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Last week, Alex Tai, Director of Operations at Virgin Galactic, spoke of the firm's progress in creating the first commercially-viable passenger spaceline at a meeting of the California Space Authority (CSA), held in Los Angeles, California. |
Tai oversees the design and building of a fleet of SpaceShipTwo vehicles now on order with Scaled Composites. |
Earlier this year, Branson teamed up with Rutan to establish The Spaceship Company, a joint venture formed to build the commercial suborbital spaceships and launch aircraft. |
Tai noted that Virgin Galactic has placed an order for five spaceships--vehicles that are expected to be delivered sometime within the next couple of years, he said. |
"We're deep in the engineering program for developing SpaceShipTwo," Tai told the CSA gathering. He pointed out that Virgin Galactic already has some 33,000 registered applications for suborbital flights, as well as received over $10 million in deposits for future suborbital flights. |
Tai said that the research and development phase for SpaceShipTwo "will work for us at Mojave quite well," including early operations of the spaceliner. But additional sites to handle public space travel venues were in the offing, he suggested. |
"Other states are being exceptionally pro-active," Tai explained, such as New Mexico, Florida, Utah, and Nevada. "They want the business. California does need to step up a little bit and start becoming...more pro-active." |
Prior to Virgin Galactic's prospective use of the New Mexico spaceport, unpiloted suborbital rocket flights are already on tap. |
"Everything is right on schedule for our March 27 space launch to inaugurate the New Mexico spaceport," said Eric Knight, chief executive officer for UP Aerospace, Inc., based in Unionville, Connecticut. |
"Our SpaceLoft XL vehicle will be the primary spacecraft that we will be launching from the New Mexico spaceport," Knight told SPACE.com. The group's suborbital rocket flights can accommodate scientific, research, and commercial payloads. |
"It's the workhorse vehicle of our fleet. We believe it has the lowest cost-per-pound of any space transportation system in the world," Knight added. |
"It's exciting to be conducting the first space launch from what will be a grand facility," Knight said. "After our rocket flies into space...New Mexico will fulfill a 15-year dream to create an operational spaceport and usher in this new era of space commercialization." |
While world leaders fret over how best to combat climate change, many animals and plants are already feeling the effects. Here are 11 species, as chosen by the International Union For Conservation of Nature’s climate change specialist group, which are under threat from global warming. |
Ivory gulls, whose numbers in the Canadian Arctic have dropped 80 percent, are seeing their foraging habitat shrink rapidly due to global warming. |
The Lemuroid Ringtail Possum is restricted to two small areas of upland cloud rainforest in the Australian Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. Unable to tolerate temperatures above 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) and sensitive to heat waves, the rare white form of the species (pictured here) is projected to dis... |
Ringed seals, which live in Arctic sea ice habitats year-round, are in rapid decline as ice melts. They are born in snow lairs, mate under the sea ice and use the sea ice as a resting platform in other seasons of the year. They also feed largely on ice-associated prey. |
The Lungless Frog of Borneo lives much of its life in fast and cold streams and rivers in Indonesia. As waters warm and the oxygen rates decline, the frog could find these waterways uninhabitable. Climate change is also expected to bring more floods and droughts to the region, which could impact the frog. |
The Quiver tree in Namibia and in the Northern Cape of South Africa thrives in desert and semi-desert climatic conditions. Known for its large succulent leaves and a water-storing system, the trees could contract in the north and central parts of its range as temperatures rise. |
Found only on the Hawaiian island of Maui, the Haleakalā silversword plant is restricted to high elevations on the dormant Haleakalā volcano. Shifting weather patterns (and particularly increased temperature and a decrease in rainfall) are causing adult plants to die, and reducing the survival of new seedlings. |
As global warming reshapes the Antarctic coast, the Adélie penguin could be one of the many species that suffers. The loss of sea ice coverage is expected to negatively impact its annual migration and winter survival while projected heavier snowfall could reduce the suitability of nest sites. |
This small microhylid frog lives only on the tip of a single mountain top in the Australia Wet Tropics cloud forest. It is a direct developing frog which means it lays its eggs in the leaf litter and the eggs hatch directly into small frogs. With longer and harsher dry seasons, potential declines in rainfall and a high... |
The African Lungfish is a carnivorous fish which feeds on mollusks, frogs, fish, crabs and insects. When flood plains dry up, it secretes a thin slime that allows it to survive up to a year. But as precipitation patterns shift with climate change, it may not be able to survive extended periods of drought. |
