1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:18,760 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with iHeart Radio. And 4 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 1: how the tech already done. It's time for the tech 5 00:00:21,600 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: news for Thursday, February twenty two. Almost totally read that 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: date wrong. Um And and first personal update. Uh, those 7 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,360 Speaker 1: who have been listening this week know that I have 8 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:41,440 Speaker 1: been dealing with COVID. Despite taking every precaution and avoiding 9 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: tons of fun stuff, I still got the darned thing. 10 00:00:44,880 --> 00:00:47,440 Speaker 1: And I'm feeling a little better. So that's that's the 11 00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: personal news. Just wanted to get that all the way. 12 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:53,000 Speaker 1: Hopefully that means I'm on the other side of it. 13 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: Um And that in a couple of days I can 14 00:00:55,520 --> 00:01:00,200 Speaker 1: emerge from isolation and become a butterfly. I'm pretty sure 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: that's how that works. I gotta be honest, I haven't 16 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: read up on it. But let's go with some tech news, 17 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: and we'll start off with something fun for a change, 18 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 1: because I know, I know the news can be pretty brutal, 19 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:14,600 Speaker 1: and I thought, why don't we do something fun and 20 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,680 Speaker 1: not just bury it. So Nintendo held one of its 21 00:01:18,760 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: Nintendo Direct events yesterday and announced several upcoming titles. Sadly, 22 00:01:25,040 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: there was no mention of either a Legend of Zelda 23 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:30,960 Speaker 1: Breath of the Wild follow up, nor was there any 24 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: talk of a Metroid Prime sequel, but the company did 25 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: share a trailer for Splatoon three, which is another sequel 26 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,800 Speaker 1: to the surprise hit franchise, in which you play as 27 00:01:43,280 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: part squid, part kid, and all paintball maniac um. Actually 28 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 1: really fun game, so I'm glad to see that. If 29 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:53,960 Speaker 1: you are a fan of soccer, or as it is 30 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: known pretty much everywhere else but my home country, football, 31 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,320 Speaker 1: and you happen to love mar EO, you might be 32 00:02:01,400 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: excited to learn more about Mario Striker's Battle League. It's 33 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 1: the first Mario Striker's game in fifteen years and will 34 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: feature five on five soccer matches, complete with special moves 35 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,640 Speaker 1: that you're not likely to see in games like FIFA. 36 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: A trailer for Kirby and the Forgotten Land showed off 37 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: the cotton candy ghost like critters tendency to gobble stuff up, 38 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:29,040 Speaker 1: including cars and vending machines, which was adorable and disturbing. 39 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:33,040 Speaker 1: As always, Nintendo also announced that Portal and Portal to 40 00:02:34,200 --> 00:02:37,760 Speaker 1: two very good puzzle games that have amazing songs by 41 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: Jonathan Colton, and them are both coming to the Switch 42 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: at long last, though we don't know exactly when. They 43 00:02:44,480 --> 00:02:48,040 Speaker 1: didn't give a date for that. Also, No Man's Sky, 44 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:50,640 Speaker 1: the game that lots of folks felt initially kind of 45 00:02:50,680 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 1: overpromised and underdelivered, is also coming to the Switch. I 46 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:58,080 Speaker 1: also want to point out that since it's launch, Hello Games, 47 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,640 Speaker 1: the developer behind No Man's Sky, has released lots of 48 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: updates that drastically add to the game's content. So while 49 00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: the initial response to No Man Sky was a bit 50 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: like oh, it has since improved. There were several other 51 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:17,560 Speaker 1: announcements to that were done yesterday, so if you want 52 00:03:17,639 --> 00:03:20,519 Speaker 1: to learn more, you should track down the video. It's 53 00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:24,079 Speaker 1: available on YouTube on Nintendo's channel. It's also available through 54 00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: like every video game outlet will have a version of it, 55 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: as well as like probably commentary on on what was announced, 56 00:03:33,280 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: so check that out if you are a big fan 57 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:41,000 Speaker 1: of Nintendo. Now a quick update to our update to 58 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:45,720 Speaker 1: the Peloton story. So on Tuesday, I talked about how 59 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:49,800 Speaker 1: the beleaguered company famous for its connected stationary exercise bikes 60 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: and treadmills, is going through what David Bowie would call 61 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: cha cha changes. John Foley, the co founder and now 62 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: former CEO of the company, has stepped into the role 63 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:04,560 Speaker 1: of executive Chairman of the board then, just to be 64 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,880 Speaker 1: clear fully, and his close colleagues control about eight percent 65 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,640 Speaker 1: of the board's voting power, so it's not like he's 66 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: gone and forgotten. He's very much capable of being hands 67 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:19,840 Speaker 1: on here. Barry McCarthy, who came over from Spotify as 68 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: Spotify's Chief financial Officer or CFO, is the new CEO 69 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,480 Speaker 1: of Peloton, and the company made an announcement that it 70 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:32,760 Speaker 1: would lay off around employees, or about twenty of its workforce. 