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Trump administration launches pilot program for air taxis : NPR


An electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, flies above the Joby eVTOL aircraft, during a demonstration of eVTOLs Nov. 13, 2023, in New York.
Bebeto Matthews/AP
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The Trump administration has unveiled a pilot program to accelerate the use of electric air taxis, a move aimed at establishing U.S. dominance in airspace technology.
The Department of Transportation on Friday said the Federal Aviation Administration’s Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) will develop “new frameworks and regulations for enabling safe operations” and form partnerships with private sector companies as well as with state and local governments.
“The next great technological revolution in aviation is here,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a statement on Friday. “The United States will lead the way, and doing so will cement America’s status as a global leader in transportation innovation. That means more high-paying manufacturing jobs and economic opportunity.”
The program will include at least five pilot projects and will run for three years after the first project is up and running, the department said. The program will also include piloted and unmanned operations that focus on electric air taxis, also called an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft or eVTOL, that can help with delivering cargo and supplies. The aircraft will also be used to test their effectiveness in emergency situations, such as airlift and medical transport.
The program would allow the testing of aircraft both unmanned and piloted, and which may be capable of carrying passengers, before they complete FAA certification, a process that can take years. Aircraft must have FAA certification before carrying cargo or passengers when flying commercially, according to federal regulations.
This is not the first time the FAA has considered air taxis for future use.
In June 2023, the FAA greenlit a plan from Joby Aviation, a California-based aviation company, to begin test flights of an electric flying taxi prototype. The company on Friday announced plans to participate in the pilot program.
“We’ve spent more than 15 years building the aircraft technology and operational capabilities that are defining advanced aerial mobility, and we’re ready to bring our services to communities,” Joby’s chief policy officer Greg Bowles said in a statement. “We look forward to demonstrating our aircraft’s maturity and delivering early operations in cities and states nationwide.”
Another company, Archer Aviation, also said Friday that it plans to participate in the program.
“We’ll demonstrate that air taxis can operate safely and quietly,” Archer founder and CEO Adam Goldstein said in a statement. “These early flights will help cement American leadership in advanced aviation and set the stage for scaled commercial operations in the U.S. and beyond.”
The FAA said it is accepting proposals and a minimum of five participants will be selected, according to an unpublished federal notice about the program that is set to become public on Tuesday.
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Redox-driven mineral and organic associations in Jezero Crater, Mars

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Football Improves to 3-0 With Win Over Langston

RIO GRANDE VALLEY – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros football team won their third-straight game by beating the Langston Lions 80-0 on Saturday at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium in front of a sellout crowd of 12,552.
The Vaqueros (3-0) are the third brand new FCS program to start 3-0 in their inaugural season since 2008, joining Kennesaw State (2015) and South Alabama (2009).
Senior Sharyland Pioneer alum Eddie Lee Marburger played most of the first half, going 12-for-19 for 206 yards, including three touchdowns. Sophomore Xayvion Noland caught two of those touchdowns while gaining 151 yards on five completions.
Marburger found Noland twice on the Vaqueros’ first drive, pitching forward to Noland on first down for 30 yards, and one play later, completing a 42-yard pass to the right that led to the game’s first touchdown.
With under two minutes remaining in the first quarter, the Vaqueros lined up to punt on fourth down but snapped to freshman Tyler Day who ran 70 yards for the touchdown to put the Vaqueros up 14-0.
On the Lions’ (0-3) next drive, senior Elijah Graham recorded the first interception in program history and then raced 26 yards into the end zone for the touchdown, making the score 21-0. Graham finished the night with four tackles, two solo, and two interceptions.
Sophomore Brysen Gardner split the uprights with a field goal on the opening drive of the second quarter to put the Vaqueros up 24-0.
On the third play of the Vaqueros’ next drive, Marburger sent a deep pass down the left side to freshman Tony Diaz who scored on a 35-yard catch to give the Vaqueros a 31-0 lead.
After forcing a three and out, the Vaqueros put together a six-play, 58-yard drive capped by a 14-yard touchdown run by freshman TJ Dement to make the score 38-0.
Less than two minutes before halftime, Marburger sent a long pass to Noland down the right side. Noland caught the ball at the 27, spun past his defender, and then cut across the field before running into the left corner of the end zone for the touchdown, making the score 45-0.
On the fourth play of the Lions’ next drive, Graham came up with an interception and freshman San Benito alum Fabian Garcia immediately followed with a 21-yard rushing touchdown to give the Vaqueros a 52-0 halftime lead.
Freshman Aidan Jakobsohn opened the third quarter with an 8-yard touchdown pass to freshman Cameron Glenn on the fourth play of the first drive. On the Vaqueros’ next drive, junior Djouvensky Schlenbaker notched a 63-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 66-0.
Jakobsohn added a 15-yard touchdown pass to graduate student Javien Cuff in the middle of the quarter to put the Vaqueros up 73-0.
Jakobsohn finished 4-for-5 for 65 yards and two touchdowns while playing the end of the second and most of the third quarter.
Freshman Broderick Taylor opened the fourth quarter with three-straight rushes, the last of which was a 33-yard touchdown to put the Vaqueros up 80-0.
Redshirt freshman Brennan Carroll ran for 134 yards on seven carries with a long of 75 yards. Redshirt freshmen Jaiden Haygood and Jackson Waid led UTRGV with five tackles each.
UTRGV hosts Texas Wesleyan on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. at Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium.
A limited number of individual tickets go on sale Friday at 8 a.m. at UTRGVTickets.com.
The action starts with KRGV’s Vaqueros Game Day at 10 a.m. in Schlotzsky’s Vaquero Village at the UTRGV Fieldhouse. Tailgating at Vackar Stadium begins at 2 p.m. The Vaqueros Walk is at 4:45 p.m. in the H-E-B Tailgate Zone followed by a pep rally in the amphitheater. Fans do not need a game ticket to access Vaqueros Game Day or the tailgating areas.
Gates to Vackar Stadium open at 5:30 p.m.
Fans can learn more about game day, including parking information, maps, and the clear bag policy, by visiting RallyTheValley.com.
Fans can watch online domestically on ESPN+ and internationally on Southland International.
Fans can listen in English locally on Ultra 90.1 FM, in Laredo on Pure Country 95.7 FM, and online via the Radio Para Mi app, and in Spanish locally on KYWW 1530 AM Puro Tejano and KGBT-FM 98.5 La Preferida and online via the Uforia app.
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Marlon Wayans ‘lost 20 lbs’ for ‘Scary Movie 6,’ teases ‘equal opportunity offenders’ (exclusive)

