Author Archives: Robert Shank

News in Space.com By Victoria Atkinson Using a groundbreaking new technique, researchers have unveiled the first detailed image of a photon — a single particle of light — ever taken. Researchers in Birmingham have created the first image of a photon, a lemon-shaped particle of light emitted from the surface of a nanoparticle. The theory that made this image possible, reported Nov. 14 in the journal Physical Review Letters, enables scientists to calculate and understand various properties of these quantum particles — which could open up a range of new possibilities across fields such as quantum computing, photovoltaic devices and artificial photosynthesis. Light’s quantum behavior is well established, with over 100 years of experiments showing it can exist in both wave and particle form. But our fundamental understanding of this quantum nature is much further behind, and we only have a limited grasp of how photons are created and emitted, or of how they change through space… Continue reading →

(Redstate.com By Becca Lower | 2:41 PM on November 23, 2024 suggested by Clement Alberts KM6OKZ) The United States Supreme Court has agreed to take up a review of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling, on a case that could help curb federal power that’s been allowed to spiral out of control during the Biden-Harris administration. via the NYT: The Supreme Court, which dealt a major blow to the power of federal agencies in June, agreed on Friday to consider another: whether Congress violates the Constitution by delegating broad discretion to them. The so-called nondelegation doctrine has been largely dormant since 1935, when the Supreme Court struck down New Deal laws for granting too much leeway to agencies with insufficient guidance. …. The new dispute concerns an $8 billion fund that helps pay for telephone and broadband services for poor people and residents of rural areas. Overseen by the Federal Communications Commission, the Universal Service… Continue reading →

Washington, D.C.:  Earlier today, Representatives Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), Chairman of the Innovation, Data, and Commerce Subcommittee, and Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Ranking Member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act of 2024.  This bipartisan and bicameral legislation recognizes that AM radio is an essential communication tool during emergencies, and for decades has been a source of news, entertainment, sports, and music for tens of millions of drivers. As such, the legislation directs the Department of Transportation to require automakers to include AM broadcast radio installed as standard equipment in new motor vehicles, ensuring access to AM broadcast stations, or digital audio AM stations, in every car at no additional cost.  “In order to maximize public safety and ensure continued access to every available option, it is critical to have a robust and widely accessible communication infrastructure in place to alert Americans during emergency situations and natural disasters,” said… Continue reading →

Scientists have now discovered that Earth has three energy fields – James Cawley A new planet-wide electric field that is as fundamental to Earth as gravity has been discovered in a major scientific breakthrough. The ambipolar electric field, which begins 150 miles above the planet, has been described as a “great invisible force” that lifts up the sky and is responsible for the polar winds. The polar winds interact with the jet streams to help drive the majority of weather patterns across the globe. Until now, the field had only been theorized, but a Nasa team, which includes scientists from the University of Leicester, has now sent a rocket into the field and measured it for the first time. It means Earth now has three energy fields: gravity, the magnetic field (which shields the planet from cosmic radiation), and the ambipolar electric field. Dr Glyn Collinson, the principal investigator of the Endurance Mission at… Continue reading →

By Reynier Squillace, suggested by Clement KM6OKZ On the evening of Aug. 28, 1859, a telegraph in New York took on a life of its own. As its operator, J. C. Crosson, fought to transmit messages, the current fluctuated wildly. The battery that powered the machine was supposed to supply a steady direct current. Now, it was as though something else had gotten into the wires, at one moment draining them of all charge and at the next, overwhelming the circuitry with electricity. Bemused, Crosson threw open the doors to his office and saw a sky painted green and red. Streaks of light descended toward the horizon, lighting up the evening in ethereal shades. Crosson’s was not the only telegraph upset by the strange electromagnetic disturbances. Operators in France found their transmissions likewise overwhelmed by interference. When they tried to disconnect the devices from their batteries, sparks leapt out. In… Continue reading →

Some time back I wrote about the E-field not being continuous in radiated fields.  I had been taught that they were.  Recently, I returned to that idea to take a look at it.  Remember that all I write is not of published quality.  It is stream of thought as I think about it.  Also, most is just first draft quality in writing.  So, here I have returned to take a look at radiated fields.  Let us look at a radio frequency field radiated from an antenna.  Visualize the globe of the earth with latitude and longitude lines on it.  Place a very short antenna at the center of the globe with the antenna orientated on a line between the poles.  The E-field then radiates outward toward the surface of the globe just like the longitude lines.  The magnetic fields radiate outward like the latitude lines. If we chose a point… Continue reading →

By Reese West KQ6TT Disclaimer: I cannot do all the math some physicists do.  I find most of their work to be a waste of time.  But some dedicate their lives to so called research.  I spent my life in engineering in order to have a family.  Now that I am in very old age (93), I took a look at their work. Where do the atomic (quantum?) physicists go wrong?  Let us take a look. Once they have a mathematics approach that seems to fit the data, they stop and wrongfully think they have solved the problem.  I bought a book on their work that states that at least three times they had the mathematics right, but the theory proved to be incorrect.  They do that a lot.  They have the marvelous ability to ignore their own theories when convenient. Let’s start with the double slit experiment.  That monumentally… Continue reading →

On Field Day Sunday morning, at about 10:00 AM, I observed an Oxnard Police car drive into the parking lot and stop across from my (Burt’s) pop-up. Since we have many members in our club who are Auxiliary Communications Service (ACS)/ Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), the Oxnard Police Department are one of our served agencies and we always welcome them to visit us for Field Day and other events. The sergeant approached me and identified himself as Sergeant Jason Radcliffe KN6JYL. Sergeant Radcliffe mentioned that the Oxnard police dispatcher had noticed interference on frequencies they used (Channel 1 and 2, with Jeremy KN6JMD supplying the specifics of 154.875 and 155.745 with a PL tone of 100 Hz). I had been working the 2, 1.25 and 0.770 meter bands but had stopped my QSOs while the officer was discussing the issue. I contacted Dave, Jeremy and Phil and, together, we… Continue reading →