RSID: <<2026-08-27T23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>
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Welcome to program 464 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:

  1:41 MFSK32: Program preview (now)
  2:51 MFSK32: Better timetables could shorten train travel time
  8:07 MFSK64: Great Lakes sturgeon may live for centuries
12:35 MFSK64: This week's images
28:43 MFSK32: Closing announcements


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tus m bley

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From ETH Zurich via Phys.org:


Better timetables could greatly shorten train travel times

by Iris Mickein
August 26, 2026

Anyone traveling by train across Europe spends a surprisingly
large portion of the trip not on a moving train. Today, about 25%
of travel time is spent on transfers and layovers at train
stations because of poorly coordinated timetables.

This is the conclusion reached by a research team led by
Francesco Corman, professor of transport systems at ETH Zurich,
with MSc student Matthias Benjamin Andrews García as the study's
first author. Their analysis is based on train services between
more than 31,000 train stations in Europe.

The findings are published in the Journal of Transport Geography.

Until now, the typical way to improve train travel has been to
reach faster top speeds through high-speed infrastructure, new
vehicles and the development of new railway routes through links
such as tunnels. These measures lead to shorter travel times
between individual stations. Far less attention has been paid to
how well the various train services are coordinated at the system
level in the timetable. This affects all transfers (unavoidable
for many trips) encountered on the network.

For the first time, this study considers actual large-scale
timetable data to assess how much time travelers spend because of
poorly coordinated timetables.

A quarter of travel time is wasted

To measure timetable coordination across Europe, the researchers
developed a metric for travel time efficiency. It compares actual
travel time with a hypothetical scenario in which current
transfers between train services are optimally coordinated. In
this comparison scenario, no trains travel faster than current
services do. It assumes that current travel times can be
maintained if the timetable is reorganized and that sufficient
railway infrastructure capacity is available.

The key finding is that travel time efficiency currently averages
about 75% across Europe. In other words, travel times could be
reduced by a quarter if timetables were perfectly synchronized.

Countries with periodic and integrated timetables perform
particularly well. These include Switzerland and Germany. In
Europe's peripheral regions, such as the Iberian Peninsula or
parts of Southeast Europe, there is much greater room for
improvement. There, infrequent services and poorly coordinated
transfers often result in long waiting times.

New timetables, not just new routes

This research challenges the widespread assumption that
infrastructure investment in high-speed lines along European
corridors is the only way to make rail travel more attractive.
The findings suggest that improved timetables could yield time
savings comparable to those from many expensive infrastructure
projects that take years to become operational.

In the researchers' view, both are needed in the long term:
expanded infrastructure and greater coordination of timetables,
both of which often require international coordination. If the
infrastructure expansion projects planned through 2050 are
combined with better synchronization of European railway
services, travel times on long-distance routes could be reduced
by about one-third.

The study provides a new foundation for the difficult task of
better coordinating timetables across national boundaries in the
future.

https://phys.org/news/2026-08-timetables-greatly-shorten.html
 

Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 ...
 

RSID: <<2026-08-27T23:38Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>.
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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

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From Futurity.org

These fish may live for centuries

By Michigan State University
August 18, 2026

Researchers have found evidence that lake sturgeon may
routinely live well beyond 200 years, with some approaching
300 years—far longer than scientists previously believed

When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, some
lake sturgeon swimming through the Great Lakes today may have
already been alive.

That's the surprising conclusion of a Michigan Department of
Natural Resources and Michigan State University study suggesting
scientists have significantly underestimated the lifespan of one
of North America's oldest freshwater fish.

"Scientists have long recognized that lake sturgeon are among
North America's longest-lived freshwater fish," says Scott
Colborne, assistant professor in Michigan State University's
fisheries and wildlife department. "But the new study suggests
they may live far longer than previously appreciated.

"These fish are a living connection to history," he says.

For decades, scientists estimated the age of lake sturgeon by
counting growth rings in fin spines. But because those rings
become increasingly difficult to interpret in older fish,
researchers suspected they were underestimating the age of the
oldest individuals.

To test that idea, Colborne and his colleagues turned to one of
the largest long-term datasets ever assembled for lake sturgeon.
By analyzing growth records from tagged fish that had been
measured repeatedly over many years, they developed a more
accurate picture of how slowly these ancient fish continue
growing throughout their lives. The team used mathematical models
similar to those previously applied to estimate the remarkable
lifespan of Greenland sharks.

The findings have important implications for conservation.

Lake sturgeon mature slowly, reproduce infrequently, and can take
decades to replace themselves. Better estimates of how long they
live help scientists more accurately understand survival,
population recovery and the long-term effects of harvest and
habitat restoration.

The research also highlights the value of long-term conservation.
The discovery was only possible because university researchers,
tribal nations, and state partners spent decades protecting,
tagging, and monitoring lake sturgeon across the Great Lakes.

"It really highlights the importance of long-term conservation
and monitoring," Colborne says. "Without people collecting these
data over decades, we couldn't answer questions like this."

One conversation during the project particularly resonated with
Colborne. While discussing the research with a tribal community
member, he learned that some Indigenous communities had long
believed lake sturgeon could live as long as 400 years.

"That was one of those goosebump moments," Colborne says. "Here
we were using modern analytical approaches, and they were
pointing us toward something that Indigenous communities had long
understood—that these fish live incredibly long lives."

Although the study suggests many lake sturgeon live well beyond
200 years, researchers say more work is needed to understand the
biology behind such extraordinary longevity. The findings may
also prompt scientists to revisit how they estimate the age of
other long-lived fish species.

Although the study raises new questions about how scientists
estimate the age of long-lived fishes, it also reinforces
something Colborne has come to appreciate after years of studying
lake sturgeon.

"Because of their life history, sturgeon are very resilient and
adaptable animals," he says. "If we give them the opportunity to
survive, they'll figure it out. There's a reason these fish have
been around for millions of years."

The study was funded by a State Wildlife Grant awarded through
the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

https://www.futurity.org/lake-sturgeon-lifespan-3342902/
 

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This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64

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This week's images ...
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The Empire State Building illuminated in pink to celebrate the
life of Dolly Parton. tinyurl.com/246p3bxq ...

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One of Ben Marcin’s photographs of "holdout homes," this one in
Baltimore, formerly attached to a block of rowhouses.
tinyurl.com/2d9zx6aj ...

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Sunrise from Portobello, Scotland. tinyurl.com/2644325j ...

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The Casselman River Bridge, part of the old National Road, in
Western Maryland. Built in 1814, it's still open to pedestrians.
tinyurl.com/28owpy3e ...

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The view from the fire/observation tower at Mille Lacs Kathio
State Park, Minnesota. tinyurl.com/26ejx2x2 ...

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A Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus) on an Arrowroot
(Canna indica) at the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh, North
Carolina. tinyurl.com/2yl38f8j ...

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A scarlet Baja Fairy Duster, a flower loved by hummingbirds, at
the Thompson Arboretum, Superior, Arizona. tinyurl.com/2bxnqppt
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A flower at the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.
tinyurl.com/22hsb6qh ...

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Our art of the week is "I Spend Each Day Embracing Flowers,"
stainless steel and urethane paint (2023) by Japanese artist
Yayoi Kusama (1929 – 14 August 2026). tinyurl.com/2akq9yjm ...

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Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 ...



 

RSID: <<2026-08-27T23:58Z 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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