Category Archives: Elon Musk

Here is the bad news: Earth is a bit of a mess at the moment. Here is the good news: there is still an entire universe out there for humans to destroy. And thanks to the ingenuity of a few space-obsessed billionaires, we might be poised to destroy it sooner rather than later.

On Wednesday, Elon Musks SpaceX company will (unless bad weather delays things) launch astronauts into orbit from US soil; the first time that has happened in nine years. Its one small step for man, but one giant leap for the commercial space industry. We are at the beginning of a new era of privatised, and mainly billionaire-backed, space exploration. Musk has SpaceX; Jeff Bezos has Blue Origin; Richard Branson has Virgin Orbit.

There are some people who find billionaires with big rockets very inspirational. Axioss space reporter, for example, opined: If SpaceX can pull it off, its first crewed flight will mark a beacon of hope in an otherwise dark time for the world. Hope for whom, I want to know? The World Bank estimates that between 40 and 60 million people will fall into extreme poverty (earning less than $1.90 a day) in 2020, thanks to Covid-19. What hope, exactly, does a rocket blasting into space provide when you cant put food on your plate?

Of course, space exploration is not a zero-sum game. You can solve problems on Earth while also trying to expand humanitys understanding of the universe. However, a lot of billionaires seem far more interested in colonising and profiting from space than they do in making life more bearable for their workers. Last year, for example, Bezos cut health benefits for 2,000 part-time workers at his grocery store Whole Foods, saving him a few million. He did that after boasting that he is so rich, the only way that I can see to deploy this much financial resource is space travel.

Seriously, if you think that billionaires are exploring space for the good of humankind then I have a bridge on Mars I can sell you. They are doing it for their ego and the commercial opportunity. They are doing it because they think they, quite literally, are the masters of the universe.

Visit link:

Of course billionaires like Elon Musk love outer space. The Earth is too small for their egos - The Guardian

Tesla boss Elon Musk flagged it to his 35 million Twitter followers. Media mogul Steve Forbes cheered it as an absolute must read. And Fox News analyst Brit Hume is also apparently a fan.

Its the story of what may eventually be known as one of the biggest medical and economic blunders of all time, according to tech entrepreneur, military vet and bioengineer Yinon Weiss.

What story is that exactly?

The collective failure of every Western nation, except one, to question groupthink will surely be studied by economists, doctors, and psychologists for decades to come.

Thats his take, posted on RealClearPolitics.com last week, with regard to how governments around the world have handled the coronavirus pandemic.

In the face of a novel virus threat, China clamped down on its citizens, he wrote in his intro. Academics used faulty information to build faulty models. Leaders relied on these faulty models. Dissenting views were suppressed. The media flamed fears and the world panicked.

Weisss critique has resonated in recent days with the likes of Musk, who have consistently raged against lockdowns of business and personal activity to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as perhaps causing more damage than the coronavirus itself.

Weiss took shots at the government for taking extreme action when the fatality rate for those under 65 years old is no more dangerous than driving 13 to 101 miles per day. He used this chart to downplay the risks facing those not in the most vulnerable categories:

Even by conservative estimates, the odds of COVID-19 death are roughly in line with existing baseline odds of dying in any given year, Weiss wrote. Yet we put billions of young healthy people under house arrest, stopped cancer screenings, and sunk ourselves into the worst level of unemployment since the Great Depression.

He then hailed Sweden as a laudable blueprint, because it never closed down borders, primary schools, restaurants, or businesses, and never mandated masks, yet 99.998% of all their people under 60 have survived and their hospitals were never overburdened.

So why did the U.S. take the more heavy-handed approach?

Weiss placed some of the blame on the Imperial College epidemiologist Neil Ferguson for numbers, later slammed as unreliable, that led to the domino effect of the lockdowns.

But it goes beyond that.

If you are a hammer everything looks like a nail, he wrote. I blame government leaders for failing to surround themselves with diverse viewpoints and to think critically for themselves.

Weiss contends that leaders now know the lockdowns were a mistake but wont admit it. Instead, they will claim the lockdowns are the reason for the lower death rates, even as the results from Sweden, as you can see from this chart, suggests otherwise:

They were predicting what would happen in the next two weeks based on months of data, Weiss explained. Yet the daily death peak was 75% lower than the baseline prediction and 96% lower than the worst-case prediction. Swedens short-term results are worse than Norway, Finland, and Denmark, but better than the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, and Belgium.

Meanwhile, according to Johns Hopkins University, the virus has infected 5.5 million people worldwide, killing close to 350,000. The U.S. has seen nearly 100,000 deaths.

