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Blue Origin's New Glenn heavy-lift launch vehicle is now ready for its first flight. The company has conducted and successfully completed a wet dress rehearsal or a full run-through of the rocket's launch countdown. As The New York Times reports, Blue Origin had to attempt the countdown several times over a few hours, but the company managed to ignite and fire New Glenn's seven engines for 24 seconds in the end. New Glenn's tanks were filled with fuel and the rocket was fitted with a 45,000-pound payload mass simulator as if it truly was heading to space. Blue Origin says this is the first time it operated the vehicle as an integrated system, with New Glenn SVP Jarrett Jones calling the test's completion a "monumental milestone." The Federal Aviation Administration has also granted the company a launch license for New Glenn, which means it's now truly ready to go. The company describes New Glenn as a "giant, reusable rocket built for bigger things." It also said that it was "engineered with the safety and redundancy required to fly humans," though its inaugural flight will be uncrewed. Its first flight was supposed to take place in October carrying two NASA satellites heading to Mars, but it had to be scrapped because the rocket wasn't ready by then. New Glenn will now fly for the first time with the company's Blue Ring Pathfinder, part of its Blue Ring platform that will offer spacecraft services to clients like the Pentagon, instead. While Blue Origin didn't announce a new launch date for the rocket, it's expected to be the company's first flight for 2025 and could take place as early as January 6. Next stop launch pic.twitter.com/GQFz4XxEt5 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 28, 2024 This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/blue-origins-new-glenn-rocket-completes-final-test-for-its-first-flight-140049935.html?src=rss
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President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to delay the law that could ban TikTok until after his inauguration. In an amicus brief, Trumps attorney D. John Sauer wrote that the future president wants the opportunity to find a solution to the problem through political means. The law requiring a ban or sale of TikTok is set to take effect on January 19, 2025, just one day before Trumps inauguration. The brief calls the ban date unfortunately timedand argues the incoming president should have more time to work on a deal with TikTok. TikToks legal team cited a similar concern in its requests for a delay of the ban. The brief also cites Trumps dealmaking experience and his social media platform Truth Social. President Trump alone possesses the consummate dealmaking expertise, the electoral mandate, and the political will to negotiate a resolution to save the platform while addressing the national security concerns expressed by the Governmentconcerns which President Trump himself has acknowledged, Sauer writes. Trumps stance on a TikTok is much different from the one he took in his first term, when he pursued a ban of the app in 2020. He also floated the idea that Microsoft could work out a deal, an appropriate deal, so the Treasury of the United States gets a lot of money without explaining exactly how such a deal would work. President Trump reversed his opinion on a TikTok ban during his second campaign. He told CNBCs Squawk Box in March that banning TikTok would make Facebook bigger and I consider Facebook to be an enemy of the people, along with a lot of the media. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments on the ban on January 10.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/donald-trump-asks-the-supreme-court-to-delay-the-tiktok-ban-235703094.html?src=rss
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2023 was the hottest year on record. This past year is on track to beating it and it caused more problems this past year than just spiking thermometers. The World Weather Attribution (WWA) released its annual Extreme Weather report showing how the record-breaking 34.34 Fahrenheit increase in man-made warming from the past year caused unrelenting heatwaves, drought, wildfire, storms and floods. The WWA estimates that climate change was responsible for at least 3,700 deaths and 26 weather events in 2024 that led to the displacement of millions. The report recorded a total of 219 events from 2024 that met its trigger criteria for identifying impactful weather events. Many of the events were influenced by the natural climate pattern known as El Nio (which has only become stronger under the effects of climate change) but the WWA studies found that climate change played a bigger role than El Nio in fueling these events, including the historic drought in the Amazon. Climate change added on an average 41 additional dangerous heat days and fueled record-breaking rain and flooding across the globe. A study of 16 floods found all but one of them were caused by warming atmospheres that retained more moisture leading to heavier rainfall. These climate conditions can also fuel bigger and deadlier hurricanes and typhoons such as the Helene, the Category 4 Hurricane that hit America in September. North Carolinas Office of State Budget and Management estimates that Helene caused $53.8 billion in damage in its state alone. Two of the worlds most important ecosystems were also hit hard by climate change in 2024, according to the WWA report. The Amazon rainforest and the Pantanal Wetland, the largest tropical wetland in the world, experienced severe droughts and wildfires that created huge biodiversity loss in the past year. Both areas are critical for maintaining the strength of the Earths ecosystems, climate and economies. The Amazons plant life removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and releases water into the atmosphere that helps control the climate and circulate ocean currents. The Pantanal Wetland houses tens of thousands of species of wildlife and provides much needed flood control for the region and creates global economic activity for cattle ranching and soy production, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). The WWAs report set some critical resolutions for 2025 to combat the rising influence of climate change. The report calls for a faster shift away from fossil fuel usage, improvements in early warning systems for extreme weather events, a greater focus on reporting of heat related deaths and financing for developing countries and regions hit hardest by the effects of climate change.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/2024-is-on-its-way-to-being-the-hottest-year-ever-211524257.html?src=rss
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