Lifeboat Foundation

Australia gets its own space force.

The Australian government yesterday launched the Space Command, a new defense agency with echoes of the US’ Space Force that has been tasked with securing the country’s place in an “already contested” cosmos.

Australian Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said the new defense arm would be modest to start with, although he gave no detailed staffing or budget figures.

Continue reading “Australia launches Space Command to counter China” »

Elon Musk signaled plans to scale Tesla to the “extreme” while teasing the release of Tesla’s “Master Plan Part 3” on Twitter one day before opening the automaker’s first European factory.

On Monday, Musk revealed on Twitter the themes that will dominate the next installment in Tesla’s long-term playbook: artificial intelligence and scaling the automaker’s operations.

“Main Tesla subjects will be scaling to extreme size, which is needed to shift humanity away from fossil fuels, and AI,” Musk tweeted. “But I will also include sections about SpaceX, Tesla and The Boring Company.”

TEL AVIV: Israel has made a small but significant step towards a laser-based system that is capable of intercepting missiles, with the announcement that the country’s “Iron Beam” system officially has a budget.

The program, which has existed in some form of R&D for more than a decade, has faced headwinds as a result of a long-running conflict between proponents and opponents of laser-based defense systems. But the technology appears to have matured to the point the government is now willing to put real money behind it.

Defense sources here say that the initial effort will be to develop an electric 100–150 kW solid-state laser that will be capable of intercepting rockets and missiles. The idea is to use two laser guns to create the needed power.

Putin’s war on Ukraine is entering week four. What is the Russian president’s thinking, and what is his endgame? If anyone would know, it would be Dmitry Peskov. He has served as Putin’s chief spokesperson for more than two decades. He was at the president’s side during his rise to power. As a close confidante of Putin’s, Peskov is also a high-profile target for Western sanctions. He joins the program from Moscow for an exclusive interview.

Originally aired on March 22, 2022

Continue reading “Kremlin Spokesperson Refuses to Rule Out the Use of Nuclear Weapons | Amanpour and Company” »

Putin’s war on Ukraine grinds on, into its fourth week. Civilian casualties are mounting, families have been ripped apart, and vast areas are destroyed. President Zelensky says Putin has turned his country’s sky into a source of death. But whether Putin wins or loses, it’s clear there’s no returning to the status quo ante. What will emerge from this crisis in the center of Europe? The fate of democracy is at stake. What can a new world order look like? Scholar and author Francis Fukuyama joins the show to discuss whether the U.S.-led world order can survive — and whether America has the moral authority and the will to lead.

Originally aired on March 18, 2022

Continue reading “Can a U.S.-Led World Order Survive After Ukraine? | Amanpour and Company” »

Bill Browder is the founder and CEO of Hermitage Capital, which advised the largest foreign investment fund in Russia — until 2005. Browder is also the author of “Red Notice” detailing his expulsion from Russia and the arrest, torture and then death of his attorney, Sergei Magnitsky, who was being held in Russian custody.

Since then, Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued several arrest warrants for Browder, accusing him of financial fraud. However, Interpol deemed each attempt as politically motivated and rejected Putin’s calls for him to be extradited to Russia. Browder was arrested once in Europe, but was released hours later after Interpol declared the charges political.

Continue reading “Bill Browder says only Putin can end war after losing ‘bet’ | NewsNation” »

Rejuvenation biotechnology: good progress, but a long way still to go.

SpaceX plans to send the Starship to orbit.

SpaceX is gearing up to launch the Starship into orbit, the biggest test yet for the ship designed to send humans to Mars and beyond.

Continue reading “SpaceX Starship orbital flight: Launch date window, engine specs, and more for ambitious flight” »

These two graphs illustrate the exponential growth in chip transistor counts, from 1970 until 2100.