Banned Chinese Security Cameras Are Almost Impossible To Remove

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: U.S. federal agencies have five weeks to rip out Chinese-made surveillance cameras in order to comply with a ban imposed by Congress last year in an effort to thwart the threat of spying from Beijing. But thousands of the devices are still in place and chances are most won’t be removed before the…

Word of the week: Opposition

Saturn’s opposition is this week. Jupiter’s opposition was about a month ago. What is opposition? It marks the middle of the best time of year to see a planet … but why? Source: https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/what-is-opposition-astronomy…

Collision course: Amateur astronomers play a part in efforts to keep space safe

Heavy traffic is commonplace on Earth but now congestion is becoming an increasing problem in space. With over 22,000 artificial satellites in orbit it is essential to keep track of their positions in order to avoid unexpected collisions. Amateur astronomers from the Basingstoke Astronomical Society have been helping the Ministry of Defence explore what is possible using high-end consumer equipment to…

US Government Staff Told To Treat Huawei as Blacklisted

A senior U.S. official told the Commerce Department’s enforcement staff this week that China’s Huawei should still be treated as blacklisted, days after U.S. President Donald Trump sowed confusion with a vow to ease a ban on sales to the firm. From a report: Trump surprised markets on Saturday by promising Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20…

Uranus’ rings surprisingly bright in ‘heat’ images

The rings of the 7th planet, Uranus, are thin and dark. But new thermal images from the ALMA and VLT telescopes show them glowing brightly. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/uranus-rings-glow-thermal-image-alma-vlt-uc-berkeley…

Frontier Refuses To Waive Router Rental Fee For Customer Who Brought His Own

Ever since Frontier bought Verizon’s Texas network in 2016, the company has been charging some customers a $10-per-month router rental fee even if they’re using their own router. Rich Son of Texas purchased Verizon’s FiOS Quantum Gateway router for $200 in order to avoid monthly rental fees. He said: “[the router] worked well for me until the takeover happened with Frontier…

Trump Relaxes US Ban On Selling To Huawei In Surprise G20 Concession

hackingbear tipped us off to a breaking news story. CNN reports:
US President Donald Trump has appeared to soften his tone on Chinese communications giant Huawei, suggesting that he would allow the company to once again purchase U.S. technology. Speaking at a press conference in Osaka, Saturday, Trump said that the U.S. sells a “tremendous amount of product” to Huawei. “That’s okay,…

New Property of Light Discovered

A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in Spain and the U.S. has announced that they have discovered a new property of light — self-torque. Their findings have been published in the journal Science. Phys.Org reports: Scientists have long known about such properties of light as wavelength. More recently, researchers have found that light can also be twisted, a property…

US revamps volcano early warning system

There are 161 active volcanoes in the United States, more than 1/3 of which have been classified as posing a high threat to nearby communities. A new law aims to improve volcano monitoring. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/us-revamps-volcano-early-warning-system…