Science

Now we know why Delta Airlines has been holding fast to its sluggish in-flight connectivity providers while seemingly everyone else has jumped into Elon Musk’s lap: it was holding out for Amazon Leo. Amazon’s still busy building out its satellite constellation so we’re talking 2028 before Delta can start offering the service on about 500 domestic aircraft.

They’re hyping up next-generation reactors as a way to meet data center energy demand. Meanwhile, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has lost more than 400 people, largely those working on safety.

JD Vance is no stranger to, let’s say, unique takes on things. On a recent episode of noted plagiarist Benny Johnson’s podcast, Vance said he wants to get to the bottom of the whole UFO thing, adding, unprompted, “I don’t think they’re aliens, I think they’re demons.”

The phrase is being used to describe the horizontal lines or wrinkles that naturally develop across your neck, and may be exacerbated by constantly looking down at your phone. It sounds like yet another way to sell cosmetic treatments to people by making them feel bad about themselves.

Econ writer Kyla Scanlon notes that a lot of society’s current obsessions — peptide stacks, prediction markets, the manosphere — have all the hallmarks of people coping with feeling out of control. “The reason we can’t solve our problems is not lack of tools or information — it’s that the dominant method (add, optimize, measure) is the wrong method for the problem (figure out what’s poisoning you.)”

The WSJ reports that Means needs the support of every Republican senator to become surgeon general — and she doesn’t have it. The reasons are plentiful, but if you want a rundown, I detailed how Means expertly uses the wellness grifter playbook to spread hokey ideas and sow distrust in health institutions.

Facing “unprecedented times” NV Energy has decided to stop selling power to a small power utility serving 49,000 customers in Lake Tahoe, CalMatters reports. Data center requests are driving a tripling of expected peak power demand, according to NV Energy.

Sam Altman announced that he’s stepping down from the board of nuclear fusion startup Helion Energy. Axios reports that OpenAI is in “in advanced talks” with Helion, even though significant scientific advancements still need to be made for nuclear fusion — long considered the Holy Grail of clean energy — to become a reality.

Amazon Leo, the company’s satellite internet initiative, says it’s on track to more than double its annual launch rate with over 20 missions, while shuttling more satellites to space per launch with new heavy-lift rockets. So far, Amazon Leo has deployed more than 200 satellites to its constellation, and its next mission is set for March 29th.

According to Axios, discussing a potential energy deal between OpenAI and Helion Energy for “a guaranteed portion of Helion’s production, potentially scaling to 50 gigawatts by 2035 (assuming the company can develop a fusion process that generates more energy than it consumes).

Elon Musk says he’s planning to open a “Terafab” chip plant in Austin, Texas, jointly run by Tesla and SpaceX, as we approach dire risk levels of “tera” ceasing to have all meaning.

That seems like a fair reaction to a six-pound chunk of space rock crashing through your roof and landing in your child’s bed. NASA says the meteor that exploded over Houston was roughly one ton, and three-feet across. Something similar happened less than a week ago over Ohio.

As energy prices soar, Trump’s systematic pivot away from solar and wind in favor of big-beautiful fossil fuels is looking dumber than Brendan Carr. Spain invested heavily in renewables and France went nuclear to reduce its dependence on dinojuice. Both are expected to weather the latest energy crisis better than more oil-dependent neighbors, with Europe as a whole fairing better overall thanks to continued investment in solar panels and wind turbines.

Blue Origin is seeking permission from the FCC to deploy nearly 52,000 solar-powered satellites into space that will handle artificial-intelligence computing, following similar applications from Elon Musk’s SpaceX and start-up Starcloud. The aim is to bolster terrestrial data centers, but experts are skeptical.

Local news delivers again.

The nation suffered a total disconnection today, according to its energy ministry. The country’s energy woes have only intensified with the US’ oil blockade and incursion into Venezuela, which had been a major oil supplier for Cuba.

Search-and-rescue operations lacked access to pinpoint data on where tornadoes touched down, because Kristi Noem’s DHS spending policies are holding up approval of a $200k contract, reports CNN:

The EV maker has been granted a license to supply electricity to British households and businesses, mirroring its similar business in Texas. The approval doesn’t include dual gas/electric fuel contracts, however, and local supplier Octopus Energy already allows Powerwall battery owners to sell energy back to the grid.

They joined a new initiative called Utilize that aims to use strategies like battery storage and virtual power plants to make more use of the electrons already available to the grid. It’s a plan that’s supposed to make electricity more affordable as opposition grows to data centers blamed for higher utility bills.

We knew that DART changed the orbit of Dimorphos, but that was orbiting another larger asteroid called Didymos. Now, scientists have determined that the mission actually changed the heliocentric orbit of the entire binary system. Granted, it’s just 10 micrometers per-second, but it’s proof humanity could potentially change the trajectory of a world killer.

It’s a $100 million project meant to limit methane and other pollutants that are even more powerful greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. But any company serious about climate change still needs to address their carbon emissions, the most abundant planet-heating pollutant. Both companies’ carbon footprints have grown as they expand data centers for AI.