Latest news with #StarshipEnterprise
Scotsman
6 days ago
- Science
- Scotsman
Why M8 repairs delay wouldn't impress Scotty from Star Trek
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Scotland's reputation for engineering was once so great that when the original Star Trek show was first conceived, there was really only one choice for the nationality of the Starship Enterprise's engineer. What Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott would have made of Scotland's recent track record in the field hardly bears thinking about. The construction of Edinburgh's airport tram line and a couple of ferries on the Clyde and the dualling of the A9 between Perth and Inverness have all been hit by considerable delays. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The M8 in Glasgow is a vital transport link (Picture: John Devlin) | National World Now we learn that the completion of repairs to the Woodside viaducts on the M8 in Glasgow may be delayed, yet again, until 2027. This would mean that, if the work is finished by this latest 'deadline', some 150,000 drivers a day will have had their journeys disrupted by long traffic jams for a total of six years.
New York Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
Mohamed Hadid's controversial hilltop ‘Starship Enterprise' mansion site is up for auction — again
The remnants of Mohamed Hadid's stalled-out megamansion could be yours. The demolished concrete remains of Hadid's $50 million Los Angeles residence are being sold in a sealed-bid auction, the Real Deal reported. The no-reserve sale has a starting bid of $7.9 million and lasts until July 16. The former dwelling earned the nickname 'Starship Enterprise' from alarmed neighbors, who feared the pad's gargantuan size and uncertain foundations would lead to a cliffside disaster for the entire neighborhood. 5 Hadid's would-be home sold at auction in 2021 after he was ordered to tear it down. Anadolu via Getty Images 5 A judge previously ordered the under-construction home to be torn down amid safety concerns. MEGA 5 Sahara Construction completely demolished the property. MEGA Compass's Tracy Tutor and Premiere Estates Auction Company's Todd Wohl hold the listing. The unfortunate eyesore currently belongs to Paul Ventura's Sahara Construction, which purchased the property at auction for $5 million in 2021. Attempts to sell the Bel-Air property since then have failed to bear fruit. Sahara Construction has carefully demolished the partially built structure down to its concrete foundations, the Real Deal reported, citing a court-ordered engineering report that declared the site now safe for a 15,000-square-foot home. Hadid previously tried to build a home twice that size, and was taken to court over his efforts. 5 Hadid, pictured with his famous daughters, Gigi and Bella, in 2016. Dimitrios Kambouris 5 Hadid planned to build a 30,000-square-foot structure on the hilltop site. AP 'If this house came down the hill it would take a portion of the neighborhood with it,' said Los Angeles Judge Craig Karlan in his 2019 ruling for Hadid to demolish the illegally built hillside home. Hadid, a real estate developer and father to Bella and Gigi Hadid, began construction on the planned megamansion in 2014. The tycoon fought the city of Los Angeles for several years to build the estate. Hadid's company 901 Strada LLC filed for bankruptcy when he was ordered to tear down the structure. Sahara Construction listed the property for sale in the fall of 2023 for $18 million, The Real Deal reported, but the listing was removed last year. 'The demolition took a tremendous amount of money,' Premiere Estates Auction Company's Todd Wohl told the outlet. 'From the court's standpoint, the legal issues and development issues are cured. There's a flat pad now. This would survive a major earthquake.'
