November 11 Safe Tech International News and Notes

ORSAA UPDATE. Space, Judge halts lithium mining near sacred Hualapai site, More Political Commentary, Events

A number of individuals and groups intend to pause, pray, embody gratitude, and/or meditate at 11:11 am and/or pm on 11:11 (Nov. 11) today in their locations, creating a wave around the planet, in partnership with the natural frequencies of nature - not assisted by or interacting with a device. If you feel inclined, please join. One more formal on-line event is also listed below.

Reminder- Instead of having to scroll the email formatted for a cellphone’s screen width, you can read this online in a wider format on-line by clicking on the email’s header. My intention is to reduce my/our collective time online and consumption footprint.

There is a wide range of articles today, more OT than usual.

FEATURED

UPDATE FROM VICTOR LEACH: Dr Julie McCredden (ORSAA President Key Note Address at ARPS2024 ORSAA sponsored a keynote address at the Australasian Radiation Protection Conference (ARPS) conference 2024. Dr Erica Mallery-Blythe PHIRE Medical Doctors and Mr Alasdair Phillips of Powerwatch UK supported Julie’s talk using video presentations. The sponsored keynote and booth cost ORSAA $4,500, and I managed our booth for the 3 days; see attached photo. Both Julie, Erica, Alasdair and I volunteered our time. The cost of travel and accommodation was also our donation to ORSAA. We attend these scientific conferences to get our message out there. Still, ARPANSA and the telecommunication companies often drown us out by having a much bigger budget and the commercial media in their pocket. We believe the truth will win out in the end, as it always does. With the support of Erica and Alasdair, Julie states that long-term exposure to wireless radiation, albeit at a low level, can affect well-being and that the mechanism for health effects from these bioeffects is not just a theory but is well-founded in science. The WHO systematic review process is currently overrun by scientists who support only the heating dogma of ICNIRP, and the abandonment of the precautionary principle when setting limits is fraught with danger and mirrors the smoking-cancer projection. ORSAA is not anti-technology, but we believe that the ICRP principles stated in publication 103, Justification, Optimisation, and Application with exposure limitation, should be followed when setting exposure limits. This means advising consumers on the safe use of these radiating devices. The telecommunication companies and government are currently not doing this as it may affect revenue. I trust you will enjoy these short talks (total time 45 minutes and would like your feedback). https://www.orsaa.org/arps-2024-keynote-address.html (by permission) See also: Buy ORSSA a cup of coffee

NEWS AND NOTES

AI Gary Marcus: An AI rumor you won’t want to miss Converging evidence that the core hypothesis driving generative AI may be wrong But, as I have been saying since 2022’s “Deep Learning is Hitting a Wall”, scaling laws” are not physical laws. They are merely empirical generalizations that held for a certain period time, when there was enough fresh data and compute. Crucially, there has never been any principled argument that they would solve hallucinations or reasoning, or edge cases in open-ended worlds —or that synthetic data would suffice indefinitely to keep feeding the machine. As I wrote yesterday (and first noted back in April), I strongly suspect that, contra Altman, we have in fact reached a point of diminishing returns for pure scaling. Just adding data and compute and training longer worked miracles for a while, but those days may well be over. [] Scaling was always a hypothesis. What happens if suddenly people lose faith in that hypothesis? Stay tuned.

AI: Last week, the Vatican unveiled Luce, a Japanese-style cartoon character that will serve as the Catholic Church’s mascot for its upcoming jubilee year, as well as its Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan. And this week, predictably, she’s an AI porn sensation. “...There is no clearer sign that Luce has indeed entered pop culture and is beloved by young people than the fact that there are now dozens of AI-generated hardcore pornographic images of her on the internet,” Emanuel wrote. 404 Media

AUTOMOBILES TED GIOIA: Why Is the Tesla Cybertruck So Depressingly Ugly? It's a bigger problem than just one sinister-looking car If this were just a matter of one ugly car and some old Brutalist buildings, I wouldn’t waste time with such ineffectual ranting. But the fondness for both these visual atrocities in the current moment is revealing. Raw assertions of power are everywhere in our culture—and arts and creativity are inescapably poisoned by them. TED GIOIA

