think about getting around town – KTLA

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Go to any bike path these days and youll notice a trend: a lot of the bikes whizzing past you are electric!

That led me to take a look at the rise in popularity of electric bikes, which have seen quite the boost during the pandemic.

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First stop: Bike Attack, an electric bike shop thats been operating near Venice Beach for over 20 years.

Its fabulous, it clears up your mind, it gives you exercise, said Ericson Monsalud, owner of Bike Attack. He says electric bikes are so popular right now theres a waiting list for most models.

An electric bike looks like a standard bicycle, but it has a battery and motor. There are models that look closer to a motorcycle or moped and then models that look more like a traditional bike. Its really a matter of preference and specs.

Speed and range are two top considerations. Many bikes can go between 30 and 90 miles depending on the battery, top speeds can reach 24 miles an hour.

I always suggest 18-19 miles thats really enough, explained Monsalud.

One key suggestion from Monsalud: before you buy, think about how you will service the bike. Electric bikes are new and you might have questions, so he says its a good idea to think about where you will go for help if you need assistance.

One big thing I learned about electric bikes you pedal to make them go. Most offer assistance levels that you can adjust. The higher the level, the more boost you get as you pedal. Alternatively, you can turn off this assistance completely with some models if youd rather get even more exercise.

Monsalud says electric bikes are great for anyone with mobility issues, a sports injury or bad knees.

To get some real hands-on time, VanMoof sent me their S3 electric bike to try out, which is basically the Tesla of e-bikes. Its slick, connected and looks futuristic but also you know something electric is going on with it. It sells for $2,198.

It arrives in a giant box, semi-assembled. I had to put on the front wheel and attach a cable, which proved to be the trickiest part of the process. I couldnt get the cable to tuck away properly, but I eventually got it to work.

The tech is completely integrated with the bike so it recognizes you, it has automatic lights and alarms, it has a great anti-theft tracing system and we also have a team of bike hunters that will hunt down your bike if its stolen and retrieve it for you, explained Austin Durling of VanMoof.

There is a bit of a learning curve figuring out the high-tech features of the VanMoof, but once you do, riding it is actually amazing. Its like the coolest bike youve ever been on, but when you pedal, there is a smooth electric assist to guide you along.

My favorite part is the boost button on the right handlebar press it and you get an immediate push forward with torque that reminds me of being in an electric car.

It really helps you sort of re-discover the neighborhood of the city you live in, everything from your commute to running errands to meeting up with friends feels like this new adventure that youve never had before, said Durling.

I couldnt agree with this more. The more time I had with the VanMoof, the more I would ponder all of the places I could take it instead of a car.

I was going to breakfast with some friends on a Sunday morning and I actually fired up Apple Maps to see a bike route I could take to the restaurant. Soon, I was one of those riders who had their bike prominently parked near my table. (Although the VanMoof has a built-in locking mechanism, I would still recommend a dedicated bike lock.)

Overall, my experience shattered my pre-conceived notions about how bikes should be traditional and not electric. You can have the best of both worlds.

It takes cars out of the street it just makes you want to do exercise and makes you look forward of doing it again and having a good time, concluded Monsalud.

Electric bikes run anywhere from $500 to over $2000.

Listen to theRich on Tech podcastfor answers to your tech questions.

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Flying Car Makers Want to Build Uber Meets Tesla in the Air – The New York Times

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It was sleek, cone-shaped, a little confusing like something Hollywood would give a sci-fi villain for a quick getaway.

It wasnt a helicopter. And it wasnt an airplane. It was a cross between the two, with a curved hull, two small wings, and eight spinning rotors lined up across its nose and tail.

At the touch of a button on a computer screen under a nearby tent, it stirred to life, rising up from a grassy slope on a ranch in central California and speeding toward some cattle grazing under a tree who did not react in the slightest.

It may look like a strange beast, but it will change the way transportation happens, said Marcus Leng, the Canadian inventor who designed this aircraft, which he named BlackFly.

BlackFly is what is often called a flying car. Engineers and entrepreneurs like Mr. Leng have spent more than a decade nurturing this new breed of aircraft, electric vehicles that can take off and land without a runway.

They believe these vehicles will be cheaper and safer than helicopters, providing practically anyone with the means of speeding above crowded streets.

Our dream is to free the world from traffic, said Sebastian Thrun, another engineer at the heart of this movement.

That dream, most experts agree, is a long way from reality. But the idea is gathering steam. Dozens of companies are now building these aircraft, and three recently agreed to go public in deals that value them as high as $6 billion. For years, people like Mr. Leng and Mr. Thrun have kept their prototypes hidden from the rest of the world few people have seen them, much less flown in them but they are now beginning to lift the curtain.

Mr. Lengs company, Opener, is building a single-person aircraft for use in rural areas essentially a private flying car for the rich that could start selling this year. Others are building larger vehicles they hope to deploy as city air taxis as soon as 2024 an Uber for the skies. Some are designing vehicles that can fly without a pilot.

One of the air taxi companies, Kitty Hawk, is run by Mr. Thrun, the Stanford University computer science professor who founded Googles self-driving car project. He now says that autonomy will be far more powerful in the air than on the ground, and that it will enter our daily lives much sooner. You can fly in a straight line and you dont have the massive weight or the stop-and-go of a car on the ground, he said.

The rise of the flying car mirrors that of self-driving vehicles in ways both good and bad, from the enormous ambition to the multi-billion-dollar investments to the cutthroat corporate competition, including a high-profile lawsuit alleging intellectual property theft. It also recreates the enormous hype.

It is a risky comparison. Google and other self-driving companies did not deliver on the grand promise that robo-taxis would be zipping around our cities by now, dramatically reshaping the economy.

But that has not stopped investors and transportation companies from dumping billions more into flying cars. It has not stopped cities from striking deals they believe will create vast networks of air taxis. And it has not stopped technologists from forging full steam ahead with their plans to turn sci-fi into reality.

The spreadsheet was filled with numbers detailing the rapid progress of electric motors and rechargeable batteries, and Larry Page, the Google co-founder, brought it to dinner.

It was 2009. Many start-ups and weekend hobbyists were building small flying drones with those motors and batteries, but as he sat down for a meal with Sebastian Thrun, Mr. Page believed they could go much further.

Mr. Thrun had only just launched Googles self-driving car project that year, but his boss had an even wilder idea: cars that could fly.

When you squinted your eyes and looked at those numbers, you could see it, Mr. Thrun remembered.

The pair started meeting regularly with aerospace engineers inside an office building just down the road from Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif. Mr. Pages personal chef made meals for his guests, including a NASA engineer named Mark Moore and several aircraft designers from Stanford.

Those meetings were a free flow of ideas that eventually led to a sprawling, multi-billion-dollar effort to reinvent daily transportation with flying cars. Over the past decade, the same small group of engineers and entrepreneurs fed a growing list of projects. Mr. Moore helped launch an effort at Uber, before starting his own company. Mr. Page funneled money into multiple start-ups, including Mr. Lengs company, Opener, and Mr. Thruns, Kitty Hawk. New companies poached countless designers from Mr. Pages many start-ups.

