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Tag: Science

  • 2 top tech execs announces exit from Trump advisory councils

    2 top tech execs announces exit from Trump advisory councils

    Tesla Inc Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk and Walt Disney Co CEO Robert Iger said on Thursday they would leave White House advisory councils after US President Donald Trump said he would withdraw from the Paris climate accord.

    Trump decided to pull the United States from the landmark 2015 global agreement designed to fight climate change despite entreaties from US allies and corporate leaders in an action that fulfilled a major campaign pledge.

    “Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world,” Musk said in a Twitter post. He is a member of the President’s Strategic and Policy Forum, a business advisory group, and Trump’s manufacturing jobs council.

    Musk said on Wednesday that he had done “all I can” to convince Trump to stay in the accord, and threatened to leave the presidential advisory councils if Trump announced a US exit from the accord.

    Iger wrote on Twitter that “as a matter of principle, I’ve resigned from the President’s Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal.” He is leaving the business advisory group.

    Uber Technologies Inc CEO Travis Kalanick quit the business advisory council in February amid pressure from activists and employees who opposed the administration’s immigration policies.

    Trump created the business advisory group in December before taking office to assist him in making policy decisions. The group is led by Stephen Schwarzman, chief executive of Blackstone Group LP and includes Indra Nooyi, the chief executive of PepsiCo Inc and Jamie Dimon, chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co .

    Late on Thursday, BlackRock Inc Chief Executive Larry Fink said he would continue to serve on Trump’s CEO Forum, despite reservations about the White House decision to withdraw from the Paris accord.

    “I accepted the invitation to serve on the President’s CEO Forum because I believe I can contribute to the policy dialogue in Washington and serve as a voice for investors,” Fink said in a statement.

    “I am a strong believer that our industry needs to have a voice with governments around the world,” said Fink, whose company is the world’s largest asset manager, with $5.4 trillion (roughly Rs. 3,47,69,610 crores) under management.

    “I do not agree with all of the president’s policies and decisions, including today’s announcement to exit the US from the Paris Agreement which I believe is a critical step forward in addressing climate change.”

    Asked about Musk’s resignation, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox News that “anybody who read the agreement and understood it would realize that this was not really about climate, this was about US money going to other countries and it didn’t solve the climate problem.”

    Musk has met with Trump several times and spoken with him about the long-term goal of his company SpaceX for flights to Mars carrying humans.

    The White House is planning to a hold a meeting with technology leaders on June 19, an administration spokesman said Wednesday.

    General Motors Co said Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra would remain on the presidential advisory panel, adding that her participation “provides GM a seat at an important table to contribute to a constructive dialogue about key policy issues.”

    In 2013, GM signed a declaration joining other major companies arguing that responding to climate change was good business. The automaker said on Thursday that despite the withdrawal it “will not waver from our commitment to the environment.”

    It was unclear whether Ford Motor Co’s new chief executive, James Hackett, would join Trump’s panel.

    Ford spokeswoman Christin Baker said on Thursday the No.2 US automaker believes “climate change is real, and remain deeply committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in our vehicles and our facilities.”

  • NASA reports Cassini dive between Saturn and its Rings is successful

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) reports Cassini spacecraft first-ever dive through the narrow gap between the planet Saturn and its rings on April 26 was successful.

    NASA’s Deep Space Network Goldstone Complex in California’s Mojave Desert acquired Cassini’s signal at 2:56am EDT (12:26pm IST) on Thursday and data began flowing at 3:01am EDT (12:31pm IST), the US Space agency said.

    “I am delighted to report that Cassini shot through the gap just as we planned and has come out the other side in excellent shape,” said Cassini Project Manager, Earl Maize of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

    Images captured by Cassini spacecraft during its first “Grand Finale” dive past the planet have also been published, NDTV reported.

    The unprocessed images show features in Saturn’s atmosphere from closer than ever before.

    “In the grandest tradition of exploration, NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has once again blazed a trail, showing us new wonders and demonstrating where our curiosity can take us if we dare,” NDTV quotes Jim Green, Director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington, as saying.

    As it dived through the gap, Cassini came within about 3,000 kilometres of Saturn’s cloud tops and within about 300 kilometres of the innermost visible edge of the rings, NDTV reported.

    While mission managers were confident Cassini would pass through the gap successfully, they took extra precautions with this first dive, as the region had never been explored.

    The gap between the rings and the top of Saturn’s atmosphere is about 2,000 kilometres wide.

    The best models for the region suggested that if there were ring particles in the area where Cassini crossed the ring plane, they would be tiny, on the scale of smoke particles.

    The spacecraft zipped through this region at speeds of about 124,000 kph relative to the planet, so small particles hitting a sensitive area could potentially have disabled the spacecraft.

    As a protective measure, the spacecraft used its large, dish-shaped high-gain antenna as a shield, orienting it in the direction of oncoming ring particles.

    Cassini’s next dive through the gap is scheduled for May 2.

    Launched in 1997, Cassini arrived at Saturn in 2004.

    Following its last close flyby of the large moon Titan on April 21, Cassini began what mission planners are calling its “Grand Finale”.

    During this final chapter, Cassini loops Saturn approximately once per week, making a total of 22 dives between the rings and the planet.

    The spacecraft is on a trajectory that will eventually plunge it into Saturn’s atmosphere – and end Cassini’s mission – on September 15, some 20 years after.

     

     

    Source: NDTV