Category: Now for something completely different
But will it sound like a sky car from The Jetsons?
World’s first fully electric flying car approved by FAA and accepting preorders.
A California company building a flying electric car is now taking preorders.
Alef Aeronautics’ flying car has been given a Special Airworthiness Certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), meaning the company will be allowed to road/air test the car, the company said in a news release.
The fully-electric vehicle (with a hydrogen option for a higher price) is a low-speed vehicle that can be driven up to 200 miles on public roads and fits into a regular garage, but it can also launch vertically into the air with a flying range of 110 miles, according to Alef’s website.
The company’s “Model A” car “can fly forward above the obstacles until a desired destination is reached,” the San Mateo-based company says.
“The driver and the cabin are stabilized by a unique gimbaled rotating cabin design.”
Alef touts the car’s ability to avoid traffic, fly in any direction while giving a “cinematic 180 plus degree view for safe and enjoyable flight.”
Customers can preorder the vehicle, which can seat up to two people is expected to cost around $300,000.
An FAA spokesperson told Fox Business it “issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate for the Armada Model Zero aircraft on June 12, 2023. This certificate allows the aircraft to be used for limited purposes, including exhibition, research and development. This is not the first aircraft of its kind for which the FAA has issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate.”
Alef first unveiled the car last October, and said it has already taken a “strong” number of preorders from people and businesses.
The FAA is working on policies for the takeoff and landing of electric vehicles, the company said.
“We’re excited to receive this certification from the FAA,” Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny, who co-founded the company in 2015, said in a statement.
Dukhovny and co-founders Constantine Kisly, Pavel Markin and Oleg Petrovwere were first inspired to first try to create a flying car in 2015, when they realized it was the same year Marty McFly drove one in “Back to the Future II,” the website says.
“During one of the Science Fiction lectures, Jim Dukhovny talked about how flying cars are finally possible in 2015,” the website says.
“But he lacked technical skills to take on such a complicated task by himself.”
The four met at a café and set out to design a flying car.
Dukhovny added that the certification “allows us to move closer to bringing people an environmentally friendly and faster commute, saving individuals and companies hours each week. This is a one small step for planes, one giant step for cars.”
Fox Business has reached out to Alef Aero for comment.
Reports are that units of Wagner Group are on the way there from Rostov
Buying mercenaries’ services has always been problematic
Rule 49. Every client is one missed payment away from becoming a target and every target is one bribe away from becoming a client.
Russian elite leaves Moscow on private planes en masse.
Russian oligarchs and politicians are leaving Moscow en masse on private planes, some of which have already landed outside the Russian Federation.
Source: Vazhnye Istorii (Important Stories), a Russian website focused on investigative journalism.
Details: For example, Vladimir Putin’s Il96-300PU, which is equipped with army control equipment, flew from Moscow to St Petersburg. The aircraft disappeared from the radar near Tver in Russia.
In addition, the second presidential plane, a Tu-214PU, departed from Moscow to St Petersburg at 14:44, which is also equipped in case of war. It disappeared from the radar over the Russian town of Gatchina.
An aircraft belonging to Denis Manturov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, took off from Moscow at 07:00 and landed in Dalaman, Türkiye at 12:06.
Oligarch Vladimir Potanin’s Gulfstream G650 business jet is expected to take off from Moscow to fly to Istanbul today at 17:00
A Bombardier Global Express XLS belonging to state-owned company Inter RAO [headed by Boris, the son of Putin’s friend Yury Kovalchuk – ed.] took off from Moscow and landed in St Petersburg at around 15:00 (Moscow time).
Ordinary residents of the Russian Federation are unlikely to be able to fly anywhere today, as the prices for air tickets to visa-free countries have skyrocketed. For example, a ticket for a direct flight from Moscow to Yerevan costs up to 200,000 roubles [about US$2,363 – ed.] and to Dubai – up to 350,000 roubles [about US$4,136 – ed.]. There are no tickets left for Istanbul, Astana and Tbilisi.
Background:
Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has claimed that the regular Russian army had launched a missile strike on the Wagnerites’ rear camps. Prigozhin claimed that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu had arrived in Rostov, where he personally conducted an operation to wipe out the mercenaries.
According to Prigozhin, 25,000 of his mercenaries are allegedly going to “restore justice”. At the same time, he asked not to call their actions a “military coup”. Prigozhin added that Shoigu had fled Rostov like a coward and “this creature will be stopped”. The Russian Defence Ministry called the information a provocation.
Further update on Dad. He’s feeling pretty good 4 days after surgery. If not for the insurance company, that has to approve his transfer to a skilled nursing facility for him to start rehab, he’d be there as they’ve ready to receive him anytime.