It is the Wild West of aviation, Mr. Moore said. It is a time of rapid change, big moves and big money.

The next few years will be crucial to the industry as it transitions from what Silicon Valley is known for building cutting edge technology to something much harder: the messy details of actually getting it into the world.

BlackFly is classified by the government as an experimental ultralight vehicle, so it does not need regulatory approval before being sold. But an ultralight also cannot be flown over cities or other bustling areas.

As it works to ensure the vehicle is safe, Opener does most of its testing without anyone riding in the aircraft. But the idea is that a person will sit in the cockpit and pilot the aircraft solo over rural areas. Buyers can learn to fly via virtual reality simulations, and the aircraft will include autopilot services like a return to home button that lands the plane on command.

It has enough room for a six foot, six-inch person, and it can fly for about 25 miles without recharging. The few Opener employees who have flown it describe an exhilarating rush, like driving a Tesla through the sky an analogy that will not be lost on the companys target customer.

Mr. Leng sees all this as a step toward the starry future envisioned by The Jetsons, the classic cartoon in which flying cars are commonplace. I have always had a dream that we could have unfettered three-dimensional freedom like a bird does that we can take off and just fly around, he said.

BlackFly will initially be far more expensive than your average car (perhaps costing $150,000 or more). And its combination of battery life and mileage is not yet as powerful as most anyones daily commute requires.

But Mr. Leng believes this technology will improve, prices will drop to the cost of an S.U.V. and the world will ultimately embrace the idea of electric urban flight. By putting his vehicle into the hands of a relative few people, he argues, he can open the eyes of many more.

He compares BlackFly to one of his other inventions: a new kind of foam padding that molded itself to your body when you sat on it. He did not initially know what it would be good for, but this memory foam wound up in office chairs, car seats and mattresses. In much the same way, he is unsure how BlackFly will work its way into everyday life, but he is confident of the possibilities.

Others in the field are skeptical. They estimate it will be years or even decades before regulators will allow just anyone to fly such a vehicle over cities. And they say the technology is too important and transformative to remain a plaything for millionaires. So they are betting on something very different.

When Sebastian Thrun watches his flying vehicle Heaviside rise up from its own grassy landing pad, he sees more than just the trees, hills and crags of the California test site. He envisions an American suburbia where his aircraft ferries people to their front doors sometime in the future.

Yes, there are regulatory hurdles and other practical matters. These planes will need landing pads, and they could have trouble navigating dense urban areas, thanks to power lines and other low-flying aircraft.

There is also the noise factor, a crucial selling point over loud combustion engine helicopters. Sitting a few hundred feet from the vehicle, Mr. Thrun boasted about how quiet the aircraft was, but when it took off, he had no choice but to stop talking. He could not be heard over the whir of the rotors.

Even so, Mr. Thrun says Kitty Hawk will build an Uber-like ride-hailing service, in part, because of simple economics. Heaviside is even more expensive than BlackFly; Mr. Thrun said it costs around $300,000 to manufacture. But with a ride-hailing service, companies can spread the cost across many riders.

Like BlackFly, Heaviside offers only one seat and that seat is a tight fit, even for the average-sized person. But a future version will offer a second seat and fly on its own, allowing it to carry two passengers. By mass-producing a two-seat aircraft and sharing the vehicle among many riders, Mr. Thrun said, the company can eventually get the cost per mile down to a level that is on par with todays automobiles.

Wisk Aero, a company that spun out of Kitty Hawk in 2019 with backing from Mr. Page and Boeing, sees the future in much the same way. It is already testing a two-seat vehicle, and it is building a larger autonomous air taxi that may have more seats.

Many believe this is how flying cars will ultimately operate: as a taxi, without a pilot. In the long run, they argue, finding and paying pilots would be far too expensive.

This arrangement is technically possible today. Kitty Hawk and Wisk are already testing autonomous flight. But once again, convincing regulators to sign off on this idea is far from simple. The Federal Aviation Administration has never approved electric aircraft, much less taxis that fly themselves. Companies say they are discussing new methods of certification with regulators, but it is unclear how quickly this will progress.

It is going to take longer than people think, said Ilan Kroo, a Stanford professor who has also worked closely with Mr. Page and previously served as chief executive of Kitty Hawk. There is a lot to be done before regulators accept these vehicles as safe and before people accept them as safe.

No one is flying in an electric taxi this year, or even next. But some cities are making early preparations. And one company has 2024 in its sights.

In another central California field not far from where Kitty Hawk and Opener are testing their prototypes, Joby Aviation recently tested its own. Called the Joby Aircraft, this polished, pointy prototype is much bigger than Heaviside, with more space in the cabin and larger rotors along the wings.

From several hundred yards away, with a traditional helicopter flying above, observers had trouble determining how loud it was during take off and landing. And it flew without passengers, remotely guided from a command center trailer stuffed with screens and engineers on the ground. But Joby says that by 2024, this vehicle will be a taxi flying over a city like Los Angeles or Miami. It too is planning an Uber for the skies, though its aircraft will have a licensed pilot.

Joby believes that regulators are unlikely to approve autonomous flight anytime soon. Our approach is more like Tesla than Waymo, said the executive chairman, Paul Sciarra, using this burgeoning industrys favorite analogy. We want to get something out there on the way to full autonomy.

To aid in these plans, it has partnered with Toyota to manufacture aircraft and acquired Uber Elevate, the air taxi project Mr. Moore helped create inside the ride-hailing giant. In the coming months, Joby plans to merge with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that will take it public at a $6.6 billion valuation. Two other companies, California-based Archer and Germany-based Lilium, have struck similar deals.

The SPAC deals allow the companies to advertise ambitious business projections, something the Securities and Exchange Commission otherwise prohibits in initial public offerings. In an investor presentation, Joby touted a trillion-dollar market opportunity.

After launching in one city, the company says, it will quickly expand to others, bringing in $2 billion in revenue and more than $1 billion in gross profit within two years, according to its investor presentation. Until then, it will lose more than $150 million each year.

Reid Hoffman, the venture capitalist and LinkedIn co-founder, is an investor behind the SPAC that is merging with Joby. He admires the vehicles cool factor. Its like Uber meets Tesla in the air, he said, taking v.c. speak to the skies. But he was most attracted to the companys potential to redefine cities, commutes and gridlock for a broad group of people.

Of the three going public, Joby is the only one whose prototype is now flying. And both its rivals are facing questions over their technology. One has been sued by Wisk, accused of intellectual property theft after poaching several engineers, and the other recently abandoned a prototype because of a battery fire.

Some believe that even with pilots in the cockpit, these companies will be hard pressed to launch services by 2024. There is a big gap between flying an aircraft and being ready for revenue, said Dan Patt, who worked on similar technology at the Department of Defense.

