Latest news with #Taipei101
Pink Villa
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Pink Villa
Extreme sports icon ‘Fearless Felix' passes away at 56 after sudden glider crash in Italy
Best known as 'Fearless Felix' for his record-breaking 2012 stratospheric skydive, Felix Baumgartner passed at 56 after a paragliding mishap in Italy on July 18. While flying over Porto Sant'Elpidio this week, he suddenly fell ill, lost control of his motorized glider, and crashed into a hotel pool before suffering cardiac arrest, per reports. Baumgartner's death reverberates across the extreme-sports community, as he embodied the spirit of pushing human limits, whether plunging from 127,852 feet or soaring in carbon-fiber wings. From Christ the Redeemer to the edge of space Felix Baumgartner was never built for limits. Long before his world-famous jump, the extreme sports specialist built his reputation with death-defying BASE jumps. In 1999, he leapt 95 feet from Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue and later BASE-jumped the 91st floor of Taipei 101. He flew across the English Channel in carbon fiber wings and, in 2014, raced in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Audi Motorsport. Yet nothing eclipsed the Red Bull Stratos mission: on October 14, 2012, he ascended 24 miles into the stratosphere and became the first person to break the sound barrier in freefall. Per The Guardian, Felix reached 1,343 km/hr before gliding safely to Earth. His calm thumbs-up before the leap remains an iconic image of human daring. A legacy carried on by countless followers Baumgartner's Instagram feed—active until the day before his accident—burst with fans' tributes: 'Rest in peace Legend,' one wrote. At the same time, another recalled how his leap helped them become 'interested in Space and aviation.' One fan wrote: 'Reunited with mentor Joe Kittinger, fly high. RIP legend.' Another added: 'Absolutely surreal that his story is still online and he is no longer alive...' His flying exploits earned him numerous awards in 2012 and 2013, as well as roles as a helicopter stunt pilot with the Flying Bulls. Though his final flight ended in tragedy, his motto still resonates: 'Learn to love what you have been taught to fear,' according to WatchTime. He is mourned by his family, close friends, and a global community inspired by every record he shattered.
India.com
03-06-2025
- Business
- India.com
Dubai's Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building, is standing because of India, it was built using Indian...., this company supplied....
Dubai's Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building, is standing because of India, it was built using Indian...., this company supplied.... Everyone knows about Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building located in Dubai as it stands as a symbol of luxury and wealth. Owning a flat or apartment in Burj Khalifa is seen as a clear sign that someone is rich. Rising to a height of around 828 meters, it can be seen from nearly 100 kilometers away. But there are some interesting facts about Burj Khalifa that many people are not aware of. For example, which company built this massive tower? What makes it even more interesting is that the company that built it is quite famous, and though many know its name, only a few know that it also constructs buildings like this. Even more surprising is that this sky-high tower stands strong thanks to materials from India. In fact, the cooling system that helps keep this giant structure comfortable was also made by an Indian company. Who built the Burj Khalifa? The Burj Khalifa was built by Samsung C&T, a South Korean company. It is the same company that is famous worldwide for making smartphones, televisions and other electronic appliances. But apart from all this, Samsung also has a construction division called Samsung C&T, and it's this division that built the Burj Khalifa. Samsung C&T is well known for building some of the tallest and most iconic buildings in the world. Along with Burj Khalifa, this company has also worked on other famous skyscrapers like the Petronas Towers and Merdeka 118 in Kuala Lumpur, Taipei 101 in Taiwan, and the Tadawul Tower in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Their expertise in high-rise construction is recognized globally. What makes Burj Khalifa so strong? The strength of the Burj Khalifa comes mainly from the high-quality steel and concrete used in its construction. And surprisingly, a large part of the steel used in this skyscraper was supplied by India's Tata Group. Tata provided around 39,000 tonnes of steel to help build this massive structure. This steel was used to construct around 400 million square meters of flooring inside the building. Along with that, the construction also used about 330,000 cubic meters of concrete, which is equal in weight to around 100,000 elephants! These strong materials together form the solid foundation that helps the Burj Khalifa stand tall and safe.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Why isn't Rochester's skyline a bit more impressive?
May 31—Dear Answer Man: Why can't Rochester encourage at least some developers to think tall? Verticality shows we have arrived, that we are a place to live and work. Well-designed and architecturally interesting towers can be important landmarks, giving Rochester its own unique skyline and character. Can Rochester get something that truly stands out among its dull downtown buildings? — Disappointed Dan. Dear Disappointed, It seems like you're asking for two things: height and pizzazz. Preferably in the same building. Think New York City's Empire State Building or the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, I assume. Well, don't expect something akin to the Burj Khalifa to be built on the old Post Bulletin site. That said, whatever replaces the old Post Bulletin building can only be an improvement. Overall, I think you're being a bit hard on the Med City. First, many of our larger buildings are somewhat utilitarian. The Gonda Building, for example, is a clinical building meant for patient care. That said, considering the purpose, I think it's quite lovely. Want more evidence of a quality skyline? The Plummer Building comes with bona fide 1920s Art Deco style. Broadway Plaza tops off at 29 stories tall. The space-age Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Building is both energy efficient and stylistically forward. But for a bit more context, I reached out to Chris Osmundson, director at Onward Investors, to discuss why tall buildings are not a priority in Rochester. Osmundson said it all comes down to the differences between Type III and Type I construction. Type III — "lumber typically over a pre-cast concrete podium" — can only be built up to 75 feet, up to seven stories. Just one more story would require a different, and much more expensive, construction type. Type I — post-tension concrete — can be build taller, but at a 35% increase in costs per floor. Examples of Type I construction in Rochester would be The Berkman. And while that building got built at 11 stories, it also came with $10.5 million in tax-increment financing funding. Then there's the matter of rents. No one is probably going to pay the rents that would make such a tall building profitable — especially at today's construction prices — in Rochester. "The taller projects that are working to get done or have gotten done in Rochester are trophy assets trying to command rents that they can only get from a small percentage of the population, and also need significant subsidy," Osmundson said. So, dream all you like about a one-third scale model of the Taipei 101 tower (good luck building something so tall and heavy atop our karst geology) in downtown Rochester, but my guess is nothing in the next 10 years will top Broadway Plaza. And, considering how I feel about Rochester's current skyline, Answer Man is OK with that. Send questions to Answer Man at answerman@ .
