For those not aware of the extreme heat wave and windy conditions causing fires to rage in the Southern Cape coastal areas, Eye Witness News issued a summary on Friday, saying that firefighters in the Western Cape have their hands full trying to put out several fires in the Overberg and Garden Route areas.

In the Overberg region there are currently three raging fires in Stanford, Pearly Beach, and Greyton. The municipality said the Pearly Beach fire – which has entered its fifth day – has spread all the way to Stanford wineries.

Garden Route district firefighters are also batting two wildfires in Mossel Bay and Tsitsikama. The N2 between Dana Bay and Langeberg Mall in Mossel Bay has since been reopened after it was closed in both directions due to smoke.

Overberg District Municipality Fire Chief, Reinard Geldenhuys, said firefighters are also busy trying to put out other small fires in the region.

“The Greyton fire was contained but, with the strong westerly wind, the fire jumped the road to Riviersonderend and it’s currently burning in the mountain. There is a fire just outside our area that’s also running, a small one in Villiersdorp.”

Meanwhile, the Franschhoek fire remains out of control and a fire at De Wet Cellar in Worcester is burning in the direction of De Doorns.

And in the Eastern Cape, the Kouga Municipality has issued an immediate evacuation order for residents in several high-risk areas as fires rage uncontrollably.

Residents of the Zwartenbosch area along the R330 towards Hankey were instructed to evacuate without delay after flames spread on both sides of the road, threatening homes, farms and nearby infrastructure, including a poultry farm in the area. The municipality said the cause of the fire remains unknown, but worsening weather conditions have significantly hampered containment efforts.

Dense smoke has also forced the closure of the N2 between Jeffreys Bay and Humansdorp, with motorists urged to avoid the area entirely.

Kouga Mayor Hattingh Bornman said firefighters were dealing with multiple active fire fronts as winds repeatedly changed direction.

“With the increasing wind and change of direction, the fire has flared up again and currently we have two situations; on the R330 between Humansdorp and Hankey, as well as between St Francis and Humansdorp. The fire on the Kromme River is out of control, and we are asking residents who live close by to evacuate with immediate effect so that we don’t suffer any loss of life,” Bornman said.

The evacuation order also extends to residents along Oyster Bay Road, surrounding farming areas, and the Kromme River and Riverside communities.

Authorities urged residents not to delay and to follow instructions from emergency services, confirming that temporary accommodation would be made available for displaced families.

At the other weather extreme, GDACS is reporting heavy snowfall, freezing rains, strong winds, and very low temperatures affecting most of the United Kingdom (UK) and northern France (due to the storm Goretti) and northern Germany (due to the storm Ellie) over the last 24 hours, causing disruptions.

In the UK, GDACS reports several school closures, closed roads, rail transport disruptions, closed airports, cancelled flights, and cancelled ferry transports, while France experienced rail transport disruptions, some closed roads, and around 380 000 power outages, and in Germany  several traffic accidents, some closed roads, rail and bus transport disruptions and flight cancellations were reported.

Over the next 48 hours, more severe weather is forecast over the already affected countries. Several warnings were issued by the national meteorological offices of all three countries.

GDACS is also reporting floods in Malaysia, Indonesia, Zambia and Tanzania, and there are flood alerts out in Bosnia and Hertzegovina, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

Two interesting stories coming from space research have an impact on life right here at home.

Mark Thomson, writing for Guide to Space, notes that surface terrain can make travelling by vehicle in that kind of area difficult or impossible. Nothing remarkable about that! In exploring stony or rocky paths it does mean that vehicles with small wheel diameters are likely to get stuck.

But, a research team led by Professor Dae-Young Lee from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology found an elegant solution by looking backward in time. They combined principles from Leonardo da Vinci’s self-supporting bridge designs with origami folding patterns to create a wheel that transforms without any traditional mechanical joints.

The wheel uses an elastic metal frame and fabric tensioners that flex rather than pivot. This design can expand from a compact 230 millimetres to 500 millimetres in diameter, more than doubling its size. A small rover equipped with these wheels maintains a low profile during transport but gains the climbing ability of a much larger vehicle once deployed on the lunar surface.

The team put the wheel through rigorous testing using artificial lunar soil. It demonstrated superior traction on loose slopes and survived a drop impact equivalent to falling 100 metres in lunar gravity. The metal frame proved flexible enough to transform reliably while rigid enough to support the rover’s weight across loose regolith.

While all this will work well in near weightless environments, it may need a bit of work to be modified for work on earth, but one never knows.

Writing in the same edition of Guide to Space, Mark reports on an experiment with adult mice sent to the Chinese Space Station on 31^st October. For two weeks, the rodents lived in microgravity, exposed to space radiation and the peculiar conditions of orbital life. They returned safely on 14 November. Then, on 10 December, one of the females gave birth to nine healthy pups. And that simple fact might matter more than you’d think for humanity’s future beyond Earth.

In this study six of the offspring survived, which researchers consider a normal survival rate. The mother is nursing properly, and the pups are active and developing well. Wang Hongmei, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, emphasised the significance of their discovery that short term spaceflight didn’t damage the mouse’s ability to reproduce.

This wasn’t just about sending mice to space for the sake of it. Mice share high genetic similarity with humans, reproduce quickly, and respond to physiological stresses in ways that often mirror human biology. If space breaks something fundamental about mammalian reproduction, mice would show it first.

Now researchers will monitor these “space pups” closely, tracking their growth curves and checking for physiological changes that might hint at hidden effects from their mother’s space exposure. They’ll also test whether these offspring can reproduce normally themselves, searching for multi-generational impacts.

Noting that it has taken me about 13 years since I first started writing these articles to get sex into the HAMNET report, this is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa!

May I start by wishing you all a very healthy and happy 2026? May your appreciation of amateur radio, and the service you can offer to others using ham radio, expand and develop in the coming year.

Greg Mossop G0DUB, the IARU Region One Emergency Communications Coordinator has issued a greetings bulletin at the start of the New Year. In it, he mentions that 25 events, activities, or disasters were managed by the IARU Region One Emcomm operators, in the 5 year period since 2020.

He notes: “When you look through them you will wonder why some countries events are not reported, or why other events get mentioned which you did not even know about. Sharing information between our groups is useful so we can learn from each other, and it also helps us understand we are not alone and even if we live in countries where we are not called for often, amateur radio does still have a role and we can use these examples to inform our authorities. 

“I am hoping for a more balanced year ahead with more focus on training than administration and more time to promote what we do to a wider audience. My thanks to you, your families and all of your volunteers across the region for your support of Emergency Communications this year and I hope you all have a happy, healthy and safe 2026.”

Thank you Greg, we in South Africa reciprocate your greetings. We are very grateful to you for the professional lead you take and the guidance we all receive.

Thursday the 1^st marked the 125^th anniversary of the Lizard Wireless Station’s inauguration at a remarkable clifftop site in Cornwall, on the English west coast, that played a pivotal role in the early history of wireless communication and helped change how the world connects.

