Tausi Insider

NASA's new moon rocket, as seen from a marina on Florida's Merritt Island, lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral on Nov. 16. Malcolm Denemark/Florida Today via AP Like a powerful beacon lighting the way to a distant shore, the Artemis I spacecraft sliced across the dark Florida sky early Wednesday setting a course for the moon and carrying with it dreams of a new chapter in human space flight. The 1:47 a.m. launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center comes one month shy of 50 years since an astronaut last set foot on the lunar surface, marking the end of the Apollo program. And while Artemis I carries no crew – in place of astronauts its capsule is occupied by three mannequins – the 26-day mission around the moon and back marks a critical step by the U.S. space agency toward repeating that historic feat and then surpassing it with visits to more daring landing sites for longer periods of time. Ultimately, the stated objective of the Artemis program is to lay t...

The operator of Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons in China said on Thursday it had forged a two-year partnership with Alibaba Group’s grocery chain that will see the two launch co-branded products. E-commerce giant Alibaba’s BABA-N Freshippo will begin sales next month at its stores, of which it has more than 300, as well as through its official app, it said in a statement. Products will include drinks such as Velvet Cocoa Coffee. Tims China, whose backers include Tencent Holdings, opened its 500th outlet in China last month and has set its sights on having a “profitable network” of 2,750 stores in the country by 2026. Even so it would still lag Starbucks, the dominant foreign coffee brand in China with 6,000 stores and which also has a wide-ranging partnership with Alibaba. Tims China was founded in 2019 by Cartesian Capital Group and Canada’s Restaurant Brands International, which also owns the Burger King and Popeyes brands in addition to Tim Hortons. https://www.tausiinsider...

Paper-based compostable capsules of Nespresso coffee, in Vevey, Switzerland, on Nov. 21. DENIS BALIBOUSE/Reuters Nestle’s Nespresso coffee business is launching paper-based compostable capsules to attract customers put off by the Swiss packaged food giant’s metal ones, which despite being recyclable often end up in landfill. Nespresso CEO Guillaume Le Cunff told Reuters that not all customers were aware that its aluminum capsules are recyclable, and may be more comfortable with the compressed paper pulp pods. “The objective is not to replace all the aluminum pods with paper, but to give the consumer more choice. It’s an alternative for sustainable options,” Le Cunff said in an interview. “You can compost the paper capsules or recycle the aluminum ones. We let the customer choose,” he added. Nespresso is one of Nestle’s biggest brands, with 2021 sales of 6.4 billion Swiss francs ($6.7-billion), and also one of its most profitable. After surging sales during the COVID-19 pandemic, Nesp...

New Brunswick seafood giant Cooke Inc. says it has completed a C$1.5-billion acquisition of Australian seafood producer Tassal Group Ltd. The parent company of Cooke Aquaculture Inc. says the deal is the largest-ever purchase for the family-owned company since its launch in 1985. Cooke says it acquired all outstanding shares of Tassal for A$5.23 per share following approval by Tassal shareholders and an Australian court. Cooke CEO Glenn Cooke says the company is thrilled to join the Tasmanian aquaculture industry and welcomed Tassal’s 1,700 employees. Tassal harvests 40,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon annually in five marine farming zones with four land-based freshwater hatcheries and four processing facilities from southern Tasmania to the north of Queensland. It also farms 5,500 tonnes of Australian black tiger prawns from two hatcheries, three pond farms and processing facilities. https://www.tausiinsider.com/new-brunswick-seafood-giant-cooke-inc-acquires-australias-tassal-grou...

Twitter will roll out verified gold and grey check marks as it relaunches the blue check service next Friday, CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet. Reuters Twitter Inc is planning to roll out its verified service next Friday with different coloured checks for individuals, companies and governments, after a botched initial launch led to a surge in users impersonating celebrities and brands on the platform. Chief Executive Elon Musk on Friday allotted colours for the categories – gold for companies, grey for governments and a blue check for individuals including celebrities. “Painful, but necessary,” he said, adding that verified accounts will be manually authenticated before a check is activated. The revamped $8-per-month service will allow individuals to have a smaller, secondary logo of their organizations if verified by them, he said in another tweet on Friday. “Longer explanation next week.” The social media platform on Monday delayed its relaunch to make it foolproof as the service is e...

Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques gives a demonstration on Canadarm 2 simulator to Transport Minister Omar Alghabra as Annie Koutrakis, parliamentary secretary to the minister of transport, looks on, on Jan. 20, prior to an announcement on commercial space launches in Longueuil, Que. CHRISTINNE MUSCHI/Reuters The federal government has announced it is ready to approve commercial space launches on Canadian soil on an interim basis as it moves to put regulations in place to support a nascent domestic launch industry. The vote of confidence from Ottawa comes amid a growing global demand for access to space. Telecommunications providers around the world are racing to offer universal access to mobile broadband internet access via satellite while space-based monitoring for greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural productivity and national security, among other uses, is only expected to grow. “We are seeing a great deal of private sector leadership supporting space-related projects and o...