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@swradiogram 9455khz 2300z Much improved even with the G2 Solar Storm. s/n 22+ db what a difference!
Before RSID: <<2025-08-09T23:01Z MFSK-32 @ 9455000+1500>>
Welcome to program 412 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:41 MFSK32: Program preview (now) 2:51 MFSK32: NASA to speed up moon reactor plans 6:07 MFSK64: Nordic heatwave disappoints tourists 9:45 MFSK64: This week's images 27:06 MFSK32: Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to [email protected]
And visit http://swradiogram.net
We're on Bluesky now: SWRadiogram.bsky.social
And X/Twitter: @SWRadiogram
From Bloomberg via Phys.org:
NASA Acting Chief Duffy issues directive to speed up moon reactor plans
by Loren Grush August 5, 2025
NASA's acting administrator, Sean Duffy, plans to accelerate the construction of a nuclear reactor that could be used on the moon and alter the way NASA will partner with industry to replace the aging International Space Station.
The plans, outlined in directives distributed inside NASA and seen by Bloomberg on August 4, mark the first major policy changes by Duffy after U.S. President Donald Trump appointed him to the role as acting head of the space agency.
One of the directives, first reported by Politico, would aim to speed up the development of a nuclear fission reactor that could be used to generate power on the moon one day and inform future designs for a power plant that could be used on Mars.
NASA previously awarded contracts to commercial companies to come up with designs for small nuclear fission reactors, but Duffy's directive instructs NASA to put a call out to industry to create a more powerful reactor, with the goal of having technology ready for launch as early as 2030.
The second directive targets NASA's efforts to tap the commercial space industry to develop new space stations that could take over for the International Space Station when it is retired by the end of 2030.
The directive changes the way the space agency will contract with the companies selected to create space station replacements, a step designed to provide more flexibility if NASA's funding levels fluctuate in the years ahead.
The moves come days after Duffy met with the head of Russia's space agency, Dmitry Bakanov, marking the first conclave between leaders of the two countries' space agencies since 2018.
During the meeting, Duffy and Bakanov discussed the future of the International Space Station, the orbiting laboratory which is used by both nations, and joint exploration of the moon, according to a Roscosmos statement.
Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 …
Before RSID: <<2025-08-09T23:06Z MFSK-32 @ 9455000+1500>>
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From AFP via Phys.org:
Exceptional Nordic heat wave stumps tourists seeking shade
by Anna Korkman August 4, 2025
Nordic countries are relieved after battling an exceptional heat wave which shattered the hopes of foreigners seeking to cool off in the far north—a disappointment meteorologists warn is likely to be repeated.
Tourism has been on the rise in Nordic countries in recent years, driven in part by the trend of "coolcations"—where tourists flee the heat of the Mediterranean for milder temperatures in the north.
But this year record-breaking temperatures in July dashed tourists' hopes of escaping the intense heat.
On Monday, the Finnish Meteorological Institute said in a statement that the country had just emerged from 22 days of temperatures over 30C—the longest such heat wave since records began in 1961.
July was also the third hottest month recorded in Norway since records began in 1901, with temperatures 2.8 degrees Celsius higher that the seasonal average nationwide, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.
A two-week heat wave, between July 12 and 25, was also the hottest ever recorded in the country.
So-called "tropical nights," where the temperature doesn't drop below 20C, have become commonplace in the region.
Tourists' hot surprise
The unusually high temperatures have been a shock to tourists seeking to escape the heat elsewhere.
Moussaab El Bacha, a Stockholm resident, told AFP about his parent's surprise when they came over from Morocco to visit.
"They were actually quite surprised by the intensity of the heat here. They had expected a cooler break from the Moroccan summer, but instead, it felt like the heat followed them all the way to Sweden," he said.
"It was a bit surreal for them to experience such high temperatures this far north—they kept saying: 'Are we sure we didn't just land in southern Spain?'"
In Haparanda, in Sweden's far north, temperatures reached 25C or above for 14 consecutive days in July, and in Jokkmokk, the heat wave lasted over 15 days, something not seen in a century, according to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI).
An ice rink oasis
In Rovaniemi, a Finnish town north of the Arctic Circle which bills itself as the hometown of Santa Claus, temperatures reached above 30C last week.
