okebet com NEW YORK, Dec. 24, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- At the end of the settlement date of December 13, 2024, short interest in 3,063 Nasdaq Global Market SM securities totaled 11,912,589,852 shares compared with 11,857,580,215 shares in 3,065 Global Market issues reported for the prior settlement date of November 29, 2024. The mid-December short interest represents 2.65 days compared with 2.36 days for the prior reporting period. Short interest in 1,672 securities on The Nasdaq Capital Market SM totaled 2,179,343,976 shares at the end of the settlement date of December 13, 2024, compared with 2,052,759,872 shares in 1,665 securities for the previous reporting period. This represents a 1.00 day average daily volume; the previous reporting period’s figure was 1.00. In summary, short interest in all 4,735 Nasdaq® securities totaled 14,091,933,828 shares at the December 13, 2024 settlement date, compared with 4,730 issues and 13,910,340,087 shares at the end of the previous reporting period. This is 2.09 days average daily volume, compared with an average of 1.78 days for the prior reporting period. The open short interest positions reported for each Nasdaq security reflect the total number of shares sold short by all broker/dealers regardless of their exchange affiliations. A short sale is generally understood to mean the sale of a security that the seller does not own or any sale that is consummated by the delivery of a security borrowed by or for the account of the seller. For more information on Nasdaq Short interest positions, including publication dates, visit http://www.nasdaq.com/quotes/short-interest.aspx or http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/asp/short_interest.asp . About Nasdaq: Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading global technology company serving corporate clients, investment managers, banks, brokers, and exchange operators as they navigate and interact with the global capital markets and the broader financial system. We aspire to deliver world-leading platforms that improve the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the global economy. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software, exchange capabilities, and client-centric services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence. To learn more about the company, technology solutions, and career opportunities, visit us on LinkedIn , on X @Nasdaq , or at www.nasdaq.com . Media Contact: Camille Stafford camille.stafford@nasdaq.com A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/d618ea22-c88f-4168-a5f3-1b6b4f8e8eac NDAQOFrom CSI fan to PhD graduate: Tori's passion for connecting people back with their loved ones

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BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AP) — Bethlehem marked another somber Christmas Eve on Tuesday in the traditional birthplace of Jesus under the shadow of war in Gaza . The excitement and cheer that typically descends on the West Bank during Christmas week were nowhere to be found. The festive lights and giant tree that normally decorate Manger Square were missing, as were the throngs of foreign tourists that usually fill the square. Palestinian scouts marched silently through the streets, a departure from their usual raucous brass marching band. Security forces arranged barriers near the Church of the Nativity, built atop the spot where Jesus is believed to have been born. The cancellation of Christmas festivities is a severe blow to the town's economy. Tourism accounts for an estimated 70% of Bethlehem’s income — almost all from the Christmas season. Salman said unemployment is hovering around 50% — higher than the 30% unemployment across the rest of the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Finance Ministry. Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, noted the shuttered shops and empty streets and expressed hope that next year would be better. “This has to be the last Christmas that is so sad,” he told hundreds of people gathered in Manger Square, where normally tens of thousands would congregate. Pizzaballa held a special pre-Christmas Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza City. Several Palestinian Christians told the Associated Press that they have been displaced in the church since the war began in October of last year with barely enough food and water. “We hope by next year at the same day we’d be able to celebrate Christmas at our homes and go to Bethlehem,” said Najla Tarazi, a displaced woman. “We hope to celebrate in Jerusalem ... and for the war to end. This is the most important thing for us and the most important demand we have these days because the situation is really hard. We don’t feel happy.” Bethlehem is an important center in the history of Christianity, but Christians make up only a small percentage of the roughly 14 million people spread across the Holy Land. There are about 182,000 in Israel, 50,000 in the West Bank and Jerusalem and 1,300 in Gaza, according to the U.S. State Department. The number of visitors to the town plunged from a pre-COVID high of around 2 million per year in 2019 to fewer than 100,000 in 2024, said Jiries Qumsiyeh, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Tourism Ministry. After