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Toronto Sun
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Toronto Sun
Driver attempting to set land-speed record at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats dies
Chris Raschke was travelling at roughly 455 km/h when died after losing control of his rocket-like vehicle. Published Aug 05, 2025 • 3 minute read Cars form a line near the race track at the Bonneville Salt Flats near Wendover, Utah, Aug. 13, 2016. Photo by Rick Bowmer / AP A driver going 455 km/h trying to set a land speed record during a racing event at Utah's famed Bonneville Salt Flats died Sunday after he lost control of his rocket-like vehicle called the Speed Demon, organizers said. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Driver Chris Raschke lost control about two and a half miles into a run and was treated by medical professionals at the scene, but died from his injuries, according to the Southern California Timing Association, which has organized the popular land-speed racing event known as 'Speed Week' since the late 1940s. For decades, the flat, glasslike white surface has drawn drivers from all over seeking to set new land speed world records and motorcycle and car fans to watch. A remnant of a prehistoric lakebed, the salt flats that are about 160 kilometers west of Salt Lake City have also been a backdrop for movies like Independence Day and The World's Fastest Indian . 'Motorsports is inherently a dangerous sport,' said Dennis Sullivan, a car builder and racer who set a land speed record in his 1927 Model T street roadster and serves as president of the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association. 'People get hurt. People get killed. That's just the nature of the sport. It doesn't happen a lot.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Sullivan said motor sports also have stringent safety requirements — such as stronger roll bars, special tires and more fire extinguishers — that help protect drivers. The last racing death Sullivan recalled at the flats came in 2016 when Sam Wheeler, a renowned land speed motorcycle racer, crashed at 200 mph (321 kilometers) when the high-performance bike he was testing fish-tailed and went airborne. The Bonneville Salt Flats, which had its first race in 1914, have about 10 km for racing and an aquifer underneath that cools the tires of the cars. It's unlike other race venues in that it doesn't have stands. Spectators must stand two-tenths of a mile away from the cars. Raschke lost control of the vehicle about two and a half miles into a run. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. It's unknown what speed Raschke was aiming to reach. The association and the Tooele County Sheriff's Office are investigating the death, said Sgt. Dane Lerdahl, a spokesman for the law enforcement agency. 'We know it was an accident of some sort,' Lerdahl said. For decades, people have used the flat, glasslike surface at Bonneville Salt Flats to set speed records, sometimes topping 644 km/h. Speed Week has long been a draw for motorcycle and car fans. Raschke, 60, was the driver of a streamliner — a long, narrow, aerodynamic car made to run at high speeds — known as the Speed Demon. He had worked in motor sports for more than four decades. According to the Speed Demon racing team's site, Raschke worked at the Ventura Raceway in the early 1980s, raced three-wheelers and cars in the mini stock division, learned to fabricate and maintain race cars when working with an acclaimed engine builder and later became a driver for the Speed Demon team. Keith Pedersen, the association's president and Speed Week race director, said Raschke was a respected driver within the racing community and also worked for a company that makes fasteners for race cars. 'He is one of the big ones. He had done all sorts of racing,' Pedersen said. The Race Week event began on Saturday and runs through Friday. Check out our sports section for the latest news and analysis. Care for a wager? Head to our sports betting section for news and odds. 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Hindustan Times
03-08-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Building a self-sufficient critical minerals ecosystem
India's transition to a sustainable, high-tech economy is inextricably tied to the availability of critical minerals, materials indispensable for renewable energy, electric mobility, semiconductors, and national defense. The global supply chains for these minerals are increasingly strained by geopolitical tensions, environmental concerns, and surging demand. FILE - Refined tellurium is displayed at the Rio Tinto Kennecott refinery, May 11, 2022, in Magna, Utah. The world has enough rare earth minerals and other critical raw materials to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy to produce electricity and limit global warming, according to a new study that counters concerns about the supply of such minerals. