[Fox News] China launches lunar probe to take samples from far side of the moon
China on Friday launched a lunar probe to land on the far side of the moon and return with samples that could provide insights into differences between the less-explored region and the better-known near side.
It is the latest advance in China’s increasingly sophisticated space exploration program, which is now competing with the U.S., still the leader in space.
China also has a three-member crew on its own orbiting space station and aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030. Three Chinese lunar probe missions are planned over the next four years.
Free from exposure to Earth and other interference, the moon’s somewhat mysterious far side is ideal for radio astronomy and other scientific work. Because the far side never faces Earth, a relay satellite is needed to maintain communications.
The rocket carrying the Chang’e-6 lunar probe — named after the Chinese mythical moon goddess — lifted off Friday at 5:27 p.m. as planned from the Wenchang launch center on the island province of Hainan. About 35 minutes later it separated entirely from the massive Long March-5 rocket — China’s largest — that had slung it into space, as technicians monitoring the launch from ground control smiled and applauded.
Shortly afterward, launch mission commander Zhang Zuosheng took to a podium at the front of the room and said the launch had gone off exactly as planned and the spacecraft was on its set trajectory. “I declare this launch mission a complete success,” Zhang said to further applause.
The Philippine Space Agency issued a statement saying expected debris from the rocket launch was “projected to have fallen within the identified drop zones.”
China in 2021 was forced to defend its handling of a rocket booster that burned up over the Indian Ocean after the administrator of the American space agency and others accused Beijing of acting recklessly by allowing its rocket to fall to Earth seemingly uncontrolled after the mission.
Huge numbers of people crowded Hainan’s beaches to view the launch, which comes in the middle of China’s five-day May Day holiday. As with previous recent launches, the event was televised live by state broadcaster CCTV.
After orbiting the moon to reduce speed, the lander will separate from the spacecraft and within 48 hours of setting down it will begin drilling into the lunar surface and scooping up samples with its robotic arm. With the samples sealed in a container, it will then reconnect with the returner for the trip back to Earth. The entire mission is set to last 53 days.
China in 2020 returned samples from the moon’s near side, the first time anyone has done so since the U.S. Apollo program that ended in the 1970s. Analysis of the samples found they contained water in tiny beads embedded in lunar dirt.
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Also in the past week, three Chinese astronauts returned home from a six-month mission on the country’s orbiting space station after the arrival of its replacement crew.
China built its own space station after being excluded from the International Space Station, largely because of U.S. concerns over the Chinese military’s total control of the space program amid a sharpening competition in technology between the two geopolitical rivals. U.S. law bars almost all cooperation between the U.S. and Chinese space programs without explicit congressional approval.
Faced with such limitations, China has expanded cooperation with other countries and agencies. The latest mission carries scientific instruments from France, Italy and the European Space Agency in cooperation with Sweden. A small Pakistani satellite is also on board.
China’s ambitious space program aims to put astronauts on the moon by 2030, as well as bring back samples from Mars around the same year and launch three lunar probe missions over the next four years. The next is scheduled for 2027.
Longer-term plans call for a permanent crewed base on the lunar surface, although those appear to remain in the conceptual phase.
China conducted its first crewed space mission in 2003, becoming the third country after the former Soviet Union and the U.S. to put a person into space using its own resources.
The three-module Tiangong, much smaller than the ISS, was launched in 2021 and completed 18 months later. It can accommodate up to six astronauts at a time and is mainly dedicated to scientific research. The crew will also install space debris protection equipment, carry out payload experiments, and beam science classes to students on Earth.
China has also said that it eventually plans to offer access to its space station to foreign astronauts and space tourists. With the ISS nearing the end of its useful life, China could eventually be the only country or corporation to maintain a crewed station in orbit.
The U.S. space program is believed to still hold a significant edge over China’s due to its spending, supply chains and capabilities.
The U.S. aims to put a crew back on the lunar surface by the end of 2025 as part of a renewed commitment to crewed missions, aided by private sector players such as SpaceX and Blue Origin. They plan to land on the moon’s south pole where permanently shadowed craters are believed to be packed with frozen water.
[Fox News] Scientists discover thick atmosphere enveloping rocky so-called ‘super Earth’ planet
A thick atmosphere has been detected around a planet that’s twice as big as Earth in a nearby solar system, researchers reported Wednesday.
