Elon Musk's Tesla opens in Germany

Plus: NASA discovers 5,000 exoplanets Mar 23, 2022 [View in browser]( Feel free to send your congratulations to Elon Musk, who cut the red ribbon at Tesla's spanking-new Gigafactory facility in Germany on Tuesday. The Berlin Gigafactory is currently Tesla's only manufacturing plant in Europe. Full production at the facility will start a new chapter in the global race to dominate the EV market, as competition moves to the manufacturing heart of Europe. Before we head to Berlin and explore more of Tesla’s most recent global ambitions, consider the ubiquitous plastic bag: While the crackling objects lack the fame of Giga Berlin, factories worldwide are working tirelessly to recycle trash into new plastic bags. Good morning. I’m Derya, an editor at IE. This is The Blueprint. Let’s start the engine. [Video]VIDEO OF THE DAY [Here's how your trash gets recycled into new plastic bags]( Ready for shopping! [Here's how your trash gets recycled into new plastic bags]( TRANSPORTATION [Elon Musk's Tesla Gigafactory in Germany is rolling out its first cars]( [Tesla’s Gigafactory in Germany.]( Tesla’s $5.5-billion Gigafactory in Grüheide, Germany, [was opened by Tesla CEO Elon Musk]( with the attendance of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck, and Scholz's party friend (and Brandenburg Prime Minister) Dietmar Woidke. - This is Tesla’s first manufacturing location in Europe and it’s the “most advanced, sustainable, and efficient facility yet”. “Danke Deutschland!”. The opening comes as Musk flags [Master Plan Part 3 for Tesla]( which he said will lay the groundwork for scaling Tesla to an "extreme size". We’ll let you do the math. The first EVs manufactured in the Gigafactory were given to their owners with a little dance performance by Musk himself. Imagine. Now that the factory is open, Tesla hopes to produce roughly 30,000 vehicles in the first six months, to manufacture nearly 500,000 cars per year in the future. Gigafactory also aims to generate 50-gigawatt hours of battery power, surpassing all other plants in Germany. [Read More]( SCIENCE [NASA discovers 5,000 exoplanets. Could one support alien life?]( [An illustration of exoplanets.]( NASA announced that [the 5,000th exoplanet was discovered]( providing a massive foundation for its continued search for alien life. Total recall: An exoplanet is any planet found beyond our solar system that may or may not be in its system's habitable zone. - NASA has stored thousands of exoplanets — from hot Jupiter-like gas giants to planets orbiting neutron stars — in its archive. On March 21 this year, a new batch of 65 exoplanets was discovered and added to the NASA Exoplanet Archive, lifting the total to 5,005. That’s a lot of alien worlds to explore. And there’s more: in reality, 5,000 exoplanets is a small number compared to what's likely out there. The more we find the closer we will be to [detecting life on another planet](. Currently, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), launched in 2018, is making the majority of exoplanet discoveries. However, other satellites like the recently launched [James Webb Space Telescope]( will likely unlock a wealth of new information on the alien worlds. [Read More]( INNOVATION [Why the Biden White House chose nuclear fusion]( [A photo of the White House (left), and a computer depiction of atomic fusion and plasma (right).]( There's no denying it. Nuclear fusion has the potential to completely transform the U.S. energy industry, and become a primary source of zero-carbon energy. - This is why, in a bid to "win the 21st-century economy," the United States [is heavily investing in nuclear fusion technology]( according to a March 17 White House summit reported on by [Scientific American](. Incredibly, $45 million of the $1.5 trillion appropriations bill from Congress is committed to a new fusion program that will see private firms join forces with the Department of Energy (DOE) — united in a $700-million pursuit of novel fusion energy devices with the DOE's Fusion Energy Sciences program. This multi-pronged effort to coordinate fusion energy research could see "possible" deployment by the end of the 2020s. But while it's tempting to rush to utopic depictions of a new fusion-powered future, we should definitely manage our expectations, considering the scientific obstacles that lie between us and realizing viable fusion power. Still, the 2020s will surely be [a time of extraordinary growth]( for the technology. [Read More]( MAIL & MUSINGS Nuclear fusion, which powers the stars, could provide virtually limitless clean, safe, and affordable energy if we can replicate it on Earth. Do you think nuclear fusion will ever power the world? Be sure you check back tomorrow for the results! [Yes! Nuclear fusion for the win.]( [It’s too difficult to achieve. It’ll take forever.]( [We’re out of time: Focus on renewable energy instead.]( [You people are playing with fire! What if the aliens notice?]( Yesterday’s Results We asked what you'd do if you were on the Moon with high-speed internet. According to roughly half of you, it's time to see what’s on the dark side of the Moon. But, memento: it's all dark. See what’s on the dark side of the Moon. It’s time. 54% Call my family and friends to brag. 20% Open my location settings and tweet away. 15% Share a #MoonSelfie on Instagram. My followers have needs. 12% QUOTE OF THE DAY “ Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity. ” Louis Pasteur’s toast at a banquet of the International Congress of Sericulture, Milan, 1876. AND ANOTHER THING... - Finland is building a facility more than 1,000 feet below sea level [to store nuclear waste for 100,000 years](. Yikes. - As Blue Origin nears the critical point of delivering flight-ready BE-4 rocket engines to United Launch Alliance, [the engineer in charge of the rocket engine program]( has decided to leave. (Ars Technica) - SpaceX [set a booster reuse record]( when it flew a Falcon 9 rocket for the 12th time on Saturday. - [A controversial analysis argues that]( most studies linking features in brain imaging to traits such as cognitive abilities are too small to be reliable. (Nature) - The Sun is losing mass. And apparently, [it once featured Saturn-like rings](. Neat. - The Tolkien Estate recently published [a trove of rare, unpublished art]( by the famed fantasy author on its website. (Smithsonian Magazine) - The unnamed Colorado resident who chose to be composted after their death instead of opting for a cremation or burial has [now turned to soil](. [Share to Win]SHARE TO WIN [All products]( Share The Blueprint! Give your friends deeper insights into engineering and tech, and win exclusive IE swag for free. [Read Details]( Share your link Copy & share your referral link with others. [ [Referral Program Terms and Conditions]( Prepared by Derya Ozdemir and Brad Bergan Enjoy reading? Don't forget to forward to a friend! Was this email forwarded to you? [Subscribe]( [About Us]( | [Advertise]( | [Contact Us]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to our newsletter. Manage your email preferences or unsubscribe [here.]( © Copyright 2021 | The Blueprint is by Interesting Engineering, Inc. 201 Spear Street, Suite 1100 San Francisco, CA 94105 | All Rights Reserved [Interesting Engineering]