Bill Gates said the world needs more entrepreneurs like Elon Musk to take on climate change.
“I think what Elon’s done with Tesla is fantastic. It’s, you know, probably the biggest single contribution to showing us that electric cars are part of how we solve climate change,” Gates told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin in an interview that aired Thursday morning on “Squawk Box.” “We need a lot of Elon Musks, including… ones who work on these super hard categories,” he said, suggesting areas like steel and cement.
The billionaire philanthropist also pointed toward Musk’s carbon removal challenge, which was announced last month. Musk said on Twitter that he would donate $100 million toward a prize for the best technology that can capture carbon dioxide.
“Elon’s done a carbon capture prize, which is an amazing thing,” added Gates, who has a new book called “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.” It comes at a crucial time, as global carbon dioxide emissions have soared in the past century, leading to unprecedented global warming and climate change.
“I think he should be very proud of what he’s done,” Gates said.
It appears the Baltimore Ravens could be losing a starter along the offensive line this offseason, as Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. has made it clear that he would like to be traded. According to CBS NFL Insider Jason La Canfora, Brown has been given permission to seek a trade, and multiple teams are interested in his services.
La Canfora says based on the level of interest, there’s a good chance a trade that makes sense for all parties involved comes together. However, Brown is talented and has a strong relationship with the Ravens franchise, who would certainly want good value in return for him. Brown was selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft and started 10 games in his rookie season at right tackle. He started all 16 games on the right side in 2019, and made his first Pro Bowl. However, things changed this past season.
When star left tackle Ronnie Stanley went down with a severe ankle injury, Brown moved over to the left side. There, he found success and made his second straight Pro Bowl. Now, he wants to stay at left tackle to honor his late father and former Raven, Orlando Brown Sr.
“Growing up in my household, if you were going to play O-line, my dad didn’t want you being on the right side,” Brown told The Baltimore Sun in November.
“It was one of those deals where he felt as though the right tackle — and especially at the time when he played — he felt the right tackle was not considered the best tackle on the offensive line and in the offensive line room. And his mentality and approach was, ‘I want you to be better than me.’ So from Day 1, when I started playing offensive line, it was always him working me on the left side.”
The Ravens would need to receive a major haul to trade Brown, and there’s a good chance they receive what they want with how the 24-year-old played in 2020.
Two spacewalking astronauts faced down and fixed numerous technical glitches during a busy spacewalk Wednesday (Jan. 27), but couldn’t quite finish upgrading a European science platform on the International Space Station (ISS).
NASA astronauts Mike Hopkins and Victor Glover spent nearly seven hours spacewalking outside the station to work on the Bartolomeo external science platform on the European Space Agency’s Columbus module. While the astronauts managed to overcome most of their issues, they were unable to activate the Bartolomeo platform itself because one of three cables refused to connect.
Working with space and ground teams, Glover and Hopkins managed to overcome numerous other issues. These included several stiff cables, an initially unresponsive antenna, and two sticky devices called H-fixtures. The teams also encountered, but moved past, rare astronaut communication issues during Canadarm2 robotic arm operations.
Before the astronauts returned inside, NASA reported that a new high-speed data antenna the spacewalkers installed is “working as it should be.” This was a major win for space and ground teams after overcoming several failed attempts to turn on heaters during the spacewalk, to support the antenna’s operations.
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Astronaut Victor Glover rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm outside the International Space Station while crewmate Michael Hopkins of NASA works nearby in a spacewalk on Jan. 27, 2021. (Image credit: NASA TV)
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Astronaut Victor Glover tosses an antenna cover into space for disposal while riding a robotic arm outside the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Jan. 27, 2021. (Image credit: NASA TV)
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Astronaut Victor Glover rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm outside the International Space Station while crewmate Michael Hopkins of NASA works nearby in a spacewalk on Jan. 27, 2021. (Image credit: NASA TV)
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A view of SpaceX’s Crew-1 Crew Dragon spacecraft (right) docked at the International Space Station. The spacecraft ferried four Expedition 64 astronauts to the station in November, including NASA’s Victor Glover and Michael Hopkins, who took a spacewalk on Jan. 27, 2021. (Image credit: NASA TV)
An astronaut’s first spacewalk
The day started quietly when Hopkins and Glover, both of Expedition 64, switched to spacesuit battery power inside the Quest airlock at 6:28 a.m. EST (1128 GMT). Their big goals on the spacewalk were to install the high-speed antenna and connect the Bartolomeo external science platform’s cables at the European Space Agency’s Columbus module. They also planned to ready the space station for essential power upgrades.
Hopkins, an Expedition 36/37 veteran on his third excursion outside the space station, made his way to Columbus using tethers and handgrips. Glover’s first few minutes of extravehicular activity were spectacular, as the astronaut climbed aboard the Canadarm2 robotic arm for a ride to Columbus, under the control of NASA astronaut Kate Rubins inside the ISS.