Voicenewspapers.co.uk says that it was opened on the first of January 1901, and became one of the first commercial wireless telegraphy stations in the world, communicating with ships up to 80 miles away and pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible at the time.

Later that same month, the station achieved a world record when it successfully received a wireless signal from St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight – proving for the first time that radio waves could follow the curvature of the Earth.

This breakthrough paved the way for long-distance communication and laid crucial groundwork for Guglielmo Marconi’s famous transatlantic transmission from nearby Poldhu later that year.

Today, the Lizard Wireless Station remains a place where history is not only preserved but actively lived.

Cared for by the National Trust and supported by passionate volunteers, the site continues to operate as an amateur radio station, connecting modern radio enthusiasts with the very landscape and conditions that made these early experiments possible.

To mark the 125th anniversary, the station’s historic call sign GB125LWS will be active throughout January, and visitors will be welcomed inside, offering a rare glimpse into a site where global communication history was made.

A review in irishtimes.com says that the 10 most costly climate-related disasters in 2025 caused 100 billion Euros worth of damage. The analysis carried out for Christian Aid shows the wildfires that raged in California last January were the most expensive in financial terms, assessed at more than €51 billion.

A spate of cyclones and associated extreme rain and flooding in November killed 1,750 people and cost at least $25 billion in Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Malaysia. Extreme flooding in China, India and Pakistan; back-to-back typhoons in the Philippines, Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica, floods in Texas and a prolonged drought in Brazil each caused damages exceeding $1 billion while hundreds of people died.

Wildfires destroyed 47,000 hectares of moor, woodland and highlands in Britain; 260,000 hectares in Portugal and 383,000 hectares in Spain.

Drought crippled several countries in South America, Iran and west Asia while floods caused devastation in Nigeria and Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The world is paying an ever-higher price for a crisis we already know how to solve,” said Joanna Haigh, emeritus professor of atmospheric physics at Imperial College London.

“These disasters are not ‘natural’ – they are the inevitable result of continued fossil fuel expansion and political delay.”

Christian Aid said while the high bills arose in richer countries, the impact of climate-related disasters was disproportionately severe in poorer countries.

They said that “long-pledged financial support is still not flowing to developing countries at the scale and speed required.

“In 2026, world leaders must address this injustice and act with urgency. This means meeting our climate finance targets, investing in climate action, and breaking our dependence on fossil fuels urgently to reduce emissions.”

Thank you to irishtimes.com for that news.

A report from indiandefencereview.com says that, high above storm clouds where commercial jets don’t fly and conventional satellites cannot observe in detail, scientists have begun collecting data on elusive electrical discharges known as transient luminous events (TLEs). These phenomena include red sprites, blue jets, and ELVES—brief, high-altitude bursts of light triggered by lightning that occur far above thunderclouds.

From the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts are now documenting these discharges with unprecedented precision. Instruments installed outside the station are capturing high-speed images and radiation measurements, giving scientists fresh insight into how these flashes may affect Earth’s atmosphere, long-distance radio communications, and even climate processes.

The renewed focus on storm-generated upper-atmospheric electricity is reshaping how researchers understand severe weather systems. By viewing lightning activity from orbit, space agencies are opening a new frontier in atmospheric research, offering evidence that storm energy often travels far beyond the visible storm cloud.

The ESA’s Atmosphere–Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM), installed on the ISS in 2018, plays a central role in observing upper-atmospheric lightning. Built by Danish aerospace firm Terma and operated from a control centre in Belgium, ASIM is designed to detect light, ultraviolet radiation, and X-rays from rare electrical phenomena occurring between 20 and 100 kilometres above Earth’s surface.

Its position outside the station allows it to record events above large thunderstorm systems, particularly in equatorial regions. ASIM’s instruments include high-speed photometers and X-ray sensors that identify and record brief discharges like ELVES, which appear as large, expanding rings of light, and red sprites, which look like vertical bursts resembling jellyfish.

Earth.com noted that ASIM confirmed that lightning-like discharges can emit enough electromagnetic energy to reach the ionosphere, the charged layer of the atmosphere that supports long-range radio communication. These vertical pulses, triggered by storm activity, may influence how radio signals travel across continents, creating potential disruptions to aviation, naval and military communications systems, (not to mention signals of radio amateurs).

Thanks to indiandefencereview.com for these paragraphs.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

The Christmas week has not given the people in the Margate area of the South Coast much joy. centralnews.co.za reports that heavy rains have caused major flooding in Margate on KwaZulu-Natal’s south coast, leaving roads blocked, properties damaged, and communities picking up the pieces during what should be a joyful holiday time. The downpours, which started around 16:30 on Sunday, 21 December 2025, brought intense rainfall that triggered widespread havoc, with water rushing through streets and into homes and businesses.

For families like those in the coastal belt from Margate through Oslo Beach to Port Shepstone, it meant a night of worry as they watched their belongings get soaked and cars stuck in the flow. One person has died in a mudslide, while three others are missing after their car was swept away in Amanzimtoti, with two bodies located so far and the search for the third continuing. The storms have also led to a wall collapse that claimed a woman’s life, bringing the known death toll to at least two with fears it could rise. As parents keep kids inside and residents mop up, many share stories of the sudden rush of water that turned quiet neighbourhoods into rivers in minutes.

In a region known for its beautiful beaches and holiday vibes, this disaster reminds us how quickly weather can change plans, calling for better preparation to protect lives and homes. As the year ends, many pray for drier days ahead, ensuring the south coast stays a place of joy, not worry.

Earlier in the week, the last time GDACS presented their daily update of severe weather, the list of countries experiencing the severest of storms and flooding included Argentina, Paraguay, Indonesia, France, Iran, USA and the United Arab Emirates, with warnings of flooding in Poland and United Kingdom. Disaster management agencies have been kept busy in these countries.

I am glad to note that the ARRL is promoting the dual-band hand-held Yagi developed in South Africa, and exported to them for sale to American hams to use with lightweight mobile transceivers to make contacts via satellites. As far as I can see they have already issued two short teaching YouTube videos on the availability and the assembly of the antennas. Originally designed by Martin Steyer DK7ZB, and then modified by Larry Brown WB5CXC, it was later redesigned and rebuilt by Guy Eales ZS6GUY and Gary Immelman ZS6YI, and the latter two hams are to be congratulated for developing a simple design that has attracted the attention of the ARRL.

It is available in South Africa for interested parties at amsatsa.org.za.

An item triggering my memory as I write this is the magnitude 9.2 earthquake off the coasts of Andaman and Nicobar Islands in Northern Sumatra, on 26^th December 2004, causing a massive tsunami with waves as high as 30 metres tall, devastating communities along the surrounding coasts of the Indian Ocean, and killing an estimated 228000 people in 14 countries.

You may remember amateur radio’s role in that quake and tsunami, with a group of Indian radio amateurs, led by Bharathi Prasad VU2RBI, coincidentally visiting the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on a DXpedition, and able to scramble to a high site on Andaman, and maintain radio communications for the area

A second station was established on Car Nicobar Island, one of the most affected islands by another member of the DXpedition, S. Ram Mohan, VU2MYH, and amateur radio remained the only means of communication from the Andaman and Nicobar islands for many days.