71 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: And now we've got a few more details. One is 72 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: that to help take the sting out of those folks 73 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 1: getting their walking papers, Peloton graciously through in a free 74 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:50,200 Speaker 1: year subscription to you guessed it, Peloton all to the 75 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:52,840 Speaker 1: employees who had been let go. And that's a big 76 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:56,200 Speaker 1: old yikes, Like, can you imagine working for a company 77 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,479 Speaker 1: that says, hey, we gotta fire you, but here's a 78 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: coupon so you can buy some of our stuff. Because remember, 79 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:04,760 Speaker 1: the subscription is really most useful if you happen to 80 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: also own one of the really expensive Peloton bikes or treadmills. 81 00:05:09,720 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 1: Now you could just follow the online exercise routines on 82 00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: your own device like a tablet, and use some ordinary 83 00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: exercise bike or treadmill like a plebu. It wouldn't be 84 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,359 Speaker 1: connected to the rest of the class in that sense, 85 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: so you wouldn't have the ability to tag in with 86 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 1: all the you know, competitive information, nor would you have 87 00:05:32,200 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 1: the dynamic response capabilities of some of the more advanced 88 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: Peloton equipment. So it's definitely not the full experience if 89 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,160 Speaker 1: you do it that way, But it would also mean 90 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: that if you wanted to have the full experience, you 91 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 1: would have to PLoP down several thousand dollars to buy 92 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:52,080 Speaker 1: the equipment to do it. So not the best way 93 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: to send off people who have just been let go, 94 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:57,280 Speaker 1: and as you can imagine, a lot of affected employees 95 00:05:57,320 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: were a bit miffed about this. So when the company 96 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: held an all hands meeting to introduce Barry McCarthy to Peloton, 97 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: a whole bunch of former employees decided that they wanted 98 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: to be part of that meeting too, and they were 99 00:06:11,720 --> 00:06:15,479 Speaker 1: not terribly chipper about it. And this mess was probably 100 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: upsetting to pretty much everyone involved. I'm sure McCarthy was 101 00:06:19,720 --> 00:06:24,560 Speaker 1: a bit taken aback. The former employees were obviously very upset, 102 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: and Peloton's current employees, I mean, that can't be great 103 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,160 Speaker 1: for morale to see a bunch of your former colleagues 104 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:36,279 Speaker 1: coming in and just like you know, lambasting the company 105 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: and complaining and criticizing it. Not that a lot of 106 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:41,560 Speaker 1: I mean, there are plenty of people who still work 107 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:45,680 Speaker 1: at Peloton who also criticized the company. And meanwhile, investors 108 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:50,479 Speaker 1: who were already concerned about Peloton, some of them feel 109 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:53,720 Speaker 1: like the changes aren't actually addressing the underlying problems with 110 00:06:53,760 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: a company. For example, black Well's Capital published a sixty 111 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:01,200 Speaker 1: five slide presentation criticizing Peloton and its attempts to right 112 00:07:01,360 --> 00:07:05,600 Speaker 1: the ship, and some analysts argue that McCarthy, being a 113 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:10,600 Speaker 1: former CFO with no CEO experience, is the wrong leader 114 00:07:10,640 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 1: for the job. There are a lot of folks wondering 115 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: is this just Peloton trying to tread water until they 116 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:19,840 Speaker 1: can figure out which, if any suitor they want to 117 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,960 Speaker 1: go with in terms of like a acquisition, because there 118 00:07:23,960 --> 00:07:26,360 Speaker 1: are companies like Amazon and Apple that are rumored to 119 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,200 Speaker 1: kind of be circling the waters. But yeah, that's where 120 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,320 Speaker 1: we are right now. You're probably aware, especially if you've 121 00:07:33,360 --> 00:07:36,560 Speaker 1: been listening to my shows, that online services track a 122 00:07:36,600 --> 00:07:40,840 Speaker 1: lot of your personal information. Facebook is probably the platform 123 00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: I think about most often in that context, but a 124 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: study released by the marketing company You Are l Genius 125 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,880 Speaker 1: says that two other apps are really gobbling up information 126 00:07:51,880 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: about you. One of those is YouTube, which is no 127 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: shock there, and the other is TikTok. So with YouTube, 128 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: we know that a lot of the this data tracking 129 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: is revolving around how YouTube relies on data to both 130 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: serve targeted ads to you and also to recommend more 131 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: videos that are likely to keep you on the platform longer. 