I personally called them today and told them to expedite the approval as they said the ‘normal’ timeframe was 14 DAYS!!
Hopefully we’ll have good new in 24-72 hours……maybe.
Success! NYC’s Drug Paraphernalia Machine Cleaned Out in One Night.
If it were a Broadway show, it would have received rave reviews. “A Hit!” “NYC Scores Big in New Debut! “Boffo!” “A Must-See!” “Five Stars and Two Thumbs Up!” “All of Gotham Is Talking!”
Alas, we aren’t talking about the latest play or musical to grace the Great White Way. Nope. We’re talking about the machine that dispenses free drug paraphernalia to users in New York City. But to be fair, it was received extremely well by the target demographic. The machine in question was installed on Monday in Brownsville, Brooklyn. It offers crack pipes, drug test strips, condoms, and Narcan. And lip balm. Patrons can also get tampons and gum.
By 1:00 P.M. Tuesday, a drug prevention program worker was hard at work restocking it. That same worker suspected that it might need to be restocked at least twice a day. For the most part, users were happy with the new amenity. Evelyn Williams told the New York Post, “Yes, I love it. They put it in yesterday, and it’s empty already.” She added, “We have a lot of addicts and heroin users over here. They should re-stock it immediately!” Another man rode by on a bike, gave a thumbs up, and said simply, “Yeah!”
Not everyone was impressed. The paper reported that 56-year-old Minoshi Calpe groused that the crack pipes were not quite up to her standards. She said she preferred the Pyrex pipes, and that the ones in the vending machine had no resale value since they were already available for free. She stated, “The crack pipes are a little too thin now. And every time I pull on [the newer ones], it was burning my lips. I was like, ‘Hell, no! I like my lips too much for this.’”
The machines cost around $11,000 without the contents. In the future, the city may also offer syringes for injection drugs. Charming.
The people in charge of the cluster-**** that has become New York City will undoubtedly tout this as an act of compassion. Actually, this is an act designed to help bureaucrats launder money through the system. And it has the added bonus of increasing poverty, death, and disease. And it should also contribute to the number of citizens getting accosted and assaulted on the streets and pushed onto subway tracks.
I know that Mayor Eric Adams recently gave a speech touting the values of patriotism. It was a nice speech from someone who may view himself as center-left. But a good speech is not going to help a city that is so complicit in its own demolition. If Adams wants to say anything, he should start with admitting that New York City has a left-wing problem. That is, as after all, the first step to recovery.
Well, Dad is progressing well. PT already had him out of bed and eating lunch while sitting in one of those lounge type chairs. Took two aids to get him back into bed, but already one day out of surgery and he’s doing as well as the therapy staff there has seen other people progress, so all’s for the good.
We thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers.
Jet fighters chase small plane in Washington area before it crashes in Virginia
WASHINGTON, June 4 (Reuters) – U.S. officials scrambled jet fighters in a supersonic chase of a light aircraft that violated airspace in the Washington D.C. area and later crashed into mountainous terrain in southwest Virginia, officials said.
The jet fighters prompted a sonic boom over the U.S. capital, causing consternation among people in Washington area, in an attempt to catch up with the errant Cessna Citation, officials said.
A Cessna aircraft crashed into mountainous terrain in southwest Virginia around the time the sonic boom was heard in the capital, the Federal Aviation Administration said. A Cessna Citation can carry seven to 12 passengers.
A U.S. official said the jet fighters did not cause the crash.
A separate source familiar with the matter said the Cessna was believed to be on autopilot and did not respond to authorities.
The Cessna took off from Elizabethton Municipal Airport in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and was bound for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York, about 50 miles (80 km) east of Manhattan, the FAA said in a statement, adding that it and the National Transportation Safety Board would investigate.
The crash occurred around 3:30 p.m. EDT (1930 GMT), the FAA said.
According to the flight-tracking website Flight Aware, the plane appeared to reach the New York area and made nearly a 180-degree turn, with the flight ending in Virginia.
Air National Guard F-16s were deployed from Joint Base Andrews, ABC News reported, citing an unnamed U.S. official. At least one military pilot saw that the Cessna pilot had passed out, ABC reported.
While rare, incidents involving unresponsive pilots are not unprecedented. Golfer Payne Stewart died in 1999 along with four others after the aircraft he was in streaked across thousands of miles with the pilot and passengers unresponsive. The plane eventually crashed in South Dakota with no survivors.
In the case of Stewart’s flight, the plane lost pressure, causing the occupants to lose consciousness because of oxygen deprivation.
Similarly, a small U.S. private plane with an unresponsive pilot crashed off the east coast of Jamaica in 2014 after veering far off its course toward southwest Florida and triggering a U.S. security alert that prompted a fighter jet escort.
