Latest news with #BuckRogers
Boston Globe
3 days ago
- General
- Boston Globe
Don't buy your kids a phone. Buy them a watch.
Write to us at . To subscribe, . TODAY'S STARTING POINT I knew they were arguing about something when they got off the bus, and my older son, who was finishing his second year of high school, came through the door first complaining about how his little brother and his sixth-grade buddies never shut up on the bus. That's when my 12-year-old burst in the door, about to get an 'Amen!' from me. 'It's because we're the only ones who don't have phones!' The Massachusetts Senate wants to make that everyone . The lawmakers recently When my younger son finished elementary school, for a graduation gift we surprised him with a watch, an Apple SE, the cheapest of the Apple watches, because it checked every box you'd want and none you wouldn't. For kids. And probably for adults. Advertisement His crew of buddies received the same exact gift, and what's very weird, and perhaps not surprising, is that the parents hadn't coordinated. It just makes that much sense for a first mobile device. The market for smart watches is already at Advertisement The cellular model of the watch doesn't have to be paired with a phone, and has its own number along with its own plan, which is just $10 a month. (Other brands include Which is the amount of time the average American spends on their phone each day, My 12-year-old remains at zero, and I wish I could join him. For the second straight summer I've watched him get up every day, curl up on the couch, and then speak into his wrist like Buck Rogers. Does anyone want to go fishing? Or play soccer at the school? Let's do something. After breakfast, he disappears on his bike, and will check in with odd questions and requests, coming in and out of the house with other kids with watches. At some point his older brother will emerge to flop onto the couch and disappear into his phone. Advertisement He got his phone for Christmas in eighth grade, which is on the late side. But it didn't take but a moment for him to start using it way too much, just like everyone else. The Massachusetts bill would ban phones from 'bell to bell,' and the hope is that it will lead to improvements in mental health and the social lives of the students, and limit the endless distraction of the world's most influential device begging to be played with. The bill has support from Governor Healey and the state's two largest teachers unions, but it is unclear when the House will take up the matter. Some opponents have listed safety concerns in case of emergency, and say that a ban would deprive schools of the chance to teach students how to become responsible about screen time. That seems like wishful thinking. But this is not: If the House passes the bill, which cruised through the Senate 38-2, it will go into effect for the 2026-2027 school year, and my younger son will graduate from high school without spending a single day in school with a phone to distract him. And his brother will sound like we do when we look back on the days before helmets and seatbelts. He'll talk about being the last generation to spend all day screwing around on his phone, before we realized how antisocial — and harmful — that could be. 🧩 5 Down: 78° Advertisement POINTS OF INTEREST Garrett Crochet (left), Trevor Story (center), and Greg Weissert model some of Paul Procopio's creations. Tim Healey/Globe Staff Cannabis Control Commission: A state audit of the agency that regulates Massachusetts' marijuana industry found Market Basket: A judge granted the grocery chain's request for a restraining order against two fired executives who are allies of its suspended CEO, Language arts: Boston Public Schools are Tough start: Braintree lost its first Little League World Series game in Threatening: Video appears to show a man Storied shirts: This lifelong Red Sox fan has become the source for the team's RFK Jr.: Trump's health secretary is hostile toward the mRNA technology underpinning Covid vaccines, chilling investment in experimental therapies 'Fear everywhere': ICE has focused more on Worcester and Boston so far, but fears of arrest and deportation Arrested: The man who Artificial intelligence: Meta let its AI chatbots have 'romantic or sensual' conversations with kids. Lawmakers pledged to investigate. ( Advertisement VIEWPOINTS Call it antisocial media: Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram were meant to foster connection. Instead, A D.C. debate: The capital city's BESIDE THE POINT By Teresa Hanafin 🏟️ Jarren Duran lookalikes: If you think you resemble the Red Sox outfielder, show up on the Big Concourse at Fenway (Gate C) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday (you must have a ticket to that game). 