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From New Atlas:

Space-based transports would act as hypersonic emergency supply
drops

By David Szondy
October 13, 2025

Aerospace and defense company Inversion is showing off its
solution to getting emergency supplies anywhere on Earth in under
an hour. It's a constellation of the company's Arc orbital supply
craft, fully stocked and ready to drop at a moment's notice.

As technology progresses, so does the pace with which things
operate or are expected to operate. There was a time when
military and humanitarian missions on the other side of the globe
would take months, even years – and might even begin or end
before anyone back home was even aware of them.

Today, emergency responses are becoming increasingly fast. Being
on-site within a day to counter aggression or provide disaster
relief isn't good enough. Even proposed subsonic orbital craft
that can touch down in two hours don't come up to scratch.
Arc

Unless someone invents a teleportation device, immediate
responses aren't going to happen, but Inversion is aiming for the
next best thing by prepositioning supplies where they can get
anywhere in the world when needed. The idea isn't new. For
decades, major military powers and humanitarian agencies have
established forward bases and supply depots from which materials
can be quickly deployed.

However, these have obvious limitations. There are many regions
where it simply isn't possible to set up depots, such a network
can only be so large, and getting from the depot to where help is
needed can still take an unacceptably long time.

Inversion's answer to this is based on its reusable Arc orbital
reentry vehicle, which is an aerodynamic capsule capable of
carrying up to 500 lb (225 kg) of cargo. Based on the company's
Ray vehicle, which flew in January 2025, Arc is designed to sit
in low-Earth orbit until needed and then reenter autonomously to
land by steerable parachute to a desired location inside an hour.

https://newatlas.com/military/arc-orbital-supply-craft-emergency/
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Image: Illustration of Arc reentering the atmosphere ...

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Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...



RSID: <<2025-10-16T23:37Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>.
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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net

 

From Deutsche Welle:

Six surprising places solar power is taking off

Gero Rueter
October 15,2025

Solar panels are turning roads, railways, lakes and even space
into sources of electricity. Here's where the next solar boom is
happening.

1. Electricity from roads and parking lots

A lot of space for solar modules already exists above roads and
parking lots as well as along noise barriers and on hard
shoulders. But its potential in these places has remained largely
untapped. That's slowly changing, partly because modules are
becoming cheaper and more flexible.

In southern Europe, for example, supermarkets are increasingly
covering their parking lots with solar modules, providing
shoppers with both a shady parking space and somewhere to charge
their electric car. The electricity can also used in the
supermarket for powering things like freezers and fridges.

Solar power is also being harvested on roadsides by placing
modules on noise barriers or hard shoulders. In Germany and
China, the first solar roofs over roads are already in place. As
an added benefit, they also happen to reduce traffic noise.

The tops of buses and trucks are also being kitted out with solar
modules to generate electricity for heating and cooling.

The next step is integrating solar cells directly into the car
body. This allows electric cars to generate part of their own
power — and prototypes are already being tested.

2. Solar energy from railway tracks

In 2025, Switzerland began testing its first solar power system
installed on railway tracks. One day, the electricity generated
on the track could also be used by the trains traveling along
them.

The modules are laid using a special machine, can be easily
dismantled if necessary and don't intefere with operations.

According to the operator Sun-Ways, covering all 5,000 kilometers
(3,107 miles) of railway track in Switzerland with solar modules
could generate around one terawatt hour of electricity per year.
That would cover some 44% of the Swiss railway's electricity
needs.

3. Facades with invisible solar cells

Installing solar cells on roofs and smaller modules on balcony
railings is now a widespread practice. But it's also possible to
integrate solar cells into walls and facades. Solar glass facades
come in many colors and are much less noticeable than
conventional solar modules.

But their efficiency depends on their location. In Central
Europe, for example, facades facing south, east and west produce
30% to 60% less electricity than comparable systems on roofs.

Still, glass facades that generate power last for many decades
and save on painting.

Rooftop solar options are also becoming more varied. Instead of
regular panels, building owners can opt for roof tiles with
integrated solar cells, for instance.

