There’s no need for a messy divorce: Europe should “consciously uncouple” from Britain July 5, 2016 Sitting in Gatwick’s departure terminal on the afternoon of Friday 24 June felt a bit like leaving a car crash before the ambulance arrived. Hours earlier I was standing in front of a plunging sterling-dollar chart reporting live that Sunderland voted Leave by a much wider margin than expected. The journalist in me was anxious [...]
US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration launches investigation after Tesla driverless car death July 1, 2016 A preliminary investigation has been launched after the death of a man in Florida who was driving a Tesla Model S car on autopilot mode. The crash with a tractor occurred on 7 May and is the first known fatality in more than 130m miles where Tesla's autopilot setting has been activated, the electric car maker said [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open June 28, 2016 The Brexit rollercoaster is still going full tilt, unbalancing global markets, currencies and politics. Here's what you need to know before the US open at 2:30pm London time. Major US markets are pointing up ahead of the open, with the S&P up by 0.97 per cent in the pre-market. The tech-heavy Nasdaq is up by 0.99 per [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open June 23, 2016 Polls are open for the UK's European Union membership vote. Markets are betting people will opt to stay however and rallying around the world. Here's what you need to know before the US market open at 2:30pm London time. In the pre-market the S&P is up by 0.95 per cent, while the Nasdaq is one per cent higher. [...]
Elon Musk’s Tesla to snap up the US’ biggest solar energy provider June 22, 2016 Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk shocked markets yesterday by announcing plans to merge his electric car maker with America's biggest solar provider. Tesla Motors wrote in a blog post late last night that it has offered to buy SolarCity in an all-stock deal worth as much as $2.8bn (£1.9bn), more than the solar provider's market capitalisation of $2.1bn. Read more: Ikea [...]
General Electric backs German renewable battery start-up Sonnen June 7, 2016 General Electric has bet on renewable energy storage with a stake in a lithium battery start-up. GE Ventures, the engineering giant's venture capital arm, paid a "double-digit million sum" for a slice of Bavaria-based start-up Sonnen, which has become Europe's largest maker of lithium-battery energy storage systems. Read more: Oil major Total makes near €1bn wager on renewable energy Sonnen, [...]
Before the bell: What you need to know before the US market open June 2, 2016 The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) are both in Vienna today to decide on their respective policies and could add an extra kick of volatility to global markets. Here's what you need to know before the market open at 14:30 London time. US futures are struggling ahead of the opening bell. [...]
Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars by 2025 June 2, 2016 Star-gazing serial technology entrepreneur Elon Musk wants to put people on Mars in under 10 years time. Speaking at Vox's media code conference, he said that his SpaceX company's manned mission to Mars would launch in 2024, arriving a year later. However, prospective recruits may want to think twice before joining the mission. "If you gotta choose a place to die, [...]
Trump, Thiel and space travel: Three things we learned from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos June 1, 2016 One of the most successful entrepreneurs of the modern world, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has spoken candidly on pressing issues such as Donald Trump, Peter Thiel versus Gawker and freedom of speech, as well as his childhood passion for space travel. Here are the three things we learned from his talk at Recode's Code Conference in California… [...]
The Slovakian makers of the 700mph Hyperloop have invented their own super-safe material which is 10 times stronger than steel May 24, 2016 Remember Hyperloop, the 700mph mass transportation system invented by Tesla founder Elon Musk? The technology – which is still at prototype stage – has been seized on by a company in Slovakia, which today announced that it has come up with a new, super-safe material to ensure passenger safety. “Vibranium” may sound suspiciously close to Avatar’s Unobtainium, [...]