Flying cars may reach the market over the next several years. But they will not look or operate like the flying cars in the Jetsons. More likely, they will operate like helicopters, with pilots flying people from landing pad to landing pad for a fee.

They will be greener than helicopters and require less maintenance. They will be quieter, at least a little. And they may eventually be cheaper. One day, they could even fly on their own.

Can we do this tomorrow morning? Probably not, Mr. Thrun said. But if you squint your eyes and look at one of these prototypes, he added, you can see it happen.

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Flying Car Makers Want to Build Uber Meets Tesla in the Air - The New York Times

Tesla Model 3, Model Y Prices Are Increasing – Car and Driver

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UPDATE 6/10/21: Tesla has increased the price of the Model Y by $500, and it now starts at $53,690.

Tesla has increased the price of the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover once again after previously decreasing both models' starting prices at the beginning of the year. The Model 3 now starts at $41,190 and the Model Y at $53,190.

Marc UrbanoCar and Driver

Electrek reports that Tesla increased prices for the Model 3 and Model Y in March, April, and earlier this month. The latest pricing update is an uptick of $500, but both models are now a full $3000 more expensive than they were when Tesla initially decreased their prices in February. Car and Driver has reached out to Tesla to see why it has been steadily increasing prices. We think that it's due to the semiconductor shortages. Tesla did halt Model 3 production for a few days in February. The Model 3 Performance and Model Y Performance's starting prices remain unchanged at $58,190 and $62,190.

The Model 3's entry point is for the Standard Range Plus model, which comes standard with rear-wheel drive and an EPA-estimated range of 263 miles. The Model 3 Long Range model now starts at $50,190, and it has all-wheel drive and 353 miles of EPA-estimated range. Tesla discontinued the Model Y's Standard Range model earlier this year, so its starting price is for the Long Range Model. The EPA estimates it will travel 326 miles on a single charge.

Tesla's Model 3 is still more expensive than other electric vehicles available today, but it offers more range. The Model Y Long Range is more expensive than the Ford Mustang Mach-E California Route 1, which has less EPA-estimated range at 305 miles.

This story was originally published May 24, 2021.

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Jay-Z Just Invested in $250 Million Plant-Based Tesla of Chicken Brand SIMULATE – VegNews

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Music legend and entrepreneur Jay-Z is now an investor in plant-based chicken company SIMULATE, which closed a $50 million funding round earlier this month. Led by SEVEN SEVEN SIX, an investment fund created by Twitter founder Alexis Ohanian, the investment round, a SIMULATE spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg, included participation from Marcy Venture Partners (MVP), an investment fund created by Jay-Z, Roc Nation Managing Director Jay Brown, and venture capitalist Larry Marus.

Founded in 2018 by then 19-year-old entrepreneur Ben Pasternak, SIMULATE is in the business of making next-generation chicken from plants with input from customers that follows a model similar to software updates. SIMULATEs mission of perfecting plant-based chicken is fueled by Pasternaks desire to create great-tasting products that eliminate the outdated and environmentally destructive practice of slaughtering chickens for food. Historically our food system has rejected the use of technology, resulting in a system that is highly inefficient and primitive, Pasternak said. This new funding will be used to create and protect the intersection of technology and nutrition.

SIMULATEs previous funding raises include $7 million in 2019 led by its manufacturing partner McCain Foods, along with Bob Pittman (founder of MTV and CEO of iHeartMedia), mattress company Casper founder Neil Parikh, and John Malony (former president of Tumblr). In 2020, the company raised $4.1 million with the help of Ohanian, former Whole Foods chief executive Walter Robb, and model Jasmine Tookes. The most recent round brought the valuation of the plant-based company to more than $250 million.

Known as the Tesla of chicken, SIMULATE launched its first iteration of NUGGS (a plant-based chicken nugget) through a direct-to-consumer model in 2019. Since then, the company has used input from its customers to improve its vegan nuggets in terms of taste, nutrition, and texture. In 2020, SIMULATE launched NUGGS in stores and rapidly expanded their retail footprint to more than 5,000 locations, including Walmart, Target, Whole Foods Market, and Sams Club in the US. Earlier this month, the company expanded distribution of NUGGSin original and spicy flavorsto retailers across Canada, including grocery chains Loblaws, Sobeys, Whole Foods Market, and Maxi. The company plans to expand its plant-based nuggets to an additional 10,000 retail locations by the end of 2021.

In an effort to continue innovating the chicken category, last year, SIMULATE launched DISCS, a product made to mimic nostalgic chicken patties but made entirely from plants. Currently only available on the companys website, the DISCSwhich are made of a proprietary blend of soy and wheatwill also undergo software updates.

The company will use the new funding to triple its internal team; accelerate the development of new products and technologies; scale its manufacturing capabilities; increase its retail and foodservice presence; and continue expansion in international markets.

SIMULATE might be the latest plant-based company that Jay-Z has financially backed but its not the first. In 2019, Jay-Zknown for countless hits spanning a nearly 30-year career in musicwas the first hip-hop artist to become a billionaire and his vegan investments are helping him keep the momentum going.

In 2019, Jay-Z helped plant-based startup Impossible Foods raise $300 million in a Series E funding round which also included celebrities such as Serena Williams, Trevor Noah, Katy Perry, Questlove, Jaden Smith, and will.i.am. Later that year, Jay-Zs MVP led a $1 million investment round in Partake Foods, a vegan cookie brand created by former Coca-Cola executive Denise Woodward. Through his entertainment agency Roc Nation, Jay-Z is also an investor in Oatly, a vegan brand known for its oat milk that went public earlier this year which also counts media mogul Oprah Winfrey, actress Natalie Portman, and many others as investors.

Since 2008, the entrepreneur has been married to legendary musician Beyoncwho ditched all animal products to prepare for her historic Coachella performance in 2018and together, the power couple has engaged in various ventures to promote plant-based eating. In 2015, the couple teamed up with nutritionist Marco Borges to launch vegan meal delivery brand 22 Days Nutrition. In 2019, Jay-Z and Beyonc revived their partnership with Borges to promote his multi-pronged The Greenprint project.

Named after Jay-Zs hit 2001 album The Blueprint, Borges project aimed to raise awareness about the benefits of consuming a plant-based diet through three initiatives, including a web tool, clinical study, and documentary featuring plant-based clinicians, celebrities, musicians, and athletes. The project also resulted in the release of The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World, a book that featured a forward penned by Jay-Z and Beyonc which urged readers to take responsibility to stand up for our health and the health of the planet by going plant-based.

Love the plant-based lifestyle as much as we do?Get the BEST vegan recipes, travel, celebrity interviews, product picks, and so much more inside every issue of VegNews Magazine. Find out why VegNews is the worlds #1 plant-based magazine by subscribing today!

