Facebook has mapped the entire world's population

Facebook has mapped the entire world's population as it prepares to build an internet in space

Facebook (FB) doesn't only know what its 2 billion users "Like."

It now knows where 7.5 billion humans live, everywhere on earth, to within 15 feet.

The company has created a data map of the planet's entire human population by combining government census numbers with information it's obtained from space satellites, according to Janna Lewis, Facebook's head of strategic innovation partnerships and sourcing.

The mapping technology, which Facebook says it developed itself, can pinpoint any man-made structures in any country on earth to a resolution of five meters.

Facebook is using the data to understand the precise distribution of humans around the planet.

That will help the company determine what types of internet service -- based either on land, in the air or in space -- it can use to reach consumers who now have no (or very low quality) internet connections.

"Satellites are exciting for us. Our data showed the best way to connect cities is an internet in the sky," Lewis told about 150 people gathered in San Francisco this week for a Space Technology and Investment Forum sponsored by the Space Foundation.

"We're trying to connect people from the stratosphere and from space," using high-altitude drone aircraft and satellites, to supplement earth-based networks, said Lewis.

Facebook hired Lewis, a former intellectual property lawyer with extensive experience in international aerospace law, roughly one year ago.

Her job, as she told the forum, is to work with partners in the aerospace industry to build a multi-pronged network to serve the entire planet.

The data is used "to know the population distribution" of earth to figure out "the best connectivity technologies" in different locales, Lewis said. "We see these as a viable option for serving these populations" that are "unconnected or under-connected," she said.

In addition to Lewis, Facebook is also hiring aerospace engineers to help it crack this market.

The mapping technology is part of a much-broader effort by U.S. companies to take advantage of a slew of data now available from the hundreds of satellites orbiting the earth.

""All this satellite data is coming from space, so people are trying to figure out what the business opportunities are," says Edward Swallow, senior vice president for civil and commercial systems for the Aerospace Corporation, an entity set up by the government in 1960 to protect America's pre-eminence in space.

Facebook rival Google (GOOGL), for example, sold its satellite-imaging business, formerly called Skybox, earlier this year "because they figured out they could get the data without having its own satellites," Swallow told CNBC in an interview.

Cheaper launches, more data

Space-related investment and market development is being driven by two things: the plummeting cost of launching satellites and the wealth of data they produce.

New aerospace companies including Elon Musk's SpaceX, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit have driven down the cost of launching a satellite into low-earth orbit dramatically.

Thanks to companies founded by this "billionaire boys club" -- as some at the space investing confab referred to them -- a company can now get a payload into space for as low as "tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram," said Monica Jan, senior director of strategy and customer experience for Virgin Orbit.

Before these companies entered the market, satellite launches typically cost millions or even billions of dollars, said Jan, whose worked in the aerospace industry for decades.

Virgin Orbit, based in Long Beach, California, was spun out of Virgin Galactic earlier this year to focus on small-satellite launches.

When asked by CNBC what she took away from Lewis' earlier presentation, said "it sounds like they (Facebook) wants to create a multi-tier system," or one that uses networks based on earth, in the stratosphere and in space.

A space-based internet

All of this activity has been spurred by the increasing commercialization of space, which was formerly an expensive realm inhabited by nation's alone.

Of the 576 U.S. satellites now in orbit, 286 -- or roughly half -- were launched for commercial reasons, according to Steve Butow, the west coast military lead for the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, or DIUX.

The DIUX was set up during the Obama administration to speed the deployment of new technologies into the U.S. armed forces.

The end result of all this investment will likely be a "space-based broadband data network" that will the basis of "a new space economy," Butow told the space investing confab in San Francisco.

If and when that becomes a reality, Facebook will be ready for it.

Nasa record breaker back on Earth after logging 665 days in space

Peggy Whitson set multiple other records while in orbit: world’s oldest spacewoman, at 57, and most experienced female spacewalker, with 10

Astronaut Peggy Whitson returned to Earth late on Saturday, wrapping up a record-breaking flight that catapulted her to first place for US space endurance.

Whitson’s 665 days off the planet – 288 days on this mission alone – exceeds that of any other American and any other woman worldwide.

She checked out of the International Space Station just hours earlier, along with another American and a Russian. Their Soyuz capsule landed in Kazakhstan shortly after sunrise Sunday – Saturday night back in the US.

She set multiple other records while in orbit: world’s oldest spacewoman, at age 57, and most experienced female spacewalker, with 10. She also became the first woman to command the space station twice following her launch last November.