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)(AP) India's dependency on imports for critical minerals and their processing equipment is a systemic vulnerability. Strategic sectors such as semiconductors, green hydrogen, electric mobility, and defence highly depend on secure and sustainable access to these resources. The National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM) recognises this need and identifies key challenges in India's current capabilities: Lack of indigenous capital equipment for extractive metallurgy Limited domestic recycling infrastructure for high-value end-of-life products Insufficient integration between research, process development, and commercialisation Addressing these bottlenecks requires a coordinated national effort, with academic institutions, industry stakeholders, and policymakers working in tandem. India has a strong foundation in materials science and process development, supported by decades of work from national laboratories and research groups. These efforts have laid the groundwork for deeper innovation in critical mineral extraction and processing. The NCMM aims to make a self-reliant production ecosystem that spans the entire value chain, from raw ores to refined materials, delivered at industrial scale. But achieving this vision remains an ongoing challenge. These critical materials are foundational to strategic sectors such as semiconductors, green hydrogen, green mobility, and renewable energy, all of which require a robust and indigenous technology ecosystem to ensure national resilience and sustainability. However, a significant challenge facing many Indian technology initiatives is the commercialisation gap, particularly in the domain of capital equipment and high-end machinery required to scale up lab-level technologies. India remains heavily dependent on imports for extractive metallurgy equipment, smelters, and advanced mineral processing systems. This dependence severely limits the ability to commercialize and scale domestic technologies. A similar scenario is observed in the lithium-ion battery manufacturing ecosystem, where most cell fabrication and recycling equipment are still imported. While the Government of India is now investing in indigenising such equipment, these capabilities cannot be built overnight. Equipment development must go hand-in-hand with early-stage R&D investments in battery materials. India continues to rely on imported equipment for key mineral processing operations, electrostatic separators, magnetic separators, analytical tools, and extractive metallurgical units. In several cases, import restrictions on sensitive or large-scale systems further limit access, thereby hindering domestic technology translation and industrial deployment. To bridge this gap, certain institutions have been recognized by central ministries as focal points for capital equipment development, driven by their longstanding work in materials science, process chemistry, and modular engineering design. The lack of indigenous equipment capability has also contributed to the export of valuable intermediate resources like black mass from used batteries, highlighting the urgent need for in-country refining and recovery solutions. Beyond equipment, the ecosystem must also include domestic capabilities in specialty process chemicals used throughout the mineral processing chain. There is a growing focus on building this extensive ecosystem, one that spans chemical inputs, machinery, modular plant designs, and supply chain integration. Tapping into the expertise of small and specialised industries will be key to commercialising many of the materials listed under NCMM and ensuring consistent domestic supply. Industrial collaborations are already beginning to emerge in support of this ecosystem-building effort. A proposal is underway to establish a TRL 7/8 pilot-scale facility that can serve as a national technology hub for the design, development, and integration of capital equipment. Such a facility could provide standardized blueprints for plant setup, process flow, and materials integration, which are critical components for building a self-reliant critical minerals value chain by 2047. This kind of platform can also act as a collaborative node, bringing together other academic institutions, research bodies, and private players. Strengthening such alliances is essential to accelerate innovation, bridge the research-to-commercialisation gap, and ensure strategic readiness in sectors dependent on critical minerals. India is currently making major R&D investments across strategic sectors. However, many of these initiatives continue to face limited industrial adoption due to weak linkages between academia and industry. Developing indigenous process technologies and engineering capabilities has now turned into a national priority. A modular, collaborative approach can help India build a resilient critical minerals ecosystem for the future, grounded in early-stage innovation and supported by strong public-private partnerships. This article is authored by Omprakash Subbarao, chief executive, CORE Labs, FSID.