CELLPHONES CHILDREN: The smartphone generation is not okay, and ‘parents are completely clueless,’ says documentarian Lauren Greenfield The smartphone generation is not okay, and ‘parents are completely clueless,’ says documentarian Lauren Greenfield, calling for more regulation  | Fortune (Oct 15)

CENSORSHIP OT: US Government Paid PR Firm to Track and Vilify Critics of GMOs and Pesticides Covert PR operations involving the secret profiling of over 3,000 people and organisations considered “critics” of the pesticide industry recently made headlines around the world. The secret profiles, including ones on GMWatch and its co-directors, are said to include private and personal, even intimate, information that lawyers say violate privacy laws in several countries and regions, such as the UK, the European Union, Kenya and India. They also include false, misleading and malicious claims (examples below), clearly designed to damage the reputations of those targeted. This was all uncovered during a year-long in-depth investigation led by Lighthouse Reports, a Netherlands-based consortium of journalists that work on collaborative public interest investigations with the world’s leading media. The main breakthrough came when the investigators managed to penetrate the private social network, known as Bonus Eventus, where the profiles were being shared. This enabled them to not only access these secret dossiers, but to identify the Bonus Eventus network’s members and work out exactly who had done the profiling. In response to the news, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an organisation which defends independent journalism and fights against propaganda and disinformation, has called for all those involved in the profiling to be brought to justice. ORGANIC CONSUMERS

CHILDREN: iPad generation's fingers not ready to write, teachers say The Decline in Fine Motor Skills Carolyn, a primary school teacher, expressed her growing concern over this issue during a Saturday morning discussion on ABC Radio Melbourne. She noted a "big decline in fine motor skills" among young children arriving at school for the first time. According to Carolyn and her colleagues, this lack of dexterity is directly related to the time children spend on touchscreen devices. "They're holding crayons and scissors less," she explained, adding that some children seem unsure how to hold basic tools like paintbrushes or pencils. Consequences Beyond Handwriting The consequences of too much screen time extend beyond difficulties with handwriting. Clark also observed that some children are struggling with other basic tasks, like holding scissors, tying shoelaces, or even using cutlery properly. These tasks require fine motor skills, which are crucial for everyday life. If children aren't developing these skills through play, they may face challenges later on, even with seemingly simple actions. MSN

CHILDREN OT: The Analog Family Let's Bring Back Teenage Babysitters This solution to parental stress benefits kids and teens, as well. []I was interested to learn that teenage babysitters are becoming obsolete. A 2021 article on the Let Grow blog said that few parents are inclined to hire neighborhood teenagers to watch their kids. Amusingly, the average age of babysitters in the United Kingdom has risen from 14 to 34 over the past several decades!

CONSUMER PRODUCTS SMART GLASSES: What do people think about smartglasses? New research reveals a complicated picture [] existing research into smartglasses tends to overlook the broader social risks and perceptions of them. Our new research begins to address these gaps. It examines how these devices are used in everyday contexts—and reveals the diverse and polarized perceptions Australians have towards them. We found smartglass owners roam in packs and think they're pretty cool—but non-owners are more likely to see the devices as endangering their privacy and facilitating anti-social behavior. While the two groups did have some common ground, our results make the need for regulation clear. We surveyed 1,037 adult Australians to understand their views about smartglasses. Younger Australians are more likely than older groups to take up the technology. Interestingly, a significant majority (95.6%) of smartglass owners know someone else who owns smartglasses. This suggests the technology already has "in-groups". Younger device owners use their glasses more often than older owners. They also report higher instances of risky behaviors such as using the device while driving or in anti-social ways such as filming people without their consent. This underscores the importance of enhanced regulation that prioritizes safety and mitigates risky behaviors. While owners indicate their smart glasses align with their self-image and social status, non-owners express greater anxieties about privacy and anti-social risks. Non-owners are particularly concerned about appropriate and safe use in shared spaces. They are much more likely to believe wearing and using the device in public is "rude, inappropriate, or offensive". Importantly, there are some shared views. For example, both groups recognize the potential benefits of smartglasses and feel similarly that the devices can help people. This bodes well for a future where technology might step in when our human senses are less able. TECH EXPLORE

