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  3. AWZ Screen Recorder is the ideal solution for all your screen capture needs. With a range of versatile features, it's designed to help you create stunning videos, tutorials, gameplay recordings, and more. With AWZ Screen Recorder, you can effortlessly capture and share your screen activities with the world. Whether you're a content creator, educator, or simply want to save important moments, this versatile tool has you covered. Key Features: AWZ Screen Recorder provides the ability to record your entire screen or specific regions You can use it to record online meetings, record YouTube videos for offline viewing, capture streaming videos, etc It also helps you capture your microphone and speaker voice. You can effortlessly take screenshots and save them in any image format Some video editing is available such as trimming the recorded videos, adding text, and even adding audio commentary. Capturing game activity is available. System Requirements: Windows 11/ 10/ 8.1/ 8/ 7 Homepage: https://www.awzware.com/ License Types: for 6 Months Giveaway link: https://winningpc.com/awz-screen-recorder-license-code-free/ >>8000 AWZ Screen Recorder giveaway license codes for 6 months free from WinningPC. (Expires in 33 Days!)
  4. AmoyShare AnyMusic 10.4.1 [1 Year] https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/amoyshare-anymusic-10-4-0/ Terms and conditions: Please note that the software you download and install during the Giveaway period comes with the following important limitations: 1) No free technical support 2) No free upgrades to future versions 3) Strictly non-commercial usage
  5. Irfannsane

    Audials TV Recorder 2024 Giveaway

    [Update] Audials TV Recorder 2024.1 -Full Version: https://mos.techradar.com/apcmag/apps/531/APC-AudialsTVRecorder-Setup-2024.1.10.0.zip
  6. By Susan Bradley Business patchers take heed. Usually, monthly updates have the same impact on both business and consumer PCs. This month, applying patches to consumer machines is generally safe, which would have earned a MS-DEFCON level of 4. But business machines are another matter; I’ve lowered the level to 3. For the most part, I think the business issues are resolved as of the publication of this alert. But we’re experiencing one of those media frenzies which is vastly overstating the occurrence of blue screens of death (BSOD). That said, there are some isolated issues with some hardware for which Windows 11 KB5035853 is triggering BSODs. It appears to be limited to Lenovo laptops with AMD chips. I am not seeing issues with HP or Dell laptops. I am seeing some reports with third-party Windows Explorer patch tools, so if you are a fan of ExplorerPatcher, make sure you are on the latest release. Consumers Blue screens of death are one of the worst side effects of updating. Dealing with the aftermath is not fun. So if you are at all squeamish about installing the March updates on your Lenovo computer and you aren’t quite sure if you have an Intel or AMD, I wouldn’t blame you if you ensured that your deferral was kicked down the road until the April updates are released. Most computers ship with some sort of badging that clearly indicates which brand of CPU the PC is based upon. But even if you can’t find such badging, Settings | System | About will tell you. Either way, knowing which processor is involved can help you decide whether to proceed with updates or defer for a month until the problem is known to have been resolved. This situation points out that Windows is deployed by many different vendors on many different hardware configurations and cannot (or does not) test every one. I don’t have any factual statistics to guide me on this, but over the years I have seen odd issues pop up with AMD processors. It’s my opinion, not fact, that the relationship between Intel and Microsoft seems a bit stronger than the one with AMD. Given that the March updates also did not include any critical patch issues for consumer operating systems and applications, if you want to sit out March updates and join in on the fun in April just to be safe, I wouldn’t blame you one bit. To recap my recommendations for consumers: If you have installed the March updates with no issues, leave them installed. You are fine. If you have not installed the March updates and you have a Lenovo computer with an AMD chip, keep deferring the updates or use BlockAPatch to hide them on the Windows 11 platform. If you have not installed the March updates and you have any other brand of computer with an Intel chip, you can keep deferring them or use BlockAPatch to hide them on the Windows 11 platform. We’re still seeing Copilot in dribble mode. Savvy forum participant WCHS noted that once Edge Beta was installed, it also seemed to bring along a new Microsoft Copilot app — for Windows 10! It is not installed if you merely have Edge, but gets installed with the current Edge beta. It’s unclear what exactly it is or does, especially given that it was installed on a computer that does not have Microsoft Copilot plus or Microsoft 365 Copilot. I’m making inquires about this. Remember, you can also disable Copilot in the Edge browser. I’ll let you know if we need to also uninstall an app going forward. Businesses A problem arose with patches earlier this month for domain controllers. Microsoft noted, “Extreme memory leaks may cause LSASS to crash, which triggers an unscheduled reboot of underlying domain controllers (DCs).” However, this was resolved very quickly with out-of-band (OOB) updates. The chart below shows the original KB for each server mentioned and the KB for the resolution. Server Version Message ID Original KB Resolved KB Windows Server 2022 WI748847 KB5035857 KB5037422 Windows Server 2019 WI748848 KB5035849 KB5037425 Windows Server 2016 WI748849 KB5035855 KB5037423 Windows Server 2012 R2 WI748850 KB5035885 KB5037426 If you use Lenovo’s Vantage program, it appears that a recent firmware update has triggered issues asking for BitLocker recovery keys. If you’ve started rolling out Lenovo firmware updates, you might want to either hold back or do additional testing if other systems under your control are impacted. Exchange patchers who installed the March security updates will have to use a workaround to fix searching. After installing the March updates, if you run a search in Microsoft Outlook Cached mode you will receive an error message. Microsoft has provided a workaround and is working on a fix. For those who need to dig into windows update logs, it’s often been a black box. I stumbled on a post that may help to identify what is going on if you need deeper investigation. I still wish that the log files were clearer, but this may help to shed some light on situations where you think a user has inadvertently clicked on something triggering the system to install an update when you hadn’t yet approved the update in your network. For those of you with Lenovo systems with AMD processors, review the guidance for consumers above. Defer updates until this issue is resolved. Resources Susan’s Master Patch List The MS-DEFCON System explained BlockAPatch — Tools to help you hide or block updates Steve Gibson’s excellent InControl to manage feature releases Source
  7. Ashampoo Photo Optimizer 2024 [Full Version] https://mos.techradar.com/apcmag/apps/531/csuite_apc.zip Note: This giveaway is being administered through Ashampoo's Connect software.
