Musk shows off ‘Mechazilla’

The gargantuan launch tower mechanism is designed to recover Super Heavy rockets and Starships

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has hailed the progress made in the testing of the robotic mechanism at the SpaceX launch pad in southern Texas, which was built to catch returning rockets and spacecraft.

‘Super Heavy’ is the dedicated launch vehicle for ‘Starship’, SpaceX’s spacecraft designed for eventual Moon and Mars missions. The launch system is intended to make delivering crews and large cargoes into deep space cheaper than ever, in part by making both of its elements fully recoverable.

In a Twitter post on Sunday, Musk showed off the gigantic robotic mechanism that will hopefully allow rockets and spaceships to be caught mid-air when they return home. The launch/catch tower, dubbed ‘Mechazilla’ by the space entrepreneur, is currently undergoing tests at SpaceX’s Boca Chica site in Texas.

Starship launch & catch tower pic.twitter.com/5mLIQwwu0k

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 9, 2022

In August of last year, Musk replied to a Twitter post of a 3D animation of how the 134-meter (440-foot) high ‘robot chopstick’ arm would work with a Super Heavy rocket, saying it was “pretty close.” Engineers have been testing and calibrating its hydraulic actuators and other equipment since early January.

Pretty close. Booster & arms will move faster. QD arm will steady booster for ship mate.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2021

The first orbital test flight of the transplanetary launch system was expected to take place in January or February, but has been delayed until at least March due to ongoing evaluation by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The flight plan, however, does not include the recovery of either the Super Heavy B4 or the Starship S20. They are scheduled to make splashdowns in the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Ocean respectively, after completing their parts of the test mission.

SpaceX is famous for introducing cost-cutting reusability features in its less-powerful launch systems, most notably routinely recovering the first stages of the Falcon 9. However, the approach used by the company now involves landing used boosters on a robotic floating platform or a landing pad, rather than catching them in flight with an arm.

Minister gets trapped in BBC lift, misses interview slot

The incident took place in the broadcaster’s central London HQ

The UK’s leveling-up secretary has missed an interview slot at the BBC after being stuck in an elevator in the corporation’s central London HQ. Appearing later on Radio 4, he joked it could be something from a comedy show.

On Monday morning, cabinet minister Michael Gove found himself trapped in a lift for some 30 minutes as he attempted to make his way to an interview at the BBC’s Broadcasting House.

A BBC producer tweeted an image of Gove stuck in the transparent elevator. 

Breaking W1A – Michael Gove finally free from the lift behind my desk, where he has been stuck for half an hour pic.twitter.com/Y9g7X3SA4i

— Jack Lamport (@JackLamport) January 10, 2022

Speaking around 8am, the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Today program, Nick Robinson, said that the minister had been stuck in the lift for some time but was “keeping cheerful.”

Robinson added that Gove had offered to conduct the interview by phone from the lift.

“I wish I could say this is a joke, it is not a joke, and it is not very funny for Mr Gove and the security man,” Robinson added.

Gove eventually appeared on the show around 15 minutes late and joked that he had been “leveled up,” a reference to his ministerial role. One of his formal government titles is ‘Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.’

In a light-hearted back and forth, the minister and the presenters joked that the mishap may provide “ammunition” for the scriptwriters of W1A – a popular BBC comedy, starring Hugh Bonneville, which pokes fun at the corporation and its alleged inadequacies.

W1A is sometimes more than a comedy… Michael Gove’s interview with us this morning was delayed while he was stuck in one of our lifts for half an hour… @BBCnickrobinson apologised to the now freed Mr Gove… pic.twitter.com/SYKY2UBOp6

— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) January 10, 2022

Tourist marvel defaced by vandals

Sicily’s iconic Scala dei Turchi cliffs have been plastered with red dye

An investigation has been launched by the Italian police after a popular Sicilian tourist site – the white cliffs of Scala dei Turchi – has been defaced by unknown vandals who covered it with red dye.