On Sunday, the sonic boom caused consternation among many people in the Washington area who took to Twitter to report hearing a loud noise that shook the ground and walls. Several residents said they heard the noise as far away as northern Virginia and Maryland.
FYI:
Dad went through surgery like a champ
Originally scheduled for yesterday, but a major, multiple fatality, multiple injury accident had higher priority.
Modern anesthesia has progressed so much in the past few years that it has really surprised me, and while still a non-zero danger event is tolerated well by the elderly.
Now that he’s awake, he’s not so much of a happy camper, but as Chief Dan George put it: “That is the way things are.”
The long haul now begins as Dad & I get to find out just what’s involved in recovery and rehab from a hip replacement.
Sorry for the lack of posting.
Dad’s in the hospital after falling down and breaking a hip.
Surgery is scheduled for the morning
So, except for some automatic updates, posting will be light for a few days.
Extreme cold in Antarctica is coming earlier than expected this year
Apparently there are too many measuring stations from different nations in Antarctica, so that fraud in the sense of climate madness is not possible. Since the beginning of May, temperatures of down to minus 76.4 degrees Celsius have been measured at the Vostok research station. However, the current season in the southern hemisphere is still autumn. Low temperatures are unusual for this time of year. The norm for the location in May is -61 to -64 degrees Celsius.
Climate fanatics might consider it a success. Because they stick to the ground in European cities, are temperatures dropping at the South Pole? Hardly likely. However, it is a proven fact that the temperatures in the Antarctic in 2023 will be significantly lower than the ten-year average. Between 2005 and 2015, temperatures between minus 61 and minus 64 degrees Celsius were measured for the month of May.
Extreme cold should not be reached for months
Lowest temperatures are usually measured in Vostok when the northern hemisphere has its hottest summer – i.e. July, August and sometimes September. The fact that the Antarctic winter broke out in May with such temperatures is considered a special feature. The Russian measuring station was set up in 1957 at a distance of 1,300 kilometers from the South Pole at an altitude of 3,500 meters. The previous minus temperature record is said to have been reached on July 28, 1997 with minus 91 degrees Celsius (Wikipedia speaks of “unconfirmed”, July 21, 1983 with minus 89.2 degrees Celsius is confirmed). The warmest day in recorded history was January 5, 1974 with “only” minus 14 degrees Celsius.
Of course, spot temperature records are due to “weather” and not the “climate” that is supposed to be warming and from which we are all meant to die unless we regress to a pre-industrial age in trees and in caves. At least that is the plan of the climate apocalypticists – although many of them also dream of a depopulation of the earth.
Temperatures in Antarctica have been falling for 40 years
As early as 2021, scientists reported the “ coldest winter season in more than 60 years ” in Antarctica. After a trend has been emerging since 2021, one could cautiously speak of “climate” here. It would be time for politicians to come to their senses and stop destroying the wealth of western countries and citing some fictitious climate targets as the reason for doing so.
This article on Eike Klima Energie also shows with clear tables that no global warming has been detectable in the Antarctic for at least 40 years. Rather, a cooling can be detected at the German Arctic station. Conclusion there: The winters are getting colder at the South Pole. The current measurements seem to confirm this theory.
Herd of Cows aid North Carolina police pursuit, leading them ‘directly’ to suspect
Police said the cows appeared to be opposed to suspected criminals loitering in their pasture
North Carolina police officers made an arrest with the help of a herd of cows who were happy to narc on the suspect hiding in their pasture.
The Town of Boone Police Department said the suspect, later identified as Joshua Minton, 34, fled from officers during a traffic stop on Tuesday and led the officers and Watauga County Sheriff’s Office deputies on a pursuit. He abandoned his vehicle in the Deep Gap area and ran into an undeveloped area.
Because of the suspect’s “fast and reckless driving,” officers were not immediately close enough to see where he ran to, according to police.
Officers began searching the area for the man and received some unexpected assistance from cows willing to reveal the suspect’s whereabouts.
“Apparently cows do not want suspected criminals loitering in their pasture and quickly assisted our officers by leading them directly to where the suspect was hiding,” police said in a press release. “The cows communicated with the officers as best they could and finally just had the officers follow them to the suspect’s location.”
Minton was apprehended and charged with one count of felony fleeing and eluding arrest with a motor vehicle, driving with a license revoked, and disorderly conduct. He received a $20,000 secured bond and is scheduled to appear in court on June 28, in Watauga County.
The police department thanked the cows for their assistance in finding Minton.
“In addition to thanking our officers and deputies for putting themselves in harm’s way; obviously, we want to express our gratitude to the cows for their assistance,” police said. “This opens up all kinds of questions as to the bovines’ role in crime fighting. Honestly, it is something that we have not considered before now.”