🐶 Take one, leave one: At Little Fresh Pond Dog Beach in Cambridge, your canine companion can participate in 🏖️ Same vibe: Obsessed with the Prime Video series 'The Summer I Turned Pretty'? Here are 💿 Quiet summer: No up-tempo, catchy, season-defining hit has emerged as the 2025 song of summer. 📺 Weekend streams: 'Butterfly' on Prime Video, 'Night Always Comes' on Netflix, 'The Legend of Ochi' on HBO Max, and 💘 Blind date: They both enjoy board games, among other things. Will one of them 🔑 Tourist tales: Keys dropped in toilets, shockingly unprepared travelers, missing kids. Here are some wild stories from Advertisement Thanks for reading Starting Point. This newsletter was edited by ❓ Have a question for the team? Email us at ✍🏼 If someone sent you this newsletter, you can 📬 Delivered Monday through Friday. Billy Baker can be reached at
The Hill
15-07-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Proposed cuts to NASA science would be disastrous
'No bucks, no Buck Rogers.' This quote, from the 1983 movie 'The Right Stuff,' encapsulates the idea that ambitions in space do not come cheap. With that in mind, what are the prospects for NASA as its budget wends its way through Congress? Adjusted for inflation, NASA's current budget is 25 percent lower than it was in the early 1990s. The agency accounts for just 0.37 percent of federal spending. NASA has always enjoyed strong public support — its net favorability rating is plus-55 percentage points, behind only the Park Service and the Postal Service. NASA's effects are not felt only in deep space. The agency has an Earth Science Division that operates 20 satellites and provides data to hundreds of research groups. The data helps scientists model the atmosphere, oceans and polar regions, and monitor global land use and climate change. NASA also generates economic and social benefits, with $5 billion of its budget going into U.S. manufacturing and over a million citizen scientists involved in its missions. Next year, the outlook for NASA will be dire. The president's proposed budget for 2026 cuts the agency by nearly 25 percent. That would be the largest single-year cut in NASA's history, taking it back to a level last seen in 1961. While human exploration beyond the Earth is protected, NASA science would suffer a draconian cut of 47 percent. This would shut down 41 space missions, including 19 that are currently active and producing valuable science, a waste of $12 billon of taxpayer investment. The budget has met with strong criticism from space industry leaders and members of Congress, and concern from NASA's international partners. NASA has already been underfunded for years. A 2024 report from the National Academies called for NASA to greatly boost spending on its aging infrastructure, much of which dates back to the 1960s. Former NASA leaders have weighed in. John Grunsfeld, who flew five space shuttle missions and was associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate, said, 'The proposal for the NASA science budget is, in fact, cataclysmic for U.S. leadership in science.' Bill Nelson, NASA's administrator from 2021 to 2025, worries about the geopolitical implications, writing, 'The administration has presented Congress with a blueprint for falling catastrophically behind on space exploration just as China and other nations are surging head.' Every living former NASA science chief is opposed to the proposed cuts. All this comes while NASA is rudderless. Jared Isaacman, President Trump's initial pick to be NASA administrator, was on the cusp of Senate confirmation when his nomination was pulled. Acting Administrator Janet Petro did not have the political capital to advocate for the agency. At a recent t o wn hall, she struggled to defend the budget, saying 'There's a lot of science that can still be done with $4 billion.' The town hall was not publicized outside of NASA, and video of the event has been taken down. The newly appointed interim administrator is Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former reality television personality with no space experience. NASA's fate is now in the hands of Congress. The agency has enjoyed bipartisan support in the past, but that will be tested in the current budget cycle. The early signs were optimistic, but the White House may be working to terminate dozens of science missions before Congress can act. However, the Senate appropriations committee has recently pushed back on the administration's cuts. The budget battle is joined. A shrunken NASA would have difficulty continuing the work that put clever rovers on Mars and created telescopes that discovered Earth-like planets and gave us views of the distant cosmos across the electromagnetic spectrum. Chris Impey is a University Distinguished Professor of Astronomy at the University of Arizona. He does research on observational cosmology and astrobiology and writes extensively about space policy and the future of space exploration.
