Zettan

Aerial passenger drone startup EHang flew its EHang 216 two-seat self-flying taxi fully autonomously in North Carolina last night, a first for the company both in the U.S. and North America. EHang, which is based in Guangzhou, China, has already demonstrated its vehicle in flight at home and in different parts of Europe and Asia, but this is the first time its aircraft has received approval to fly by the FAA, and EHang is now working toward extending that approval to flying with passengers on board, which is a key requirement for EHang’s eventual goals of offering commercial service in the U.S.

This demonstration flight, which took place in Raleigh, included flying North Carolina governor Roy Cooper on board the two-seat aircraft. Eventually, EHang hopes to deploy these for use across a number of different industries, for transportation of both passengers and cargo along autonomous, short-distance routes in and around urban areas.

EHang had a busy 2019, too — the company began trading publicly on the Nasdaq in December. It also revealed plans to begin operating an aerial shuttle service in Guangzhou, with a pilot citywide drone taxi service intended to show off not only its individual autonomous vehicle capabilities, but also how it can deploy and operate multiple EHang aircraft working in concert with one another and with other aircraft sharing the air space over the city.

Toward the end of 2019, EHang actually completed two trial flights of its 216 vehicles flying simultaneously as an early step toward building out that pilot. The company has delivered around 40 of its aircraft to paying customers, too, and if all goes to plan, by next month it will have completed a pilot program with the Civil Aviation Administration of China that will allow it to move on to full approval of the airworthiness of its aircraft for commercial flight in the country.

Scientists in China think they’ve made a break in the case of a mystery disease that’s caused pneumonia in dozens of people. In several patients, they’ve found a virus never before discovered—albeit one related to the viruses responsible for causing SARS and other respiratory illnesses.

On Thursday, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported on the results of a preliminary investigation into the outbreak, which has so far sickened 59 people and left seven in serious condition. In 15 people, scientists say they’ve identified a strong suspect for the illness: a previously unknown type of coronavirus.

Coronaviruses are a family of spiky ball-shaped viruses known to infect a wide variety of birds and mammals, including humans. Most coronaviruses that make people sick cause nothing more than a typical cold. But in recent decades, we’ve come across two more dangerous and sometimes lethal viruses—the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, and the one that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS.

Earlier this week, the Chinese government stated that the mystery disease was not SARS, following weeks of accusations by its own residents on social media that the government was once again hiding the truth about a SARS outbreak within its borders. According to the Chinese government, no victims have tested positive for other likely culprits either, such as bird flu, while the mystery virus’s genetics have been completely sequenced, ruling out the possibility it’s SARS, MERS, or any other known coronavirus.

At this point, the research team’s work has yet to be confirmed independently. But on Wednesday, the World Health Organization expressed early confidence that the mystery disease could be caused by a coronavirus, based on reports so far.

The first human outbreaks of a never-before-seen infection, including SARS and MERS, tend to be zoonotic, meaning they’re initially spread from animals to people (for SARS, it was likely rodents or bats; for MERS, camels). That seems to be the case for this new coronavirus, too. The majority of cases have involved people working at the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, where many live animals are kept.

Sometimes, these new viruses are already capable of spreading easily from person to person, or can quickly mutate into a more contagious strain. But at least right now, that’s not true for the mystery bug, since no cases of person-to-person transmission have been reported yet. It also doesn’t seem to be as lethal as SARS or MERS, as no patients have died. But there’s still plenty of questions about the virus left to be answered, including where it first emerged.

Billionaire tech founder Elon Musk made quite a splash in China today, where he took the stage to show off the Tesla Model 3 that’s made at the company’s new multibillion-dollar plant near Shanghai—the first outside of the U.S.

The Tesla CEO was so happy, he started to dance. Or, at least we think that’s what this was.

Musk got so wrapped up in the moment that he even shed his jacket when the music, “More Than You Know” by Axwell Ingrosso, got going.

Oh, hell yes. Get it, Elon.

Do your thing, Mr. Musk.

Okay, dial it back, bro. This is a family affair.

That’s probably enough, dude.

Just remember, as long as he’s dancing, he’s not baselessly accusing anyone of being a pedophile. Or running over child-sized signs.

Maybe Musk’s girlfriend Grimes can take him aside and teach him some moves one of these days. For now, he’s continuing a long tradition of tech founders awkwardly dancing at launch events.

Godspeed, you nerds. You bizarre, billionaire nerds.