  8. Notepad, now the default text editor in Windows 11, is getting many updates these days. Dark mode, tabs, a spellchecker, and a modern interface are pretty big updates for the app that has been sitting without much attention from Microsoft for many years. As it usually goes in the Windows world, not all users like those upgrades and some would like to keep the app without its new bells and whistles. As it turned out, you can do that. Here is how to go back to the old Notepad in Windows 11. Restore old Notepad in Windows 11 The easiest way to bring back the old Notepad is to delete the new one. Open Start > All Apps and locate Notepad. Right-click it and select Uninstall. Now, every text file will open in the old Notepad, which you can still find in the C:\Windows folder. Note that uninstalling Notepad will remove its entry from the "Open with" menu. You can fix that and add the old Notepad by following the steps below. Those can also let you keep both variants and select whichever you want whenever you want. Here is what to do: Go to Settings > Apps > Advanced app settings > App execution aliases (credit for this goes to λlbacore on X). Scroll down and toggle off Notepad. This will let you open the old Notepad from the Windows folder or with the "notepad" command. You can similarly launch the old Task Manager in Windows 11. Download the OpenWithView tool from NirSoft. It is a simple single-file utility that lets you select what apps appear in the "Open with" menu. You will also need it to add Notepad to the "Open with" list after deleting the new Notepad. Launch the app and select notepad.exe. Click the green button on the toolbar. Close the app and right-click any text file. You will then see two Notepads: the modern one and the legacy variant. Are you ok with the new Notepad, or do you prefer the old one? Share your thoughts in the comments. Source
  9. Software developers who are still using Microsoft .NET 7 need to think about updating soon. The company has announced an "end of support" date for the older version of the open-source dev tool. In a blog post today, Microsoft said that official support for .NET 7 will end after May 14, 2024. That gives that version of the tool 18 months of official support. Microsoft has given the odd number versions of .NET that amount of support time, which is known as Standard Term Support (STS). Microsoft notes that May 14 is also the same day as the company's monthly event known as Patch Tuesday. As a result, .NET 7 may get one final update on that date. After May 14, here is what happens to apps made with .NET 7: In addition, Microsoft says that the .NET 7 component in Visual Studio will be changed to out of support and optional for Visual Studio 2022 17.6 and Visual Studio 2022 17.4 with the June 2024 servicing updates for those versions. Microsoft says that if you know you are using an app made with .NET 7 app, you should ask the app's developer or render to see if there is a version with the more recent .NET 8. Speaking of which, .NET 8, which officially launched in November 2023, is currently not scheduled to reach its end of service date until November 2026. In February 2024, the company launched the first preview version of the next developer tool update. .NET 9. It is not currently scheduled to become official until November 2024. Source
  10. MSBuild is the build and tool platform for Microsoft's Visual Studio software development apps. However, it can be hard for some developers to use. Today, Microsoft announced it has launched an experimental version of the MSBuild editor that it hopes will be easier and more helpful for many developers. In a blog post, Microsoft says it want feedback on this experimental MSBuild editor from developers who may need to edit csproj files directly so they can access certain features that are not available with the Visual Studio user interface. It adds: The MSBuild editor can offer quick information on properties, items, and metadata in MSBuild expressions, in addition to the normal info revealed for XML elements. The experimental editor also adds IntelliSense "almost everywhere in the file, with documentation powered by its schemas" along with a type system that lets developers see any "malformed conditions and expressions" that might be present before they run the build. Microsoft says this editor includes a "new MSBuild-specific json-based schema format." At the moment, this tool is only available for Visual Studio, but there are plans to add support for Visual Studio Code as well. In addition, if the feedback is positive, Microsoft plans to make this the default MSBuild editor for all .NET developers. You can check out the experimental MSBuild editor at the Visual Studio Marketplace website. Source
  11. Competing marketplaces like the Epic Games Store could show up on Xbox in the future. Since the days of the NES, the one unshakable distinction between the PC and console gaming markets was the latter's "walled garden" approach to game distribution. For decades now, console makers have completely controlled the licensing and sales methods available for games on their own hardware. So when Microsoft Xbox chief Phil Spencer says that he's open to breaking down that walled garden for his consoles, it's a big deal. Speaking to Polygon in an interview at last week's Game Developers Conference, Spencer said he could foresee a future in which competing game marketplaces like the Epic Games Store or indie clearinghouse itch.io were available directly on Xbox hardware. “[Consider] our history as the Windows company," Spencer told Polygon. "Nobody would blink twice if I said, 'Hey, when you’re using a PC, you get to decide the type of experience you have [by picking where to buy games].' There’s real value in that." In 2022, during its regulatory battle over acquiring Activision, Microsoft rolled out a set of what it called "Open App Store Principles" for "PC, mobile phones, and other general purpose computing devices." At the time, though, Microsoft was explicit that these principles didn't apply to consoles because "gaming consoles, specifically, are sold to gamers at a loss to establish a robust and viable ecosystem for game developers. The costs are recovered later through revenue earned in the dedicated console store." But Spencer says that kind of razor-and-razor-blades model makes less sense in today's console gaming market. That's in part because a slowdown in Moore's law is making hardware costs more stubborn and in part because gamers are increasingly moving to mobile and PC-based competition. "[Subsidizing hardware] becomes more challenging in today’s world," Spencer told Polygon. "And I will say, and this may seem too altruistic, I don’t know that it’s growing the industry. So I think, what are the barriers? What are the things that create friction in today’s world for creators and players? And how can we be part of opening up that model?" Baby steps Microsoft has made a few small moves toward opening up Xbox's ecosystem of games in the past. In 2013, the console maker allowed any indie developer to easily self-publish downloadable games for the Xbox One without the backing of a major publisher, which had been required in the past. Sony and Nintendo have also implemented similar policies on their consoles, which has led to an explosion of downloadable game releases from indie developers across all three platforms in recent years. Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform program, started in 2016, also lets Xbox consoles run generic apps programmed for the more open Windows environment. But that program still requires those apps to be distributed through the Windows Store, letting Microsoft enforce restrictions on apps like emulators designed to run on the Xbox. The Xbox store has gotten more open over the year, but not open enough to allow N64 emulators to run unchecked... Letting competing game stores operate directly on the Xbox would go significantly farther than those moves, severely reducing the financial and content control Microsoft would have over games on its own console. Spencer's openness to that loss of control comes as Apple is being forced to relinquish that same control over iOS in Europe under that region's Digital Markets Act. Epic Games, for its part, has been loudly arguing for years to get its Epic Games Store onto Apple's closed marketplace. But the Fortnite maker has always been relatively blasé about getting that same access to closed console marketplaces. "There's a rationale for [the 30-percent fee] on console where there's enormous investment in hardware, often sold below cost, and marketing campaigns in broad partnership with publishers," Epic's Tim Sweeney told GamesIndustry.biz in 2018. "But on open platforms, 30 percent is disproportionate to the cost of the services these stores perform, such as payment processing, download bandwidth, and customer service." The idea of letting other stores on the Xbox comes as Microsoft is downplaying the idea of exclusive games on the Xbox as a major focus. So far, that multi-platform pivot has only included four relatively small Xbox titles, but Polygon paraphrased Spencer as saying that "scrapping exclusivity on more and more Xbox games" is also part of the company's increased openness going forward. All told, the new posture strongly recalls 2016, when Microsoft became the first console maker to support cross-platform online play for any Xbox game that wanted it. Sony finally followed suit years later, and today, the idea of letting players join together across different console platforms is considered normal (though still not universal). In the future, we may look back on Microsoft's new openness as the beginning of a similar shift in the way game distribution works on previously closed consoles. Source
  12. Irfannsane

    [Update] WebSite X5 Go 2024.1

    WebSite X5 Go is the software that guides you through each step of creating your own website, without needing to code. Follow the program’s 5 steps, take advantage of the Drag & Drop editor, and the 50 ready to be used templates to easily create responsive sites that are compatible with all browsers and the latest mobile devices. WebSite X5 is yours forever, with no monthly fees. The license can be installed on 2 PCs and it allows you to create as many sites as you like. Plus, since the software is installed on your PC, you can work anywhere, any time, even without an Internet connection. WebSite X5 Go is the best tool for starting out. It offers: 50 customizable templates Automatic mobile version up to 10 pages per project Drag & Drop builder integrated FTP for publication 1 license for 2 PCs free support through the Help Center System Requirements: Supports Windows 7, 8/8.1, 10, and 11 (32-bit and 64-bit) Homepage: https://www.websitex5.com License Types: This is a 2-computer lifetime license, for commercial or noncommercial use Giveaway Link: https://sharewareonsale.com/s/free-website-x5-go-with-extra-templates-100-discount Download + Registration & Instructions: Site: https://pastebin.com Sharecode [?]: /SvK5fgWU (Expires in 31 Days!)
  13. Companies are trying to make the "AI PC" happen with new silicon and software. The basic requirements for an AI PC, at least when it's running Windows. Intel Microsoft said in January that 2024 would be the year of the "AI PC," and we know that AI PCs will include a few hardware components that most Windows systems currently do not include—namely, a built-in neural processing unit (NPU) and Microsoft's new Copilot key for keyboards. But so far we haven't heard a whole lot about what a so-called AI PC will actually do for users. Microsoft and Intel are starting to talk about a few details as part of an announcement from Intel about a new AI PC developer program that will encourage software developers to leverage local hardware to build AI features into their apps. The main news comes from Tom's Hardware, confirming that AI PCs would be able to run "more elements of Copilot," Microsoft's AI chatbot assistant, "locally on the client." Currently, Copilot relies on server-side processing even for small requests, introducing lag that is tolerable if you're making a broad request for information but less so if all you want to do is change a setting or get basic answers. Running generative AI models locally could also improve user privacy, making it possible to take advantage of AI-infused software without automatically sending information to a company that will use it for further model training. Right now, Windows doesn't use local NPUs for much, since most current PCs don't have them. The Surface Studio webcam features can use NPUs for power-efficient video effects and background replacement, but as of this writing that's pretty much it. Apple's and Google's operating systems both use NPUs for a wider swatch of image and audio processing features, including facial recognition and object recognition, OCR, live transcription and translation, and more. Intel also said that Microsoft would require NPUs in "next-gen AI PCs" to hit speeds of 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS) to meet its requirements. Intel, AMD, Qualcomm, and others sometimes use TOPS as a high-level performance metric when comparing their NPUs; Intel's Meteor Lake laptop chips can run 10 TOPS, while AMD's Ryzen 7040 and 8040 laptop chips hit 10 TOPS and 16 TOPS, respectively. Unfortunately for Intel, the first company to put out an NPU suitable for powering Copilot locally may come from Qualcomm. The company's upcoming Snapdragon X processors, long seen as the Windows ecosystem's answer to Apple's M-series Mac chips, promise up to 45 TOPS. Rumors suggest that Microsoft will shift the consumer version of its Surface tablet to Qualcomm's chips after a few years of offering both Intel and Qualcomm options; Microsoft announced a Surface Pro update with Intel's Meteor Lake chips last week but is only selling it to businesses. Asus and Intel are offering a NUC with a Meteor Lake CPU and its built-in NPU as an AI development platform. Intel All of that said, TOPS are just one simplified performance metric. As when using FLOPS to compare graphics performance, it's imprecise and won't capture variations in how each NPU handles different tasks. And the Arm version of Windows still has software and hardware compatibility issues that could continue to hold it back. As part of its developer program, Intel is also offering an "AI PC development kit" centered on an Asus NUC Pro 14, a mini PC built around Intel's Meteor Lake silicon. Intel formally stopped making its NUC mini PCs last year, passing the brand and all of its designs off to Asus. Asus is also handling all remaining warranty service and software support for older NUCs designed and sold by Intel. The NUC Pro 14 is one of the first new NUCs announced since the transition, along with the ROG NUC mini gaming PC. Source
  14. Popular pirate ebook repository Z-Library remains online despite a criminal prosecution by the United States. The site continues to release new features with support from users who appear happy to chip-in as part of a new fundraising campaign. At the same time, however, scammers are trying to 'steal' the site's traffic and money, through targeted email campaigns. Z-Library is one of the largest shadow libraries on the Internet, hosting millions of books and articles that can be downloaded for free. The site defied all odds over the past two years. It continued to operate despite a full-fledged criminal prosecution by the United States, which resulted in the arrest of two alleged operators in Argentina. According to the latest available information, these two defendants are still fighting their extradition. Meanwhile, the Z-Library site has continued to operate as if nothing ever happened, serving books to millions of people all over the world. Z-Library Fundraising A few days ago, the shadow library announced a new fundraising campaign to generate revenue. While users can buy premium access all year round to obtain access to additional features and downloads, Z-Library regularly hosts additional donation drives to fund project maintenance and development. “Although the last 2 years have been challenging for the project and the team, we are not giving up and are continuing to work on the development of the library,” the team writes, asking users to contribute. As last time, thousands of dollars are quickly pouring in from all over the world. Despite the legal challenges and the ongoing criminal investigation, many people seem happy to chip-in through various payment options, including cryptocurrencies. Donation Options This type of generosity from users is rarely seen on ‘pirate’ sites. While the shadow library’s operators are undoubtedly happy with the support, popularity also comes with a major downside; scammers. Soon after Z-Library lost its main domain names following U.S.