5G Networks May Arrive In 2019

On October 17th 2019. Qualcomm, Verizon, and Novatel Wireless announced that they are moving forward with their 5G New Radio (NR) speed trials in an effort to bring 5G mobile networks to the masses by the end of 2019. The new 5G networks will use Millimeter Wave Technology, which uses the millimeter band of the spectrum between 30 gigahertz and 300 GHZ. 5G (NR) is an effort of 3GPP or (Third Generation Partnership Project), which is working on a global 5G standard.

Windows Fall Creators Update Has Arrived

On October 17th 2017. Microsoft began the roll out of its Fall Creators Update. This update, preciously code named Redstone 4, is considered a big one, with a long list of features that include, My People, Story Remix, Paint 3D, Windows Mixed reality, and Fluent Design. This will be the fourth feature update since Windows 10's original release two years ago. Its Microsoft's intention to continue releasing updates twice yearly on into the future.

Miles Davis And Deep Purple Are Recorded On DNA

On October 2nd 2017, researchers at the University of Washington, Microsoft, and Twist Bioscience, announced that they had successfully recorded "Smoke On The Water," by Deep Purple and "Tutu," by Miles Davis onto synthetic DNA. The two songs were archived recordings from the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland. Dr Karen Strauss, senior researcher for Microsoft said, "The amount of DNA used to store these songs is much smaller than a grain of sand."

The process of storing files to DNA starts with a digital file of the music. The researchers then turn the 1s and 0s into the genetic code or nucleotide bases that make up DNA. Those nucleotides are Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine and go by the letters, A, G, C, and T. These chemicals pair up to create base pairs that form long strands that form a spiral structure, that's known as the double helix.

Each segment created containes 12 bytes of data along with a sequence number which is used to indicate the location of specific data within the DNA file. To decode the DNA file, the As, Cs, Ts, and Gs are converted back into 1s and 0s, which can be played as a standard digital file. At present, this method is a proof of concept project. However, researchers believe that as the cost of DNA sequencing comes down, the storage process will become more available to consumers.

Another Asteroid Will Pass Close To The Earth

On October 3rd 2017, it was announced that an asteroid about the size of 30 to 100 feet in size is due to pass close to the Earth on October 12th 2017. The asteroid, named 2012 TC4 is approaching the Earth at a speed of 30,000 mph. It is not expected to strike the Earth. It will, however, come within 27,000 miles, or about one eight of the distance from the Earth to the Moon, as it passes. Asteroid TC4 was first discovered in 2012.

Subscriptions Help Increase Music Industry Earnings

On September 20th 2017, the Recording Industry Association of America announced in its mid year report that more than 30.4 million Americans now get their music through a streaming subscription service. That number is up 20.2 million since the first half of  2016. An estimate of overall retail recorded music sales was up 17% in the first half of 2017, to the tune of $4 billion dollars. While this reflects a growth trend that started in 2016, the report makes it clear that it is still below the levels seen in 1999.

Digital revenue accounted for $3.2 billion which was 84% of the industry's total value, and represented an increase of 21% over the first half of 2016. 62% of this years $4 billion revenue increase came as the result of streaming which amounted to $2.5 billion. Digital downloads sales represented 19% of total revenue but continued to decline, selling $757 million which was down 24% from 2016.

Sales from physical media, which include CDs, represented 16% of the total revenue pie. This was down but only by 1% no doubt due to the increase in the interest in vinyl. Paid subscription services on their own managed to pull in  $1.7 billion and provided the music industry with 43% of it total revenues. Ad based on demand streaming was up 34% with sales of $273 million. 

Apple Introduces The iPhone X With Face ID

On September 12th 2017, at its annual product event, Apple announced the release of the new Apple Watch series 3, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and the much talked about iPhone X (pronounced iPhone 10). The big news is that the iPhone X is all screen. This allows the iPhone X to remain the same size as an iPhone 8. The larger 5.8 inch screen features a "super retina" display and also offers "Face ID," to unlock a users phone.

Apple's Face ID works by using a set of light projectors to illuminate your face and infrared sensors that scan your face. These technologies in combination are what Apple is calling its,  "True Depth Sensor." To set up Face ID a user takes several photos of their face from different angles. This is done so that the infrared scanner can build a 3D representation of your face. 30,000 dots of IR light are used to capture the complexity of a human face.

Face ID will only be found on the iPhone X and will not only be used to unlock a users phone but also to authorize payments. The iPhone X will come in two colors, gray and silver. The cost of a new iPhone X will depend on which memory storage capacity you choose. The 64GB configuration sells for $999, while the 256GB model will be sold for $1,149. Apple will start taking preorders on October 27 2017, with shipping of iPhone X's to start on November 3rd.

Cassini Probe Goes End Of Mission

On September 15th 2017, NASA's Cassini Spacecraft  will end its mission to explore the planet Saturn. With its fuel supply depleted, NASA has decided not to allow the spacecraft to drift endlessly through space, but to depose of Cassini in a a more proper, complete, and fitting way. NASA instead has sent Cassini on a months long death spiral called, "The Grad Finale," before crashing the spacecraft into the atmosphere of Saturn.

Cassini was a $3.2 billion mission which was launched on October 15th 1997. It was a joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency, and The Italian Space Agency. Its purpose was to explore the planet Saturn and its moons. It carried with it the Huygens Probe. Cassini reached Saturn on June 30th 2004. On January 14th 2005, Huygens successfully landed on Saturn's moon, Titan. Cassini has spent the last 13 years making an array of scientific discoveries.

During its mission, Cassini discovered geysers of water vapor coming from the south pole of Saturn's moon Enceladus. This caused researchers to conclude that the moon possessed an ocean of liquid water beneath its icy surface, and that that ocean may contain life. On Titan, Cassini discovered lakes of liquid hydrocarbons, most notably (methane). While temperatures on Titan are extremely cold, some scientists believe that microbial life may exist there as well. 

Mission controllers at Jet Propulsion Laboratories (JPL) have been maneuvering Cassini into position for the "Grand Finale," since April 2017. They've been using close flybys of Saturn's moon Titan, in order to use it gravity to alter Cassini's trajectory. This has caused Cassini to dive between Saturn's rings. After 22 of these orbits, at 6:31 am ET on September 15th 2017, Cassini will interface with Saturn's atmosphere where the probe will finish its mission as it disintegrates.