BBC News
17-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Work on new Gainsborough cinema nearing final stages
A new four-screen cinema in Gainsborough is on course to open in the summer, according to £9m project in Market Place comprises a Savoy cinema, two retail units and a already runs seven cinemas, including screens in Boston and manager Wayne Gregory said the cinema would employ between 20 and 30 people, including permanent staff and students on seasonal contracts. Local resident Paula Dowe, 57, said: "Maybe in the holidays for the children and families, it [the cinema] might make a difference. "But I think there's got to be a lot more here to encourage people to come and spend." Darren Harris, 53, said the cinema would attract more people to Gainsborough. "It'll be much more for the centre here, because we've got lots of new shops opening up, so it'll be good all round." Mr Gregory said work was approaching its final stages and the cinema was a couple of months away from in the projection room, he said: "It's getting close, but there's still so much to do."It's hard to imagine at the minute, as it's just an empty room with lots of cables. But, when it's all done, it's like the bridge of the Starship Enterprise up here."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
The Guardian
13-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Lauren Sanchez's all-female space flight is about to blast off – and will challenge Elon Musk's SpaceX
Jeff Bezos is blasting his bride-to-be Lauren Sánchez and her 'guests' to space on Monday – a plan that might, under other circumstances, contain mixed messages. A crew of six women – Amanda Nguyen, a civil rights activist who will become the first Vietnamese woman to fly to space; the CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King; the pop star Katy Perry; film producer Kerianne Flynn; entrepreneur and former Nasa rocket scientist Aisha Bowe; and Sánchez, a journalist and philanthropist – will blast off on Blue Origin's New Shepard rocket from the company's launch site, 30 miles north of Van Horn, Texas, on an 11-minute, suborbital flight to the edge of space and back. Though billed as the first all-female crew to reach the Kármán line, the internationally recognised boundary of space at an altitude of 62 miles, it is not technically so: the cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova flew a solo mission to space in 1963. But Tereshkova didn't blast off with the accoutrements afforded the new ladies of space. 'We're a crew!' they reportedly shouted in unison at a photoshoot for Elle magazine, each rocking 'an all-black power look'. The magazine noted that this will be the first time anyone has been to space with their hair and makeup done. 'Who would not get glam before the flight?' Sánchez remarked. Perry added: 'Space is going to finally be glam. Let me tell you something. If I could take glam up with me, I would do that. We are going to put the 'ass' in astronaut.' But trips like these raise questions: are they anything more than joy rides – and do they need to be? King said she 'had a lot of trepidation – I still do – but I also know it's very interesting to be terrified and excited at the same time. I haven't felt like this since childbirth. Because I knew childbirth was going to hurt. But it's also stepping out of your comfort zone.' The actor William Shatner, aka Captain James T Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, took one of the first flights on Bezos's rocket at the age of 90 in 2022. He said he was surprised by his own reaction to the experience – and moved to tears. 'When I looked in the opposite direction, into space, there was no mystery, no majestic awe to behold ... All I saw was death. I saw a cold, dark, black emptiness. It was unlike any blackness you can see or feel on Earth. It was deep, enveloping, all-encompassing. It was among the strongest feelings of grief I have ever encountered,' he added. For Bezos, however, the all-female trip may be more than a curated joyride in a rocket that flies itself. The Amazon co-founder is locked in a competitive commercial space launch industry battle with Elon Musk. Rockets from Musk's Space X Falcon 9 family have launched 469 times. By contrast, Blue Origin has completed a mere 31 successful launches of its New Shepard vehicle, including 11 crewed suborbital flights. Earlier this year, Blue Origin launched its larger, reusable rocket, New Glenn (named after John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The company says this operates like a 'commercial airliner (but with cleaner fuel)', will lead to 'significantly less waste and cost' and can carry 13 metric tons to geostationary transfer orbit and 45 metric tons to low Earth orbit. Nevertheless, Blue Origin remains in second place in this space battle. The leader, SpaceX, currently builds and launches two rockets: the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy. A feature of these rockets has been the development of booster stages that return to Earth for refurbishment, a revolutionary process which saves money and has helped SpaceX undercut competitors. The company also builds and flies Dragon, the space capsule that can carry crew and cargo to the International Space Station, and is working on a large rocket and spacecraft system called Starship that will be able to carry massive payloads to space. Starship may even carry astronauts to Mars and set up colonies there, if Musk gets his way. 'As it stands, Musk's SpaceX is the competition's undisputed leader: it regularly sends astronauts into orbit, while Bezos's Blue Origin has yet to launch anyone beyond the outer edge of space,' Politico recently noted. SpaceX and Blue Origin have clashed in court over billions of dollars in government funding, and the billionaires themselves traded barbs on the Musk-owned X, with Musk rivals worried that he is aiming to create a monopoly in the private space industry. 'People are concerned what's in place to stop it,' said one space industry lobbyist. 'You're talking about two of the most unpredictable people in the world getting together. It's not [a case of] chocolate and peanut butter, and you get a great combination. You're talking about world dominance here.' Blue Origin is trying to raise alarms about potential unfair advantages in the space race, Politico reported. 'Elon wants a monopoly in space,' argued a person familiar with Blue Origin's Washington strategy. All of which means that Monday's launch may have more at stake than six women and their pre-flight beauty regimens.