DATA CENTERS EUROPE: Turns out most of us really don't mind data centers 51% of respondents quizzed by CyrusOne felt positive about data centers. Two in three see job opportunities and potential for local economic growth. However, only half were able to correctly identity a data center’s primary functions New research from CyrusOne suggests there’s strong support from the public for data centers across Europe as businesses and consumers demand more compute and cloud services. More than half (51%) of the 13,000 individuals questioned felt positive about data centers, with a further 42% expressing neutrality, leaving only a small percentage of negative perception remaining. However, even those with positive attitudes towards data centers expressed concerns about the environmental impact of energy- and resource-hungry data centers. Despite the positive outlook, a clear understanding of a data center’s purpose was not so common. Only 52% were able to correctly identify a data center’s primary function, and fewer than half (45%) associated data centers with online tools like video conferencing, social media and digital messaging. MSN

DISASTER CAPITALISM ASHEVILLE THE POWER COUPLE: Asheville's Hurricane of Radiation Verizon's Wireless Arsenal | Technocrats | Quartz Here’s what we’ll learn in this article: Who benefits the most from disasters like Helene? Why are Elon Musk’s approval ratings changing Who is to be sacrificed by the modern high priests of technology? How does the government benefit from disasters? How Verizon and AT&T partners with the US military What is in Verizon’s wireless arsenal? Robo-dogs with guns may enforce hotspots What is the FirstNet network, and why should you care? How Big Tech is being portrayed as the Savior Why Helene was a convenient disaster for owners of quartz How is the new wireless rollout in NC affecting the electrosensitive? SUBSTACK

ECONOMICS: The Great Simplification Regenerative Economics: New Economic Paradigms, Living Systems, & Holistic Thinking The Great Simplification #149 with John Fullerton

ENVIRONMENT WHALES; Scientists issue warning about increasingly alarming whale behavior due to human activity: 'Distinct and concerning changes' "From increased stress levels … to an inability to locate food or a mate." COOLDOWN (no mention of EMF)

5G: 2020 GAO 5G Wireless Report Outlines Role of United Nations and China in Setting Global Standards Zero5G

GIFT GIVING RECOMMENDATIONS: Dr. Stillman: nuts, herbs, etc. 'Tis the Season: Dr. Stillman's Christmas Gift Guide Give the gift of wellness this Christmas!

HAVANA SYNDROME: Documents Related to AHI and Havana Syndrome in US Population Leonid Ber filed this request with the National Institutes of Health of the United States of America.

INSPIRATION: AFTERSKOOL Lao Tzu - The Art of Not Trying A curious Taoist sage, Lao Tzu, was aware of the human quirk of getting so lost in intellectual prisons that people forget the natural way. And so, they force and strive, swimming against the stream, sometimes ending up further away from their goals than when they started. So, what if we stopped trying so hard and found a different, more effortless way of getting things done? This video explores Lao Tzu & The art of not trying. 13 MINUTES YOUTUBE

INSPIRATION TED GIOIA: Is There a Crisis of Seriousness? []Now consider the case of Apple, which recently released a commercial showing real-world creative tools getting squeezed and crushed—until they turn into a tiny digital device. Apple thought this was very clever, and was shocked when people expressed their disgust. The backlash was intense. Apple turned off comments on the video, and then rushed to issue a formal apology. But the cluelessness in Cupertino is understandable. The dominant companies in Silicon Valley are threatened by reality and seriousness—which are like Kryptonite to the digital agenda. So these mishaps are inevitable. Fakery is now a business model. Reality is its hated competitor. But all things happen in cycles. And even this crisis of seriousness will reverse. I already hear rumblings—of discontent with all those fake things listed above. It’s actually more than rumblings. It’s rising to a roar. []And here’s the most salient fact of all: People who have their act together are now taking things very seriously in their own lives. They aren't waiting for guidance from an app from the Apple Store or a post from an influencer. []All the fake AI and virtual reality and gimmicky digital tricks in the world won’t stop it. In fact, my hunch is that the more the tech world serves up their puerile fakery, the more they will accelerate this return to seriousness. That’s because there’s a hunger for honest human engagement that fakery cannot satiate. This hunger will be fed, sooner or later—and probably sooner. TED GIOIA

INSPIRATION: Our Most Vital Relationship COURTENY SNYDER MD The healthiest relationships are between people who honor this need in themselves and each other. Instead of rom-coms about finding the perfect person and living happily ever after, we need more stories about people falling in love with themselves. “I complete me.” The healthiest relationships are between people who honor this need in themselves and each other.

