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Ten Reasons the Net Neutrality Victory Is Bigger than the SOPA Win

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FILE - In this Dec. 3, 2009 file photo, a sign outside the Comcast Center, left, is shown in Philadelphia. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014 a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed that the FCC had authority to create open-access rules. But in a setback for the Obama administration's goal of Internet openness, the court ruled that the FCC failed to establish that its 2010 regulations don't overreach. Under so-called net neutrality rules adopted in 2010 by the Federal Communications Commission, wired broadband providers such as Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon were barred from prioritizing some types of Internet traffic over others. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, file)

In this Dec. 3, 2009 file photo, a sign outside the Comcast Center, left, is shown in Philadelphia. On Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014 a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit affirmed that the FCC had authority to create open-access rules. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

 

(Forbes) – Tomorrow, the FCC is voting on its long-awaited net neutrality rule. Everyone is hoping for a huge, enormous victory for the open Internet we all know and love. The FCC appears ready to forbid phone and cable giants (like Comcast and Verizon) from blocking websites, throttling them, or selling various slow lanes. The FCC will also build this rule on rock not sand—it will rely on its strongest legal authority known as Title II and therefore stand up in court. The devil will be in the details, but the general direction is very positive.

This vote is a complete shocker in DC. A year ago, the Internet was a dead man walking and the cable lobbyists were about to put the final bullet in its hear.

Victory was impossible even to imagine. The vote comes after at least 8 front-page news cycles, 6 expert roundtables, 4 million comments, 2 FCC computer crashes, and 1 unified policy campaign. The vote is already touted as among the biggest public interest victories in history and arguably the biggest Internet freedom victory ever. “Ever” means: this victory is even bigger than the victory over the Stop Online Piracy Act in 2012, a copyright bill that could have censored our favorite websites but went down in flames when Wikipedia, reddit, Google and others joined in an Internet-wide blackout for one day.

There are at least ten reasons why this victory is bigger than SOPA.

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Antonio‌ ‌Ray‌ ‌Harvey‌

Feds: California Will Be Home to New National Semiconductor Technology Center

California was chosen by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) to be home to the headquarters for the National Semiconductor Technology Center – as part of the Biden-Harris Admin’s CHIPS and Science Act. The CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF) will be one of three CHIPS for America research and design (R&D) facilities and will also operate as the headquarters for the NTSC and Natcast.

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iStock
iStock

By Antonio Ray Harvey

California was chosen by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and Natcast, the operator of the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) to be home to the headquarters for the National Semiconductor Technology Center – as part of the Biden-Harris Admin’s CHIPS and Science Act.

The CHIPS for America Design and Collaboration Facility (DCF) will be one of three CHIPS for America research and design (R&D) facilities and will also operate as the headquarters for the NTSC and Natcast.

“We are thrilled that the Department of Commerce and Natcast chose to locate this critically important facility in Sunnyvale, the heart of the Silicon Valley, alongside the world’s largest concentration of semiconductor businesses, talent, intellectual property, and investment activity,” said Dee Dee Myers, Senior Economic Advisor to Gov. Gavin Newsom and Director of the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). “The Newsom Administration and our partners across the industry know how important it is to shorten the timeframe from R&D to commercialization.”

According to GO-Biz, the DCF is expected to direct over $1 billion in research funding and create more than 200 employees in the next decade. The facility will serve as the center for advanced semiconductor research in chip design, electronic design automation, chip and system architecture, and hardware security. The CHF will be essential to the country’s semiconductor workforce development efforts.

As detailed in the released NSTC Strategic Plan, the DCF will suppress the obstacles to “semiconductor prototyping, experimentation,” and other R&D activities that will enhance the country’s global power and leadership in design, materials, and process innovation while enabling a vigorous domestic industr“Establishing the NSTC headquarters and design hub in California will capitalize on our state’s unparalleled assets to grow a highly skilled workforce and develop next-generation advancements,” stated U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.). “This CHIPS Act funding will propel emerging technologies and protect America’s global semiconductor leadership, all while bringing good-paying jobs to our state.”

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Advanced Conductors Provide Path for Grid Expansion

Utility companies in the United States could double electric transmission capacity by 2035 by replacing existing transmission lines with those made from advanced materials, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Photo courtesy UC Berkeley News.
Photo courtesy UC Berkeley News.

By Matthew Burciaga

UC Berkeley News

Utility companies in the United States could double electric transmission capacity by 2035 by replacing existing transmission lines with those made from advanced materials, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Led by Duncan Callaway, professor and chair of the Energy and Resources Group (ERG), and Amol Phadke, an affiliate and senior scientist at the Goldman School of Public Policy, the first-of-its-kind study details a faster and more cost-effective way to expand the grid and connect the more than 1,200 gigawatts of renewable energy projects awaiting approval. The analysis was first published last December as a working paper by the Energy Institute at Haas and has been covered by the New York Times, the Washington PostHeatmap News, and other news outlets.

