Techlife News 10.23.2021

fronts as she pushes Biden’s infrastructure deal,
addresses clogged supply lines and promotes
the $52 billion CHIPS Act to increase computer
chip manufacturing and research.

“She is powerful in presenting data,”Walsh said.
“Her ability to make a strong presentation and
understand the multiplicity of issues can once
again be an advantage.”

For much of her lifetime, the key to economic
growth was efficiency — payrolls held in check
and inventories kept to just-in-time lest any
excess supplies reduce profits.

Then the pandemic disrupted chip production
right when demand was increasing as people
working from home became more dependent
on their electronics. The fragile supply chain
also took hits from extreme weather and
other factors.

“If ships stop running, then all those efficient
supply chains fall apart very, very quickly,”
said Revathi Advaithi, who talks frequently to
Raimondo as CEO of Flex, one of the world’s
largest electronics manufacturer services
companies. “The pandemic is just one part of it.
Our view is that this has been coming about for
a long time.”

The United States now needs a more diverse
network of manufacturers closer to home to
avoid shutdowns and minimize the damage
from disasters. It needs fail-safes that make it
easier for factories to restart after being shut.
That also means it needs more high-tech
manufacturing jobs.

Raimondo anticipates the computer chip
shortage will last well into next year — and hurt.

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Image: Alex Brandon

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The White House noted in a September report
that the shortage could lop a full percentage
point off economic growth this year.
“We all probably underestimated how
disruptive COVID is to our supply chains,”
Raimondo said. “We just abruptly shut down
our economy. Automakers just stopped
ordering semiconductors.”
The United States once accounted for 40%
of chip-making worldwide; now it’s 12%. The
cost of making a chip in the United States is
30% higher than in Taiwan and South Korea.
A chipmaker must spend tens of millions
of dollars on a prototype before seeing any
revenue, a barrier for start-ups.
For the trappings of a technocrat, Raimondo is
making choices on personal terms. When Biden
interviewed her for Commerce, he knew about
her father. The move to Washington seemed
a natural fit, but Raimondo worried about
uprooting her teenage children, Cecilia
and Thompson.
Her brother’s advice: Take the job. For their father.

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THE BEST
TRAVEL PLAN
THIS HOLIDAY

SEASON: A
BACKUP PLAN

It’s not even the busiest time of year for travel
yet, and 2021 has already been chaotic — even
for the most seasoned travelers.
Among the 2021 travel fiascos:
— Spirit Airlines underwent an operational
meltdown, with 2,800 flights canceled between
July 30 and Aug. 9 due to a combination of
bad weather, staffing shortages and technical
problems that left passengers stranded.
— Some vaccinated travelers have unexpectedly
tested positive for COVID-19 during
international trips, finding themselves required
to isolate abroad due to U.S. travel restrictions.
— COVID-related rules can change last-minute,
meaning you might abruptly need to quarantine
upon arrival, even if vaccinated — as was the

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case when the Netherlands suddenly tightened
travel restrictions in September.

— And while booking travel through the sharing
economy is becoming increasingly popular,
vacationers are experiencing situations where
vacation home and RV rental owners have
ghosted them.

All that, and Thanksgiving is still over a
month away.

And so, as you book 2021 holiday travel, don’t
overlook the best type of plan you can make: a
backup plan. Here are some ways to build one.

BE FLEXIBLE AND PACK LIGHT

This summer was brutal for U.S. air travel.
According to the Department of Transportation,
1.7% of domestic flights were canceled in July,
compared to 0.8% that same month last year.
Further, the July on-time arrival rate dropped
from 90.5% to 73.4% year over year.

With that many challenges, you might find
yourself catching a different flight last-minute —
but only if you’re nimble. Avoid checking bags
so you’re not separated from your possessions
should you need to rebook.

BE PREPARED TO EXTEND YOUR TRIP

While still aiming to avoid checking bags, pack
enough to survive a trip that lasts longer than
expected. Sure, a one-day flight delay likely only
requires minimal extra clothing. But should you
test positive for COVID-19, you might need 10
days’ worth of supplies.

For international trips, pack enough
medications and other items that can’t easily
be purchased abroad.