“Hey, Mike,” Glover casually said during his ride, as he approached his crewmate perched on Columbus.
Hopkins quickly looked up. “That’s a beautiful view,” he said.
“Yeah,” Glover said, continuing his journey.
Cable troubles
The first major task for astronauts was installing a new high-speed Ka-band data cable on Columbus so astronauts and researchers have access to a broadband connection with European science facilities on the ground. Trouble started almost immediately when Hopkins and Glover struggled with four bolts they needed to remove from Columbus to safely install the cable.
The astronauts, in conversation with Mission Control, tried different approaches to screw and unscrew the bolts, which NASA said had “some resistance” to being removed – not an uncommon situation in space, where metal expands and contracts considerably under large temperature swings. Eventually, the astronauts safely bolted in the Columbus Ka-band antenna (ColKa) and verified it was firmly in place.
“EV2 sees no wiggle,” Glover said to Houston about the newly installed antenna, referring to his designation of “EV2” or second spacewalker. Hopkins was EV1, wearing red stripes on his spacesuit so that orbital camera views could easily distinguish between the two astronauts.
Minutes after the astronauts moved to the next workstation, however, NASA discovered ColKa wasn’t responding to commands to turn on the heaters. Hopkins backtracked for a classic solution familiar to any computer user facing cable issues – “demating and remating”, or unplugging and replugging, the two cables connecting ColKa to Columbua. With the antenna heaters still not responding, NASA put in a call to ESA’s European Operations Control Center in Cologne, Germany to discuss solutions.
It was a lengthy NASA-ESA conversation as Glover and Hopkins also discovered a second issue, minutes later. Cables to activate the Bartolomeo external science platform were stiff, which is a common problem in cold microgravity conditions, and refused to fully clamp down. The crew members were able to “soft dock” the Columbus cables, but couldn’t secure the connection as planned. A firm connection required fully pulling down levers on each of the three cables, and the crew reported the cables were only moving down halfway.
Astronaut Victor Glover rides the Canadarm2 robotic arm outside the International Space Station while crewmate Michael Hopkins of NASA works nearby in a spacewalk on Jan. 27, 2021. (Image credit: NASA TV)
Bartolomeo still down
After nearly an hour of interagency discussion, with the spacewalk approaching the three-hour mark, ESA astronaut Andreas Mogensen — responsible for coaching the spacewalkers through their tasks from Houston — radioed a new set of instructions from Mission Control.
Hopkins and Glover removed an unneeded ColKa cover in another bid to get the heaters working. Next, Hopkins grabbed some wire ties to force at least some of the Bartolomeo cables to close. Thanks to Hopkins’ efforts, two of the three cables are connected and transmitting power and data as expected, but the third couldn’t be connected and is temporarily capped off and stowed safely in place, NASA said in updates during the broadcast.
The trouble means Bartolomeo is “not yet functional” due to the cable issues, NASA added, but space agency officials will continue discussions after the spacewalk. The next opportunity to address the problem is a scheduled spacewalk on Monday (Feb. 1.)
An antenna cover overboard (on purpose)
As Hopkins battled the Bartolomeo cables, Glover hopped on Canadarm2 to jettison the unneeded ColKa cover. This was a planned procedure also marred by temporary communications issues with Glover. Glover’s voice was breaking up, but Rubins – in control of Canadarm2 – could transmit her communications to Glover with no issue.
Mogensen, relaying the consensus from Mission Control, said there probably was something on station physically blocking the voice signal. Rubins was authorized to move Glover into place to toss the cover away from the space station, an operation NASA broadcast live on video.
As ColKa’s cover floated away, NASA reported the recalcitrant antenna heaters were finally alive. The upgraded antenna should give quick speeds of up to 50 megabits a second for downlink and up to two megabits for uplink, according to ESA, a healthy enough connection to easily stream video.
Five hours into the spacewalk, the astronauts — who had spent most of their time outside so far troubleshooting the unexpected — began joking about taking a snack break and eating bacon, which is technically impossible given they were each locked inside of a spacesuit.
“It is definitely snack time,” one astronaut said during the conversation, with the other adding, “I would have thought Rubins would have snacks in the airlock for just this kind of an event.”
“We’ll have snacks for you later,” Rubin reassured Glover and Hopkins.
But the astronauts kept up their energy, even without bacon, as they managed to overcome yet another small snag at the P6 truss. The H-fixtures (grapple fixtures) they worked on there proved harder than expected to remove. With that task accomplished, the newly opened slots will open up room for an ISS power upgrade.
