Is Apple working on a car?

Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is working on an electric car. It’s a minivan. Called “Project Titan”.

This is ridiculous.

I don’t doubt that Apple is working on vehicles, but it would be in the design of user interfaces, or pieces of integration. Apple is not getting into the auto business.

Tesla batteries could power more than cars

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, let it slip in an earnings call last week that the company is getting ready to roll out a consumer battery for the home based on the packs used in the Tesla electric cars.

It’s worth noting that Musk is also the chair of SolarCity, which installs photovoltaic panels on people’s houses for free, and people pay for the power the panels produce, which in California is far cheaper than what people are paying their utility.

And if those people can have a battery in the house that will store excess solar power for use during the night or on cloudy days, that just makes the entire solar solution more viable.

So the Gigafactory that Musk is building in Nevada will be producing battery packs for more than just cars.

Meet the Mars 100

100 people, 50 men and 50 women, have been shortlisted to become Mars settlers.

The initiative to colonize Mars comes from Mars One, a not-for-profit created in 2013 to do exactly that.

An initial roster of 202,586 candidates has been narrowed to 100 people who must commit to leaving Earth and never coming back.

The list includes people from around the world, including four Canadians.

Initial missions will be unmanned, and will be to establish communications and supplies. The plan is to send new groups of settlers every two years.

As for the first 100, they move on to further “selection rounds” that will include training and working within teams. Sounds like Survivor in space, to me.