Month: August 2024

Enlarge / The crew of Polaris Dawn, from L to R: Scott "Kidd" Poteet, Anna Menon, Sarah Gillis, and Jared Isaacman. (credit: Polaris Program/John Kraus)

SpaceX is set to launch the 14th crewed flight on its Dragon spacecraft early on Tuesday morning—and it's an intriguing one.

This Polaris Dawn mission, helmed and funded by an entrepreneur and billionaire named Jared Isaacman, is scheduled to lift off at 3:38 am ET (07:38 UTC) on Tuesday from Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This is just the second free-flying Crew Dragon mission that SpaceX has flown, and like the Inspiration4 mission that came before it, Polaris Dawn will once again field an entire crew of private astronauts. Although this is a private spaceflight, it really is not a space tourism mission. Rather, it seeks to push the ball of exploration forward. Isaacman has emerged as one of the most serious figures in commercial spaceflight in recent years, spending hundreds of millions of dollars to fly into space and push forward the boundaries of what private citizens can do in space.

Enlarge / Cursed Gold: A Shipwreck Scandal documents the spectacular rise and fall of treasure hunter Tommy Thompson. (credit: Recovery Limited Partnership Liquidating Trust)

Many people dream of finding lost or hidden treasure, but sometimes realizing that dream turns out to be a nightmare. Such was the case for Tommy Thompson, an American treasure hunter who famously beat the odds to discover the location of the SS Central America shipwreck in 1988. It had been dubbed the "Ship of Gold" since it sank in 1857 laden with 30,000 pounds of gold bars and coins—collectively worth enough money to have some impact on the Panic of 1857 financial crisis.

Thompson and his team recovered significant amounts of gold and artifacts to great fanfare, with experts at the time suggesting the trove could be worth as much as $400 million. The euphoria proved short-lived. Thirty-nine insurance companies filed lawsuits, claiming the gold was rightfully theirs since the companies had paid damages for the lost gold back in the mid-19th century. Thompson eventually prevailed in 1996, when courts awarded him and his discovery team 92 percent of the gold they'd recovered.

But actually realizing profits from the gold proved challenging; In the end, Thompson sold the gold for just $52 million, almost all of which went to pay off the massive debt the project had accumulated over the ensuing years. So naturally, there were more lawsuits, this time from the investors who had financed Thompson's expedition, accusing him of fraud. Thompson didn't help his case when he went on the run in 2012 with his assistant, living off some $4 million in assets stashed in an offshore account.

Enlarge / Pavel Durov, CEO and co-founder of Telegram, speaks at TechCrunch Disrupt SF 2015 on September 21, 2015, in San Francisco, California. (credit: Getty Images | tSteve Jennings)

After the arrest of Telegram CEO and co-founder Pavel Durov in France over the weekend, his detention was extended for up to four days while a judge decides whether he should face criminal charges.

"The detention of Durov, 39, was extended beyond Sunday night by the investigating magistrate who is handling the case, according to a source close to the investigation," Le Monde reported. "This initial period of detention for questioning can last up to a maximum of 96 hours. When this phase of detention ends, the judge can then decide to free him or press charges and remand in further custody."

Telegram "is accused of failure to cooperate with law enforcement over drug trafficking, child sexual content and fraud," the BBC wrote. Telegram yesterday said it "abides by EU laws, including the Digital Services Act," and that the platform's "moderation is within industry standards and constantly improving."

Enlarge (credit: Apple)

Apple's next product announcement event is happening on September 9 at 1 pm ET, the company announced today. While most of Apple’s products are updated irregularly, Apple has reliably launched next-generation iPhones every September since the iPhone 5 was announced in 2012. This year, we expect new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models.

The most reliable rumors about Apple's next-gen iPhones (gathered here by MacRumors for your convenience) point to mostly iterative improvements to the current versions: marginally larger screens for the Pro phones, an Action Button and a rearranged camera bump for the non-Pro phones, and improved processors for each. Notably, both phones should be compatible with the first wave of Apple Intelligence AI features; as of this writing, the iPhone 15 Pro is the only iPhone that will support Apple Intelligence when it launches.

Apple also usually announces new Apple Watches at its September events. Updated Apple TV boxes are also occasionally unveiled, though Apple’s streaming box is updated more sporadically than most of its other products. We’re also due to get the first wave of M4 Macs at some point soon, including refreshed MacBook Pros and a newly redesigned Mac mini. But Apple often holds Mac launches for a separate event sometime in October or November, so don’t be surprised if the Mac goes unmentioned on September 9.

(credit: DOE)

While solar power is growing at an extremely rapid clip, in absolute terms, the use of natural gas for electricity production has continued to outpace renewables. But that looks set to change in 2024, as the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) has run the numbers on the first half of the year and found that wind, solar, and batteries were each installed at a pace that dwarfs new natural gas generators. And the gap is expected to get dramatically larger before the year is over.

Solar, batteries booming

According to the EIA's numbers, about 20 GW of new capacity was added in the first half of this year, and solar accounts for 60 percent of it. Over a third of the solar additions occurred in just two states, Texas and Florida. There were two projects that went live that were rated at over 600 MW of capacity, one in Texas, the other in Nevada.

Next up is batteries: The US saw 4.2 additional gigawatts of battery capacity during this period, meaning over 20 percent of the total new capacity. (Batteries are treated as the equivalent of a generating source by the EIA since they can dispatch electricity to the grid on demand, even if they can't do so continuously.) Texas and California alone accounted for over 60 percent of these additions; throw in Arizona and Nevada, and you're at 93 percent of the installed capacity.

Enlarge / Mercedes-Benz got into the passenger infotainment game with the EQS. (credit: Mercedes-Benz)

Jumping into a new car from the driver's seat of something built before 2010 can cause quite the case of future shock. Over that time, automakers have been on a technology frenzy, loading up new vehicles with all manner of gizmos, gadgets, and features, some meant to make your life easier, others to make your journey safer. But do car buyers actually want all this stuff? A new survey by JD Power suggests they may not.

With enough time, a new convenience feature just becomes something buyers expect to be there. Starter motors replaced hand cranks for a reason, and I imagine most modern motorists would prefer not to deal with manual chokes. Manual window winders became more expensive and heavier than electric ones, leading to their extinction.

Some of the technology creep has come about by regulation or the threat of it. While many bemoan the "iPad on the dash," the legal requirement for a backup camera means there needs to be a screen in the car to display that feed. Steering wheels and dashboards grew to conceal airbags. And now vehicle fascias conceal sensors that can alert the driver or stop the car in the event of an imminent head-on crash.