nightfall, the golden walls of the Church of the Nativity were illuminated as a few dozen people quietly milled about. A young boy stood holding a pile of balloons for sale, but gave up because there were no customers to buy them. The war in Gaza has deterred tourists and has prompted a surge of violence in the West Bank , with more than 800 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire and dozens of Israelis killed in militant attacks. Palestinian officials do not provide a breakdown of how many of the deceased are civilians and how many are fighters. Since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that sparked the war , access to and from Bethlehem and other towns in the West Bank has been difficult, with long lines of motorists waiting to pass through Israeli military checkpoints. The restrictions have prevented some 150,000 Palestinians from leaving the territory to work in Israel, causing the economy there to contract by 25%. In the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel, Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took more than 250 Israeli hostages. Israeli officials believe that around 100 hostages remain in captivity in the Gaza Strip. Elsewhere, Christmas celebrations were also subdued. Syrians protest after Christmas tree burned Scores of Syrian Christians protested Tuesday in Damascus, demanding protection after the burning of a Christmas tree in Hama the day before. Videos and images shared on social media showed the large, decorated tree burning at a roundabout in Suqalabiyah, a town in the Hama countryside. It remains unclear who was responsible for setting the tree on fire. In a video that circulated on social media, a representative of Syria’s new leadership, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, could be seen visiting the site and addressing the community. He said: “This act was committed by people who are not Syrian, and they will be punished beyond your expectations.” Germans mourn after Christmas market attack German celebrations were darkened by a car attack on a Christmas market on Friday that left five people dead and 200 people injured. President Frank-Walter Steinmeier rewrote his annual recorded Christmas Day speech to address the attack. He plans to acknowledge that “there is grief, pain, horror and incomprehension over what took place in Magdeburg,” while urging Germans to “stand together,” according to an early copy of the speech. Heavy snow hits the Balkans A snowstorm in the Balkans stranded drivers and downed power lines, but some saw the beauty in it. “I’m actually glad its falling, especially because of Christmas,” said Mirsad Jasarevic in Zenica, Bosnia. “We did not have snow for Christmas for 17 years here, and now is the time for wonderful white Christmas.” Planes grounded in the United States American Airlines briefly grounded flights across the U.S. on Tuesday due to a technical problem just as the Christmas travel season kicked into overdrive. Winter weather threatened more potential problems for those planning to fly or drive. Meanwhile, the flight-tracking site FlightAware reported that 1,447 flights entering or leaving the U.S., or serving domestic destinations, were delayed Tuesday, with 28 flights canceled. Spanish ministries bring seafarers holiday cheer In the port of Barcelona, Spain, volunteers from the faith-based ministry Stella Maris visited seven ships docked there on Christmas Eve to deliver Nativity scenes and the local specialty of turrón (nougat candy) to seafarers. The volunteers met seafarers from India, the Philippines, Turkey and elsewhere, said Ricard Rodríguez-Martos, a Catholic deacon and former merchant marine captain who leads Stella Maris in this major Mediterranean harbor. ___ Associated Press writers Wafaa Shurafa in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed to this report. Jalal Bwaitel, The Associated PressOn this day three years ago, we witnessed the nail-biting launch of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the largest and most powerful telescope humans have ever sent into space. It took 30 years to build, but in three short years of operation, JWST has already revolutionised our view of the cosmos. It’s explored our own Solar System, studied the atmospheres of distant planets in search of signs of life and probed the farthest depths to find the very first stars and galaxies formed in the universe. Here’s what JWST has taught us about the early universe since its launch – and the new mysteries it has uncovered. Eerie blue monsters JWST has pushed the boundary of how far we can look into the universe to find the first stars and galaxies. With Earth’s atmosphere out of the way, its location in space makes for perfect conditions to peer into the depths of the cosmos with infrared light. The current record for the most distant galaxy confirmed by JWST dates back to a time when the universe was only about 300 million years old . Surprisingly, within this short time window, this galaxy managed to form about 400 million times the mass of our Sun. This indicates star formation in the early universe was extremely efficient. And this galaxy is not the only one. When galaxies grow, their stars explode, creating dust. The bigger the galaxy, the more dust it has. This dust makes galaxies appear red