132 00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: And this is because, and I know I sound like 133 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,840 Speaker 1: a broken record here, the two goals of these kinds 134 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: of platforms is to try and serve as many ads 135 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,200 Speaker 1: to the viewer as that viewer will tolerate, and to 136 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:30,800 Speaker 1: keep the viewer there for as long as you can 137 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,080 Speaker 1: so that you know, in turn you can ultimately serve 138 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:37,679 Speaker 1: them more ads. But then what about TikTok. Well, according 139 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:41,920 Speaker 1: to the study, TikTok is a bit of a different story. TikTok, 140 00:08:42,000 --> 00:08:44,800 Speaker 1: which is owned by a parent company, byte Dance, and 141 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: that's a Chinese company is mostly letting third party data 142 00:08:48,920 --> 00:08:52,320 Speaker 1: trackers collect all that juicy information about users. Uh. The 143 00:08:52,400 --> 00:08:57,560 Speaker 1: study identified fourteen trackers with TikTok, and thirteen of them 144 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,680 Speaker 1: were third party trackers. Now, that in turn means that 145 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: we don't actually have very much information on what trackers 146 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:08,200 Speaker 1: are actually using TikTok in order to collect data, or 147 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:11,400 Speaker 1: what those companies are doing with the information that they're collecting. 148 00:09:11,800 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: And that's probably not going to help TikTok fight against 149 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,880 Speaker 1: the perception that the company could potentially be collecting information 150 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: on say, US citizens and then sending that information back 151 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:24,800 Speaker 1: to China. That's a narrative that TikTok has had to 152 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:27,240 Speaker 1: fight against for a few years now, and it really 153 00:09:27,280 --> 00:09:31,160 Speaker 1: came to prominence when former US President Donald Trump tried 154 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,079 Speaker 1: to either force TikTok to shut down in the United 155 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: States or to have an American company come and buy 156 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: the service from byte Dance. Now, neither of those things 157 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:43,960 Speaker 1: actually happened, and the story gets a little bit worse. 158 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,240 Speaker 1: According to that marketing company, UH that you are l genius. 159 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:53,600 Speaker 1: TikTok's data tracking apparently persists even if a user goes 160 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: into settings to opt out of tracking. Anyway, it's just 161 00:09:58,320 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: something for you to think about, for you to talk 162 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:04,320 Speaker 1: fans out there. Your information is valuable and TikTok and 163 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:08,240 Speaker 1: lots of third parties are profiting off of it in 164 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:11,720 Speaker 1: some way. And again, if you want to interact with 165 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 1: the Internet in any meaningful way, it typically means that 166 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: you're also having to give up information about yourself. So 167 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: it's really up to each person to decide how comfortable 168 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:23,760 Speaker 1: they are with that personally. I had TikTok for a 169 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:26,800 Speaker 1: couple of months last year before I decided to uninstall 170 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:29,400 Speaker 1: it because I'm past my expiration date for that kind 171 00:10:29,400 --> 00:10:31,240 Speaker 1: of stuff. So it wasn't really so much about the 172 00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:34,480 Speaker 1: dad tracking. It was just about me being old. All right, 173 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:37,720 Speaker 1: this old guy needs to take a quick break, but 174 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: we'll be right back. Apple reported recently to the US 175 00:10:48,520 --> 00:10:52,000 Speaker 1: Securities and Exchange Commission that the company has ended partnerships 176 00:10:52,040 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 1: with twelve smelting or refining companies out of concern that 177 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: the companies operate in areas that have armed conflicts going 178 00:10:59,360 --> 00:11:03,960 Speaker 1: on in them, thus making these conflict materials. So you 179 00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: may have heard terms like blood diamonds or conflict diamonds 180 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: or conflict minerals or conflict medals. All that gets to 181 00:11:11,120 --> 00:11:13,640 Speaker 1: what we're talking about here. So a lot of these 182 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,760 Speaker 1: kinds of operations take place in regions that are, to 183 00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:21,280 Speaker 1: put it, mildly unstable politically, and there's a real concern 184 00:11:21,559 --> 