Back Channel — Santa Fires On Russian Targets, Chipped Registration Plates In Indonesia Delayed, Space Burps, And More
By John Oncea, Editor
Back Channel presents the most captivating news and innovations in RF and microwaves. This week, we look at how radio signals are being used to learn more about asteroids, one company’s $5 million private placement, and more.
A powerful transmitter in remote Alaska sent long wavelength radio signals into space to bounce them off an asteroid to learn about its interior, according to Alaska Native News. Results of the experiment at the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program research facility at Gakona could aid efforts to defend Earth from larger asteroids that could cause significant damage. Amateur scientists from around the world reported receiving the outgoing transmission, said Jessica Matthews, HAARP’s program manager. ”Our collaboration with JPL is not only an opportunity to do great science but also involves the global community of citizen scientists,” she said. “So far we have received over 300 reception reports from the amateur radio and radio astronomy communities from six continents who confirmed the HAARP transmission.”
Thin-film technologies that rely on alternative semiconductor materials, including nanocarbon allotropes and metal oxides, could contribute to a more environmentally sustainable internet of things, a KAUST-led study suggests. This according to The Engineer. Large-area electronics have recently emerged as an alternative to conventional silicon-based technologies due to progress in solution-based processing, which has made devices and circuits easier to print on flexible, large-area substrates. They can be produced at low temperatures and on biodegradable substrates such as paper, which makes them more eco-friendly than their silicon-based counterparts.
Tempo.co reports that a proposed installation of chips on a vehicle’s registration plate in Indonesia has been put on hold. “The chips will not be implemented this year; the idea is still in the planning stage. The chips will be utilized after the change on the registration plate color has been carried out,” Brigadier general Yusri Yunus said. The eventual use of a chip on the vehicle registration plate could facilitate access to vehicle data by officers or through electronic ticket cameras. Thus, vehicles that violate traffic can be swiftly identified.
Guerrilla RF, Inc. (OTCQX: GUER), a fabless semiconductor company, announced the initial closing of its private placement, providing gross proceeds of approximately $5 million, not including any additional proceeds that may be received upon further closings or the exercise of warrants. “The successful execution of this offering is a testament to the opportunity that our investors see in the Company,” said Ryan Pratt, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Guerrilla RF. “Since 2020, we have grown the number of new products launched and also dramatically developed our GPS navigation and IoT Sales. The funds raised through this offering will be used to fund the Company’s new headquarters and also support our continued growth.”
Excuse me. A team of scientists has unveiled the secret to a burping black hole with the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) according to HotHardware. Supermassive black holes are tremendously dense objects buried in the hearts of galaxies, while smaller black holes exist throughout galaxies. Scientists and astronomers using the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope took a deeper dive into a supermassive black hole located in galaxy cluster MS0735. The latest information is the deepest high-fidelity SZ imaging yet of the thermodynamic state of cavities in a galaxy cluster and reinforces previous discoveries that at least some of the pressure support in the cavities is from non-thermal sources, such as cosmic rays, relativistic particles, and turbulence.
Ho, ho, ho? According to The EurAsian Times, a Ukrainian MiG-29 fighter jet was spotted firing the AGM-88 HARM against Russian targets. The video posted by Ukraine’s defense shows a pilot dressed as Santa firing two AGM-88 HARM air-to-surface anti-radiation missiles.