On October 22nd 2016, AT&T agreed to buy Time Warner Inc for $85.4 billion. Time Warner owns multiple media properties which include HBO, CNN, Warner Brothers, TBS, TNT and others. The sale of Time Warner follows the deal that brought Comcast and NBC/Universal together and serves to further consolidate the communications and entertainment industries.
With the growth of wireless beginning to slow, AT&T has been looking to expand into the entertainment business. In 2015, it acquired Direct TV for $49 billion. It recently announced that it will be releasing its own Direct TV Now, live TV streaming service. The service will offer 100 channels for $35 month and will allow AT&T an opportunity to compete with other streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu and YouTube.
While this would potentially be the largest media deal in recent memory, it still has to be approved by federal regulators. This could take as much, if not more than a year, as did the Comcast/Universal deal. Some competitors are already sounding the alarm bell. However, AT&T has played down the possibility of a regulatory roadblock, citing that the company is not eliminating a competitor, but acquiring a supplier.
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Bob Dylan Wins A Nobel Prize
On October 13th 2016, the Swedish Academy announced that it had awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to singer, songwriter, Bob Dylan. The win makes Mr Dylan the first musician and the first American to win the award since it was bestowed on novelist Tony Morrison won in 1993. The Honor also puts him in the company of T.S. Eliot, Samuel Beckett, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Mr Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth Minnesota in 1941. He started playing guitar at age 14 and used that skill to join local high school bands. Later, he changed his name to Dylan after the poet Dylan Thomas and began to perform folk music. He he moved to New York in 1961, and a year later he released his first album entitled "Bob Dylan."
As a prolific singer, songwriter and multi instrumentalist, Mr Dylan went on to produce many successful albums including, "Blonde on Blonde, "Blood on the Tracks," and Highway 61 Revisited. He has had many hits including, "Blowin In the Wind," and the iconic "Like a Rolling stone." He once credited himself with ending the days of Tin Pan Alley by opening the door for other artists to record their own songs.
Mr Dylan was born Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth Minnesota in 1941. He started playing guitar at age 14 and used that skill to join local high school bands. Later, he changed his name to Dylan after the poet Dylan Thomas and began to perform folk music. He he moved to New York in 1961, and a year later he released his first album entitled "Bob Dylan."
As a prolific singer, songwriter and multi instrumentalist, Mr Dylan went on to produce many successful albums including, "Blonde on Blonde, "Blood on the Tracks," and Highway 61 Revisited. He has had many hits including, "Blowin In the Wind," and the iconic "Like a Rolling stone." He once credited himself with ending the days of Tin Pan Alley by opening the door for other artists to record their own songs.
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
European Space Agency Gears Up For Schiaparelli's Mars Landing
On October 9th 2016, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced that it expects its ExoMars spacecraft to arrive in Mars orbit on Wednesday October 19th 2016. The spacecraft consists of two vehicles, the Trace Gas Orbiter and the Schiaparelli lander. The two vehicles will separate on October 16th as Schiaparelli prepares for its descent to its Meridani landing site on the Martian surface.
The Schiaparelli lander, is named after Giovanni Schiaparelli who was first to observe what he called "canali" or canals on Mars. The lander is basically a demonstrator and its function on this mission is to serve as a trial of procedures and technologies that be will used in future Mars missions. Schiaparelli has a small science package that will be used to measure the wind speed, temperature, humidity and the electric fields of Mars.
While Schiaparelli works on the ground, the Trace Gas Orbiter will carry out its part of the mission from a 400km high orbit. Its science payload features instruments that are designed to detect atmospheric trace gases such as methane, nitrogen oxides, acetylene, and water vapor. It will also keep track of seasonal changes in the atmospheric composition and temperature of Mars, so that detailed models can be created.
The ESA says that this ExoMars mission is the first of two parts. The second part will be the landing a robotic rover that is expected to touch down on the Red Planet in 2021.
The Schiaparelli lander, is named after Giovanni Schiaparelli who was first to observe what he called "canali" or canals on Mars. The lander is basically a demonstrator and its function on this mission is to serve as a trial of procedures and technologies that be will used in future Mars missions. Schiaparelli has a small science package that will be used to measure the wind speed, temperature, humidity and the electric fields of Mars.
While Schiaparelli works on the ground, the Trace Gas Orbiter will carry out its part of the mission from a 400km high orbit. Its science payload features instruments that are designed to detect atmospheric trace gases such as methane, nitrogen oxides, acetylene, and water vapor. It will also keep track of seasonal changes in the atmospheric composition and temperature of Mars, so that detailed models can be created.
The ESA says that this ExoMars mission is the first of two parts. The second part will be the landing a robotic rover that is expected to touch down on the Red Planet in 2021.
Wednesday, October 5, 2016
Rosetta Spacecraft Goes End Of Mission
On September 30th 2016, The European Space Agency's (ESA) Rosetta spacecraft officially ended its mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by crash landing on it. The history making mission officially came to an end at 7:19am EDT as its last images were sent back, seconds before it touched down on the comet's surface. The spacecraft had orbited comet 67/P sending back valuable science data for the past two years.
Rosetta entered orbit around comet 67/P in August of 2014. Several months later it sent down a robot lander called Philae. The lander, however, was lost when its tethering hooks failed to keep it grounded to the comet's surface and it end up in a ravine facing a rock cliff. Philae's solar panels were unable to keep the lander charged. Eventually the radio Rosetta used to stay in contact with the lander was shut down to save power.
While Rosetta orbited comet 67/P, it was able to determine that the water ice on the comet was a different "flavor" then that of the Earth. Comet 67/P's water ice has a higher ratio of deuterium to hydrogen, suggesting that it's very likely that Earth's water did not come from a crashing comet. Rosetta's CONCERT instrument discovered that the comet is composed of loose bits of rock and ice melted together.
Rosetta's biggest find was the detection of organic materials such as phosphorus. Phosphorus is important in cell walls, DNA, and the amino acid glycine. Glycine is important for the building of proteins, which are essential to the formation of life.
Rosetta entered orbit around comet 67/P in August of 2014. Several months later it sent down a robot lander called Philae. The lander, however, was lost when its tethering hooks failed to keep it grounded to the comet's surface and it end up in a ravine facing a rock cliff. Philae's solar panels were unable to keep the lander charged. Eventually the radio Rosetta used to stay in contact with the lander was shut down to save power.
While Rosetta orbited comet 67/P, it was able to determine that the water ice on the comet was a different "flavor" then that of the Earth. Comet 67/P's water ice has a higher ratio of deuterium to hydrogen, suggesting that it's very likely that Earth's water did not come from a crashing comet. Rosetta's CONCERT instrument discovered that the comet is composed of loose bits of rock and ice melted together.
Rosetta's biggest find was the detection of organic materials such as phosphorus. Phosphorus is important in cell walls, DNA, and the amino acid glycine. Glycine is important for the building of proteins, which are essential to the formation of life.
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