China’s largest battery maker for electric vehicles has launched an aviation division in preparation to begin mass production of electric planes, according to reports. Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), which supplies batteries for Tesla, claims to have achieved the “holy grail” energy density required for commercial electric aircraft of 500 Watt-hours per kilogram (Wh/kg). The company announced the feat at the Auto Shanghai trade fair earlier this year, with chief scientist Wu Kai claiming that it was poised to begin production of a commercially viable battery for electric aircraft. “With an energy density of up to 500Wh/kg, it can achieve a high energy density and a high level of safety at the same time in a creative manner, opening up a brand-new electrification scenario of passenger aircrafts,” the company said in a statement at the time. “CATL can achieve mass production of condensed battery for electric vehicles in a short period of time.” CATL has now launched a joint venture with state-owned plane manufacturer Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), Yicai Global reported, following four years of research into the technology. The advent of electric aircraft has become a realistic prospect in recent years following several major battery breakthroughs that have the potential to overcome cost and capacity limitations. Israel-based startup Eviation completed the first flight of an electric commuter plane last year, taking off from an airport in Washington before touching down eight minutes later. The Alice aircraft is capable of transporting nine passengers and their luggage, or a tonne of cargo, and has been hailed as the first battery-powered plane viable for short-haul commercial journeys of up to 645km (400 miles). Regional airlines and logistics firms in the US have already ordered more than 200 Alice planes, with Eviation aiming to fulfil the orders by 2026. The Independent has contacted CATL for a production timeframe of its electric plane batteries. Read More Battery breakthroughs are about to trigger a transport revolution

The Pokémon Company has urged people to donate to the relief efforts.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk has apparently decided that "cis" and "cisgender" will now be considered a slur on the social media platform. "Cisgender" typically refers to individuals whose gender identity matches their birth sex. If an individual is born male and has a male gender identity then they would be considered "cisgender." The proclamation was made in the replies of James Esses, an Irish right-wing media figure, who was complaining that commenters on social media were calling him a "cissy." "Yesterday, after posting a Tweet saying that I reject the word ‘cis’ and don’t wish to be called it, I receive a slew of messages from trans activists calling me ‘cissy’ and telling me that I am ‘cis’ 'whether or not I like it,'" he wrote. "Just imagine if the roles were reversed." Mr Musk responded with an announcement that "repeated, targeted harassment against any account will cause the harassing accounts to receive, at minimum, temporary suspensions." Mr Musk then took it a step further. "The words 'cis' or 'cisgender' are considered slurs on this platform," he wrote, prompting backlash on the platform. NYT bestselling author Seth Abramson doubted that Mr Musk knows what the word means. “I’m 102.3% sure Elon has no idea what ‘cis’ or ‘cisgender’ mean, either connotatively or denotatively or etymologically,” he wrote. “Threatening to suspend users on your ‘free speech’ platform because they uttered a word you don’t understand but fear emasculates you is quite the fascist flex.” Joe Walsh, a conservative commentator, criticised Mr Musk from the right. “‘Cis’ & ‘cisgender’ will be considered slurs on this platform? Look, it’s his company, he can do whatever he wants, but the truth is that @elonmusk is fundamentally a dishonest person and a coward,” Mr Walsh wrote. “He says he believes in free speech, but he doesn’t really believe in free speech. He’s pushing an agenda, a right wing agenda, but he doesn’t have the balls to admit that. Elon is too afraid to be honest with his intentions. So he lies and says he’s for free speech. But you can’t say ‘cisgender.’ No, Elon is just like most everyone else. He’s pushing an agenda. He just lacks the honesty & the courage to admit it.” It’s not the first time Mr Musk has expressed his disdain for language relating to gender identity. Last July he tweeted that “pronouns suck” — suggesting he either dislikes gender identity or just the English language in general — and later that year insisted that he was not transpohobic. “I absolutely support trans, but all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare,” Mr Musk, creator of the Cybertruck, argued. However, in defending his dislike of “cis” and “cisgender,” Mr Musk leaned on a decades old bigoted ideas that LGBT communities and ideas are deeply infected with pedophilia. “The contemptible creep that manufactured the term ‘cis’ has serious problems. Ignore him,” Mr Musk wrote, referencing a right-wing conspiracy theory that the term “cisgender” was coined by a paedophile doctor in the 1990s. However, cis— with “cis” being the Latin opposite to “trans” — has been used as a dichotomic descriptor since at least the early 20th century. Read More Musk vows to bring Tesla to India ‘as soon as possible’ after meeting Modi Elon Musk stays mum on Titanic submarine disappearance despite Starlink connection Elon Musk and Joe Rogan challenge Covid vaccine scientist to ‘debate’ anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr Elon Musk stays mum on Titanic submarine disappearance despite Starlink connection India’s Modi to meet Elon Musk during US state visit Vaccine scientist hounded by conspiracists after Joe Rogan targeted him on Twitter

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Twitter’s head of trust and safety says that she has resigned from Elon Musk’s social media platform. Ella Irwin was in charge of content moderation at the company, which has faced allegations of an increase in harmful content since the Tesla CEO bought the company last October. Ms Irwin only took over the job from Yoel Roth last November after he also resigned from the San Francisco-based company. She confirmed her resignation to Reuters on Thursday. Neither Mr Irwin nor Mr Musk has posted on Twitter about her departure. Mr Muk announced earlier this month that he was hiring Linda Yaccarino, NBCUniversal’s former advertising chief, to replace him as Twitter’s new CEO. Twitter investor Fidelity says the company is now worth just a third of the $44bn that the billionaire paid for it. Mr Musk has publically admitted he paid too much for the company, a deal he tried repeatedly to get out of before closing the deal. Mr Musk has made huge staff cuts since he bought the company, with the original headcount of around 7,5000 employees being slashed to below 2,000 by February. The company has struggled to keep advertisers with many company’s not wanting their brands or products to appear alongside unsuitable and unmoderated content. Read More Elon Musk is once again world’s richest person Elon Musk’s visit to China should send a shiver down the spines of Western governments AOC warns Elon Musk is ‘testing waters’ to interfere in 2024 election

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