CTV News
29-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
JetBlue, United partnership gets go-ahead from U.S. Transportation Department
In this Oct. 18, 2019, file photo a JetBlue Airways flight flies in to Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer / AP Photo) JetBlue and United Airlines have cleared the U.S. Department of Transportation's review of their planned partnership which allows them to proceed with the implementation, the companies said on Tuesday. JetBlue had been seeking partnerships after a federal judge blocked its alliance with American Airlines in 2023. In May, JetBlue and United unveiled a partnership, dubbed 'Blue Sky,' that would allow travelers to book flights on both carriers' websites, while interchangeably earning and using points in their frequent flyer programs. Under the agreement, JetBlue would also provide United access to slots at the congested JFK International Airport at New York for up to seven daily round-trip flights, set to begin in 2027. The company said that the partnership is expected to contribute US$50 million more in incremental operating profit than it had initially planned. 'We believe Blue Sky will enable each airline to offer its customers access to hundreds of new flights and destinations through a traditional interline agreement,' said Marty St. George, JetBlue's president. Spirit Airlines in June had urged the U.S. transportation body to reject the collaboration between the two carriers, saying it was anticompetitive and would prompt other large carriers to pursue similar deals. Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital, said by removing the antitrust triggers that led to the collapse of JetBlue's Northeast Alliance — such as shared revenue and joint scheduling — BlueSky has introduced a model that other mid-sized carriers could replicate with less risk of regulatory pushback. Antitrust officials under the Trump administration have been taking a more lenient approach to corporate deals, a shift from the stricter stance seen under Biden. In June, they approved several multibillion-dollar deals in just one week, signaling a greater willingness to settle with companies. More than 100 transactions have been granted shorter reviews this year, according to FTC data from July. JetBlue and United said that Blue Sky would begin introducing new customer benefits starting in fall 2025, rolling them out in phases. --- Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru and Doyinsola Oladipo in New York; Editing by Shailesh Kuber
Toronto Sun
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
U.S. Olympic officials bar transgender women from competing in women's sports
The new policy follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year. Published Jul 23, 2025 • 3 minute read The iconic symbol of Salt Lake City's 2002 Winter Olympics greets travellers at the Salt Lake City International Airport Friday, Feb. 18, 2023, in Salt Lake City. Photo by Rick Bowmer / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee has effectively barred transgender women from competing in women's sports, telling the federations overseeing swimming, athletics and other sports it has an 'obligation to comply' with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The new policy, announced Monday with a quiet change on the USOPC's website and confirmed in a letter sent to national sport governing bodies, follows a similar step taken by the NCAA earlier this year. The USOPC change is noted obliquely as a detail under 'USOPC Athlete Safety Policy' and references Trump's executive order, 'Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports,' signed in February. That order, among other things, threatens to 'rescind all funds' from organizations that allow transgender athlete participation in women's sports. U.S. Olympic officials told the national governing bodies they will need to follow suit, adding that 'the USOPC has engaged in a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials' since Trump signed the order. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,' USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. 'Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.' The National Women's Law Center put out a statement condemning the move. 'By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes,' said that organization's president and CEO, Fatima Goss Graves. The USOPC oversees around 50 national governing bodies, most of which play a role in everything from the grassroots to elite levels of their sports. That raises the possibility that rules might need to be changed at local sports clubs to retain their memberships in the NGBs. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Some of those organizations — for instance, USA Track and Field — have long followed guidelines set by their own world federation. World Athletics is considering changes to its policies that would mostly fall in line with Trump's order. A USA Swimming spokesman said the federation had been made aware of the USOPC's change and was consulting with the committee to figure out what changes it needs to make. USA Fencing changed its policy effective Aug. 1 to allow only 'athletes who are of the female sex' in women's competition and opening men's events to 'all athletes not eligible for the women's category, including transgender women, transgender men, non-binary and intersex athletes and cisgender male athletes.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The nationwide battle over transgender girls on girls' and women's sports teams has played out at both the state and federal levels as Republicans portray the issue as a fight for athletic fairness. More than two dozen states have enacted laws barring transgender women and girls from participating in certain sports competitions. Some policies have been blocked in court after critics challenged the policies as discriminatory, cruel and unnecessarily target a tiny niche of athletes. The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes to limit competition in women's sports to athletes assigned female at birth. That change came a day after Trump signed the executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from girls' and women's sports. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Female eligibility is a key issue for the International Olympic Committee under its new president, Kirsty Coventry, who has signaled an effort to 'protect the female category.' The IOC has allowed individual sports federations to set their own rules at the Olympics — and some have already taken steps on the topic. Stricter rules on transgender athletes — barring from women's events anyone who went through male puberty — have been passed by swimming, cycling and track and field. Soccer is reviewing its eligibility rules for women and could set limits on testosterone. Trump has said he wants the IOC to change everything 'having to do with this absolutely ridiculous subject.' Los Angeles will host the Summer Games in 2028. Canada Sunshine Girls Olympics Sunshine Girls Columnists
Forbes
18-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Is Bitcoin The Only Investable Crypto Asset?