That DXpedition’s team allowed thousands of families to hear news of loved ones in the affected areas, and persuaded authorities to legalize amateur radio in the Andaman Islands.

We remember that time 21 years ago, and marvel at the effect amateur radio had on the communications during the disaster.

Another disaster and mystery in the area concerns the disappearance of Malaysian flight MH-370, a Boeing 777, which dramatically diverted from its planned flight path and seems to have vanished in the south eastern Indian Ocean on 8^th March 2014, and has never been found.

Several international searches have been instituted since then without success. A major deep sea research, search and rescue company called Ocean Infinity, which has specialized ships with autonomous undersea drones, has been involved in previous searches, so far without success in finding the plane, the last being called off in March this year due to developing winter weather in the search area.

Ocean Infinity is desperately concerned with the search and recovery of details of the whereabouts of the wreckage, and has signed a contract with the Malaysian government to keep looking on a no-find, no-fee basis. They are on the point of resuming the search within the next couple of days, with a brand new ship, Armada 86 05, due to resume searching on 30^th December, when it reaches the area last searched in March this year.

239 lives were lost on that aircraft, 239 families still cannot bring closure to their loved one’s final outcomes, and Ocean Infinity is going to spend another 55 days tracking the parts of the Indian Ocean most likely to conceal the remains of the plane. At an ocean depth of some 4000 metres in the area, those autonomous underwater rovers are going to have to earn their reputations in the next two months.

Did you notice the milestone passed this weekend when the satellite Voyager One, now the furthest man-made object away from Earth, reached a distance of one light-day away from us? In other words, a signal sent by the Deep Space Network takes 24 hours travelling at the speed of light to reach Voyager One, and the answer back takes another 24 hours to get to us! You can’t be in a hurry communicating with Voyager One. And the power consumed by its transmitter is the same as that used by a typical home fridge door lightbulb. However the Deep Space Network can still extract its data from the background radio noise!

Finally, someone has done the research to determine how far intelligible radio signals (to our ears) have travelled since the first voice transmissions were emitted in 1906, by Aubrey Fessenden. The strength of the signals transmitted are reduced by the square of the distance travelled, so must now be extremely weak, but the distance travelled is of course 119 lightyears. This “sphere” of signals is called Earth’s Radio Bubble, and has a total diameter of (double that) 238 light years. Put in perspective, it would take those first signals 23000 years to reach our edge of the Milky Way, and 77000 years to reach the far edge of our galaxy.

Proxima Centauri, the closest star to us is only 4.24 light years away, so they have been battered by our radio noise for 115 years already, and have probably heard all episodes of Dallas, Downton Abbey, the Carol Burnett Show, the Goons, and countless thousands of rugby match commentaries!

But don’t expect any listener reviews back from them in a hurry. They are probably too busy developing noise filters to cut our QRM out completely!

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, wishing you all a splendid 2026 in a peaceful world (I hope), and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

It is with a sinking feeling that I must report that the days in the Southern Hemisphere start getting shorter from today. Woe is me – I prefer the warm weather and long sunsets.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Between Wednesday and Friday this week, GDACS reported flooding in Bolivia, DRC, Malaysia, Palestine, Morocco, the Northwest USA, Spain and Brazil,  as well as heavy snowfall in Canada, forest fires in Chile, landslides in Vietnam, bushfires in Australia and continued violence and forced displacements in Mozambique.

eNCA reports that KwaZulu-Natal disaster management authorities are on high alert amid yet another weather warning. The South African Weather Service has issued a Level 5 and a Level 2 warning.

The Level 5 warning affects the Western, Midlands, and Northern parts of the province and the Level 2 warning affects coastal areas.

There’s a high probability of flooding, mudslides, rock-falls and soil erosion.

Level 2 warnings also affect Gauteng, the North West, Free State, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape.

Reporting from the Western Cape, I am lucky to be free of these dangers.

Keith Lowes ZS5WFD of HAMNET KZN has sent me a report of the Upper Highway Trail Marathon held on 6^th December 2025. He writes:

“HAMNET-KZN deployed 7 members who once again partnered with S.T.A.R.T Rescue (Specialised Tactical Accident Rescue Team) and Redline Response Ambulance to assist with communications for this popular annual event.

“A Joint Operations Centre (JOC) was established at the beautiful Start and Finish venue of Camp Orchards in Hillcrest which was manned by Provincial Director Keith Lowes ZS5WFD for HAMNET and Brad Cool for the S.T.A.R.T Rescue team members.  HAMNET made use of the Highway Amateur Radio Club’s 145.7625 repeater situated in Kloof and 145.550 Simplex which gave us excellent coverage of the whole route. The route took runners through 7 Nature Conservancies, 6 river eco-systems, 3 scenic waterfalls and some of the most beautiful trails in the area.

“142 runners started the 42Km race at 05H30 with 6 Water Points, whilst 437 runners started the 21Km event at 06H00 with 3 Water Points on route. The last runner crossed the finish line at 15H15.

“Trail conditions were wet and slippery with cloudy/overcast and light rain persisting for the duration of the event.

“I am pleased to report that no serious medical emergencies were experienced apart from the usual cuts/grazes and sprained ankles. If you didn’t bleed, you weren’t trying hard enough!!!! An ambulance was dispatched at 09H20 to Watsonia Place to assist a patient who was not part of the Trail Event.

“Recently acquired SARL HAMNET EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS tear-drop banners drew the public’s attention to our activities at strategic points along the route.

“This was our final sporting event for the year. I wish to extend my sincere thanks to my HAMNET KZN team for their dedication and loyal support during the year. You may take a well-earned break with your families but please remain vigilant and be available should a call for HAMNET’S assistance be received during the festive period.”

Thank you, Keith, for the report, and for your never-failing contribution to HAMNET in KZN.

Now, if you think we have problems driving our vehicles on the roads, spare a thought for the folks who have to manoeuvre satellites out of each other’s way. With reference to solar flares and geomagnetic storms that influence GPS positioning, Jonathan O’Callaghan, writing in newscientist.com, says that satellites in orbit would begin to collide in a matter of days if they lost maneuverability during a solar storm or other outage

A collision would occur in just 2.8 days if all satellites lost their ability to dodge each other, highlighting how crowded Earth’s orbit is becoming.

In the past seven years, the number of satellites has more than tripled from 4000 to nearly 14,000. The main cause of this growth has been SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, which now numbers more than 9000 satellites in low Earth orbit between 340 and 550 kilometres above Earth.

This large increase means satellites must constantly dodge out of the way of each other, known as a collision avoidance manoeuvre, to prevent crashes that would generate thousands of pieces of metal and potentially render parts of Earth’s orbit unusable.