because it absorbs the blue light. But here’s the catch: JWST has shown these first galaxies to be shockingly bright, massive and very blue , with no sign of any dust. That’s a real puzzle. There are many theories to explain the weird nature of these first galaxies. Do they have huge stars that just collapse due to gravity without undergoing massive supernova explosions? Or do they have such large explosions that all dust is pushed away far from the galaxy, exposing a blue, dust-free core? Perhaps the dust is destroyed due to the intense radiation from these early exotic stars – we just don’t know yet. Artist’s impression of what a blue galaxy in the early universe would look like. ESO/M. Kornmesser. Unusual chemistry in early galaxies The early stars were the key building blocks of what eventually became life. The universe began with only hydrogen, helium and a small amount of lithium. All other elements, from the calcium in our bones to the oxygen in the air we breathe, were forged in the cores of these stars. JWST has discovered that early galaxies also have unusual chemical features . They contain a significant amount of nitrogen, far more than what we observe in our Sun, while most other metals are present in lower quantities. This suggests there were processes at play in the early universe we don’t yet fully understand. JWST has shown our models of how stars drive the chemical evolution of galaxies are still incomplete, meaning we still don’t fully understand the conditions that led to our existence. Different chemical elements observed in one of the first galaxies in the universe uncovered by JWST. Adapted from Castellano et al., 2024 The Astrophysical Journal; JWST-GLASS and UNCOVER Teams Small things that ended the cosmic dark arges Using massive clusters of galaxies as gigantic magnifying glasses, JWST’s sensitive cameras can also peer deep into the cosmos to find the faintest galaxies . We pushed further to find the point at which galaxies become so faint, they stop forming stars altogether. This helps us understand the conditions under which galaxy formation comes to an end. JWST is yet to find this limit. However, it has uncovered many faint galaxies, far more than anticipated, emitting over four times the energetic photons (light particles) we expected. The discovery suggests these small galaxies may have played a crucial role in ending the cosmic “dark ages” not long after the Big Bang. Rectangles highlight the apertures of JWST’s near infrared spectrograph array, through which light was captured and analysed to unravel the mysteries of the galaxies’ chemical compositions. Atek et al., 2024, Nature The mysterious case of the little red dots The very first images of JWST resulted in another dramatic, unexpected discovery. The early universe is inhabited by an abundance of “ little red dots ”: extremely compact red colour sources of unknown origin. Initially, they were thought to be massive super-dense galaxies that shouldn’t be possible , but detailed observations in the past year have revealed a combination of deeply puzzling and contradictory properties. Bright hydrogen gas is emitting light at enormous speeds, thousands of kilometres per second, characteristic of gas swirling around a supermassive black hole. This phenomenon, called an active galactic nucleus, usually indicates a feeding frenzy where a supermassive black hole is gobbling up all the gas around it, growing rapidly. But these are not your garden variety active galactic nuclei. For starters: they don’t emit any detectable X-rays, as is normally expected. Even more intriguingly, they seem to have the features of star populations. Could these galaxies be both stars and active galactic nuclei at the same time? Or some evolutionary stage in between? Whatever they are, the little red dots are probably going to teach us something about the birth of both supermassive black holes and stars in galaxies. In the background, the JWST image of the Pandora Cluster (Abell 2744) is displayed, with a little red dot highlighted in a blue inset. The foreground inset on the left showcases a montage of several little red dots discovered by JWST. Adapted from Furtak et al., and Matthee et al., The Astrophysical Journal, 2023-2024; JWST-GLASS and UNCOVER Teams The impossibly early galaxies As well as extremely lively early galaxies, JWST has also found extremely dead corpses : galaxies in the early universe that are relics of intense star formation at cosmic dawn. These corpses had been found by Hubble and ground-based telescopes, but only JWST had the power to dissect their light to reveal how long they’ve been dead. It has uncovered some extremely massive galaxies (as massive as our Milky Way today and more) that formed in the first 700 million years of cosmic history. Our current galaxy formation models can’t explain these objects – they are too big and formed too early. Cosmologists are still debating whether the models can be bent to fit (for example, maybe early star formation was extremely efficient) or whether we have to reconsider the nature of dark matter and how it gives rise to early collapsing objects. JWST will turn up many more of these objects in the next year and study the existing ones in greater detail. Either way, we will know soon. What’s next for JWST? Just within