TYB
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aATekAtriRk
Who is taking Trudeau's place?
Inside the space lab that is reinventing farming
14:24, 6 JAN 2025
Bicton College has officially showcased its ground-breaking Environmental Space Living Lab (ESLL), in collaboration with Satellite Applications Catapult, the lead of the ESLL project.
This transformative facility poised to revolutionise the farming industry and propel sustainable practices to new heights through cutting-edge technologies.
The ESLL is a pioneering facility, based at Bicton College’s University Centre, designed to be a hub for research, experimentation and education.
It is a space where academics, students, teachers and researchers can collaborate seamlessly with industry, government and the community to tackle the pressing issues of our time, including the environmental emergency, climate change and food security.
By co-designing, testing and developing innovative solutions, the lab aims to ensure that land-based practices are not only sustainable but also contribute to a thriving future for all.
In addition, the college’s parkland and farmland offer an opportunity for researchers and innovators to integrate robotics, remote sensing and 5G technologies to tackle the most pressing challenges in agriculture and environmental management.
“As the farming industry rapidly evolves, we are excited to future-proof our learning resources for generations to come.
This lab is a game-changer for testing and applying sustainable practices to real-world problems,” said Ed Parrish, director of land-based operations at Bicton College.
The launch event celebrated innovation and collaboration, featuring an esteemed line-up of speakers and contributors.
Highlights included a ceremonial ribbon-cutting by David Fursdon, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, officially marking the facility’s opening, calling it “an exciting time for the future of farmers and agriculturists.”
Other notable attendees included John Varley OBE TD, Chief Executive of Clinton Devon Estates, and Charles Courtenay, partner at Michelmores, owner and steward of the Powderham Estate, and the 19th Earl of Devon.
Representatives from The Great South West and the Satellite Applications Catapult were also present to explore the facility’s capabilities and witness first-hand how the Lab will shape the future of farming and sustainability.
Joel Freedman, Head of Innovation Services at Satellite Application Catapult, addressed attendees during the grand opening to elaborate how like-minded businesses and organisations in Devon, and further afield, will benefit from the technologies available at the centre.
“The Environmental Space Living Lab is more than a facility, it’s a vision for the future. It is an approach to world changing innovation with collaboration at its core,” Joel explained.
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/inside-space-lab-reinventing-farming-9840208
https://bicton.ac.uk/environmental-space-living-lab/
Russia will send advanced space tech to North Korea, Blinken says
January 6, 2025 1:20 pm CET
Russia is closing in on sending its advanced space technology to North Korea and could also soon accept Pyongyang as a nuclear power, United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday during a visit to South Korea.
The comments come as Russia ramps up its military alliance with North Korea, as its troops fight alongside the Kremlin's soldiers in Ukraine, and after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile into the East Sea Monday.
"The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training," Blinken said on the trip to Seoul.
"Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang."
What's more, Blinken said on his final visit to Seoul as America's top diplomat, Moscow "may be close to reversing a decades-long policy" and recognizing North Korea as a nuclear power.
The offer of launch services for North Korean spacecraft along with help building satellites had earlier been reported as a big part of the deal for Moscow to receive artillery ammunition from the secretive, authoritarian country for use in its war on Ukraine.
Last May, state propaganda outlet the Korean Central News Agency reported that the launch of Pyongyang's second spy satellite had failed soon after liftoff from a location in the north of the country likely due to a problem with its engine.
https://www.politico.eu/article/russia-will-send-advanced-space-tech-to-north-korea-blinken-says/
https://www.earth.com/news/carbon-atoms-in-your-body-took-a-400000-light-year-journey-through-space/
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/ad9c69
Carbon atoms in your body traveled 400,000 light-years through space before creating you
01-05-2025
Every atom of carbon in your body has an incredible story to tell. Before becoming part of you, the carbon atom likely spent time not just in other living things, but also floating in the vast spaces between stars.
And now, scientists have discovered something remarkable about this cosmic journey – these carbon atoms don’t just drift aimlessly through space.
They’re part of a massive galactic recycling system that keeps our universe’s star-forming factories running.
The remarkable research comes from a team led by Samantha Garza, a doctoral candidate at the University of Washington.
The findings shed new light on how galaxies, like our Milky Way, maintain their ability to form new stars through a complex system of cosmic circulation.
Carbon and the human body — the basics
Carbon atoms are like the building blocks of life, making up a huge part of the human body. In fact, about 18% of your body weight comes from carbon.