00:11:25,520 Speaker 1: that funding these operations ends up creating brutal conditions for 185 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:28,160 Speaker 1: the people who have to work there. Uh. There are 186 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: stories about folks being forced to work in say mining 187 00:11:32,160 --> 00:11:37,439 Speaker 1: operations or smelting or refining operations, and that essentially they 188 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:42,120 Speaker 1: become slave labor for very powerful company leaders. Those leaders 189 00:11:42,160 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 1: might even employ armed forces, like armed guards to oversee 190 00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: the operations. And Apple has made a commitment to avoid 191 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: contributing to these situations whenever it can detect them, which 192 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: is different from saying that it can confidently say it 193 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: doesn't support them at all, but rather if if evidence 194 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:03,880 Speaker 1: comes up that that is going on, the company has 195 00:12:03,880 --> 00:12:08,960 Speaker 1: committed to severing those relationships. The only specific country that 196 00:12:09,000 --> 00:12:12,360 Speaker 1: Apple referenced in this recent report is the Democratic Republic 197 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: of the Congo, which has had a long history of 198 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:19,760 Speaker 1: oppressive mining and refining operations and also a long history 199 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:24,400 Speaker 1: of political instability. The company explained that the twelve refiners 200 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,000 Speaker 1: and smelters that cut ties with either did not meet 201 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: standards or refused to participate in a third party audit 202 00:12:31,080 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: of their operations. We often see issues like this arise 203 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: in the tech sector, where much of the raw materials 204 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: that we depend upon for our technology comes to us 205 00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:46,240 Speaker 1: courtesy of oppressive working conditions in remote regions around the world. 206 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: And back in two I actually did an episode of 207 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,920 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff with my former co host Chris Pallette where 208 00:12:52,920 --> 00:12:55,439 Speaker 1: we talked about rare earth metals. I think it might 209 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,400 Speaker 1: be time to do an update on that, just to 210 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,040 Speaker 1: see where we stand today and why things are the 211 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,040 Speaker 1: way they are. The State of California's Department of Fair 212 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:07,280 Speaker 1: Employment and Housing has filed a racial discrimination complaint against 213 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:12,319 Speaker 1: electric car company Tesla. This complaint alleges that Tesla racially 214 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:17,040 Speaker 1: segregates workforces in its California factory and Fremont. Further, the 215 00:13:17,080 --> 00:13:20,400 Speaker 1: complaint accuses the Fremont factory of having a truly toxic 216 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:25,160 Speaker 1: work environment that includes racial discrimination and abuses, with employees 217 00:13:25,200 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: reporting that they have been the subject of verbal attacks, 218 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:31,440 Speaker 1: including racial slurs, and that they are regularly discriminated against 219 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: when it comes to job assignments, compensation, promotion, and discipline. 220 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 1: The agency goes on to make more specific and deeply 221 00:13:40,120 --> 00:13:44,320 Speaker 1: upsetting accusations regarding working conditions in the factory, and this 222 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:47,959 Speaker 1: isn't by any means the first we've heard of these accusations, 223 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:52,040 Speaker 1: and there have also been related cases. For example, last December, 224 00:13:52,120 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: six women filed a lawsuit against Tesla, alleging that the 225 00:13:55,559 --> 00:13:58,800 Speaker 1: factory workplace is a dangerous place for women and that 226 00:13:58,920 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: the factory has a culture of sexual harassment. The company 227 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:05,880 Speaker 1: released a statement saying that quote Tesla has always taken 228 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: disciplinary action and terminated employees for professional misconduct, including those 229 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:14,040 Speaker 1: who utter racial slurs or harass others in various ways 230 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:18,440 Speaker 1: end quote. Tesla also has recently issued a recall for 231 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: more than half a million vehicles, specifically some model S, 232 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: Model X, and Model Y Tesla's from twenty two model years, 233 00:14:28,080 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 1: as well as some Model three vehicles from twenty seventeen 234 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:36,000 Speaker 1: to twenty twenty two model years. So what's going on? Well, 235 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: the issue is that the US National Highway Traffic Safety 236 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: Administration or nht s A, has, after more than a 237 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: year's worth of discussions, determined that Tesla's boom box feature 238 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:52,160 Speaker 1: could obscure important sounds that would otherwise alert people about 239 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: the presence of an electric vehicle coming down the road. 240 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: So by that I mean here in the United States, 241 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:02,480 Speaker 1: electric vehicle