Polar bear numbers in parts of Alaska and Canada have declined by almost half, as thinning sea ice makes it increasingly difficult for them to hunt down seals, which are a key part of their diet. Scientists, led by researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey, have found polar bear numbers in the southern Beaufort Sea dro... |
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) - Libya is on the verge of an all-out war involving a rogues' gallery of militias, many of which are little more than criminal gangs armed with heavy weapons. |
A former general is now marching on the capital, Tripoli, where an array of militias - which have fought each other in the past - have for now joined forces to prevent a return to one-man rule. The fighting has already killed around 150 people, according to U.N. figures. The International Crisis Group, a Washington- an... |
LONDON (AP) — A closely monitored assessment of the U.K.'s services sector, by far the main engine of the wider economy, is showing that Brexit uncertainty is starting to bite once again. |
Financial information company IHS Markit and the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply said their monthly purchasing managers' index — which surveys manufacturing, construction and services — fell to 53.2 points in January. That's down from 54.7 in December and is the lowest since August 2016. |
Despite the retreat, the index is still pointing to growth, as anything above 50 indicates expansion. |
Brexit uncertainty was blamed for the decline, particularly in the services sector. |
Britain is due to leave the EU in March 2019 but there's concern over what that will entail for the U.K. economy. |
Founded in 2010 by Cane and Dr. Michael Sherling, Modernizing Medicine has been one of the recent tech success stories in South Florida. Cane, a serial entrepreneur who earlier in his career co-founded and exited education-tech company Blackboard, met Sherling, his future co-founder, in the doctor’s office. |
Modernizing Medicine’s flagship product is EMA, which is a mobile, cloud-based, specialty-specific electronic health record system now used by more than 10,000 providers at thousands of specialty practices nationwide, and the company now offers a full suite of products and services including practice management, revenu... |
The chancellor George Osbornetoday dramatically turned up the heat in the spending review by revealing he would slash the benefit budget for the unemployed by a further £4bn, and saying he would go after those who regarded welfare benefits as "a lifestyle choice". |
Interviewed today, Osborne said: "People who think it is a lifestyle to sit on out-of-work benefits … that lifestyle choice is going to come to an end. The money will not be there for that lifestyle choice." |
Treasury sources indicated they were confident they would secure £4bn in further savings by 2014-15 on top of the £11bn savings set out in the June budget. |
The Department of Work and Pensions, however, said no agreement had been struck, or specific figure agreed. Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, has been involved in bitter talks with the Treasury over his potentially costly plan to improve work incentives for those on the dole, and some of his allies we... |
One source said: "This feels like an effort to get Andy Coulson off the front pages rather than anything to do with welfare reform." |
The Treasury said the £4bn extra saving was not dependent on a fall in unemployment, but is an estimate of the number of extra people who will find jobs due to the government's work programme and changes to work incentives. |
The benefit savings could be increased if the Treasury presses ahead with proposals to restrict current universal benefits such as the winter fuel allowance, travel passes and TV licences. |
The chancellor's plan to cut benefits came as the OECD, the west's leading economic thinktank, warned that G7 countries may have to delay their deficit reduction plans as the pace of economic recovery has slowed. |
The benefit proposals, and the manner in which they emerged in Osborne's interview with the BBC's Nick Robinson, also angered leftwing Liberal Democrat MPs Mike Hancock, Tim Farron and Bob Russell. Vowing to vote against such cuts, Hancock said: "This goes right to the heart of the benefit system in this country. He ha... |
Russell said: "This is not the way the coalition should work. I think Liberal Democrat MPs need to find out what is being done in our name. He is going around with a sledgehammer." |
Farron said: "The government needs to demonstrate that those who got us into this mess are going to more than bear the brunt and that the most in need will not be targeted. We need to scrutinise where the cuts are made." |
Osborne's declaration came on the day Nick Clegg had tried to send out a nuanced message that the cuts in the 20 October spending review would not fall in one blow, and would not be "dramatically different" to those proposed by Labour. |
Osborne, by contrast, adopted a blunt tone, telling the BBC: "The welfare system is broken. We have to accept that the welfare bill has got completely out of control and that there are five million people living on permanent out-of-work benefits. That is a tragedy for them and fiscally unsustainable for us. |