Carbon forms the backbone of all organic molecules, which include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and nucleic acids like DNA.
These molecules are essential for everything your body does, from carrying energy to building cells.
For example, glucose, a simple sugar made of carbon atoms, is one of the main sources of energy for your cells. Without carbon, none of these vital molecules would exist.
When you breathe in oxygen, your body uses it to break down carbon-based molecules in a process called metabolism. This process releases energy that your body needs to function.
At the same time, carbon atoms are also involved in the removal of waste through exhaling carbon dioxide (CO2), which is a byproduct of metabolism.
Your body works hard to maintain a balance of carbon by taking it in through food and releasing it as waste.
Conveyor belt in space cycles carbon
Galaxies have their own version of the Earth’s water cycle, but instead of water they cycle elements, like carbon and oxygen, through the circumgalactic medium.
It’s like a massive conveyor belt system that extends far beyond the visible edges of galaxies, pushing material out into space and then drawing it back in.
“Think of the circumgalactic medium as a giant train station,” Garza said. “It is constantly pushing material out and pulling it back in.
The heavy elements that stars make get pushed out of their host galaxy and into the circumgalactic medium through their explosive supernovae deaths, where they can eventually get pulled back in and continue the cycle of star and planet formation,” she explained.
Detecting carbon atoms in space
This discovery builds on a breakthrough from 2011 when scientists first confirmed that star-forming galaxies are surrounded by this circumgalactic medium.
Back then, the experts found hot, oxygen-rich gases in this region. Now, Garza’s team has shown that cooler materials, particularly carbon, are also part of this cosmic recycling stream.
The scale of this system is mind-boggling. Using the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, the team detected carbon extending nearly 400,000 light-years into space – that’s four times the diameter of our entire galaxy.
The experts made these measurements by studying how light from distant quasars (incredibly bright cosmic objects) was affected by the carbon-rich material in the circumgalactic medium of 11 different star-forming galaxies in space.
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Carbon traveled outside of our galaxy
“The same carbon in our bodies most likely spent a significant amount of time outside of the galaxy!” noted Jessica Werk, a professor and chair of the Department of Astronomy at the University of Washington, who co-authored the study.
This recycling system might hold the key to understanding why some galaxies eventually stop forming new stars.
Think of it like a city’s recycling program – if the collection and processing system breaks down, new products can’t be made from the recycled materials.
Similarly, if a galaxy’s circumgalactic medium stops cycling materials like carbon effectively, star formation in space could grind to a halt.
Future of star formation
“If you can keep the cycle going – pushing material out and pulling it back in – then theoretically you have enough fuel to keep star formation going,” noted Garza.
But what happens when this cycle slows down or stops? That’s one of the next big questions researchers hope to answer.
The study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, opens up new avenues for understanding galaxy evolution. The research team included scientists from institutions across the U.S. and Canada.
The experts are now working to quantify other elements in the circumgalactic medium and compare how the composition of active star-forming galaxies differs from those that have mostly stopped making new stars in space.
A vast carbon recycling system
The research reminds us that we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves.
The atoms that make up our bodies aren’t just stardust – they are active participants in an ongoing cosmic cycle of creation and renewal.
Each time you take a breath, you’re breathing in carbon atoms that might have once been part of this vast space recycling system.
The study was supported by NASA and the National Science Foundation, demonstrating the continued importance of these institutions in advancing our understanding of the universe.
As we look to the future, this work could help explain not just how galaxies like ours maintain their stellar populations, but also why some galaxies eventually transition into cosmic deserts where new stars cease to form.
The next time you look up at the night sky, remember that you’re not just looking at distant stars – you’re looking at a vast cosmic recycling system that has been running for billions of years, and may have played a crucial role in making you who you are today.
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SpaceX Starlink Launch
January 6, 2025
SpaceX is targeting Monday, January 6 for a Falcon 9 launch of 24 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
Liftoff is targeted for 1:59 p.m ET, with opportunities available until 3:43 p.m. ET.
If needed, additional launch opportunities are also available on Tuesday, January 7 starting at 11:18 a.m. ET.
A live webcast of this mission will begin about five minutes prior to liftoff, which you can watch here and on X @SpaceX.
You can also watch the webcast on the new X TV app.
