Latest news with #Colossus
The Irish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
I'm a theme park ‘fat tester' – I spent my day squeezing into seats at Thorpe Park & these are the rides you can't go on
A PLUS-SIZE woman has been dubbed a 'theme park fat tester' after spending the day seeing which rollercoasters she could fit into and which ones left her sat on the sidelines. Posting under 2 Tiktoker, @TeamTopsy is a self proclaimed 'fat-tester' Credit: Tiktok/ @Teamtopsy 2 She spent her day squeezing into rides at Thorpe Park Credit: Tiktok/ @Teamtopsy Wearing leggings, trainers and a positive attitude, she spent the day climbing into test seats, checking harness space and asking staff for tips on how She joked that she was '72 miles off' from fitting into Colossus but gave a full, no-nonsense review of what each ride was like for people in bigger bodies. Some rides like The Walking Dead and Detonator were surprisingly comfy, with wide seats and space to spare. Others, like Stealth, were a definite no as she couldn't even pull the harness down. Read more on theme parks She rated Nemesis Inferno as one of the best for She also praised the helpful staff who moved queues around to help her access special seats. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. On Hyperia, one of Most read in Fabulous Susan, who rode several rides solo when her friend didn't fit, described Hyperia as 'the best ride ever' but admitted the airtime was so intense she felt like she might fly out of her seat. Samurai, Colossus and Saw were all marked as too tight for guests over a size 18. We Spent the Day at Thorpe Park and Rode EVERY Rollercoaster with the Family And she highlighted that rides with chest restraints could be especially tricky for those with larger busts. She explained that Samurai's locking system wouldn't close over her 63-inch chest and recommended others check out test seats first to avoid embarrassment at the front of the queue. The TikToker didn't sugar-coat it, saying that while She summed it up by saying the park was 'not completely accessible for full-size bodies,' despite fitting on more rides than she did at The key, she said, is to ask for the bigger seats and not be afraid to speak up. Fans praised her honesty in the comments, with one saying: 'As a plus-size person, I love this. Thanks for being real.' But others were cruel, calling her names and telling her not to bother going. One even wrote: 'Anything but a calorie deficit.' Still, she's not letting the trolls stop her and she's already planning to try more parks soon. As she put it: 'If I die, I die — but at least I had a laugh.' Use these tips on your next theme park trip Next time you visit a theme park, you may want to use our top tips to make the most of your adrenaline-inducing day out. Go to the back of the theme park first. Rides at the front will have the longest queues as soon as it opens. Go on water rides in the middle of the day in the summer - this will cool you off when the sun is at its hottest. Download the park's app to track which rides have the shortest queues. Visit on your birthday, as some parks give out "birthday badges" that can get you freebies. If it rains, contact the park. Depending on how much it rained, you may get a free ticket to return.
Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
I'm a theme park ‘fat tester' – I spent my day squeezing into seats at Thorpe Park & these are the rides you can't go on
PLUS SIZE I'm a theme park 'fat tester' – I spent my day squeezing into seats at Thorpe Park & these are the rides you can't go on Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A PLUS-SIZE woman has been dubbed a 'theme park fat tester' after spending the day seeing which rollercoasters she could fit into and which ones left her sat on the sidelines. Posting under Team Topsy on TikTok, the woman headed to Thorpe Park in Surrey to put ride restraints to the test and her viral video has had thousands of fellow thrill-seekers hooked. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Tiktoker, @TeamTopsy is a self proclaimed 'fat-tester' Credit: Tiktok/ @Teamtopsy 2 She spent her day squeezing into rides at Thorpe Park Credit: Tiktok/ @Teamtopsy Wearing leggings, trainers and a positive attitude, she spent the day climbing into test seats, checking harness space and asking staff for tips on how larger guests could still enjoy the park. She joked that she was '72 miles off' from fitting into Colossus but gave a full, no-nonsense review of what each ride was like for people in bigger bodies. Some rides like The Walking Dead and Detonator were surprisingly comfy, with wide seats and space to spare. Others, like Stealth, were a definite no as she couldn't even pull the harness down. She rated Nemesis Inferno as one of the best for plus-size riders, calling it an 'easy fit' and revealing that certain rows even have double seat belts designed for bigger bodies. She also praised the helpful staff who moved queues around to help her access special seats. But it wasn't all smooth sailing. On Hyperia, one of Thorpe Park's most popular rides, she couldn't get the restraint to click, so her mate Susan had to ride alone. Susan, who rode several rides solo when her friend didn't fit, described Hyperia as 'the best ride ever' but admitted the airtime was so intense she felt like she might fly out of her seat. Samurai, Colossus and Saw were all marked as too tight for guests over a size 18. We Spent the Day at Thorpe Park and Rode EVERY Rollercoaster with the Family And she highlighted that rides with chest restraints could be especially tricky for those with larger busts. She explained that Samurai's locking system wouldn't close over her 63-inch chest and recommended others check out test seats first to avoid embarrassment at the front of the queue. The TikToker didn't sugar-coat it, saying that while Thorpe Park's accessibility for mobility needs is great, with lifts, ramps and helpful staff but it's still hit or miss for plus-size guests. She summed it up by saying the park was 'not completely accessible for full-size bodies,' despite fitting on more rides than she did at Alton Towers. The key, she said, is to ask for the bigger seats and not be afraid to speak up. Fans praised her honesty in the comments, with one saying: 'As a plus-size person, I love this. Thanks for being real.' But others were cruel, calling her names and telling her not to bother going. One even wrote: 'Anything but a calorie deficit.' Still, she's not letting the trolls stop her and she's already planning to try more parks soon. As she put it: 'If I die, I die — but at least I had a laugh.'