Returning cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin logged even more time in space: 673 days over five missions. Nasa astronaut Jack Fischer returned after 136 days aloft. The men flew up in April.

It was an emotional farewell for Whitson, Yurchikhin and Fischer. Before retreating into their Soyuz, they embraced the three colleagues they were leaving behind at the 250-mile-high complex. Yurchikhin patted the inside of the station before floating into his Soyuz for the final time.

The station’s newest commander, Randy Bresnik, noted the outpost was losing 1,474 days of spaceflight experience with the departure of Whitson, Yurchikhin and Fischer. Four years and two weeks, he pointed out.

“We are in your debt for the supreme dedication that you guys have to the human mission of exploration,” Bresnik told them on the eve of their departure. He offered up special praise for Whitson, whom he called “American space ninja”.

Whitson, a biochemist, set a breakneck pace on all three of her space station expeditions, continually asking for more and still more scientific research to do. Scientists on the ground said it often was hard to keep up with her. She even experimented on food up there, trying to add some pizazz to the standard freeze-dried meals. Tortillas transformed into apple pies on her watch.

Whitson was supposed to fly back in June after a half-year in space. But when an extra seat opened up on this Soyuz, she jumped at the chance to stay in orbit an extra three months. Only one other American yearlong spaceman, Scott Kelly, has spent longer in space on a single mission. Because of the effects of Hurricane Harvey, Nasa could not get its plane from Houston to Kazakhstan in time for the crew’s landing. Instead, the European Space Agency offered to transport Whitson and Fischer to Cologne, Germany, where they will meet up with the Nasa plane for the final leg of their journey. They should be back in Houston on Sunday night.Except for the past week, Whitson said her mission hurried by. She is hungry for pizza and can not wait to use a regular flush toilet again. She’s also eager to reunite with her husband, Clarence Sams, a biochemist who also works at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Three men remain at the space station: Bresnik, a Russian and an Italian. They will be joined by two Americans and a Russian following liftoff from Kazakhstanon 12 September.

Wildfire near Los Angeles forces hundreds to evacuate

LOS ANGELES — An erratic brush fire threatened hundreds of homes Friday in the San Fernando Valley, north of Los Angeles, as firefighters battled through gusting winds and triple-digit heat.

As of early Saturday, the fire burned through about 1,500 acres and is now 10 percent contained, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a statement. Evacuation orders were issued for about 200 homes, ABC7 reported.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said over 250 firefighters would continue to battle the fire and that LAFD helicopters would perform additional water drops through the night.

"Firefighters are battling not only 106-degree temperatures today with low relative humidity, but it's also very steep and rugged terrain," said Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Erik Scott, according to ABC7. "Fortunately we have no injuries to firefighters."

The wildfire also led to the closure of Interstate 210, an essential link to routes in and out of town just as Labor Day weekend travel was starting, The Associated Press reported.

Officials said Friday that one of the worst U.S. wildfire seasons in terms of land burned is likely to keep scorching Western states and blanketing them with smoke until later this fall.

The National Interagency Fire Center said more than 25,000 firefighters and personnel are spread out across the Western U.S. fighting 56 large uncontained wildfires, 21 of them in Montana and 17 in Oregon.

In Northern California, a wildfire burning near the town of Oroville has destroyed 20 homes. The blaze about 70 miles (112 kilometers) north of Sacramento had consumed nearly 6 square miles (15 square kilometers) and was threatening 500 homes, officials said.

Amazing Video

Goggling of sand with water.... Can you believe this by watching this!!!

Eduard Khil’s 83rd Birthday

On this day in 1934, Eduard Anatolyevich Khil was born in Smolensk, Russia. Though famous in his sunset years for the viral YouTube comeback clip that tickled Western fans with its melodious “tro-lo-lo-ing,” the Soviet-era singer (aka “Mr. Trololo”) had made his mark decades earlier in his homeland.

After training at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory (now the Rimsky-Korsakov St. Petersburg State Conservatory), Khil earned his bona fides as a pop singer, racking up numerous awards, including the distinguished People’s Artist of Russia in 1974. A 1976 TV performance of “I Am Glad Because I Am Finally Returning Back Home,” featuring Khil’s now-legendary “tro-lo-lo-ing” vocalization, first appeared on YouTube in 2009. It rocketed the baritone crooner to internet (and meme) fame by 2010. Khil discovered that he was an internet sensation after he heard his grandson humming the song!

