RSID: <<2021-01-22T00:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>

Welcome to program 188 of Shortwave Radiogram.

I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.

Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:

  1:37 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:42 Proposed human-populated mega-satellite orbiting Ceres*
  7:39 MFSK64: Quantum communication network with drone help
10:39 Images of the week*
27:54 MFSK32: Closing announcements

* with image(s)


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Twitter: @SWRadiogram





From Phys.org:

Physicist proposes human-populated mega-satellite orbiting Ceres

Bob Yirka
January 20, 2021

Physicist Pekka Janhunen with the Finnish Meteorological
Institute has developed a novel idea to colonize a place other
than the Earth - and it is not the moon or Mars. Instead,
Janhunen is suggesting in a paper posted on the arXiv preprint
server that humans populate a giant satellite that orbits Ceres,
a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt between Jupiter and Mars.

Many space scientists have noted the difficulties and dangers of
attempting to colonize either the moon or Mars - both have
extremely hostile environments. So many in the field have been
promoting the idea of building a structure large enough to host
tens of thousands of people somewhere in space. But doing so
would present its own set of problems. Paying for the
construction of such a mammoth project, for example, and
protecting the inhabitants from solar radiation - and what about
providing gravity, and where would the structure reside? In his
paper, Janhunen suggests that Ceres would be an ideal place to
put such a structure, which would make it a satellite. He notes
that such an orbit would be close enough to the dwarf planet that
a 636-mile-long space elevator could carry material from the
surface to the satellite for construction and resupply - Ceres
has more than enough nitrogen, water and carbon dioxide to
support such a venture.

Janhunen has plans for the dish-shaped satellite, too - he
envisions it as over a mile long and with thousands of
interconnected cylindrical structures on its surface to house
humans, and also to provide space for other necessities such as
agriculture and recreational spaces. He also imagines a pair of
giant mirrors for harnessing the sun's energy on either side of
the satellite, giving the overall structure a clam-like shape. He
also envisions starting off with a population of 50,000 people.
And he also believes the majority of the satellite could be built
from material on the surface of Ceres. Gravity, he notes, could
be simulated simply by spinning the satellite at the right speed.

https://phys.org/news/2021-01-physicist-human-populated-mega-satellite-orbiting-ceres.html

Image: Ceres (NASA photo) ...

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RSID: <<2021-01-22T00:37Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>


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From New Atlas:

Quantum communication network goes long with help of drones

Michael Irving
January 18, 2021

In the future, communication networks could be based on the
bizarre world of quantum mechanics, and now we're a step closer
to that reality. Researchers in China have demonstrated a quantum
network where entangled photons are beamed between drones and
ground stations, successfully maintaining their quantum link over
a distance of 1 km (0.6 miles).

Quantum entanglement involves pairs of particles becoming so
intertwined that it becomes impossible to describe them
individually. By measuring a property of one of them, such as its
polarization, you'll be able to tell the same property of its
partner. Weirder still though, it appears to be the case that
you're actually changing the state of the partner instantly, no
matter how much distance separates them.

That bizarre phenomenon can be taken advantage of to make fast
and secure quantum communication networks. Entangled pairs of
photons are generated, then one photon is passed to each user to
allow them to communicate instantly by measuring their photons.
Most experimental setups so far have tested this using fiber
optic cables, but the photons can lose their entanglement over
long distances as they bounce off the sides of the optical
fibers.

Transmitting them through the air may boost the distances that
quantum communications can work. In the past, that's been done
using satellites such as Micius, which a few years ago smashed
records by transmitting quantum information between two ground
stations 1,200 km (746 miles) apart.

But access to satellites isn't always available, and there can be
some technical difficulties. So in the new study, researchers
from Nanjing University in China experimented with a similar
setup that's a bit closer to the ground – drones.

In this experiment, the researchers wanted to connect two ground
stations, one nicknamed Alice and the other Bob. Each station
collects photons using a telescope with a 26-mm-wide aperture and
a single-photon detector. But it wasn't a direct link between the
stations – there were two drones hovering in the sky above them.

The first drone generates entangled pairs of infrared photons,
then sends one of them to the Alice station and the other to the
second drone. This drone uses an optical fiber to collimate the
photons it receives, effectively "focusing" them so they can then
be passed on to the Bob station on the ground.

The drones were about 200 m (656 ft) apart, and each was 400 m
(1,312 ft) from the station it was passing the photons to,
meaning the message was effectively traveling 1 km total. Alice
recorded about 25 percent of the photons sent its way, while Bob
only caught about four percent. That may sound low, but it's a
decent step up from previous fiber optic experiments where only
around one percent of the photons completed the journey.

The team compared the polarizations of the photons received by
the Alice and Bob stations, and found that they did remain
entangled over the entire trip.

The next steps, the researchers say, are to add more drones to
increase the size of the network, potentially providing quantum
links across a city. Unlike satellites or optical fiber networks,
swarms of drones could eventually be rolled out relatively
quickly when needed, almost anywhere. They could connect two
points that don't have direct line of sight and, unlike towers,
they can move to avoid obstacles or inclement weather.

The research was published in the journal Physics Review Letters.

Source: Nanjing University via Physics

https://newatlas.com/telecommunications/quantum-communication-network-drones/

 

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

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This week's images ...



The "Field of Flags" display on the National Mall in Washington
DC, in lieu of the usual crowds for the Inauguration.
https://bit.ly/3qG68yg ...

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Firefighters spray down flames in Sylmar, California. Dozens of
fires ignited as high winds and low humidity spread throughout
the state. https://bit.ly/3sHorEV ...

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People explore the ice walls, tunnels and lights at Ice Castles
in Woodstock, New Hampshire. https://bit.ly/39PehcJ ...

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The sun is about to rise behind the buildings of the banking
district in Frankfurt. https://bit.ly/39PehcJ ...

Sending Pic:172x204C;

A field of leeks is shown bathed in LED lights in the Dutch town
of Lelystad, as part of artist Daan Roosegaarde's new project
"Grow", intended to honor farmers and inspire them to experiment
with LED technology as a supplement to natural light for crops.
https://reut.rs/2XXkuOk ...

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Glasgow Central in fog. https://bbc.in/3nYKPWQ ...

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A kingfisher along the River Carron in Scotland.
https://bbc.in/3nYKPWQ ...

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Sunrise in Washington DC on January 15. https://bit.ly/39SiNar
...

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Snow in Boston, December 17, 2020. https://wapo.st/3bYqXAF ...

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The official "inauguration painting" displayed at a reception
inside the U.S. Capitol is "Landscape with Rainbow," painted in
1859 by prominent Black artist Robert S. Duncanson (1821-1872).
https://lat.ms/3sJAvFQ ...

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Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...


 

RSID: <<2021-01-22T00:58Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>
 

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...

 

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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
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RSID: <<2021-01-21T02:48Z MFSK-64 @ 5850000+1500>>