The municipality of Joensuu in southeastern Finland opened an ice rink for people to cool off in, to reduce pressure on the local healthcare services, North Karelia's regional healthcare services chief Mikael Ripatti told AFP.
Ripatti said emergency rooms had become overcrowded as people sought care for heat-related health issues.
"The aim was to provide a place to go if it was too hot at home," Ripatti said.
Other cities opened up similar cooling facilities to the public, with a shop in Helsinki letting people lie down next to its cooling shelves.
Arctic heating
The Arctic region is heating far faster than other parts of the planet.
Of the continents overall, Europe has seen the fastest warming per decade since 1990, followed closely by Asia, according to global data from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
"The length of the period and the high temperatures throughout the day in all parts of the country were very unusual this time," Ketil Isaksen, a climate researcher with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, said in a statement.
"This type of heat wave has become more likely with climate change," the researcher added.
Scientists say recurring heat waves are a marker of global warming and are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense.
"There have been heat waves in the past and there will continue to be heat waves in the future," Hannele Korhonen, a research professor at the Finnish Meteorological Institute, told AFP.
But as climate change drives up global temperatures we are "exceeding the heat wave threshold more often, and the heat waves are hotter," she added.
"An in-depth attribution study would be necessary to pinpoint or assess the role of climate change in the prolonged heat wave (that struck) northern Sweden," Sverker Hellstrom, a meteorologist at SMHI, told AFP.
However, he added, "The frequency of such weather events has increased and may continue to rise in the future."
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
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This week's images …
Products of Pewabic, a Detroit pottery company founded in 1903. tinyurl.com/2cwo4law …
A wild prairie rose (Rosaceae: Rosa arkansana) at Custer State Park, South Dakota, July 30, 2025. tinyurl.com/2c8ejnqy …
A Barberton Daisy at the Los Angeles Arboretum, July 2025. tinyurl.com/2bfmhwgm …
Example of horticulture at the Cincinnati Zoo. tinyurl.com/2cz44ppf …
Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the Lawrence, Kansas, Arboretum, August 4. tinyurl.com/22mvcbpx …
A Red-Spotted Admiral (Limenitis arthemis) butterfly at Wawayanda State Park, New Jersey, July 23. tinyurl.com/223k3rxg …
An RNLI lifeguard battles against strong winds, caused by Storm Floris, in Nothern Ireland. tinyurl.com/2az5jups …
A wood duck drake at Sportsman State Park pond in Yakima, Washington. tinyurl.com/25nuayyy …
A black and white photo of streetlights. The location is not specified, but they look European. tinyurl.com/2butlwsg …
Our painting of the week is "Pine Trees at Sunset" (1915) by Tom Thomson (Canadian, 1877-1917). tinyurl.com/25fca8f6 …
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Before RSID: <<2025-08-09T23:27Z MFSK-64 @ 9455000+1500>>
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Please send reception reports to [email protected]
And visit http://swradiogram.net
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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave Radiogram.
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@swradiogram 08/07/25 9265khz 2330z For the sake of science I'm posting the hash. Signals were very down tonight. We had a G1 solar event and there was a watch for G2 tomorrow as a CME is in bound.
Even the text was a very poor copy.
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Welcome to program 412 of Shortwave RadiogeCo qt'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's propr in MFSK modeaoa ted:
1:41 MFSK32: Programt m Tèdw) 2:51 MFSK32: NASA to speed up moon reactor plans 6:07 MFSK64: Nordic heatwave disappoints tourists 9:45 MFSK64: This week's images 27:0Öleugh prtoe=nUncements
Please send reception reports to [email protected]
And visit httpr gQhttdiogram.net
We're on Bluesky now: SWRadiogram.bsky.social
And X/Twitter: @SWRadiogram
t0v†+tQNo thrtúSba do¾v n . .
From Bloomberg via Phys.org:
NASA Acting Chief DuesreccŒ Oes7iFtive to speed up moon reactor plans
by Loren Grush August 5, 2025
NASA'su9loii¹stj teiD { dtMÕns to accelerate the construction of a nuclear reactor that could be used on the moon and alter the way NASA will partner with industry to replace the aging International Space Station.