Building on the moon: NASA awards Texas company $57 million for lunar construction system
Project Olympus just got a significant cash infusion
Artist’s illustration of lunar infrastructure built by ICON’s Project Olympus construction system, along with a SpaceX Starship in the background. (Image credit: ICON)
ICON is a pioneer in the use of advanced construction technologies here on Earth. For example, the company built the first-ever fully permitted 3D-printed home in the United States in 2018 and has since delivered entire communities of such houses in the U.S. and in Mexico.
The Pentagon is moving ahead with new military jetpack prototypes
The Defense Department’s chief tech visionaries are once again attempting to make the U.S. military’s dream of jetpack-equipped infantry troops a reality through a pair of fresh contracts, Task & Purpose has learned.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has selected “several” small companies to receive Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) funding awards “to build flight test prototypes” for the agency’s Portable Personal Air Mobility System program, a DARPA spokesman said.
Details regarding the contracts were not immediately available, but Phase II SBIR program funding “generally” consists of $750,000 for two years, according to information on the program’s website.
“DARPA is currently working with the small companies to finalize contracting details and award contracts, so at this time we can’t discuss the specifics,” the DARPA spokesman said.
DARPA officially announced in March 2021 that the agency’s small business programs office was looking for proposals “for cost of up to $225,000 for a 6-month period of performance” regarding the “feasibility” of the Portable Personal Air Mobility System that could reach ranges of “at least” 5 kilometers on the battlefield for a single operator.
“Some examples of technologies of interest include jetpacks, powered glides, powered swimsuits, and powered parafoils which could leverage emerging electric propulsion technologies, hydrogen fuel cells or conventional heavy propulsion systems,” DARPA wrote in its initial notice.
Prospective platforms “could serve a variety of military missions, enabling cost-effective mission utility and agility in areas such as personnel logistics, urban augmented combat, [combat search and rescue], Maritime interdiction and SOF Infil/Exfil,” DARPA wrote. “Systems may be air deployed to allow for Infil to hostile territory, or ground deployed to allow for greater off-road mobility without the use of existing Vertical Takeoff & Landing aircraft such as helicopters and CV-22 [Osprey tiltrotor aircraft].”
Well, the power outage we just had precipitated the bi weekly running of the backup generator that was going to happen Monday
The titanic in comparison to a modern cruise ship pic.twitter.com/MhgO2KAS9D
— A SLICE OF HISTORY (@asIiceofhistory) August 28, 2022
Elisjsha
I think his parents wanted to combine Elisha and Elijah and the hospital got the letters mixed up on his birth certificate, and by then it’s too late to do much about it.
Swimming-FINA votes to restrict transgender participation in elite women’s competition.
BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Swimming’s world governing body FINA on Sunday voted to restrict the participation of transgender athletes in elite women’s competitions and create a working group to establish an “open” category for them in some events as part of its new policy.
Transgender rights has become a major talking point as sports seek to balance inclusivity while ensuring there is no unfair advantage.
The debate intensified after University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas became the first transgender NCAA champion in Division I history after winning the women’s 500-yard freestyle earlier this year.
Thomas has expressed a desire to compete for a place at the Olympics but the new FINA rule would block her participation.
FINA’s decision, the strictest by any Olympic sports body, was made during its extraordinary general congress after members heard a report from a transgender task force comprising leading medical, legal and sports figures.
Which predator do whitetail deer fear the most?
I suspect this reaction depends a lot on the area and the past hunting pressure. Yes, man is the most lethal predator on the planet, but different experiences can mean different reactions in prey species.
When Dad & I were living in Kentucky, we had a literal herd – often up to 21 deer – that moved back and forth across the properties, inside the city limits, and often stayed and grazed right outside the back door. Dad could sit on the back porch and the newer fawns would often play around within feet of him, only being warned by their does if they got to close for their liking, and Dad quite often talked to them, giving them ‘lectures’ about the coyotes we had pass by from time to time. Sometimes they actually seemed to pay attention to him.
The Fake-Meat Revolution Has Stalled
Consumer trends suggest a meatless near future is increasingly unlikely.
Recent reports suggest there’s a growing realization among consumers, industry, investors, and others that overheated predictions of a meatless future—one in which steaks, bacon, chicken nuggets, and other foods made from dead animals will be supplanted by plant-based imitations of meat dishes and lab-grown meats made from animal cells (the latter of which is still exceedingly rare)—may have been based on wishful thinking.
As Food Dive reported this week, sales of imitation meat products are faltering. The website cites remarks and earning reports from Beyond Meat—a leader in the plant-based sector that counts among its fans none other than me—that combine a bleak present reality of “negative growth and high net losses” with fears over whether this market downturn could be permanent.