From 1 December 2024 to 31 May 2025, SpaceX alone performed 144,404 collision avoidance manoeuvres, equivalent to one every 1.8 minutes across its constellation, according to a report by the company. Only one collision between satellites in orbit has ever occurred. In 2009, an active satellite run by Iridium Communications hit a defunct Russian Kosmos satellite. Hundreds of pieces of debris from the event still orbit Earth.

Sarah Thiele at Princeton University and her colleagues used public positional data of satellites to model how their increased number has affected the collision risk. They came up with a new metric, called the Collision Realization And Significant Harm (CRASH) Clock to quantify the risk. The name invites comparisons with the infamous Doomsday Clock that charts humanity’s threat of nuclear war. “We definitely talked about that a lot,” says Samantha Lawler at the University of Regina in Canada, another member of the team.

Thanks to newscientist.com for that cheerful news.

It remains now only for me to wish all of my readers and listeners a very happy festive season, celebrating appropriately, and responsibly, looking after your loved ones, and doing for them that which you would like being done for you.

I’d like to greet Hans van den Groenendaal, ZS6AKV, who has been steering this ARToday ship for many years, and thank him for putting together a programme of interesting hobby stuff so faithfully every week, and also the Councilors and Admin of the SARL, and thank them for all they do to keep our hobby safe and progressive. I think we, as the benefitting radio amateurs, don’t appreciate enough the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep the wheels rolling.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, reporting from sunny Cape Town, for HAMNET in South Africa.

In continuing news from Indonesia, GDACS says that the death toll from severe flooding in Indonesia, particularly in northern Sumatra, has been increasing since 17 November.

As of 10 December, the National Disaster Management Authority (BNPB) reported 977 fatalities, with Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra being the most affected provinces. There are also 260 missing individuals and 5,037 injured people reported. Additionally, approximately 159,000 homes and 3,296 public facilities have been damaged.

So that disaster is not over yet.

Aljazeera says that more than two million people – nearly 10 percent of the population of Sri Lanka – have been affected by last week’s climate crisis-spurred floods and landslides triggered by Cyclone DITWAH, the worst on the island this century.

The government has confirmed 639 deaths – 464 from the lush tea-growing central region – while 209 people remain unaccounted for. The number of people in state-run refugee camps had dropped to 100,000 from a peak of 225,000 as floodwaters receded across the island by last Sunday, the DMC said.

More than 75,000 homes were damaged, including close to 5,000 that were completely destroyed, it added.

The National Sea Rescue Institute says that it joined the Western Cape Disaster Management Centre (WCDMC) and key emergency stakeholders at the official launch of the 2025/26 Summer Season Readiness Initiative, a province-wide commitment to ensure coordinated, rapid emergency response during the busiest and highest-risk season.

The annual readiness initiative brings together provincial and municipal disaster managers, emergency services and non-profit response organisations in the Western Cape to prepare for heightened risks associated with increased recreational water use, fire danger, extreme weather, and growing demands on first responders.

At the event, the NSRI formally acknowledged the Western Cape Government and WCDMC for their long-standing support, including a new grant of R408, 000 awarded for Swift Water Rescue training in the 2025/26 season.

“Strong disaster preparedness is built on strong partnerships,” said Dirk Coetzee, NSRI Business Development Manager.

“This investment is about readiness, not reaction, and directly improves our ability to respond swiftly and safely during flood and storm events.”

The specialised training, supported by the grant, will equip NSRI’s volunteer crews with advanced skills for operating in fast-moving, high-risk environments, such as rivers, canals, and flooded urban areas.

As the summer season intensifies, the NSRI urges all beachgoers, inland water users, and tourists to remain vigilant, tocheck weather forecasts, respect signage and tide warnings, and familiarise themselves with local emergency numbers.

Brian Jacobs ZS6YZ has issued a report of the Earthquake Response Exercise held in the Eastern Cape in the first week of December.

He notes that its purpose was to test search and rescue operations, inter-agency coordination, communication and command systems, emergency medical response, evacuation and logistics, humanitarian coordination and post-disaster recovery planning.

United Nations and international teams were present at a workshop session on the Monday, before a “tropical storm” made landfall near Port Elizabeth, followed shortly thereafter by a magnitude 6.9 “earthquake” just offshore, in this imaginary scenario.

A variety of protocols were then followed, including a classification of the event as a National Disaster with attendant inter-agency coordination, communication and command systems, emergency medical responses, evacuation and logistics, humanitarian coordination and post-disaster recovery planning.

On the Tuesday National search and rescue teams were deployed, helping to manage arriving international search and rescue teams at the airport.

Team USAR SA-01 established a Base of Operations (BOO) and a USAR Coordination Cell (UCC) from where the team was managed and assigned tasks, such as a high level reconnaissance of the sector assigned to them.

The Local Emergency Management Authority (LEMA) also arranged that HAMNET Eastern Cape, under the leadership of Andrew Gray ZS2G and assisted by Odette ZS2ODI, which had also been activated, made contact with the UCC and established Amateur Radio communications as a backup should there be communications failure with the various parts of the province that were affected by the disaster. The HAMNET Eastern Cape team members also volunteered to assist with other tasks within the UCC.

On Wednesday, “disgruntled” local citizens arrived, demanding immediate assistance, which crisis was professionally handled by the Liaison Officer in charge of the UCC. Further stressful scenarios played out during the day, and were handled by the UCC team and Metro Police and SAPS.

By Thursday, the exercise was winding down, and the South Africans then managed the departure of the international teams back to the airport again.

This was the first exercise of this magnitude that has involved so many role players and it was an overall success, with everyone learning a lot from the fellow participants as there was always time to explain a process where required.

It was also a first for HAMNET and while there were only a few HAMNET members involved there is a lot of knowledge that needs to be passed on in the next year so that more of our members can be ready to assist when they are called to duty, and can work seamlessly with other organisations doing what we do best, providing emergency communications when other channels fail.

Thank you Brian for allowing me to precis this report.

Here’s a problem I hadn’t bargained for when I was musing about relocating to Mars, as soon as the sky-train starts operating of course. Writing in skyatnightmagazine.com, Iain Todd says that clocks on Mars tick faster than on Earth by nearly half a millisecond a day, according to new calculations – and the implications for future missions to the Red Planet could be significant.

Neil Ashby and Bijunath Patla at the US National Institute of Standards and Technology calculated that a clock on Mars ticks 477 microseconds faster per day than one on Earth. That rate can also shift by 226 microseconds a day, depending on Mars’s distance from the Sun.

The effect comes from general relativity: weaker gravity and orbital motion alter spacetime, changing how time flows.

Surface gravity on Mars is just 38% that of Earth, meaning a second on the Red Planet is slightly shorter than for us on our planet.

Why does it matter? Well, if you’re trying to communicate with a rover using radio waves travelling at the speed of light, microseconds count.

Even the 56-microsecond delay in radio communications between Earth and the Moon means lunar targets could be missed by the length of about 184 football fields – and Mars is much farther away.

Luckily, we already correct for similar effects in GPS satellites, whose clocks run faster than those on Earth – otherwise your phone’s GPS would be misaligned by miles after only a few hours.