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To avoid overpacking, wear versatile clothing
that matches any outfit or occasion. Bring items
that can be washed in the sink should you not
have laundry access.

BOOK FLIGHTS THAT CAN EASILY BE
CANCELED

This is probably not the year to book budget
airfare. Though airline change and cancellation
policies have improved, basic economy
fares typically aren’t eligible for easy trip
modifications.

Don’t get yourself in a situation where you
can’t get refunded because you booked the
cheap seats.

For low-cost airfares, you might look to
Southwest Airlines, which has one of the
best change policies out there. The cheapest
Southwest fares can be canceled up to 10
minutes before scheduled departure in
exchange for a travel credit toward a future
flight. That generous policy was around before
COVID-19 was part of the vernacular.

KNOW THE ALTERNATIVES

Since the pandemic started, many rideshare
drivers stopped driving. These days, Uber says
there are more riders than drivers available, so
don’t count on rideshares — even if you pre-
scheduled a trip. Download multiple ridesharing
apps for the largest selection of drivers, and
familiarize yourself with local taxi services.

If you’re headed to a place that requires proof of
a negative COVID-19 test result, know multiple
places where you can get tested. If your results
don’t come back in time, you might scramble to

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find a rapid test. You might take two COVID-19
tests from different companies to ensure at least
one returns in time.

GET TRAVEL INSURANCE

If you need to cancel your trip, have an outlet
to get refunded. While most premium travel
credit cards charge hefty annual fees, they can
be worth it for one underrated perk alone: trip
insurance. It’s not uncommon to find a travel
card that will reimburse up to $20,000 for
eligible expenses paid for with that card.
If you don’t have a credit card with built-in
travel insurance, it might behoove you to
purchase a separate travel insurance policy
to counterbalance the unpredictability of
these days.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Even the best-planned trips are turning out
to be canceled, rescheduled, cut short or
sometimes stressfully extended. That’s because
if there’s one thing we can be certain of in 2021,
it’s that nothing is for certain.
To avoid getting stranded, spending more
money or losing luggage, make sure that your
overall travel plan includes a backup plan.

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RIGHT ON CUE:
NBA FINDS HIGH-
TECH OPTION FOR
VIRUS TESTING

If so inclined, an NBA player could now test
himself for the coronavirus and get results on his
phone in no more than 20 minutes.
And the league is convinced those tests are both
fast enough and accurate enough.
It’s a high-tech answer to the issue of waiting
for test results. The NBA has partnered with a
company called Cue Health, which is providing
the league with technology that allows anyone to
essentially test themselves for COVID-19. A person
applies the swab to the inside of their nose, places
it in a reader — roughly the size of two decks of
cards — connected wirelessly to their smartphone
and gets the results back much faster than most
other alternatives can deliver.
The NBA, based on a study done by the Mayo
Clinic, says the tests are right 97.8% of the time.
Cue was in the process of using the technology for
flu tests when the pandemic began, then pivoted
quickly when the scope of the world’s global fight
against the coronavirus became clear.

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“We were in clinical studies when COVID hit,”Cue
CEO and co-founder Ayub Khattak said.“It was a
pretty quick transition for us because the platform
is really modular, so making COVID-19 tests was
relatively routine for us.”

Testing results last season, in some cases, kept
NBA teams and players waiting for hours.

The relationship with Cue and the league has
now touched parts of three seasons. It essentially
began when the league was assembling plans
for the NBA’s restart bubble to finish the 2019-20
season, and the technology has only continued
evolving since. The test is of the molecular
diagnostic variety and is authorized by the Food
and Drug Administration.

“We have great experience with the Cue test
and are confident in its effectiveness to identify
cases when testing is necessary in our highly
vaccinated population,” said Jimmie Mancell,
the team physician for the Memphis Grizzlies
and vice president of the NBA Physician’s
Association. “The Cue test’s accuracy is more
than acceptable for point of care screening, as
no test is 100% accurate. If clinical suspicion
remains high, we are capable of validating the
results with additional testing.”

For now, it doesn’t seem likely that many in
the NBA will have to use the Cue test on a
regular basis.

Those who are fully vaccinated will not be tested
regularly; only the players who are unvaccinated
— roughly 4% of the league, or basically one per
team on average — will be subject to taking the
tests on practice, meeting and travel days. Game-
day clearance for those players will still require a
conventional PCR test.

