NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) have formed a first-of-its-kind strategic partnership to observe Earth and its changing environment. The global climate is rapidly changing and the demand for accurate, timely, and actionable knowledge is more pressing than ever. Recognizing that climate change is an urgent global challenge, the timing is right for NASA and ESA, as partners in space, to join forces to lead and support a global response to climate change. The partnership is an effort to help address and mitigate climate change through monitoring Earth with combined efforts of both agencies in Earth science observations, research, and applications.

"Climate change is an all-hands-on deck, global challenge that requires action – now," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson. "NASA and ESA are leading the way in space, building an unprecedented strategic partnership in Earth science. This agreement will set the standard for future international collaboration, providing the information that is so essential for tackling the challenges posed by climate change and helping to answer and address the most pressing questions in Earth science for the benefit of the United States, Europe, and the world."

The partnership was formalized through a joint statement of intent, signed Tuesday, which outlines how the agencies will collaborate to ensure continuity of Earth observations; advance understanding of the Earth System, climate change and application of that knowledge; and collaborate on an open data policy that promotes open sharing of data, information, and knowledge within the scientific community and the wider public.

"Together, NASA and ESA provide most of the world's Earth science coverage through our Earth-observing satellites," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for science. "This transformative agreement will build on that capability, forging a critical international climate science partnership to tackle the most challenging climate questions in an integrated and strategic way. Not only will NASA and ESA work together to deliver unparalleled Earth science observations, research, and applications, but all of our findings will also be free and open for the benefit of the entire world as we work together to combat and mitigate climate change."

NASA and ESA have a long and successful history working together to understand climate change. In 2020, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and European partners, including ESA, launched the Sentinel-6 Michael Freilich satellite, which is collecting the most accurate data yet on global sea level and how oceans are rising in response to climate change. The mission also is collecting data of atmospheric temperature and humidity that will help improve climate models and weather forecasts.

"Without doubt, space is the best vantage point to measure and monitor climate change, but joining forces is also key to tackling this global issue," said Josef Aschbacher, ESA director general. "This is why today's agreement between our organizations is so crucial. Timing is also important, particularly as we look to the COP26 climate conference later this year, where we have the chance to further make space an integral part of the solution when it comes to climate-change mitigation."

In May, NASA announced its Earth System Observatory, which will design a new set of Earth-focused missions to provide key information to guide efforts related to climate change, disaster mitigation, fighting forest fires, and improving real-time agricultural processes. The joint statement of intent complements activities underway for the Earth System Observatory.

Climate adaptation and mitigation efforts cannot succeed without robust climate observations and research. NASA has more than two dozen satellites and instruments observing how the planet is changing and measuring key climate indicators, such as the height of oceans and inland waters, clouds and precipitation, and carbon dioxide.

Sony's PS5 is set to be released on 19 November 2020. The official logo of the gaming console was made public in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2020. It has been widely compared to Microsoft's new console, the Xbox Series X, which was just released on November 10, 2020. The PS5 will replace the PS4 and will be Sony's most powerful gaming console ever.

Late last year, details emerged of a controller teased by Sony that most people believed to be the PS5 controller. It has a familiar look with the existing PS4 controllers but with new features. The controller has subtle changes compared to the current DualShock 4 controller. It has a more pronounced touchpad while the thumbsticks are small in size. Also, there's more ravel on the rear triggers of the controller. This is to allow for adjustment of the triggers to make them more adaptive. Moreover, the leaked DualShock 5 controller didn't seem to have a light bar. Rumors are suggesting that the PS5 controller has a microphone, but that can neither be confirmed nor denied.

No new details about the PS5 controllers have emerged recently, but there's reason to believe they may look like the teased controller. The PS5 promises more speed and improved graphics. The current PS4 Pro has a custom AMD CPU with a clock speed of up to 2.13Ghz. PS5 is expected to beat that speed, and it is confirmed that the CPU chip will be a 3rd generation Ryzen chip. The processor will be custom made and will contain eight processors. Also, it will be the first-ever PlayStation console based on the latest 7nm Zen 2 microarchitecture technology. This will allow for ray tracing, which is currently on the Nvidia RTX and a few high-end PC processors.