LIGHT: THE POWER COUPLE AUDIO The Myth of Daylight Saving Time Why did farmers get the blame? In today’s episode, we discuss: Why DST has nothing to with farming, or saving energy Why falling back in the Fall is the normal time that is beneficial for our health How other places around the globe have abandoned DST How we can use our circadian rhythms to combat depression 32 minutes The Myth of Daylight Saving Time

MINING: Judge halts lithium mining near sacred Hualapai site this Court finds that irreparable harm from the Phase 3 drilling project is not just potential, it is likely.” The Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project allows a subsidiary of an Australian mining company to drill and test more than 100 sites across U.S. Bureau of Land Management land surrounding one of the Hualapai Tribe’s cultural properties, among them Ha’Kamwe’, a medicinal spring sacred to the tribe. For years, the Hualapai Tribe tried to work with the BLM by actively voicing their concerns about a lithium exploration project near Wikieup, in northern Arizona, but the agency ultimately ruled that any disruptions to the tribe would be temporary, and thus weren’t grounds to block the project. []“We’re glad the court rejected BLM’s 19th-century mindset, that the company gets whatever they want at the expense of Indigenous communities,” Berglan said in a press release. “BLM should have considered alternatives with less impact on Ha’Kamwe’, like drilling fewer wells or moving them farther from the spring.” In August, the judge granted the Hualapai Tribe’s initial request for a temporary restraining order against BLM, temporarily freezing the exploratory drilling project. The restraining order was granted after the Hualapai Tribe filed a lawsuit, following years of the tribe actively voicing its concerns about the mining effort. Ha’Kamwe’ is located within the Hualapai Tribe’s property known as Cholla Canyon Ranch, and the boundaries of the Big Sandy Valley project nearly surround the entire property. Only one portion of the tribe’s land does not border the drilling project. The spring is recognized as a traditional cultural property and is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The tribe’s lawsuit claims the project’s approval violates the National Environmental Protection Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. The lawsuit asks for full compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which includes having the BLM take a “hard look” at the exploration activity’s environmental impacts and consider the implications of its actions on historic properties. The lawsuit claims that BLM approved the mining project without appropriately considering a reasonable range of alternatives or taking a hard look at water resources under the NEPA and moved forward with the project without providing mitigation measures under the NHPA for Ha’Kamwe’ and other resources essential to the tribe, thus violating both acts. Out of concern for Ha’Kamwe’, the tribe submitted multiple public comments, sent several letters of concern, and participated in tribal consultations with BLM throughout the Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project planning phase. Big Sandy, Inc., a subsidiary of Australian mining company Arizona Lithium, leads the project and has sought approval since 2019. Arizona Lithium is not a direct party in the Hualapai Tribe’s lawsuit, but it filed a motion to intervene. Humetewa granted the request in August, allowing the company to defend against the tribe’s efforts to stop the project. BLM’s approval of the Big Sandy Valley Project allows the mining company to drill and test up to 131 exploration holes across 21 acres of BLM-managed public land to determine whether a full-scale lithium mining operation could be viable. MSN