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NEW CREW
DOCKS AT
CHINA’S FIRST
PERMANENT
SPACE STATION

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Chinese astronauts began last Saturday (16) their
six-month mission on China’s first permanent
space station, after successfully docking aboard
their spacecraft.

The astronauts, two men and a woman, were seen
floating around the module before speaking via a
live-streamed video.

The new crew includes Wang Yaping, 41, who is
the first Chinese woman to board the Tiangong
space station, and is expected to become China’s
first female spacewalker.

“We’ll co-operate with each other, carefully
conduct maneuvers, and try to accomplish all
tasks successfully in this round of exploration of
the universe,”said Wang in the video.

The space travelers’Shenzhou-13 spacecraft was
launched by a Long March-2F rocket at 12:23 a.m.
Saturday and docked with the Tianhe core module
of the space station at 6:56 a.m.

The three astronauts entered the station’s core
module at about 10 a.m., the China Manned Space
Agency said.

They are the second crew to move into China’s
Tiangong space station, which was launched last
April. The first crew stayed three months.

The new crew includes two veterans of space
travel — Zhai Zhigang, 55, and Wang. The third
member, Ye Guangfu, 41, is making his first trip
to space.

The mission’s launch was seen off by a military
band and supporters singing“Ode to the
Motherland,”underscoring national pride in the
space program, which has advanced rapidly in
recent years.

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The crew will do three spacewalks to install
equipment in preparation for expanding the
station, assess living conditions in the Tianhe
module, and conduct experiments in space
medicine and other fields.

China’s military-run space program plans to
send multiple crews to the station over the
next two years to make it fully functional.

When completed with the addition of two
more sections — named Mengtian and
Wentian — the station will weigh about 66
tons, much smaller than the International
Space Station, which launched its first module
in 1998 and weighs around 450 tons.

Two more Chinese modules are due to
be launched before the end of next year
during the stay of the yet-to-be-named
Shenzhou-14 crew.

China’s Foreign Ministry renewed its
commitment to cooperation with other
nations in the peaceful use of space.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said sending
humans into space was a “common cause of
mankind.” China would “continue to extend
the depth and breadth of international
cooperation and exchanges” in crewed
spaceflight and “make positive contributions
to the exploration of the mysteries of the
universe,” he said.

China was excluded from the International
Space Station largely due to U.S. objections
over the Chinese program’s secretive nature
and close military ties, prompting it to launch
two experimental modules before starting on
the permanent station.

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ADVERTISEMENT

U.S. law requires congressional approval for
contact between the American and Chinese space
programs, but China is cooperating with space
experts from other countries including France,
Sweden, Russia and Italy. Chinese officials have
said they look forward to hosting astronauts from
other countries aboard the space station once it
becomes fully functional.

China has launched seven crewed missions with
a total of 14 astronauts aboard — two have
flown twice — since 2003, when it became only
the third country after the former Soviet Union
and the United States to put a person in space
on its own.

China has also expanded its work on lunar and
Mars exploration, including landing a rover on
the little-explored far side of the Moon and
returning lunar rocks to Earth for the first time
since the 1970s.

This year, China also landed its Tianwen-1 space
probe on Mars, whose accompanying Zhurong
rover has been exploring for evidence of life on
the red planet.

Other Chinese space programs call for collecting
soil from an asteroid and bringing back additional
lunar samples. China has also expressed an
aspiration to land people on the moon and
possibly build a scientific base there, although
no timeline has been proposed for such projects.
A highly secretive space plane is also reportedly
under development.

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Image: Ng Han Guan

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CHINA CALLS
MISSILE
LAUNCH
‘ROUTINE

TEST’ OF NEW
TECHNOLOGY

China said its launch of a new spacecraft was
merely a test to see whether the vehicle could
be reused.
The launch involved a spacecraft rather than
a missile and was of “great significance for
reducing the use-cost of spacecraft and could
provide a convenient and affordable way to
make a round trip for mankind’s peaceful use
of space,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao
Lijian said.
China’s space program is run by its military and is
closely tied to its agenda of building hypersonic
missiles and other technologies that could alter
the balance of power with the United States.
“China will work together with other countries in
the world for the peaceful use of space and the
benefit of mankind,” Zhao said.