its first steps, the telescope has revealed many shortcomings of our current models of the universe. While we are refining our models to account for the updates JWST has brought us, we are most excited about the unknown unknowns. The mysterious red dots were hiding from our view. What else is lingering in the depths of cosmos? JWST will soon tell us. Themiya Nanayakkara , Scientist at the James Webb Australian Data Centre, Swinburne University of Technology ; Ivo Labbe , ARC Future Fellow / Associate Professor, Swinburne University of Technology , and Karl Glazebrook , ARC Laureate Fellow & Distinguished Professor, Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing, Swinburne University of Technology This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .DEEP in the ancient burial grounds of China’s first emperor, archaeologists made a discovery that could rewrite the story of one of the world’s most enigmatic military forces. Hidden among the famed Terracotta Army , this rare find is unlike anything seen in decades, shedding new light on the organisation and leadership of an army frozen in time for over two millennia. The breakthrough came in Pit Two of the sprawling mausoleum in Shaanxi province, where researchers unearthed a life-sized statue believed to depict a high-ranking general. Distinguished by its ornate armour, elaborate headdress, and distinctive posture, the figure is only the 10th officer found since the Terracotta Army was first discovered in 1974. “Based on its location, we believe this figure was likely the highest-ranking military commander of this unit," said Zhu Sihong, head of the excavation project. Accompanying the general were two chariots, three clay horses, and two additional figurines. Read more on ancient finds "The arrangement of the high-ranking officers in the military formation reflected the military strategy, such as [the] commanding system in the Qin dynasty," said Xiuzhen Janice Li, an archaeologist from the University of Oxford . These artefacts offer a rare glimpse into the strategic formations and command structure of the Qin dynasty’s military, believed to have been created to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife. The Terracotta Army, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1987, has long been one of the most iconic archaeological discoveries of modern times. Originally stumbled upon by local farmers digging a well, the site has since revealed over 2,000 life-size statues, with experts estimating as many as 8,000 remain buried. Most read in Science Each figure is unique, reflecting the diversity of the emperor’s army. From infantry soldiers to cavalry and crossbowmen, the warriors were crafted with meticulous attention to detail and equipped with weapons such as swords and spears. "These adornments on the high-ranking officers indicate how special they are," Li said. "The style and colour of the adornments featured the aesthetic taste and social status symbols [of the time.]" The excavation of Pit Two began in earnest in 1994, with formal digs resuming in 2015. This latest discovery comes as the Terracotta Warriors mark 50 years since their initial unearthing, underscoring the site’s enduring capacity to yield new treasures. Restoration of the newly discovered figurine is already underway. Experts are carefully cleaning and reassembling the general, a process that will precede detailed analysis and eventual public display. Despite the progress, many mysteries linger. READ MORE SUN STORIES "The major question is who is the top general to control the whole Terracotta Army?", Li said. As archaeologists continue their work, the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang remains a glimpse into the complexity of China’s ancient past and of the emperor’s vision for immortality. THE Terracotta Warriors are a collection of life-sized clay statues that were created to accompany Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, in his mausoleum. These figures, buried over 2,000 years ago, are part of a vast funerary complex in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, constructed to protect the emperor in the afterlife. Discovered in 1974 by local farmers digging a well, the warriors are considered one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. They are arranged in military formations across three large pits and represent the emperor's army. Archaeologists have excavated over 2,000 figures, but it is estimated there could be as many as 8,000 still buried. The army includes infantry soldiers, archers, cavalry, charioteers, and generals, as well as horses and chariots. Each warrior is unique, with individualised facial features, hairstyles, and expressions. They were originally painted in vibrant colours, though much of the paint has faded over time. The figures were equipped with real weapons, such as swords, spears, and crossbows. Many of these weapons were advanced for their time, showcasing the sophistication of Qin dynasty military technology. The statues were crafted using a combination of molds and hand sculpting. They were made in pieces and then assembled, standing approximately 6 feet tall and weighing hundreds of pounds each. The Terracotta Army was intended to be a guardian force to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang in the afterlife and ensure his continued dominance even after death. The site, now part of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and continues to be an active archaeological excavation, with new discoveries still being made.Vascular Graft Market Poised for Tremendous Growth from 2024 to 2032 12-25-2024 03:43 PM CET | Health & Medicine Press release from: Cognate Insights Vascular Graft Market Latest Market Overview The global vascular graft market is projected to reach USD 4.8 billion by 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.2% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2032. Vascular grafts are used in surgical procedures to treat vascular diseases such as coronary artery diseases, peripheral arterial diseases, and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases, aging populations, and advancements in graft technology are key drivers fueling the growth of this market. 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Dana Hull | (TNS) Bloomberg News Jared Birchall, Elon Musk’s money manager and the head of his family office, is listed as the chief executive officer. Jehn Balajadia, a longtime Musk aide who has worked at SpaceX and the Boring Co., is named as an official contact. Related Articles National Politics | Biden will decide on US Steel acquisition after influential panel fails to reach consensus National Politics | Biden vetoes once-bipartisan effort to add 66 federal judgeships, citing ‘hurried’ House action National Politics | An analyst looks ahead to how the US economy might fare under Trump National Politics | Trump again calls to buy Greenland after eyeing Canada and the Panama Canal National Politics | House Ethics Committee accuses Gaetz of ‘regularly’ paying for sex, including with 17-year-old girl But they’re not connected to Musk’s new technology venture, or the political operation that’s endeared him to Donald Trump. Instead, they’re tied to the billionaire’s new Montessori school outside Bastrop, Texas, called Ad Astra, according to documents filed with state authorities and obtained via a Texas Public Information Act request. The world’s richest person oversees an overlapping empire of six companies — or seven, if you include his political action committee. Alongside rockets, electric cars, brain implants, social media and the next Trump administration, he is increasingly focused on education, spanning preschool to college. One part of his endeavor was revealed last year, when Bloomberg News reported that his foundation had set aside roughly $100 million to create a technology-focused primary and secondary school in Austin, with eventual plans for a university. An additional $137 million in cash and stock was allotted last year, according to the most recent tax filing for the Musk Foundation. Ad Astra is closer to fruition. The state documents show Texas authorities issued an initial permit last month, clearing the way for the center to operate with as many as 21 pupils. Ad Astra’s website says it’s “currently open to all children ages 3 to 9.” The school’s account on X includes job postings for an assistant teacher for preschool and kindergarten and an assistant teacher for students ages 6 to 9. To run the school, Ad Astra is partnering with a company that has experience with billionaires: Xplor Education, which developed Hala Kahiki Montessori school in Lanai, Hawaii, the island 98% owned by Oracle Corp. founder Larry Ellison. Ad Astra sits on a highway outside Bastrop, a bedroom community about 30 miles from Austin and part of a region that’s home to several of Musk’s businesses. On a visit during a recent weekday morning, there was a single Toyota Prius in the parking lot and no one answered the door at the white building with a gray metal roof. The school’s main entrance was blocked by a gate, and there was no sign of any children on the grounds. But what information there is about Ad Astra makes it sound like a fairly typical, if high-end, Montessori preschool. The proposed schedule includes “thematic, STEM-based activities and projects” as well as outdoor play and nap time. A sample snack calendar features carrots and hummus. While Birchall’s and Balajadia’s names appear in the application, it isn’t clear that they’ll have substantive roles at the school once it’s operational. Musk, Birchall and Balajadia didn’t respond to emailed questions. A phone call and email to the school went unanswered. Access to high quality, affordable childcare is a huge issue for working parents across the country, and tends to be an especially vexing problem in rural areas like Bastrop. Many families live in “childcare deserts” where there is either not a facility or there isn’t an available slot. Opening Ad Astra gives Musk a chance to showcase his vision for education, and his support for the hands-on learning and problem solving that are a hallmark of his industrial companies. His public comments about learning frequently overlap with cultural concerns popular among conservatives and the Make America Great Again crowd, often focusing on what he sees as young minds being indoctrinated by teachers spewing left-wing propaganda. He has railed against diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and in August posted that “a lot of schools are teaching white