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Jay-Z Just Invested in $250 Million Plant-Based Tesla of Chicken Brand SIMULATE - VegNews

European Tesla rival Northvolt raises $2.75 billion from Goldman, VW and others – CNBC

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Northvolt's battery factory in the north of Sweden in June.

Northvolt

Northvolt, a Swedish battery maker, has raised $2.75 billion from a host of big names to help fuel its global expansion and increase production.

The Stockholm-headquartered company makes the lithium-ion batteries that are used to power electric cars and it says it has signed deals worth $27 billion with the likes of BMW and VW. It is aiming to produce "the world's greenest batteries" by drawing on renewable energy sources and recycled raw materials.

The latest funding round, Northvolt's largest yet, was co-led by Goldman Sachs and VW alongside new investors including Swedish pension funds AP1, AP2, AP3, AP4 and Canadian pension provider OMERS. Previous investors such as Spotify CEO Daniel Ek and investment management firm Baillie Gifford are also investing in the round.

Total investment in the company now stands at $6.5 billion. The latest round of funding values Northvolt at $11.75 billion, according to a person familiar with the company who asked to remain anonymous as Northvolt has not publicly disclosed the figure.

Founded in 2016, Northvolt said it will use the funding to expand capacity at its factory in the far north of Sweden from 40 gigawatt-hours to 60 gigawatt-hours, which is enough to supply batteries for around 1 million electric vehicles. Production is expected to start at the factory later this year.

Peter Carlsson, co-founder and CEO of Northvolt, told CNBC in an interview on Wednesday that the company is doing "fairly significant shipments" from a smaller facility that has been in operation for over a year to customers who are now doing their own "validations."

While none of the company's batteries are in electric vehicles that are on the road today, they're being used on test tracks, Carlsson said, adding that he expects Northvolt's batteries to be delivered in vehicles from 2023 and in energy storage applications from the end of next year.

VW, which made a $14 billion order with Northvolt earlier this year, said Wednesday it has invested 500 million euros ($609 million) of the $2.75 billion and that its 20% stake in the company remains unchanged.

"With this investment, we are strengthening our strategic partnership with Northvolt as a supplier of sustainable battery cells which are produced using renewable energy and are comprehensively recyclable," said Arno Antlitz, VW's group board member for finance and IT, in a statement.

Michael Bruun, EMEA head of the private equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management, told CNBC: "Northvolt's green battery production and partnership with leading European auto OEMs will be critical to enable Europe's energy transition and the additional capital raised can accelerate the company's execution."

Northvolt's batteries are built on a "different chemistry" to Tesla's and the performance is becoming increasingly similar, said Carlsson, who was Tesla's vice president of supply chain in Palo Alto between 2011 and 2015.

Making the batteries in a sustainable manner is one of Northvolt's biggest challenges, he added. If the world transitions to electric vehicles with batteries from coal-based economies like China then it would create a new carbon footprint the size of Spain, Carlsson said. "If we do it based on renewable energy we can prevent this from happening," he said.

The company's main plant is in Sweden and it is considering building a second in Germany if it can find enough renewable energy sources.

By 2030, it wants to achieve 150 gigawatt hours of deployed annual production capacity in Europe.

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European Tesla rival Northvolt raises $2.75 billion from Goldman, VW and others - CNBC

Volkswagen Group CEO Brags on Twitter About Overtaking Tesla – autoevolution

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Herbert Diess seems to be really enjoying his Twitter experience. The Volkswagen Group CEO has already teased fuel cell vehicles and was challenged by James Glickenhaus to prove his point on the Baja 1000. His latest tweet teases Elon Musk about Volkswagen "overtaking" Tesla, which can have multiple interpretations.As seen below, Diess uses a picture of a Beetle overtaking a Tesla Model 3 on the road. Some may think it was just a joke based on that specific image, but that would imply this is the only way Volkswagen could overtake Tesla. Even if Diess believes that is the case, we are sure he would not say that publicly, which leads us to the second and most probable hypothesis. On May 24, Matthias Schmidt, from Schmidt Automotive Research, published the tweet above. He describes there how Volkswagen has sold more than double the electric cars that Tesla has in the last 12 months in West Europe. In other words, how Volkswagen overtook Tesla in that market. Schmidt also tagged both Diess and Musk.

As usual, Tesla fans tried to make fun of Diess and brought up Dieselgate multiple times. However, and at least in what refers to the European market, the Volkswagen Group CEO could be just bragging about something Schmidt disclosed with his excellent research work. This could be why Tesla is not willing to wait for Giga Grnheide to produce cars to sell the Model Y to European customers. If that helps Tesla improve its numbers in the Old Continent, Musk will undoubtedly tweet about that.

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Volkswagen Group CEO Brags on Twitter About Overtaking Tesla - autoevolution

This Drone Bus Will Carry 40 Passengers Between Cities for the Price of a Train Ticket – Singularity Hub

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Multiple companies are working on new aerial modes of transportation, be they taxis that fly, drones that drive, or cars that drive and fly. What most of these vehicles have in common is that theyre intended for just a few people to ride in at once, like airborne Ubers. But a New York-based startup is thinking bigger, quite literally: Kelekona is developing an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle that will be able to transport 40 people at once.

The aircrafts design is sleek and futuristic, with a flat shape not unlike a UFO. But for all the apparent flare of the design, Kelekonas founder, Braeden Kelekona, actually has practicality on the brain; he told Digital Trends, We have a really small airspace in New York. It never made sense to us to create a small aircraft that was only able to carry up to six people. You have to have the kind of mass transit we rely on here in the city. It makes sense to try to move as many people as possible in one aircraft, so that were not hogging airspace.

Hes got a point. Theres a lot more space in the sky than on the ground, obviously, but flight paths need to be carefully planned and contained within specific areas, particularly in and near big cities. If flying taxis became affordable enough for people to use them the way we use Uber and Lyft today, there would quickly be all sorts of issues with traffic and congestion, both in the sky and with takeoff and landing space on the ground. So why not take a scaled approach from the beginning?

Speaking of affordability, Kelekona says thats a priority, too. It may play out differently, especially in the technologys early stages, but the intention is for tickets on the drone bus to cost the same as a train ticket for an equivalent distance. The first route, from Manhattan to the Hamptons, will reportedly have a 30-minute flight time and an $85 ticket price.

Other intended routes include Los Angeles to San Francisco, New York City to Washington DC, and London to Parisall in an hour, which is comparable to the time it takes for a regular flight right now. One of the differences, ideally, will be that the eVTOLs will be able to land and take off closer to city centers, given that they wont require long runways.

For this same reason, the company also envisions a streamlined approach to connecting warehouses; its aircraft will be able to carry 12 to 24 shipping containers, or a 10,000-pound cargo payload.

Moving that much weight, plus the weight of the aircraft itself, will demand a lot of battery power. The aircrafts body will be made of 3D printed composite and aluminum and equipped with eight thrust vectoring fans with propellors whose pitch can change for the different stages of flight: vertical takeoff, forward flight, and landing. All of this will be built around a giant modular battery pack.