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Zhao’s comments on the test conducted in
August came days after China launched a second
crew to its space station. Their six-month mission,
when completed, will be China’s longest crewed
space mission and the three-person crew will
set a record for the most time spent in space by
Chinese astronauts.

Alongside its space program, China’s expansion
into hypersonic missile technology and other
advanced fields has raised concerns as Beijing
becomes increasingly assertive over its claims
to seas and islands in the South China and East
China Seas and to large chunks of territory along
its disputed high-mountain border with India.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price
would not comment on intelligence about
the August test but noted the U.S. remained
concerned about China’s expansion of its nuclear
capabilities, including delivery systems for nuclear
devices.

These developments underscore that (China), as
we said before, is deviating from its decades-long
nuclear strategy based on minimum deterrence,”
Price told reporters in Washington.

He said the U.S. was engaging with China about
its nuclear capabilities and would continue to
maintain the U.S.’s deterrent capabilities against
threats to the United States and its allies.

U.S. ally Japan, one of China’s chief regional rivals,
said it would boost its defenses against what it
interpreted as a new offensive
Chinese weapon.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno called
it a“new threat”that conventional equipment
would have difficulty dealing with. He said Japan

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Image: Greg Baker

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will step up its detection, tracking and shooting-
down capability of “any aerial threat.”
China appears to be rapidly pushing
development of hypersonic nuclear weapons
to gain strike capability that can break through
missile defenses, Matsuno said.
He criticized China for increasing its defense
spending, particularly for nuclear and missile
capabilities, without explaining its intentions.
“China’s rapidly expanding and increased
military activity at sea and airspace has become
a strong security concern for the region
including Japan and the international society,”
Matsuno said.

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CHINA
CRACKDOWN ON
APPLE STORE
HITS HOLY BOOK
APPS, AUDIBLE

Amazon’s audiobook service Audible and phone
apps for reading the holy books of Islam and
Christianity have disappeared from the Apple
store in mainland China, the latest examples of
the impact of the country’s tightened rules for
internet firms.
Audible said that it removed its app from the
Apple store in mainland China last month “due
to permit requirements.”
The makers of apps for reading and listening
to the Quran and Bible say their apps have also
been removed from Apple’s China-based store
at the government’s request.
Apple didn’t return requests for comment. A
spokesperson for China’s embassy in the U.S.
declined to speak about specific app removals
but said the Chinese government has “always
encouraged and supported the development of
the Internet.”

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“At the same time, the development of the
Internet in China must also comply with Chinese
laws and regulations,” said an emailed statement
from Liu Pengyu.

China’s government has long sought to control
the flow of information online, but is increasingly
stepping up its enforcement of the internet sector
in other ways, making it hard to determine the
causes for a particular app’s removal.

Chinese regulators this year have sought to
strengthen data privacy restrictions and limit
how much time children can play video games.
They are also exerting greater control over the
algorithms used by tech firms to personalize and
recommend content.

The popular U.S. language-learning app
Duolingo disappeared from Apple’s China store
over the summer, as have many video game
apps. What appears to link Audible with the
religious apps is that all were recently notified of
permit requirements for published content.

Pakistan Data Management Services, which
makes the Quran Majeed app, said it is awaiting
more information from China’s internet authority
about how it can be restored. The app has nearly
1 million users in China and about 40 million
worldwide, said the Karachi-based company.

Those who had already downloaded the app
can still use it, said Hasan Shafiq Ahmed, the
company’s head of growth and relationships.

“We are looking to figure out what
documentation is needed to get approval from
Chinese authorities so the app can be restored,”
he said in an email.

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The maker of a Bible app said it removed it from
the Apple store in China after learning from
Apple’s App Store review process that it needed
special permission to distribute an app with
“book or magazine content.” Olive Tree Bible
Software, based in Spokane, Washington, said
it’s now reviewing the requirements to obtain
the necessary permit “with the hope that we
can restore our app to China’s App Store and
continue to distribute the Bible worldwide.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations
condemned Apple’s actions, saying the
company was enabling China’s religious
persecution of Muslims and others.

