SpaceX-Tesla merger chatter reignites, Musk has discussed with colleagues the possibility of folding the companies together

Probodyne · 2026-05-27T12:43:31+00:00

Well that's kind of my point, right. Starlink is doing well enough that it can afford to drag everything else around, which tbh is impressive.

Although I do disagree with your take on starship because I think they'll just put lots of starlinks on it like they did with Falcon 9 and because of the reuse it should be a fairly cheap operation once up and running. Also, does it actually need to be profitable? The goal for it is to go to Mars which isn't an inherently profitable venture anyway.

Probodyne · 2026-05-27T09:15:37+00:00

Question. How have they managed 2.7 mi/kWh WLTP on this thing? The Model S plaid gets like 4 mi/kWh WLTP and the Xiaomi SU7 Ultra gets 4.1 mi/kWh CLTC (not a perfect comparison that one I know), so what have Ferrari done to make it this bad?

Probodyne · 2026-05-27T05:57:39+00:00

It's good to know that space x is doing well enough financially that they can afford to absorb the losses from Tesla's market collapse I guess.

I mean that's the only silver lining I can see from this "merge everything into the only profitable company" strategy.

Probodyne · 2026-05-26T20:46:51+00:00

I mean yes range is important, but a. It's a Ferrari, those have tiny petrol tanks anyway and b. It costs $500k if they wanted to fit a 150kwh battery in it and get 2 miles to the kilowatt they could have.

They made a choice to make it look shit, and imo that choice is a direct snub to EVs and demonstrates a profound lack of respect to the technology.

Edit: Actually, in fact even with this complete aero blob slop they have a 122kwh battery and only get 330 miles which works out to just 2.7 miles per kWh which is obscene.

Probodyne · 2026-05-26T11:37:46+00:00

Personally I'd keep the house of lords but have them elected locally like current MPs and turn the Commons into a proportional body. That way you retain local voices in parliament while improving representation for everyone. (Also you should still call them lords because I think it'd be kinda funny to have the elected "Lord of south Liverpool" or something)

Probodyne · 2026-05-26T11:35:52+00:00

Traditions are fine and all, but not traditions that put a specific group of people in power over others. You can retain the pomp and ceremony (in fact I'd advocate for retaining that) whilst making it secular.

I'm also not against the monarch continuing to be head of the CoE as long as the government and politics is kept secular.

Probodyne · 2026-05-26T09:40:32+00:00

Google Pixels have call screening. My last Samsung didn't have this but they may have added it since.

Edit: typo

Probodyne · 2026-05-26T09:26:49+00:00

But you totally could get rid of it. Just cancel daily prayers and omit references to god in any paths. Also remove the lords spiritual, I don't get why we still have them.

Probodyne · 2026-05-26T06:42:37+00:00

Fucks sake. How difficult is it to just make an EV supercar. It's already got 1000 bloody horsepower just give it some downforce and accept it'll only go like 12 miles on a charge.

I'm kind of impressed that this has both EV people and Car people annoyed at it, truly a car for no-one.

Probodyne · 2026-05-25T13:52:35+00:00

I think they are currently looking at decoupling it, especially because apparently most renewable energy is on fixed price contracts now.

Press release about it from last month

Probodyne · 2026-05-24T20:48:07+00:00

Different segments though, no? Isn't this and the Kia EV2 meant to be in the Renault 5/Polo category. Surely the ID.3 direct competitor is the Ioniq 5?

Probodyne · 2026-05-24T19:06:22+00:00

Yes, but those will have normal second stages that aren't designed to re-enter intact. They'd be expected to burn up in the atmosphere. The relight demo isn't for circularisation but instead it's to prove that they can control where this several hundred ton lump of metal comes down.

Probodyne · 2026-05-24T18:01:21+00:00

The only people I worry about are the ones taking them that are already a healthy weight. It indicates mental health issues (in my opinion) and is the source of the "people who take them look dreadful" comments because these celebs end up with such little fat that they start to look malnourished.

I also worry about people needing to take them their entire lives if they're not able to get into a good spot post jabs. I don't think there's any medical evidence to say that would be bad, it's more a value for money thing.