Instead of building an interesting airframe and then trying to figure out how to put the battery into that aircraft, we started with the battery first and put things on top of it, Kelekona said. The battery pack will have 3.6 megawatt hours of capacity, and will be built for easy swapping out with new iterations as battery technology continues to improve. The aircrafts energy requirements will likely be the biggest challenge Kelekona faces in its design, production, and launch; at present, the aircraft is still in the computer simulation phase.

A British company called GKN Aerospace is developing a similar concept. Announced in February, Skybus would fit 30 to 50 passengers, and is intended for mass transit over extremely congested routes. Despite being made for vertical takeoff and landing, though, the aircraft design has large wings on either side; this would make it more challenging to find adaptable space in urban areas.

Kelekona plans to start with cargo-only routes, with passenger routes planned for 2024, pending approval by the FAA.

Image Credit: Kelekona

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This Drone Bus Will Carry 40 Passengers Between Cities for the Price of a Train Ticket - Singularity Hub

Meet Grace, the healthcare robot COVID-19 created – Thomson Reuters Foundation

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By Joyce Zhou

HONG KONG, June 9 (Reuters) - The Hong Kong team behind celebrity humanoid robot Sophia is launching a new prototype, Grace, targeted at the healthcare market and designed to interact with the elderly and those isolated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dressed in a blue nurse's uniform, Grace has Asian features, collar-length brown hair and a thermal camera in her chest to take your temperature and measure your responsiveness. She uses artificial intelligence to diagnose a patient and can speak English, Mandarin and Cantonese.

"I can visit with people and brighten their day with social stimulation ... but can also do talk therapy, take bio readings and help healthcare providers," Grace told Reuters as she stood next to her "sister", Sophia, in creator Hanson Robotics' Hong Kong workshop.

Grace's resemblance to a healthcare professional and capacity for social interaction is aimed at relieving the burden of front-line hospital staff overwhelmed during the pandemic, said founder David Hanson.

"A human-like appearance facilitates trust and natural engagement because we are wired for human face-to-face interactions," Hanson said, explaining how Grace can simulate the action of more than 48 major facial muscles, and has a comforting demeanour designed to look a little like anime characters, often a fusion of Asian and Western styles.

Awakening Health intends to mass-produce a beta version of Grace by August, said David Lake, chief executive of the joint venture between Hanson Robotics and Singularity Studio, and there are plans to fully deploy her next year in locations including Hong Kong, mainland China, Japan and Korea.

The cost of making the robots, now akin to luxury car pricing, will decrease once the company is manufacturing tens or hundreds of thousands of units, Hanson added.

Grace's launch comes as the global impact of the coronavirus has made the need for humanoid robots urgent, said Kim Min-Sun, a communicology professor at the University of Hawaii.

Stuck at home during COVID-19 lockdowns, many people have had their mental states affected with negative thoughts.

"If they can get help through the deployment of these social robots in intimate settings, certainly it will have a positive impact on society," she said.

(Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Karishma Singh)

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Meet Grace, the healthcare robot COVID-19 created - Thomson Reuters Foundation

NASA Is Returning to Venus, Where It’s 470C. Will We Find Life When We Get There? – Singularity Hub

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NASA has selected two missions, dubbed DAVINCI+ and VERITAS, to study the lost habitable world of Venus. Each mission will receive approximately $500 million for development and both are expected to launch between 2028 and 2030.

It had long been thought there was no life on Venus, due to its extremely high temperatures. But late last year, scientists studying the planets atmosphere announced the surprising (and somewhat controversial) discovery of phosphine. On Earth, this chemical is produced primarily by living organisms.

The news sparked renewed interest in Earths twin, prompting NASA to plan state-of-the-art missions to look more closely at the planetary environment of Venuswhich could hint at life-bearing conditions.

Ever since the Hubble Space Telescope revealed the sheer number of nearby galaxies, astronomers have become obsessed with searching for exoplanets in other star systems, particularly ones that appear habitable.

But there are certain criteria for a planet to be considered habitable. It must have a suitable temperature, atmospheric pressure similar to Earths, and available water.

In this regard, Venus probably wouldnt have attracted much attention if it were outside our solar system. Its skies are filled with thick clouds of sulphuric acid (which is dangerous for humans), the land is a desolate backdrop of extinct volcanoes, and 90 percent of the surface is covered in red hot lava flows.

Despite this, NASA will search the planet for environmental conditions that may have once supported life. In particular, any evidence that Venus may have once had an ocean would change all our existing models of the planet.

And interestingly, conditions on Venus are far less harsh at a height of about 50 kilometers above the surface. In fact, the pressure at these higher altitudes eases so much that conditions become much more Earth-like, with breathable air and balmy temperatures.

If life (in the form of microbes) does exist on Venus, this is probably where it would be found.

NASAs DAVINCI+ (Deep Atmosphere Venus Investigation of Noble gases, Chemistry, and Imaging) mission has several science goals, relating to:

Atmospheric origin and evolution

It will aim to understand the atmospheric origins on Venus, focusing on how it first formed, how it evolved, and how (and why) it is different from the atmospheres of Earth and Mars.

Atmospheric composition and surface interaction

This will involve understanding the history of water on Venus and the chemical processes at work in its lower atmosphere. It will also try to determine whether Venus ever had an ocean. Since life on Earth started in our oceans, this would become the starting point in any search for life.

Surface properties

These findings could shed light on how Venus and Earth began similarly and then diverged in their evolution. This aspect of the mission will provide insights into geographically complex tessera regions on Venus (which have highly deformed terrain), and will investigate their origins and tectonic, volcanic, and weathering history.

The DAVINCI+ spacecraft, upon arrival at Venus, will drop a spherical probe full of sensitive instruments through the planets atmosphere. During its descent, the probe will sample the air, constantly measuring the atmosphere as it falls and returning the measurements back to the orbiting spacecraft.

The probe will carry a mass spectrometer, which can measure the mass of different molecules in a sample. This will be used to detect any noble gases or other trace gases in Venuss atmosphere.

In-flight sensors will also help measure the dynamics of the atmosphere, and a camera will take high-contrast images during the probes descent. Only four spacecraft have ever returned images from the surface of Venus, and the last such photo was taken in 1982.

Meanwhile, the VERITAS (Venus Emissivity, Radio Science, InSAR, Topography, and Spectroscopy) mission will map surface features to determine the planets geologic history and further understand why it developed so differently to Earth.

Historical geology provides important information about ancient changes in climate, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. This data can be used to anticipate the possible size and frequency of future events.

The mission will also seek to understand the internal geodynamics that shaped the planet. In other words, we may be able to build a picture of Venuss continental plate movements and compare it with Earths.

In parallel with DAVINCI+, VERITAS will take planet-wide, high-resolution topographic images of Venuss surface, mapping surface features including mountains and valleys.