Excerpt from:

Elon Musk wants you to read this story about one of the biggest medical and economic blunders of all time - MarketWatch

A colossal chess game of immense consequences is being fought in outer space, right now. On March 18 and April 22, two rockets from SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, each put 60 satellites into orbit. Those launches are but the sixth and seventh in a series intended to rapidly make 1,584 satellites available.

The aim is to create a satellite network called Starlink. If Musk has his way, by 2025 no less than 11,943 of his satellites will circle the Earth, and if permission is granted, the ultimate result would be a staggering 42,000. This mind-boggling number must be compared to the 8,000 satellites sent into orbit since the Soviet Sputnik, of which 2,218 are still in operation.

Why such outsized ambitions? To implement his dream of a multiplanetary society, and to fund it by providing all (solvent) Earthlings with high-speed Internet access.

Musk would first target the 3% or 4% of the U.S. population living in remote areas or on islands. The financial benefits of providing Internet access to such a tiny slice of the nation are not obvious. The polar regions are not known for their density of wealthy but underserved American citizens, for example.

Could the expected profitability come from U.S. military spending? The United States maintains hundreds of overseas bases and has already expressed its interest in using SpaceX in putting satellites in a low Earth orbit (LEO) and also for Starlink.

Whatever the potential benefits of such a system, one of the disastrous consequences would be light pollution. As they traveled across the skies, thousands of Starlink satellites would effectively make astronomical images useless by leaving long luminous trails.

At the March 9 Satellite 2020 conference keynote speech, Musk dismissed those worries and claimed his satellites will do no harm to astronomical research if need be, they will be painted black.

This idea was tested with satellite 1130, DarkSat. The results were unconvincing, to say the least. The next generation is supposed to be less luminous than the faintest stars that can be seen with the unaided eye, but this is still far too bright for astronomers ultrasensitive instruments, which can observe stellar objects four billion times fainter than that threshold.

Read:SpaceX launches another batch of mini satellites, tests less-reflective coating

Other satellite operators are worried, too. The low Earth orbit region is already heavily used by scientific, remote-sensing and telecom satellites as well as the International Space Station (ISS). A large-scale increase in the number of satellites would increase the risk of space collisions and the ensuing multiplication of debris in the worst-case scenario, it could render the LEO and near-space environment unusable.

The first incident already took place: on Sept. 2, the European Space Agency was forced to move away one of its Earth observation satellites to avoid a collision after Starlink refused to change the path of its satellite.

Musk asserts that all the satellites be equipped with thrusters to make them fall back on Earth once they reach the end of their active life, but that doesnt reduce the risk while theyre operational.

Since the first launch, six Starlink satellites have already failed. If a mere 5% of Starlinks satellites broke down during their estimated lifespan of five to seven years, they would add many thousands of fragments of space debris to the 20,000 already under surveillance.

Musk initially planned to put a quarter of his constellation at the altitude of 1,110 km (690 miles). Some 75% were due to be placed no higher than 600 km (370 miles). Below this altitude, residual atmospheric drag will eventually cause a failed satellite to fall out of orbit. On April 17, SpaceX modified its plans and requested permission for all its satellites to orbit lower than 600 km. This reduces the risk of broken-down satellite staying in high-earth orbit for centuries, but increases congestion in the low Earth orbit region.

Beyond the operational risks, building, launching and maintaining such a gigantic network of satellites would require an enormous amount of raw materials and energy. Unlike the geostationary satellites commonly used by telecoms, Starlink satellites will stay in a low Earth orbit and cross the visible sky of a given location for just a few minutes. To follow and connect to them, buyers will have to use purpose-built phased array antennas. To make them affordable, they would have to be mass produced, and SpaceX has asked permission for 1 million of them. For starters.

More troublingly, competitors are sharpening their knives. Kuiper is backed by Amazon AMZN, +1.71%, OneWeb by billionaire Greg Wyler, and Hongyan is Chinese. Just as with electrical scooters, investors are rushing into massive production, and the results could be disastrous.

Such unbridled competition has negative consequences from the environmental point of view as well as from the security and business ones. The theory is that whoever is first past the post will gain near-monopoly power, cornering the potentially colossal market. We could well see several redundant satellite networks duke it out in the skies. Yet there will be only one winner. Or none.