Courier-Mail
30-06-2025
- Automotive
- Courier-Mail
‘Utopia': huge Aus change no one saw coming
Don't miss out on the headlines from On the Road. Followed categories will be added to My News. 'Dad, do you love the Tesla?' That was the emotional question from my 10-year-old old son after we had spent a heartwarming hour-long bonding session together on the fourth day of the Year of Our Lord 2535. That is, the fourth day we had had our new Tesla Model Y Juniper. It has been a whirlwind courtship so far (in what seemed far, far into the future) and the big questions were already being asked. It was only a year since we (I) had parted ways with the love of our lives – our V8 Commodore stationwagon. That was a relationship meant to last forever, or at least until the kids sent me off into a 'retirement' home, but it wasn't to be. MORE: Tesla reveals major Robotaxi move 2025 Tesla Model Y – do you love me? And while that was a horrible farewell and the heartbreak was still raw, I had to be honest with myself and my son. 'I do mate, I love the Tesi,' I said. 'Me too dad, he replied,' tear-laden eyeballs deep into his third game of Stardew Valley (whatever that is) for the morning from the back seat. At last we were a happy family. The circle of joy was complete. The Tesla had made it so. At least until the next trip when the boys would prep for WWIII again over who got to the Tesla first, who was getting into the Tesla first, who was sitting where and who would get to play Stardew Valley first. In reality, it was the infinity cycle of happiness and being on the verge of WWIII. So it goes, with Tesla. FROM V8 TO EV It seems like eons ago now but back in 2013, I'd gotten married, the Roosters won the NRL premiership and I'd finally bought my dream car, a black Commodore SS Wagon with a glorious 6.2L V8 under the bonnet that sounded like the Gates of Heaven were opening just me for everytime I went close to the redline. MORE: Aussies 'not ready' for advanced driver tech The Commodore V8. Gone but not forgotten. It was a three-way dead heat as to what was the greatest event that year for me. They were all meant to last forever, or until death do us part. 12 years later: + Marriage – tick (I think) + The Roosters have added two more titles in that time – tick + The Commodore – RIP. Give me a moment, it's tough writing about this. Meat Loaf would say 'Two outta three ain't baaaad'. I wouldn't have agreed, until the Tesla came into my life and changed it forever. It's even parlayed one and two above, the Tesla serves my wife up with a daily slice of contentment, the Commodore never could. 'Fancy', 'toasty' and 'ooh very nice' were three joyful utterances she never made (or perhaps they just weren't heard – probably not) as my beloved V8 roared through the suburbs rattling windows, exciting schoolboys and scaring grannies (sorry mum). MORE: The end of travel as we know it Remember Buck Rogers from the 25th Century? He drives a Tesla there now. LIVING IN THE 25TH CENTURY But that was then and this is now. And I probably wouldn't have believed you if you said it would end up like this. Nothing gets you over the last one like the next one, they say, and thanks to the new and improved Model Y, I'm Buck Rogers living in the 25th Century. It's not 2025 when I drive now, it's at least 2525. I'm still married. The Roosters have won 1000 more premierships, the Liberal Party is still in Opposition, we are still in the loop of WWIII-emphatic joy but it's still a great place to be. The V8 Commodore hasn't yet been forgotten by me But it never resembled a near-light speed travelling couch complete with YouTube and the PS5, or had cameras they could twerk at, so it's D.E.A.D. to my boys. Me? I still think about her curves and her purrs her when I hear a Mustang fang past. Although life inside the Tesla is so tranquil I hardly hear any other cars anymore. And the AC/DC soundtrack of the V8 has been replaced with some 80s synth pop that makes you feel like you're in an Elon Musk-certified future. 'Is this Utopia?' I figured that might be my son's next question, when he learns that this is what it feels like. Is this driving Utopia? Picture: Mark Bean It's not. I still have to get out of the Tesla and go to work, or do the shopping or walk in the house. But it's close. Do you know, it even parks itself? The Model Y doesn't have the rough and ready feel of the V8, nor the does demand corners move aside like the lowered 'Dore did. The Commodore was a real driving experience. It wanted to go fast, it wanted to roar, it wanted to drive. The Tesi just wants to make you happy. It's nauseatingly fast. So much so my wife has asked me not to plant the foot when she's in the car. The boys asked me to do it at every traffic light. The Model Y's weight is sometimes noticeable when turning corners and especially when going downhill However the considerate and attentive sensors are a lifetime away from the incessant anxiety-inducing beeps of Holden's Dark Age parking tech. The V8's thirst for 98 unleaded never upset me, it was like feeding a wagyu tomahawk to a Golden Retriever – you always got back what you put in. Still might go back to the old love one day. Ford Mustang V8 Dark Horse. The EV charging issue is already slightly irking me. I don't have charging in my unit, so it's going to be an eternal search. But it's a small price to pay for the love we have all found. I gotta go now, I haven't been on the Tesla app for a few mins and I have to see how she's going. I'm not completely sold on the whole EV thing though. I do miss that guttural roar. When the kids are old enough to have the Tesi passed down to them, I'm gonna get that V8 Mustang. Or I'll upgrade to the Cybertruck. Originally published as 'Utopia': huge Aus change no one saw coming
Yahoo
10-03-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Why Are Honda and Toyota Trying to Compete With SpaceX?