At the same time, the Venus Emissivity Mapper (VEM) instrument on board the orbiting VERITAS spacecraft will map emissions of gas from the surface, with such accuracy that it will be able to detect near-surface water vapor. Its sensors are so powerful they will be able to see through the thick clouds of sulphuric acid.

The most exciting thing about these two missions is the orbit-to-surface probe. In the 1980s, four landers made it to the surface of Venus, but could only operate for two days due to crushing pressure. The pressure there is 93 bar, which is the same as being 900 meters below sea level on Earth.

Then theres the lava. Many lava flows on Venus stretch for several hundred kilometers. And this lavas mobility may be enhanced by the planets average surface temperature of about 470C.

Meanwhile, shield volcanoes on Venus are an impressive 700 kilometers wide at the base, but only about 5.5 kilometers high on average. The largest shield volcano on Earth, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, is only 120 kilometers wide at the base.

The information obtained from DAVINCI+ and VERITAS will provide crucial insight into not only how Venus formed, but how any rocky, life-giving planet forms. Ideally, this will equip us with valuable markers to look for when searching for habitable worlds outside our solar system.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL

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NASA Is Returning to Venus, Where It's 470C. Will We Find Life When We Get There? - Singularity Hub

Digital anthropologist and futurist Brian Solis shares how your company can thrive in a digital economy on Business Reports Business Forum July 14 -…

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Join Business Forum USA in July, when renowned digital anthropologist and futurist Brian Solis shares how your company can thrive in a digital economy.

This webcast, hosted by best-selling author Jon Gordon, will broadcast at 11 a.m. Wednesday, July 14. Registration is free.

Over the past20 years, Brian has dedicated his work to understanding the impact of Digital Darwinism on businesses, markets and society.His research explores innovation, digital transformation, experience design, the cognitive enterprise, and technologys effects on human behavior.He has a unique gift of humanizing these trends to makechange and innovation purposeful and inspiring to help leaders reimagine the future.

His insights on the state and future of digital trends have made him a go-to resource among media and market experts. He has published over 60 research papers and also actively shares his work in industry-leading publications including Forbes, ZDNet, CIO, eWeek, Fast Company, Adweek, and Singularity University.

The 21st Century Business Forum debuted in 2021, featuring a line-up of successful top executives, experts and global thought leaders to share ideas and insights as business executives, entrepreneurs, owners and managers navigate the new year ahead. It airs on the second Wednesday of each month, with Gordon interviewing guests in a Q&A format.

The 21st Century Business Forum is presented by Business Reportand is sponsored by LaPorte CPAs & Business Advisors and the East Baton Rouge Parish Library. Registration is free; sign uphere.

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Digital anthropologist and futurist Brian Solis shares how your company can thrive in a digital economy on Business Reports Business Forum July 14 -...

Top 21 things to do in Denver – Lonely Planet Travel News

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Travelers loveDenverbecause it has great weather , good restaurants, even better bars, and a pretty lively arts and music scene.It's one of the fastest growing cities in the US, and was also chosen as a top city in Lonely Planet's Best in Travel 2020.

Like other cities that are all grown-up, Denver's neighborhoods each have a flavor all their own, and the entire city is connected through a fabulous series of bike paths and park.Here are some great things to do to make the most from your trip.

Gorgeously restored, historic Union Station is Denver's main transportation hub but it's way more than that and is well worth a visit. Inside, the main hall doubles as a waiting area and lounge with leather couches and chairs, shuffleboard and free wi-fi.

Swanky restaurants and coffee shops line the building along with boutiques and bars. Even one of Denver's best hotels the Crawford calls it home. In summer, a farmer'smarket sets up outside, drawing a huge crowd. Just beyond it, a pop-up fountain comes to life, enticing kids (and kids at heart) to run and play through the urban sprinklers.

Confluence Park lies where Cherry Creek and South Platte River meet and is the centerof Denver's sunshine-loving culture. Its one of the city's most central parks, sitting at the edge of Lower Downtown, and is a good place for an afternoon picnic with tables along spots of the river.

There's a short white-water park for kayakers and tubers, and families can also enjoy a small beach and shallow water area for playing and swimming. Other popular activities include biking and hiking, with trails running along both Cherry Creek and the South Platte.

For many people, visiting Red Rocks Park & Amphitheatre is reason enough for a trip to Colorado. Set between 400ft-high red sandstone rocks 15 miles southwest of Denver, the 9000-seat theater offers stunning views and draws big-name bands all summer. When the setting sun brings out a rich, orange glow from the rock formations and the band on stage launches into the right tune, it's a captivating experience, wholly befitting the parks 19th-century name, Garden of Angels.

Red Rocks Park can be almost as entertaining when its silent. The amphitheater is only a tiny part of the 600-acre space and is open during the day for free. Miles of hiking trails provide opportunities to lose the crowds and take in lovely rock formations. The Colorado Music Hall of Fame is worth a visit and is accessible from the parking lot.

Whiskey fans may want to head to Stranahans Colorado Whiskey, where only a dozen barrels of whiskey are produced at each week - and theyre damn good. Using award-winning water from the Rockies, Colorado barley and white-oak barrels, its a rare taste of quality over quantity. Guided tours of the facility are available throughout the week, though limited space means its best to sign up early and online.

Each year on a Saturday morning in early December, the family distillery hosts a release party for its cult whiskey, Snowflake. The name references its singularity: each vintage is aged in different types of barrels and no two are exactly alike. Superfans dubbed Stranafans camp out overnight (or longer) to snag one or two bottles, during which they enjoy a festive time of food, music and cocktails.

There are plenty of places to curl up with a book in Denvers beloved Tattered Cover Book Stores. Bursting with new and used books, the independent stores have a good stock of regional travel guides and nonfiction titles dedicated to the Western states and folklore.

Established in 1971, Tattered Cover hosts more than 500 events each year, including community events, book festivals and film and literature events. The kids' section is wonderful for families.

Delve into one of the richest art collections in the state at the Denver Art Museum. Home to one of the largest Native American art collections in the US, it puts on special multimedia exhibits that vary from treasures of British art to Star Wars costumes. The Western American Art section of the permanent collection is justifiably famous. This isn't an old, stodgy art museum, and the best part is diving into the interactive exhibits, which kids love.

The landmark $110-million Frederic C Hamilton wing, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is quite simply awesome. Whether you see it as expanding crystals, juxtaposed mountains or just architectural indulgence, its doubtless an angular modern masterpiece. For the children, there are various play areas on every floor, a treasure hunt and make-your-own-postcard stations.

For a party-bus atmosphere, Denvers original cannabis tour operator still delivers. Bus and limo tours by Colorado Cannabis Tours include stops at a grow operation, up to three different dispensaries, a glass-blowing demo and, of course, a grub-run at Cheba Hut, a cannabis-themed sandwich shop. Tours leave from a designated spot near Union Station. Yes, you can get high on the bus.