Scala dei Turchi – or the ‘Turkish steps’ – is one of the most popular attractions in Sicily, visited by tourists from both Italy and abroad. The site also features prominently in the ‘Inspector Montalbano’ book series by the late Italian author Andrea Camilleri, and an Italian TV series of the same name.

The white limestone cliffs, formed in a shape of a staircase, hence its name, were once a hiding place for Mediterranean pirates. Yet the cliffs, put forward as a candidate for UNESCO World Heritage status, were plastered with red dye during the night of Friday, January 7.

Before and after #ScaladeiTurchi pic.twitter.com/jYK0VYUDU5

— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) January 9, 2022

The local police department launched a probe into the incident and law enforcement specialists managed to find out that the red dye was a red iron oxide powder mixed with water, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported. The police are now looking through surveillance camera images from local shops to potentially identify people who might have bought the substance in question recently.

The incident provoked a wave of outrage from both politicians and locals. President of Sicily Nello Musumeci condemned “the perpetrators of this cowardly act,” who “shamefully defaced” the cliffs.

deturpare la marna bianca della #ScaladeiTurchi con della vernice rossa non è solo un atto criminale…ma anche da troglodita ignorante che non ha alcuna consapevolezza dell’unicità ed eccezionalità di un siffatto monumento naturale…#Agrigento #realmonte #Sicilia pic.twitter.com/DIsEGn3vnh

— Sirio (@siriomerenda) January 8, 2022

People on social media also spared no words as they slammed the perpetrators, whom they described as “ignorant troglodytes” who committed a “criminal” and “ignoble” act. Others said they were “furious” and called the incident a “huge shame.”

On the bright side, people also voiced their support for the local volunteers who began the clean-up. The damage appears not to be permanent, since the lower part of the cliffs had been cleaned by the sea waves.

A group of young volunteers is trying to whitening back the “Scala dei Turchi” (Turkish Steps), after the vandalism. When common sense, sharing & love for the beauty prevails ❤️🙌💪✨#ScaladeiTurchi https://t.co/qBcC9T3069 pic.twitter.com/l5aopivC7z

— Valeria Giannotta (@valegiannotta) January 9, 2022

Vandalism appears not to be the only problem at the site, since it is also affected by natural erosion and a huge number of tourists who do not shy away from stealing pieces of the rock.

Veteran BBC presenter quits over ‘diversity drive’

The presenter of Radio 4 show ‘Quote… Unquote’ said he resigned after feeling forced to book diverse but unsuitable guests

Nigel Rees, a BBC presenter for 46 years, has revealed that he resigned because he was unhappy with the corporation’s constant demand for “diversity.” He claims he was often made to invite certain guests as a box-ticking exercise.

Speaking to the Sunday Times, Nigel Rees, the former presenter of Radio 4 show ‘Quote… Unquote’, who resigned last month, said that he felt his show was being interfered with by people above him who wanted to push their diversity agenda. 

“We had prescriptions to have diverse groups and disabled guests. I didn’t agree with it at all but I went along with it because I had to. It came from upstairs, and it seemed to be a general priority,” he stated.

Rees claimed that the BBC’s objectives often led to difficult situations in which the guest knew that they had been invited in the name of diversity. 


READ MORE: Minister gets trapped in BBC lift, misses interview slot

“I am not willing to go on having my choices interfered with in order to tick boxes in the name of diversity and representation,” Rees told the Sunday Times, adding: “It is difficult having it enforced for the sake of it. It is also patronizing, not least to the people who don’t want to be on because they feel they are ticking a box.”

Rees said that he felt his autonomy decline in recent years, having once had the ability to invite whom he wished onto the show. The BBC increasingly interfered in guest choices on the grounds that they could be offensive to the audience.

In a further example of this encroachment on his autonomy, Rees said he was asked not to mention certain lines from Noel Coward’s 1932 comic song ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’. The BBC feared it would promote “colonial attitudes.”

The 77-year-old pitched ‘Quote… Unquote’ to the BBC 46 years ago and has since presented 57 series, hosting more than 500 guests. Dame Judi Dench, Sir David Attenborough, Anthony Horowitz, and Glenda Jackson have all taken part.