The plan,otlined in directives distributed inside ;crlHn by Bloomberg on August 4, mark the first major policy changes by Duffy after U.S. President Donald Trump appwDted him to the role as acting head of the space agency.
One of the directiït reported t tico, would aim to speed nÀiiO uciue J nuclear fission reactor that coume used to generate power on the moon one day and informoiaytdesigns for a power { ant that could be used on FÃe a1a oSA previously awardeJnhh5liSokompanies to come up with designs uRhk ek" xMeWwcLgçn9t Duffy's en zave instructs NASA to put a call out to industry to create a more powerful react ,, with the geZothaving technology ready for launch as early as 20.n£˱ The second directive targets NASA's efforts to tap the commercial space boe¢ to develop new sqhòcaons that could take over f , the International Space Station when it is retired by the end of 2030.
The directive changes the way the space agency will contract with the companies selected to create space station reÜ 4oR cegned to provide more flexibility if NASA's funding levels fluctuate in the years ahead.
The moves come dhAt after Duffy met with the head of Russia's space agency, Dmitry Bakanov, &MÛÅNl(i,al sttoe 2n leaders of the twotr ¶e<efO space agencies sib1I
During the meeting, Duffy and Bakanov discussed the future of the International Space Station, the orbiting laboratorh}n aiuh1t sed by baeh nations, and joint explorati o0opzhe moon, accordinstbRoscosmos statement.
https://phys)tÀtl tddcl s25-08-nasa-cnb+fy-issues-moon.httKr l9
Shortwave depzsteyõnlil to MFSK64 …
Before RSID: <<2025-08-07T23:36Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>> Please send your receptio0eport to radiogr,@cnMnettvd t e dOsePhys.org:
Lcra August 4, 2025
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On Monday, the Finnish Meteorological Instituw›ay had just Ìerged from 22 days of tempeo \âr 30C—the longest such heat wave since records beeul61.
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An ice rt k oastzr5ctrmT tGPqivXrSru8Atown Axrtna gov pfi bills itself as the hometown tC nta Claus, tempeek8÷$;aarh otOciPeewqo mBm. aoennOtrR i{nxfnland opened an ice NtdÀc <x cÑOstiot×uce pressure on the local tthcare seßPnÿ9 uiaqkts regional heagta'ntit chief Mikael Ripatti told ANÈïltÞu Íeycgeertey sooms had become overcrowded as peo3lu stiought care for heat- yaqghfr3snïx ceMZ8tMi» ovid } vX G½o it was too hotav home," Ripatti said.
Other " ened ust¾ · 8ufling facilities to the puuaty;>ith a shop in Helsinki letting eCueot ot to its cooling shelves.
Arctic heating
The Arctic region is heating far faster than other parts of the planet.
Of the continents overafa artureo aseRin theeZ itest warming per decade since 19x o towed closely by Asia, according to global data esrSN eRâatkecRaÌd .d ii Administration (NOAA).Icic ci l;*r}]¡¬ti B DnlJghou0t tay in all parts of the counit7 rl h c â¼ime," Ketil Isa0s !txEmate researcher with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, saha in a statement.
"This type o (mtskas becoomP t uaei y with climate change2e9cNlyr added.
Scientists eeGf5aeoVdd tnZAlaer of glol /Avu "tttv¿Ñg³te eqt,quent, longer, and more intense.
"There have been heat waves in the past and there will conte to be heat waves in the future,"©nuk ohtu resy®es çteWjYz3²ush Meteorological Institute,eºdk).
But as climate change drives up global temperatures Ox qe l/ctxt eDoiathreshold more often, y dvio{oLves are hotter," she added.