But it gets a lot more complicated when you are scaling that solution to deal with interplanetary distances, for worlds with different gravities that are moving closer and further from the Sun’s gravitational influence.

This of course means that I will get older more quickly if I live on Mars. Sounds like a very bad idea to me. I’d better cancel that sky-train reservation post haste!

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

What seemed to be a fairly unimportant and minor tropical storm threatening Sri Lanka and South-east India, turned into Tropical Cyclone DITWAH, which arose about a week ago, and triggered severe flooding and landslides. By Friday, GDACS was reporting 479 deaths in Sri Lanka, another 350 people missing, and a total of 1.7 million individuals affected by flooding in one way or another.

Greg Mossop G0DUB drew our attention to a communique from the President of the Radio Society of Sri Lanka (RSSL), the national IARU Member Society representing licensed amateur radio operators in Sri Lanka, wishing formally to notify the international amateur radio community that Sri Lanka is currently experiencing severe and widespread flooding, resulting in significant disruption to telecommunication networks and essential infrastructure.

Theranga Premathilake, call sign 4S6TMP, said that, at the request of the Disaster Management Centre (DMC) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL), RSSL has mobilized and deployed trained volunteer amateur radio operators across several affected districts to provide Emergency Communications (EmComm) where conventional systems have failed.

In order to maintain and expand these critical communication links during the ongoing crisis, the RSSL urgently requires additional equipment. He respectfully requested assistance from IARU Member Societies, global amateur radio communities, EmComm groups, and supporting donors to help supply HF and VHF base radios, handheld VHF/UHF radios, and rechargeable power packs to help the amateurs to keep lines of communication up and running around the country.

He noted further that any support, whether through equipment donations, financial facilitation, or procurement assistance will directly strengthen Sri Lanka’s disaster response capabilities at this critical time.

Although the coast of India was also threatened by DITWAH, there has been no news of similar flooding or casualties in that country.

Indonesia, Thailand and Sumatra, however, are still affected by heavy rainfall, with 770 deaths in Sumatra and 185 in Thailand reported by the end of the week, with about 830 people still missing in the two countries, and at least a million people displaced by flooding.

And by Tuesday, Tropical Cyclone KOTO, with maximum wind speeds of 150 km/h was crossing Philippines and aiming at Vietnam next. Luckily, it appeared to be weakening as it approached Vietnam.

Newsweek.com reported on Monday that NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory detected a sunspot—labeled Active Region (AR) 4294-96—which is the largest recorded in a decade, and which is expected to trigger further solar flares in the coming weeks.

An X1.9-class solar flare was detected by Earth-orbiting satellites on the same day, although, according to SpaceWeather.com, it actually originated from a smaller sunspot—named AR 4295, rather than the giant one.

However, 4294 is impressively massive, in photos taken of the sun’s disk this week, much bigger than the sunspot of two weeks ago that generated the X5.1-class flare which caused such beautiful auroras in northern and southern latitudes, and blanked out radio communications so effectively. It remains to be seen whether 4294 impresses us with solar high jinks this week.

Universetoday.com notes that it’s been over two years since the samples from Asteroid Bennu gathered by the satellite OSIRIS-REx were returned to Earth. But there’s still plenty of novel science coming out of that 121.6 g of material. Three new papers were released recently that describe different aspects of that sample. One in particular, from Yoshihiro Furukawa of Tohoku University in Japan and their co-authors, has already attracted plenty of attention, including from US Senator (and former astronaut) Mark Kelly. It shows that all of the building blocks for early life were available on the asteroid – raising the chances that planets throughout the galaxy could be seeded with the abiotic precursors for life.

To be clear, the most recent paper itself didn’t first discover all of the necessary ingredients for life. Two of the parts of the “molecular trifecta” required for the origin of life were already discovered on Bennu. Nucleobases – the molecules that make up the sequence of DNA – and amino acids – the building blocks of proteins – were previously discovered and disclosed in other papers on the asteroid.

After subjecting a 600 mg sample of the pristine surface material of Bennu to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, the researchers found two additional types of “sugars” for the first time. But don’t think of these sugars as equivalent to the high fructose corn syrup used to sweeten Twinkies. These sugars are basic organic molecules integral to the functioning of all biological systems known on Earth.

One new sugar they found was ribose, the molecule that serves as the backbone of RNA (or ribonucleic acid). RNA is a critical component of modern life, and perhaps most famously recently served as the base for many of COVID-19 vaccines. Granted, the total concentration of ribose was very small, with a concentration of only .097 nanomoles per gram of asteroid material. But the most important thing about this finding is that it was there at all.

There’s an ongoing debate about the origin of life, where some scientists suggest that, instead of having complex DNA in the beginning, early life was based on RNA instead as its information transfer mechanism. This study adds some more evidence for that hypothesis, showing that all the components of RNA are available on an asteroid, and can be protected from the destructive radiation of outer space by being trapped in rocky aggregates – until they land on a receptive planet’s surface at least. This also undermines the argument that ribose is too unstable to have accumulated on early Earth, when life would have first started.

At its core, this paper confirms that the potential basic building blocks of life are all present on asteroids. And more importantly on only the second asteroid we’ve ever sampled – which implies that they are likely abundant not only throughout our solar system, but throughout our galaxy. That has major implications for the study of life on other worlds, and while we still haven’t found definitive evidence of that yet, the more we learn about the evolution of life in our own backyard, the more exciting the prospect of eventually finding it elsewhere seems to be.

This is Dave Reece, ZS1DFR, wondering whether I can sweeten my tea with two spoons of Bennu, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

The Malaysian Amateur Radio Transmitters Society (MARTS) has activated its Disaster Response across the national amateur radio network in response to worsening floods on the east coast and in the northern part of the peninsula.

MARTS president Mohd Aris Bernawi said that the activation was carried out to ensure that amateur radio communications operated as an efficient support system in line with the needs of government rescue agencies.

He said that to ensure accurate and efficient communications, all members must comply with IARU network ethics, including the establishment of certified Net Control Stations to manage traffic flow and the use of designated emergency frequencies.

In the same statement, MARTS urged all licenced amateur radio operators to monitor gazetted emergency frequencies, and be ready for deployment when needed.

Thank you to bernama.com for these paragraphs from their report.

Meanwhile, severe flooding continues to devastate Southern Thailand, with the death toll rising to 33 by Wednesday, as relentless monsoon rains pounded the region for a second consecutive year. Catastrophic floodwaters have overwhelmed nine Thai provinces and eight Malaysian states, forcing nearly 45,000 people to evacuate their homes.

The worst-hit areas include Hat Yai, where the city’s main hospital has been flooded, prompting emergency helicopter evacuations of critical patients and air-delivery of food supplies. Drone footage reveals large districts, including parts of Songkhla Province, completely submerged. Authorities report widespread damage to homes, roads, power lines, and essential services, with over 2.7 million people affected and close to 980,000 households impacted.

GDACS says that heavy rainfall has also caused widespread flooding and landslides across North Sumatra Province in northwestern Indonesia, resulting in casualties and significant damage.