“Expanding transmission capacity is critical to decarbonization, and we sought to study ways to build it faster and cheaper,” said Callaway.

It currently takes 10 to 15 years to build a new power line and the U.S. is building transmission lines at a lower rate than it was in the past decade. Without sufficient capacity, renewable energy projects often sit in limbo for years as transmission operators study what upgrades—if any—are needed to accommodate the increased loads.

The authors modeled various scenarios to determine if replacing existing transmission conductors with those made with advanced composite-core materials—a process known as reconductoring—could provide a pathway to faster grid expansion. 

Several reconductoring projects have been initiated in Belgium and the Netherlands, and utility companies in the U.S. have used the material to string transmission lines across wide spans like river crossings. That technology, however, has not made its way to the majority of overhead power lines that feed residential and commercial customers.

“As we learned more about the technology, we realized that no one had done the detailed modeling needed to understand the technology’s potential for large-scale transmission capacity increases,” said Phadke.

Based on the authors’ projections, it is cheaper—and quicker—for utility companies to replace the 53,000 existing transmission lines with advanced composite-core materials than it is to build entirely new transmission lines.

They assert that doing so would reduce wholesale electricity costs by 3% to 4% on average—translating to $85 billion in system cost savings by 2035 and $180 billion by 2050.

“The level of interest we’ve received from federal and state agencies, transmission companies and utilities is extremely encouraging, and since our initial report, the Department of Energy has committed hundreds of millions of dollars to reconductoring projects,” said co-author Emilia Chojkiewicz, a PhD student in ERG and an affiliate of the Goldman School of Public Policy. “We are looking forward to learning about these projects as they unfold.”

Additional co-authors include Nikit Abhyankar and Umed Paliwal, affiliates at the Goldman School of Public Policy; and Casey Baker and Ric O’Connell of GridLab, a nonprofit that provides comprehensive technical grid expertise to policy makers and advocates.

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Black History

A Life of Inventions: Engineer and Physicist George Alcorn

George Edward Alcorn Jr. was born on March 22, 1940, in Indianapolis. Growing up in a family that valued education, Alcorn developed an early love for science and mathematics. He excelled in school, and attended Occidental College in California, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1962. He received a master’s degree in nuclear physics in 1963 and a Ph.D. in atomic and molecular physics in 1967 at Howard University.

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Portrait of George Edward Alcorn Jr. Debbie McCallum, Public domain.
Portrait of George Edward Alcorn Jr. Debbie McCallum, Public domain.

By Tamara Shiloh

George Edward Alcorn Jr. was born on March 22, 1940, in Indianapolis.

Growing up in a family that valued education, Alcorn developed an early love for science and mathematics. He excelled in school, and attended Occidental College in California, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics in 1962. He received a master’s degree in nuclear physics in 1963 and a Ph.D. in atomic and molecular physics in 1967 at Howard University.

Alcorn began his career in developing scientific technology in private industries, starting a career as a physicist for IBM. His career took off when he joined several prestigious companies and research institutions, such as the Aerospace Corporation, where he developed important technologies for spacecraft. In 1978, he accepted a position at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where he worked for the remainder of his career. There, he developed technologies for space stations and private institutions across the nation, becoming a key figure in the field of physics and space exploration.

Alcorn is well known for his groundbreaking work on X-ray spectrometers. An X-ray spectrometer is a device used to identify different elements in materials by analyzing the X-ray wavelengths they emit. His improvements allowed the instrument to detect X-rays with greater accuracy and efficiency. This invention has been critical for NASA’s space missions, aiding in the analysis of planetary atmospheres and surfaces, including Mars and other planets in our solar system.

He also contributed to the development of plasma etching, a process used in manufacturing microchips for computers and electronics. His work in this area advanced semiconductor technology, which powers everything from smartphones to satellites.

 Another accomplishment was the development of new technologies used in the Freedom space station in partnership with space agencies in Japan, Canada and Europe, though their projects never made it to space.

Throughout his career, Alcorn received several awards and honors, including NASA’s Inventor of the Year Award in 1984. In 2010, he received the highest honor from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. In 2015, Alcorn was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his invention of the imaging X-ray spectrometer.

 In addition to his work in the lab, Alcorn dedicated much of his time to teaching and mentoring young scientists. As one of the few African American scientists working in advanced fields like physics and space exploration, he has been an inspiration to young people, especially those from underrepresented groups in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). He taught at Howard University and worked to encourage more African Americans to pursue careers in science and engineering.

George is quoted as stating, “The big thing about being in science and engineering is that if you have a good, interesting project going, work is not coming to work, it’s coming to an adventure.”

George Edward Alcorn passed away June 19, 2024.

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