manufacturing companies have to create a method for 242 00:15:02,560 --> 00:15:06,000 Speaker 1: electric cars to make an audible sound while they are 243 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:09,080 Speaker 1: moving at speeds up to thirty kilometers per hour or 244 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:11,880 Speaker 1: eighteen point six miles per hour. And the reason for 245 00:15:11,880 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: that is because electric vehicles can operate much more quietly 246 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: than gasoline or diesel powered vehicles, and the sound can 247 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: alert pedestrians, cyclists, and the visually impaired that there is 248 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:29,040 Speaker 1: a car coming. But in December twenty Tesla launched the 249 00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 1: boom box function, which lets Tesla drivers pump sound from 250 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:37,480 Speaker 1: their car based entertainment system through the speakers that otherwise 251 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:41,880 Speaker 1: the car uses as its pedestrian warning system. So, in 252 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: other words, the speakers that would otherwise indicate, hey, there's 253 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,920 Speaker 1: an electric car coming, would now be saying, you know, 254 00:15:49,040 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: who let the dogs out? And the nht s A said, yeah, no, 255 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,840 Speaker 1: you need to keep that system dedicated to making an 256 00:15:55,880 --> 00:16:00,640 Speaker 1: identifiable noise so that folks know a car is coming. Meanwhile, 257 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 1: I'm thinking, how obnoxious can Tesla be. I mean, I 258 00:16:04,600 --> 00:16:07,080 Speaker 1: don't mind if a jerk face is listening to awful 259 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:09,520 Speaker 1: music and the privacy of their own car, but once 260 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:11,560 Speaker 1: they start pumping it out at the rest of us, 261 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:15,040 Speaker 1: that is an awful feature. Anyway, Tesla is pushing on 262 00:16:15,120 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: an update to these vehicles that will disable boom box 263 00:16:18,400 --> 00:16:21,680 Speaker 1: mode while the cars are in motion or in neutral, 264 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: so I guess it will only work if the car 265 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:26,400 Speaker 1: is in park. So I guess you could use it 266 00:16:26,440 --> 00:16:28,800 Speaker 1: for like a block party or something. I don't know, 267 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:33,240 Speaker 1: but boy howdy, this just reinforces my perception that Tesla 268 00:16:33,400 --> 00:16:36,840 Speaker 1: is the dude bro of car companies. Many years ago, 269 00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: I appeared as an extra in a science fiction horror 270 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: film called The Signal. And just so you know, there's 271 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,000 Speaker 1: more than one movie that has The Signal and its title, 272 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:46,880 Speaker 1: you would need to find the one that has Justin 273 00:16:46,920 --> 00:16:48,720 Speaker 1: Welburn in it to see the one that I'm in. 274 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:51,760 Speaker 1: And also you wouldn't see me because I'm on screen 275 00:16:51,760 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: for less than a second, and it's also in a 276 00:16:53,720 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: big chaotic crowd scene. And also it's just the back 277 00:16:56,840 --> 00:17:00,760 Speaker 1: of my head. So the movie's worth watching, you just 278 00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: won't see me in it. Anyway. The premise of that 279 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 1: film is that there's this mysterious signal that gets broadcast 280 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,000 Speaker 1: over pretty much every communication channel, and that once humans 281 00:17:11,000 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: are exposed to it, they go a bit mental. They 282 00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: either become incredibly violent or terrified. Well, our next story 283 00:17:19,040 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: involves a radio broadcast that had a negative effect, but 284 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:26,440 Speaker 1: not on people. In this case, however, it did affect 285 00:17:26,560 --> 00:17:31,560 Speaker 1: infotainment systems. K U O W ninety point nine, which 286 00:17:31,600 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: is an NPR station in the Seattle area, broadcast the 287 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:39,359 Speaker 1: signal that ended up breaking the infotainment system for some 288 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: Mazda vehicles. The affected cars, which included Mazda's with model 289 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:49,399 Speaker 1: years from TOEV, would get stuck to that radio station, 290 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:53,440 Speaker 1: which is very clever in pr nice way to absolutely 291 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:57,560 Speaker 1: dominate the market. I'm kidding, it was not on purpose. Uh. 292 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,520 Speaker 1: The infotainment screens would then go dead and the whole 293 00:18:00,520 --> 00:18:03,439 Speaker 1: system would try and go into reboot mode over and 294 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: over and over again. So it's start the cycle of 295 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,639 Speaker 1: trying to reboot but never actually boot. To make matters worse, 296 00:18:10,119 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: the fix was to replace these systems Connectivity Master Unit 297 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 1: or CMU, and that is expensive, likes and more to 298 00:18:19,920 --> 00:18:23,320 Speaker 1: the point, right now, it's practically impossible to find them 299 00:18:23,359 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 1: because we have an ongoing chip shortage. So you might 300 00:18:26,480 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: wonder what the heck actually happened. How did a radio 301 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 1: broadcast brick an infotainment system. Well, it turns out the 302 