The contest calendar is fairly quiet, but the 10-10 International Fall Digital QSO Party is going on, if you’d like to try for a 10-meter opening. The ARRL November Sweepstakes will be having their phone contest next weekend.

Electronic officer elections are now in progress for the DARC. Look for an email entitled “Ballot for 2018 Ballot for DARC Officers – REVISED.”

Don’t forget to sign up for Turkey Trot!

And one fun bit of amateur radio news that’s tickled my fancy: if it’s made of metal, it’s an antenna! You can buy aluminum foil on small islands where you can’t buy wire, as this ham in Hong Kong found out.

In science news:

Some researchers conducted a survey of mammal ancestry and eye structure, and they’ve found evidence to support a 1942 theory that all mammals are descended from nocturnal ancestors.

Self-driving cars can be programmed to drive properly, but they don’t honk their horn, wave, or curse the way human drivers can. This can actually lead to fender-benders where the self-driving car doesn’t avoid a bad driver the way a human might, even though the self-driving cars are driving well themselves.

It looks like Word documents are being used to spread malware again, using an old vulnerability known as DDE or “Dynamic Data Exchange.” If you open an unfamiliar file from the Internet (don’t do that!) at least don’t click on “yes” if you see an unfamiliar box pop up.

In the world of real-life viruses and bacteria, it looks like the plague outbreak in Madagascar is coming under control, although it’s managed to cause at least one “mutiny” on a cruise ship.