Miami Herald
3 days ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Elon Musk's xAI pushes Grok into Palantir territory
Elon Musk's 2025 has been far from quiet. Starship explosions, robotaxi reveals, and Twitter wars with President Donald Trump have headlined Musk's chaotic year. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Yet, in the middle of the noise, Musk's AI brainchild in xAI continues moving like clockwork. Moreover, with the newest update, xAI's Grok could be angling to knock on the same high-security doors Palantir's been guarding for years. Image source: Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Recent months have shown that xAI doesn't lack any ambition or capital. Since its hotly anticipated launch in March 2023, the company has built Colossus, a GPU supercluster that scaled from 100,000 to 200,000 Nvidia units in just 122 days. Now, it's aiming for a million, to position itself as the world's largest AI training platform. That's some serious flex in a market where compute capacity is critical in staying ahead. Musk has kept xAI separate from Tesla, though he's alluded to a future shareholder vote on deeper investment. The great thing is that the strategy is clear with xAI. Related: Elon Musk's xAI is already shockingly massive A key focus for the AI upstart is to develop frontier large language model (LLM) development across government, defense, and commercial domains. At the same time, the goal is to seamlessly embed Grok into Tesla cars and Optimus humanoid robots for edge deployment. The funding numbers are just incredible. xAI recently secured $10 billion, split evenly between a $5 billion equity raise and a $5 billion debt package arranged by Morgan Stanley. That round took its meteoric valuation to $113 billion, thanks in part to a $2 billion boost from SpaceX. Now, talks suggest a new raise that could take its value to between $170 billion and $200 billion. More Tech Stock News: Cathie Wood drops bold message on Apple, Tesla stockGoogle Brain founder has an unexpected one-word message on AIUnsung AI stock pops after joining S&P 500 That's a monstrous jump from early estimates of $33 billion to $80 billion. Some call it hype. Others say it's the price of building the most potent AI infrastructure at scale. Elon Musk's xAI is taking things up a notch with his government work, and not quietly. Just days after the Grok 4 reveal, Musk has now "Grok for Government," a customized suite of AI tools for federal, state, and local agencies. The move signals Musk's intent to jump into the high-stakes defense-grade AI world. The announcement comes with some real muscle. xAI secured a massive new Department of Defense contract with a $200 million ceiling, standing alongside tech giants like Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic. While that sum is relatively modest next to bigger contracts, it's a powerful entry point for a company still in its nascence. "Supporting the critical missions of the United States Government is a key part of this mission," xAI said in a statement. Related: JPMorgan reveals 9 stocks with major problems The Department's Chief Digital and AI Officer Doug Matty echoed that urgency, saying the government must adopt commercial AI tools in warfighting and intelligence efforts. For Musk, it's more than a business deal. Grok's powerful future is linked closely to Tesla's broader ecosystem, and this unusual overlap puts Musk's fingerprints all over the next generation of U.S. AI capabilities. Could this be a direct challenge to Palantir? More importantly, though, the arrival of Grok for Government can effectively take xAI in direct competition with Palantir. Palantir has effectively become the U.S. government's go-to name in mission-critical analytics. It pulled in a whopping $1.2 billion from U.S. government contracts in 2024, a robust 30% jump YOY, with deep roots in defense and intelligence through its Gotham and Foundry platforms. However, where Palantir leans on Big Data fusion and tailor-made deployments, Grok offers greater agility. xAI's tools could potentially offer faster rollouts and flexible API integrations. Early signs of traction have already been emerging, with reports that the General Services Administration is exploring Grok, pointing to stronger civilian agency adoption. If Grok could match or beat Palantir on speed, cost, or ease of use, we could see Musk's name plastered on more than just SpaceX rockets and EVs. With AI looking to reshape military logistics and fraud detection, the real battle may be over who defines the next phase of American power. Related: Moody's drops 2-word warning on housing market The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
West Australian
6 days ago
- Business
- West Australian
Viridis locks in leadership to push Brazil rare earths production
