Month: July 2017

Enlarge (credit: Tesla)

South Australia has suffered significant blackouts in recent months due to storms and heat. Now, the Australian state is looking for ways to fortify the grid, and it’s apparently turning to Tesla to provide some grid-tied storage.

In a press release, Tesla wrote that it was chosen “through a competitive bidding process" to build a 100 MW/129 MWh battery system, which will draw energy from Neoen’s Hornsdale Wind Farm near Jamestown, South Australia. The project will be the largest grid-tied lithium-ion battery system in the world.

The news comes several months after a Twitter exchange between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Mike Cannon-Brookes, the billionaire behind software company Atlassian. Cannon-Brookes asked Musk if he could deliver 100MW in 100 days to South Australia and Musk responded in a tweet, “Tesla will get the system installed and working 100 days from contract signature or it is free. That serious enough for you?”

Enlarge / Vice President Mike Pence speaks at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday. (credit: NASA)

If President Donald Trump has had one consistent message about space exploration both during his campaign and presidency, it's that America is doing badly in space. About a year ago during a campaign stop in Daytona Beach, Florida, Trump said, "Look what's happened with our whole history of space and leadership. Look what's going on folks. We're like a third world nation."

As Vice President Mike Pence has assumed duties over space policy, he has made a respectable effort to tour NASA and Air Force facilities around the country. But during these visits, he's also reiterated this Debbie Downer message. When he delivered a speech Thursday at Kennedy Space Center, Pence said that under the Trump administration, America will lead in space "once again" no less than eight times.

The subtext here is that America has fallen far behind in space—and that it needs strong leadership to get back on its feet. While there are definitely significant problems with US space policy—starting with the lack a clear direction for human spaceflight and the funding to support those goals—no other nation can come close to the United States. Moreover, because of the long lead times baked into aerospace development, almost every "accomplishment" that demonstrates American leadership in space during the next 3.5 years will have started long before President Trump took office.

Greetings, Arsians! Courtesy of our partners at TechBargains, we're back with a new list of deals to share. Dell is having its Black Friday in July sale, featuring savings on laptops, monitors, drones, and more. Of note is a steal on one of DJI's newest drones: now you can get a DJI Mavic Pro plus a $200 Dell gift card for $999. The Mavic Pro originally costs $999, so you essentially get the $200 gift card for free.

Check out the full list of deals below, including Amazon Prime exclusive savings.

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