Elon Musk had just wrapped up a wide-ranging 90-minute interview on the audio chat app Clubhouse early on Monday, when he threw the hosts a curveball. “Do you want to hear the real story from Vlad [from] Robinhood about what happened on the Street with GameStop?” Musk asked. He advised the moderators to click on Robinhood CEO Vladimir Tenev so he…
Tag: reopen
How the Comics Industry Avoided a 2020 Implosion
While publishers and stores feared COVID-19 would be an extinction-level threat, the industry has proved more resilient than thought. From a report: In March, when COVID-19 hit the comic industry in earnest, many retailers and publishers feared it would be an apocalyptic event for the business. Stay-at-home orders shuttered stores, and shipments of new product ceased for several months when Diamond…
Fired COVID-19 Data Manager Rebekah Jones Sues FDLE Over Raid On Her Home
Former Department of Health data manager Rebekah Jones has filed a lawsuit (PDF) against the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, saying the Dec. 7 morning raid on her house was a “sham” to retaliate against her for not altering COVID-19 data. Tallahassee.com reports: Jones was fired in May for failing to change COVID-19 data, and soon launched her own online data…
Arecibo telescope receiver platform crashes onto dish
The telescope has been inoperable since mid-November, when multiple engineering companies reported that safety in and around it could not be guaranteed. Now their fears have come to pass. No one was injured. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/arecibo-telescope-receiver-platform-crashes-onto-dish…
Harvard, Oxford, Stanford Docs Among Leaders of Global Anti-Lockdown Movement
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Mercury News: Doctors at Stanford University are at the forefront of a global movement of health experts who are criticizing lockdowns to control COVID-19 and say schools and businesses should reopen, but with a focus on protecting the elderly and infirm who are most vulnerable to the virus. Called the Great Barrington Declaration…
Microsoft is Letting Some Employees Work From Home Permanently
Microsoft is allowing some of its employees to work from home permanently. From a report: While the vast majority of Microsoft employees are still working from home during the ongoing pandemic, the software maker has unveiled “hybrid workplace” guidance internally to allow for far greater flexibility once US offices eventually reopen. The Verge has received Microsoft’s internal guidance, and it outlines…
SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink satellites this week
After 2 weeks of scrubs, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket blasted off October 6, 2020, carrying 60 more Starlink satellites to orbit. The rocket successfully landed at sea 9 minutes later. Video of the launch and landing here, plus steps taken to reduce the bright satellites’ effect on astronomy. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/spacex-starlink-falcon-9-launch-oct-6-2020…
All Regal and Cineworld Movie Theaters To Close Until Further Notice
Regal Cinemas, a subsidiary of Cineworld Group, said it will shut down all 536 locations on Thursday until further notice. The closure reflects “an increasingly challenging theatrical landscape” due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is temporary, the chain said. NPR reports: Regal is shutting down theaters again less than two months after it started to reopen U.S. locations in late August….
In Internet Dead Zones, Rural Schools Struggle With Distanced Learning
An anonymous reader shares a report: The past seven months have been a big strain on families like Mandi Boren’s. The Borens are cattle ranchers on a remote slice of land near Idaho’s Owyhee Mountains. They have four kids — ranging from a first grader to a sophomore in high school. When the lockdown first hit, Boren first thought it might…
Is There a Way to Darken Satellites for Astronomers?
Astronomers are searching for solutions to the man-made “constellations” of satellites from SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper that they say are interfering with their work. Scientific American reports: Finally, in August — after more than a year of complaints from the scientific community and damage-control efforts from SpaceX — the National Science Foundation and the American Astronomical Society released a…