"An in-depth attribution study would be necessary to pinpoint or <jZs Ih4 of climate change in the prolonged heat wave (tbtt struck) northern Sweden," Sverker H |aoi s uowteorologist atMHI, told AFP.t :a e EOaded, "The frequency of such weather events has wUrân d may continue to rise in the future." rtT½st{_ etac[i g/news/2025-08-jOmadTRnordic-stumps-tourists.html
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64tsCÆauqiot see1k á repo$ to [email protected]
TnoÛYÃs images …
Products of Ppyt~c, a Detroit pottery comod dt³Mm¹u 1903. tinyrpccaclpurO tetsax lw5
r $c z tho0ttnjto 'Unue" t: ueo°t o1rne Ì#t6nDceae: Rosa arkansana) at Custer State Park, South eeæ;gfuly 30° o ot iooiom/2c8ejnqy …
A Barberton DaisgŒ0nFn rXlªb|wtiÂn 2025. tinyurl.com/ TWgm … LŽqiettd©jZ ttto MtCng9n
tnecrneitlsnva±pi ¤Y gtOseiac dsÉ" béle of horticulture at the Cincinnati Zoo. tinyurl.com/2cz44ppf …
Ruby-throated Hummingbird at the Lawrence, Kansas, Arboretum, August 4. tinyurl²S eae2mvciÄt?kit4doCnnuBi! R tn ottue!ng Pic:207x129C;:å trâc tïgr A Red-Spotg¢Admiral (Limenitis arthrenÒy at Wawayanda State Parkse Otw ed€ July 23. tinyurl.com/223k3rxg …
/oir»NtdeîÉtrong winds, caused by Storm Floris, in Nothern Ireland. tinyurl.com/2az5jups …
A wood duck drake at Sportsman State Park pond in Yakima, Washington. tinyurl.coea |ponuayyy …
A black and white photo of streetlights. The location is not specified, but chlook European. tinyurl.com/2butlwsg …
Our painting of the week is "Pine Trees at Sunset" (1915) by Tom Thomson (Canadian, 1877-1917). tinyurl.com/25fca8f6 8
Before RSID: <<2025-08-07T23:57Z MFSK-64 @ 9265000+1500>>
/rLnenkeit
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 …
Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:
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and
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Please send reception reports to [email protected]
And visit http://swradiogram.net
http://swradiogram.bsky.social
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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave Radiogram.
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Got a cheap paddle for field use and boy is it cheap. Coincidentally I’ve also discovered there isn’t much steel in my shack! It’ll do for a guy that really doesn’t like paddles though.

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Parks on the Air field test.
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9455 kHz at 2300... I managed to show up late and only copied 3 images! Little bit of distortion but better than Thursday! @swradiogram
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@swradiogram
9265kHz at 23:30z into STNY it was a little shaky here tonight. At least it's not hot out!
Before RSID: <<2025-07-31T23:31Z MFSK-32 @ 9265000+1500>>
Welcome to program 411 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:40 MFSK32: Program preview (now) 2:52 MFSK32: World's smallest snake makes big comeback 8:43 MFSK64: US, India satellite to track Earth's surface 11:58 MFSK64: This week's images 28:15 MFSK32: Closing announcements
Please send reception reports to [email protected]
And visit http://swradiogram.net
We're on Bluesky now: SWRadiogram.bsky.social
And X/Twitter: @SWRadiogram
From AFP via Phys.org:
World's smallest snake makes big comeback July 27, 2025
A snake so small it could be mistaken for a worm has been spotted in Barbados, nearly two decades after it was thought to have been "lost" to science.
The Barbados threadsnake (Tetracheilostoma carlae) was found hiding under a rock in central Barbados during an ecological survey in March by the Barbados Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification and conservation group Re:wild.
"Barbados threadsnakes are blind snakes, so they're very cryptic," said Connor Blades, a project officer with the Ministry of Environment in Barbados who helped make the finding, in a statement.
"They're quite rare also, it seems. There have only been a handful of confirmed sightings since 1889, so there are not many people who have ever seen it, unfortunately."
Measuring just three to four inches long (eight to 10 centimeters) when fully grown—tiny enough to almost fit on a US quarter coin—the Barbados threadsnake is the world's smallest species of snake.
It is distinguished by orange stripes along its back, eyes on the sides of its head and a small scale on its snout.
"When you are so accustomed to looking for things and you don't see them, you are shocked when you actually find it," said Justin Springer of Re:wild, who made the discovery alongside Blades. The rare species is tiny enough to almost fit on a US quarter coin.
"You can't believe it. That's how I felt. You don't want to get your hopes up too high."
The breakthrough came after more than a year of searching, as the pair upturned rocks trapped beneath a tree root.
