We are thrilled to introduce Tomatosphere Adventure, the latest learning activity from Let's Talk Science! This Minecraft Education game was developed in collaboration with the Canadian Space Agency and Logics Academy. It blends elements of our well-loved Tomatosphere program with new learning opportunities to spark the curiosity of the next generation of scientists!
Humanity is going back to the Moon, and Canada is part of this exciting journey. Among our many projects related to lunar exploration, a first Canadian rover is set to explore the South Pole of the Moon. It will demonstrate innovative key technologies, gather scientific information, and search for water in the form of ice. What should we name this space robot? The CSA wants its name to be representative of the mission or to allude to Canada's legacy or future in space. The rover will be the first in a series of anticipated lunar rovers, and its name should be inspiring! The CSA is calling on Canadians of all ages to help find this cutting-edge space robot the most suitable name among these top finalists.
NASA's SpaceX CRS-31 commercial resupply mission is scheduled to launch on tonight from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to the International Space Station (ISS). The Dragon cargo spacecraft will carry a blood pressure monitoring kit used by Canadian experiments CARDIOBREATH, Vascular Aging, and Vascular Calcium. The latter two are part of the Vascular series, which studies the effects of weightlessness on astronauts' blood vessels and hearts during their space mission. CARDIOBREATH looks at how astronauts' cardiovascular and respiratory systems control their blood pressure.
Here is the reply from ChatGPT3.5 to the following:
What relevance does AI have to the amateur radio service?
AI has significant potential to enhance various aspects of the amateur radio service. Here are some key areas where AI can be relevant:
1. **Signal Processing and Noise Reduction**: - **Noise Cancellation**: AI algorithms can be used to filter out noise and improve the clarity of received signals, making it easier to communicate in noisy environments. - **Signal Detection**: AI can help in detecting weak signals that might be missed by traditional methods, improving the overall sensitivity of receivers.
In the world of amateur radio, it is traditional for radio amateurs to take old materials and repurpose them. This tradition evolved from the days when radio equipment was difficult to obtain and incredibly expensive. Typically radio amateurs build their own equipment from what was essentially trash. The era of the Great Depression exacerbated this as did the onset of war in the 1930s and 1940s. After the war, military surplus equipment was available and cheap. Gradually the commercial availability of amateur radio equipment gave rise to the amateur radio market.
In the 1970s onwards, this same tradition was applied to home computing. Initially one could only obtain a computer in a kit form and while financially affordable, it was still expensive. With the rapid evolution of microprocessors and other computer-related technologies, home computing became more accessible and cheaper. A commercial market was established and the titans of the computer industry soared to dominate it.
End of Support for Windows 8.1 – My Laptop from 2014 is now E-Waste
On 10 January 2023, Microsoft ceased support for Windows 8.1. My home laptop had been running Windows 8.1. I tried to upgrade it to Windows 10 but ended up with a message from Microsoft indicating that my computer hardware was too old to actually run Windows 10 or 11 and that I should consider buying a new laptop – and then displayed a list of recommended laptops. I immediately tried to do a security update and it failed. Physically, there was nothing wrong with my old laptop other than it had a motherboard manufactured in 2014 (so it was 10 years old). I thought about upgrading the RAM or the solid state hard drive (SSD).
In terms of "radio", the usage of that term, along with "communications" is exclusively in respect of communications directed at the public. Under the Incident Command System this is only one aspect of Incident Command Management ("public information officer" in the ICS organization chart above).
The Annual General Meeting for the Yellowknife Amateur Radio Society is re-scheduled as follows (we lacked a quorum on 16 Jun 24):
0900 MST Sunday, 16 June 2024July 28, 2024
Red Apple (on Franklin)
In person
Tentative Agenda:
election of the new officers of the Society (President, Vice-President and Secretary-Treasurer)
presentation of financial statements 2023-2024
review of YARS activities during Wildfire emergency in 2023
discussion of whether to proceed to change name and objects and constitution of the Society and expand its focus to the Territories rather than just Yellowknife
plan for ARRL Field Day 2024 - June 29-30
plan for RAC Canada Day Contest 2024 - July 1 (same weekend as Field Day)
