Solar power is the fastest growing part of the global energy industry. Inderpreet Wadhwa, CEO of Azure Power, one of the largest solar power producers in India, sat down with us to discuss why India is well positioned to capitalize on the trend.
Wadhwa emphasizes that over 200 million people in India do not have electricity. He says there is a lot of potential because solar radiation is available in most parts of the country, and India has over 300 days of sun. The fact that India is an emerging economy and has to build new infrastructure is another advantage, he says, because the country can "leapfrog" coal industry infrastructure.
For Azure Power, it is important to work closely with the government. Wadhwa says energy in India is highly regulated so they need favorable government policy. 90% of the company's contracts are with the government. With the price of solar much cheaper than energy consumed in many industries, Wadhwa says they are now doing more commercial contracts with industries such as the hotels.
Mike Massimino, the former astronaut who became the first man to tweet from space during one of his two space flights, says companies like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin are "the best hope we have for a thriving space program."
The Falcon 9 'Block 5', which theoretically can be reused 100 times without much maintenance, took off Friday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket carried a communications satellite into orbit for Bangladesh and then successfully landed back on a platform in the Atlantic.
The 'Block 5' rocket is the first Falcon 9 rocket that can theoretically be reused 10 times without any maintenance, and up to 100 times with just minor servicing. If SpaceX can pull off seven successful 'Block 5' launches, the company could get clearance from NASA to do manned missions, says Will Goodman, managing editor of Rockets Are Cool.
Mark Kaufman, science reporter at Mashable, discusses California's history-making decision to mandate solar panels on all new homes and low-rise apartment buildings. [We talk what this means for the solar panel companies and the rest of the U.S.](https://mashable.com/2018/05/09/california-becomes-first-state-to-mandate-solar-panels-on-new-homes)
Rob Marvin, associate features editor for PCMag, discusses the biggest announcements from Microsoft's Build conference. Marvin weighs in on Microsoft introducing AI for Accessibility, an integration between its digital assistant Cortana and Amazon Alexa.
Zachariah Reitano's Roman Health is using the treatment of erectile dysfunction to save lives by helping men discover the sometimes very serious underlying causes of the condition.
Emily Manor-Chapman, a NASA engineer on the 'InSight' lander, explains what the new mission to Mars hopes to accomplish.
The on-demand app that connects patients with doctors has seen rapid growth in the past few years, particularly in mental health services, and recently raised an additional $74 million in funding. "Not only does it make access to a doctor much, much easier, it also addresses a lot of the stigma associated with mental health," says CEO Hill Ferguson.
Jill Steinberg, the wife of Cheddar's CEO, took the DIY genetic test out of curiosity and found out she was prone to breast cancer. "There's always something there to learn," says Anne Wojcicki, CEO and founder of 23andMe.
Is the surface of a comet really a winter wonderland? Not exactly. Cheddar's Pat Jones explains what's going on in this viral space gif.
