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Trump administration hopes to privatize ISS after 2024
If the US government plans to stop funding the International Space Station at the end of 2024, there's a big question: what happens next? Hand the keys over to the private sector, apparently. The Washington Post has obtained a NASA document outlining a plan to privatize the ISS as part of a Trump administration budge request. The plan would request funding (starting with $150 million in fiscal 2019) to foster "commercial entities and capabilities" that could fill the ISS' role, potentially including "certain elements or capabilities" of the station itself.
NSA sent coded messages through Twitter
Spy agencies have a long history of using public outlets to deliver secret messages, such as numbers stations or cryptic classified ads. Now, however, they've adapted to the internet era. Both the New York Times and the Intercept have learned that the National Security Agency used Twitter to send "nearly a dozen" coded messages to a Russian contact claiming to have agency data stolen by the Shadow Brokers. Reportedly, the NSA would tell the Russian to expect public tweets in advance, either to signal an intent to make contact or to prove that it was involved and was open to further chats.
Trump team considers a government-run 5G network
How would you protect the US against Chinese cyberattacks? Would you push for stricter security standards, or new encryption technology? The Trump administration's national security team has another idea: a government-controlled 5G network. Axios has obtained documents showing that the team is pushing for a centralized, secure 5G network within 3 years. This would create a secure communications avenue for self-driving cars, AI, VR and other budding technologies. Just how it would be built is another story, however.
Trump signs bill extending NSA's warrantless surveillance
On Friday afternoon, just hours before Congress failed to avert a government shutdown, the President signed into law the "FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act of 2017." The bill passed the House and Senate earlier this week with the support of many Republicans and Democrats, offering only slight adjustments to Section 702, a law that oversees the NSA's ability to spy on "international terrorists, weapons proliferators, and other important foreign intelligence targets located outside the United States."
Trump to sign directive ordering NASA to return to the Moon
President Trump's administration hasn't been shy about wanting to put people back on the Moon, and now it's taking action to make sure that happens. In a statement, the White House said the President would sign Space Policy Directive 1, which orders NASA to lead an "innovative space exploration program" that sends astronauts to the Moon and, "eventually," Mars. Details of what the policy entails aren't available at this point, but the signing will take place at 3 PM ET. The date isn't an accident -- it's the 45th anniversary of the landing for the last crewed Moon mission, Apollo 17.
Twitter: An employee on their last day disabled Trump's account (updated)
No, you weren't hallucinating -- the President's personal Twitter account was unplugged earlier this evening. It disappeared, and then reappeared without warning or reason, however now Twitter is offering an explanation. The account was "inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee" for about 11 minutes before it was restored, so those hoping the company would turn it off for good are still left waiting. Update: Or... Maybe not. Now Twitter is saying that after an investigation, it appears this was done by a customer support employee on their last day. The tweet did not note if it was already the person's last day before or after they turned off the president's account.
Trump announces program to test drones beyond FAA regulations
President Trump and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao announced the Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Pilot Program today -- an initiative aimed at exploring expanded use of drones. While the Obama administration began allowing some drone activity to take place in US airspace, a fair amount of restrictions were still applicable. This new program, however, will allow companies and local governments to use drones in ways that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) currently doesn't allow. That includes "beyond-visual-line-of-sight flights, nighttime operations, and flights over people," as White House advisor Michael Kratsios said today.
Coal power plant closures ramp up in spite of White House plans
The Trump administration may hope that it can reverse coal power's decline by ending the Clean Power Plan and other eco-friendly efforts, but the industry's moves suggest otherwise. Luminant has announced plans to close three major coal plants in Texas (in Freestone, Milam and Titus counties) between January and February of 2018. The shutdowns will take a combined 4,200MW of power off the grid -- enough to run over 4 million homes, as Reuters notes. The news boosts the expected capacity of 2018 power plant closures to over 13,600MW, or a whopping 79 percent more than the known closures for this year. It's not a record high (nearly 18,000MW went offline in 2015), but it's clear that the trend is toward more closures, not fewer.
Trump says Apple CEO promised to build three factories in US
President Donald Trump told the Wall Street Journal that Apple CEO Tim Cook promised him the tech titan would build "three big plants, beautiful plants" in the US. He didn't elaborate on potential locations or construction dates for the manufacturing facilities, and Apple declined to comment on the subject to the Wall Street Journal.
Trump endorses FCC's plan to roll back net neutrality
After last week's heavily participated in Day of Action, where thousands of companies and groups spoke out against the FCC's plan to roll back regulations put in place in 2015, Press Secretary Sean Spicer was asked during a press briefing what the president thought of net neutrality. Spicer said he didn't know, which is a rather ridiculous response given all of the current attention the topic is getting.
61 US cities and three states vow to uphold Paris climate agreement
Shortly after Donald Trump told the world that the US would withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement, American cities and states vowed they would abide by the international compact anyway. At least 61 mayors followed through on a previous pledge to ignore Trump's decision and released a statement vowing to uphold the Paris accords. Meanwhile, the governors of California, New York and Washington announced they would form the "United States Climate Alliance" to do the same as a multi-state coalition.
Elon Musk leaves Trump’s council after US exits Paris climate pact
Today, president Donald Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the Paris Accord. As promised, Tesla CEO Elon Musk then announced that he would no longer be part of presidential councils based on Trump's decision.
Trump withdraws US from Paris climate change agreement
President Trump has announced that the US will be withdrawing from the Paris Accord. The president made the statement today from the White House Rose Garden. The international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions was made in 2015 and President Obama signed the US on last November. The 143 countries that have ratified the agreement recognize a number of goals, which include limiting global temperature increases to less than 2 degrees Celsius.
Recommended Reading: Inside Apple's new spaceship campus
One More Thing Steven Levy, Wired Apple's so-called spaceship campus, or Apple Park, has been in the works for a while now, but this week Wired gave us a big update on the progress. The obsessive attention to detail, tunnel entry, modular "pod" sections for employees and more are all detailed here. Like any other Apple product, the company is using a keen eye when designing it's biggest project thus far.
US hopes cyberattacks will stall North Korea's missile program
The US might not have had much success with cyberattacks against North Korea's nuclear program, but that apparently hasn't stopped officials from further efforts... not that they're having much success. The New York Times has learned that then-President Obama ordered escalated cyberwarfare against North Korea in 2014 a bid to thwart its plans for intercontinental ballistic missiles. However, it's not clear that this strategy has worked -- and there may be problems if it does.
Trump at 2AM: The new Oval Office in virtual reality
Donald Trump stands before me with a grim look on his face, lightly leaning against the Oval Office's Resolute desk. Moonlight pours in through the office's rear windows as a phone quietly rings. It's 2am, and something has happened -- and a new President holds the weight of the world on his shoulders. I'm looking at this surreal, frozen scene through the lens of an HTC Vive. It's a free virtual reality experience called "Wide Awake," and it tells a simple, concise story: no matter who Donald Trump was before or what you may have thought of him, he's now the guy who answers the phone when shit hits the fan.
The US tech industry will suffer if Trump tightens immigration laws
As Nov. 8th came to a close, and it became clear that America had elected Donald Trump as its next president, a familiar feeling crept over me. It was a deep sense of anxiety that arises every year or so as I begin preparing the documents I need to renew my work visa. I never know for sure if I'll still be in the country next year, but I've never felt quite so unsure about whether I would be able to continue working here.