Viridis Mining & Minerals has locked in its leadership team for the final push towards production at its aptly named Colossus rare earths project in Brazil, with the appointment of chief executive officer Rafael Moreno as a board member and managing director. The move comes on the back of an industry-leading pre-feasibility study (PFS) released by the company last week, which positions Colossus as one of the world's lowest cost and most economically robust rare earth operations. The PFS revealed a pre-tax net present value of US$1.41 billion (A$2.14 billion) and a C1 operating cost of just US$6.20 a kilogram total rare earth oxides (TREO), which would cement Colossus as the lowest-cost rare earth producer globally. With projected revenues of US$5.64 billion (A$8.62 billion) over a 20-year mine life and annual operating cashflow of US$197 million (A$298 million) at a conservative US$90/kg neodymium-praseodymium price, the project remains resilient even at today's depressed spot price of US$63/kg. It will deliver US$2.568 billion (A$3.89 billion) in cash flow. Since joining Viridis early last year, Moreno has overseen the Colossus project from an exploration opportunity into a development asset with government support and global supply interests. With more than 23 years of experience in energy and mining, including leadership roles at Argosy, Santos, INPEX and ConocoPhillips, Moreno has managed projects with budgets of more than US$2 billion and delivered many capital project successes. Moreno's leadership comes at a critical juncture as Viridis advances key near-term priorities. Following the blockbuster PFS, the company says it is fast-tracking technical work for a subsequent installation licence already underway, while financing and offtake discussions heat up. Leveraging the de-risked economics to attract strategic investors, the company already has the Brazilian government on side as it reaches out to global banks to secure Western rare earths production in a tightening supplier landscape. Viridis now moves into the critical definitive feasibility study and final investment decision phases, where execution becomes paramount. The company says its targeted metallurgical test program to enhance recoveries, which will underpin the definitive feasibility study, is set to commence shortly. Viridis' momentum comes at a perfect time as the West scrambles to secure non-Chinese rare earth supplies, underscored by a recent US Department of Defence announcement of a US$400 million investment into the rare earths industry via the nation's Mountain Pass mine in California, where it will set an enticing US$110/kg neodymium-praseodymium price floor. And despite depressed rare earth prices, the industry is humming. Thanks to Colossus' access to a 100 per cent hydro and solar-powered grid and nearby infrastructure in Poços de Caldas, the project's cost advantages and global strategic importance are near unrivalled in the ionic clay rare earths environment. With Brazilian government support secured through a R$5 billion (A$1.37 billion) strategic minerals program in June, Viridis looks comfortably placed with Moreno at the helm to cash in on the surging demand for magnet rare earths. As the company transitions to execution under Moreno's leadership, Colossus looks set to redefine the global rare earths market, delivering unmatched economics and strategic value in a supply-constrained world. Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact:
United News of India
6 days ago
- Automotive
- United News of India
Uday Ruddarraju set to join OpenAI
New Delhi, July 14 (UNI) Uday Ruddarraju, who has resigned from Elon Musk's startup xAI, is set to join OpenAI. Indian-origin Ruddarraju resigned as head of infrastructure engineering yesterday from Tesla Chief's company startup xAI. His resignation comes two days after X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation just months after the social media platform was acquired by the billionaire's AI startup, xAI. Ruddarraju was instrumental in leading the training of the AI model Grok 3. It is a reasoning-based model that surpassed its previous competitors. Ruddarraju has completed his Master's in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota. He previously worked in engineering roles at eBay and 2024, Uday joined as the head of Infrastructure Engineering of xAI. In a post on X, Ruddarraju praised Elon Musk and his team for their determination to achieve targets. He also pointed to his small efforts at xAI in building the future of AI computers. After resigning from his post, Uday confirmed that he is heading to OpenAI. His departure from OpenAI is a big jolt to xAI central teams, which are working in departments of research and computing. Uday is also credited with the creation of 'Colossus' in his tenure at the company. Colossus is the name given to the massive AI supercomputer developed by xAI. It's currently the world's largest AI supercomputer, located in Memphis, Tennessee. UNI SAS AAB PRS
