Tag: Elon Musk

Facts, Truth & Stories in the _____ Era [Opinion Blog]

Data is not information, 
Information is not knowledge, 
Knowledge is not understanding, 
Understanding is not wisdom.  ~ Clifford Stoll

Electric cars are taking on the might of the gas-guzzlers. John Broder, a NYTimes journalist, says his car broke down, in his review in the NYTimes on Feb 8, 2013. Elon Musk, the Chairman of Tesla, rebutted Broder’s claims in a blog post, with vehicle log data, claiming that Broder set out with the intention to discredit the Tesla S.

Data should speak louder than opinions, you say?  Rebecca Greenfield, writing for the Atlantic, read Musk’s data in a very different light. NYTimes’s Public Editor, Margaret Sullivan, weighs in with her opinion of the way in which the case is unfolding.

David Weinberger explains why facts don’t work the way we want.

What it feels to ride a rocket [Video]

Elon Musk (yeah, the fellow who created PayPal, & now dabbles in ideas to get to Mars) shared this incredible video of a controlled rocket launch & relanding. SpaceX’s Grasshopper takes a 12-story leap towards full and rapid rocket reusability in a test flight conducted December 17, 2012 at SpaceX’s rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas. Grasshopper, a vertical takeoff and landing vehicle (VTVL), rose 131 feet (40 meters), hovered and landed safely on the pad using closed loop thrust vector and throttle control. The total test duration was 29 seconds. Grasshopper stands 10 stories tall and consists of a Falcon 9 rocket first stage, Merlin 1D engine, four steel landing legs with hydraulic dampers, and a steel support structure.