"There will be further welfare cuts amounting to several billions of pounds additional to what I announced in the budget," he promised. "The people of this country understand this choice and they have chosen for us as a government to push further on welfare reform." |
During the election campaign David Cameron promised the winter fuel allowance would not be cut, but it is possible that it, and some other universal benefits, could be restricted to those on pension credit, as the Lib Dems advocated. In a speech today Clegg warned that the biggest risk facing the government in next mon... |
Six weeks before 25% cuts in departmental budgets are unveiled, the deputy prime minister revealed that the government "was putting a lot of pressure on departments not simply to panic, and do a numerical exercise, but also think about their long-term vocational purpose". |
Clegg said he knew the spending review would be very controversial. "More worrisome still, they simply look at the cost of employing people and slash jobs." |
He also disclosed that the spending review would provide extra money to introduce a pupil premium for poorer school children. It would include a deal to loosen Treasury controls over local government so "over time there is a rebalancing of the fiscal system," he said. |
It is understood that the cabinet agreed this week that spending ministers will be entitled to take their departmental spending cuts programme to the domestic affairs committee of the cabinet to ensure there is full political buy-in into the cuts programme, so ministers collectively agree on highly controversial indivi... |
It had previously been thought cabinet ministers would simply strike bilateral deals with the Treasury, or the so-called star chamber. |
Clegg's politically-driven need to calm anxieties carries the danger of sending a mixed political message since, to placate the markets, the coalition is also insisting that Labour's deficit reduction programme was totally inadequate. |
Clegg argued: "This is a four- to five-year plan. It means for a department that is being asked to have its finances reduced by 25%, it is an annual reduction of about 6%. Under Labour's plans it would have been a 20% reduction so that it would have been 5% every year." |
"Our plans are not that dramatically different in some cases from what Labour was planning, and crucially it takes place over time, so I hope that gives everyone in public services and local government time to plan carefully, not to panic, and to take the wrong decisions right at the beginning." |
However, Clegg admitted that the public were at present reading their worst fears into the spending review. He admitted: "Of course, there are plenty reasons for people to be anxious, particularly in those parts of the country that are very dependent on the public sector." |
Shadow work and pensions secretary Yvette Cooper said: "George Osborne talks about cutting the welfare bill, but their own figures show their policies are cutting jobs and putting more people on to benefits. We know already that the coalition is hitting the poorest carers, pensioners and the most disabled. They urgentl... |
This week, Dining Out gets the inside scoops from Asahi Grill’s cook Cliff Doctolero, who gives us a little taste of Asahi Grill and shares just what fuels his culinary drive. |
Who or what inspires you as a chef/manager/owner? I like to cook a lot. It started in high school when I enrolled in a food-service program for students. I enjoyed it more and more, and had a teacher who pushed me to enroll in KCC’s culinary arts program. Being able to try new things with different ingredients, put the... |
What’s your most popular dish? Our oxtail soup is by far the most popular. We need to cook about 400-600 pounds of oxtail every week to keep up with the demand! We boil the meat for hours to make it soft so it falls off the bone, and that also gets the flavor out of the meat. Ox-tail has much more flavor than regular b... |
Is there a dish that you create that’s not on your menu, but available upon request? Right now, we’re trying some new stuff out. Our Oxtail Stew is something we’ve been working on and may add to the menu soon. We also are looking to offer more vegetarian options. For example, Tofu and Mushroom Stir Fry is something tha... |
What is the biggest compliment you’ve ever received as a chef/manager/ owner? When people say they enjoy the food here, or when regulars come back to visit us again and again, it’s very rewarding, but at the same time, it’s a team effort. I never really thought about those things being a compliment to me because everyo... |
If you could serve food to a celebrity, who would it be and why? What dish would you serve? I would serve Alan Wong. Since I started cooking I’ve always looked up to him as a chef. I find inspiration in a lot of different chefs, but he is a stand-out for me. I’ve never met him personally, but I’ve seen him working whil... |
Iran on Nov. 8 signed a $6 billion gas development deal with France’s Total. |
The South Pars gas field covers an area of 9,700 square kilometers, 3,700 square kilometers of which are in Iran’s territorial waters in the Persian Gulf. |
