North and south pole

After an intense, detailed investigation, North Korea has determined what sparked an explosive outbreak of COVID-19 that has led to over 4.7 million "fevers" within its borders since late April. The culprit: "alien things" blown into the country from the South. According to a report from the official KCNA news agency , North Korea's outbreak began in early April when an 18-year-old soldier and a five-year-old kindergartener made contact with "alien things in a hill" in the area of Ipho-ri in Kumgang County, which is in the country's southeastern corner near the border. The two later tested positive for the novel coronavirus, and epidemiological analyses found that those cases were solely behind the country-wide outbreak; the two infections link to greater spread in Kumgang and, from there, into the rest of North Korea. "It was also ascertained," the report reads, "that the fever cases reported in all areas and units of the country except the Ipho-ri area till mid-April, were due … [Read more...] about Windblown “alien things” caused massive COVID outbreak, North Korea says

As a lifelong Charlotte-area resident, I remember when Time Warner Cable was the option for internet. Home internet options in Charlotte now are about the same as any city: One or two cable internet providers and one or two fiber internet providers . With Charlotte, that cable internet option is going to be Spectrum (which is still technically TWC, but changed over to Spectrum since being acquired by Charter). For fiber internet in Charlotte, AT&T will be your best bet, but you may find Google Fiber or Kinetic by Windstream availability depending on where you live in the Queen City. Charlotte also has the unique option of 5G home internet service from T-Mobile , which is currently available to roughly half of the area's households. There are other internet options, such as DSL and satellite internet , but I won't waste your time with those, and to be honest you shouldn't either. Here's a look at the best internet providers in the Charlotte … [Read more...] about Best Internet Providers in Charlotte, North Carolina: Fiber, Cable and Now 5G

When you think of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk , chances are high that you think of his electric car company Tesla , his space exploration venture SpaceX , or his bid to take control of Twitter . Perhaps it's his history of stirring up controversy on social media or smoking weed with Joe Rogan that comes to mind. Maybe you just know him as one of the richest people on Earth . Something you might be less familiar with is Starlink , a venture from Musk that aims to sell internet connections to almost anyone on the planet by way of a growing network of private satellites orbiting overhead. After years of development within SpaceX -- and after securing nearly $885.5 million in grant funds from the Federal Communications Commission at the end of 2020 -- Starlink picked up the pace in 2021. In January, after three years' worth of successful launches, the project had surpassed 1,000 satellites delivered into orbit. One year and dozens of successful … [Read more...] about Starlink Explained: Everything to Know About Elon Musk’s Satellite Internet Venture

Early this morning, a small NASA spacecraft about the size of a microwave embarked on the beginning of a four-month-long journey to the Moon , where it will eventually insert itself into a unique, elongated lunar orbit that no NASA mission has visited before. The spacecraft’s goal is simple: test out this particular orbit and see what it’s like. That’s because it’s the same orbit that lunar-bound astronauts could use in the coming decade. This distinctive orbit is called “near rectilinear halo orbit,” or NRHO for short. It’s a special seven-day path that spacecraft can take around the Moon, bringing vehicles relatively close to the lunar surface for one day before they swing out far from the Moon for the other six. NASA is considering leveraging this orbit for its Artemis program — the agency’s effort to send the first woman and the first person of color to the surface of the Moon. Over the next decade, NASA wants to build a new space station around the Moon called the Gateway, a … [Read more...] about A tiny NASA spacecraft launches to test out a new orbit around the Moon

China’s regime-run Global Times communist propaganda outlet condemned the discovery of at least 51 dead people , who had been attempting to illegally enter the United States, on Monday in San Antonio, Texas, as a “stain on Washington’s human rights record” despite overwhelming evidence that the deaths were the product of extralegal human trafficking, not actions by the American government. The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned America for its “poor track record on migrant issues” and demanded the United States act to “protect human rights” in the wake of the tragedy. San Antonio police revealed on Monday night that a local worker had found a tractor-trailer on a nearby backroad carrying at least 60 migrants, including children. Among those, 48 were found already dead. At least two others died after the discovery of the truck despite medical intervention. The truck appeared to be part of a human trafficking operation meant to bring thousands of Mexicans, Central Americans, … [Read more...] about Chinese Propaganda Outlet: San Antonio Migrant Deaths a ‘Stain on Washington’s Human Rights Record’