This is the 17th flight for the first stage booster supporting this mission, which previously launched Crew-5, CRS-28, Intelsat G-37, Optus-X, Immarsat I6-F2, GPS III-6, NG-20, and nine Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, the first stage will land on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
https://www.spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-6-71
IRGC set to reveal new underground missile and drone facilities
06, Jan 2025 20:32
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force is set to reveal new underground facilities housing modern missiles and drones during large-scale military exercises, according to an announcement by the IRGC spokesperson on Monday, News.az reports citing local media.
Speaking to reporters at a press conference on Monday, General Ali Mohammad Naeini gave details on the ongoing ‘Payambar-e Azam (The Great Prophet) 19’ military exercise and a number of other war games that will be held in the coming days.
He stated that during the drills, the IRGC Aerospace Force will unveil “missile and drone cities”, while an underground city storing missiles and another facility accommodating vessels will be unveiled in the south of Iran.
The new generation of the IRGC’s “unique drones” will also be unveiled, he added.
The spokesman said the IRGC Navy will stage a war game in the Persian Gulf on January 18-23, noting that around 300 combat vessels will take part in an exercise on January 11 for smart traffic control at the Strait of Hormuz.
On January 27, the largest naval parade will be held with the participation of around 2,000 military and civilian vessels, he said, adding that two warships, named after martyrs ‘Bahman Baqeri’ and ‘Rais Ali Delvari’, will join the IRGC Navy’s fleet.
General Naeini also unveiled plans for a war game on Friday, January 10, involving 110,000 Basij forces in the capital Tehran.
“Iran has been fully prepared since long ago for big and complicated battles on any scale,” the spokesman added, saying the Islamic Republic has confronted various security and cultural wars and seditions with reliance on its endogenous and people-based power.
Pointing to the operations True Promise I and II against the Zionist regime, the general said the two operations indicated only a small portion of Iran’s unlimited power.
“The enemy is aware that the skies of the occupied territories are clear and defenseless for us. We can act (against Israel) on a magnitude multiple times bigger and with greater accuracy, speed and destruction.
The power and rate of production of our weapons and missiles would increase day by day in terms of quantity, skill and design.”
The spokesman also highlighted the “complete consistency” among various levels of governance in Iran regarding the retaliatory True Promise III operation against the Zionist regime, adding, “There are no obstacles to new operations against Israel in due time.”
https://news.az/news/irgc-set-to-reveal-new-underground-missile-and-drone-facilities
Breaking Barriers: Empowering Women with Drones in Delhi
Updated: 06-01-2025 21:01 IST
In a transformative initiative, Delhi's Lt. Governor V K Saxena awarded drone pilot licenses to 29 women under the 'Namo Drone Didis' scheme, a program launched in August last year.
This scheme has seen about 200 city women trained to proficiently pilot drones, marking significant progress in skill-building.
Announced via a social media post, Saxena emphasized that these licenses were distributed in Najafgarh, symbolizing a crucial step toward empowerment.
These women have undergone extensive training since August 2024, positioning them to integrate seamlessly into a tech-driven workforce as inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The initiative aims to dismantle societal barriers, offering women recognition, tools, and burgeoning opportunities.
Concurrently, the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' Scheme in South West Delhi celebrates young girls excelling in academics and sports, further fostering an inclusive society with empowered women at its core.
https://www.devdiscourse.com/article/entertainment/3216834-braving-the-freeze-bulgarias-epiphany-traditions
https://www.india.gov.in/spotlight/namo-drone-didi
https://theaviationist.com/2025/01/05/u-s-e-11a-yellow-sands/
https://twitter.com/bizjetsofwar/status/1783931944113225750
U.S. E-11A ‘Flying Gateway’ Takes Part In Counter-Drone And Integrated Missile Defense Exercise In Middle East
January 5, 2025 at 7:07 PM
U.S. Air Force E-11A aircraft equipped with the BACN (Battlefield Airborne Communications Node) payload took part in a C-UAS and IAMD exercise in the Arabian Peninsula.
Airmen from the 378th Air Expeditionary Wing teamed up with their Saudi counterparts for Exercise Yellow Sands, a regional training event aimed at boosting teamwork in Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (C-UAS) and Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD), last month.
The exercise series focuses on spotting, tracking, and taking down aerial threats, using the E-11A aircraft equipped with the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) as a “flying gateway”, a communications hub to link up the many different systems used by coalition forces.
Yellow Sands is part of the U.S. Air Forces Central’s Combined Integrated Air and Missile Defense program, which is all about protecting the Arabian Peninsula from attacks like those launched on Israel by Iran last year.