- Marlon Wayans explains why he slimmed down to play Shorty in Scary Movie 6.
- The comedian and Him star teases they’re planning to bring back more Scary Movie alums besides Regina Hall and Anna Faris.
- Wayans says Scary Movie 6 will have “equal opportunity offenders,” saying, “Even sensitive people need to laugh at themselves.”
Marlon Wayans is getting back into Shorty shape.
After bulking up to play a professional footballer in horror movie Him (in theaters next week), Wayans teases his return for Scary Movie 6, the sequel to the horror-parody franchise. Part of that involves slimming down to portray his beloved character, Shorty.
“Physically, I like to endure some kind of crazy regimen,” Wayans tells Entertainment Weekly during a conversation about Him. “Even right now, it’s Scary Movie. I just lost 20 lbs busting my behind every day ’cause I didn’t wanna show up to set as Shorty buff at 225. That’d be lazy of me. I wanna do the work, I wanna look like Shorty. So when I’m able to [in his Shorty voice] have fun and s—, people are able to laugh at me, son.”
Scary Movie 6 was announced in April 2024, 11 years after the release of the fifth installment. It marks the first time the Wayans brothers — Marlon, Shawn, and Keenan Ivory — are reuniting in 18 years to write an original script, which Paramount says will be “the restart of the franchise.”
Andrew MacPherson
The Wayans and Rick Alvarez are writing and producing the sixth entry.
Wayans previously listed I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream, Heretic, Longlegs, Get Out, Nope, and Sinners as horror movies ripe for parody. But he also shares a little bit with EW about how he’s now going to poke fun at these premises in the age of elevated horror, of which Him is a great example.
“I think you have to acknowledge how comedy has changed. Not just horror has changed, but films have changed, the audience has changed, the world has shifted,” he explains. “I think the way to do that is to make the generational gap part of the conversation. That’s how we constructed the movie so we could talk about it all. It’s a conversation with these funny characters, and they just so happen to be going through this. The more pressure you put on characters and the more horrific the situations, that’s when you really get to know the characters.”
Scary Movie alums Regina Hall and Anna Faris are coming back to play Brenda and Cindy alongside Wayans as Shorty. “We have plans to bring a few more back,” Wayans teases, but he declines to say more because “no deal’s been done.”
Universal Pictures
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He does, however, promise a Scary Movie 6 that will be “no holds barred and equal opportunity offenders.”
“It’s how we always do it,” he says. “We just want to make everybody laugh, and we don’t care if you’re sensitive. Even sensitive people need to laugh at themselves.”
“Just know that we’re not just laughing at you, you get the chance to laugh at others,” he continues. “When we did White Chicks, we made fun of everybody. We made fun of Black people, we made fun of white people, we made fun of Hispanic people. That’s just what we do. We make fun of the world, make light of the world. It’s not to harm, it’s to bring humor. You may offend people here and there, but, hey, not every joke’s gonna land 100 percent, but if you tell a joke and 100 people laugh and one person walks out, that’s still a good joke.”
If 100 people walk out and only one person is laughing, “That’s a bad joke,” he adds. “That’s not to say that there’s not something in that joke ’cause this guy’s laughing now. We want to make the majority of people laugh and have a good time. I think this film that we’re working on is gonna be a great conversation piece, that we can all sit down and laugh together, over three generations of people who haven’t had great comedy in a long time.”
Scary Movie 6 is currently slated to be released in theaters on June 12, 2026.
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