-orchestrated seizures, outsiders stepped in to hijack the traffic. The site has repeatedly warned against these “fraudulent” and “unsafe” copycats but the problem never went away. On the contrary, it’s getting worse. Email Scams Over the past several weeks, there have been dozens of reports from Z-Library users who received emails, purported to be from the Z-Library team, alerting them to a new domain name. One of the early versions included the following message: These emails were received by actual Z-Library users but the domain being promoted has nothing to do with the original Z-Library project. On the contrary, it appears to be linked to a popular copycat site that’s been around for a while. In recent weeks these ‘scammy’ emails have continued, but the messaging has changed somewhat. An email sent to many people this month is more to the point, urging people to visit and bookmark the new domain. Scam Email Needless to say, these emails are not being sent by the Z-Library team but by scammers attempting to drive traffic to their site. There’s a clear profit motive, as “premium” access is currently required to download anything. ‘Not Compromised’ Of course, it’s no surprise that outsiders are trying to profit from the popularity of an existing piracy brand. We have seen variations of this theme for several decades. However, the email campaigns are rather novel. At this point, it’s not clear how the scammers obtained the emails. In an email to TorrentFreak, the real Z-Library team acknowledges the scam problems but says that there’s no sign that their systems were compromised in any way. “Unfortunately, the situation with fraudulent mailings is getting worse. Since our domains were blocked in November 2022, there have been at least a few independent scam sites posing as z-library. They use our name, design, and highly similar domain names. “[W]e are confident that there have been no incidents of user data leakage. However, we strongly recommend that you change the password for your account,” a Z-Library spokesperson writes. The team suggests that recipients of the scam emails may have tried to sign into one of the scam sites in the past. That would have exposed their email address and password to these people, which is why Z-Library believes it’s important to update this information. Scam Connection It’s not clear who is behind these misleading email campaigns, but there are some interesting patterns to observe. The .id domain name promoted in the emails uses the same Cloudflare nameservers as z-lib.is did in the past. The identical nameservers are not solid proof, however, as there are thousands of sites using the same ones. However, there’s an additional traffic pattern that links the two domains as well. As seen above, traffic to the .is domain tanked in February, around the time when the emails started coming in, while traffic to the new .id domain surged. This suggests a link between the two domains. Perhaps the scammers somehow lost control over their old domain, triggering them to launch the email campaign. Seizures and other Troubles Whatever the reason, the official Z-Library team continues to caution users to be on the lookout for copycats, including via an updated warning banner that mentions the new domain name. Scam Banner The Z-Library team believes that scammers and copycats are regularly DDoSing its servers too. At the same time, they have tried to add their links to the official Wikipedia page and hijack the top positions in search engines. Of course, scammers are only part of the challenge. The U.S. Government has also repeatedly seized the site’s domain names, which creates an opportunity for copycats to increase their traffic. The latest seizure round was last November, but that may not be the last. On the legal front, there hasn’t been any movement in the U.S. criminal case recently. The two alleged operators filed a motion to dismiss the criminal complaint last summer, but news has been quiet since then. Source
  15. A 6.8-inch "Pixel 9 Pro XL," 6.1-inch "Pixel 9 Pro," and a "Pixel 9" at 6.0 inches. When renders of the Pixel 9 came out in January from OnLeaks, we got our first hints that a big change in Google's lineup was afoot. Usually, the company does a big "Pro" phone with three cameras and all the premium features and then a smaller Pixel that gets cut down somewhat, usually with only two cameras. Those January renders showed a big and small phone both with three cameras, indicating the base model Pixel 9 was getting updated to be a "mini-Pro" model—a smaller phone, but still with all the trimmings. The small Pro model still seems to be in the works, but apparently, that's not the base model. The new render from OnLeaks and 91Mobiles shows a third Pixel 9. This one is the usual cut-down small model with only two cameras. Apparently, the lineup would now be a 6.8-inch "Pixel 9 Pro XL," a "Pixel 9 Pro" at 6.1 inches, and a "Pixel 9" at 6.0 inches. The base model's design looks just like the other Pixel 9 leaks. The camera bar takes on a new rounded pill shape. The sides switch to a flat metal band, like an iPhone 4/15. The corners of the display and phone body are much more rounded. Keep in mind that Google also has the Pixel "a" series, with the latest model currently being the Pixel 7a. The company also still sells the previous Pixel "a" model, the Pixel 6a, at a reduced $349 price, so that's five phones in the lineup. The Pixel Fold makes six. When we saw that leak in January, it made sense to us to kill off the base model Pixel 9 because Google has struggled to separate the top-end "a" series phone and the bottom-end Premium phone. Today, the Pixel 7a and Pixel 8 have similar screens, storage, and RAM, and you'd be hard-pressed to see a real-world difference in cameras or the CPU. There's a $200 price difference between them that isn't really justified. When the Pixel 8a comes out, it will cost less than the Pixel 8 and should completely cannibalize base-model Pixel 8 sales. Maybe Google is just happy with twice-yearly updates for the middle model. All of these leaks are super early. Next up in Google's lineup is the Pixel 8a launch, which will most likely happen in May. The Pixel 9 launch is probably around October. Source
  16. SpaceX application tossed but firm will get another shot in spectrum rulemaking. Starlink's mobile ambitions were dealt at least a temporary blow yesterday when the Federal Communications Commission dismissed SpaceX's application to use several spectrum bands for mobile service. SpaceX is seeking approval to use up to 7,500 second-generation Starlink satellites with spectrum in the 1.6 GHz, 2 GHz, and 2.4 GHz bands. SpaceX could still end up getting what it wants but will have to go through new rulemaking processes in which the FCC will evaluate whether the spectrum bands can handle the system without affecting existing users. The FCC Space Bureau's ruling dismissed the SpaceX application yesterday as "unacceptable for filing." The application was filed over a year ago. The FCC said the SpaceX requests "do not substantially comply with Commission requirements established in rulemaking proceedings which determined that the 1.6/2.4 GHz and 2 GHz bands are not available for additional MSS [mobile-satellite service] applications." But the FCC yesterday also issued two public notices seeking comment on SpaceX petitions to revise the commission's spectrum-sharing rules for the bands. Dish Network and Globalstar oppose the SpaceX requests, and SpaceX will have to prove to the FCC that its plan won't cause harmful interference to other systems. T-Mobile deal still on, but SpaceX wants more capacity