The next club meeting will be on January 8th. We’ll be talking about knots and ropes in amateur radio…no nooses allowed! And don’t forget to pay your dues if they’re due.

There’s a surprise net scheduled for New Year’s Eve. If you have an idea for a topic, or if you’d like to be net control, let the club know. I’ll need to pick a topic tomorrow so that we can spread the word and encourage participation.

Winter Field Day is coming up on January 26th, from 1 PM to midnight. Please sign up if you’ll be able to participate. More details about the three-club special event station that’s in the works can be found here.

Now that Christmas is over, there are several contests available. The RAC Winter Contest is in progress, with extra points for working Canadian stations. Sounds fun, eh? The 45th Original QRP Contest sounds fun; you get extra points for using kit-built or custom-designed radios…but if your radio is capable of operating with more than 20 watts, you may only submit a checklog. The American Wireless Association Linc Cudnall Memorial CW Contest rewards users of pre-1950 equipment. If you’ve got a boat anchor and CW skills, you can give it a try.

Not much amateur radio news has been happening, but it’s worth noting that FCC enforcement isn’t limited to going after jammers on 14.313.

In news from the world of science:

Living tissue has been produced by the first 3-d printer in space!

The Year of the Bird is almost over, but I’ll always have a soft spot for our feathered friends. Stresemann’s Bristlefront, the world’s rarest bird, was just sighted in Brazil, or wait…maybe the Madagascar pochard is the world’s rarest bird? In any case, the pochards, a rare breed of duck, have just had a conservation success thanks to captive breeding.

Sad to say, it looks like zombie deer are spreading more and more widely. Unlike mad cow disease (BSE), humans can’t catch chronic wasting disease yet. But don’t worry, just wait a bit.

And it’s the end of the year, time for at least 10 days of top-10 lists. Here’s a story about the top 10 oddest physics news events. Have fun, and see if you can build an atom of beryllium!