Things To Do In SW Florida

By Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald

Elon Musk wants to merge humans with AI. And his goal of achieving “symbiosis” with artificial intelligence starts with a brain chip.

Neuralink, a company Musk co-founded, is testing linking brains to computers and has recently recruited the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine for help.

Clinical trials are underway for Telepathy, a Neuralink brain chip that could give people who are paralyzed the ability to use the mind to wirelessly control computers, smartphones and other electronic devices. Miami is the second site in the U.S. selected to test the safety and effectiveness of the experimental device, which has already shown promise.

“It’s like using the Force” on a computer cursor, according to Noland Arbaugh, referencing the Star Wars energy field. Arbaugh is a quadriplegic and the first person to get the Neuralink brain chip implant in January 2024 at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix.

Arbaugh and another trial participant have used the mind to control a computer mouse, play online chess and video games since getting the implant, according to the company. Earlier in January, Musk announced a third person had received the implant. read more

The annual watchdog report tasked to gauge NASA safety commended the agency’s handling of last year’s beleaguered Boeing’s Starliner mission, but revealed yet another issue found during the flight and questioned the agency’s needs for the spacecraft in the future.

The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), which was formed in 1968, released its assessment of NASA mission safety from 2024 paying specific attention to human risk, especially at the International Space Station and from Commercial Crew Program providers SpaceX and Boeing.

The headliner was Boeing’s first crewed flight of its long-delayed CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, which suffered helium leaks and thruster failures on its propulsion system on its way up to the ISS. That led to a monthslong saga that ultimately saw Starliner leave its two NASA astronauts behind on the station because of the risk of flying them home.

The ASAP report commended NASA’s call to favor astronaut safety, but as an observer during the sundry meetings leading up to the decision, it warned the agency needs to better define who’s in charge. read more

By SETH BORENSTEIN and ALEXA ST. JOHN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Saving the planet is so 2024. Clean energy leaders across the globe are now tailoring their messages to emphasize the greener side of green: wealth-building. It’s an idea that sells far better in the new world of nationalism and tycoon leaders.

Messaging from the U.S. renewable energy industry and the United Nations on climate change has typically focused on the urgent need to cut greenhouse gas emissions for the sake of environmental and human health. To bolster the argument, they cite record-shattering heat around the world, the frequent climate disasters costing billions of dollars and the human toll of it all.

But a sharper emphasis on profit potential has become evident as President Donald Trump stormed into office with a flurry of rollbacks to clean energy initiatives and an emphatic declaration of plans to “unleash” oil, gas and mining. In a lobbying blitz in Washington this week, solar, wind, hydropower and other clean-energy interests touted their role in a “robust American energy and manufacturing economy” and sported lapel pins that said “American energy dominance” — a favorite Trump phrase. read more

SpaceX was set to send up the 13th launch from the Space Coast this year on Friday afternoon, but has retargeted efforts to Saturday.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 12-9 mission carrying 21 Starlink satellites is now aiming for liftoff at 1:23 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a launch window that runs through 5:08 p.m. Backup windows are available on Sunday beginning at 12:55 p.m.

Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts a better than 95% chance for good conditions at the launch site Saturday.

The first-stage booster for this mission is flying for the 17th time and will aim for a recovery landing downrange on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas in the Atlantic.

SpaceX has been responsible for all by one of the missions flown from either Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral so far this year.

The Space Force said at the beginning of the year it was prepared to support up to 156 missions from the Space Coast, which averages to 13 a month. read more

By Jonathan Forisha

Every landlord has a unique story and reasons for buying and renting out property. But beyond things like providing for their eventual retirement and providing someone a great place to live, the primary reason that any real estate investor rents out their property is to generate rental income.