Archive for the 'Infrastructure' Category
Astronomers Despair As SpaceX Starlink Train Ruins Observation Of Nearby Galaxies
November 19th, 2019That’s just the first 120 Starlink satellites out of tens of thousands that will go up in next few years. Via: Fortune: In the early hours of the morning today, Monday, November 18, two astronomers checked in on their remotely operated telescope in Chile, expecting to see images of distant stars and galaxies. Instead, they […]
Japan: Wind and Solar Power Plants Will Be Built on Fukushima Farmland Polluted by Fallout from 2011 Disaster
November 18th, 2019Via: Daily Mail: Farmland in Fukushima that was rendered unusable after the disastrous 2011 nuclear meltdown is getting a second chance at productivity. A group of Japanese investors has created a new plan to use the abandoned land to build wind and solar power plants, to be used to send electricity to Tokyo. The plan […]
Blackouts, Fires, High Gas Prices: Who Wants to Live in California Today?
November 8th, 2019Via: Wall Street Journal: One crisis rolls into another in parts of Golden State; ‘If I wasn’t as old as I am, I would pack up and get the hell out’
Self Sabotage: The Strange Swiss History of Rigging Vital Infrastructure to Explode
November 5th, 2019Via: 99percentinvisible: Jagged concrete protrusions span for miles along the Swiss Alps. They have been cheerily dubbed “Toblerone Lines” after the famous Swiss chocolate maker, but they have other names, too. More ominous monikers like “dragon teeth” may better fit their original function: to repel invading tanks and other vehicles in wartime. These lines represent […]
‘Starlink Is a Very Big Deal’
November 3rd, 2019This contains some techno-optimist glossolalia, but it’s the most informative piece I’ve found on Starlink so far. Via: Casey Handmer’s Blog: Starlink, SpaceX’s plan to serve internet via tens of thousands of satellites, is a staple in the space press, with articles appearing every week on the latest developments. The broad schema is clear and, […]
Portion of Keystone Pipeline Shut Down After 380,000-Gallon Oil Leak in North Dakota
November 2nd, 2019Via: USA Today: A portion of the Keystone Pipeline in North Dakota was shut down this week after more than 380,000 gallons of oil leaked, the pipeline owner said in a statement. Meanwhile, environmental groups argue that the spill and the pipeline’s volatility is why the separate Keystone XL pipeline should not be built. Pipeline […]
The Fantasy of Opting Out
November 1st, 2019Via: The MIT Press Reader: Consider a day in the life of a fairly ordinary person in a large city in a stable, democratically governed country. She is not in prison or institutionalized, nor is she a dissident or an enemy of the state, yet she lives in a condition of permanent and total surveillance […]
Los Angeles Fire: Southbound 405 Closed Between Sunset and the 101
October 28th, 2019CBS Live Also, California state-wide emergency declared as wildfire forces 200,000 to flee and leaves millions without power.
Californians Brace For 10 Years Of Blackouts
October 27th, 2019Via: ZeroHedge: With the state of California set to experience the “biggest blackout ever” as a violent windstorm forces local utilities PG&E, Edison and Sempra to shut off power to millions of residents over fears a broken transmission line could trigger another massive fire, resulting in billions in legal costs, a dismal reality is starting […]
SpaceX Plans to Start Offering Starlink Broadband Services in 2020
October 24th, 2019Global Lightning. Hmm. Via: Space News: Shotwell said many of the Starlink features are being tested by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory under a program called Global Lightning. SpaceX in December 2018 received a $28 million contract to test over the next three years different ways in which the military might use Starlink broadband […]
