Elon Musk

SpaceX Doesn’t Do Safety

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

Elon Musk is hardly a fan of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and its regulations. Reuters investigated the extent of his non-fanhood. It’s horrifying.

There is a certain strain of masculine posturing that the has no need of safety regulations. Or that the posturer’s mission is so urgent and important that details like safety can be ignored. It can be exhilirating. Until you die. I’m sure that Harry Daghlian and Louis Slotin thought they were cool, the way they handled that screwdriver.

That posturing can suck in those who don’t know. Not all safety regs are obvious unless people have given that area a lot of thought. If they don’t, they die or are maimed.

Elon Musk thinks of himself as a cool guy with an urgent mission to colonize Mars. The United States government, under Republican pressure, has outsourced a big chunk of its space program to his company SpaceX.

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Feds To Investigate Neuralink

Posted on by Cheryl Rofer

Reuters reports that Elon Musk’s Neuralink Company is under federal investigation for potential violations of the Animal Welfare Act.

I wanted to understand Neuralink’s product and the science behind it. Reuters has a “Factbox: Neuralink: what you need to know about Elon Musk’s brain chip company.” Not helpful. I decided to go to the source, the Neuralink website. Reader, my bullshit detector redlined.

One of the first things I look for in a company website is the people behind it. Nada. I have not seen a single name on the website. No way to check up on what the scientists there might be doing, or their expertise in doing it.

Okay then, what is the Neuralink chip, what is it proposed to do, and how have they progressed to animal tests, in particular on macaques, which are commonly used in research?

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