The FCC order won't stop SpaceX's partnership with T-Mobile, which uses T-Mobile's licensed spectrum in the 1.9 GHz band. In January, Starlink demonstrated the first text messages sent between T-Mobile phones via one of Starlink's low-Earth orbit satellites. Texting service for T-Mobile users is expected sometime during 2024 with voice and data service beginning later. But SpaceX wants to use more spectrum bands to increase capacity in the US and elsewhere. Space has Starlink partnerships with several carriers outside the US. SpaceX filed its application in February 2023. "Granting this application will enable SpaceX to augment its MSS capabilities and leverage its next-generation satellite constellation to provide increased capacity, reduced latency, and broader service coverage for mobile users across the United States and the world, including those users underserved or unserved by existing networks," the application said. Dish Network owner EchoStar is angry that the FCC is still entertaining SpaceX's request for the 2 GHz band. "The FCC should immediately dismiss SpaceX's petition for rulemaking without seeking comment, because the mere action of seeking comment would provide it with undeserved credibility and threaten the certainty that has allowed EchoStar to innovate in this band leading to significant public interest benefits," the company told the FCC yesterday. Spectrum interference dispute The FCC's dismissal of the application described an ongoing dispute between SpaceX and satellite operator Globalstar over potential interference in the 1.6 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands: The FCC said the questions raised are substantial enough to require "a new rulemaking to determine whether there is additional availability for another CDMA MSS system in the 1.6/2.4 GHz bands, and if so, what operating criteria would be appropriate for that system. Absent such a rulemaking to address any changed circumstances, we conclude that the 1.6/2.4 GHz bands are not available for licensing of an additional NGSO [Non-Geostationary Orbit] MSS system. Therefore, the Modification Application's request to operate in these bands is not in substantial compliance with Commission requirements and is unacceptable for filing." SpaceX, Dish spar over 2 GHz There's a separate dispute between SpaceX and Dish over use of the 2 GHz band. Dish's 5G network uses traditional cell towers rather than satellites. The FCC described the dispute: Dish owner EchoStar uses the 2 GHz band for mobile-satellite service, and it told the FCC that the band cannot handle another widely deployed service. A 2012 FCC order limited use of the 2 GHz band to incumbent MSS operators "based on the impracticality of avoiding harmful interference if separate operators for MSS and terrestrial systems were authorized in the same band," the FCC said. The new rulemaking will determine whether changes over the past decade warrant the authorization of additional MSS systems. "Absent such a rulemaking to address any changed circumstances, we conclude that the 2 GHz bands are not available for licensing an additional MSS system. Therefore, the Modification Application's request to operate in these bands is not in substantial compliance with Commission requirements and is unacceptable for filing," the FCC's dismissal of SpaceX's application said. Comments on the rulemakings announced yesterday are due April 25, and reply comments by May 10. The dockets are available here and here. Source
  17. The final Delta IV Heavy rocket is scheduled to launch Thursday, weather permitting. This is the rocket that literally lights itself on fire before it heads to space. It's the world's largest rocket entirely fueled by liquid hydrogen, a propellant that is vexing to handle but rewarding in its efficiency. The Delta IV Heavy was America's most powerful launch vehicle for nearly a decade and has been a cornerstone for the US military's space program for more than 20 years. It is also the world's most expensive commercially produced rocket, a fact driven not just by its outsized capability but also its complexity. Now, United Launch Alliance's last Delta IV Heavy rocket is set to lift off Thursday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, with a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office, the US government's spy satellite agency. "This is such an amazing piece of technology, 23 stories tall, a half-million gallons of propellant and a quarter-million pounds of thrust, and the most metal of all rockets, setting itself on fire before it goes to space," said Tory Bruno, ULA's president and CEO. "Retiring it is (key to) the future, moving to Vulcan, a less expensive higher-performance rocket. But it’s still sad.” 45th and final Delta IV Weather permitting, the Delta IV Heavy will light up its three hydrogen-fueled RS-68A engines at 1:40 pm EDT (17:40 UTC) Thursday, the opening of a four-hour launch window. The three RS-68s will fire up in a staggered sequence, a permutation designed to minimize the hydrogen fireball that ignites around the base of the rocket during engine startup. The Delta IV Heavy will certainly have a legacy of launching national security missions, along with NASA's Orion spacecraft on an orbital test flight in 2014 and NASA's Parker Solar Probe in 2018 on a mission to fly through the Sun's outer atmosphere. But the fireball will leave an indelible mark in the memories of anyone who saw a Delta IV Heavy launch. It all comes down to the choice of super-cold liquid hydrogen as the fuel. The three RS-68 engines burn hydrogen along with liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. "We like those propellants because they’re very, very high performance," Bruno said. "In order to prepare the RS-68 engines to get that very cold cryogenic propellant flowing through them, before they’re ignited, we start flowing that propellant. "Hydrogen is lighter than air, so after it flows through the engine and into the flame trench, it then rises. When the engines are finally full and ready to go and we start spinning up the pumps, then we actually drop the main load (of propellant), we ignite it, and that flame carries on up that ... plume of hydrogen, which is clinging to the side of the booster and rising up.” The Delta IV rocket cores are covered in orange foam insulation. One of the reasons for this is to protect the rocket from the fireball, leading to what Bruno called a "very dramatic effect of a self-immolating booster" that has the appearance of a "toasted marshmallow" as it heads to space. A few seconds after the engines start, 12 hold-down bolts will blow to release the triple-core rocket from its restraints. More than 2 million pounds of thrust will power the Delta IV Heavy off the launch pad toward the east from Cape Canaveral. The RS-68 on the center core will throttle down to conserve liquid hydrogen and liquid hydrogen propellant, while the rocket's two side boosters will burn through their propellants in less than four minutes. Once the Delta IV lets go of its side boosters and falls into the Atlantic Ocean, the center core throttles up and burns for another minute and a half. A few moments later, the first stage booster jettisons, and the upper stage's RL10 engine ignites for the first of three burns needed to propel the rocket's classified cargo into an orbit thousands of miles above Earth. There's just a 30 percent chance of favorable weather for liftoff Thursday. High winds and cumulus clouds are the primary concerns. The weather forecast improves for a backup launch opportunity Friday afternoon. You can watch the launch on ULA's live broadcast, embedded below. This is also the final flight overall for the Delta rocket family—the 389th rocket with the Delta name—since 1960. But those earlier rockets share virtually nothing in common with the Delta IV, which debuted in 2002. The older generations of Delta rockets could trace at least some of their design lineage to the Thor program, a Cold War-era ballistic missile later converted into a satellite launcher. The last of that older family of Delta rockets, the Delta II, launched for the final time in 2018. The Delta IV was a