Today’s Doodle is an animation of that viral “Trololo” clip. Khil takes the stage in a drab brown suit and mustard-colored tie and happily breaks into his signature “tro-lo-lo-ing,” his expressive eyebrows dancing to the beat. A round of applause for “Mr. Trololo” on what would have been his 83rd birthday!

Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi takes oath as cabinet minister

NEW DELHI: Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi who was elevated to the cabinet rank today said he will try to fulfil the responsibility endowed on him by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with honesty and strength.

Naqvi (60) is among the four junior ministers who were given a cabinet berth, in a major rejig of the Modi government.

"It is our responsibility to live up to the expectations of the prime minister," he told reporters here after taking the oath.

On being asked whether his elevation was an endorsement of his performance as a Union minister, the BJP leader said, "I am a worker of the party. From time to time whatever responsibility the party gives me, I try to fulfil it with honesty and strength".

Naqvi, the lone Muslim face in the Modi cabinet, said priority of the government was to empower the weaker sections of society and work towards the goal of achieving 'New India'.

BRICS summit kicks off; Xi, Modi display bonhomie

HIGHLIGHTS

The 9th BRICS summit began in China's Xiamen on Monday.
BRICS leaders will participate in the plenary during which they will explore ways to enhance cooperation.
PM Modi is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Xi on Tuesday.

XIAMEN: The BRICS summit began here on Monday with a group photograph of leaders of the five countries and was preceded by a warm handshake between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who received the leaders of Brazil, Russia and South Africa ahead of the restricted meeting of the grouping.

Modi was the third leader to reach the convention centre, venue of the 9th BRICS Summit in this port city of China and was followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Modi is also scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting with Xi on Tuesday.

North Korea Nuclear Test Puts Pressure on China and Undercuts Xi

BEIJING — It was supposed to be Xi Jinping’s moment to bask in global prestige, as the Chinese president hosted the leaders of some of the world’s most dynamic economies at a summit meeting just weeks before a Communist Party leadership conference.

But just hours before Mr. Xi was set to address the carefully choreographed meeting on Sunday, North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, detonated his sixth nuclear bomb.

Mr. Kim has timed his nuclear tests and missile launches with exquisite precision, apparently trying to create maximum embarrassment for China. And on Sunday, a gathering in southeast China of leaders from Russia, Brazil, India and South Africa, members of the so-called BRICS group, was immediately overshadowed by news of the test, which shook dwellings in China and revived fears of nuclear contamination in the country’s northeast region.

This is not the first time Mr. Kim has chosen a provocative moment to flaunt his country’s weapons. In May, he launched a ballistic missile hours before Mr. Xi spoke at a gathering of world leaders in Beijing assembled to discuss China’s signature trillion dollar One Belt, One Road project.

The confluence of North Korea’s nuclear testing and Mr. Xi’s important public appearances is not a coincidence, analysts said. It is intended to show that Mr. Kim, the leader of a small, rogue neighboring state, can diminish Mr. Xi’s power and prestige as president of China, they said. In fact, some analysts contended that the latest test may have been primarily aimed at pressuring Mr. Xi, not President Trump.

China always aims for domestic calm in the period leading up to the secretive congress, and so it is unlikely to do anything before Oct. 19, the start of the conclave, Mr. Zhao said.

The biggest concern for China’s leadership is the possibility of North Korea turning on China, the country’s only ally. “If cornered, North Korea could take military action against China, given the relationship has reached a historic low,” Mr. Zhao said.

China supplies more than 80 percent of the North’s crude oil, and suspending delivery would be the ultimate economic sanction, more far-reaching than those imposed, with China’s support, by the United Nations.

Even The Global Times, the nationalist, state-run newspaper, said several months ago that China should consider cutting off its oil supplies to North Korea if Mr. Kim detonated a sixth nuclear bomb. But with the party congress looming, the paper modified its position Sunday.

“The origin of the North Korean nuclear issue is the sense of uncertainty that is generated by the military actions of the U.S./South Korea military alliance,” the paper said. “China should not be at the front of this sharp and complicated situation.”

There were also some doubts whether severing oil supplies would make much a huge difference to the North Korean regime. “The economic effects will be substantial but not regime crippling,” said Mr. Hayes of the Nautilus Institute, which specializes in the North’s energy needs.

The hardships, he said, would be most felt by ordinary people, with less food getting to market and fewer people able to travel between cities in buses.

The North’s army has oil stockpiles for routine nonwartime use for at least a year, Mr. Hayes said. “They can last for about a month before they run out of fuel in wartime, at best; likely much earlier,” he said.