Then there's City Sessions, a small cadre of cannabis guides who are all industry veterans. Four-hour tours include stops at a grow operation, dispensary and glass-blowing demonstration, and a deep dive into cannabis production and trends. Private tours are also offered for a customized experience in medicinal marijuana, concentrates and more, and cannabis cooking classes are also offered.

Denver PrideFest is one of the nations largest LGBTIQ+ events, typically drawing more than 450,000 attendees over two joyful days, making it the largest Pride event in the Rocky Mountain Region. Held in June, the annual festivities include a parade from Cheeseman Park to Civic Center Park, plus events like the Dogs in Drag contest and the Denver Pride 5K.

The festival promotes the heritage and culture of the LGBTIQ+ community of Colorado, and is organised by The Center on Colfax as its largest fundraiser to help it serve more than 57,000 people annually. It also features exhibitors from across the country, culinary vendors, a political rally, family activities and entertainment.

This is one of the hottest tickets in town for kids. Highlights at Children's Museum of Denver at Marsico Campus include an enclosed three-story climbing structure, a kids' kitchen with hands-on cooking classes, a 2300-sq-ft art studio, a maker space, a life-size marble run and a huge outdoor playground with lots of climbing, digging and splashing areas.

Toddlers also enjoy a section with fun areas designed for crawlers and new walkers. 'Adventure Forest,' a 500-foot-long aerial adventure course that looks something like Peter Pan's hideout offers amazing outdoor adventures for kids at least those not afraid of heights. There's free admission on the first Tuesday of the month from 4pm to 8pm.

The Colorado Rockies play baseball at the highly-rated Coors Field from April to September. If you want to be close enough to smell the freshly-cut grass, buy tickets at the club level. If you're on a budget, you can't beat the Rockpile, located right behind centerfield, where admission costs less than $10 and the fans are their most exuberant.

If it's altitude you're after, buy seats in the upper deck's purple-painted 20th row, which is exactly 5280 feet above sea level. Tours of the stadium are available year round and include access to the field and Press Club.

The story of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science begins in 1868, when naturalist Edwin Carter moved into a tiny cabin in Breckenridge to pursue his passion: the scientific study of the birds and mammals of the Rocky Mountains. It's now a classic natural-science museum with excellent temporary exhibits on topics such as the biomechanics of bugs, Pompeii and mythical creatures.

Permanent exhibits are equally engaging and include those cool panoramas we all loved as kids. Gates Planetarium, where you can discover black holes, volcanoes and more, and the IMAX Theatre are especially fun. The museum is located on the eastern edge of City Park, allowing for picnics or connected visits with the nearby zoo.

If youre hankering for greenery, this 23-acre Rocky Mountain garden is the perfect place to lose yourself. Local flora mixes with relatives from faraway continents such as Australia and Africa to create a breathtaking landscape at Denver Botanic Gardens. Exhibits by well-known artists think Calder and Chihuly are set among the flowers and fountains to complement the living art.

The Mordecai Children's Garden has excellent hands-on exhibits, including a much-loved water feature, Pipsqueak Pond. Summer brings outdoor concerts to the gardens, while winter brings a holiday light show. Both are popular be sure to buy tickets in advance.

Since 1984, Denver has hosted its annual March Powwow, a time when tribes come together to celebrate and share their heritages through song and dance. This three-day event is one of the largest in the country, with almost 100 tribes from 38 states and three Canadian provinces represented in the festivities.

The festival takes place in the Denver Coliseum and features more than 1500 dancers, as well as singing, dancing, storytelling, food and art. Native American artwork and food are sold throughout the event, which is open to the public.

Colorado has more microbreweries per capita than any other US state, and this hugely popular festival sells out in advance. More than 500 breweries are represented, from the big players to the home-brew enthusiasts. It takes over the Colorado Convention Center for a month from mid-September each year.

You can also check out individual breweries around the city, including Wynkoop Brewing Co, a spacious brewpub serving the citys most celebrated red ale, Rail Yard Ale. Sipping Great Divide Brewing Company's spectrum of seasonal brews is an experience that will make a beer drinkers eyes light up, and tours are available.

Dedicated exclusively to the work and legacy of 20th-century American abstract expressionist, Clyfford Still, this fascinating museum's collection includes more than 2400 pieces 95% of his work. One of the founders of American abstract expressionism, Still ended his relationship with art galleries in 1951. In his will, the powerful and narcissistic master of bold insisted that his body of work only be exhibited in a singular space, so Denver built him a museum.

Free tours are offered at the Clyfford Still Museum throughout the week; check the website for dates and times. While the museum is less geared to children than the neighboring Denver Art Museum, there's a fun scavenger hunt that little ones will love.

For almost 40 years, A Taste of Colorado has brought food and beverage stalls, live music and arts-and-crafts vendors to Denver over Labor Day weekend. A variety of restaurants cook up their specialties to enable attendees to sample a variety of the food the state has to offer.

While it's usually held in Civic Center Park, the 2021 event takes place in downtown Denver, with the festival hosting attractions, events and food tastings out of restaurants, food trucks and parks around the area. Featured food will be exclusively sourced from local, independent Colorado restaurants, and attendees will be entertained by local artists and musicians.

Tucked into the 3rd floor of a branch of Denver Public Library, Blair-Caldwell African American Museum provides an excellent overview of the history of African Americans in the Rocky Mountain region from migration and settlement to discrimination and achievements. Exhibits on Wellington Webb, Denver's first African American mayor, as well as Five Points, Denver's historically African American neighborhood, are particularly interesting.

Stop on the 2nd floor to peruse the Blair-Caldwell African American Research Library, an institution that provides much-needed resources on the rich cultural heritage of African Americans in the West.

Denver has many marvellous monuments, including Jonathan Borofskys whimsical 60ft sculpture Dancers, which is the centerpiece of Sculpture Park. Lawrence Argents I See What You Mean is better known around town as the Big Blue Bear. This beloved 40ft-tall symbol of the city peers into the mammoth convention center with a friendly, playful spirit that has come to epitomize its city. Scottish Angus Cow & Calf was created by Dan Ostermiller and pays homage to the historic cattle culture of Colorado. You can see it at Denver Art Museum.

A notable sculpture is Mesteo, which greets visitors to and from Denver International Airport. Nicknamed 'Bluecifer,' a piece fell on creator Luis Jimnez when this 32ft-high blue stallion with hellish, gleaming red eyes was being created, severing an artery in his leg and leading to his death.

You might also want to check out Bronco Buster and On the War Trail, two bronze sculptures located in Civic Center Park. In the early 1920s, Denver sculptor Alexander Phimister Proctor was commissioned to create these works depicting a cowboy and a Native American warrior, both paying homage to Colorado's Wild West roots.

This remarkable contemporary arts center has a huge gallery space where work by emerging Coloradan artists is exhibited year-round. Fifteen artists in residence are hosted by RedLine each year, their studio space lining the gallery. Open to the public, it provides an opportunity for visitors to watch works of art being created.

