RSID: <<2026-05-14T23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>
.
.
.
.
.

Welcome to program 449 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:

  1:42 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:54 MFSK32: Interstellar comet was from remote Milky Way
  8:30 MFSK64: Russia's Northern Sea Route risky for global trade
14:27 MFSK64: This week's images
28:10 MFSK32: Closing announcements

 

Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

We're on Bluesky now: SWRadiogram.bsky.social

And X/Twitter: @SWRadiogram
.
.
.
.
.

From Phys.org:

Scientists trace latest interstellar comet's home to a cold,
isolated corner of the Milky Way

by Marcia Dunn
May 9, 2026

The comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely
originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet
to gel into its own solar system, astronomers reported Thursday.

Comet 3I/Atlas is only the third interstellar visitor to be
confirmed and quite possibly the oldest. Scientists estimate it
could be up to 11 billion years old, more than twice as old as
the sun.

A team led by the University of Michigan used the ALMA
observatory in Chile's Atacama Desert to examine the comet last
fall. The errant but harmless iceball was discovered last summer,
giving NASA and the European Space Agency plenty of time to aim
multiple space telescopes at it as it zoomed past Mars in October
and made its closest approach to Earth in December. It's now well
past Jupiter on its way out of our solar system for good, still
visible only to the professionals.

In the study, scientists said they detected extremely high
amounts of deuterium, or heavy hydrogen, in the comet's water.
That suggests that the comet originated in a place considerably
colder—before the star of this solar system even formed—than our
own cosmic neighborhood, said the University of Michigan's Teresa
Paneque-Carreno.

While our sun may have been surrounded by other newborn stars as
it was forming, she noted, this comet's home star could have been
more of a loner, leading to less heating and colder conditions.

The findings were published in Nature Astronomy.

The comet's precise place of origin is still unknown.
Observations by the Hubble Space Telescope put the size of its
nucleus somewhere between a quarter-mile and 3.5 miles (440
meters and 5.6 kilometers). It's hurtling away at 137,000 mph
(220,000 kph).

Linking all these "puzzle pieces together may give an idea to how
the planet-forming conditions were at these early times,"
Paneque-Carreno said in an email.

The first known interstellar object to stray into our celestial
backyard—Oumuamua—was discovered by a telescope in Hawaii in
2017. Comet 2I/Borisov followed in 2019, named for the Crimean
amateur astronomer who first spotted it.

https://phys.org/news/2026-04-scientists-latest-interstellar-comet-home.html
.
.
.
.

Image: The interstellar comet 3I/Atlas captured by the Hubble
Space Telescope on November 30, 2025, about 178 million miles
(286 million km) from Earth ...

Sending Pic:194x131C;

.
.
.
.
.

Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...


RSID: <<2026-05-14T23:38Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>
.
.
.
.
.

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net
 

From Deutsche Welle:

Why Russia's Northern Sea Route is a risk for global trade

Dasha Thyssen
May 2, 2026

Russia wants its Northern Sea Route to become an important
artery of global trade. However, the Arctic shortcut between
Europe and Asia is fraught with both political and
environmental hurdles.

The Iran war and resulting blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have
focused minds on international shipping. Russian officials are
promoting the Northern Sea Route (NSR), an Arctic sea lane
running along their country's northern coast. President Vladimir
Putin said in April the route's importance as "the most safe,
reliable and efficient path is becoming ever more obvious."

It is the shortest maritime route between Asia and Europe. But
it's frozen for much of the year, and comes with significant
political considerations. DW asked an environmental foundation
which has studied the route — how realistic is this vision of the
NSR as a new major shipping passage?

Northern shipping route less popular because of Russia's war in
Ukraine

Shipping goods along the Northern Sea Route can reduce travel
distance by up to 40%, compared to going via the Suez Canal,
which is the most common route between Asia and Europe. But for a
host of reasons, the NSR is not used that often.

Moscow had planned to move 80 million tons of cargo through it by
2024, but those ambitions were stymied by the 2022 Russian
invasion of Ukraine and the Western sanctions that followed. NSR
infrastructure operator Rosatom recorded less than half of the
goal, around 38 million tons of cargo, actually passing through
that year. That's less than 1% of global maritime trade —
compared with up to 15% that usually passes through the Suez
Canal.

Even so, Russia is continuing significant investment, budgeting
1.8 trillion Russian rubles (around €20.5 billion/$24 billion)
for NSR development until 2035.

The NSR remains primarily a route for Russian crude oil and
liquid natural gas (LNG), which formed more than 80% of cargo
passing along in 2024. Those figures come from the Bellona
Environmental Foundation's 2025 report, an international
environmental NGO with headquarters in Oslo, Norway. Ksenia
Vakhrusheva, Bellona's Arctic project adviser and co-author of
its NSR report, told DW the Kremlin had wanted the route to
become more popular.

"Economics of the use of this route is not matching the image
that Russia wants to create around it," she said.

The route emerged due to climate change melting Arctic ice and
reshaping the region. But it's still only fully accessible for a
few months a year, from mid-summer to mid-autumn. And even then,
floating ice can pose a danger to ships. The rest of the year the
NSR is covered in ice, making passage only possible with an
icebreaker leading the way.

Ice still a problem on NSR despite climate change

According to Bellona's report, the lack of emergency rescue
infrastructure capable of quickly responding to incidents makes
an already risky journey even more dangerous.

And despite the climate crisis, Vakhrusheva said it's unlikely
the NSR will become much easier to navigate within the next
decade, meaning that the all-year shipping won't become a reality
anytime soon.

"If every ship will need an icebreaker to go through the whole
route, then it will be extremely expensive," she said, adding
that Russia only allows its own icebreakers to operate there.