clean-sheet design, initially conceived by McDonnell Douglas, that won a contract from the Air Force in 1998, alongside Lockheed Martin's Atlas V rocket, to become the new workhorse launch vehicles for the military's fleet of satellites. The Delta IV program became part of Boeing when that company merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. In 2006, Boeing merged its Delta rocket program with Lockheed Martin's Atlas V program, creating United Launch Alliance in a 50-50 joint venture. The launch this week will mark the 45th flight of a Delta IV rocket and the 16th to fly in the Delta IV Heavy configuration. The Delta IV Heavy, in particular, launched the kinds of heavy military and intelligence-gathering satellites that once flew on the Titan IV rocket, which retired in 2005. These payloads have primarily included NRO eavesdropping satellites and the massive bus-size Keyhole imaging platforms, essentially Hubble-class telescopes pointed at Earth. The Delta IV boasts a nearly perfect success record. The only blemish was on the first flight of the Delta IV Heavy in 2004 when a dummy payload was deployed into a lower-than-planned orbit after the three booster engines shut down a few seconds early. But the Delta IV Heavy is expensive. At one time, a single launch on this expendable rocket cost as much as much as $400 million, although the government secured a somewhat lower price from ULA for buying in bulk the the final three missions on Delta IV Heavy. The Delta IV launched a commercial satellite on its first flight in 2002, but no more commercial customers ever bought a Delta IV launch. The second-to-last Delta IV Heavy rocket launched in June 2023. United Launch Alliance The Delta IV launch pads in Florida and California were particularly complex, requiring maintenance and sustainment even during years-long lulls in launch activity. These high prices helped open a path for SpaceX, then a newcomer to the national security launch business, to petition the Pentagon for the right to compete for military launch contracts. With its partially reusable Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX offered lower prices than ULA. "I don't know how to build a $400 million rocket," Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, told Congress in 2015. The Falcon Heavy rocket debuted in 2018, giving SpaceX the capability to launch nearly all of the military's space missions. There are a few exceptions, like the NRO payloads assigned to the final few Delta IV Heavy rockets. SpaceX is developing a longer payload fairing for the Falcon Heavy to accommodate these types of satellites. Now, ULA has the less expensive Vulcan rocket, which flew on a problem-free test flight in January. Vulcan will replace the Delta IV and Atlas V rockets in ULA's fleet. There are still 17 Atlas V rockets remaining in ULA's inventory, primarily missions to launch Boeing's Starliner crew capsule and Amazon's Kuiper broadband network. Under a contract the Pentagon awarded in 2020, ULA's Vulcan rocket and SpaceX's Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy will launch all of the military's most expensive and sensitive satellites over the next few years. In its heaviest configuration, the Vulcan will outlift the Delta IV Heavy without needing three first-stage boosters to do the job. "Delta IV Heavy is three rockets bolted together," Bruno said. "With a single core Vulcan, we’re able to collapse that cost (of Delta IV Heavy) by 70 percent and make that mission a lot more practical." SpaceX has an agreement with the Space Force to take over the former Delta IV launch pad at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets will launch from there. And SpaceX has its eye on Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral, where the final Delta IV Heavy will take off this week, as a possible future home for the giant Starship rocket. Launching a listening post The NRO payload aboard the final Delta IV Heavy launch is likely a sophisticated reconnaissance satellite that will be stationed in geosynchronous orbit, more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. At that altitude, the spacecraft will orbit Earth in lock-step with the planet's rotation and will operate near numerous satellites owned by US adversaries like China and Russia. This orbital regime is also populated with privately owned satellites, primarily providing communication services. Experts can make an educated guess based on publicly available information on the trajectory of the Delta IV Heavy as it flies east from Cape Canaveral. Only the largest NRO spy satellites require a launch on a Delta IV Heavy, and the payload on this mission is "almost certainly" a type of satellite known publicly as an "Advanced Orion" or "Mentor" spacecraft, according to Marco Langbroek, an expert Dutch satellite tracker. The Advanced Orion satellites require the combination of the Delta IV Heavy rocket’s lift capability, long-duration upper stage, and huge 65-foot-long (19.8-meter) trisector payload fairing, the largest payload enclosure of any operational rocket. In 2010, Bruce Carlson, then-director of the NRO, referred to the Advanced Orion platform as the "largest satellite in the world." When viewed from Earth, these satellites shine with the brightness of an eighth-magnitude star, making them easily visible with small binoculars despite their distant orbits, according to Ted Molczan, a skywatcher who tracks satellite activity. NRO mission patches are often an enigma. The patch for this mission, officially codenamed NROL-70, features a snow leopard. "The snow leopard illustrates the quiet strength with which we provide an advantage to the nation and its allies," the NRO says. National Reconnaissance Office The final phase of the Delta IV Heavy launch sequence will play out over roughly six hours, enough time for the upper stage and its payload to coast up to geosynchronous altitude, where a final engine burn will circularize the orbit before satellite deployment. "The satellites feature a very large parabolic unfoldable mesh antenna, with estimates of the size of this antenna ranging from 20 to 100 (!) meters," Langbroek writes on his website, citing information leaked by Edward Snowden. The purpose of these Advanced Orion satellites is to listen in on communications and radio transmissions from US adversaries and perhaps allies. Six previous Delta IV Heavy missions also likely launched Advanced Orion or Mentor satellites, giving the NRO a global web of listening posts parked high above the planet. The Advanced Orion-series satellites began launching on Titan IV rockets in 1995, following a pair of earlier NRO Orion payloads that launched in the 1980s on space shuttle missions. The NRO began using Delta IV Heavy rockets for the Advanced Orion missions in 2009 following retirement of the Titan IV. Bruno, ULA's chief executive, said this is the kind of mission Delta IV Heavy, and now Vulcan, was made for. "The national security space mission is our core," he said. "This is a unique set of missions that require this high-energy rocket capability, very special orbits. We designed Vulcan specifically for that. Every rocket can do a range of missions, but there’s one mission it's best at. It is literally designed to be the best at the mission we’re going to fly here with this last Delta IV." When asked why not wait for a cheaper ride on Vulcan or Falcon Heavy, with its still-to-come longer fairing, Scolese said, "We had the spacecraft ready to go, and we had a rocket that we trust, so it made sense to continue on with this. Something has to be last and we’re proud to be on that vehicle, and we have a lot of confidence in the system." Source