It’s designed to test how well member nations of the Joint Regional Air Chief group can work with coalition partners, with a focus on building ties with regional allies who play a key role in U.S. CENTCOM (Central Command) AOO (Area of Operations).
During Yellow Sands, the E-11A’s BACN (or “Bacon”, as the system is commonly pronounced) provided secure, long-range communication links for both air and ground forces.
This improved connectivity helped coalition partners coordinate better and effectively as they faced air and missile threats, strengthening the collective security of allied nations in the region.
“The E-11A is basically a Bombardier aircraft fitted with BACN,” explained U.S. Air Force Maj. Giovanni Allevato, a pilot from the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron in a public release.
“This system lets us bridge voice and data systems, enabling real-time, seamless communication for warfighters.”
By connecting different communication networks, the E-11A makes it easier to share information in real time, smoothing out the flow of voice and data between allies.
Its role in Yellow Sands was specifically about bridging these gaps and ensuring U.S. forces could work smoothly with their regional partners.
“The E-11A fills a critical gap and adds an important capability when it comes to sharing information,” Allevato said. “The faster we can move information and break down barriers to sharing it, the stronger we become as a team.”
At a strategic level, the E-11A helps improve coordination by speeding up information flow between warfighters. Exercises like Yellow Sands also offer the chance to test and improve these systems, making sure everything works as it should.
“The BACN system has been used on other platforms,” Allevato noted. “But right now, the E-11A is the main vehicle carrying it in this region. Without BACN, there wouldn’t be an E-11 in this theater, and vice versa.”
E-11A
The E-11A is a Bombardier BD-700-1A10 business jet, also known as Global 6000, which carries the BACN payload internally.
The aircraft, first leased at the beginning of the program and later bought by the Air Force in 2011, transitioned in 2019 from contingency funding to a long-term program of record.
In the beginning, all the E-11A aircraft were assigned to the 430th EECS at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, from where they provided near constant coverage in theater together with the EQ-4B Global Hawk UAS (Unmanned Aerial System).
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Following the withdrawal from Afghanistan, the unit moved to Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, from where they are continuing their mission, and from where it recently supported the humanitarian aid drops in Gaza.
The BACN payload, defined as a “Wi-Fi in the sky”, was developed as a “gateway” system that allows aircraft with incompatible radio and datalink systems to transfer information and communicate.
BACN is reportedly being modified to allow fourth- to fifth-generation data sharing between fighter jets, with upgraded navigation and GPS systems and Link-16.
Carrying the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node (BACN) system, the E-11A can support allied forces with a comprehensive communications relay capability from altitudes up to 51,000ft, supporting voice and data links across a wide area.
The system was developed using NASA’s WB-57 high altitude research aircraft, which saw deployments to Afghanistan to test and deploy BACN in an operational environment.
The mountainous terrain of many parts of Afghanistan was a major factor in BACN’s development, as placing the communications node at a high altitude could overcome many of the issues faced by ground forces where line-of-sight based communications systems were not effective.
Instead of relying on lines of sight between two operators in the field, they could instead use BACN as a bridging node to enable clear, unbroken communication as long as there was a clear view of the sky.
This has led to some comparisons, even within the U.S. Air Force, between BACN equipped aircraft like the E-11A and low-earth orbit satellites.
From the eight currently believed to be in service, the E-11A fleet is due to grow: on Jan. 21, 2021, Northrop Grumman was awarded a $3.6 billion contract for operations, sustainment, and support of the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN), including research, development, testing and evaluation, and integration of existing and future payloads.
Together with the sustainment contract, the service disclosed that the BACN Program Office, headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, was working to procure six more E-11A aircraft over the following five years.
One aircraft was lost in Afghanistan with two fatalities in 2020, with a mechanical failure and subsequent pilot error found to be the cause.
A further E-11A is due to be divested this year with the airframe believed to be #11-9001, the oldest example in service and is unique in the fleet with large, distinctive radomes on the fuselage often confused for part of the BACN system.
Instead, these radomes are actually redundant holdovers from the airframe’s prior role in the development of the Royal Air Force’s now retired Sentinel R1 platform.
New E-11As being delivered are being stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, with the 18th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, which already operated three aircraft in 2023.
A total of 9 aircraft (3 out of the original 4 procured between 2007 and 2021, along with 6 new ones) were planned to be in service by the end of fiscal year 2027; however, considering the divestment of one airframe, it seems more likely that no more than 8 will remain in service, unless anything changes.