The death toll from flash floods and landslides on Indonesia’s Sumatra Island rose to 174 on Friday with 79 people missing, authorities said, as rescue workers found their efforts hampered by damaged bridges and roads and a lack of heavy equipment.

Greg Mossop G0DUB, of IARU region one, reported that, due to the floods and landslides in Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra Province on Wednesday November 26 2025, the Indonesian Amateur Radio Organization (ORARI) determined the use of the following emergency frequencies:

7.110 MHz LSB, 14.300 MHz USB, 21.360 MHz USB and 145.100 MHz FM simplex.

They request all amateur radio members to ensure these frequencies are kept clear during emergency response operations.

This notification was sent out by Donny Priambodo – YB0DX Chairman of ORARI.

And in the last week, Sri Lanka has been experiencing heavy rainfall that has caused widespread flooding, landslides and severe weather-related incidents resulting in casualties and significant damage.

There has been an orange alert out for Tropical Cyclone DITWAH, causing the rain in Sri Lanka, and threatening south eastern India.

On Thursday, eNCA reported that, in our own country, KwaZulu-Natal disaster management teams have been placed on high alert again following yet another weather warning. The SA Weather Service is warning of more heavy rains, excessive lightning, damaging winds, and possibly large amounts of hail.

The warning affects several municipalities, including eThekwini, Umgungundlovu, Ugu, Harry Gwala, Amajuba, and the recently devastated uMshwathi.

New Hanover in the Midlands experienced floods over last weekend, where two people are still missing.

And in the Western Cape, the Gansbaai area has been threatened by large wildfires, after blustery southerly winds battered the Cape for over a week. The veld is very dry and the R43 between Stanford and Gansbaai has had to be closed several times this week, due to poor visibility.

I am aware of fires near Stanford, de Kelders near the Walker Bay Nature Reserve, the Masakhane area, and in the Villiersdorp area burning towards the hills in the Helderstroom direction.

The Mossel Bay Advertiser reported on Wednesday that the Mossel Bay Fire, Rescue and Disaster Management’s swift action on Tuesday 25 November ensured that a large vegetation fire in Dana Bay was contained without loss of human life, structural damage or risk to infrastructure.

The fire drew a substantial emergency response. Mossel Bay Municipality’s spokesperson, Cornelle Carstens-Johnston, said 30 firefighters were deployed on the ground, supported by 21 vehicles, including major pumpers, water tankers, bush units and light pumpers. In the Fire Service Control Centre, three officials managed the operational backbone of the incident, two co-ordinated emergency communications, one senior official directed logistics, and a media officer issued regular public updates.

Carstens-Johnston confirmed that no homes or infrastructure were threatened at any point, crediting the strong operational management for preventing escalation despite windy conditions and rapid fire spread across dry terrain.

An International Earthquake Response Exercise (ERE) is to take place this week, between 1^st and 5^th December. Brian ZS6YZ, our HAMNET National Director notes that the desktop exercise will test search and rescue operations, inter-agency coordination, communication and command systems, emergency medical response, evacuation and logistics, humanitarian coordination and post-disaster recovery planning.

The expected outcomes are stronger multi-hazard operational capacity, improved inter-agency interoperability, better regional and international disaster cooperation, validated national disaster protocols and clear lessons to guide future disaster response.

International Teams from Estonia, France, Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England have been invited to participate.

HAMNET Eastern Cape under the leadership of Andrew Gray ZS2G has been requested by the Nelson Mandela Bay Disaster Management to participate in the ERE.

HAMNET Gauteng has already been requested by the Gauteng Provincial Disaster Management Head of Centre to assist the National Urban Search and Rescue Team RSA-01 with communications. Brian ZS6YZ, Leon ZS6LMG and Johan ZS6DMX have been training with the team since February 2025 to get to know them, understand what their communications requirements are, and to learn how an International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) command and control system works.

Brian ZS6YZ has deployed to the Eastern Cape for this week’s ERE with the National USAR Team RSA-01, as their communications specialist, as well as to assist with the running of the Reception and Departure Centre (RDC), the USAR Coordination Centre (UCC) and the INSARAG Coordination & Management System (ICMS).

The 3 day desktop exercise will be preceded by 2 days of workshops and presentations and HAMNET is also scheduled to do a presentation. Alister ZS2OK will be doing a presentation and demonstration on how HAMNET can send emails without internet using the mode VarAC.

This is a huge opportunity to show case the capabilities of HAMNET here in South Africa as well as for Amateur Radio in the Region.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, appalled by the amount of disaster weather there is to talk about, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

So much for a Hurricane-free period! Cyclone FENGSHEN is following the usual path across the northern tip of Philippines, where 7 fatalities were reported, and heading for Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Originally a tropical depression, with wind speeds of about 90km/h, it was projected to strengthen to a Category One Cyclone as it made landfall, threatening 11.5 million people in its path on Friday.

And there is a RED Alert out for Tropical Cyclone MELISSA in the Atlantic, with possible maximum wind speeds of 250km/h and now bearing down on Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and Bahamas in the Caribbean.

Very heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges are forecast over the whole of Jamaica, southern Haiti and the south-western Dominican Republic starting from 25^th October. NOAA has issued a hurricane watch for southern Haiti and the south-western Dominican Republic and a tropical storm watch over Jamaica.

By Thursday, 94000 people in the Dominican Republic had been affected by extreme weather, and damaged aqueducts had impacted 549000 users.

In this connection, the ARRL has announced that, should they have to activate their Hurricane Watch Net for MELISSA, they would like amateurs to keep away from 7.268MHz (which doesn’t affect us) and 14.325MHz. Please bear this in mind during the CQ WW SSB contest today. Thank you.

Worrying news from the dailyinvestor.com is that South Africa’s shortage of air-traffic controllers is “almost compromising service delivery” by the state-owned company that manages the nation’s airspace.

Air Traffic and Navigation Services “continues to struggle to fill key positions, particularly ATCs,” Chairman Zola Majavu said in its annual report for fiscal 2025. Locally trained controllers are sought after internationally, and “the outflow of experienced personnel has outpaced the capacity of our training pipeline,” he said.

ATNS — which manages 6.1% of the world’s airspace — said that international providers offer remuneration and other incentives that it isn’t able to match. The firm said 86 employees left the company in the year that ended March, with 50 of these being from the air-traffic services division.

“This signals a department-specific crisis beyond typical organizational turnover patterns,” it said. “It is both a challenge and a strategic priority requiring immediate attention and sustained intervention.”

The company has launched an accelerated recruitment drive for vital roles including air-traffic service personnel, flight procedure designers and engineers.

“This also involves encouraging previous ATNS employees to return to South Africa to bridge the current expertise gap within an 18-month to three-year time frame,” Majavu said.

I don’t mean it flippantly, but I wonder if radio operators of any kind would be able to fill an Air Traffic Controller’s spot, if push were to come to shove. Somehow I doubt it.

