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For years (it looks like a long time), Tesla has been claiming that its vehicles can (virtually) drive themselves and can quickly be used as robotaxis that can earn their house owners buckets of money. Mark Rober is a former NASA engineer, YouTube impresario, and founding father of one thing referred to as CrunchLab. He additionally has a extremely developed humorousness and has created numerous challenges to discover the rivalry by Elon Musk that his vehicles, when geared up with nothing greater than an array of cameras and a pc that may carry out gazillions of operations per second, are capable of drive themselves. Just about each different producer who claims its vehicles are able to driving with out the help of a human use a collection of sensors that embrace lidar and/or radar — gadgets that Elon swears are superfluous.

Musk’s detractors insist that cameras are wonderful and dandy more often than not, however can fail to notice issues that they should see below some circumstances reminiscent of sturdy daylight, glare, heavy rain, snow, sleet, fog, or smoke. Assume for a minute of a right-fielder in Fenway Park on a sunny afternoon. The batter hits a excessive fly ball that will get misplaced within the solar because the fielder runs round in circles looking for the ball whereas his teammates and 40,000 rabid Pink Sox followers scream encouragement. If the ball occurs to fall harmlessly to Earth whereas members of the opposing group scamper across the bases, that provides a reasonably good demonstration of the restrictions of know-how that depends solely on visible cues. With glasses geared up with lidar, it’s seemingly he would have caught the ball.

As an example his level, Rober arrange six eventualities that simulate actual driving challenges. Then he used a Lexus outfitted with a lidar sensor from Luminar, which manufactures lidar methods for vehicles, and a Tesla geared up solely with a collection of cameras and the Autopilot software program. Should you click on on the YouTube video under, it is possible for you to to see for your self how the 2 vehicles dealt with the challenges put to them by Rober and his co-conspirator colleague from Luminar. It makes for fairly attention-grabbing viewing, if a tiny bit grisly.

Properly, that was enjoyable, wasn’t it? Musk, after all, would declare the assessments have been rigged to embarrass Tesla, however to the informal viewer, they actually appear to spotlight some disturbing weak spot within the Autopilot system, which flunked three of the six assessments in moderately spectacular vogue. Ask your self whether or not you might be snug letting Elon take the wheel textual content time you might be out for a drive. Sure, sure, we all know there are Tesla house owners who will swear the Autopilot methods of their vehicles carry out flawlessly, however we’ve got a query for them: Would they be keen to face in the midst of the street whereas a rushing Tesla is bearing down on them? One factor that ought to give Elon Musk pause it that this video has been considered greater than 8 million occasions. It appears unlikely lots of these viewers have been favorably impressed by what they noticed.

Inside EVs was impressed by Rober’s testing process, however much less so with the outcomes. It mentioned Tesla’s Autopilot system has improved dramatically over time, however is linked to dozens of crashes, a few of them deadly. This has sparked numerous state and federal investigations. The cynics amongst us suspect one of many the reason why Musk has embedded himself so willingly within the new administration is to close down a few of these investigations, which might be a spectacular abuse of his energy if true. But many longtime autonomy specialists say that Tesla’s camera-based method — which Musk touts as a result of it’s much like how people drive vehicles — will at all times be insufficient if the purpose is to create self-driving vehicles which are safer and higher than people.

This video suggests if Musk and Tesla are going to insist they will make vehicles drive themselves utilizing solely cameras, their plans are doomed to finish in failure. That doesn’t bode properly when BYD is together with its new God’s Eye know-how in self-driving vehicles that begin at below $15,000. Musk is known for his intransigence within the face of adversity, however there comes a time when folks must wake from their desires and face actuality in a clear-eyed, non-judgmental approach. It’s an open query whether or not that’s one thing Musk is keen — or in a position — to do.

In my subsequent life, I need to be a former NASA engineer and web video star like Mark Rober as an alternative of a author. That may be so cool!

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Final Up to date on: sixteenth March 2025, 11:59 pm

“I’ll decrease your prices on Day 1,” candidate Donald J. Trump exclaimed. As a substitute, we’re experiencing worth gouging and cuts to on a regular basis companies. In the identical approach that we’re not supposed to concentrate to the person backstage within the White Home, US residents aren’t anticipated to have the ability to discern the distinction between rising prices and billionaire payoffs.

The center class is paying for tax cuts for the über rich because the Trump administration dismantles the federal well being care program, Medicaid; introduces tariffs, which increase shopper costs; and decimates public training, amongst different devastating selections. Trump’s insurance policies appear to be setting us up for an additional inflation surge, says Nobel Award–successful economist Paul Krugman, and fears of such a “Trumpflation” surge look like a serious motive for plunging shopper sentiment.

The President-in-Title-Solely has sworn to root out corruption throughout the authorities, but one in all his first acts as president was to fireside over a dozen impartial watchdogs who did precisely that. “Let’s be clear: Some individuals are gonna get harm, let’s be sincere,” former Speaker of the Home Newt Gingrich stated of the Division of Authorities Effectivity’s broad cuts to federal packages and workers in just about each company. Trump continues to insist that short-term ache is important for the federal government stability he’ll deliver over time.

In the meantime, costs proceed to rise, and the administration hasn’t begun to articulate a plan to carry costs in line. Insurance coverage premiums and prescriptions will price extra, as a result of the one approach he can steadiness well being packages is to boost shopper prices — and assaults on retirement advantages like Social Safety, Medicare, and VA advantages are imminent. They’re not even attempting to cover it: Elon Musk known as Social Safety “the largest Ponzi scheme of all time.”