On March 9, Musk claimed that thanks to Starlink, anybody will be able to watch high-def movies, play video games and do all the things they want to do without noticing speed. Thus, Musk explicitly underlines his wish to reinforce already massively energy-guzzling digital activities, such as video streaming and online video games. These consume just below the whole electricity consumption of Europe (if you want figures, the world digital energy consumption of 3,834 TWh expected in 2020 is comparable to the 4,077 TWh for European electricity in 2018). Their share of world greenhouse gas emissions is already 4% and could double to 8% by 2025.

Musks declaration ends on an ominous note, in essence saying My clients will be able to do whatever they want, just as I am able to do whatever I want. The Federal Communications Commission appears to be ready to give Musk its blessing. After all, the Commissions space department is not shy about its priorities: authorize more satellites, faster, with much less regulation.

Thus the American authority tasked with regulating U.S. telecoms which recently decided to drop the Net neutrality principle turns a blind eye to the privatization of space by a corporation that wants to take over the low Earth orbit region. All this in the spirit of the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which allows US industries to engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty declared outer space to be a common good of humankind. Today this may seem quaint to some, but it is more necessary than ever.

Roland Lehoucq is an astrophysics researcher at the Commissariat lnergie atomique et aux nergies alternatives (CEA). Franois Graner is the CNRS research director at the Universit de Paris. English version translated by Jean-Manuel Traimond. This was first published by The Conversation The costly collateral damage from Elon Musks Starlink satellite fleet.

Here is the original post:

Elon Musk is polluting the skies with SpaceXs thousands of satellites - MarketWatch

Fox News Phil Keating on SpaceXs historic launch, which is planned for Wednesday afternoon.

Live coverage of the NASA SpaceX launch attempt Saturday at 3:22p.m. ET will be streamed on foxbusiness.com.

On Saturday, Elon Musks SpaceX will attempt to launch its Crew Dragon spacecraft from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The historic launch will be the first time astronauts launch into orbit on a private company's spacecraft and the first time American astronauts launch in an American-made spacecraft since 2011 when the Space Shuttle program ended.

President Trump, who was on hand with Vice President Mike PenceWednesday when the initial launch attempt was postponed due to weather, said he is planning to return to Cape Canaveral Saturday.

MEET NASA SPACEX ASTRONAUTS BOB BEHNKEN AND DOUG HURLEY

Leading up to the launch, SpaceX has been focused on hiring. In early February, Elon Musk tweeted about a career fair in Texas for SpaceX

This is mainly for staffing up 4 production shifts for 24/7 operations, but engineers, supervisors & support personnel are certainly needed too, Musk tweeted on Feb. 4. A super hardcore work ethic, talent for building things, common sense & trustworthiness are required, the rest we can train.

Even as the company prepares for the launch on Wednesday, SpaceX still has a long list of job openings -- more than 500 -- with the promise of competitive salaries, comprehensive health benefits and equity packages, according to the website.

HOW ELON MUSK WAS INSPIRED TO FOUND TESLA, SPACEX AFTER BEING FIRED FROM PAYPAL

The available jobs are primarily located in Texas and California, but there are also postings in Washington state, Washington, D.C., and Florida.

Heres a look at 10 open positions.

SpaceX is looking for a real estate coordinator in Hawthorne, Calif., who will support the Facilities team with corporate real estate matters such as identifying prospective properties of interest, negotiating lease and own acquisitions, dispositions (terminations and subleases/assignments), exercising options and any related matters, the job posting said.

WHERE ARE NASA'S RETIRED SPACE SHUTTLES AND HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO SEE THEM?

For applicants with a bachelors degree in business or real estate, at least three years of experience is required, but for applicants without a degree, at least eight years of experience is required, according to the posting.

According to the job posting, the SpaceX financial analyst will work with company business partners and provide analysis and reporting to management.

SPACEX WILL USE THIS ROCKET FOR ITS FIRST MANNED SPACE LAUNCH

The position is listed for Hawthorne, Calif., and requires a bachelors degree in finance, engineering or a similar subject as well as experience in the finance function, the posting said.

There are several openings for environmental health and safety engineers at SpaceX, including in Brownsville, Texas, Cape Canaveral, Fla., Vandenberg, Calif., Hawthorne, Calif., and Redmond, Wash.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO LEAVE EARTH?

The position entails creating and managing site specific safety policies and programs, and requires a bachelors degree and at least three years of experience developing environmental, health and safety disciplines, the posting said.

At SpaceXs Hawthorne, Calif., location, the company is looking for an electrical design engineer to work on flight hardware specifically on satellites, the posting said.

According to the posting, the engineer will rapidly design, develop and test highly reliable electronics for satellites, among other responsibilities.

