There is a slightly old-fashioned feel about the latest attempt to make aviation history – a solar-powered plane’s quest to put a girdle around the globe. When Solar Impulse 2 took off from Abu Dhabi yesterday, it was expected to take 10 hours to reach its first stop, Muscat, which is about an hour away on a conventional commercial flight. Altogether, the plane will take at least five months to travel around the globe. Back in 1873, Jules Verne was able to send Phileas Fogg around the world in 80 days.
Solar Impulse 2’s pilots, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, will alternate flying the single-seater. Their task has been described as akin to the challenges faced by a round-the-world yachtsman.
And yet, Solar Impulse 2 is about tomorrow’s world. By using solar power rather than conventional fuel, the plane illustrates the possibilities of renewable energy sources.
Last year, the International Energy Agency issued a report that raised the possibility that solar power would displace fossil fuels to become the world’s biggest source of electricity by 2050. It based some of this on the falling price of photovoltaic panels and improved efficiencies in the technology.
In some countries, solar power has already achieved so-called “socket parity” – the ultimate aim for a new energy technology, when it can generate electricity at a price that is less than or equal to that from the electricity grid. Solar power can be used to heat water, run water pumps, cook and power the home. Nuclear energy is an excellent source of process heat for various industrial applications. Battery-powered or hybrid cars are making an impact on car markets overseas, and hydrogen-cell vehicles are about to follow.
But these alternative energy sources simply can’t replace hydrocarbons, the most broadly used organic compounds known and used as fuel for combustion, particularly in heating and motor fuel applications. Sometimes, they are described, quite literally, as the driving force of human progress. Or at least for now. Clearly, how we power our technological civilisation forward is defined by the most efficient source of energy for each need. But as Solar Impulse 2 shows, those definitions are being revised as we move forward, even as we look back. Watch this space.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Jalal Al Daaja (JOR) beat Hamza Bougamza (MAR)
Catchweight 67kg: Mohamed El Mesbahi (MAR) beat Fouad Mesdari (ALG)
Lightweight: Abdullah Mohammed Ali (UAE) beat Abdelhak Amhidra (MAR)
Catchweight 73kg: Mosatafa Ibrahim Radi (PAL) beat Yazid Chouchane (ALG)
Middleweight: Yousri Belgaroui (TUN) beat Badreddine Diani (MAR)
Catchweight 78KG: Rashed Dawood (UAE) beat Adnan Bushashy (ALG)
Middleweight: Sallah-Eddine Dekhissi (MAR) beat Abdel Enam (EGY)
Catchweight 65kg: Yanis Ghemmouri (ALG) beat Rachid Hazoume (MAR)
Lightweight: Mohammed Yahya (UAE) beat Azouz Anwar (EGY)
Catchweight 79kg: Souhil Tahiri (ALG) beat Omar Hussein (PAL)
Middleweight: Tarek Suleiman (SYR) beat Laid Zerhouni (ALG)
The five pillars of Islam
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Elvis
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COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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PSG's line up
GK: Alphonse Areola (youth academy)
Defence - RB: Dani Alves (free transfer); CB: Marquinhos (€31.4 million); CB: Thiago Silva (€42m); LB: Layvin Kurzawa (€23m)
Midfield - Angel di Maria (€47m); Adrien Rabiot (youth academy); Marco Verratti (€12m)
Forwards - Neymar (€222m); Edinson Cavani (€63m); Kylian Mbappe (initial: loan; to buy: €180m)
Total cost: €440.4m (€620.4m if Mbappe makes permanent move)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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