China might be contemplating a "takeover" of the Moon as part of its military space program, Nasa 's administrator Bill Nelson has told newspaper Bild. In an interview, Nelson claimed that the United States is now involved in a new race to space, with China this time. He emphasised that in 2035, Beijing might finish construction of its own Moon station and start experiments a year later. Nelson claimed that we must be very concerned about China landing on the Moon and saying that it now belongs to the Peoples' Republic and everyone else should stay out, RT reported. Claiming that China's space program is a "military" space program, Nelson explained that the competition for the south pole of the moon is especially intense: potential water deposits there could be used in the future for rocket-fuel production. When asked by Bild what military purposes could China be pursuing in space, Nelson claimed that Chinese astronauts are busy learning how to … [Read more...] about moon: China might be contemplating a ‘takeover’ of the Moon, says Nasa administrator

Forget about keeping Austin weird. Let's talk about keeping Austin fast. I'm talking about one of the top five fastest cities in the country for internet speed kind of fast. The speed-testing site Ookla keeps track of the top cities in the US for median download speeds, based on millions of tests run daily by the company. In Ookla's first quarter 2022 report , Austin, Texas, which is the country's 28th most populous metro area, ranked as the fourth fastest city in the country, registering a median download speed of 208.93 megabits per second. That was good enough to place ATX well ahead of its Texan big-city brethren Dallas and Houston . One thing to note about those speeds: Austin gets a boost from the fast fiber options to be found within city limits, including AT&T and Google Fiber , and the wide availability of the consistent cable connection provided by Spectrum . But if you venture out beyond Travis County, to Round Rock, Georgetown, or some … [Read more...] about Best Internet Providers in Austin

The Step Pyramid of Djoser, constructed at Saqqara about 4,700 years ago,  was the first pyramid the Egyptians ever built. The ancient Egyptian pharaoh that gave the pyramid its name, Djoser, sometimes spelled Zoser (though he was actually called Netjerykhet) ruled during Egypt's third dynasty. Scholars attribute the planning of the pyramid to Imhotep, a vizier who would later be deified for his accomplishments. "Djoser is the name given to this king by New Kingdom visitors to the site over a thousand years later” wrote Egyptologist Mark Lehner in his book "The Complete Pyramids: Solving The Ancient Mysteries" (Thames & Hudson, 2008). The pyramid started off as a mastaba tomb — a flat-roofed structure with sloping sides — and, through a series of expansions, evolved into a 197-foot-high (60 meters) pyramid, with six layers, one built on top of the other. The pyramid was constructed using 11.6 million cubic feet (330,400 cubic meters) of stone and clay. The … [Read more...] about Step Pyramid of Djoser: Egypt’s first Pyramid

Houston, we have a problem. Although it's in the top five of the most populated cities in the US, H-Town couldn't crack the top 50 on Ookla's list of the country's fastest cities for broadband. Per the speed-testing site's first quarter 2022 reporting , Houston managed to clock in at only No. 53. By contrast, its fellow Lone Star State cities of Austin , Corpus Christi, Irving and San Antonio all placed in the top 10. Other Texas towns that placed higher on the speed chart -- to add insult to injury -- include Arlington, El Paso, Fort Worth, Garland, Lubbock and Plano. Some small consolation: Houston managed to finish three slots ahead of Dallas. Despite the poor showing, Houston also offers several high-speed internet choices. You can get hooked up with home internet from fast fiber options including AT&T , Frontier and local provider, Tachus . You could hop online via cable connections from Optimum (formerly Suddenlink ) and Spectrum . You … [Read more...] about Best Internet Providers in Houston

There's no shortage of options for nightlife and entertainment in Las Vegas, but if you're shopping for home internet, you may find your choices to be somewhat limited. While nearly all Vegas households will have access to at least one wired broadband connection, fewer than 73% will have two available providers, and none have access to three or more. Throughout Las Vegas, those two wired broadband options are going to be Cox and CenturyLink (now a.k.a. Quantum Fiber). Cox covers all of Vegas with its cable internet network, but select neighborhoods may be eligible for fiber service . CenturyLink also extends service to pretty much all of Las Vegas, and while some of those addresses will be eligible for fiber, the majority will be left with DSL as the sole option, and not all of the addresses serviceable for DSL can get broadband speeds of at least 25Mbps down and 3Mbps up. For more internet options, you'll have to turn to wireless service, which is shaping up to be … [Read more...] about Best Internet Providers in Las Vegas