SPACEX'S TEXAS INVASION PUTS BOCA CHICA, MCGREGOR ON THE MAP

"We're looking for people who want to dive in and get their hands dirty and those who are not afraid to make important decisions and work to provide a data driven rationale,"the posting said.

The position requires a bachelors degree in electrical engineering, computer engineering or a similar degree and at least two years of professional experience, among other qualifications.

The launch build reliability engineer, located in Cape Canaveral, Fla., will reliably launch astronauts and other payloads by ensuring vehicle, payload and spacecraft processing is efficiently designed and executed, the posting said.

At least two years of professional or internship experience and an engineering-related bachelors degree are among the requirements for the position.

GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE

SpaceX is also hiring a barista for its corporate offices in Hawthorne, Calif. According to the job posting, a high school diploma, GED, or at least six months of barista experience is required.

Several of SpaceXs locations are looking to hire cooks, including in Brownsville, Texas, McGregor, Texas, and Hawthorne, Calif.

The position requires at least two years of experience in kitchen preparation and cooking and a high school diploma or GED, the posting said.

According to the job posting, the Hawthorne, Calif.-based modeling and simulation engineer"will be instrumental to the design, optimization and execution of SpaceX developed satellite constellations and payload missions."

MUSK, BEZOS, BRANSON LEAD BILLIONAIRES IN SPACE RACE

The position requires an engineering-related bachelors degree, and experiences with orbital design and analysis, constellation design, and tools for software modeling.

The modeling and simulation engineer will also need top secret clearance, the posting said.

SpaceX is hiring an internal fleet driver who will transport aerospace production, test, and flight components between SpaceX and vendors within an approximate 100-mile radius of Cape Canaveral, the posting said.

The driver will use LTL vans and flatbeds and the position requires a high school diploma or GED and at least three years of experience driving in a professional delivery vehicle, the posting said.

In McGregor, Texas, SpaceX is hiring a structural, stainless welder, according to the posting.

This position requires skill in a specialized trade in order to complete welding requirements and operational needs, the posting said. The position is responsible for welding piping, structural steel and other facility equipment/infrastructure.

Some of the requirements for the position include a high school diploma or equivalency certificate, at least three years of professional experience with TIG welding and at least three years of professional experience working in a process piping environment, the posting said.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ON FOX BUSINESS

Read the original post:

Elon Musk's SpaceX is hiring: Take a look at some of the positions - Fox Business

A colossal chess game of immense consequences is being fought in outer space, right now. On March 18 and April 22, two rockets from SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, each put 60 satellites into orbit. Those launches are but the sixth and seventh in a series intended to rapidly make 1,584 satellites available.

The aim is to create a satellite network called Starlink. If Musk has his way, by 2025 no less than 11,943 of his satellites will circle the Earth, and if permission is granted, the ultimate result would be a staggering 42,000. This mind-boggling number must be compared to the 8,000 satellites sent into orbit since the Soviet Sputnik, of which 2,218 are still in operation.

Why such outsized ambitions? To implement his dream of a multiplanetary society and to fund it by providing all Earthlings with high-speed Internet access.

Musk would first target the 3% or 4% of the United States population living in remote areas or on island. The financial benefits of providing Internet access to such a tiny slice of the nation are not obvious. The polar regions are not known for their density of wealthy but underserved American citizens, for example. Could the expected profitability come from US defence spending? The United States maintains hundreds of oversea bases and has already expressed its interest in using SpaceX, in putting satellites in a low Earth orbit and also for Starlink.

Whatever the potential benefits of such a system, one of the disastrous consequences would be light pollution. As they travelled across the skies, thousands of Starlink satellites would effectively make astronomical images useless by leaving long luminous trails. At the March 9 Satellite 2020 conference keynote speech, Elon Musk dismissed those worries and claimed that his satellites will do no harm to astronomical research if need be, they will be painted black. This idea was tested with satellite 1130, DarkSat.

The results were unconvincing, to say the least. The next generation is supposed to be less luminous than the faintest stars that can be seen with the unaided eye, but this is still far too bright for astronomers ultra-sensitive instruments, which can observe stellar objects four billion times fainter than that threshold.

Other satellite operators are worried, too. The low Earth orbit region is already heavily used by scientific, remote-sensing and telecom satellites as well as the International Space Station. A large-scale increase in the number of satellites would increase the risk of space collisions and the ensuing multiplication of debris in the worst-case scenario, it could render the LEO and near-space environment unusable.

