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Archive for the ‘internet’ category: Page 133

Mar 11, 2021

SpaceX launches 60 new Starlink satellites to orbit, nails rocket landing at sea

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

It was the 6th launch and landing for this Falcon 9 first stage.


A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a new batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites to orbit early this morning (March 11) and nailed its landing on a floating platform at sea.

Mar 10, 2021

Plastic Polymer Cables That Rival Fiber Optics

Posted by in categories: computing, internet, sustainability

MIT scientists demonstrate a hair-like plastic polymer cable that can transmit data 10 times as fast as USB.


How fast does data flow? The answer: not fast enough.

The search for more efficient data-transfer solutions to meet the ever-increasing demand for computation never ends. Even today, most data transmission happens via traditional copper cables, which are power-hungry, leading to a compromise between data exchange and energy consumed. Fiber-optic cables are an alternative, but they don’t work well with the silicon chips in our computing systems. Overcoming these limitations, while theoretically possible, can turn out to be prohibitively expensive, especially for electronics-rich applications like data centers, spacecraft, electric vehicles and so on.

Continue reading “Plastic Polymer Cables That Rival Fiber Optics” »

Mar 8, 2021

SpaceX wants to connect its Starlink satellite internet network to moving vehicles

Posted by in categories: internet, policy, satellites

SpaceX wants to begin connecting moving vehicles – from cars and trucks to jets and ships – to its Starlink satellite internet network, according to a request the company filed with the Federal Communications Commission.

“This application would serve the public interest by authorizing a new class of ground-based components for SpaceX’s satellite system that will expand the range of broadband capabilities available to moving vehicles throughout the United States and to moving vessels and aircraft worldwide,” SpaceX director of satellite policy David Goldman wrote in a letter to the FCC filed on Friday.

Starlink is the company’s capital-intensive project to build an interconnected internet network with thousands of satellites, known in the space industry as a constellation, designed to deliver high-speed internet to consumers anywhere on the planet.

Mar 5, 2021

SpaceX launches 60 new Starlink satellites, while Starship moves closer to being able to launch up to 400 at a time

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

SpaceX has launched another batch of its Starlink satellites — the usual complement of 60 of the low Earth orbit spacecraft, which will join the more than 1000 already making up the existing constellation. This is the fifth launch of Starlink satellites for SpaceX this year, and the twentieth overall.

Earlier this year, SpaceX opened up Starlink access to anyone in a current or planned service area via a pre-order reservation system with a refundable up-front deposit. The company aims to continue launches like this one apace throughout 2021 in order to get the constellation to the point where it can serve customers over a much larger portion of the globe. SpaceX COO and President Gwynne Shotwell has previously said that the company expects it should have coverage over much of the globe at a constellation size of around 1200 satellites, but the company has plans to launch more than 30000 to fully build out its network capacity and speed.

While SpaceX is making good progress on Starlink with its Falcon 9 launcher, it’s also looking ahead to Starship as a key driver of the constellation’s growth. Starship, SpaceX’s next-generation launch vehicle currently under development in South Texas, will be able to deliver to orbit 400 Starlink satellites at a time, and it’s also being designed with full reusability and fast turnaround in mind.

Mar 4, 2021

This is the fastest random-number generator ever built

Posted by in categories: computing, internet, quantum physics

Laser generates quantum randomness at a rate of 250 trillion bits per second, and could lead to devices small enough to fit on a single chip.

Mar 3, 2021

SpaceX’s Starship SN10 Flight Test — Launch & Landing in Boca Chica

Posted by in categories: internet, space travel

Starship SN10 successfully launched and landed at SpaceX’s testing site in Boca Chica, Texas. However couple of minutes after the landing Starship SN10 exploded on the landing pad.

► SpaceX Starlink 17 Mission Launch!
Set Reminder: https://youtu.be/8lwkQOa1yvg.

Continue reading “SpaceX’s Starship SN10 Flight Test — Launch & Landing in Boca Chica” »

Mar 2, 2021

Hélène Huby, VP, Orion-ESM, Airbus Defence and Space — Innovating And Investing In The New Space Age

Posted by in categories: business, drones, internet, space

Innovating And Investing In The New Space Age — Space 2.0 — Hélène Huby, VP, Orion-ESM, Airbus Defence and Space.


Hélène Huby is Vice-President of the Orion European Service Module (Orion-ESM), at Airbus Defence & Space.

Continue reading “Hélène Huby, VP, Orion-ESM, Airbus Defence and Space — Innovating And Investing In The New Space Age” »

Mar 2, 2021

Microsoft debuts its AR/VR meetings platform Mesh

Posted by in categories: augmented reality, internet, space, virtual reality

Today, at a special AR/VR focused event held inside its virtual reality community platform Altspace, Microsoft showcased a new product aiming to provide their AR HoloLens platform and VR Windows Mixed Reality platform with a shared platform for meetings.

The app is called Microsoft Mesh and it gives users a cross AR/VR meeting space to interact with other users and 3D content, handling all of technical hard parts of sharing spatial multi-player experiences over the web. Like Microsoft’s other AR/VR apps, the sell seems to be less in the software than it is in enabling developers to tap into one more specialization of Azure, building their own software that builds on the capabilities. The company announced that AltspaceVR will now be Mesh-enabled.

In the company’s presentation, they swung for the fences in showcasing potential use cases, bringing in James Cameron, the co-founder of Cirque du Soleil and Pokémon Go developer Niantic.

Mar 1, 2021

National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence issues report on how to maintain U.S. dominance

Posted by in categories: government, internet, policy, robotics/AI, security

The 15-member commission calls a $40 billion investment to expand and democratize AI research and development a “modest down payment for future breakthroughs,” and encourages an attitude toward investment in innovation from policymakers akin that which led to building the interstate highway system in the 1950s. Ultimately, the group envisions hundreds of billions of dollars of spending on AI by the federal government in the coming years.


The National Security Commission on AI report makes recommendations ranging from 5G and China to immigration policy and civil rights.

Continue reading “National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence issues report on how to maintain U.S. dominance” »

Mar 1, 2021

SpaceX aborts launch of Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink satellites

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

The auto abort occurred just over a minute before liftoff.


A veteran SpaceX rocket suffered a launch abort just minutes before liftoff Sunday night (Feb. 28) while attempting to launch 60 Starlink internet satellites.