RedLine has two main exhibition spaces: the Exhibition Hall and the Project Space. It holds various events to promote community engagement, both inside and outside the center, with a focus on positive social change.

If youre finding all the museums a bit too serious, loosen up at this amusement park near downtown Denver your kids will love you for it. Established in 1890 in northwest Denver, Elitch Gardens moved to its present location in 1995. The arts collective Meow Wolf even opened a ride here. Highlights include rollercoasters and thrill rides and a 100-foot-high Ferris wheel that provides great views of the surrounding area.

Check out Twister II, a super-sized replica of Mister Twister from the park's previous incarnation, and the Brain Drain coaster, which takes riders on a 7-story continuous loop. For younger kids, there's a 10-acre water-adventure park, bumper cars and tea cups, and the park also has live entertainment.

Art-loving visitors should note that on the first Friday of every month, Denverites come out for an art stroll, cruising galleries for free wine and fun conversations in the Santa Fe and River North (RiNo) Arts Districts. The 'First Friday' event typically runs from 6pm to 10pm. Smaller neighborhoods including Berkeley and South Pearl also open galleries on these nights.

Then there's the three-day Cherry Creek Arts Festival, which usually takes place around July 4, although 2021's event is being held over Labor Weekend. During this sprawling celebration of visual, culinary and performing arts, Cherry Creeks streets are closed off and over 350,000 visitors browse the giant block party.

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Top 21 things to do in Denver - Lonely Planet Travel News

A New Type of COVID Vaccine Is 90 Percent Effective

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The pharmaceutical company Novavax announced that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective, potentially making it a powerful additional tool in the global fight to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

Novavax uses a different kind of technology than the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines that have already been distributed to much of the country, The Verge reports. Instead of using mRNA to instruct the immune system on how to fight off the coronavirus, the Novavax vaccine exposes the immune system to pieces of the virus’ spike protein so that it can prepare antibodies in advance.

Novavax plans to submit its vaccine to the FDA for authorization this fall but it may run into roadblocks inadvertently caused by Pfizer and Moderna, according to The Verge. The two companies are vying for full approval from the regulatory agency. If either gets it, the accelerated emergency authorization pathway that they used to get their shots into people’s arms sooner would be taken away from any vaccines that come after — Novavax included.

If the FDA does approve the Novavax vaccine in some shape or form, we may witness an interesting moment in the battle against medical misinformation.

A great deal of the fearmongering myths surrounding the coronavirus vaccines that we have today have focused on the fact that mRNA technology is comparatively new; bad actors have spouted nonsense about the vaccines somehow altering people’s genetic code. Therefore, there’s a glimmer of hope that approving and offering a vaccine that uses a different underlying technology might inspire some of the vaccine-hesitant folks out there to actually get inoculated. Of course, anti-vaxxers posed a serious societal threat long before the COVID-19 pandemic and will probably continue to be a problem well into the future, so we may simply find ourselves combatting all-new conspiracy theories and medical misinformation instead.

Still, all anti-vaxxer speculation aside, the new Novavax data is great news for the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Beyond from the obvious benefit of having more vaccine choices, The Verge notes that the pharmaceutical company has already cut a 1.1 billion dose deal with the global vaccine distribution program COVAX to help get more people in low-income countries vaccinated.

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A New Type of COVID Vaccine Is 90 Percent Effective

Free School Lunch Linked To Better Health, Higher Salary

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Providing schoolchildren with nutritious lunches for free seems to have outstanding benefits that last throughout their lives, according to a new study.

A team of Swedish scientists decided to investigate the country’s free lunch program to see what impacts it actually had on kids. Their research, which was published last month in the journal The Review of Economic Studies, found that students with access to the program grew taller, stayed healthier throughout life, and even earned more money over the course of their careers than those who didn’t — a shocking result that illustrates the benefits of providing universal welfare programs.

“Our study shows that universal efforts that provide children with nutritious meals can be seen as a long-term investment,” Stockholm University economist and study coauthor Dan-Olof Rooth said in a press release. “In other words: Ensuring that children eat well also pays off later in life in terms of health, education, and income.”

On average, students who got free lunches over the course of their educations grew a centimeter taller than those who didn’t and had three percent higher incomes later in life. Those benefits were even more pronounced among children from lower-income families who may not have had access to as high-quality meals at home — their incomes climbed by six percent.

“Today, we take school lunches for granted in Sweden. But the fact is, it was a very conscious investment when Sweden introduced free lunches in the 1940s,” Lund University economist and study coauthor Petter Lundborg said in the release. “These cooked meals were meticulously planned in terms of nutrition. This begs the question: Did it affect students’ well-being in the long term? We wanted to find out.”

At least in the US, political debates over programs like universal healthcare, school lunches, and other perks common in other developed nations tend to get bogged down by questions about budgeting and how they’ll be paid for. The apparent health benefits may not be convincing enough, but perhaps the long-term economic gains from free lunches can inspire other governments to offer programs of their own.

“It is important for many countries even today, because school meals and their nutritional content is a recurring issue,” Lundborg said. “Our results show significant long-term economic benefits of school meals. You get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’ — it is extremely well-invested money.”

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The Largest Structures in the Universe Started To Spin and We Don’t Know Why

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Tilt-a-Whirl

Some of the gigantic filaments that make up the “cosmic web” — an unfathomably massive network of tendril-like structures linking the universe’s galaxies together — seem to be spinning.

A team of scientists made the shocking discovery that some cosmic filaments, which are the largest known structures in the entire universe, are rotating around their central axis like gigantic drills, according to research published Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy. But that’s as far as they got, Space.com reports: The team has no idea why the filaments started to spin or what force could have been powerful enough to set them in motion.

“We’re not really sure what can cause a torque on this scale,” study coauthor Noam Libeskind told Space.com.

Big Push

Libeskind, a cosmologist for Germany’s Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam, added that scientists previously assumed that individual galaxy clusters, which can move extremely slowly about their axes, were the largest spinning objects in the cosmos. Spinning is common in space on smaller scales, but there’s nothing about the Big Bang that ought to have set the massive filaments in motion, especially given their incredible scale.

“[Cosmic filaments] are structures so vast that entire galaxies are just specks of dust,” Libeskind told Space.com. “These huge filaments are much, much bigger than clusters.”

Libeskind is still searching for possible answers, a task that’s made even more difficult by the fact that only some filaments appear to be spinning while others are more static. One possible explanation, according to Space.com, is that the filaments built up some momentum as their intense gravitational pull sucked up and compacted nearby gases and dust — but that’s just speculation for now.

READ MORE: Astronomers discover largest known spinning structures in the universe [Space.com]

More on cosmic filaments: Here’s The First-Ever Pic of “Cosmic Web” Connecting All Galaxies

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The Largest Structures in the Universe Started To Spin and We Don’t Know Why