The first incident already took place: on September 2, 2019, the European Space Agency was forced to move away one of its Earth observation satellites to avoid a collision after Starlink refused to change the path of its satellite. Elon Musk asserts that all the satellites be equipped with thrusters to make them fall back on Earth once they reach the end of their active life, but that doesnt reduce the risk while theyre operational.

Since the first launch, six Starlink satellites have already failed. If a mere 5% of Starlinks satellites broke down during their estimated lifespan of five to seven years, they would add many thousands of fragments of space debris to the 20,000 already under surveillance.

Musk initially planned to put a quarter of his constellation at the altitude of 1,110 km. Seventy-five percent were due to be placed no higher than 600 km. Below this altitude, residual atmospheric drag will eventually cause a failed satellite to fall out of orbit. On April 17, SpaceX modified its plans and requested permission for all its satellites to orbit lower than 600 km. This reduces the risk of broken-down satellite staying in high-earth orbit for centuries, but increases congestion in the low Earth orbit region.

Beyond the operational risks, building, launching and maintaining such a gigantic network of satellites would require an enormous amount of raw materials and energy. Unlike the geostationary satellites commonly used by telecoms, Starlink satellites will stay in a low Earth orbit and cross the visible sky of a given location for just a few minutes. To follow and connect to them, buyers will have to use purpose-built phased array antennas. To make them affordable, they would have to be mass produced, and SpaceX has asked permission for 1 million of them. For starters.

More troublingly, competitors are sharpening their knives. Kuiper is backed by Amazon, OneWeb by billionaire Greg Wyler, and Hongyan is Chinese. Just as with electrical scooters, investors are rushing into massive production, and the results could be disastrous.

Such unbridled competition has negative consequences from the environmental point of view as well as from the security and business ones. The theory is that whoever is first past the post will gain near-monopoly power, cornering the potentially colossal market. We could well see several redundant satellite networks duke it out in the skies. Yet, there will be only one winner. Or none.

On March 9, Elon Musk claimed that thanks to Starlink, anybody will be able to watch high-def movies, play video games and do all the things they want to do without noticing speed. Thus, Musk explicitly underlines his wish to reinforce already massively energy-guzzling digital activities, such as video streaming and online video games.

These consume just below the whole electricity consumption of Europe if you want figures, the world digital energy consumption of 3,834 TWh expected in 2020 is comparable to the 4,077 TWh for European electricity in 2018. Their share of world greenhouse gas emissions is already 4% and could double to 8% by 2025.

Musks declaration ends on an ominous note, in essence saying My clients will be able to do whatever they want, just as I am able to do whatever I want. The Federal Communications Commission appears to be ready to give Musk its blessing. After all, the Commissions space department is not shy about its priorities: authorise more satellites, faster, with much less regulation.

Thus, the American authority tasked with regulating US telecoms which recently decided to drop the Net neutrality principle turns a blind eye to the privatisation of space by a corporation that wants to take over the low Earth orbit region. All this in the spirit of the 2015 Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which allows US industries to engage in the commercial exploration and exploitation of space resources.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty, declared outer space to be a common good of humankind. Today this may seem quaint to some, but it is more necessary than ever.

Roland Lehoucq, Astrophysics researcher, French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Franois Graner, CNRS Research Director, University of Paris.

This article first appeared on The Conversation.

Read more:

SpaceX Starlink: Do the costs of Elon Musks ambitious plan outweigh its benefits? - Scroll.in

Elon Musk got the title of 'real-life Iron Man' after his assistance in Marvel films

Eagle-eyed Marvel fans may have noticed tech mogul Elon Musk make a brief appearance in Iron Man 2, leaving all of his ardent followers in shock.

While the Tesla and SpaceX CEO has several times in the past drawn comparison with the Marvel superhero, it turns out he has been quite involved in the films as well.

Jon Favreau who helmed the first two Iron Man films confirmed in an earlier interview that Musk had done Robert Downey Jr.who essays the role of Tony Stark aka Iron Manseveral favours in the past.

Talking on one of the episodes of Recode Decode, Favreau said: Robert Downey, when we were prepping Iron Man, said, Theres somebody we should sit down and talk with. [He] said, This is a guy who can give us some insight into what itd really be like to be Tony Stark.

And that explains Musks cameo in the Marvel film which features a brief light-hearted exchange with Downeys character of Starkwhich is often linked to Musk himself.

Favreau further confirmed that the filming of the second installment was also done at SpaceX: He let us film there for free. Hes been a very good friend of the Marvel family there, and weve maintained a friendship with him.

