One Canadian spaceman to another, former astronaut Chris Hadfield is encouraging William Shatner to follow the wise words of Captain James T. Kirk as he braces himself for a real-life blastoff: “Boldly go.”
Hadfield said he quoted the “Star Trek” star’s iconic mantra in a note wishing him well on his voyage aboard Jeff Bezos’ BlueOrigin rocket ship on Wednesday.
The flight was originally planned for Tuesday but BlueOrigin has announced it is being delayed 24 hours due to forecasted high winds.
Hadfield, a self-identified Trekkie who commanded the International Space Station, said he’s thrilled that after decades of service in the fictional Spacefleet, the Quebec-raised actor will soon get to experience the final frontier for himself.
“I think it’s great that a little kid from Montreal, who portrayed a legendary starship captain who inspired me as a kid, is now actually going to be weightless and in space and seeing the curve of the world from above,” Hadfield said in an interview.
Shatner had a chance to get Hadfield’s thoughts on space travel while he was floating aboard the International Space Station in 2013.
One question he had was how Hadfield deals with fear about the dangers of spaceflight, a concern that may be on Shatner’s mind in the leadup to Wednesday’s launch.
But Hadfield maintained that Shatner shouldn’t sweat it, suggesting the “journeyman” actor’s time on the stage should serve him well in space.
“He’s done a lot of live theatre, and there’s pressure in that your entire reputation relies on your preparation and your skill,” said Hadfield, whose debut novel, “The Apollo Murders,” hits shelves Tuesday.
“He’s a super experienced and interesting and self-propelled guy. He’ll be fine.”
However, Shatner’s trip through the stratosphere will drastically differ from Captain Kirk’s intergalactic adventures, Hadfield noted.
While Shatner piloted the USS Enterprise as a performer, he’ll be a passenger on BlueOrigin‘s New Shepard NS-18 capsule, said Hadfield.
And rather than traversing the cosmos, Shatner’s 10-minute flight will reach no higher than about 106 kilometres before the rocket descends to the desert floor of West Texas, not far from where it took off.
“It’s sort of like the difference between diving into a swimming pool and swimming the Atlantic,” said Hadfield.
“It’s a purely physical, personal, psychological experience for him. Whereas the character he portrayed on ‘Star Trek,’ or the reality of my space flight experience, that’s their life. That’s where they live. The environment defines who they are.”
At 90 years old, Shatner will also have the distinction of becoming the oldest person to go into space.
When it comes to the risks of space flight, Hadfield said age is just a number, and there are a variety of medical factors that determine whether someone can safely sustain the rigours of rocket launch and re-entry.
While professional astronauts have to be in peak physical condition, Hadfield said the health requirements for space tourists are much lower, and he’s confident that Shatner is in ship shape.
“It’s a very benign flight profile,” he said. “If you would trust your 90-year-old relative on a really rough roller-coaster, then I think you could trust him on this particular spaceship.”
Hadfield demurred at the suggestion that he offer Shatner any words of advice, insisting that the actor’s wealth of life experience should leave him well prepared for takeoff.
But if he had one suggestion to share, it would be to enjoy the ride.
“Make the absolute most of it. Don’t miss the experience worrying about ancillary stuff,” he said. “Really soak it up.”
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
