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The pack will be installed in a demonstration fleet of the Dodge Charger Daytona in 2026. * Stellantis and Factorial Energy have validated a semi-solid state battery cell. * The milestone brings the tech one step closer to commercialization. * Factorial's cells bring significant advantages in terms of range, charging speeds and weight reduction compared to traditional lithium-ion batteries. ****************************************************************** Massachusetts-based battery startup Factorial is having a moment. After putting a Mercedes-Benz EQS with its solid-state tech on the road for testing, it’s now teamed up with Stellantis to announce a major milestone: successful validation of automotive-grade semi-solid-state battery cells....

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order temporarily suspending landmark environmental laws to allow victims of wildfires to rebuild their destroyed homes and businesses faster. Newsweek has contacted Newsom's office for comment via email. Wildfires have devastated communities across the Los Angeles area, burning through an area larger than San Francisco and destroying more than 12,000 structures since January 7. At least 24 people have died, and at least 100,000 remain under evacuation orders. Early estimates indicate the fires may be the costliest in U.S. history. AccuWeather, a private forecaster, has put the damage and economic loss between...

The most politically damaging video to emerge from the massive wildfires burning Los Angeles could have been of Mayor Karen Bass staring blankly into a camera like a deer in headlights as reporters asked her if she had anything to say to the thousands of people whose homes were incinerated. However, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) did one worse than Bass by telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper, “The local folks are going to have to figure that out,” after Cooper asked why so many fire hydrants in the city had no water to douse the flames threatening homes. Newsom shouldn’t have been...

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said it took the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) 50,000 gallons of water to extinguish the flames sparked from an electric Tesla Semi crash. The NTSB is investigating the cause of a Tesla Semi truck single-vehicle crash and fire that resulted in the closure of the eastbound lanes of California’s Interstate 80 for 15 hours last month. Extinguishing the fire required 50,000 gallons of water, as well as aircraft overhead that dumped f ire retardant, according to a preliminary report released Friday by the NTSB.

UKRAINE has blitzed another major Russian oil refinery in a kamikaze drone strike, the explosions sparking a huge inferno near Moscow. Dramatic video from the scene showed flames raging from the Rosneft energy giant facility in the city of Ryazan on Wednesday. Residents of Ryazan, located 125 miles southeast of Moscow, were said to have heard the rumble of drones about 3am. Two explosions followed the sound, triggering the inferno. The attack came after another Ukrainian strike on two oil refineries in Krasnodar region -snip- Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu demanded more "means of destruction" as Western supplies...

A Tesla vehicle caught fire in Plano, Texas, early Friday morning, leading to concerns about electric vehicle battery safety. The owner claims he just had a new battery installed by Elon Musk’s company, only to discover a hissing noise coming from it followed by flames shooting out from the battery compartment. WFAA reports that in the early hours of Friday morning in Plano, Texas, a Tesla vehicle unexpectedly caught fire, raising fresh concerns about the safety of electric vehicle batteries. According to the car’s owner, the incident occurred shortly after midnight in the residential area of the 2700 block of...

A Tesla burst into flames on a busy highway on Monday in the Southern Highlands region of Australia, sending firefighters on a difficult mission to battle the blaze. The fire started after the electric vehicle built by Elon Musk’s company hit debris that fell off another vehicle. The Tesla Model 3, which costs upwards of $60,000, likely caught on fire due to a lithium battery that was damaged after a piece of debris fell from a truck onto the battery shell, according to a report by Daily Mail. Both the driver and passenger of the Tesla were thankfully able to...

A brush fire on Interstate 5 in Seattle, Washington, ignited early Friday reportedly at an encampment before burning up trees in its wake. Seattle firefighters responded to a call about an encampment fire located above James Street off-ramp that was blocked by the crews when they arrived at the scene, according to Fox 13. UPDATE: Here is a visual of the incident on NB I-5 collector/distributor off-ramp to James St blocking the ramp. Incident Response, Fire, State Patrol & Seattle Police are on the scene. Seek alternative routes and expect delays! https://t.co/o7N1qoWYbn pic.twitter.com/JRCD2QCOsd — WSDOT Traffic (@wsdot_traffic) July 21, 2023...

A Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County, California. A shelter-in-place advisory was in place for 12 hours due to fears of toxic smoke from the fire caused by Elon Musk’s battery system, with county officials announcing that even though the fire was “fully controlled” by 7:00 p.m. PT, “smoke may still occur in the area for several days.” KSBW Action News 8 reports that a Tesla Megapack battery caught fire at the local utility company PG&E’s Elkhorn Battery Storage facility in Monterey County, California. The fire reported started at around 1:30 a.m....

Former Governor Chuck Robb’s Virginia mansion went up in flames late Tuesday night. Firefighters arrived at the two-alarm fire on the 600 block of Chain Bridge Road in McLean, Va. at 11:30 p.m. The fire had spread throughout the home’s first floor. Two people escaped the home and were transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Fairfax County Fire and Rescue.