The tiny snake, which was found alongside an earthworm, was taken to the University of West Indies for careful examination under a microscope—it closely resembles the Brahminy blind snake, an invasive species, so the finding had to be validated—before it was returned to the forest.
Only 2% of the Caribbean island's primary forest remains intact, with the rest cleared for agriculture since the start of the colonial era 400 years ago.
The Barbados threadsnake remains particularly vulnerable since it reproduces sexually and females lay a clutch of only one egg. Female Brahminy blind snakes, by contrast, can produce fertile eggs without mating.
"The threadsnake's rediscovery is also a call to all of us as Barbadians that forests in Barbados are very special and need protection," said Springer. "Not just for the threadsnake, but for other species as well. For plants, animals and our heritage."
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From Deutsche Welle:
US, India launch satellite to track Earth's surface
Amy Stotith AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa July 30,2025
The "first of its kind" satellite will map the Earth's surface in incredible detail. Mission officials say it will help us better understand areas at risk of earthquakes.
The US space administration NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) together launched an Earth-mapping satellite Wednesday. dt nNASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) satellite is designed to track even the tiniest of changes in the Earth's surface.
The goal of the $1.3 billion (€1.14 billion) mission is to help understand what leads to both manmade and natural disasters, such as floods, landslides and volcanic eruptions.
NISAR launched at 12:10 GMT from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on the southeastern coast of India.
"Congratulations India!" India's minister of science and technology, Jitendra Singh, posted on X once the satellite safely reached orbit.
What is NISAR's mission?
Now in orbit around Earth's poles, NISAR has got a busy 3 years ahead of itself. While 747 kilometers (464 miles) high, observing melting glaciers and polar ice sheets are among the sateS@aL research goals. NISAR will measure the Earth's surface twice every 12 days, observing shifts as small as 1 centimeter (0.4 inches).
The satellite won't be able to predict the next earthquake but "it will help us better understand which areas of the world are most susceptible to significant earthquakes," the mission's geoscience lead, Mark Simons, said in a statement on NASA's website.
"We'll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and, of course, we'll see wildfires," added Karen St Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science division.
She cal NISAR "the most sophisticated radar we've ever built."
How does the 'first of its kind' satellite work?
NISAR is the world's first radar imaging satellite to use two radar frequencies. The so-called L-band radar is provided by NASA, and the S-band radar was developed by ISRO. These radars operate around the clock to capture Earth in extreme detail and can reportedly capture measurements regardless of weather conditions.
The two radars will beam signals down to Earth. When these signals bounce back, the satellite will receive them via its huge antenna reflector. Scientists will then compare the incoming and outgoing signals as the satellite passes over the same location.
"The potential applications from the satellite are huge, and the global scientific community is eagerly awaiting the satellite data," ISRO Chairman V. Narayanan said after the launch.
"It is not going to be used by one or two countries. The entire globe is going to benefit from this great accompliswfoi¯" ô e¦nma¾ÏSA Deputy Associate Y elui vrator hreey Swails said the satellite "really shows the world what our two nations can do."
The launch marks the biggest space collaboration between the United States and India. NASA contributed $1.2 billion for the low-frequency radar and reflector, while ISRO contributed $91 million for the higher-frequency radar and main satellite structure.
India's space program has seen a boost in recent years. In 2014, it placed a probe in Mars orbit and, in 2023, it landed a rover on the Moon.
Shubhanshu Shukla recently became the first Indian to reach the International Space StaQon.
See also: https://phys.org/news/2025-07-nasa-isro-satellite-track-earth.html https://phys.org/news/2025-07-radar-satellite-india-nasa-track.html https://phys.org/news/2025-07-india-powerful-earth-satellite.html
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
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This week's images …
Sunset at Cayo Costa State Park, Florida. tinyurl.com/2bos5xob
Tower Bridge is lit up to congratulate the England women’s football team winning the Uefa women’s Euro 2025. tinyurl.com/27ayd4dn …
Nocturnal butterflies at Natural Bridges State Park, Santa Cruz, California. tinyurl.com/25f5j8c7 …
A raindrop plops in a body of water in Scotland. tinyurl.com/2aqwelu2 …
Wild berries at Artpark State Park near Buffalo, Newv York. tinyurl.com/2xz5cbaf …
A Black Oystercatcher at Crystal Cove State Park, California. tinyurl.com/2auutbpx …
The UK's Red Arrow aerobatic team at Aberdeen Tall Ships 2025 in Scotland. tinyurl.com/2aqwelu2 …
The neon signs of the San Jose Improv comedy club in San Jose, California. tinyurl.com/2cphz9vn …
Our painting of the week is "Street, 1930" by Gösta Adrian-Nilsson ("GAN"), Swedish, 1884-1965. tinyurl.com/27extbkm
Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 …
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Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:
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Please send reception reports to [email protected]
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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave Radiogram.