POLITICS PARIS MARX Shame on the Elon enablers Media and politicians created a monster and lost control of him On the night of November 5, as it became clear that Donald Trump would be returning to the White House, his family got together in a room at Mar-a-Lago to take a family photo. Trump’s children, their spouses, and a gaggle of grandchildren surrounded him, all beaming as they celebrated the victory. But near the left side of the photo, between Eric Trump and his wife Lara, was none other than Elon Musk, cradling his son X. At this point, Musk has surely paid enough for his spot in the Trump family. []Since his early days in Silicon Valley, Musk has been treated with kid gloves by a media that wanted to tell an appealing story about Silicon Valley and its founder class. The nerdy guys spending long hours in front of their computers weren’t like the greedy, power-hungry CEOs of old; they were birthing a new kind of capitalism that would be far more beneficial to the average person, or so we were told. Despite the iPhone relying on labor abuses in mines and Chinese factories, the gig economy ravaging labor rights, and tech companies choosing to flex their power in self-serving ways as soon as they had the chance, the narrative kept suggesting there was reason for everyone to give Silicon Valley the benefit of the doubt. But they never truly deserved it. Looking at Musk, there were signs very early on of who he really was — but far too many journalists chose to look the other way. [] The power Musk wields was not inevitable. There were many opportunities along the way to expose who he was and to hold his companies accountable for breaking rules and making fraudulent promises. Indeed, some people tried. But time and again, far too many journalists at mainstream publications decided those aspects of his career didn’t belong in the accepted narrative about his brilliance and lawmakers chose to look the other way in the hope he would boost economic prospects and provide them electoral gains. Now the United States — and the world — have to live with the consequences of those decisions, and the people responsible for them should be held to account. PARIS MARX

POLITICS ECONOMICS INTERNATIONAL OT: Everybody Wants to Join BRICS If there’s one thing the recent BRICS summit in Kazan revealed, it’s that when you divide the world into the West and the Rest, the Rest is a lot bigger and quite alienated from the western oligarchy. Much of the Rest also wants to join BRICS. After all, it’s a good deal: A way to forge economic and political connections and to adopt sane economic policies, without a bully like Washington meddling in your affairs. What’s not to like? At a time when Europe has forgotten Bismark’s motto – that the secret to success in politics is a good treaty with Russia – and no one in Washington ever heard of it, going back generations to archaic American lies about bolshevism, while this is the case in the west, much of the Rest has learned the value of such a treaty. And not just with Russia, with China and India as well. []One word sums up Washington’s aversion to BRICS: de-dollarization. With Russia and China in the lead, BRICS encourages its members and partners to trade in local currencies, not, as previously, in dollars. This weakens the greenback’s position as the world reserve currency, and with enough of that, there could be serious repercussions here in what Fidel Castro called the heart of the empire. But it’s not just BRICS. Eighty nations have determined to conduct their trade in local currencies. Many of these are not even in BRICS – like lots in the Association of South East Asian Nations. Abandoning the dollar has, most unfortunately for us Americans, come to be viewed as a national security move. De-dollarization, would not even be a thing, had not the geniuses in the Biden white house weaponized the American currency like no tomorrow. Between massive sanctions on anybody Washington doesn’t like and outright theft of foreigner’s financial assets stored in western banks, non-western money managers became a little, well, leery, of the Exceptional Empire’s previously accepted financial hegemony. So listen up, Washington: The U.S. has had a very nice deal with the dollar since the end of World War II, but now courtesy of BRICS, and more significantly, our own idiotic and near-sighted foreign economic policies, we glimpse the very beginning of the end. Maybe Trump’s vow to ditch sanctions makes sense? []But maybe it’s time for a different method from Inside the Beltway, one that is less arrogant and no longer demands allies approach it on their knees. The world is changing, but Washington remains frozen and indeed left behind in its post-1991 delusion as the unipolar global chieftain and its “my way or the highway” attitude to everything beyond its borders. This is simply no longer sustainable, just as, someday soon, the mega-brains in the white house may come to realize that supporting over 800 foreign military bases is unsustainable. Insanity can be temporary. Reason can regain lost ground. Let’s hope with Joe “We Rule the World” Biden’s departure from Washington, it becomes safe for rationality to return. SCHEERPOST

POLITICS WIRED: What Donald Trump's Win Will Mean for Big Tech Donald Trump's approach to Big Tech has oscillated between calls for stricter regulations for some players and a hands-off approach for others. Here's how he might steer tech policy in a second term. https://www.wired.com/story/trump-tech-policy/

POLITICS: Nominees for the People President Donald J Trump, Robert F Kennedy Jr, and their unity coalition need *your* help nominating people of integrity and courage for over 4,000 appointments across the future Trump Administration. Unlike the backroom deals of past presidents, the MAGA/MAHA transition team will draw directly from the input of we, the people, via the new Nominees for the People site.