Germany could meet its entire electricity needs if photovoltaics
were installed on all of its suitable roofs and facades,
according to calculations by the Leibniz Institute for Ecological
Urban and Regional Development (IÖR).

4. Double harvest: Electricity above, agriculture below

Farmers can reap a double harvest by deploying solar systems in
fields. Modules on stilts generate electricity above, while crops
grow below. In sunny regions, the shade is especially welcome —
it reduces plant evaporation and helps save water.

China is also using this combination to help green parts of the
Gobi Desert. Solar farms produce power in large quantities, while
vegetation growing beneath helps halt desertification and restore
soil fertility.

Marrying solar power generation and agriculture is just as
cost-effective as generating electricity on large roof areas —
and it's profitable for farmers.

The global potential for generating solar energy on farmland is
enormous. In Germany alone, around 80% of the country's
electricity demand could be met by combining solar power
generation with growing crops on agricultural land.

5. Floating solar parks on lakes, seas and rivers

Solar energy isn't just limited to land — it's now making waves
at sea. Floating solar panels and stilt-mounted structures are
turning ponds, lakes, and even oceans into clean power
generators. The world's largest offshore solar power plant was
completed last year off the coast of Dongying, China. Capable of
producing one gigawatt of electricity, it rivals the output of a
modern nuclear power plant.

Many of the world's lakes and reservoirs hold untapped potential
for solar power. In Germany, for instance, studies suggest that
around 7% of the country's electricity needs could be met by
installing solar panels on flooded open-cast mines, gravel pits
and reservoirs. That's according to a study by scientists at
Fraunhofer ISE.
6. Photovoltaics from space?

Solar modules have been powering satellites since the 1950s.
Today, the International Space Station and other spacecraft also
rely on electricity from the sun.

But for decades, scientists have dreamed not only of harnessing
solar power in space, but of beaming it back down to Earth.

One idea is to place giant solar sails in orbit that capture
sunlight, convert it into microwaves, and beam the energy down to
humans. On the ground, enormous antennas spanning several
kilometers would receive the microwaves and turn them back into
electricity.

However, this extraordinary solar technology is still at a very
early stage. It's incredibly expensive, and would leave behind
millions of tons of space debris.

Some countries, including the US, China, and Japan, are
conducting pilot projects and research into extraterrestrial
electricity. But whether it will ever make sense to use solar
energy generated in space here on Earth remains uncertain.

https://www.dw.com/en/shiny-potential-unusual-places-for-solar-energy-agriculture-roads-space-ocean-rail-roads-facade/a-74291852
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Image: Mobile solar railroad tracks generate energy in
Switzerland. (Maybe not under the grease and debris of
diesel-powered freight railroad lines.) ...
 

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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
 

This week's images ...
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Reddy Kilowatt, the cartoon spokesman for the electricity
industry, seen mostly in the 20th century. tinyurl.com/25bqbkqk
...

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An orb weaver spider on a pedestrian bridge in Ibbenburen,
Germany, silhouetted by lights from the cars below.
tinyurl.com/2d47gtoq ...

Sending Pic:200x143C;
 

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"The first touch of autumn." Two leaves floating on water in
Pitlochry, Scotland. tinyurl.com/2aqedjt8 ...

Sending Pic:203x153C;
 

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The famous corner of M Street and Wisconsin Avenue Northwest in
the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC.
tinyurl.com/299mhzeu ...

Sending Pic:201x153C;
 

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Charlie's Bar neon sign in southwest Detroit.
tinyurl.com/2cqyo9on ...

Sending Pic:204x134C;

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A late flowering Spreading bellflower at the Westonbirt arboretum
in England. tinyurl.com/2xzeo23q ...

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Sugar maple leaves changing colors at the Dominion Arboretum,
Ottawa, Ontario. tinyurl.com/29xbhmvt ...

Sending Pic:202x145C;
 

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Our painting of the week is "La Lavandière" by Louis Toffoli
(1907-1999). tinyurl.com/24g6huht ...

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Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...




RSID: <<2025-10-16T23:58Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>


This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...


Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:

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and

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Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave
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