Month: September 2018

Enlarge (credit: NASA)

NASA's successor to the Kepler mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is already paying dividends. The satellite was only launched in April and spent time undergoing commissioning and calibration. But it has now started its science mission, and researchers have already discovered two new planets.

These are expected to be the first of as many as 10,000 planets spotted by TESS. So we thought this was a good opportunity to take a careful look at the planet hunter's design, the goals that informed the design, and what its success should mean for our understanding of exoplanets.

Four eyes

The body of TESS is pretty simple, being composed largely of a fuel tank and thrusters. It has reaction wheels for fine control of its orientation and a pair of solar panels for power. The business end of TESS consists of a sun shield protecting not one but four telescopes. Instead of being able to focus on faint objects, the telescopes (each a stack of seven lenses above CCD imaging hardware) are designed to capture a broad patch of the sky.

Man, Marvel is on a roll these days. Season two of Iron Fist just dropped a few weeks ago, and Marvel is already trotting out the teaser trailer for Daredevil's third season. It's clear Charlie Cox's Matt Murdock is in for a dark descent, psychologically, along with the regular beatings that leave him bloodied but unbowed. And could Kingpin be making a reprise as Matt's arch nemesis?

(Mild spoilers for first two seasons below)

Daredevil S1 is among my favorite stories in the Defenders universe, second only to Jessica Jones S1, in large part because Wilson Fisk (aka Kingpin, played to perfection by Vincent D'Onofrio) was such an incredibly complex and even occasionally sympathetic villain. Strong villains are key to these series' success, and season two suffered a bit because of Fisk's absence (apart from a brief prison appearance), focusing instead on introducing the Chinese crime syndicate the Hand in preparation for their role as the Big Bad in the first Defenders series. But a vast syndicate isn't nearly as compelling as a violent psychopath with exquisite taste who also longs for love.

Enlarge / The Hayabusa2 spacecraft spies its shadow Thursday night as it descends toward Ryugu to deploy two small rovers. (credit: JAXA)

Saturday update: More than 24 hours after they were released by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft, the Japanese Space Agency has finally provided an update on the fate of the two tiny robots released to fly down to the surface of the asteroid Ryugu. And they're doing quite well indeed.

"We are sorry we have kept you waiting!," the space agency, JAXA, tweeted. "MINERVA-II1 consists of two rovers, 1a & 1b. Both rovers are confirmed to have landed on the surface of Ryugu. They are in good condition and have transmitted photos & data. We also confirmed they are moving on the surface."

Then, they shared some pictures, including these two.

Enlarge / A Verizon construction engineer inspects a pair of radio heads on a mock small cell near Sacramento City Hall in 2017. (credit: Verizon)

The Federal Communications Commission's plan for spurring 5G wireless deployment will prevent city and town governments from charging carriers about $2 billion worth of fees.

The FCC proposal, to be voted on at its meeting on September 26, limits the amount that local governments may charge carriers for placing 5G equipment such as small cells on poles, traffic lights, and other government property in public rights-of-way. The proposal, which is supported by the FCC's Republican majority, would also force cities and towns to act on carrier applications within 60 or 90 days.

The FCC says this will spur more deployment of small cells, which "have antennas often no larger than a small backpack." But the commission's proposal doesn't require carriers to build in areas where they wouldn't have done so anyway.