The console is also expected to have better graphics compared to its predecessors. This will be made possible with the combination of the Zen CPU architecture and AMD's Navi graphics architecture. The GPU setup will support 8K resolutions hence improved visual fidelity. However, for physical disks, 4k Blu-ray players will be supported. There's wide speculation that the PS5 graphics will be photo-realistic or something close to that. There's also reason to believe that since ray tracing, which is a defining element of next-generation graphics, will be introduced.

There will be audio enhancements in the new PlayStation console, which is good news to developers and players alike. In addition, there will be a new custom 3D audio unit added to PS5, as confirmed by Sony. As a result, players will experience a more immersive sound, whether they're playing with headphones on or using the TV sound system. Additionally, Reduced PS5 load time will be a significant improvement, and one of the biggest enhancements. There are rumors that the load time will be significantly reduced to 0.8 seconds, which is incredible.

One of the greatest issue that PlayStation players face is memory management of their games. Speculation has it that Sony will try to counter the issue by making external SSD's that players can slot into the console. These external SSD's might be made available when the PS5 is released, but this remains speculation as per now. Sony made it public that there will be PS5 exclusive games that won't be playable in any of its previous consoles. Well, this can be considered a business-oriented tactic or just another way of showing how powerful the next-gen console will be. Either way, the announcement will improve the market sales of the new console since many players will be curious to play the exclusive games.

The PS5 won't be a completely digital console since it will still accept physical disks. This is because it will be backward compatible with PS4 games, as confirmed by Sony. Also, since it is primarily based on PS4 architecture, games playable on PS4 can still be played on PS5. Sony's CEO, Jim Ryan, confirmed that the backward compatibility applies to all previous PlayStation consoles. Hence, players get the chance to play all their favorite games on PS5.

In fact, players can start games on the PS4 then continue them on the PS5. This amazing feature is called the Cross-Generational Play, allowing gamers to move their progress in PS4 to PS5 and vice versa. Lastly, most of the information available now is just speculative. We will have to wait till Holiday 2020 to confirm the specs, look and feel of this new gaming console.

In 1902, the celebrated Italian, Guglielmo Marconi, shook the world with his first transatlantic radio transmission. The radio was born. Yes, from this, the world developed to have the DAB radio and the modern live internet transmission. As the time progressed, the consumption of entertainment radio and its general use for recreation has dramatically increased. But, as things changed rapidly in the broadcast world and the digital age was adopted, a crucial question came up: Would the traditional radio survive?

Well, the radio did survive. It survived the introduction of the television in the early 20th century. It survived the emergence of music streaming and the exciting satellite networks. Today, the radio is still here as an important entertainment platform. With the induction of the digital media, the radio is now something more than a platform of the analogue audio.

It is interesting that the use of online streaming and DAB today allows stations to transmit material quickly all over the world. The radio is particularly useful for expatriates living abroad and the international audience that enjoys listening to radio shows broadcast in their native language. The radio is also important in the sense that it is useful for spreading the knowledge of foreign cultures to the entire interconnected world.

These days, it is common to find radio connections to popular platforms like Facebook and You Tube. This is a whole new field created for the presenters and broadcasters. These days, the cloud storage systems are important for enabling users to access radio shows that were done in the past but still remain on demand. Moreover, it enables the consumers to have a forum in which they can listen to their own conscience.

Today, radio stations have fast become an essential branding technique. For instance, Australia's Triple J Station has become quite popular among the unsigned and underground artistes. The radio company is not just a regular broadcasting station; the station incorporates an online music platform. and festival hosting. These are just a few options that come with the modern social media menu. For embracing the said platforms, the Triple J Station of Australia has progressively gained a huge following, not only within Australia, but also with the general overseas audience. The station allows its consumers to upload their chosen, favorite music to the Triple J Station website. This makes the radio to be increasingly accessible to many upcoming artistes.

Increasingly, most radio outlets have been compelled to adapt quickly to the progressive, changing demands of the modern world. Today, consumers can quickly type the name or tile of their favorite song into the You Tube channel. They can just as easily locate new music through the discover weekly playlist menu of Sportify. Moreover, broadcasters can manage to maintain a steady audience with a unique touch of familiarity.

Notably, among the largest consumers of the modern radio entertainment are car users. Here, radio broadcasting comes with a host of advantages over the regular streaming services. You can get lots of useful information via the radio, including weather reports, music and local traffic information. The latest, modern cars are increasingly being designed with DAB radio sets, which are inbuilt. This shows that the radio phenomenon is here to stay.