Techday NZ
20-05-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Hot chips, cool solutions: powering the AI revolution
Strap yourselves in, fellow travellers, for today we are talking data centre infrastructure. Over at Computex in Taipei, Schneider Electric which makes the physical stuff where AI lives (power, cabinets, UPS, cooling systems) delivered the lowdown on the role and challenges facing what is probably the most fundamental component of the revolution sweeping through, well, everything today. Those challenges largely revolve around increasing compute density and the necessity for appropriate cooling and housing. And in turn, that means out with the bulky finned heatsinks consuming excessive rackspace, and in with liquid cooling. Now, it is hard to get very excited about data centre infrastructure in much the same way as being enthralled with the foundations of Taipei 101 is an unlikely prospect. But that doesn't make those foundations any less crucial, for without them the tower wouldn't stand. At a swanky press conference, Schnieder Electric secure power VP Pankaj Sharma contextualised the challenge by noting the astonishingly rapid adoption of AI: 100 million lemmings consigned free thought to be past in just two months, according to his figures. In what may be a case of a false analogy, Sharma noted this sort of adoption took seven years for that other transformative technology we like to call 'the internet' (those of a certain age will remember being puzzled about the utility of email and downloading fuzzy images over the course of half-hours, right up until we tried it). Since forever, compute has generated heat, and generating heat eats electricity. Sharma noted that demand for AI (and the other now-boring stuff data centres do, like storage or application hosting) has spiked electricity demand, straining power grids and challenging net zero goals. It is, of course, only going to get worse as that demand keeps ramping up. In much the same way that one's spouse insists that more shopping for stuff on sale delivers greater savings, Sharma said AI itself will cleverly help ameliorate demand. NVIDIA, with which Schneider Electric has forged a partnership, fielded head of data centre product marketing at NVIDIA conceded that this is some potentially Inception-level circular logic, so it really sort of boils down to 'trust me bro'. Pankaj's colleague and Schneider Electric international secure power VP Nirupa Chander emphasised the unique needs of AI data centres, noting ultra-high power densities and the necessity of future-proof designs. She explained Schneider Electric's collaboration with NVIDIA aims to streamline power integration from grids to data centres, addressing challenges like unstable power supply and high energy costs. There was some insider banter too: from chip to chiller, and if you haven't already, then you heard it here first. Harris riffed on NVIDIA supremo Jenson Huang's celebrated keynote and noted AI's growth driven by diverse models and use cases, transforming data centres into AI factories capable, one imagines, of Incepting us all. And then, in a highlight of the afternoon, Trent McCarley from Schieder Electric's recently acquired cooling pioneer Motivair went into some detail on the emergence of liquid as a crucial component in creating the infrastructure capable of handling AI-driven heat loads. For those who are into motorcycles, an easy analogy emerged. Back in the day, most engines were air cooled, with effective 'heat sinks' on the engine evidenced by fins. As compression ratios increased in the search for more power, the heat dissipation of those fins proved inadequate, and so radiators, water pumps, ethylene gycol, and a bit of plumbing became part and parcel of the package. Not that dissimilar from the trajectory on which AI data centres find themselves, but of course, at considerably expanded scale. Donovan Jackson is attending Computex as the guest of Schneider Electric. AI must live somewhere, and among other things, Schneider Electric makes data centre infrastructure.
Straits Times
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
World Health Organization countries don't invite Taiwan to annual assembly
GENEVA - Member states of the World Health Organization on Monday rejected a proposal to invite Taiwan to its annual assembly in Geneva after China voiced opposition. Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who are among just 12 remaining countries with formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, spoke on behalf of a group of countries who brought a proposal to include it as an observer in this year's WHO meeting. Saint Vincent described Taiwan's exclusion as "unfair and self-defeating" and Belize's envoy said it "weakens our collective preparedness and response capabilities". No major Western country spoke for Taiwan or signed the proposal, and the United States, which plans to quit the WHO, left its seat empty. But China, which regards the democratically governed island of Taiwan as its territory, and Pakistan opposed the motion and the assembly accepted Taiwan's exclusion. "The proposal openly challenges the authority of the U.N. and the post-war international order," said Chinese Ambassador Chen Xu, who is part of a more than 200-strong Chinese delegation at the meeting. A Chinese Foreign Ministry statement said Taiwanese authorities' "separatist" stance has led to the loss of a political foundation for its participation in the assembly. It denied that there was any gap in pandemic preparedness due to Taiwan's exclusion, calling that a "political lie". Between 2009 and 2016, Taiwan attended WHO assembly sessions as an observer under the administration of then-President Ma Ying-jeou, who signed landmark trade and tourism agreements with China. The question of its participation recurs annually. Taiwan is excluded from most international organisations because of objections by China. A delegation from Taiwan campaigned for its inclusion in this year's WHO assembly and a van has been driving through Geneva with images of bubble tea and the Taipei 101 skyscraper. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