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Did a little firmware upgrade to my AT878UVii radio and now I have satallite prediction.
It's pretty nice. it gives you timing it automatically shifts for Doppler and shows skyplot.
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Tom Lehrer and the NSA
Great story on Bluesky from opalescentopal.
With Tom Lehrer's passing, I suppose this is a moment to share the story of the prank he played on the National Security Agency, and how it went undiscovered for nearly 60 years.
I worked as a mathematician at the NSA during the second Obama administration and the first half of the first Trump administration. I had long enjoyed Tom Lehrer's music, and I knew he had worked for the NSA during the Korean War era.
The NSA's research directorate has an electronic library, so I eventually figured, what the heck, let's see if we can find anything he published internally!
And I found a few articles I can't comment on. But there was one unclassified article-- "Gambler's Ruin With Soft-Hearted Adversary".
The paper was co-written by Lehrer and R. E. Fagen, published in January, 1957.
The mathematical content is pretty interesting, but that's not what stuck out to me when I read it.
See, the paper cites FIVE sources throughout its body. But the bibliography lists SIX sources.
What's the leftover?
Well, you can look through the entirety of the body of the paper. It'll take you a while, but you can pretty quickly pick up that sources 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 are all cited.
But if you know anything about Lehrer's musical career, you can probably figure it out by looking at the bibliography.
See, entry 3 in the bibliography is "Analytic and Algebraic Topology of Locally Euclidean Metrizations of Infinitely Differentiable Riemannian Manifolds" by one N. Lobachevsky.
And if you've ever heard Leher's song "Lobachevsky", you may have just finished that title with "Bozhe moi!"
Now, it's important to note: this paper was published internally in 1957. Tom Lehrer had recorded and released "Songs by Tom Lehrer" in 1953, with "Lobachevsky" included. The song had already achieved some success.
…but nobody at the NSA noticed when he and Fagan dropped it in as a reference.
It struck me as a very Lehrer-ish sort of prank. It's harmless, it's light-hearted, and it thumbs its nose a bit at stuffy respectability through its unfailing pretense of seriousness.
How had other people reacted to the joke, I wondered?
So I sent an email to the NSA historians. And I asked them: hey, when was this first noticed, and how much of a gas did people think it was? Did he get in trouble for it? That sort of stuff.
The answer came back: "We've never heard of this before. It's news to us."
In November of 2016, nearly 60 years after the paper was published internally, I had discovered the joke.
A few years later, I filed to have the paper declassified, and the NSA eventually agreed, and even put it up on their webpage.
Once that had happened, I wrote to Mr. Lehrer with a copy of the paper and a letter asking if he had ever gotten in trouble for it.
He kindly wrote back, including a copy of the paper that had been published in Journal of SIAM in 1958, under a slightly different title. Nobody, he said, caught him.
The copy that was published as "Random Walks with Restraining Barrier as Applied to the Biased Binary Counter", of course, didn't include the Lobachevsky reference.
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@swradiogram 9265 kHz at 2330z into Southern Tier NY bit noisy on the bands tonight.
Welcome to program 410 of Shortwave Radiogram.
I'm Kim Andrew Elliott in Arlington, Virginia USA.
Here is the lineup for today's program, in MFSK modes as noted:
1:42 MFSK32: Program preview (now) 2:53 MFSK32: Former VOA directors oppose VOA closure 7:13 MFSK64: Study examines Chinese internet censorship 11:59 MFSK64: This week's images 28:13 MFSK32: Closing announcements
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From Radio World:
Eight Former VOA Directors Oppose Closure They filed an amicus brief with a federal appeals court
By RW Staff July 22, 2025
Eight former directors of the Voice of America have told a court that they support the current director's legal challenge to the dismantling of VOA by the Trump administration.
