Month: October 2017

Enlarge (credit: David Butow | Getty Images)

If there's one thing the Internet likes, it's a good slapfight, particularly when the arguing involves Tesla. The most recent outbreak of hostilities began on Thursday, when Tesla-skeptical Daily Kanban reported that parts of the Model 3 production line had not yet been installed in Tesla's Fremont factory. The following day, Elon Musk used Twitter to let us know that plans to unveil an electric semi truck had been pushed back three weeks—from October 27 to November 17—because company resources were needed to "fix Model 3 bottlenecks" and to increase battery production for Puerto Rico.

That same afternoon, the Wall Street Journal claimed that the 260-odd Model 3s that have been delivered thus far had "major portions" built by hand. That was strenuously denied by Tesla in response to a similar piece at Jalopnik, although the company did describe the Model 3 as being in "production hell." Tesla also noted that it finds a strong anti-Tesla bias in WSJ's reporting. (We note that same day, WSJ stopped just short of accusing Tesla of "misleading shareholders.")

One outlet that could never be described as having an anti-Tesla slant is Electrek, and it's from here we find out a few more details of the problems the Model 3 is undergoing. According to a report it published later on Friday, Tesla had to change the front seats and battery packs (as well as headlights and tail lights) as it figures out how to get its new model into genuine mass production.

Enlarge (credit: David Butow | Getty Images)

If there's one thing the Internet likes, it's a good slapfight, particularly when the arguing involves Tesla. The most recent outbreak of hostilities began on Thursday, when Tesla-skeptical Daily Kanban reported that parts of the Model 3 production line had not yet been installed in Tesla's Fremont factory. The following day, Elon Musk used Twitter to let us know that plans to unveil an electric semi truck had been pushed back three weeks—from October 27 to November 17—because company resources were needed to "fix Model 3 bottlenecks" and to increase battery production for Puerto Rico.

That same afternoon, the Wall Street Journal claimed that the 260-odd Model 3s that have been delivered thus far had "major portions" built by hand. That was strenuously denied by Tesla in response to a similar piece at Jalopnik, although the company did describe the Model 3 as being in "production hell." Tesla also noted that it finds a strong anti-Tesla bias in WSJ's reporting. (We note that same day, WSJ stopped just short of accusing Tesla of "misleading shareholders.")

One outlet that could never be described as having an anti-Tesla slant is Electrek, and it's from here we find out a few more details of the problems the Model 3 is undergoing. According to a report it published later on Friday, Tesla had to change the front seats and battery packs (as well as headlights and tail lights) as it figures out how to get its new model into genuine mass production.

Enlarge / Note—this isn't the Arizona machine in question. (credit: Science & Society Picture Library/Getty Images)

Arizona Lottery officials are investigating what they described on their website as "technical difficulties" surrounding one of their random number generators used to pick the winning numbers for many of the state's lottery games. As it turns out, the machine generated the same winning numbers in multiple drawings for three different games.

State officials haven't offered an explanation, but they said they would offer refunds to gamblers (if they didn't discard their tickets) or would exchange their tickets for new ones. The lottery's computerized picking system generated duplicate numbers for the game All or Nothing on September 28 and September 30, and on September 29 and October 3.

Other affected games include Pick 3, which saw duplicate winning numbers on September 29 and October 3. The same thing happened with the game 5 Card Cash on the same dates. However, bettors can breathe a sigh of relief. If you picked the winning numbers, your tickets will be honored.

Each year, Nikon provides a reminder that the world around us is stunning in its beauty, and we don't have to travel anywhere to see it. Instead, we simply have to magnify what's around us in the first place (and maybe hit it with a bit of UV light so it fluoresces). Everything from a simple green algae to curtain fibers to the legs of a caterpillar reveal details that we'd never guess existed, and all it takes to see them is the right microscope.

Below is just a small sampling of the images that were honored in this year's contest.

Rogelio Moreno

Enlarge / Project Loon balloons. (credit: Alphabet)

The Alphabet division that's building a balloon-powered Internet service has obtained an experimental license "to help provide emergency cellular service in Puerto Rico," the Federal Communications Commission announced Saturday. But it's not clear when—or if—the company will be able to provide service to the hurricane-damaged island, as the FCC license is just one step in the process.

Alphabet's Project Loon was unveiled in 2013 with the ambitious goal of bringing "balloon-powered Internet [to] everyone" on Earth. Alphabet has steadily improved the technology and launched pilot projects, and it will now try to connect Puerto Ricans who are still recovering from the massive damage caused by Hurricane Maria.

"More than two weeks after Hurricane Maria struck, millions of Puerto Ricans are still without access to much-needed communications services," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said.

Enlarge / SAN ISIDRO, PUERTO RICO - OCTOBER 07: People sit in their home lit by a single donated solar lamp more than two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit the island. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (credit: Getty Images)

Tesla CEO Elon Musk pledged to send hundreds of energy-storing batteries to Puerto Rico to help the island recover from the devastating hurricane that took all of the island’s 3.4 million residents offline. Although no numbers have been announced yet—it's unclear exactly how many batteries Tesla will send, how much they will cost the country, or when they will be delivered—a tweet from Puerto Rico Governor Ricardo Rossello late Friday night said that a team from the Puerto Rican government was in talks with a team from Tesla to make the project happen.

Great initial conversation with @elonmusk tonight. Teams are now talking; exploring opportunities. Next steps soon to follow.

— Ricardo Rossello (@ricardorossello) October 7, 2017

Tesla announced last weekend that a 100MW/129MWh South Australian Powerpack battery installation was halfway complete. That project grew out of a Twitter bet between Australian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes and Musk—the Tesla CEO promised that his company could install a battery system in 100 days to help South Australia in the wake of widespread blackouts the summer before. If Tesla missed the 100-day deadline, the system would be free of charge.

Tesla has also built solar-and-battery systems for Ta'u and for Kauai. “The Tesla team has [built solar grids] for many smaller islands around the world, but there is no scalability limit, so it can be done for Puerto Rico too,” Musk said in a tweet. He noted that moving forward would be in the hands of the Puerto Rico government, commercial stakeholders, and the people of Puerto Rico.