Another major concern for the Chinese government is the fears of residentsin the northeast of the country about nuclear contamination from North Korea’s test site at Punggye-ri, not far from the Chinese border.

Many residents in Yanji in Jilin Province, which borders the North, said they felt their apartments shake after the test. Some posted photos of stocks of food and drinks shattered on the floors of a grocery store. At first residents believed the cause was an earthquake, they said, and only later in the day heard the news from state-run media that North Korea had detonated a nuclear bomb.

“I was in my study when the earthquake began,” said Sun Xingjie, an assistant professor at Jilin University in Changchun about 350 miles from the North Korean test site. Mr. Sun said he checked with friends on social media, and they determined from the location and the depth of the explosion that it was a nuclear test.

Even though there is no evidence of any contamination from the test reaching China, it is a worry of residents, Mr. Sun said.

“We are at the border region, so we have a sense of fear about leakage from the nuclear test,” he said.

“Kim knows that Xi has the real power to affect the calculus in Washington,” said Peter Hayes, the director of the Nautilus Institute, a research group that specializes in North Korea. “He’s putting pressure on China to say to Trump: ‘You have to sit down with Kim Jong-un.’”

What Mr. Kim wants most, Mr. Hayes said, is talks with Washington that the North Korean leader hopes will result in a deal to reduce American troops in South Korea and leave him with nuclear weapons. And in Mr. Kim’s calculation, China has the influence to make that negotiation happen.

While some Chinese analysts say North Korea should be made to pay a price for its contempt of China, the North’s ally and major trading partner, they were not optimistic that Sunday’s test would change Mr. Xi’s determination to remain above the fray and not get his hands sullied trying to force Mr. Kim to change his ways.

Even the North’s claim that the weapon detonated was a hydrogen bomb that could be mounted on an intercontinental ballistic missile would probably not sway Mr. Xi, they said.

“This sixth nuclear test should force China to do something radical; this will be a political test,” said Cheng Xiaohe, a nuclear expert at Renmin University. “But the mood is not moving that way.”

China’s Foreign Ministry did express “strong condemnation” of the test. But despite the North’s repeated incitements, the Chinese leadership is likely to stick to its position that a nuclear-armed North Korea is less dangerous to China than the possibility of a political collapse in the North, Mr. Cheng said. That could result in a unified Korean Peninsula under the control of the United States and its ally, South Korea.

China fears such an outcome if it uses its greatest economic leverage: cutting off the crude oil supplies that keep the North’s rudimentary economy running.

“Cutting off oil supplies could severely impact North Korean industries and undermine the regime’s stability, a solution which China and Russian have serious qualms about,” said Zhao Tong, a fellow at the Carnegie-Tsinghua Center for Global Policy in Beijing.

China has put forward a proposal that hinges on North Korea stopping its nuclear testing in exchange for an end to American military exercises around the Korean Peninsula.

But Mr. Xi is consumed at the moment with domestic matters, Chinese analysts said. The political machinations surrounding the Communist Party’s National Congress that will convene in Beijing in mid-October to select new members of the ruling elite are at the top of his agenda. Mr. Xi will be awarded his second five-year term at the meeting.

what is labor day? What's open? What's closed?

Labor Day 2017: What's open? What's closed? Banks, federal offices, more

Labor Day was first declared a federal holiday in 1894 as a time to celebrate the labor movement in the U.S. Over time, the day has also become the unofficial end of summer, marked with parades, parties and barbecues.

As a federal holiday, government offices will be closed on Labor Day, Monday Sept. 4.

Here's a look at what is open and what is closed on Labor Day:

Federal offices: Closed

State offices: Closed

City, county offices: Most closed

Schools and universities: Most are closed

Courts: Closed

Libraries: Closed

Stock Market: Closed

Mail: No mail. Post offices are closed and no delivery.

UPS, FedEX: No UPS pickup or delivery; Fed Ex ground and home delivery open.

Malls: Most malls are open and many stores have special sales. Check with your local mall for hours.

Trash collection: Most trash collection and recycling is delayed; check with your local provider for holiday schedule.

Liquor stores: All Alabama ABC stores are closed except Store 69 in Guntersville; Stores 130 and 132 in Orange Beach; Store 137 in Gulf Shores; and Store 239 in Orange Beach.

Drug stores, grocery stores: Most drug stores and grocery stores are operating on normal schedules on Labor Day. Check with your locations to confirm hours.

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