The group filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. They are Danforth Austin, Amanda Bennett, Mary Bitterman, Geoffrey Cowan, David Ensor, Robert Reilly, Chase Untermeyer and Sanford Ungar. The law firm that filed the brief described the group as bipartisan.
Among other things, the directors described past situations "in which they pushed back against pressure to influence coverage from both sides of the political aisle, and in which they reported on America's own foibles — under both parties — to demonstrate to peoples across world the value of a free press they could aspire to," according to a summary by the firm Foley Hoag, which filed the brief.
"The brief presents evidence of VOA's 80-year history as a force for American foreign policy influence through credible, accurate, unbiased reporting to audiences numbering in the hundreds of millions across the world, many of whom would otherwise lack access to news they could trust."
In March President Trump signed an executive order dismantling the U.S. Agency for Global Media, calling it corrupt, wasteful and biased.
"The USAGM put VOA employees, including Director Michael Abramowitz, on administrative leave," the law firm noted in its summary.
"Abramowitz and others quickly filed suit and obtained a temporary restraining order blocking the administration from dismantling VOA." The government appealed, and the matter is now with the appeals court.
"The brief argues that, for over 80 years, Congress has consistently reaffirmed and reinforced the principle that to achieve its aims and win over global audiences, the VOA must be a free and independent source of news."
This is one of multiple legal actions challenging the administration decision. Among them, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has sued USAGM to get its funding grant back.
In March, USAGM Senior Advisor Kari Lake said that "waste, fraud and abuse run rampant" in USAGM. She alleged that the a{uctK been victimized by national security violations, including spies and terrorist sympathizers, spent hundreds of millions on "fake news companies" and put out a product that "often parrots the talking points of America's adversaries."
See also: https://savevoa.com/amicus/
Shortwave Radiogram now changes to MFSK64 …
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
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From TechXplore:
Study breaches 'The Great Firewall' to look at Chinese censorship
by Cyrus Moulton Northeastern University July 15, 2025
People have nicknamed the security system that monitors and controls internet traffic entering and leaving jexThe Great Firewall of China."
But a firewall is just the beginning of the Communist country's censorship stem, new research from Northeastern University finds.
"The image that people have now—'The Great Firewall'—is very evocative, but it isn't very accurate anymore," says Laura Edelson, assistant professor of computer sciences at Northeastern. "There is absolutely a system in place that just keeps foreign information out, but by itself, that system wouldn't be very effective. There are these other layers of the system in place."
So, instead of a Great Firewall, Edelson calls a framework for understanding Chinese censorship "The Locknet" for its resemblance to water locks that can allow or stop the flow of information into and within the country.
"I think about it like an artificial lake in the middle sme ocean," Edelson explains. "For the most part, the systems reinforce each other and they can maintain this little separate body of water, but it is connected, and just as sometimes the lartynternet sÛshes over, sometimes the 'Locknet' leaks out."
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It's no secret that China—like all countrieHo on notes—censors its internet. But while many Western democracies have clear laws outlining what is forbidden online, exactly how Chinese censorship operates, its effectiveness and how much that censorship alters the internet in the rest of the world isn't well understood.
Edelson and a researcher on China's governance and society at online magazine ChinaFile sought to answer these questions and others in a yearlong investigation.
They found that China has a dynamic, adaptable apa ti-layered, self-reinforcing censorship system.
The system works on three main levels …Network-level censorship is the so-called Great Firewall, blocking foreign content from coming into China at the country's borders. Service-level censorship exists on any platform or service offered inside the country—all of which must comply with Chinese censorship rules. Finally, self-censorship occurs on the individual level as citizens censor what they put online in order to comply with the state.
But there are some key aspects of the censorship system that make it effective.
First, the three levels of censorship reinforce each other.
Service-level censorship forbids VPNs, certain apps and services like Meta, for instance, thereby limiting the foreign information reaching Chinese users and reinforcing network-levelWorship.
Second, enforcement is "intentionally intermittent" but consequential.