  18. There are also hints of an elusive high-energy jet, similar to larger M87* black hole. A new image from the Event Horizon Telescope has revealed powerful magnetic fields spiraling from the edge of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way, Sagittarius A*. EHT Collaboration Physicists have been confident since the1980s that there is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, similar to those thought to be at the center of most spiral and elliptical galaxies. It's since been dubbed Sagittarius A* (pronounced A-star), or SgrA* for short. The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) captured the first image of SgrA* two years ago. Now the collaboration has revealed a new polarized image (above) showcasing the black hole's swirling magnetic fields. The technical details appear in two new papers published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. The new image is strikingly similar to another EHT image of a larger supermassive black hole, M87*, so this might be something that all such black holes share. The only way to "see" a black hole is to image the shadow created by light as it bends in response to the object's powerful gravitational field. As Ars Science Editor John Timmer reported in 2019, the EHT isn't a telescope in the traditional sense. Instead, it's a collection of telescopes scattered around the globe. The EHT is created by interferometry, which uses light in the microwave regime of the electromagnetic spectrum captured at different locations. These recorded images are combined and processed to build an image with a resolution similar to that of a telescope the size of the most distant locations. Interferometry has been used at facilities like ALMA (the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) in northern Chile, where telescopes can be spread across 16 km of desert. In theory, there's no upper limit on the size of the array, but to determine which photons originated simultaneously at the source, you need very precise location and timing information on each of the sites. And you still have to gather sufficient photons to see anything at all. So atomic clocks were installed at many of the locations, and exact GPS measurements were built up over time. For the EHT, the large collecting area of ALMA—combined with choosing a wavelength in which supermassive black holes are very bright—ensured sufficient photons. In 2019, the EHT announced the first direct image taken of a black hole at the center of an elliptical galaxy, Messier 87, located in the constellation of Virgo some 55 million light-years away. This image would have been impossible a mere generation ago, and it was made possible by technological breakthroughs, innovative new algorithms, and (of course) connecting several of the world's best radio observatories. The image confirmed that the object at the center of M87* is indeed a black hole. In 2021, the EHT collaboration released a new image of M87* showing what the black hole looks like in polarized light—a signature of the magnetic fields at the object's edge—which yielded fresh insight into how black holes gobble up matter and emit powerful jets from their cores. A few months later, the EHT was back with images of the "dark heart" of a radio galaxy known as Centaurus A, enabling the collaboration to pinpoint the location of the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's center. SgrA* is much smaller but also much closer than M87*. That made it a bit more challenging to capture an equally sharp image because SgrA* changes on time scales of minutes and hours compared to days and weeks for M87*. Physicist Matt Strassler previously compared the feat to "taking a one-second exposure of a tree on a windy day. Things get blurred out, and it can be difficult to determine the true shape of what was captured in the image." (left) Sagittarius A* in polarized light. (center) Polarized emission from the center of the Milky Way. (right) Map of polarized emission from dust across the Milky Way. S. Issaoun, EHT Collaboration The EHT collaboration finally announced the first image of SgrA* in 2022, showing that it has a ring structure. But astronomers still didn't know how the Milky Way's supermassive black hole is oriented or how fast it is spinning. That image was based on the same 2017 data as the image of M87*; it just took much longer to process. While M87* was an easier, steadier target, with nearly all images looking the same, that was not the case for SgrA*. The 2022 image was an average of the different images from observational data that the team collected over the course of multiple days. It took five years, multiple supercomputer simulations, and the development of new computational imaging algorithms capable of making inferences to fill in the blanks in the data. Having EHT images for two black holes—one at the large end and one at the small end of supermassive black holes in the Universe—enables astronomers to compare the two. The 2022 SgrA* image was so remarkably similar to M87* that astronomers wanted to learn more about what else the two objects might have in common on top of their general appearance. So they set out to capture an image of SgrA* in polarized light—a feat even more challenging than getting that first image in "normal" light. "We were relieved that polarized imaging was even possible," said co-author Geoffrey Bower of the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Academia Sinica in Taiwan. To do so, the collaboration linked eight different telescopes around the world, including the aforementioned ALMA and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment (APEX), also in northern Chile. M87* and Sgr A* side by side in polarized light EHT Collaboration "With a sample of two black holes—with very different masses and very different host galaxies—it’s important to determine what they agree and disagree on," said Mariafelicia De Laurentis of the University of Naples Federico II, in Italy. "Since both are pointing us toward strong magnetic fields, it suggests that this may be a universal and perhaps fundamental feature of these kinds of systems.” The EHT will start observing SgrA* again next month, and future expansions should incorporate enough new telescopes to produce high-fidelity movies of the black hole. Given the similarities, astronomers suspect there could be a hidden jet lurking somewhere in SgrA* and further imaging could reveal it, as well as shed light on how neutrinos or cosmic rays can reach such high energies. "There’s this really exciting hint that there may be some additional structure,” co-author Ziri Younsi of University College London told New Scientist. “There might be something going on that’s quite exciting in the center of the galaxy, and I think that these results we’re going to need to follow up. The magnetic fields are the bedrock of all of this. Anything which gives us more insight into how black holes and magnetic fields interact is just foundationally important for astrophysics.” Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2024. DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df0 Astrophysical Journal Letters, 2024. DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad2df1 (About DOIs). Listing image by EHT Collaboration Source
  19. "I'm convinced that this is going to be the engine that unlocks the hypersonic economy." Venus Aerospace conducted its first powered flight last month, reaching Mach 0.9 with a drone. The 8-foot-long vehicle was dropped from an Aero L-29 Delfín aircraft at 12,000 feet and flew under the power of a hydrogen peroxide monopropellant engine. This engine was not fired at full thrust because the location of the test flight, an unspecified range in the United States, did not permit flight faster than the speed of sound, said Andrew Duggleby, co-founder and chief technology officer of the Houston-based company. This first powered flight came as the company announced a long-duration test firing of its rotating detonation rocket engine, an experimental approach to propulsion that could be about 15 percent more efficient than a conventional chemical rocket engine. The company's long-term ambition is to develop a commercial aircraft that can travel at Mach 9—far faster than any previous airplane. That's clearly a ways off, but these are important, if early, steps on that path. "We're doing this one step at a time," Duggleby told Ars. Engine tests About three weeks ago the company announced it had completed a "long duration" run of its engine, which uses a mode of propulsion different from a chemical engine. In a traditional rocket engine, propellant and an oxidizer are injected