It's only March, and we already we have a blue-ribbon winner for the most unexpected business news of 2025. According to CNBC, carmakers including Honda Motor Co. (NYSE: HMC), Toyota Motor Corporation (NYSE: TM), and China's Geely Holding (owner of the Volvo Cars and Polestar brands) are all now investing Wild though it sounds, these three automotive companies have collectively sunk more than $300 million into the twin space businesses of rocket design and satellite manufacturing. As the saying goes: "I did not have that on my bingo card." Since 2019, Honda has been developing what CNBC calls a "proprietary reusable rocket." Toyota made a $44 million investment in Japanese rocket start-up Interstellar Technologies earlier this year. Geely, meanwhile, is investing $326 million in satellite manufacture. But does any of this make sense? Well, the satellites part may. After all, Elon Musk famously juggles jobs running both the world's No. 1 (or No. 2?) electric-vehicle (EV) company, Tesla, and SpaceX, a space company with its own proprietary Starlink satellite constellation, which can be used to provide mobile internet service to Tesla EVs. If Geely aspires to do something similar, then yes, in fact, it might make some sense for Geely to be investing in satellite manufacture. Yet I'm still not convinced that this isn't an example of "diworsification" -- what we call it when a company spreads itself too thin doing too many things, rather than focusing on what it's best at. And I'm even less sanguine about the prospect of Honda and Toyota apparently trying to turn themselves into rocket companies. Granted, as CNBC points out, "connected vehicles" -- cars that talk to each other via satellite and receive internet service, location data, and software updates back -- could grow to be a $742 billion annual business by 2030. That sounds like an optimistic, pie-in-the-sky estimate to me, but I suppose it could happen. Still, just because somebody might make money from linking up satellites to cars, that doesn't necessarily mean that the car companies are the best ones to do it. It seems to me that this is an idea more likely to burn up shareholder capital than to help propel Honda and Toyota into the 25th century, à la Buck Rogers. All of this is to say: If you start seeing press releases from publicly traded car companies, boasting of how forward-thinking they are and how they're investing in rocket technology, don't get too excited. It may sound sort of logical at first, as companies describe the vertical integration advantages of owning the cars that use the satellite data, the satellites themselves, and the rockets that launch the satellites. But even if Honda and Toyota succeed in developing this kind of technology, they'll be decades behind market leaders like SpaceX and Rocket Lab USA, which have been working on this since 2002 and 2006, respectively. They'll be decades less efficient at it, too. When you consider it's taken roughly 20 years for SpaceX to turn a profit launching rockets into space, and that Rocket Lab is still probably still a couple years away from turning a profit, chances are that any investments Toyota and Honda make in this space are likely to be money-losers for quite some time. Carmakers will be much better off outsourcing satellite design and rocket launches to the companies that already know how to do those things well, and focusing their own efforts on building good automobiles down here on Earth. The more each company focuses on what it's already good at, the better things are likely to go for shareholders. The good news for Honda and Toyota shareholders is that it's not too late for those companies to change course before they get too committed to space investments. Neither company is far enough along in space research that it shows up yet anywhere in their earnings reports. Toyota did $298 billion in business last year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Its space business, though, is no more than a rounding error, part of a $9 billion "all other" catchall category of its business that encompasses prefab housing investments, a web portal, and "information technology related businesses." Honda's space ventures most likely reside within an even smaller category of "power products and other businesses," involving revenue of less than $3 billion annually. For the time being, Honda's and Toyota's involvement in space is more a curiosity than a serious attempt to build a business. It should stay that way. 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