The deal is the first of its kind between the Islamic Republic and a Western energy firm since the nuclear deal with world powers took effect in January 2016. |
The deal for development of Phase 11 of the South Pars field must be finalized within six months, an Iranian oil ministry spokesman said. |
Total had reached a general agreement in 2004 with Iran for the development of Phase 11 and a gas plant. But it was never finalized. |
In June 2009 Teheran signed a nearly $5-billion agreement with China National Petroleum Corporation for the development of that Phase 11, but that contract was canceled in early 2013, after Iran said the Chinese side didn’t honor its commitments. |
The new agreement involves a consortium led by Total, which includes CNPC and Iran’s Petropars. |
The offshore South Pars field, shared by Iran and Qatar in the Gulf, contains some 14,000 billion cubic meters of gas — 8 percent of the world’s known reserves. |
TAGAYTAY -- Balikbayan IM Angelo Young and Haifa Olympiad veteran NM Cesar Caturla shared the limelight by ruling the rapid chess competitions in the 9th Asian Seniors Chess Championships at the Tagaytay International Convention Center. |
Young, the multi-titled campaigner from Illinois, USA who returned to the country early this year, topped the 50 years old and above category, while Caturla, a member of the Philippine team to the 1976 World Chess Olympiad in Haifa, Israel, ruled the 65-above class. |
Young finished with six wins and one draw for 6.5 points in the seven-round competition hosted by the Tagaytay City government thru Cavite 7th District Congressman Abraham “Bambol “ Tolentino Jr. and Mayor Agnes Tolentino. |
Young finished with 6 wins, 1 draw for a total of 6.5 points in seven outings to enroute the coveted gold medal in the tournament hosted by the Tagaytay City government. |
The bronze medal went to IM) Aitkazy Baimurzin of Kazakhstan, who toppled 1978 Lugano Olympian NM Rosendo Bandal Jr. |
In the 65 years old and above division, Caturla outsteadied Hendry Jamal of Indonesia in the last round to finish with four points and pocket the gold. |
Bandal, who finished with the same score as Caturla, settled for the silver. |
Anthony Torres showed no emotion Wednesday when a Lubbock County jury convicted him of capital murder and, with that verdict, effectively sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. |
Life without parole is automatic in capital cases when prosecutors do not seek the death penalty. |
It took less than an hour for 12 men and women to determine that Torres, 36, murdered and robbed 27-year-old Amanda Moreno in June. |
Lubbock County Criminal District Attorney Matt Powell said the verdict could give the family some closure, but was not cause for celebration. |
"There's no rejoicing," Powell said. "There's no joy in this." |
Dan Warrick, Torres' court-appointed attorney, indicated to the court Torres planned to appeal, but afterward said the verdict pretty much spoke for itself. |
"I don't like to second-guess what the jury did," Warrick said. "It's just how the jury decided to decide the issue." |
Torres admitted to police he beat and choked Moreno when he realized he wasn't going to be able to steal her children's Nintendos and sell them for crack cocaine. |
Torres then wrapped Moreno's daughter's pants around her throat and left Moreno soaking in her own blood in her daughter's bed. |
Chief Medical Examiner for Lubbock County Sridhar Natarajan testified Moreno died from asphyxia and blunt force trauma. |
Moreno's youngest brother found her in her daughter's bloodied sheets two days later. |
In both his statement to Lubbock Police Detective Trey Mayer and in recorded phone calls from jail to his mother, Torres admitted to stealing Moreno's property and selling it or trading it for crack. |
According to his own time line, Torres spent two days - from the time he killed Moreno until he was arrested - driving Moreno's children to crack houses while he sold their mother's possessions for the drugs he smoked in front of the children. |
The fact Torres murdered Moreno was never in question, said Kelly Clark, one of Torres' appointed attorneys. |
Torres' defense hinged on the theory that Moreno and Torres were common-law spouses, therefore the property Torres sold was community property so a robbery did not occur. |
Committing a murder during the course of a robbery elevates it to a capital offense and carries with it the automatic life-without-parole sentence. |
"There is no doubt that a homicide occurred," Clark said in his closing argument. "The question is whether it's capital murder or murder." |
Powell told jurors to focus solely on the evidence, including the fact blood smears were found on power cords of items Torres apparently stole while Moreno's blood was literally on his hands. |
Torres also told Mayer he licked blood off the rings he stole from Moreno's dead hands so pawn shops wouldn't get suspicious. |
"Evil exists," Powell told jurors. "You've been in the presence of evil for three days." |
After the jury convicted Torres, Stephanie Nuñez, the girlfriend of Moreno's youngest brother, read a prepared statement on behalf of the family. |
Nuñez called Torres a coward for committing a "senseless, inhumane act." |
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