into a combustion chamber where they burn and produce a tremendously energetic exhaust plume. A rotating detonation engine differs in that a wave of detonation travels around a circular channel. This is sustained by the injection of fuel and oxidizer and produces a shockwave that travels outward at supersonic speed. Venus is developing this engine in concert with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, for potential use in testing hypersonic weapon and defense technology. Based on the company's latest tests, Duggleby said Venus is now increasingly confident that it will be able to combine its rocket engine with air-breathing technology—using the forward motion of the engine to ingest air for combustion—to create what is known as a rocket-based combined cycle engine. Such an engine, if it can be realized, will allow Venus to see excellent performance at a wide variety of altitudes and velocities. The idea has been largely theoretical until now, developed mostly in universities rather than pursued for commercial purposes. "We're now 100 percent compelled by this path," Duggleby said. "I'm convinced that this is going to be the engine that unlocks the hypersonic economy." A drone flight Even as the small company is working on engine development, it pursued the drone flight as a means of gaining valuable experience testing telemetry, flight control, and other systems. Duggleby said Venus is considering a couple of options for its next test. If it can identify a range for supersonic flight, it may attach its existing rotating detonation engine to the 8-foot drone. The current engine, which has a firing ring 4 inches in diameter, produces about 1,200 pounds of thrust. Such a test flight, if Venus opts for this route, could take place later this year. The company would go for Mach 2 or 3 on such a test. Another option is moving to a larger 12-foot vehicle using the existing engine. This would not be ready for flight until 2025 but would have the advantage of generating revenue in the near term as a hypersonics testbed for the US military, Duggleby said. This larger vehicle should be capable of reaching Mach 4 or Mach 5. Hypersonic flight is defined as speeds of greater than Mach 5. Beyond that, the company may work with an aircraft developer or build its own planes to use a larger version of this engine for commercial flights. While Mach 9 is the ultimate goal, initially the company is likely to target passenger flights at Mach 3 or Mach 4. This is considerably faster than the Concorde, which maxed out at just above Mach 2. These are big dreams for a small company, which as yet still has a full-time workforce of about 75 people. But as its recent achievements show, Venus may yet shine brightly like its namesake. Source
  20. Closing the city’s seaport will send shockwaves across global shipping. Supersize container ships pose a growing risk to bridges and other infrastructure when things go wrong. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the global supply chain and US coastal infrastructure collided in the worst possible way. An enormous container ship, the Dali, slammed into a support of the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore, crumpling its central span into the Patapsco River and cutting off the city’s port from the Atlantic Ocean. Eighteen hours later, at approximately 7:30 pm Tuesday evening, rescuers called off a search, with six missing people presumed dead. With the wreckage yet to be cleared, the Port of Baltimore—a critical shipping hub—has suspended all water traffic, according to the Maryland Port Administration, though trucks are still moving goods in and out of the area. Baltimore is the ninth busiest port in the US for international trade, meaning the effects of the crash will ripple across the regional, US, and even global economy for however long the 47-year-old bridge takes to fix—a timeline, experts say, that’s still unclear. This will be a special pain for the auto, farm equipment, and construction industries, because on the US East Coast, Baltimore handles the most “roll on, roll off” ships—an industry term for those designed to handle wheeled cargo. The port has the special equipment to move these products, workers trained in how to use it, and, critically, a location within an overnight driving distance of the densely populated Eastern Seaboard and heavily farmed Midwest. Almost 850,000 cars and light trucks came through the port last year. So did 1.3 million tons of farm and construction machinery. Fortunately for the logistics industry, there are some alternative routes both for ships coming into port and trucks crossing the river. Two tunnels traverse the Patapsco and could take some of the goods and people that once traveled across the Key Bridge, which was also part of Maryland Route 695. Nearby ports, including Norfolk in Virginia, Philadelphia in Pennsylvania, and Savannah in Georgia, should be able to accept many of the goods usually handled by Baltimore’s port. But the shipping picture will get more complicated the longer the disaster takes to resolve. Ships haul big, heavy goods in large quantities across oceans, albeit relatively slowly—meaning changes to their routes and destinations can add a lot of time to a journey. If a ship is hauling a bunch of different cargoes for a bunch of different industries, a holdup along the way causes a lot of people to be screaming for their supplies. “Everybody right now is saying, ‘We’re just going to reroute, it’s going to be fine,’” says Nada Sanders, an expert in supply chain management at Northeastern University. “If this lasts a while, it’s not going to be fine. It’s going to impact prices.” Bigger Ships, Same Bridge The destruction of the bridge also underlines that boats are getting bigger. Trade transport volume across the seas has tripled in the past three decades. At nearly 1,000 feet long, the Dali is emblematic of the ballooning shipping industry. The growth of boats is down to simple economics: The more goods you can cram onto a ship, the more you save on costs. “The amount of cargo has increased tremendously,” says Zal Phiroz, a supply chain analyst at UC San Diego. “This has been impacted to a great degree by Covid, and after Covid as well. The prices of cargo skyrocketed, the prices of containers skyrocketed. Everything just went through the roof.” But while shipping is a growth industry, infrastructure is stagnant by design. Engineering and technology improve, sure, but a bridge is an expensive undertaking that’s built to last. “This incident is a reminder that we need to look at transportation and infrastructure as a system,” says Nii Attoh-Okine, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Maryland. The Francis Scott Key bridge opened nearly half a century ago, when cargo ships were much smaller. “When these bridges were built, they weren’t necessarily built to withstand the size and weight and force of a cargo ship like this one ramming into it,” says Phiroz. “It wasn’t foreseeable that a scenario like this would take place.” When the Dali hit that support, the steel structure folded like paper. “When you take a support away, there is very little in the way of robustness,” David Knight, a bridge expert and specialist adviser to the UK’s Institution of Civil Engineers, told WIRED on Tuesday. “It will drag down, as we saw, all three spans.” Knight added that engineers have in recent years been adding defenses to supports to protect against ships, but even then, such giant ships still wreak havoc on anything they run into. The same pandemic that catapulted the shipping industry to new heights could also help save Baltimore and the wider region from the worst effects of the port’s shutdown. The supply chain woes that followed the virus taught the international shipping industry to take contingency planning more seriously, says Jason Miller, a professor of supply chain management at Michigan State University. “This is a human tragedy, and this is a disruption,” he says of the bridge collapse. But “we are further down the disruption learning curve compared to where we were four years ago.” Source
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