The orbiting complex will eventually get six new solar arrays that will boost power by 20 to 30 per cent, which will assist with the station’s growing focus on commercial and research opportunities. Astronauts have also spent several years upgrading existing nickel hydrogen batteries to more powerful lithium ion batteries, a four-year task that Hopkins and Glover are expected to complete on their second spacewalk Monday (Feb. 1.)
NASA even authorized a “get-ahead” task on Wednesday’s spacewalk, referring to an item usually put in when the astronauts are well ahead of schedule. Glover prepared to remove and replace what NASA thought was a broken “pip pin” inside the crew airlock, following up on a previous crew report during a July 2020 spacewalk. After inspecting the pin up close, however, both ground teams and Glover determined the pin appeared to be working well. Glover thus left aside the replacement task.
Wednesday’s spacewalk was the 233rd spacewalk in support of station maintenance, operations and upgrades, according to the live NASA Television broadcast. The support team in Mission Control also included CapCom Drew Feustel, a Canadian-U.S. NASA astronaut.
Glover’s spacewalk was the first for an African-American since NASA astronaut Alvin Drew’s EVA on space shuttle mission STS-133 on Feb. 28, 2011. The first African-American to walk in space was NASA astronaut Bernard Harris on Feb. 3, 1995, during STS-63.
Glover is also flying the first long-duration ISS mission for an African-American, marking a long overdue milestone in the space station’s more than 20 years of continuous operations. His scheduled six-month stay should easily eclipse the past African-American record of 42 cumulative days in space, set by NASA astronaut Stephanie Wilson across three space station missions: STS-121, STS-120 and STS-131.
Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow uson Twitter @Spacedotcomand on Facebook.
(Reuters) – Global coronavirus cases surpassed 100 million on Wednesday, according to a Reuters tally, as countries around the world struggle with new virus variants and vaccine shortfalls.
A health worker approaches a motorist at a COVID-19 drive-through testing site of a Dis-Chem pharmacy, amid a nationwide coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown, in Midrand, South Africa, January 18, 2021. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko
Almost 1.3% of the world’s population has now been infected with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, and more than 2.1 million people have died.
One person has been infected every 7.7 seconds, on average, since the start of the year. Around 668,250 cases have been reported each day over the same period, and the global fatality rate stands at 2.15%.
The worst-affected countries – the United States, India, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom – make up more than half all reported COVID-19 cases but represent 28% of the global population, according to a Reuters analysis.
It took the world 11 months to record the first 50 million cases of the pandemic, compared to just three months for cases to double to 100 million. (Graphic: tmsnrt.rs/34pvUyi)
Around 56 countries have begun vaccinating people for the coronavirus, administering at least 64 million doses. Israel leads the world on per capita vaccinations, inoculating 29% of its population with at least one dose.
UNITED STATES
With over 25 million cases, the United States has 25% of all reported COVID cases although it accounts for just 4% of the world’s population. The United States leads the world in the daily average number of new deaths reported, accounting for one in every five deaths reported worldwide each day. With just under 425,00 fatalities, the United States has reported almost twice as many deaths as Brazil, which has the second-highest death toll in the world.
As the worst-affected region in the world, Europe is currently reporting a million new infections about every four days and has reported nearly 30 million since the pandemic began. Britain on Tuesday reached 100,000 deaths.
The Eastern European region, including countries like Russia, Poland and Ukraine, contribute to nearly 10% of all global COVID-19 cases.
Despite securing deals for vaccine supplies early on, many European countries are facing delays in shipments from both Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc
ASIA AND AFRICA
In India, the nation with the second-highest number of cases, infections are decreasing, with almost 13,700 new infections reported on average each day – around 15% of its peak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday India was completely self-reliant on coronavirus vaccine supplies as the world’s second-most populous country inoculated more than 1 million people within a week of starting its campaign.
China, which recently marked the first anniversary of the world’s first coronavirus lockdown in the central city of Wuhan, is facing its worst wave of local cases since March last year.
As richer nations race ahead with mass vaccination campaigns, Africa is still scrambling to secure supplies as it grapples with concerns about more-infectious variants of the virus first identified in South Africa and Britain.
According to the Reuters tally, African countries have nearly 3.5 million cases and over 85,000 deaths.
The South African variant, also known as 501Y.V2, is 50% more infectious and has been detected in at least 20 countries.
U.S. President Joe Biden will impose a ban on most non-U.S. citizens entering the country who have recently been in South Africa starting Saturday in a bid to contain the spread of a new variant of COVID-19.
Australia and New Zealand have fared better than most other developed economies during the pandemic through swift border closures, lockdowns, strict hotel quarantine for travellers and widespread testing and social distancing.
“We have the virus under control here in Australia, but we want to roll out the vaccine,” Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg told a news conference on Sunday.
Reporting by Shaina Ahluwalia and Roshan Abraham in Bengaluru; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Jane Wardell