H Doris. I realise astera are posting on biorxiv instead of journals but surely such a claim needs peer review. If you would like us to arrange review at @eLife we’d be happy to do it :)

Elon has made massive political mistakes and now pays the price. I've said many times that he should stop all political activities and attempts to influence policy be it national or internationally and focus on his companies, which undoubtedly offer great products and services. Elon Musk is a genius as an entrepreneur and inventor, but he has never understood history or the basics of politics and has caused massive damage through his interference and actions. SpaceX is already suffering badly as a result.

to anyone breathless over burning belleépoqueslop: 1883 isn’t ancient history and if you want to get upset about the condition of building take a look at some of the schools

It is not household name, but a big long-term success in the US with an excellent management culture has been the McMaster-Carr company. I had a friend who worked in management at the company HQ. He said they maintain a threat list of smaller, smart and rapidly growing rivals. (At the time he told me Fastenal was on that list.) It is not a hit list, it is who they need to work smarter than to stay ahead of. McMaster is extremely competent but not aggressive, the ultimate purpose of the list is, they do not want to become an extinct dinosaur like Sears or Kodak. So there are some executives a lot smarter than Matthias Müller who know the importance of assessing small rivals warily and carefully. The problem with a place like VW is that personal success in management depends on political skill and not decision-making talent. And here, as evidence of that, we had VW CEO Müller being politically anti-Tesla instead of making a good decision to watch carefully and stay ahead.

ELON MUSK: “It's going to be pretty wild that you can have a rocket car. The car has attitude control thrusters and main thrusters in the rear, so it can basically fly like a rocket. It could do rolls. It could do crazy gymnastics. Whatever you want, really. This is not necessarily a safety-optimized car, but it takes the fun meter to 11 out of 10. This will be an actual car that’s on the roads. I’m not sure it’s necessarily legal in all jurisdictions. The car can recharge its air tank, so it’s not like you need special propellant or anything like that. It literally is just going to pop itself up and be able to do these maneuvers whenever you’d like.”

Geneva has beaten Houston and Barcelona to host the 2029 IAC conference. Houston bid aggressively for this to mark the 60th anniversary of Apollo. Have to believe dim international views of our current political leadership played a big role. infoespacial.com/texto-diari…

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Two years ago today, SpaceX made history with the first Super Heavy booster catch. On the very first attempt. Still one of the most incredible moments in spaceflight.

“I despise formal restaurants. I find all of that formality to be very base and vile. I would much rather eat potato chips on the sidewalk.” - Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (born 1942) is a legendary German filmmaker recognized for his unconventional storytelling, relentless creativity, and fascination with the extremes of human nature. Born in Munich and raised in a remote Bavarian mountain village without electricity, running water, or a telephone, Herzog developed an early connection to the natural world. Largely self-taught, he began making films independently, establishing a distinctive style that challenged traditional filmmaking. His work frequently explores obsession, madness, ambition, and humanity’s struggle against the overwhelming power of nature. Known for blending documentary realism with fiction, Herzog often pushes himself and his productions into dangerous, physically demanding environments. His most celebrated films include Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo, Nosferatu the Vampyre, Grizzly Man, and Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Herzog’s fearless approach to filmmaking, philosophical narration, and willingness to pursue seemingly impossible artistic visions have made him one of cinema’s most influential figures. Even in his eighties, he continues creating thought-provoking work that examines the fragile relationship between humanity, civilization, and the natural world. His remarkable career reflects a lifelong obsession with exploring the limits of human ambition, endurance, and imagination.

The first stage booster supporting CRS-35 returned to Earth and landed at Landing Zone 40

A retired NASA engineer who had worked on the Space Shuttle program for 25 years was hired by SpaceX at age 62. He described the first week as the most disorienting experience of his professional life. At NASA, a design change required 3 meetings, 2 committees, a review board, and 6 to 18 months of documentation. At SpaceX, his new supervisor said "if it works, build it. If it doesn't, change it by Friday." He sat at his desk after the first day and called his wife. He told her he felt like a man who had been swimming with ankle weights for 25 years and someone just cut them off. He could move. He could decide. He could build something in the morning and test it in the afternoon. The constraint that he had accepted as the nature of aerospace engineering turned out to be the nature of bureaucracy. Within 6 months he had contributed to more design iterations than he had completed in his last 5 years at NASA. Not because he was working harder. Because the time between having an idea and testing the idea collapsed from months to hours. The same brain. The same knowledge. A different operating system. He described a specific moment where he proposed a modification to a Raptor engine component. At NASA, the proposal would have entered a queue. At SpaceX, the modification was machined by the end of the day and tested by the following morning. He watched his idea become a physical object in 18 hours. At NASA, 18 hours would not have been enough to schedule the first meeting to discuss whether to schedule a meeting. He told an interviewer: "I didn't get smarter when I went to SpaceX. I got faster. The intelligence was always there. The system was in the way." The difference between SpaceX and NASA is not talent. NASA has extraordinary talent. The difference is the time between a thought and a test. SpaceX compresses it. NASA elongates it. The same engineer produces 10x more at SpaceX than at NASA because the bottleneck was never the engineer. It was the meetings about the meetings about the work.

NASA releases new image of planet Jupiter captured by James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope ever built.

Re-entry of Artemis II crew captured by the astronaut in International Space Station

Eric, I appreciate your take. I will take the loss in the sense that many folks here will accuse me of credentialism. Cathy T has no idea what she's talking about. And what she's trying to do will cause harm to the field of gene editing. That's a hill I will die on, my credentials and all.

Last thing: Cathy, you are a perfect example of the de Beaumarchais quote - “you do not have to understand things in order to argue about them.” Get a PhD in gene editing - come back, we’ll talk as peers. 🤓