🤖 'Blade Runner' maker sues Musk, wind turbine becomes a home, Africa's largest dam

Hollywood production house Alcon Entertainment has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk and Tesla, claiming the automaker used imagery inspired by the 2017 movie Blade Runner 2049 without permission.

The lawsuit alleges that Tesla displayed these visuals at an event on October 10 despite Alcon specifically denying the request to use them. Tesla’s move has raised concerns about copyright infringement and the use of intellectual property without authorization. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.

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MUST-READ

🤖 Elon Musk faces lawsuit for Blade Runner-inspired images in Tesla Robotaxi reveal

The production company behind Blade Runner 2049 and other films like The Blind Side filed a lawsuit accusing Musk and Tesla of acting in bad faith. The company emphasized that Tesla only sought permission on the day of the event, giving no room for negotiation.

Tesla, Musk, and Warner Brothers Discovery, which hosted the event at its studio lot, are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

The event, which was centered around Tesla’s highly anticipated Cybercab unveiling, took place earlier this month and was titled “We, Robot.” This title likely references the work of science fiction author Isaac Asimov or the 2004 film I, Robot. Tesla used the occasion to introduce a fully autonomous vehicle that lacks traditional controls like a steering wheel and pedals.

🏡 20-year-old wind turbine transformed into a tiny solar-powered home

Living inside a wind turbine might sound like science fiction, but thanks to Vattenfall and design studio Superuse, it’s now a reality. They have ingeniously repurposed a wind turbine nacelle—the large pod at the top of a turbine—into a fully functional tiny house.

This project, showcased at Dutch Design Week 2024, demonstrates an innovative approach to reusing industrial materials.

The tiny house, constructed from a V80 2MW turbine that operated for 20 years in Austria, is compact yet livable. Measuring 4 meters in width, 10 meters in length, and 3 meters in height, it includes a kitchen, bathroom, and living area.

🌊 Powering Africa: 6,450-MW Ethiopian dam to harness Nile waters for energy

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), positioned on the Blue Nile, is set to become the largest hydroelectric plant in Africa and one of the top ten worldwide.

GERD could make Ethiopia a major energy exporter in the region with an expected output of 6,450 megawatts, or three times the capacity of the Hoover Dam (2,080 megawatts).

This monumental project, costing approximately $5 billion, will not only boost Ethiopia’s economic growth through energy exports but also help meet local energy demands and give the country a political advantage over downstream countries. However, the project has been a source of significant regional tension due to concerns about water security and economic impacts on Egypt and Sudan.

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