The so-called super Earth — known as 55 Cancri e — is among the few rocky planets outside our solar system with a significant atmosphere, wrapped a blanket of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide. The exact amounts are unclear. Earth’s atmosphere is a blend of nitrogen, oxygen, argon and other gases.
“It’s probably the firmest evidence yet that this planet has an atmosphere,” said Ian Crossfield, an astronomer at the University of Kansas who studies exoplanets and was not involved with the research.
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The research was published in the journal Nature.
Super Earth refers to a planet’s size — bigger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. The boiling temperatures on this planet — which can reach as hot as 4,200 degrees Fahrenheit – mean that it is unlikely to host life.
Instead, scientists say the discovery is a promising sign that other such rocky planets with thick atmospheres could exist that may be more hospitable.
The exoplanet 41 light years away is eight times heavier than Earth and circles its star Copernicus so closely that it has permanent day and night sides. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. Its surface is encrusted with magma oceans.
To identify the makeup of its atmosphere, researchers studied Webb Space Telescope observations before and after the planet passed behind its star.
They separated the light emitted from the planet versus its star and used the data to calculate the planet’s temperature. There’s evidence the planet’s heat was being distributed more evenly across its surface – a party trick atmospheres are known for.
Gases from its magma oceans may play a key role in holding its atmosphere steady. Exploring this super Earth may also yield clues to how Earth and Mars might have evolved first with magma oceans that have since cooled, scientists say.
“It’s a rare window,” said Renyu Hu, a planetary scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, who was part of the research. “We can look into this early phase of planet evolution.”
[Fox News] How to hide apps on your Android to keep them secret
In the age of digital privacy, it’s crucial to keep your personal information safe and secure. I’m passionate about protecting your privacy and security.
That’s why you should know that one way to protect your privacy on your Android device is by hiding the apps you don’t want others to access.
Let’s walk through the process together. (For iPhone users, follow these steps.)
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First things first, grab your Android, and let’s get started.
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Settings may vary depending on your Android phone’s manufacturer.
What if you need to use one of your hidden apps? No problem:
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With these simple steps, you can enjoy greater peace of mind knowing your personal apps are tucked away from view. Remember, privacy is your right, and Android has the tools to help you maintain it.
In what ways do you think app developers or device manufacturers could improve mobile privacy? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you’d like us to cover.
Answers to the most asked CyberGuy questions:
Copyright 2024 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved.
[Fox Business] Inflation has majority of retirees worried they will outlive their assets
After years of elevated inflation that continues to chip away at the value of a dollar, a majority of retired Americans are worried they do not have sufficient savings to sustain themselves through the entirety of their golden years.
A new survey of 2,000 U.S. retirees released by Schroders found 68% are concerned about outliving their assets, and less than half (44%) believe they have saved enough.
The report stated that the rising prices are “taking a toll” on Americans who are in retirement, finding that 89% of respondents are concerned over inflation lessening the value of their assets.
Eighty-five percent said they are concerned about higher-than-expected health care costs, and 76% said they are concerned about a major market downturn that would significantly reduce their assets.
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One out of three retirees told Schroders they are concerned that financial stress will affect their overall health, and 26% said they have lost sleep while worrying about their financial situation.
“Whether it’s a trip to the gas station, grocery store or pharmacy, prices in the U.S. have increased noticeably in recent years, and that is particularly challenging for retirees living on fixed income sources,” said Deb Boyden, head of U.S. defined contribution at Schroders. “The challenges facing retirees today are further evidence of the retirement savings crisis.”
According to the report, nearly half (47%) of all retirees said their expenses in retirement are higher than they expected, and 49% believed Medicare would cover more of their health care expenses.
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The inflation rate ballooned from 1.4% in January 2021 to 9.1% in June 2022. While it has since declined to 3.5% as of March 2024, it remains above the Federal Reserve’s target rate of 2%.
From January 2021 to March 2024, overall inflation (seasonally adjusted) increased 18.9%. During the same period, all food costs rose 21% while shelter costs were up 20.5% and energy costs went up 36.9%.
The increased costs on everyday goods are wreaking havoc on Americans’ budgets, leaving low-income households most vulnerable – especially those on fixed incomes, including many retirees.
