Wikimedia Commons.
The Elon Musk space company may be popular for ferrying astronauts and cargo missions on its reusable rockets, but its satellite internet services have also made a mark in recent times. When Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year, it also tried to break the communication chain inside the country by attacking its fiber optic network. However, SpaceX’s terminals were flown in, and connectivity was restored in a matter of days.
Quantum computing technology could have notable advantages over classical computing technology, including a faster speed and the ability to tackle more complex problems. In recent years, some researchers have also been exploring the possible establishment of a “quantum internet,” a network that would allow quantum devices to exchange information, just like classical computing devices exchange information today.
Water is the most essential resource for life, for both humans and the crops we consume. Around the world, agriculture accounts for 70% of all freshwater use.
I study computers and information technology in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute and direct Purdue’s Environmental Networking Technology (ENT) Laboratory, where we tackle sustainability and environmental challenges with interdisciplinary research into the Agricultural Internet of Things, or Ag-IoT.
The Internet of Things is a network of objects equipped with sensors so they can receive and transmit data via the internet. Examples include wearable fitness devices, smart home thermostats and self-driving cars.
* FBL67: Jacob Ward – How AI Shapes Our Choices & Bad Habits * Future of funerals? Startup develops ‘holographic conversational video experience’ that allows mourners to have conversations with the dead * Police Used a Baby’s DNA to Investigate Its Father for a Crime.
* The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score * ‘Starbucks fired me for being three minutes late’ * Amazon starts selling private 5G, plants flag on pricing * We Need To Stop Cheerleading Change.
* Breaking Analysis Further defining Supercloud W/ tech leaders VMware, Snowflake, Databricks & others * Thriving in Uncertainty | Shashank Agarwal | TEDx * Why the Space Industry Needs New Role Models | Bianca Cefalo | TEDx.
It cost a researcher only $25 worth of parts to create a tool that allows custom code to run on the satellite dishes.
“The Commission determined that these applications failed to demonstrate that the providers could deliver the promised service,” the FCC said in a statement.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel added: “We cannot afford to subsidize ventures that are not delivering the promised speeds or are not likely to meet program requirements.”
In December 2020, the FCC tentatively awarded $886 million to SpaceX to help its Starlink service supply high-speed broadband to 642,925 locations in 35 states. However, it came with a requirement (Opens in a new window) that SpaceX provide a long-form application about how Starlink would meet its obligations before the federal funding could be fully secured.
The Federal Communications Commission denied SpaceX’s bid for $886 million in US subsidies on Wednesday.
Elon Musk’s startup was seeking funds to provide its satellite internet service to rural communities in nearly 650,000 locations across 35 states. The FCC funding is part of a $9.2 billion Rural Digital Opportunity Fund — an effort to bring WiFi to remote areas of the country where it would be more expensive to serve customers.
Starlink and LTD Broadband were both denied FCC subsidies. The agency said in a press release that both companies “failed to demonstrate that the providers could deliver the promised service.”
The biggest Internet service providers and their trade groups spent $234.7 million on lobbying and political donations during the most recent two-year congressional cycle, according to a report released yesterday. The ISPs and their trade groups lobbied against strict net neutrality rules and on various other telecom and broadband regulatory legislation, said the report written by advocacy group Common Cause.
Of the $234.7 million spent in 2019 and 2020, political contributions and expenditures accounted for $45.6 million. The rest of it went to lobbying expenditures.
Comcast led the way with $43 million in lobbying and political contributions and expenditures combined during the 2019–2020 cycle, the report said. The highest-spending ISPs after Comcast were AT&T with $36.4 million, Verizon with $24.8 million, Charter with $24.4 million, and T-Mobile with $21.5 million. “The dollar amounts are shocking,” the report said. “In total, these corporations spent more than $234 million on lobbying and federal elections during the 116th Congress—an average of more than $320,000 a day, seven days a week!”
…and yes SpaceX/Starlink is on the list just about Everyone is.
My Favorite site for transparency, however is opensecrets.
FCC lobbying https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/agencies/summary?id=053
SpaceX says responsible researchers are welcome to hack into its satellite internet network, Starlink. It added that it could pay them up to $25,000 for discovering certain bugs in the service.
The announcement came after security researcher Lennert Wouters said last week he was able to hack into Starlink using a $25 homemade device. He said he performed the test as part of SpaceX’s bug bounty program, where researchers submit findings of potential vulnerabilities in Starlink’s network.
In a six-page document entitled “Starlink welcomes security researchers (bring on the bugs),” SpaceX congratulated Wouters on his research.
South Korea’s Moon mission
The mission will circle the Moon for about a year at about 100 kilometers above the surface, searching for possible landing sites for future missions, conducting scientific research on the lunar environment, and testing space internet technology, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said in a statement. This mission will help prepare the country’s small space program for future exploration, as they hope to send a lander to the Moon by 2030.
If it successfully goes into orbit at the Moon, South Korea will become the seventh nation to undertake lunar exploration.