FILE - In this April 3, 2013 photo, a 25 Bitcoin token is displayed. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) In 2013, right after bitcoin's price crashed nearly 24% in a single day, a bleary forum user called GameKyuubi missed a keystroke and immortalized a philosophy: 'I AM HODLING.' He meant to type 'HOLDING," meaning that he was not going to sell his bitcoin regardless of the crash. (The entire hilarious post is worth a read.) The typo became part of bitcoin lore. The word 'HODL' now means to hold bitcoin for the long term and to avoid selling no matter what. Over a dozen years and multiple 80% draw-downs later, HODLing has proven to be a sound strategy. Stubborn HODLers were rewarded with orders-of-magnitude gains that beat out every other investment, period. That success has tempted newcomers to stretch the doctrine across the entire token universe. After all, if holding bitcoin worked brilliantly, why not buy a basket of the next big things and sit tight? The answer is that HODLing works with a deflationary, scarce, highly liquid asset like bitcoin – and seems not to work with anything else. Saving In Bitcoin For The Long Term In order for anything to serve as money, it must have a mix of monetary properties; it must be scarce, durable, portable, fungible, divisible, and recognizable. Bitcoin possesses many of these. Its terminal supply is hard-limited to 21 million, its ledger is updated every ten minutes with no central authority, each unit subdivides into one-hundred-million 'sats,' and anyone with an open-source client can validate its authenticity. Crucially, no third party is required to 'make you whole' when you take possession. So called 'altcoins' (other cryptocurrency tokens) fail this test. Their monetary policy is mutable, their security budgets depend on perpetual inflation or venture funding, their ledgers often settle on a parent chain they don't control, and redemption ultimately hinges on trusted teams. Stripped of the marketing gloss, they are closer to penny-stock warrants than to bearer cash. The Data Doesn't Lie: Cryptocurrency Has Failed A recent study of more than sixteen-thousand tokens launched since 2015 finds that fewer than 4% ever recover after their price falls 75% from peak. Since the first quarter of 2024 the pattern has intensified. Almost 86% of tokens debuting at valuations north of half a billion dollars have already collapsed at least 75%, and more than half have bled 90% or more. In this type of market, where a tiny number of illiquid tokens rocket up in price while most fail, attempts at 'diversification' are more like buying lots of lottery tickets and hoping one will win. The CoinDesk 20, a fund designed to spread risk across 'blue-chip' digital assets, has performed worse than bitcoin by itself. It would appear that investors who thought they were buying a portfolio of independent upside discovered they were actually underwriting a single risk factor: demand for speculative narrative and crypto hype. How To Mine Fiat Currency Market share offers another perspective. Bitcoin accounted for roughly 40% of aggregate token capitalization as the calendar turned to 2023. Today, in midsummer of 2025, it controls more than 55%, even after waves of ETF inflows made it easier than ever to purchase exposure to rivals. Capital is not sentimental – it migrates toward the asset with the deepest order book, the most immutable rules and the lowest probability of terminal failure – and capital is choosing bitcoin. Recognizing that split clarifies why only one investment model has been consistently profitable in the crypto ecosystem and has even bested traditional investments. Convert fiat into bitcoin, self-custody it to avoid the counterparty risk of exchanges, and wait for reality to close the gap between infinite-printing government paper and a fixed-supply digital bearer asset. Some HODLers call this 'mining fiat.' Time is the leverage. The moral of the market HODLing is not a universal verb. It is a strategy tuned for money, and today only bitcoin satisfies the definition. Everything else demands constant diligence, deep knowledge of markets, active risk management, and a willingness to sell when the story changes. Bitcoin rewards conviction because its governing variables are transparent and irreversible. Altcoins reward extraction because their rules are negotiable and their economics subsidize insiders. Mixing the two under a single investment philosophy is like storing heirloom gold and lottery tickets in the same vault and pretending they constitute a 'portfolio.' For investors who want long-term wealth rather than a seat at the roulette table, the playbook is unchanged since GameKyuubi smashed the keyboard: buy bitcoin, hold the keys, ignore the noise. Everything else is entertainment, and the house always takes a cut.