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But Americans of all age groups are feeling the squeeze, and that has experts concerned about both current and future retirees.
“In addition to eroding the spending power of retirees, inflation is making it harder for younger generations to save for the future,” Boyden told FOX Business. “This is particularly concerning as the safety net of corporate pension plans won’t be available for many in Gen X, Y and Z.”
[Fox Business] Percentage of US mortgages considered ‘seriously underwater’ rises
A new report finds that the percentage of U.S. mortgages considered to be “seriously underwater” rose in the first quarter of 2024, while the proportion of “equity-rich” mortgages fell for the third consecutive quarter.
The report by property and real estate data firm ATTOM found that the portion of mortgaged homes that were seriously underwater rose slightly in the first quarter of 2024 from 2.6% to 2.7% of all residential mortgages. It defines “seriously underwater” as mortgages with a loan-to-value ratio of 125% or more, meaning property owners owe at least 25% more than the estimated market value of the property.
The trend of seriously underwater mortgages increasing prevailed in 37 states during the first quarter, with the largest increases relative to the fourth quarter of 2023 coming in Kentucky, up from two percentage points to 8.3%; West Virginia, up one point to 5.4%; Oklahoma, up from 5.5% to 6.1%; Arkansas, up half a point to 5.7%; and Delaware, up from 2.3% to 2.7%.
There were also notable decreases in the percentage of seriously underwater mortgages in several states from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, including Missouri, down from 5.6% to 4.5%; Mississippi, down from 8% to 7.1%; Arizona, down from 1.9% to 1.6%; and Hawaii, down from 1.7% to 1.6%.
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States with the largest shares of seriously underwater mortgages were Louisiana (11.3%) and Wyoming (8.8%), followed by Kentucky, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The states with the smallest shares of seriously underwater mortgages were Vermont (0.8%), Rhode Island and New Hampshire (1.1% each), California (1.2%) and Massachusetts (1.3%).
Among 107 metropolitan areas with populations greater than 500,000 residents, the metros with the largest shares of mortgages that were seriously underwater were Baton Rouge (13.4%) and New Orleans (7.3%) in Louisiana, followed by Jackson, Mississippi, (6.5%), Little Rock, Arkansas, (6%) and Syracuse, New York (5.6%).
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The percentage of residential mortgages that were considered “equity-rich” – meaning that owners had a loan-to-value ratio of 50% or lower, so the owner has at least 50% equity – in Q1 2024 slid to 45.8%, a decline from 46.1% in the prior quarter and 47.2% from Q1 2023. That means the national proportion of equity-rich mortgages hit the lowest level in two years.
Equity-rich levels declined in 26 states on a quarterly basis and 25 states from the same quarter a year ago. The largest quarterly declines were mainly in Kentucky, 28.7% from 35.4%; South Carolina, 40% from 42.4%; Georgia, 43.7% from 46%; and Delaware, 37.2% from 39.4%.
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States where the level of equity-rich mortgages increased the most on a quarterly basis were South Dakota, up from 49.8% to 51.5%; Hawaii, up one and a half points to 56.5%; Montana, 57.3% to 58.7%; North Dakota, 30.4% to 31.5%; and Mississippi, up one point to 38.3%.
“Homeowner balance sheets continue to benefit in a huge way from the boom times in the form of elevated equity that can be used to finance all kinds of things, from home renovations to business startups,” ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in a statement. “Still, the windfalls are starting to erode bit by bit amid mounting signs that the market is no longer so superheated.”
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“It’s too early to make any broad statements about the market direction, especially coming off the typically slower Fall and Winter months. But amid the recent trends, this year’s Spring buying season will be of heightened importance in telling us if there is a new long-term market pattern developing,” Barber added.
[Fox News] Russian leader Mikhail Mishustin is reappointed by Putin as prime minister
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[Fox Business] ‘Cheers’ star John Ratzenberger warns: More skilled labor jobs are needed to ‘save civilization’
Actor John Ratzenberger is best known for playing roles like Cliff Clavin on “Cheers” or voicing “Hamm” the piggy bank in “Toy Story,” but his current passion is talking about skilled labor jobs and making sure people, especially younger generations, still have the ability to fix and build things.
The actor spoke to Fox News Digital this week about the importance of trade jobs and skilled laborers in society, which he says are not as valued in the public eye as they used to be.