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,919 Speaker 1: radio station was sending out image files via radio waves, 303 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:42,399 Speaker 1: and typically an infotainment system with a screen would handle 304 00:18:42,440 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 1: this right. You would get the incoming signal and the 305 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: screen would display whatever the image was. So you can 306 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,000 Speaker 1: do this with advertising all that kind of stuff for 307 00:18:50,160 --> 00:18:53,359 Speaker 1: station identification, whatever it might be. But in this case, 308 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:57,000 Speaker 1: the image files that MPR was sending out they lacked 309 00:18:57,119 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: a file extension, and apparently the Mazda infotainment systems from 310 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:06,760 Speaker 1: those model years just can't handle that, and the systems 311 00:19:06,800 --> 00:19:12,359 Speaker 1: became corrupted. Yells them now. I again, I'm not blaming 312 00:19:12,440 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: MPR for this at all. This is a fault with 313 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: those infotainment systems right this it's it's kind of crazy 314 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,920 Speaker 1: to think about that a simply a file that's lacking 315 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:28,119 Speaker 1: an extension would be enough to completely shut down the system, 316 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,119 Speaker 1: and there is no easy fix to this. It pretty 317 00:19:30,200 --> 00:19:33,080 Speaker 1: much means that affected Mazda owners have to take their 318 00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: vehicles into a Mazda dealership and work with them to 319 00:19:36,640 --> 00:19:39,520 Speaker 1: solve the issue by submitting a good will request to 320 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: the warranty department in order to get the ball rolling. 321 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:46,600 Speaker 1: So bad news for MASDA owners in Seattle. UM, I 322 00:19:46,600 --> 00:19:48,560 Speaker 1: guess it can be confident that they're not listening to 323 00:19:48,560 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: this show on the radio right now, if they if 324 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:55,560 Speaker 1: they're affected. Okay, well, we have a few more stories 325 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: to cover, but before we get to that, let's take 326 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:08,119 Speaker 1: another quick break. Okay, time to wrap up the stories 327 00:20:08,160 --> 00:20:11,320 Speaker 1: for today. One of those is that SpaceX recently lost 328 00:20:11,359 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: around forty of its Starlink satellites due to a solar storm. Now, 329 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: let's break that down so we can understand what we're 330 00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: talking about. First. What is starlink. Starlink is space X 331 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:26,399 Speaker 1: is satellite based Internet provider service. The idea being that 332 00:20:26,440 --> 00:20:30,800 Speaker 1: you launched thousands of these tiny satellites into orbit enough 333 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: so that there's consistent coverage over the service areas at 334 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: any given time of day, and customers down on the 335 00:20:38,320 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: ground will use satellite dishes that will tune in and 336 00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 1: then track satellites, uh switching between satellites when when they're 337 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: starting to pass out of view, and maintain a satellite 338 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:56,760 Speaker 1: based Internet connection, which is obviously slower or at least 339 00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,720 Speaker 1: less responsive, is a lot more latency than you would 340 00:20:59,760 --> 00:21:03,240 Speaker 1: get with say, fiber, but in a lot of rural 341 00:21:03,280 --> 00:21:07,840 Speaker 1: areas it's the only real method you can get to 342 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: get Internet. Heck, I have a little house where that's 343 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: the case, and I just don't have Internet. They're not 344 00:21:14,880 --> 00:21:17,760 Speaker 1: by choice, but by the fact that I don't have 345 00:21:17,760 --> 00:21:22,840 Speaker 1: any options really. So the company has already launched thousands 346 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:27,120 Speaker 1: of small satellites into low Earth orbit to provide coverage 347 00:21:27,119 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: for customers, and right now there are very few customers. 348 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:34,320 Speaker 1: It's more or less in a limited rollout. Solar storms, then, 349 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:37,120 Speaker 1: are events in which we get a burst of radiation 350 00:21:37,160 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 1: and sometimes particles that are sent out from the Sun. 351 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:44,800 Speaker 1: So these can sometimes but not always, include coronal mass 352 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 1: ejections or c m s. But in any event, a 353 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:50,600 Speaker 1: solar storm means that the Earth gets hit by a 354 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:56,119 Speaker 1: burst of energy and sometimes particles, and fortunately our magneto 355 00:21:56,160 --> 00:21:59,000 Speaker 1: sphere and our atmosphere do a pretty good job of 356 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: shielding us down here on the surface unless it's like 357 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:05,280 Speaker 1: really intense, and then we can get things like blackouts 358 00:22:05,280 --> 00:22:08,359 Speaker 1: and stuff. Most of the time we're okay, though, but 359 00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: for stuff in space it's a different matter. They're outside 360 00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,840 Speaker 1: of those protective barriers for the most part, and the 361 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,639 Speaker 1: energy can overwhelm electrical systems in space or pose as 362 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:22,720 Speaker 1: a potential health hazard to astronauts who might get dangerous 363 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:26,720 Speaker 1: doses of radiation like gamma radiation and stuff. So that's 364 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:29,280 Speaker 1: something that we've always been concerned with. But in this case, 365 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:34,159 Speaker 1: the solar storm appears to have increased atmospheric drag, and 366 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:39,200 Speaker 1: you might think, hey, space don't got no atmosphere, and yeah, 367 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,160 Speaker 1: in deep space, that's true. There's no atmosphere here on Earth. 