“This decision must be reversed,”said a statement
from CAIR’s national deputy director, Edward
Ahmed Mitchell.“If American corporations don’t
grow a spine and stand up to China right now,
they risk spending the next century subservient
to the whims of a fascist superpower.”

The removals were first detected last week by
watchdog website AppleCensorship, which
monitors Apple’s app store to detect when apps
have been blocked, especially in China and
other countries with authoritarian governments.

Microsoft said that it would shut down its
main LinkedIn service in China later this
year, citing a “significantly more challenging
operating environment and greater compliance
requirements in China.”

Unlike LinkedIn, which has been offering a
specialized Chinese service since 2014, Amazon-
owned Audible said it does not have a dedicated
service for customers in China.

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NIPPON STEEL
SUES JAPAN
BUSINESS

PARTNER TOYOTA
OVER PATENT

Nippon Steel Corp. is suing Toyota Motor Corp.
over a patent for a technology used in electric
motors in a rare case of legal wrangling between
Japan’s top steelmaker and top automaker over
intellectual property.
Tokyo-based Nippon Steel filed the lawsuit in
Tokyo District Court, demanding compensation
for damages totaling 20 billion yen ($177
million). Also named in the lawsuit is Baoshan
Iron & Steel Co., or Baosteel, a Chinese
steelmaker that produces and supplies the steel
that allegedly violates the patent.
Toyota said it learned of the lawsuit “with great
regret,” stressing it had checked on possible
patent conflicts with Baosteel. Toyota sees
Nippon Steel as an “important business partner,”
supporting the Japanese auto industry for years,
the maker of the Prius hybrid and Lexus luxury
models said in a statement.

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Baosteel said it disagreed with Nippon
Steel’s claim, stressing it repeatedly tried to
communicate with the steelmaker.

“We believe that patent identification should
be based on rigorous and scientific technical
exchange and verification between the two
sides,” it said in a statement.

“Baosteel will actively respond to the technical
patent lawsuit filed by Nippon Steel to resolutely
defend the rights and interests of the company.”

At the center of the lawsuit is the Japanese
patent for non-oriented electrical steel sheets,
an indispensable component in electric motors
used in EVs, power plants and mobile phones,
according to Nippon Steel.

Nippon Steel officials said its prized technology
is critical to its competitiveness, as the
world shifts to “a carbon neutral society”
and innovations that reduce emissions are
increasingly needed in steel manufacturing.

Nippon Steel is also demanding a court
injunction against Toyota from manufacturing
and selling electric vehicles and hybrid models
in Japan with the motors that allegedly infringe
the patent. Nippon Steel said there is no
change to its plans to continue working with
Toyota overall.

It said it was unable to resolve the dispute
despite repeated discussions with both Baosteel
and Toyota.

“Nippon Steel is taking these legal actions to
protect its intellectual property rights,” the
company said.

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CARBON DIOXIDE
UNDERGROUND
STORAGE
PROJECT
ADVANCES

Plans for North Dakota’s first carbon dioxide
storage project are moving forward.
State regulators granted several approvals
Tuesday for the underground storage of carbon
emissions from Red Trail Energy’s ethanol plant
near Richardton.
“This is a landmark day,” State Mineral
Resources Director Lynn Helms told the state
Industrial Commission.
Gas from the plant will be compressed and
injected into a 6,400-foot well, then form a
plume within the underground rocks that make
up the Broom Creek formation.
The commission’s approvals are for underground
storage below Red Trail’s proposed injection site
in Stark County.

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North Dakota officials are promoting the state’s
geology for additional carbon storage projects.
Researchers say the state’s rocks could store as
much as 250 billion tons of carbon dioxide. Red
Trail produces a fraction of that amount annually
with 180,000 tons.
A federal tax credit has driven interest in carbon
capture and storage projects, the Bismarck
Tribune reported.
North Dakota was the first state to receive
approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency to permit projects like Red Trail’s.
The historic nature of Tuesday’s Industrial
Commission meeting came up several times
before the three-member panel chaired by Gov.
Doug Burgum approved the orders related to
the ethanol plant.
“This vote would not have been possible
without years of work by a lot of people,”
Burgum said.

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