Read the original post:

Elon Musk got the title of real-life Iron Man after his assistance in Marvel films - Geo News

Tristan Eaton, a Los Angeles street artist and designer, has work in the Museum of Modern Arts permanent collection. But hes about to join a much more exclusive club of artists this weekend when SpaceX sends its first manned flight into outer space with some of his art on board.

Eaton created a series of indestructible, two-sided gold, brass, and aluminum artworks for the historic flight, which was rescheduled for Saturday after its initial May 27 launch date was postponed due to weather. When the shuttle, called Crew Dragon, makes it out of Earths atmosphere to the International Space Station (ISS), it will be the first time in a decade when American astronauts have gone up, and the first time a privately owned spacecraft takes them there.

The street artist will join a very, very rarified group of artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Trevor Paglen to actually send their artwork into space.

As an artist I try to look at the world with a big picture view, Eaton wrote on Instagram this week. No one gets a bigger view of our world than our brave astronauts on the ISS.

Each plate is double sideda gesture meant to represent the duality of Human Kind, our past and our future, according to the artistand features a variety of symbols: an outstretched hand and a chimp with its child, demonstrating nuclear fission; a suite of unfurling flowers and a bird in flight; a smiley face and a peace sign and the stars and stripes of the American flag.

When SpaceX asked me to create art to join these astronauts in space, I wanted to make something inspirational, he explained. Looking down from space to see all of Human Kind together on this tiny planet might remind you how much history and potential we have. Yet we have so much further to go.

Tristan Eaton, Human Kind (2020). Courtesy of the artist and SpaceX.

Each artwork is designed for one of the five astronauts that will be up at the ISS, including the two Americans set to go up this weekend. They come in protective sleeves with a front pocket containing the artist statement and a greeting to the astronauts. The plates are set to return to Earth with Crew Dragon in three-to-four months.

Eaton has been making street art since he was 18 years old. Today, his pop-collage murals adorn buildings around the world. He made headlines earlier this month when he unveiled a massive public painting honoring nurses in Midtown Manhattan.

With kindness, hope and science, Human Kind has changed the world many times over, said Eaton. For a better future, we can do it again.

View original post here:

Elon Musks SpaceX Commissioned a Street Artist to Create Indestructible Gold Paintings as Dcor for Its First Trip to the International Space Station -...

'); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(""+val.title+""); // if (window.location.hostname == "www.kmov.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kctv5.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.azfamily.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kptv.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.fox5vegas.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.wfsb.com") { if (val.poly != "" && val.polyimg != "") { $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append('"+val.ihtml+""); $("#expandable-weather-block .weather-index-alerts").show(); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body h2").css({"font-family":"'Fira Sans', sans-serif", "font-weight":"500", "padding-bottom":"10px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body p").css({"font-size":"14px", "line-height":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body span.wxalertnum").css({"float":"left", "width":"40px", "height":"40px", "color":"#ffffff", "line-height":"40px", "background-color":"#888888", "border-radius":"40px", "text-align":"center", "margin-right":"12px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body b").css("font-size", "18px"); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body li").css({"font-size":"14px", "line-height":"18px", "margin-bottom":"10px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body ul").css({"margin-bottom":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body pre").css({"margin-bottom":"24px"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body img").css({"width":"100%", "margin-bottom":"20px", "borderWidth":"1px", "border-style":"solid", "border-color":"#aaaaaa"}); $("#expandable-weather-block .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).css({"borderWidth":"0", "border-bottom-width":"1px", "border-style":"dashed", "border-color":"#aaaaaa", "padding-bottom":"10px", "margin-bottom":"40px"}); }); } function parseAlertJSON(json) { console.log(json); alertCount = 0; if (Object.keys(json.alerts).length > 0) { $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body ").empty(); } $.each(json.alerts, function(key, val) { alertCount++; $("#mrd-wx-alerts .alert_count").text(alertCount); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body ").append(''); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(""+val.title+""); // if (window.location.hostname == "www.kmov.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kctv5.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.azfamily.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.kptv.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.fox5vegas.com" || window.location.hostname == "www.wfsb.com") { if (val.poly != "" && val.polyimg != "") { $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(''); } else if (val.fips != "" && val.fipsimg != "") { // $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(''); } // } //val.instr = val.instr.replace(/[W_]+/g," "); $("#mrd-wx-alerts .modal-body #mrd-alert"+ alertCount).append(val.dhtml+"

Instruction

View post:

Elon Musk and Grimes had to change their baby's name -- a bit - KPTV.com

SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk gestures during a conversation at the E3 gaming convention in Los Angeles, June 13, 2019.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Billionaire Elon Musk appears to be selling more of his California homes on property website Zillow after pledging to "own no house" earlier this month.