boys to hate themselves.” Musk’s educational interests dovetail with his new role as Trump’s “first buddy.” The billionaire has pitched a role for himself that he — and now the incoming Trump administration — call “DOGE,” or the Department of Government Efficiency. Though it’s not an actual department, DOGE now posts on X, the social media platform that Musk owns. “The Department of Education spent over $1 billion promoting DEI in America’s schools,” the account posted Dec. 12. Back in Texas, Bastrop is quickly becoming a key Musk point of interest. The Boring Co., his tunneling venture, is based in an unincorporated area there. Across the road, SpaceX produces Starlink satellites at a 500,000-square-foot (46,000-square-meter) facility. Nearby, X is constructing a building for trust and safety workers. Musk employees, as well as the general public, can grab snacks at the Boring Bodega, a convenience store housed within Musk’s Hyperloop Plaza, which also contains a bar, candy shop and hair salon. Ad Astra is just a five-minute drive away. It seems to have been designed with the children of Musk’s employees — if not Musk’s own offspring — in mind. Musk has fathered at least 12 children, six of them in the last five years. “Ad Astra’s mission is to foster curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking in the next generation of problem solvers and builders,” reads the school’s website. A job posting on the website of the Montessori Institute of North Texas says “While their parents support the breakthroughs that expand the realm of human possibility, their children will grow into the next generation of innovators in a way that only authentic Montessori can provide.” The school has hired an executive director, according to documents Bloomberg obtained from Texas Health and Human Services. Ad Astra is located on 40 acres of land, according to the documents, which said a 4,000-square-foot house would be remodeled for the preschool. It isn’t uncommon for entrepreneurs to take an interest in education, according to Bill Gormley, a professor emeritus at the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University who studies early childhood education. Charles Butt, the chairman of the Texas-based H-E-B grocery chain, has made public education a focus of his philanthropy. Along with other business and community leaders, Butt founded “Raise Your Hand Texas,” which advocates on school funding, teacher workforce and retention issues and fully funding pre-kindergarten. “Musk is not the only entrepreneur to recognize the value of preschool for Texas workers,” Gormley said. “A lot of politicians and business people get enthusiastic about education in general — and preschool in particular — because they salivate at the prospect of a better workforce.” Musk spent much of October actively campaigning for Trump’s presidential effort, becoming the most prolific donor of the election cycle. He poured at least $274 million into political groups in 2024, including $238 million to America PAC, the political action committee he founded. While the vast majority of money raised by America PAC came from Musk himself, it also had support from other donors. Betsy DeVos, who served as education secretary in Trump’s first term, donated $250,000, federal filings show. The Department of Education is already in the new administration’s cross hairs. Trump campaigned on the idea of disbanding the department and dismantling diversity initiatives, and he has also taken aim at transgender rights. “Rather than indoctrinating young people with inappropriate racial, sexual, and political material, which is what we’re doing now, our schools must be totally refocused to prepare our children to succeed in the world of work,” Trump wrote in Agenda 47, his campaign platform. Musk has three children with the musician Grimes and three with Shivon Zilis, who in the past was actively involved at Neuralink, his brain machine interface company. All are under the age of five. Musk took X, his son with Grimes, with him on a recent trip to Capitol Hill. After his visit, he shared a graphic that showed the growth of administrators in America’s public schools since 2000. Musk is a fan of hands-on education. During a Tesla earnings call in 2018, he talked about the need for more electricians as the electric-car maker scaled up the energy side of its business. On the Joe Rogan podcast in 2020, Musk said that “too many smart people go into finance and law.” “I have a lot of respect for people who work with their hands and we need electricians and plumbers and carpenters,” Musk said while campaigning for Trump in Pennsylvania in October. “That’s a lot more important than having incremental political science majors.” Ad Astra’s website says the cost of tuition will be initially subsidized, but in future years “tuition will be in line with local private schools that include an extended day program.” “I do think we need significant reform in education,” Musk said at a separate Trump campaign event. “The priority should be to teach kids skills that they will find useful later in life, and to leave any sort of social propaganda out of the classroom.” With assistance from Sophie Alexander and Kara Carlson. ©2024 Bloomberg News. Visit at bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.