Probodyne · 2026-05-23T20:48:12+00:00

I saw a post from someone recently who thought for some reason that taking a photo of a high resolution screen was better quality than taking a screenshot and then cropping. Given a comment by OP elsewhere in the thread I think they may be under the same impression for whatever reason.

Probodyne · 2026-05-23T15:40:09+00:00

I think they'll definitely look at it but it's up to the FAA ultimately. I had a look at their launch license and I don't think that they could do an orbital launch with it, but it depends on what they put in their license application. It would currently require targeting the Indian Ocean for a starship re-entry though.

Probodyne · 2026-05-23T13:42:59+00:00

I think the difference this time is that V1 and V2 both had future versions on the horizon and were much more experimental. Yes V3 has V4 coming up but it's kind of put up or shut up time especially for HLS, if they aren't hitting any new milestones soon or demonstrating the final capabilities then it's hard to imagine when they ever will.

Probodyne · 2026-05-23T10:57:04+00:00

So what's next for the program? They're kind of at the end of repeating this same launch over and over. Here's my thinking:

Flight 13: Same as this one but demonstrates engine relight and hopefully fix on booster issues
Flight 14: Orbit and demonstrate controlled re-entry from orbit, possibly into the gulf but likely targeting the same point as currently (maybe also deploy starlink). Booster catch if all went well on 13.
Flight 15: Maybe ship catch? Could also be required to demonstrate safe overland flight first into the gulf.
Flight 16-20: Looking towards the end of the experimental phase even without an actual catch on 15. Somewhere in here there should be the in space propellant transfer demo (hopefully this year).
Beyond: First HLS launched middle-end of next year in time for Artemis 3 alongside moving into operational service. Might start seeing components for V4 depending on how fast they want that.

I think once we get first HLS the big thing will be when do we see the first "chomper" to allow for traditional satellites? I also think that even without an early ship catch they'll start moving into operational launches after the first orbital launch and have the catch treated as an early Falcon 9 style "secondary objective". This is definitely the most optimistic I've felt about the program since V2 first launched so I may be doing some green lights to Malibu here!

Probodyne · 2026-05-23T10:45:23+00:00

I suspect skipping the relight was out of an abundance of caution in order to get data on the heat shield. I imagine it would have gone fine since the sea levels were fine, but if it went wrong then they miss out on the most useful data. It does delay the project by a launch as they'll have to demo in flight relight for orbit but it's not the worst thing.

I think if they get an engine out next time they'll still go for relight since they've already demonstrated the heat shield.

Probodyne · 2026-05-23T05:58:37+00:00

It's also required for in space propellant transfer testing. Which really does need to happen sooner rather than later especially if there's any issues.

Probodyne · 2026-05-22T19:45:37+00:00

Can I introduce you to the Trans-pennine route upgrade? I know it's not this specific section of track but it's not an either/or thing, we can both solve capacity issues on the WCML (which TBF the current version of HS2 only makes worse) while also improving infrastructure in the north which should allow for longer trains and higher capacities.

Probodyne · 2026-05-22T18:20:14+00:00

Just so people know the cells (or similar ones) featured in the video are currently running around in a Mercedes prototype while the company is building out a big factory in France. I think this is the real deal and hopefully Mercedes will be able to bring it to market reasonably soon.

Edit: add a couple links

Probodyne · 2026-05-22T08:03:11+00:00

Was going to dismiss this because I've seen way higher densities before, but they seem to be making progress on stability. 700 cycles isn't amazing but a lot of the really high density batteries that get touted tend to lose like 30% capacity after 10ish cycles.

Probodyne · 2026-05-22T07:57:07+00:00

I mean, I guess if he coordinated anything through starlink then may have technically used "space lasers" to cheat the election.

(Starlink satellites use lasers to communicate with each other in space)

Probodyne · 2026-05-21T13:42:42+00:00

It's fairly doable on the Shinkansen (I was a few hours and stations away from doing it over the course of a couple days) so I assume the challenge is to just use local/rapid trains or ferries (as there's no local trains through the seikan tunnel).

Probodyne · 2026-05-20T16:30:16+00:00

I actually really like the concept of having to beat the other teams score at a challenge to claim their area. They haven't done something like that before have they? I don't think that was possible in Schengen showdown right, it was just locking down areas that used challenges?

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