As part of contracts negotiated to support the new CONUS E-11A unit, Northrop Grumman were also tasked with completing a modernisation programme for the aircraft, including the fitting of a new upgraded Ka-band SATCOM capability.
Meanwhile, the unmanned EQ-4B Global Hawks, which were modified to carry the same BACN payload as the E-11A fleet, were retired in 2021 and handed to the Department of Defense Test Resource Management Center where they are being evaluated for use supporting weapons development tests.
They had previously seen service during Operation Inherent Resolve.
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The Looming Threat of Drones Over the Homeland
Jan 06, 2025 at 7:02 AM EST
More than 20 years after the 9/11 attacks, a new threat to the homeland looms ominously on the horizon: drones.
As the curtain falls on the East Coast drone saga, alarm bells should be ringing in Washington, DC, not because criminals or other bad actors were to blame for any of the recent sightings, but because the same failures that contributed to the 9/11 terrorist attacks were apparent in the federal response over the last two months.
The government should urgently enact change to counter this emerging threat.
In 2004, the 9/11 Commission's final report painted a picture of a well-intentioned, yet stove-piped and thinly coordinated, counterterrorism bureaucracy that, in the months and years before the 2001 attacks, lacked sufficient resources and imagination to foresee the scope and scale of the terrorists' intentions.
Today, there is no sign that the government has a coordinated or coherent strategy to assess and respond to drone threats.
Federal authorities also lack sufficient resources to detect and track drones, let alone identify who is operating them.
Terrorists will try to use drones to hurt us. Foreign adversaries will use them to spy on us. In fact, they already doing these things, so little imagination is needed to see these threats.
A white supremacist was arrested in November for planning to attack an electrical substation in Tennessee using a bomb attached to a drone.
A Chinese national was arrested in December for using a drone to take pictures of a U.S. military base in California. A hypothetical future terrorist attack could involve 100 one-way, low-cost drones hitting targets across the nation.
Admittedly, drones are hard to detect and track using traditional radar systems. Civilian air traffic control infrastructure is designed for crewed aircraft that have larger radar cross sections and operate at higher altitudes than drones.
Military early warning infrastructure is optimized to watch for ballistic missiles and high-altitude bombers and, since 9/11, hijacked commercial airliners. None of these look like drones.
Though radar systems can sometimes detect small objects, they are often programmed to ignore them because they are most likely birds.
Drones are also confused with birds because they behave like them, flying erratically, changing speeds quickly, and, occasionally, operating in large groups or swarms.
The war in Ukraine has proven these difficulties, requiring the augmentations of traditional radar with other sensors and new technologies.
Making matters worse, there are too many agencies with different goals playing in the drone sandbox.
The Federal Aviation Administration focuses on flight safety, ensuring over one million registered drones operate safely in the nation's airspace.
The Department of Homeland Security has authority to counter drone threats, but only in specific situations.
The U.S. military is mainly concerned with protecting military sites.
No one has responsibility for a comprehensive strategy to protect the nation from hostile drones.
There is also confusion over who can disable a threatening drone.
The U.S. government should assign someone the responsibility for developing a strategy and approach to defend the homeland from drone threats.
That strategy should specify how the government, in coordination with state and local officials, will respond to incursions of unauthorized and unidentified drones near sensitive locations, like critical infrastructure.
The government also should resolve ambiguity about which agencies, at the federal, state, and local levels, have authority to take a counter-drone action to protect American life and property.
There should be no hesitation to take down a real threat.
Additionally, there is a need for investment in new systems that detect, identify, and track drones.
The cost for such infrastructure nationwide, to provide 100 percent risk reduction, is probably too high.
A priority should be placed on fixed systems to protect critical infrastructure and transportable gear that can protect large gatherings of people, like concerts and sports events.
Algorithms that process traditional radar data should also be retooled so that legacy air traffic control infrastructure can better track drones.
The 9/11 Commission Report was a clarion call to reform how the government protected the nation from terrorism.
Decades later, it can also be viewed as a prescient warning to drastically improve the U.S. government's ability to address and counter the percolating threat to the homeland from drones.
The government's response to the East Coast sightings displayed our gaps and vulnerabilities in stark relief. Now is the time for action.
https://www.newsweek.com/looming-threat-drones-over-homeland-opinion-2009938