SATELLITES: More Low‑orbit Satellites The City of Shanghai entered the low-orbit broadband satellite market. Shanghai Spacecom Satellite Technology (SSST) launched 18 satellites in August and a second batch of 18 satellites in October. The satellites are being branded as Qianfan, or ‘Thousand Sails’. SSST satellites are being launched by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) using the Long March 6A rocket. SSST plans to launch 108 total satellites this year and 648 satellites by the end of 2025, which are part of a first constellation of 1,296 satellites. Future launches are expected to carry from 36 to 54 satellites. The completed network will consist of 14,000 satellites, with ultimate plans of perhaps 30,000 satellites by sometime in the 2030s.The venture is being backed by the municipal government of Shanghai which is hoping to foster a commercial space industry. This is not the only Chinese satellite venture. The China Satellite Network group, established in 2021, plans to launch a constellation of 13,000 satellites, with the first launch expected soon. This venture has the backing of the Chinese government. The government has been working on a new generation of reusable medium-lift rockets which it expects to be ready in 2025. The first launchpad has already been constructed on Hainan Island. The government’s goal is to reach 100 rocket launches per year. China also recently launched ten satellites for Geely Group Automotive. These satellites are the first part of a constellation that will be used to build a communications network for autonomous vehicles. OneWeb is still putting satellites in orbit. The ongoing Russia-Ukraine War forced the company to stop using Russian Soyuz launches, and the company is now using its competitor, SpaceX, to get into orbit. OneWeb currently has 660 satellites in orbit, which meets it’s initial goal announced years ago. At this point, One Web is offering satellite services to governments and selling excess broadband capacity to residential satellite providers like Hughesnet, Viasat, and Starlink. One Web’s advantage is the use of a polar orbit that allows it to reach locations in the far north. Starlink has continued to launch satellites and had over 30 launches this year. At the end of September, the company has launched 6,426 satellites, with 6,371 that are functional. The company still has plans for reaching a goal of 12,000 satellites in its initial constellation, and 30,000 as a long-term plan. Project Kuiper, backed by Jeff Bezos launched two test satellites in 2023 and the company says it still has plans to launch a first constellation of 3,200 satellites. According to GSA, which tracks the satellite industry, 34 countries are either planning, evaluating, or testing broadband satellites. There have already been satellites launched by UK, Mexico, Japan, Papua New Guinea, the United Arab Emirates, and Timor-Leste. The skies are clearly going to be filled with satellites in a few years. It’s not hard to imagine 100,000 broadband satellites in orbit in a decade or so. One has to wonder what this will mean in terms of price competition. Starlink has one of the highest broadband prices in the U.S. Companies like SSST and Project Kuiper are likely to be serious long-term competitors, which will likely eventually bring prices down. More Low-orbit Satellites | POTs and PANs

SPACE: An object struck a satellite in Earth's orbit, leaving a hole An unknown small object, traveling thousands of miles per hour, punctured a satellite in Earth's orbit. The satellite company NanoAvionics released images online showing the damage to its MP42 satellite, launched in 2022 and designed to host several instruments for different customers. The source of the hole from a chickpea-sized object is uncertain, but the event underscores the growing risk to spacecraft in orbit around our planet. "Whether this impact was from a micrometeoroid or a piece of space debris, the collision highlights the need for responsible space operations in orbit and makes us reflect on satellite resilience against these types of events," the company posted online. []NanoAvionics noted that it has joined the European Space Agency's Zero Debris Charter, which aim to significantly reduce the creation of new space debris by 2030. Just a small object packs a big punch. "A collision with a 1cm particle travelling 10 km/s (of which there are about a million in orbit) releases the same energy as a small car crashing at 40 km/h," the agency said. "By joining this initiative, we're helping to ensure that NanoAvionics' satellites and those from our customers operate responsibly and contribute to a safer future in space," NanoAvionics wrote. Operating responsibly means that defunct spacecraft self-dispose themselves into Earth's atmosphere, where they'll largely burn up. It also means designing craft that don't intentionally release space debris (like lens caps or rocket parts), vigilantly monitoring for potential collisions (the International Space Station, for example, has to at times move to avoid a heightened impact threat), and of course discouraging the irresponsible destruction of spacecraft. Today, unregulated orbital trash now permeates a region of space around Earth called low Earth orbit, or LEO. "LEO is an orbital space junk yard," NASA explained. "There are millions of pieces of space junk flying in LEO. Most orbital debris comprises human-generated objects, such as pieces of spacecraft, tiny flecks of paint from a spacecraft, parts of rockets, satellites that are no longer working, or explosions of objects in orbit flying around in space at high speeds." MSN

