

Science
Watch SpaceX launch a Falcon 9 rocket on a record-breaking sixth flight to space
This morning, SpaceX is set to launch its latest batch of internet-beaming Starlink satellites into orbit, and the company is using one of its most space-worthy rockets for the job. The Falcon 9 rocket launching on today’s mission has already been to space and back five times before, and if all goes well, it could become the first SpaceX booster to launch for the sixth time.
Loaded on top of the rocket are 58 of SpaceX’s own Starlink satellites as well as three small hitchhiking probes. The added trio are Earth-observing SkySat satellites operated by the company Planet. It’s the second time that SkySats will ride along on a SpaceX Starlink mission; three SkySats also flew to orbit with 58 Starlink satellites in June. Typical launches consist of 60 Starlink satellites, but SpaceX sometimes makes space for companies willing to pay for a ride to orbit.
So far, SpaceX has launched nearly 600 satellites for its Starlink initiative, aimed at creating a global constellation of spacecraft to provide broadband coverage from orbit. Beta-testing of the system seems to have gotten underway for a small group of users who have been conducting speed tests of Starlink through Ookla. Details of SpaceX’s Starlink testing found within the source code of the company’s website revealed that beta-testing will begin in rural Washington and then expand to the northern United States and southern Canada.
Liftoff for today’s launch is scheduled for 10:31AM ET out of SpaceX’s launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The SkySats are slated to deploy first, just 12.5 minutes after takeoff, followed by the Starlink satellites about half an hour after that. After launching, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will attempt to land on one of the company’s autonomous drone ships in the Atlantic Ocean. If successful, it’ll mark a record-breaking sixth landing for the Falcon 9, paving the way for the vehicle to launch for an unprecedented seventh time.
So far, weather is looking okay for launch, with an 80 percent chance that conditions will be favorable. SpaceX’s live coverage will begin about 15 minutes before takeoff, so check back then to watch the company’s 11th Starlink mission get off the ground.
Source : TheVerge ScienceRead More
Science
Too bright to breed

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Night light from coastal cities overpowers natural signals for coral spawning from neighboring reefs.
PHOTO: NOKURO/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
Most coral species reproduce through broadcast spawning. For such a strategy to be successful, coordination has had to evolve such that gametes across clones are released simultaneously. Over millennia, lunar cycles have facilitated this coordination, but the recent development of bright artificial light has led to an overpowering of these natural signals. Ayalon et al. tested for the direct impact of different kinds of artificial light on different species of corals. The authors found that multiple lighting types, including cold and warm light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, led to loss of synchrony and spawning failure. Further, coastal maps of artificial lighting globally suggest that it threatens to interfere with coral reproduction worldwide and that the deployment of LED lights, the blue light of which penetrates deeper into the water column, is likely to make the situation even worse.
Curr. Biol. 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.039 (2020).
Science
SpaceX launches Starlink app and provides pricing and service info to early beta testers

SpaceX has debuted an official app for its Starlink satellite broadband internet service, for both iOS and Android devices. The Starlink app allows users to manage their connection – but to take part you’ll have to be part of the official beta program, and the initial public rollout of that is only just about to begin, according to emails SpaceX sent to potential beta testers this week.
The Starlink app provides guidance on how to install the Starlink receiver dish, as well as connection status (including signal quality), a device overview for seeing what’s connected to your network, and a speed test tool. It’s similar to other mobile apps for managing home wifi connections and routers. Meanwhile, the emails to potential testers that CNBC obtained detail what users can expect in terms of pricing, speeds and latency.
The initial Starlink public beta test is called the “Better than Nothing Beta Program,” SpaceX confirms in their app description, and will be rolled out across the U.S. and Canada before the end of the year – which matches up with earlier stated timelines. As per the name, SpaceX is hoping to set expectations for early customers, with speeds users can expect ranging from between 50Mb/s to 150Mb/s, and latency of 20ms to 40ms according to the customer emails, with some periods including no connectivity at all. Even with expectations set low, if those values prove accurate, it should be a big improvement for users in some hard-to-reach areas where service is currently costly, unreliable and operating at roughly dial-up equivalent speeds.

Image Credits: SpaceX
In terms of pricing, SpaceX says in the emails that the cost for participants in this beta program will be $99 per moth, plus a one-time cost of $499 initially to pay for the hardware, which includes the mounting kit and receiver dish, as well as a router with wifi networking capabilities.
The goal eventually is offer reliably, low-latency broadband that provides consistent connection by handing off connectivity between a large constellation of small satellites circling the globe in low Earth orbit. Already, SpaceX has nearly 1,000 of those launched, but it hopes to launch many thousands more before it reaches global coverage and offers general availability of its services.
SpaceX has already announced some initial commercial partnerships and pilot programs for Starlink, too, including a team-up with Microsoft to connect that company’s mobile Azure data centers, and a project with an East Texas school board to connect the local community.
Science
Erratum for the Report “Meta-analysis reveals declines in terrestrial but increases in freshwater insect abundances” by R. Van Klink, D. E. Bowler, K. B. Gongalsky, A. B. Swengel, A. Gentile, J. M. Chase


S. Rennie, J. Adamson, R. Anderson, C. Andrews, J. Bater, N. Bayfield, K. Beaton, D. Beaumont, S. Benham, V. Bowmaker, C. Britt, R. Brooker, D. Brooks, J. Brunt, G. Common, R. Cooper, S. Corbett, N. Critchley, P. Dennis, J. Dick, B. Dodd, N. Dodd, N. Donovan, J. Easter, M. Flexen, A. Gardiner, D. Hamilton, P. Hargreaves, M. Hatton-Ellis, M. Howe, J. Kahl, M. Lane, S. Langan, D. Lloyd, B. McCarney, Y. McElarney, C. McKenna, S. McMillan, F. Milne, L. Milne, M. Morecroft, M. Murphy, A. Nelson, H. Nicholson, D. Pallett, D. Parry, I. Pearce, G. Pozsgai, A. Riley, R. Rose, S. Schafer, T. Scott, L. Sherrin, C. Shortall, R. Smith, P. Smith, R. Tait, C. Taylor, M. Taylor, M. Thurlow, A. Turner, K. Tyson, H. Watson, M. Whittaker, I. Woiwod, C. Wood, UK Environmental Change Network (ECN) Moth Data: 1992-2015, NERC Environmental Information Data Centre (2018); .
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