368 00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,119 Speaker 1: Once you get above a hundred kilometers in altitude or 369 00:22:45,160 --> 00:22:48,119 Speaker 1: sixty two miles up, you reach a point where the 370 00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: atmosphere is typically too thin for any aerodynamic lift among 371 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:58,640 Speaker 1: other things. There are other markers for that altitude as well. However, 372 00:22:59,520 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: that doesn't mean that the atmosphere just stops above a 373 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:07,000 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers. There still is atmosphere further out, though obviously 374 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: it gets progressively thinner. There's more space between molecules as 375 00:23:11,080 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: you continue to go higher an altitude. The operational altitude 376 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,199 Speaker 1: for Starling satellites is at five fifty kilometers or three 377 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: d forty miles out from the Earth, but even at 378 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:27,280 Speaker 1: that altitude there is still atmospheric drag. In fact, SpaceX 379 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: depends upon atmospheric drag because the idea is that these 380 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:34,840 Speaker 1: satellites will have a limited shelf life and they will 381 00:23:34,880 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: eventually break down and stop operating. So they're at an 382 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:43,400 Speaker 1: orbit where atmospheric drag will cause the orbit to decay. 383 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: The satellite will slow down and start to fall back 384 00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,960 Speaker 1: to Earth eventually, not immediately, but over the course of years. 385 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: And these satellites are small enough that they will just 386 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 1: disintegrate upon re entry. Nothing should survive re entry at all, 387 00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:00,640 Speaker 1: so there shouldn't be any danger of it like colliding 388 00:24:00,640 --> 00:24:04,400 Speaker 1: with anything here on Earth, and that way, these satellites 389 00:24:04,440 --> 00:24:08,240 Speaker 1: won't just sit there up in space cluttering it up forever. However, 390 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:12,240 Speaker 1: in this case, forty out of forty nine satellites that 391 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,760 Speaker 1: were recently launched and were on their way to their 392 00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:19,600 Speaker 1: operational orbit experienced increased drag that slowed them down enough 393 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,400 Speaker 1: to cause them to re enter earlier than desired, so 394 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:28,840 Speaker 1: they went coutput. Speaking of SpaceX and Starlink, NASA submitted 395 00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:31,520 Speaker 1: a statement to the Federal Communications Commission, or f c 396 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: C here in the United States, saying that the agency 397 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 1: is a little bit concerned about Starlink's future plans, which 398 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:43,359 Speaker 1: include launching thirty thousand satellites into low Earth orbit. Starlink 399 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:46,280 Speaker 1: had received the go ahead for twelve thousand satellites in 400 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:49,840 Speaker 1: its initial run, but now it's looking at second generation 401 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:52,439 Speaker 1: of satellites, you know, like thirty thousand of them, and 402 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: NASA has cited concerns that putting so many small satellites 403 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,639 Speaker 1: into low Earth orbit could cause complications for future space missions, 404 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 1: as they could potentially increase quote the frequency of conjunction 405 00:25:04,840 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: events end quote. That is, they could be in the 406 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,959 Speaker 1: way and at best that could cause a mission delay 407 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: as launch determines, oh, we can't launch because this is 408 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:19,080 Speaker 1: going to put the payload in the path of one 409 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,119 Speaker 1: of these satellites. At worst, it could mean that you 410 00:25:22,160 --> 00:25:26,880 Speaker 1: are creating the potential for collisions and those can be catastrophic. Now, 411 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,320 Speaker 1: these Starlet Link satellites are pretty small, but you gotta 412 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:33,840 Speaker 1: remember everything up in orbit is moving wicked fast, and 413 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:36,560 Speaker 1: momentum is a heck of a thing. Momentum is not 414 00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:41,960 Speaker 1: just your mass, it's also acceleration. And if you're accelerating 415 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: super fast, then even if it's small, it's going to 416 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:50,840 Speaker 1: cause a massive amount of of impact because of that 417 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:57,719 Speaker 1: conservation of momentum. Anyway, several astrophysicists have been expressing concerns 418 00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:00,879 Speaker 1: about plans like starlink, because you