Any ship sailing through the NSR must obtain a special permit,
too.

There's also the question of Russia's dependability, said
Vakhrusheva. Moscow's continuing war against Ukraine reduces the
draw of using the NSR.

If the government continues to disregard international law,
"then, of course, it's very dangerous for any country to be
dependent on anything controlled by Russia," she said.

Environmental risks higher in Arctic waters

Even though the NSR is more direct than other routes between Asia
and Europe, it's not much greener.

"That's also quite a common thought, that if it's shorter, then
ships use less fuel and [...] emit less greenhouse gases," said
Vakhrusheva. "It's not the complete picture."

She said the ice-class vessels needed for such waters burn more
fuel per nautical mile than normal ships, since they are heavier.

And any fuel spill poses a greater threat in the Arctic than
elsewhere, because oil products decompose much more slowly in the
cold. Additionally, black carbon emitted by ships' engines
accelerates climate change when it lands in the Arctic because
the soot turns ice and snow dark, reducing its reflectivity —
meaning it absorbs more sunlight and traps heat.

The International Maritime Organization, the UN body that
regulates international shipping, banned the use and carriage of
heavy fuel oil in Arctic waters from 2024. The risks it posed in
the event of a spill and its contribution to black carbon
production were considered too high. But Russia did not sign up
to the ban, and it remains unclear whether it will do so before
its waiver expires in 2029.

European reluctance to cooperate with Russia to use the NSR could
be strengthened by such environmental concerns.

"If European countries say that they don't want cargo going
through the Arctic routes, because of the very vulnerability of
this region from an environmental and climate point of view, then
there is no development for it," said Vakhrusheva.

Asia tests Arctic shipping, but holds off on big investments

China's shipping giant Cosco ran test cargo trips between China
and Europe via the Arctic from 2013, but stopped in 2022 after
Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Yet, activity has not disappeared
entirely: Smaller-scale shipments from Chinese to Russian ports
resumed in 2023. Two years after that, the container ship
Istanbul Bridge also completed a test transit from China to
European ports, seen as part of China’s "Polar Silk Road"
strategy.

Earlier this year, South Korea also announced plans to send a
container ship through the NSR to Rotterdam as a test in
September 2026.

Even so, Vakhrusheva thinks the route is still unlikely to take
over any significant proportion of international trade.

"Major logistics and shipping companies are not keen on investing
money right now in this route," she said, adding that she sees
current engagement as "more political than economic."

China's hesitation is rooted in the question of control. Russia
effectively administers the NSR, so any Chinese investment in it
would depend on Russian infrastructure.

"I don't see that China is so keen to just throw money in Russian
infrastructure because, of course, China wants to have some
control of it," said Vakhrusheva.

It's not China's only area of interest — and there are safer and
more predictable alternatives available.

"China is trying to [...] be part of every potential
infrastructural development in the world," said Vakhrusheva. "But
I don't think that the Northern Sea Route is a primary interest
for now."

Yet in the longer term, the climate crisis could change this. A
2024 study in the scientific journal Communications Earth &
Environment suggested that the NSR could be navigable year-round
by 2100. However, Vakhrusheva said if that's the case humanity
will likely have other, far greater concerns.

"With this effect of climate change, what will the rest of the
world look like?" she asked. "Will we need this route then? Who
will use it?"

https://www.dw.com/en/why-russias-northern-sea-route-is-a-risk-for-global-trade/a-76987400
.
.
.
.
.

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

Please send your reception report to radiogram@verizon.net

 

This week's images ...
.
.
.
.
.

Sunset with birds at Machrihanish Scotland. tinyurl.com/2alwuqtv
...
Sending Pic:208x116C;




.
.
.
.
.

An Eastern Sweetshrub at Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia.
tinyurl.com/24roc3a3 ...

Sending Pic:175x173C;




.
.
.
.
.

The Milky Way as seen in the dark skies of Sierra La Giganta in
Baja California Sur, Mexico. tinyurl.com/2842xfac ...

Sending Pic:225x101C;




.
.
.
.
.

Dawn illuminates the peak of Mount Shivling, in the Garhwal
Himalaya range, Uttarakhand state, India. tinyurl.com/27l3g6o6
...
Sending Pic:199x143C;


.
.
.
.
.

Butterfly (moth?) with flower at the Dundee Botanic Gardens in
Scotland. tinyurl.com/2alwuqtv ...

Sending Pic:199x132C;




.
.
.
.
.

Rhododendrons with bee at the Westonbirt Arboretum in
Gloucestershire, England, early May. tinyurl.com/2aous82d ...

Sending Pic:148x195C;



.
.
.
.
.

Annapolis after dark, May 6. tinyurl.com/27t8qud2 ...

Sending Pic:301x298;


.
.
.
.
.

Our painting of the week is "Paros Twilight" (2026) by Jeff
Stanford. tinyurl.com/2doedpqw ...

Sending Pic:166x208C;




.
.
.
.
.
Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...
 

RSID: <<2026-05-14T23:58Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>

This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 ...


Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:

WRMI, Radio Miami International, http://wrmi.net

and

WINB Shortwave, http://winb.com


Please send reception reports to radiogram@verizon.net

And visit http://swradiogram.net

http://swradiogram.bsky.social

X/Twitter (for now): @SWRadiogram

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


 

RSID: <<2026-05-15T11:30Z MFSK-64 @ 15770000+1500>>

♫
♫
♫
♫

Trinidad López III, aka Trini Lopez, was born on May 15, 1937. 🇺🇸

He died in 2020.

Sending Pic:183x240;

♫
♫
♫
♫

https://www.trinilopez.com/

Please report your decode to themightykbc@gmail.com and
tune in Shortwave Radiogram.