In the absence of other Communications news from South Africa or overseas, I usually turn to Science or Cosmology for interesting stuff. In universetoday.com, mention is made of principles of interferometry used in optical astronomy. Brian Koberlein writes:

“The wavelengths of radio light are so large that you can’t capture a high-resolution image with a single dish. To capture an image as sharp as, say, the Hubble telescope, you’d need a radio dish tens of kilometers across. So radio astronomers took a different approach. They used an array of dozens of antennas, each capturing their own signal. Since the antennas not only capture precise data but also the precise timing of that data, astronomers can use a process known as interferometry. Light from a distant radio object reaches each antenna at a slightly different time, and by correlating the arrival times, astronomers can treat the array as a virtual antenna disk the size of the entire array. From many, one, as the saying goes.

“Optical astronomy doesn’t need to bother with this sort of thing. The wavelengths of visible light are on the atomic scale rather than in millimeters to meters, so even a moderately sized telescope can capture great images. The primary mirror of the Hubble, for example, is only 2.4 meters in diameter. But that’s starting to change. Modern ground-based optical telescopes use multiple hexagonal mirrors rather than a single primary mirror, and even the James Webb Space Telescope has an array of seven mirrors so it wouldn’t be limited by the size of its launch rocket. The mirrors can be focused to a single detector, so we still don’t need to use interferometry. But what if we did anyway?

That’s the question of a new study. The authors propose a method known as Kernel Phase Interferometry (KPI), and while it’s not the same as radio interferometry, it has many of the same benefits.

“With regular interferometry, individual signals are correlated to create a single image. KPI, on the other hand, starts with a single image and creates a virtual array of individual signals through Fourier transformations. Once the virtual array is created, you can then use it to produce an image through correlation, just like we do with radio signals.

“Most of the time, this approach wouldn’t gain you anything. While radio interferometry can create high-resolution images, those images have artifacts due to the layout of the antennas. Using KPI on a high-resolution image would just create a different high-resolution image with artifacts. But one thing interferometry is particularly good at is isolating sources. As the authors show, using KPI on observations such as close binary star systems better distinguishes individual sources. This method would be particularly useful for observing Earth-sized planets closely orbiting Sun-like stars.

“What’s neat about this method is that you don’t need to make new observations. The observations we currently have from telescopes such as JWST can be analyzed through KPI to create direct images of exoplanets and close binary stars. From one observation, we can get many observations thanks to this new approach.”

Thanks to universetoday.com and Brian Koberlein.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

Tropical Storm IMELDA is the next storm to be threatening the Caribbean Islands. It formed on 26^th September over the Atlantic Ocean, and has been moving North West towards the Bahamas, all the while strengthening. Wind speeds a week ago were below 100km/h but severe rainfall in Eastern Cuba and the Bahamas was being reported.

GDACS reported that IMELDA was expected to pass very close to northern Bermuda on 2 October very early in the morning (UTC), with maximum sustained winds up to 148 km/h (as a category 1 hurricane), threatening 64000 people.

Over the 24 hours thereafter, heavy rainfall was forecast over North Carolina (USA), and heavy rainfall was also forecast over Bermuda. NOAA issued a hurricane watch over Bermuda.

On top of three Cyclones in three days, Philippines suffered a magnitude 6.3 earthquake on 30^th September at 15h59 our time. The epicentre was amongst the many islands that make up central Philippines, at a depth of 10km, and 681000 people were exposed to severe shaking. A tsunami was not experienced.

As of 1^st October, GDACS says that 69 fatalities and more than 560 injured people have been recorded mainly in Bogo city in the north of Cebu province, and estimates that up to 124,000 people were exposed to severe shaking, and 536,000 to very strong shaking.

Wisnu YB0AZ, President of the IARU region 3 announced on Wednesday that “the Philippine Amateur Radio Association, Inc. (PARA) had elevated its HERO (Ham Emergency Radio Operations) Alert Status to Code RED following the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that struck Northern Cebu on 30 September 2025.

“All amateur radio operators are requested to keep the frequency 7.095 MHz clear and available strictly for priority and emergency traffic. We kindly ask that you disseminate this information to your members and ensure that they observe this restriction until further notice from PARA.

“Thank you for your cooperation in supporting emergency communications in our Region.”

Thanks to Greg G0DUB for disseminating the alert.

And on Wednesday, GDACS announced the next Tropical Cyclone, called MATMO, expected to cross Northern Philippines on Friday, with wind speeds of 140km/h, and arrive on the Northern Vietnamese coast today. Fourteen million people are within the cone of its 120km/h winds.

Not to be outdone, the first cyclone of the season is threatening the eastern shores of India as a category one storm with wind speeds of 120km/h or greater, threatening up to 19 million people in its projected path.

In Phys.org/news, I read that researchers have transformed food waste sugars into natural plastic films that could one day replace petroleum-based packaging, offering compostable alternatives to commonly used plastics for food and agricultural films like silage wrap.

With global plastic production exceeding 400 million metric tons annually, a Monash University study highlights the potential of a new type of biodegradable plastic by converting food waste sugars into biopolymers. The study is published in the journal Microbial Cell Factories.

By selecting different bacterial strains and blending their polymers, the researchers produced films that behave like conventional plastics and can be molded into other shapes or solids.

The study, led by Edward Attenborough and Dr. Leonie van ‘t Hag from the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, provides a framework for designing bioplastics for temperature-sensitive packaging, medical films and other products, addressing the global challenge of single-use plastic waste.

The research teams fed two soil-dwelling bacteria—Cupriavidus necator and Pseudomonas putida—a carefully balanced “diet” of sugars with the right blend of salts, nutrients and trace elements.

Once the microbes fattened up, they began stockpiling natural plastic inside their cells. The scientists then “milked” these plastics out using solvents, cast them into ultrathin films about 20 microns thick and tested their stretchiness, strength and melting behavior.

“This research demonstrates how food waste can be transformed into sustainable, compostable ultrathin films with tunable properties. The versatility of PHAs means we can reimagine materials we rely on every day without the environmental cost of conventional plastics,” Mr. Attenborough said.

“By tailoring these natural plastics for different uses, we’re opening the door to sustainable alternatives in packaging, especially where they can be composted along with food or agricultural waste.”

By comparing the stiff plastic made by C. necator with the softer, more flexible version from P. putida, the study demonstrates how blending the two can tune film properties like crystallinity and melting point, while maintaining strength and flexibility.

This sounds very promising for the world of thin-film coverings that can decompose.

And medicalxpress.com reports brand new data surrounding diabetes treatment and control of alcohol use disorder. Ingrid Fadelli writes:

“The excessive and uncontrolled consumption of alcohol, which can culminate in the development of alcohol use disorder or alcoholism, is widespread in many countries worldwide. Individuals diagnosed with alcohol use disorder are often also experiencing other mental health conditions, such as depression or anxiety. Moreover, the excessive use of alcohol is known to increase the risk of developing liver disease and some other health-related problems.

“While there are several treatment programmes for those struggling with their alcohol consumption, available options are not always effective for all affected individuals. Identifying effective new treatments could thus be highly valuable, as it could help to treat a wider range of patients, potentially limiting the detrimental effects of alcohol on their mental and physical health.