know, it's not just 419 00:26:01,240 --> 00:26:03,879 Speaker 1: SpaceX that's doing this. I don't want to suggest that 420 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,680 Speaker 1: there are other companies that are also looking into launching 421 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 1: thousands of satellites in order to create these sorts of services, 422 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: and that could potentially make it harder for earthbound astronomers 423 00:26:16,320 --> 00:26:21,720 Speaker 1: to get any work done without interference. One astrophysicist, Jonathan McDowell, 424 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: has recommended that maybe we take things a little bit 425 00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:28,520 Speaker 1: slowly and see how we can work with a few 426 00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:33,320 Speaker 1: thousand operating satellites and find out how that affects astronomical 427 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: observations before we open the floodgates to tens of thousands 428 00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: of them. And we're gonna stay with space for our 429 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:44,400 Speaker 1: final story. Last month, a representative from exo Analytic Solutions 430 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: detected something kind of interesting out there in space. So 431 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:51,119 Speaker 1: exo Analytic is a private company here in the United 432 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:54,840 Speaker 1: States that uses optic telescopes around the world to track 433 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:58,520 Speaker 1: the position of various satellites in orbit, which, as I 434 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: was just indicating, that's important if you want to say 435 00:27:01,800 --> 00:27:06,560 Speaker 1: avoid collisions and delays and stuff. Anyway, the rep explained 436 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 1: that in January of this year, a satellite called s 437 00:27:10,200 --> 00:27:15,480 Speaker 1: J one, which is a Chinese satellite, mosey don up 438 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:20,120 Speaker 1: to another Chinese satellite called Compass G two. Now Compass 439 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 1: G two has been in orbit since two thousand nine, 440 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: and it was intended to be part of a navigation system, 441 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: but it stopped working not long after it had been 442 00:27:29,960 --> 00:27:34,920 Speaker 1: launched and has just been dead weight or dead weightless, 443 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:40,359 Speaker 1: which that dead joke does almost works but doesn't quite whatever. Anyway, 444 00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:45,800 Speaker 1: s J twenty one approached this dead satellite, apparently connected 445 00:27:45,840 --> 00:27:49,080 Speaker 1: to it, and then the two moved off together, and 446 00:27:49,119 --> 00:27:53,240 Speaker 1: then the dead satellite was tossed toward a different orbit 447 00:27:53,280 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: three kilometers away, an orbit that's out of the way 448 00:27:56,520 --> 00:27:58,760 Speaker 1: of other stuff. I've seen it referred to as a 449 00:27:58,840 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 1: graveyard orbit. It. So the conclusion this rep from Exo 450 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,520 Speaker 1: Analytics made, and which I should add this is a 451 00:28:07,560 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: conclusion that has not been verified by China, but then 452 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 1: that's no surprise. The conclusion is that the s J 453 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: twenty one satellite was acting as a space tugboat pulling 454 00:28:17,040 --> 00:28:21,360 Speaker 1: the dead satellite away before the SJ one satellite then 455 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:24,680 Speaker 1: would return to its operational orbit, which is a geo 456 00:28:24,720 --> 00:28:28,560 Speaker 1: stationary orbit above the Congo Basin. Now a lot of 457 00:28:28,560 --> 00:28:31,520 Speaker 1: countries are creating special spacecraft that are intended to do 458 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:34,840 Speaker 1: something similar to this. Uh. The idea being that they 459 00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:37,840 Speaker 1: could be used to cut way back on the space 460 00:28:37,920 --> 00:28:41,520 Speaker 1: junk that's in orbit and continuously poses a threat to 461 00:28:41,600 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: space operations and astronomy and such. And of course there's 462 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,920 Speaker 1: also some concern that countries that are developing this tech 463 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: could lead to weaponizing it, where a space capable country 464 00:28:54,400 --> 00:28:58,720 Speaker 1: launches a spacecraft like this to not move one of 465 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:01,160 Speaker 1: their satellites out of the way, but to target and 466 00:29:01,400 --> 00:29:05,720 Speaker 1: enemies satellite infrastructure. So imagine using something like this to 467 00:29:05,800 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: go after the communications satellites that supports, say the United States. 468 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:12,640 Speaker 1: So far, countries do not seem to be, at least 469 00:29:12,640 --> 00:29:17,080 Speaker 1: outwardly pursuing this as a legit strategy, but I thought 470 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: it was neat anyway. That is the news for Thursday, 471 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:24,680 Speaker 1: February twenty twenty two. I hope you are all well. 472 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:27,880 Speaker 1: If you have suggestions for topics that I should cover 473 00:29:27,880 --> 00:29:31,080 Speaker 1: in future, episodes of tech Stuff, please reach out. The 474 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:33,120 Speaker 1: best way to do that is on Twitter. The handle 475 00:29:33,160 --> 00:29:36,400 Speaker 1: for the show is tech Stuff hs W and I'll 476 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 1: talk to you again, Really Sick. Tech Stuff is an 477 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:48,800 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 478 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:52,280 Speaker 1: visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 479 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:53,880 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.