USA Today
11-03-2025
- USA Today
5 Things I Never Play Golf Without: Jason Lusk
5 Things I Never Play Golf Without: Jason Lusk Our scratch handicap travel editor loves a minimalist golf bag, but there are a few things he always takes with him, for rain and for shine. Five things I always take with me on the course? Hmm. I'm a bit of a minimalist, and I walk a lot of courses, 63 of them in 2024. For me it's all about weight, or better said, the lack of it. I normally have about five golf balls in my bag, a handful of plastic tees that last longer than wood tees on a road trip, two Sharpies and one of those little plastic cups to help put a straight line on a golf ball. There's an ancient rangefinder that's on about its 20th battery, and that's pretty much it for my tech. The heaviest part of my bag is the bouquet of headcovers that have sprung up as I've gotten older – Freddie Couples is on to something with all his hybrids. But there are a few things I take along on any trip that always bring a smile to my face, and a few other items that I won't leave home without that help me deal with any weather, rain and shine. A (sometimes) lucky Irish coin, $6 I used foreign coins as ball markers for decades, but in recent years I have kept this touristy Irish coin in my pocket. It has part of a traditional Irish blessing on the back – the way I putt, I could use all the help I can get. My favorite part: This coin is dense and easy to grab in my pocket, no fiddling around in a rain suit to find what I need. My young daughter bought it for me in Galway shop, and I bought three backups on my most recent trip to the Emerald Isle. It's about the same size as an American quarter. St. Andrews pitchmark repair tool, free As soon as I fished this repair tool out of the starter's box on the first tee of the Old Course, I had a new favorite. Every time I pull it out of my pocket, it reminds of the Home of Golf. The positive memories it evokes are always welcome. It's in keeping with my minimalist approach – effective, sturdy and beautiful in its simplicity. Call me crazy, its shape reminds me of the Starship Enterprise. I wrote that it was free in the heading above, but of course you do have to get yourself to St. Andrews to pick up your own – it's a trip every golfer should make at least once. Play St. Andrews in 2026 Little Donkey Andy insulated pants, around $50-$60 I've become the Pied Piper of Little Donkey Andy, telling anyone who asks all about these fleece-lined weather pants. Found on Amazon, the brand offers several styles, most of them under the label of hiking pants, all of them with belt loops. I have two water resistant pairs (they've never soaked through) for simply cold, damp and windy days, when temps drops into the high 30s and low 40s. I also have two pairs that are even heartier for truly nasty days, when rain and sometimes ice blows in sideways. Unlike normal rain paints, you wear these all day, never having to pull rain pants on and off. Several high-end manufacturers make beautiful and branded pants that do the same thing, but they tend to run into the hundreds of dollars. With Little Donkey Andy priced so low and with warm pants this good, it's all smiles for me on even the most blustery days on any links course. The brand makes several models with various temperature ratings for men and women. Shop Little Donkey Andy golf pants An ultra lightweight golf bag from Titleist, Ping or Sun Mountain, $200-290 Sometimes walking more than 15 miles in a day, I want a carry bag that's effortless to throw across my old-man shoulders. Every pound matters. In recent years, I've used a Titleist Players 4 Carbon bag, a Ping Hoofer Lite and most recently a Sun Mountain 2.5, and each of these has been great – ultra light and still sturdy. This year's model of the Sun Mountain 2.5 weighs in at a featherweight 2.9 pounds and holds a full set with ease. I've used my blue 2.5 for more than 300 rounds and have taken it on at least 100 flights – all the zippers still work, the legs still pop out and it still weighs next to nothing. Save 20% on Sun Mountain 2.5 golf bag Oakley Radar EV Path sunglasses, $231 I wear contacts, and breezes can dry out my eyes to the point of distraction. I've used non-polarized Oakleys for years on the course, ever since my eye doctor told me to avoid polarization that can effect a player's greens reading. I bought this latest model last year and have worn them for some 100 rounds. The Prizm lenses were designed for golf, never too dark but still providing dry-eye relief. Shop Oakley Radar EV Path sunglasses