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has jointly-listed four LA propertieson the same hill with a combined asking price of $62.5 million, as well as a mansion inHillsborough for $35 million, according to Bloomberg.

"Multi property listing which includes 10947 Chalon, 954 Somera, 955 Somera and 958 Somera," the Zillow listing reads.

"Due to listing limitations, additional specs on each individual home, as well as insight on the project as a whole, will be made available upon request by qualified buyers."

The listing, advertised as "for sale by owner," went live on Wednesday.

"A project for the big thinker, designed to showcase one of the best views in Los Angeles from the city to the ocean and beyond," the listing reads.

In a bid to mark where the properties sit on the hill, red arrows and red circles were used.

CNBC contacted Zillow to verify that the listing was real, but a spokesperson was not immediately available to comment. A representative for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, Musk listed two other Bel Air mansions for $30 million and $9.5 million.

One is a five bedroom ranch that is said to be the former home of Hollywood actor Gene Wilder. The2,756square-foot ranch comes with an oval pool and a separate guest cottage.

One of Elon Musk's home as listed on Zillow

Zillow

"Updated, but carefully preserved unique, quirky and charming ranch style former home of Gene Wilder/Willy Wonka," the listing reads.

"Beautiful view property on this approx. acre promontory overlooking the stream, trees and white sand traps of the 13th green and 14th fairway on the Bel-Air Country Club Golf Course, with distant city views. Property includes approx. 2,800-sq.ft. 5-bedroom, 4.5-bath ranch home with oval pool and private guest cottage."

The other is a palatial six bedroom estate located nearby.

"Lower Bel Air Estate, on private knoll overlooking Bel Air Country Club and the city and ocean beyond," the listing reads.

"Built in 1990 and extensively remodeled with large entertaining spaces, high ceilings and fine finishes. Large master suite with separate dual baths and closets, family wing, 2-story library, theater, 2-room guest suite, lighted championship tennis court, wine cellar, gym, pool, vast grassy yard and fruit orchard. Motor court with 5-car garage."

Musk's $30 million home as it appears on Zillow.

Zillow

Zillow CEO Rich Barton tweeted that his team had told him the Bel Air listings were "legit."He deleted the tweet less than an hour after posting it.

Musk, who has a net worth of around $36 billion, told Joe Rogan last week that "possessions kind of weigh you down." Earlier this month he tweeted thathe intended to sell almost all of his physical possessionsand that he "will own no house."

Moments before he made those remarks, Musk tweeted to the 33.6 million followers he had at the time thatTeslastockwas too high, leading to $14 billion being wiped off the company's market cap. It's unclear why he did this.

Read more:

Elon Musk appears to be selling more California properties after pledging to 'own no house' - CNBC

SpaceX founder Elon Musk reacts at a post-launch news conference after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifted off on an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, March 2, 2019.

Mike Blake | Reuters

Tech billionaire Elon Musk likes to think he knows a thing or two about artificial intelligence (AI), but the research community think his confidence is misplaced.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss has repeatedly warned that AI will soon become just as smart as humans and said that when it does we should all be scared as humanity's very existence is at stake.

Multiple AI researchers from different companies told CNBC that they see Musk's AI comments as inappropriate and urged the public not to take his views on AI too seriously. The smartest computers can still only excel at a "narrow" selection of tasks and there's a long way to go before human-level AI is achieved.

"A large proportion of the community think he's a negative distraction," said an AI executive with close ties to the community who wished to remain anonymous because their company may work for one of Musk's businesses.

"He is sensationalist, he veers wildly between openly worrying about the downside risk of the technology and then hyping the AGI (artificial general intelligence) agenda. Whilst his very real accomplishments are acknowledged, his loose remarks lead to the general public having an unrealistic understanding of the state of AI maturity."

An AI scientist who specializes in speech recognition and wished to remain anonymous to avoid public backlash said Musk is "not always looked upon favorably" by the AI research community.

"I instinctively fall on dislike, because he makes up such nonsense," said another AI researcher at a U.K university who asked to be kept anonymous. "But then he delivers such extraordinary things.It always leaves me wondering, does he know what he's doing? Is all the visionary stuff just a trick to get an innovative thing to market?"

CNBC reached out to Musk and his representatives for this article but is yet to receive a response.

Musk's relationship with AI goes back several years and he certainly has an eye for promising AI start-ups.