“Some studies have gathered evidence suggesting that gut hormones, particularly glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP), could act on both people’s metabolism and their addictive tendencies. These hormones have so far been primarily used to treat obesity and diabetes, as they can help to control blood sugar levels, appetite and body weight.

”Researchers at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the U.S. recently performed a large-scale analysis of genetic data, aimed at further exploring the potential of these hormones as therapeutic tools to limit excessive drinking and improve liver health. Their findings, published in Molecular Psychiatry, suggest that GLP-1 and GIP-based drugs could in fact help to reduce people’s intake of alcohol, which could inform the future development of alternative treatments for alcohol use disorder.”

Thanks to Medicalxpress.com for this excerpt from their article.

You and I will recognize the expensive drug Ozempic, as the first example of a GLP-1 treatment for diabetes, which resulted in patients who were using it for their diabetes or weight loss, reporting that their craving for alcohol was significantly reduced.

So, if you’re overweight, diabetic and have alcohol use disorder, a GLP-1 substance is the treatment for you. Pity it is so expensive, but the price will come down.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, thankfully having none of these three attributes, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

Tropical Cyclone REGASA in the South China Sea, has had a devastating effect on the northern islands of Philippines, and has moved on to pummel China.

GDACS writes that, in the Philippines, the passage of RAGASA and a smaller storm MITAG, behind it, combined with the Southwest monsoon, caused heavy rainfall, floods, and landslides, four fatalities, seven people missing, 11 injured, 46,628 displaced, and 692,707 affected by the flooding.

In Taiwan, RAGASA caused 14 fatalities and around 10,000 people to be evacuated. In China, its passage resulted in approximately 770,000 evacuated people in the Guangdong province and 60 injured and 727 evacuated people in Hong Kong.

And, on Friday, GDACS announced that a newly formed Tropical Cyclone BUALOI – named OPONG in the Philippines – was moving northwest toward central Philippines. On 25 September at 0.00 UTC, its centre was located 383 km east of Samar Island’s eastern coast, with maximum sustained winds of 102 km/h (and as a tropical storm).

BUALOI has a course almost exactly parallel to RAGASA, but slightly more southerly than RAGASA, so the Philippines has been struck by three tropical storms or cyclones in as many days.

BUALOI was expected to continue northwest and to make landfall over southern Luzon Island between 25 and 26 September. It will then cross central and northern Philippines – particularly southern Luzon and Mindoro – from 26 to 27 September, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. After that, it should continue north-west over the South China Sea and make landfall over north-eastern Viet Nam on 29-30 September.

Thank you to GDACS for all those reports.

Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, Hurricane Gabrielle, which approached the Caribbean, and then veered up north east, along the coast of the US, before drifting off in an easterly direction, is now threatening Portugal. Carlos Nora CT1END, the emergency comms coordinator for Portugal, reports that their communications group will be on standby on 3.680MHz, 7.110MHz, 14.300MHz, and a variety of VHF simplex and repeater frequencies in the country from Saturday the 27^th, until the danger is passed. Please be mindful of the HF frequencies, and don’t call in, unless it is clear that you can help.

Danie ZS1OSS has sent me a report of an event in Cape Town this last Monday. He writes:

“Cape Town hosted a G20 outreach on climate resilience and coastal protection this last week. It was a pre-cursor to a main event expected later in October.

“The high-level gathering on 22 September 2025 was themed ‘Coastal Protection and Eco-Based Disaster Risk Reduction’. It was led by the National Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa, and the Deputy Mayor of Cape Town was also in attendance.

“The outreach aimed to demonstrate the urgent need for stronger coastal defences as rising seas, storm surges and erosion threaten cities worldwide. The event also featured exhibitions of local disaster risk reduction projects, volunteer programmes, and community-based resilience efforts.

“Participants included the City of Cape Town Disaster Management, various NGOs, private sector partners, the National Sea Rescue Institute, the South African Weather Service, the Langa Community Advice Services, and other emergency and community organizations.

“HAMNET was also present and had our emergency communications trailer there. The Minister was briefed by our HAMNET WC Director, Michael ZS1MJT around what HAMNET is, and what it has been doing locally and nationally for various coastal and air related call-outs. The Minister was invited inside the trailer where Danie ZS1OSS showed him the APRS radio-based tracking we have on a screen, and the various other pieces of radio equipment. Whilst the Minister then made a statement to the media outside our trailer, we fielded a number of additional questions from ministerial advisors and delegates, and also had a member of the local Fire Rescue Service express interest in obtaining his amateur radio licence.

“The event was a success from HAMNET’s perspective, and also goes to show that our smart trailer does draw a lot of attention, and it was well worth having it present.”

Thank you, Danie, for that nice report.

Universe.com reports that the satellite Psyche launched in 2023, with the aim of studying the 220-kilometer metal asteroid also named Psyche that, according to one hypothesis, may be a fragment of the core of a dead protoplanet. The spacecraft is scheduled to reach Psyche in 2029.

In addition to studying the asteroid, Psyche also has the function of a “tester.” NASA specialists installed an experimental optical communication system on board. Its main advantage over traditional radio communication is its 10 to 100 times higher data transfer rate. Lasers can transmit complex scientific information, as well as high-definition images and videos. This is especially important for the next stage of space exploration, when humans will travel to the Moon and Mars and will need to send large amounts of data back to Earth quickly.

The first experiment took place on December 11, 2023, when Psyche was 31 million kilometers from Earth. The spacecraft sent a 15-second video of a cat to Earth (which was preloaded before launch). The data transfer rate was 267 Mbit/s. This is a couple of orders of magnitude faster than when using radio communication.

JPL specialists repeated the experiment several times thereafter. As Psyche moved away from Earth, the data transfer rate gradually decreased (for example, when the spacecraft was 226 million km away, it was 25 Mbit/s), but it was still much faster than traditional radio communications. In addition, engineers tested another innovation in the form of duplicate data. The spacecraft successfully demonstrated that it can simultaneously use both radio and laser communication systems to communicate with Earth. The radio data was transmitted to NASA’s Deep Space Network, and the laser data was received by the Hale telescope at Palomar Observatory. The photons captured by it were then directed to a highly efficient detector array, where the information encoded in them was processed.

Almost two years after the start, JPL specialists conducted the 65th and final experiment. During the mission, Psyche once again broke the distance record by successfully sending a signal from a distance of 350 million km. This corresponds to the radius of the inner boundary of the asteroid belt.

According to scientists, the experiments successfully demonstrated the effectiveness of the technology. Data encoded by lasers can be reliably transmitted, received, and decoded after passing hundreds of millions of kilometers. In total, Psyche transmitted 13.6 terabits of data to Earth over the entire period. At the same time, the data transfer rate turned out to be even higher than expected. All this means that the technology has great prospects, especially when space agencies face the challenge of transmitting large amounts of high-resolution images and data from the Moon and Mars.

All I can say is “Cor Blimey, ain’t science wunnerful?!”

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.