Accessing banned content or posting criticism of the government can—but will not always—get a user "invited to tea," Edelson explains, where the user will be brought into a police station, questioned for hours, made to sign a confession and—if said tea parties happen often enough—be sent to jail.
This encourages people to self-censor or "to stay within the lines," as Edelson says, comparing this intermittent but consequential enforcement to obeying the speed limit in a Western democracy.
"Sometimes you can wildly violate the speed limit and drive 100 miles per hour down the highway and not get pulled over," Edelson says. "But most people don't because they know that if you drive 100 mph down the highway, you will eventually get caught and you could get caught at any time."
What that results in, she explains, is a population that generally stays within bounds—say at 5 mph above the speed limit—but could technically be pulled over at any time.
Moreover, enforcement is often contracted out to individual companies whose success depends on remaining in Beijing's good graces.
"They get instruction from the federal government, but they have a lot of leeway as to how they implement those censorship rules," Edelson says. "So, companies are truly compelled to follow these rules and, if they don't, those companies will cease to exist and their executives will go to jail."
Which leads to the third point: the rules and regulations of what is censored are expansive, but vague and flexible.
"What is banned changes day by day," Edelson says. "There are some things that they do say 'these things are banned," but then there's this whole other category of things that just disappear and that there's no public visibility, there's no transparency."
Again, this vagueness encourages self-²nseyship and reinforces censorship at the company or service provider level (if in doubt, leave it out), and the network level.
But with a global internet, Edelson says the Locknet is not just affecting users in China.
"It is very appealing to systems makersei#whannhGikhn?ÌeRbvice that they can offer both inside China and outside China. And if they're going to do that, then they have to be subject to China's censorship," Edelson says².elson also cites the example of Chinese AI systems and tools, which may be cheaper, more efficient, publicly available … and also likely trained according to Chinese censorship models or censored in some way.
And while the internet was created by Westerners with Western democratic ideals in mind, that doesn't mean that future developments will be.
"The thing to remember is that you can make a standard that is easier to surveil, easier to censor, and more efficient," Edelson sakoiehaouese engineers are advancing standards that bring along privacy costs that I think would be unacceptable to most Americans and simply aren't unacceptable in China and, in fact, are a benefit to the Chinese government."
See also: https://locknet.chinafile.com/the-locknet/intro/
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK64
Please send your reception report to [email protected]
This week's images …
South Bend, Indiana, looking west across the St. Joseph River. tinyurl.com/2yayznjv …
A vendor carries plastic balls on a bicycle, in New Delhi, July
tinyurl.com/26ryh3c5 …
A blue grosbeak at the Adkins Arboretum, Ridgely, Maryland, July
tinyurl.com/2b8dlp4l …
Lightning over Dupont Circle in Washington DC, July 16. tinyurl.com/2bquvr37 …
A "glorious sunset" at Eriskay, Scotland. tinyurl.com/252wvtjh Swans at dawn. tinyurl.com/2xphxcqn …
An example from the Rose Garden at the Yakima Area Y i!retum in Washington state. tinyurl.com/25bhrqkt …
The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic 31-mile (50 km) drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California, famous for its towering coastal redwood trees. tinyurl.com/24bzq7w5 …
Our painting of the week is "Vase of Amaryllis, 1941" by Henri Matisse. tinyurl.com/25wpubwx …
Shortwave Radiogram returns to MFSK32 …
This is Shortwave Radiogram in MFSK32 …
Transmission of Shortwave Radiogram is provided by:
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and
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Please send reception reports to [email protected]
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I'm Kim Elliott. Please join us for the next Shortwave Radiogram.
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POTA Summer weekend. Condx are pretty up and down and despite not liking keyers I get it. They send perfect soulless cw which is exactly what you want in a QSO where we’re both 339 and probably QRP! Bravo K8ARE that was a fantastic POTA contact from MI to NY on 40m
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With the lower half of the LCD screen system unreadable, I decided it was time to finally retire and replace the old Oregon Scientific weather station.
After 17 years of faithful and near continuous service, I only felt it fit to rehouse it in the original packaging we have carried between two states and at least four houses, complete with instructions.

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1st Decodes from this series off the ISS tonight.
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