“I’m trying to save civilization because civilization was built by people,” Ratzenberger said about the importance of speaking up about the need for these manufacturing jobs or these labor skills in the U.S.
He warned that society is currently raising people that don’t know how to use tools, change a tire, or “know how to fix your screen door,” which he said will have dire consequences for civilization.
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The current lack of manufacturing and skilled labor jobs in America has reached a critical point, especially in the years post-COVID-19.
According to a 2024 report by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute (MI), as many as 3.8 million additional employees will be needed in the manufacturing sector between 2024 and 2033 as current workers retire or change careers and new roles in the industry are created. However, only a fraction of that need may be met.
The report predicts that as many as half, or 1.9 million jobs, could remain unfilled if manufacturers aren’t able to address the skills and applicant gaps. Failing to fill those jobs could dim the prospects for companies to achieve future growth plans and hurt the U.S. manufacturing industry’s global competitiveness.
Ratzenberger, who was a carpenter before he became an actor, told Fox he has been warning about this shortage of labor skills.
“For the last 20 years,” he said. “I’ve been going around the country giving speeches and talks to anybody that’ll listen: really big organizations, I’ve gone to Congress twice, you know, to blow my clarion call, to say, ‘Folks, we’ve got to wake up.’”
“But that’s my fear, that the civilization will grind again, and can grind to a halt, because we’ve neglected to teach our children how to use tools,” he continued, saying, “We used to do it – middle school, seventh, eighth grade – we’d go to shop class and that was a blessing.”
The actor, who grew up around skilled workers in the factory town of Bridgeport, Connecticut, described when he noticed the cultural attitudes about skilled labor shift in the country.
He described seeing how people “in the 60s turned it all around and started looking down our nose at people who worked with their hands,” and noted that “more and more people were surprised and shocked” that he had carpentry skills or new how to build things.
“And it’s even gotten more severe now. There are people, believe it or not, who are 30, 40 years old who don’t know how to hang a picture on a wall. I’ve seen it,” he said.
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Ratzenberger explained why he thought this shift happened, chalking it up to how life has simply become more convenient.
“Well, everything’s gotten easier. I mean, you know, I’ve just made myself a cup of tea and I always, you know, marvel at the fact that I can just turn this little knob and clean water comes out. Alright. There was a time when there were probably people still alive who remember that didn’t happen. You know, you’ve got to go fetch the water and there’s a well or creek or – and there was a lot of intense labor that went into everything.”
Mentioning seeing cowboys in western movies, he added, “I always marvel at the fact that every person back then had to have a lot of skills. You had to know about horses, you had to know about raising animals, best chicken feed, working with leather, a blacksmith. You know, all the skills that person had was necessary for survival.”
“So, the easier things got, and the less people need to do those things, the less things we learned,” he explained, adding that “there’s certainly a lot of helpless people wandering around today.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Ratzenberger told Fox that the dignity of skilled laborers should be “elevated” in society because of the necessary work that they do.
“I avoid the term blue collar worker and just use essential worker,” the actor said.
“They’re essential… All the upper echelon elites couldn’t function without the essential workers. You know, I mean, the subway. You’ve got people inspecting and repairing the tracks. But you know those potholes that open up every now and swallow cars and houses? [those] come from the water systems [which] are over 100 years old and are springing leaks.”
“And there’s nobody in that system that knows how to fix it,” he said, adding, “There might be three or four, but there should be three or 400, right?”
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As part of his advocacy for more labor skills, Ratzenberger told Fox that he urges universities to start classes to teach people how to fix things, like an automotive repair class, for example.
“Everybody drives a car, so why not have one class on the functioning or the basis of a car? How does it work? How was the internal combustion engine work? What are pistons? What do they do? What’s the spark plug? Where? How does – where’d it come from? It didn’t fall out of a tree. Somebody put some time and effort into inventing it.”
For individuals looking to boost their labor skills, he recommended going out and finding one of these classes. He personally recommended a “boat building class” because it teaches people a wide variety of manufacturing skills, from working the wood to setting up the electrical wiring that supplies lighting on the boat.
He urged people to take “a class at your local high school, or go to a manual arts college or a high school.”
“Just learn how to do things. It’s not hard. It’s just muscle memory,” he declared.
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