Translator leaves popes in Hell but saves Islam's prophet from perditionUTRECHT, Netherlands (ChurchMilitant.com) - A new Dutch translation of the Divine Comedy has erased the name of Muhammad from the opus magnum of the Italian poet Dante Alighieri to prevent the epic poem from becoming "unnecessarily offensive" to Muslims. Translator Lies Lavrijsen told Belgian Radio 1 that she expunged the founder of Islam from her translation to give it the "widest possible accessibility," particularly for "a younger audience." "We knew that if we left this passage as it is, we would have unnecessarily hurt a large part of the readers,"...

The police cordon surrounding a huge tower block fire in Notting Hill has been pushed back amid concerns the whole building could collapse. An exclusion zone was set up overnight as flames raged through the 27-storey Grenfell Tower near Ladbroke Grove causing debris to crash down the side of the building. As firefighters continued to battle the flames on Wednesday morning the cordon has reportedly been widened over concerns about the stability of the building, which contains 120 flats and is located in a densely populated area of west London. A Met Police spokeswoman confirmed there were “significant cordons” in...

Tom Hanks Sees US Election Warning in Thriller 'Inferno' By JILL LAWLESS, Oct 21, 2016 Embedded within the manic action of "Inferno," the latest big-screen adaptation of a Dan Brown thriller, is a warning about the dangers of seeking simple solutions to complex problems. Star Tom Hanks says it's a theme with echoes in the current U.S. presidential race. "Inferno" sets Hank's polymathic professor Robert Langdon on the trail of a deadly plague concocted by billionaire scientist Bertrand Zobrist (Ben Foster) out of a sort of warped humanitarianism: He plans to end war, poverty and famine by wiping out half...

How Ryan Lochte turned a drunken, frat-boy night into an international mess Yeah, it’s come to this: The story of the Olympics, a likely fake claim of robbery at the end of a drunken night of debauchery turned into global story courtesy of a publicity-mad swimmer-turned-reality-TV-star who, unlike his three buddies – teammates Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz – is home safe in the United States. This is likely bad news for Ryan Lochte, who appears to have found his three compatriots throwing him under the bus to authorities. At least two of the swimmers are at the...

Haifa Forest Fire 'One of Israel's Worst' A forest fire near Haifa, in northern Israel, has killed at least 40 people and injured many more. Firefighters are battling the blaze while paramedics evacuate those who were injured. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reached out to Italy, Cyprus and Russia for help in fighting the fire. The cause of the Israel forest fire is unknown. Damon Prison has been evacuated, but a bus carrying prison staff overturned while trying to escape. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office called it one of the worst known fires in Israel and ordered the military...

Lindsay Lohan has been fired from Inferno, the Linda Lovelace biopic, following her numerous stints in rehab, legal troubles, and generally unreliable behavior. Writer-director Matthew Wilder has been shockingly supportive up to this point, waiting patiently while the 24-year-old former actress’ countless attempts to overcome her addictions to drugs and alcohol. A cynical person might think Wilder was using her for the free publicity, since the movie’s title made an appearance in almost every story about Lohan’s personal decline and disappearing career.

Ovation TV is showing an interesting take on Dante's Inferno. The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri is my favorite classic work. I've read it three times and viewing this makes me want to read it again... read and view more...

Get ready for a firefighting vehicle that might have arrived from your old Saturday morning GI Joe cartoons. Yanko has showcased an ATV design by Liam Ferguson that can carry remotely-operated water cannons and a two-person crew into the heart of a raging blaze, and emerge unscathed. Firefighters currently rely on modified Toyota Landcruisers or other utility vehicles for doing recon on hotspots. Those work well in a pinch for navigating rough terrain, but carry only a meager water supply of 500 liters and cannot survive a burnover when flames suddenly sweep over the area. The proposed Amatoya vehicle...

Like most Maryland Democrats, I voted for Sen. Barack Obama in the recent Potomac Primary. By doing so, according to the leaders of my church, I put my soul at risk. That's right, says the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops -- tap the touch screen for a pro-abortion-rights candidate, and you're probably punching your ticket to Hell. For a church that "thinks in centuries," things sure are moving quickly. Back in 2004, as Washington correspondent for the independent National Catholic Reporter, I covered what Comedy Central's Jon Stewart dubbed the "wafer wars." A handful of conservative bishops warned Democratic presidential...

Burning down a freeway is not easy. But set off enough high-octane fuel at the wrong place and even multiton supporting steel girders turn wobbly as a chocolate bar in the sun. That is what a speeding gasoline trucker managed to do before dawn Sunday to the busiest interchange in Northern California. Authorities still are piecing together how one of the 18-wheelers traversing the Bay daily crashed and erupted into a fireball that collapsed one freeway onto another at untold disruption to regional traffic. Miraculously, no one plunged into the inferno, the void it left behind or the debris below....