SPACE TELESCOPE; Giant telescope's own powerful radiation may have contributed to collapse New report ponders the root cause of the Arecibo Observatory disaster. Powerful electromagnetic radiation from an enormous radio telescope in Puerto Rico may have fast-tracked structural damage that led to the instrument's collapse in 2020, a new report says.  For over a half-century, the Arecibo Observatory's 1,000-foot-wide telescope, a giant bowl nestled in a lush valley, was the leading radio transmitter on Earth. The facility advanced astronomy through the study of stars, exoplanets, and asteroids, as well as searched for signals from potential alien civilizations in space. []On Dec. 1, 2020, a 900-ton platform and four-story dome of secondary reflectors hanging over the receiver fell more than 400 feet and crashed into the main dish. No people were hurt in the incident, but the U.S. National Science Foundation, which owned the telescope, decided not to rebuild the observatory, dashing the hopes of astronomers around the globe who relied on it for their research.  Previous investigations into the disaster attributed the structural failure to slow "zinc creep," the tendency for zinc to deform over time under tension. Sockets filled with zinc anchored a set of cables holding the main platform over the reflector dish. Gradually, the zinc lost its grip and allowed several of the supporting wires to slip out.  But the Arecibo Observatory collapse was unlike anything that had ever happened before. It is believed to be the first documented case of a long-term zinc failure, and the zinc deformed at a load less than half the sockets' normal strength.  "The baffling question was, 'Why was there excessive zinc creep at such loading?' Such a failure had never been reported previously in over a century of widespread zinc spelter socket successful use," Roger L. McCarthy, chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine committee assigned to study the causes of the telescope's collapse, said in the incident report. [] the new report criticizes other investigations for not including several previously observed failure patterns at the site leading up to the event and for not providing explanations for them. The committee asserts there were warning signs that structural engineers didn't heed. []The damage, according to the committee, began with Hurricane Maria, more than three years before the collapse. Following the 2017 storm, inspectors saw "large and progressive" cable pull-outs. Those discoveries should have prompted immediate repairs, the committee said, but the inspectors hadn't accounted for how fast that damage would progress. In August 2020, about four months before the collapse, an auxiliary cable snapped, causing a 100-foot gash on the dish and damaging the suspended platform. The problems only snowballed, with a main cable breaking that November. Just 12 days before the whole telescope fell apart, the National Science Foundation announced it would be closing the facility, due to its dangerous state of disrepair. [] Originally, the telescope was built in the 1960s through the Defense Department to help develop anti-ballistic missile defenses. Later, a pair of scientists won a Nobel Prize in physics in 1993 for using the telescope to observe a new type of pulsar, a fast-spinning dead star core left over after a supernova. The discovery has provided a new "space laboratory" for studying gravitation. Giant telescope's own powerful radiation may have contributed to collapse | Mashable

