Credit: Michigan State University
High-speed internet access has gone from an amenity to a necessity for working and learning from home, and the COVID-19 pandemic has more clearly revealed the disadvantages for American households that lack a broadband connection.
To tackle this problem, Michigan State University researchers have developed a new tool to smooth the collection of federal broadband access data that helps pinpoint coverage gaps across the U.S. The research was published May 26 In the journal
PLOS ONE. Nearly 21% of students in urban areas are without at-home broadband, while 25% and 37% lack at-home broadband in suburban and rural areas, said Elizabeth A. Mack, associate professor in the Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences in the College of Social Science.
What if we could identify at-risk areas anywhere in the world at any time? Enter NASA s Global Landslide Hazard Assessment (LHASA) model and mapping tool.
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IMAGE: The far side of the Moon always faces away from the Earth, making communications from lunar equipment there much more challenging. Fortunately, relay communication satellites can act as a bridge. view more
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Space: Science & Technology
Because of a phenomenon called gravitational locking, the Moon always faces the Earth from the same side. This proved useful in the early lunar landing missions in the 20th century, as there was always a direct line of sight for uninterrupted radiocommunications between Earth ground stations and equipment on the Moon. However, gravitational locking makes exploring the hidden face of the moon the far side much more challenging, because signals cannot be sent directly across the Moon towards Earth.
COVID-19 caused a 30% fall in electronic and electrical equipment sales in low- and middle-income countries but only a 5% fall in high-income countries, intensifying the north-south digital divide, the UN says.
Sales of heavy appliances like refrigerators fell hardest (6-8%) while laptops, cell phones and gaming equipment defied the general trend, rising in high-income countries and on a global basis, but dropping in low- and middle-income countries.
Credit: IKBFU
X-rays are widely used to study the structures of various objects. New sources of x-rays, like Free Electron Lasers and 4th generation synchrotrons are being built around the Globe. The best optics for the new sources is usually made of the single crystal materials, such as silicon, germanium or diamond. However, the ideal periodicity of crystals leads to some unwanted diffraction losses - X-ray glitches. This effect causes dips in the intensity of the radiation transmitted through the optical element, down to zero. Scientists from the Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University with foreign colleagues have developed a method that allows not only to predict the appearance of glitches but even to eliminate their influence on experiments.