Further, online streaming and podcasting have today made the boundaries between listening to the radio as a purveyor of news, and listening to it as a private music collection, to be quite blurred. Linear scheduling is still what defines radio as we know it. This is despite the fact that today the radio is generally regarded as more interactive within the online platforms.

Further, most modern online music services like Deezer and Sportify have playlists that can play music randomly on various parameters. These work much like the typical radio station. If you want to get an example of a vague radio-like consumption then think about the popular practice of queueing up videos on You Tube.

Interestingly, despite these developments, the vintage linear radio programming regime continues to have a loyal following with a significant consumption. Also, newer platforms continuously seem to fit perfectly, working alongside the traditional radio setup. These new platforms are not replacing radio by any means. Certainly, they will not replace the radio anytime soon. Radio broadcasters can confidently take their content to the next level in new, exciting ways that could never before be conceived.

There is exciting news lurking around the corner: The mobile connection's 5th generation technology is at hand. Yes, this is the same thing that happened with the invention of the 4G technology. There is no doubt that, in the near future, this big news will be history.

But there is a significant difference.

In the past, every time something new came up in the digital field, it was always the USA or Japan taking the lead. This time it's a different story. The new pioneer of the 21st century cutting -edge mobile technology is now recognized as China.

This big news is super-exciting. What is ahead is truly remarkable. According to the new report featuring in the CSS insights news, at least 1 billion people will be active users of the 5G technology by 2023. Remarkably, China will account for 50% of all 5G users as soon as 2022. Indeed, China is expected to maintain her lead in this area all the way till 2025. This means that China will still account for about 40% of the world 5G connections. Another interesting fact is that the remarkable move to the new 5G technology will happen faster than the 4G performed. Regardless, a few factors will likely hinder the new technology's progress.

Why will China take the lead in such a dramatic manner? The first factor is this: China's burning political ambitions to seize the lead in the development of all new digital technology. The second factor is connected to the fairy tale rise of the local Chinese manufacturing powerhouse, the Huawei manufacturer. The third factor is the remarkable, breakneck speed, with which consumers embraced the 4G technology in the recent past. These startling revelations came courtesy of Marina Koytcheva, who is the Vice President of the CSS Forecasting insight. She was speaking to the CNBC agency.

The report indicates that, henceforth, China will take a definite lead in digital development. On their part, South Korea, and Japan will quickly follow suit and launch their maiden commercial 5G network soon after China. The most remarkable segment of this news is that Europe will trail behind these Asian giants by at least one year.

Moreover, the report says that the progressive advances to the new 5G technology may not have a significant impact on the Internet of Things. This means that the internet presence of 5G will not be so dramatic. The report does not give a clear indication on how the 5G technology will impact on autonomous cars, for instance. Indeed, such mission critical services may have to wait a little longer to have an impact that is directly related to the 5G development.

How will the leading network operators deploy significant numbers of new base stations? Where will this be done? The report did not make this clear. There is a lack of a clear case for the business impact of this new development. We do not even know about the willingness of most consumers to upgrade their personal smartphones to this new technology. Some sources even wonder about the wisdom of investing in this entire enterprise. One reason is that the success of these ventures depends on the readiness of consumers to buy the relevant new devices and take advantage of the 5G features. Unless such factors are cared for, it might seem that there was no point in investing big in such ventures.

Why will Europe apparently remain behind Asia in these new digital progress? Europe has to deal with her own challenges, including a fragmentation of the markets, spectrum availability and the regulators' influence. According to the latest forecasts, access to the mobile broadband on smartphones will be the point that determines the consumer's adoption of the 5G technology. Indeed, this should represent a whopping 99% of the total 5G connections by the year 2025.

The Vice President of the CSS insight, USA, Geof Blaber recently said that 5G technology is all about the creation of a network that can adapt radically to new applications and scale up when it is necessary. He predicted that the Internet of Things, including other mission-critical services, are unlikely to experience exponential growth soon. They, however, remain an integral segment of the 5G technology. According to the CSS insight, the fixed wireless access will comprise the first 5G commercial application in the world. The report predicts that one of the early adopters of the new technology will be the USA. This idea is boosted by some leading technological advocates like Verizon and AT and T.