He was one of the first investors in Britain's DeepMind, which is widely regarded as one of the world's leading AI labs. The company was acquired by Google in January 2014 for around $600 million, making Musk and other early investors like fellow PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel a tidy return on their investments.

But his motives for investing in AI aren't purely financial.In March 2014, just two months after DeepMind was acquired, Musk warned that AI is "potentially more dangerous than nukes," suggesting that his investment might have been made because he was concerned about where the technology was headed.

The following year, he went on to help set up a new $1 billion AI research lab in San Francisco to rival DeepMind called OpenAI, which has a particular focus on AI safety.

Musk has another company that's looking to push the boundaries of AI. Founded in 2016, Neuralink wants to merge people's brains and AI with the help of a Bluetooth enabled processor that sits in the skull and talks to a person's phone. Last July,the company saidhuman trials would begin in 2020.

In many ways, Musk's AI investments have allowed him to stay close to the field he's so afraid of.

As one of the most famous tech figures in the world, Musk's alarmist views on AI can potentially reach millions of people.

A number of other tech leaders including Microsoft's Bill Gates believe superintelligent machines will exist one day but they tend to be a bit more diplomatic when they air their thoughts to a public audience. Musk on the other hand, doesn't hold back.

In September 2017, Musk said on Twitter that AIcould be the "most likely" cause of a third world war.His comment was in response toRussian President Vladimir Putinwho said thatthe first global leader in AI would "become the ruler of the world."

Earlier in the year, in July 2017, Musk warned that robots will become better than each and every human at everything and that this will lead to widespread job disruption.

"There certainly will be job disruption," he said. "Because what's going to happen is robots will be able to do everything better than us ... I mean all of us. Yeah, I am not sure exactly what to do about this. This is really the scariest problem to me, I will tell you."

He added: "Transport will be one of the first to go fully autonomous. But when I say everything the robots will be able to do everything, bar nothing."

Musk didn't stop there.

"I have exposure to the most cutting edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned by it," he said. "AI is a fundamental risk to the existence of human civilization."

The cutting edge AI he refers to is likely being developed by scientists at OpenAI, and possibly some at Tesla too.

Rather awkwardly, OpenAI has tried to distance itself from Musk and his AI comments on numerous occasions. OpenAI employees don't always like to see "Elon Musk's OpenAI" in headlines, for example.

Musk resigned from the board of OpenAI in February 2018 but he continued to share his punchy views on where AI is headed in public forums.

A spokesperson for OpenAI said he left the board to avoid future conflicts with Tesla.

"As Tesla continues to become more focused on AI, Elon chose to leave the OpenAI board to eliminate future potential conflicts. We are very fortunate that he is always willing to advise us."

Some people in places like Cambridge University's Centre for the Study of Existential Risk or Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute might not disagree with all of Musk's comments.

But his comments in July 2017 were the final straw for some people.

In a rare public disagreement with another tech leader, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg accused Musk of fear-mongering and said his comments were "pretty irresponsible."

Musk responded by saying that Zuckerberg didn't understand the subject.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the F8 Developer Conference in 2017.

David Paul Morris | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Undeterred by the encounter, in August 2017, Musk calledAI a bigger threat than North Koreaand said that people should be more concerned about the rise of the machines than they are.

The prolific tweeter told his millions of followers: "If you're not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk than North Korea." The tweet was accompanied by a photo of a gambling poster that reads "In the end, the machines will win."

Zuckerberg isn't the only Facebooker to question Musk's AI views. Edward Grefenstette, a former DeepMinder, has questioned Musk's views on multiple occasions."If you needed any further evidence that @elonmuskis an opportunistic moron who was in the right place at the right time once, here you go," he said on Twitter this month after Musk tweeted "FREE AMERICA NOW" in relation to the coronavirus lockdowns.

Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Facebook, has questioned Musk's AI views on more than one occasion. In September 2018, he said it was "nuts" for Musk to call for more AI regulation.

It's not just Facebookers who disagree with Musk on AI. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in May 2018 that Musk is "exactly wrong" on AI.

In March 2018, at South by Southwest tech conference in Austin, Texas,Musk doubled downonhiscommentsfrom2014 and said that he thinks AI is far more dangerous than nuclear weapons, adding that there needs to be a regulatory body overseeing the development of super intelligence.

These relatively extreme views on AI are shared by a small minority of AI researchers. But Musk's celebrity status means they're heard by huge audiences and this frustrates people doing actual AI research.

More:

Elon Musk has a complex relationship with the A.I. community - CNBC