Listed here are among the many ways in which worth gouging has turn out to be a byproduct of Trump administration insurance policies, which have failed US residents miserably.

EVs: Eighteen-year-old Enza Khoury, cowl mannequin for the newly relaunched i-D vogue journal, was shocked, she stated, by the abundance of electrical automobiles in Paris. All over the world, cheaper battery costs are resulting in cheaper electrical automobiles, which causes a spike in EV demand. However wait — the common worth of an EV in Europe in 2020 was round €40,000 (excluding taxes); as we speak, it’s round €45,000, an 11% leap. Automakers are prioritizing bigger, extra worthwhile EVs as a part of their revenue maximization technique, relatively than specializing in reasonably priced, mass market fashions.

Within the US, legacy automakers additionally need to generate earnings, even on the expense of the local weather. Ford, GM, Stellantis, and different US automakers and suppliers had invested almost $146 billion over three years within the design, engineering, and manufacturing of electrical autos. They’re strolling again timeline implementation dates, for certain, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has made it clear he won’t battle to protect the $7,500 tax credit score for patrons of electrical autos that’s supplied by the 2022 Inflation Discount Act. Why? In accordance with our intrepid CleanTechnica author Steve Hanley, its loss “might bankrupt different automakers in years to return and make him richer, not as a result of it is going to profit America. See how this works now? The individuals get dumped on whereas the oligarchs get wealthier.”

Eggs are a hanging instance of worth gouging: We all know chook flu has precipitated poultry farmers nice losses as they destroy contaminated flocks. It’s so unhappy. Nonetheless, egg producer Cal-Maine calculated $1 billion in windfall earnings earlier than it noticed a single outbreak of H5N1. It sells 1.1 billion eggs per yr and owns 43 manufacturing services. Meals and Water Watch’s report, “The Financial Price of Meals Monopolies: The Rotten Egg Oligarchy,” tells the entire story. Cal-Maine’s shareholders particularly benefited: the corporate’s inventory is roughly thrice as priceless as we speak because it was initially of the chook flu outbreak.

Grocery business worth gouging: As competitors wanes and retailer sizes enhance, MegaGrocers seize extra earnings than ever earlier than. Giants Kroger and Albertsons admitted to cost gouging in a 2024 courtroom case, which struck down a proposed merger between the 2 companies. Who’s left to steer the wanted intensive enforcement of US antitrust legal guidelines to go after company worth fixing and collusion? Republicans have bailed, and Democrats can’t determine who’s in cost.

Tariffs: The manager workplace is vacillating as a consequence of strain over the introduced tariffs of 25% on items from Canada and Mexico and a further 10% on imports from China. Economists have warned these tariffs would create inflation and lower financial development. The inventory market has dropped dramatically over latest weeks as a result of tariffs and the uncertainty over their implementation. However Trump denied his abrupt change had something to do with the inventory market. “I’m not even wanting on the market,” Trump stated, “as a result of long run, the USA shall be very sturdy with what’s occurring.” The tariffs on allies like Canada will increase costs on vitality, lumber, and automobiles and sure begin a commerce battle that can harm manufacturing and farmers.

Presidential golf prices us all: As SV Date revealed in HuffPost, in simply his first month in workplace, Trump spent about $10.7 million in taxpayer cash taking part in golf. Between inauguration and March 9, Trump visited Florida and his beloved golf programs six instances. The Palm Seashore sheriff’s workplace day by day additional time invoice alone has been reported to be $240,000. How do these prices slot in with the Orange Menace’s acknowledged purpose to chop authorities spending?

Financial messaging continues to plague Democrats: The Democratic divide amongst leaders was evident because the weekend approached. Schumer and different key Democrats voted for the Republic funds, considering that what Musk and Trump can do with the federal government closed can be a lot worse than with the federal government open and below their scrutiny. Consultant Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had particular criticism of the laws itself. “This turns the federal authorities right into a slush fund for Donald Trump and Elon Musk,” she informed CNN. “It sacrifices congressional authority, and it’s deeply partisan.”

Beneath a lot scrutiny proper now for voting alongside Republicans to maintain the federal authorities open, Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) defined his perspective why the shutdown of the federal government would simply be devastating and much worse than the Republican persevering with decision.

“So their purpose of decimating the entire federal authorities, of reducing company after company after company, would happen below a shutdown. Two days from now in a shutdown, they may say, properly, meals stamps for youths is just not important. It’s gone. All veterans places of work in rural areas are gone. Social Safety, Medicare, Medicaid. They’re not important. We’re reducing them again. So it’d be horrible. The harm they will do below a shutdown is way worse than another harm that they may do.”

Remaining Ideas about Worth Gouging and the Trumpsters

The enhance for billionaires is increasing the nationwide debt so {that a} US recession appears imminent. As Lu Yuan writes within the New York Occasions, many Chinese language individuals are discovering they will relate to what many Individuals are going by way of. They really feel it resembles the Cultural Revolution, the interval referred to as “the last decade of turmoil.”

After all, the intestine feeling doesn’t really level to the best way that the 2 nations are basically completely different. China is a one-party state missing in three pillars of the US system: liberty, democracy, and the rule of regulation. Hmmm. How sturdy can we are saying these three pillars are nowadays?

Featured picture: “Inflation” by ccnull.de Bilddatenbank (CC BY 2.0 license).