SPACE: Why did the UK's first satellite end up thousands of miles from where it should have been? Someone moved the UK's oldest satellite and there appears to be no record of exactly who, when or why. Launched in 1969, just a few months after humans first set foot on the Moon, Skynet-1A was put high above Africa's east coast to relay communications for British forces. When the spacecraft ceased working a few years later, gravity might have been expected to pull it even further to the east, out over the Indian Ocean. [] today, curiously, Skynet-1A is actually half a planet away, in a position 22,369 miles (36,000km) above the Americas. Orbital mechanics mean it's unlikely the half-tonne military spacecraft simply drifted to its current location. Almost certainly, it was commanded to fire its thrusters in the mid-1970s to take it westwards. The question is who that was and with what authority and purpose? It's intriguing that key information about a once vital national security asset can just evaporate. But, fascination aside, you might also reasonably ask why it still matters. After all, we're talking about some discarded space junk from 50 years ago. []But however Skynet-1A then got shifted to its present position, it was ultimately allowed to die in an awkward place when really it should have been put in an "orbital graveyard". This refers to a region even higher in the sky where old space junk runs zero risk of running into active telecommunications satellites. Graveyarding is now standard practice, but back in the 1970s no-one gave much thought to space sustainability. MSN

SPACE: SpaceX Activating System to Practice for Destroying Space Station SpaceX is planning to fire the engines of its Dragon cargo spacecraft this week, which is currently docked to the International Space Station, to practice for the eventual retirement of the orbital lab roughly six years from now. As Space.com reports, it's the first time a SpaceX capsule has fired its thrusters while actively docked to "reboost" the ISS, or keeping it in a stable orbit, a task that historically has been taken care of by Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. In addition to keeping the space station at the correct altitude, SpaceX and NASA are using the opportunity to collect data for their joint plans to destroy the ISS. NASA contracted the Elon Musk-led space company in June to develop a "US Doerbit Vehicle," as part of an effort to destroy the ISS no sooner than 2030. Broadly speaking, the plan is to push it out of orbit, have it reenter the Earth's atmosphere, and harmlessly plunge into the ocean. MSN

EVENTS:

11/11 Unity Now: Connecting Community, Harmonizing Hearts, Inspiring Peace A Virtual Celebration for Humanity Our friends at DisclosureFest have been hosting Global Mass Meditations since 2017 and of course we have all witnessed the power of a unified community. Join us on 11/11  4-7pm PT; UNIFY and the Unity Now Team REGISTER

11/11: MOMS ACROSS AMERICA Let's Make America Healthy Again Join us on Monday, November 11th, for our Moms Connect Call, a gathering of mothers and others who want to empower and educate each other to create healthy communities. We will discuss the new administration's awesome commitment to filling thousands of positions at the USDA, FDA, CDC, etc., with experts with integrity and courage—nominated by YOU. TODAY - Please check out the website, register, (you have to create a password for security) and VOTE or nominate your picks! Moms Across America https://www.momsacrossamerica.com/

11/13 OVERCOMING CHEVRON - COLLABORATIVE FOR HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT On Wednesday, November 13 at 10am PT/1pm ET a group of expert panelists will explore The Overturning of Chevron Deference: Impacts on environmental health decision making. The June 28, 2024, Supreme Court decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo overturning Chevron deference marks a pivotal shift that could reshape environmental regulation.The longstanding Chevron doctrine established the principle that federal courts must defer to an agency’s interpretation of the statutes it implements. The June decision removes this deference to agency experts and expands the authority of judges into the realm of policy making. This event, co-hosted with our partners at UCSF's Science Action Network, Earthjustice, and the EaRTH Center at UCSF, brings together legal and policy experts Lisa Heinzerling, Erik Olson, and Bob Sussman to discuss the implications of this decision, and its potentially profound impact on science, public health, and regulatory decision making. RSVP here.

MA4SAFETECH: Mark Your Calendars!

1. Nov. 13, 12 Noon ET: Why & How to Create Phone-Free Schools! Cece Doucette and Mary Anne Tierney Meeting Registration - Zoom

2. Nov. 20, 12 Noon ET: Monthly Update Meeting All Welcomed https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZIqf--srj8sHtwVnBQhOsmpW8enmmewysn9#/regist

3. Nov. 21, 6 p.m. ET: Safer Tech Possibilities at School webinar! Register: Thursday, November 21 6 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT Please post/send out the .pdf invitation in your town and share the .png social media invitation too!