Winter Field Day is fast approaching! Sign up for your preferred operating time and be prepared to have fun. The DARC will be participating in the three-club special event station K5T on Saturday, January 25th, 2020.

Remember that there’s no Lecture and Lab this month due to Winter Field Day…and remember that you might need to pay your dues.

In news from the world of amateur radio:

This is a repeat, but it bears repeating. Please be alert to make sure you don’t interfere with emergency communications in Australia.

For that matter, life in Puerto Rico has been unpleasant lately, what with hurricanes and now some new earthquakes. Normal communications seem to be working, but always listen before you transmit.

In happier news, a new ARISS radio is ready for launch this spring.

And the new ARRL magazine for new hams, On the Air, is on the way. All members should have digital access to the new magazine later this month.

In news from the world of science:

A new, world-class observatory is expected to see first light this year, and it’s just been re-named for Vera Rubin, whose discoveries lead to the concept of dark matter. It’s not just a world-class telescope; it’s a world-class IT project, too. How will you deal with a telescope that produces 20 terabytes of pictures a night, all of which will be made available to the public within 24 hours? Its first project will be theLarge-Scale Survey of Space and Time.

An entire bonanza of bird species has been discovered on deep-sea islands in Indonesia. This might never happen again, so take a good look. They’re adorable, with unusual songs.

Do you need extra time to check out all these new bird species? Or to study astronomy? New discoveries about gene expression could, if the hype holds up (it never does, don’t worry) lead to humans who live for 400 years.

There’s been good news in cancer treatment this year, and the overall picture has been good as well. Thanks to improvements in lung cancer screening and treatment, cancer deaths have been falling slightly. But you might not know that if you’ve been a smoker, and you’re over 50, you there’s a safe screening test for lung cancer available.