While we mostly use the internet wirelessly (your phone to a cell tower or Wi-Fi router), the internet remains a physical connection game. Undersea cables that connect continents remain critical even today.
Yes, that includes you, dear Starlink user. You still rely on the thousands upon thousands of kilometres of cables connecting computers to servers to content delivery networks.
So, we should all be excited to hear Meta’s grand ambition in the undersea cable world.
Meta’s 50,000 km Undersea Cable
Meta has yet another ambitious infrastructure project — Waterworth, a 50,000-kilometre-long undersea cable which should enhance global connectivity.
The cable, the longest ever built, will connect key locations like New York, Los Angeles, Brazil, South Africa, and Asia. Yes, your observation is correct, there is no European country listed there.
As you would imagine, this has brought out all sorts of tinfoil hats. That’s the kind of thing that gets my blood flowing, but it’s not for everyone.
So, for now, we’ll just mention that the leading theory among analysts is that Meta is aiming for greater strategic independence from existing European infrastructure.
By bypassing Europe, Meta could potentially reduce its reliance on European telecommunications providers and regulatory frameworks. Why? We’ll have a special section below for those so inclined.
Back to the cable. Unlike traditional cables, Waterworth will feature 24 fibre pairs, which would offer unmatched data capacity.
The number of fibre pairs in an undersea cable determines how much data it can carry. Most existing undersea cables use 8 to 16 fibre pairs, meaning Waterworth’s 24 fibre pairs will significantly boost capacity.
Each fibre pair can carry terabits per second (Tbps) of data, meaning Waterworth will massively increase global bandwidth.
The cable will be buried up to 7,000 metres deep for durability.
Why is Meta thinking of building this? It should help power AI, cloud gaming, and Meta’s metaverse ambitions.
Meta believes demand is going to increase significantly in the future, and this kind of investment will prove essential.
With billions of dollars expected to be invested, Meta aims to reduce reliance on third-party infrastructure, as we touched on above, and secure a future-proof data highway that takes into account increased demand.
Whether it succeeds or joins the list of abandoned mega-projects remains to be seen, but it appears clear that Zuckerberg wants Meta to control its own future.
On the European Exclusion
If you’re not interested in digging into this, then you’re done with the article. We have already covered the news, and now we dig a little into the exclusion of Europe.
European Regulation:
Europe blessed (or cursed) us with data privacy and regulation, with stuff like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which made web browsing annoying for everyone on earth.
It’s possible that Meta is seeking to minimise its exposure to these regulations by excluding Europe from its direct infrastructure.
It is possible that Meta is trying to avoid future regulatory problems. While we have applauded Europe for forcing Apple to move to USB-C, they tend to go overboard with regulation, and Meta’s move is understandable.
Focus on Emerging Markets:
The chosen route, connecting regions like South America, Africa, and Asia, suggests a strong focus on emerging markets. These areas are experiencing rapid growth in internet usage and data consumption, and Meta may be prioritising infrastructure development in these regions.
How could we, being South Africa’s neighbours as we are, complain about Europe’s exclusion and Africa’s inclusion? It’s usually the other way around, and so, hopefully, the massive untapped potential here is finally being noticed.
I can’t help but assume that Starlink’s popularity in Africa may have shown these other tech giants that Africa and other emerging markets are worth serving.
Existing Infrastructure in Europe:
This is a boring one but could very well be the simple explanation. Europe already has a robust and well-established subsea cable network, with many cables connecting the continent to other parts of the world.
Meta might have judged that further investment in European connectivity is unnecessary or redundant, given the existing infrastructure and its goals for the new cable.
It’s all speculation:
Meta has not shared the reasons for excluding Europe, which has fuelled speculation. Without official clarification, it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact motivations.
We don’t really care, though, as long as Africa remains on that list.
Comments
30 responses
Three cheers META.A connected World has so many benefits for humanity. I was just thinking to myself, AI sometimes gets negative press, like the machines are taking over viz. Skynet, the other side, they may be the ones that save and serve humanity.
Happy Ramadan to our Muslim brothers and sisters. I saw the crescent moon and knew it was around the corner.
Dzidzai if you were at Apple, what would you do with all the bags of cash？
Do not say I will go to space, we already know.
I would go to space!
Here we go again.
Humour me a minute. Apple would get into the space game I mean, perhaps also a connected EV, domestict robots and a search engine with AI integrated into iOS and playstore.
So you have given each African student a phone/laptop hybrid that you are calling laptop 3.0, no moving parts and a big battery.
What next Dzidzai？
Well connectivity of course. Homework in the cloud,Is that even possible？AI tutoring？Learning videos of an approaching cyclone for example. Instead of just reading about it without context. Seeing the weather mechanics and devastation first hand……
NB. Do not Let AI do your entire homework for you. Its not clever its lazy!😜 Self research an analysis is big part of learning.
Connectivity has the ability to assist police work in so many ways imaginable. One is facial recognition another is red flagging.
Anything to reduce the case load and catch baddies…
Its not Tofu its Dumplings.
Reminds me. What ever happened to the chat bots that created their own language? I heard they were shut down. I was a bit dissapointed by that.
When ever you create something intelligent, Its bound to do something intelligent. If you create something human like Its bound to do something human like. Like teenagers who create their own slang or lapalapa. As an outsider you won’t understand what they are saying but you can learn the language.
It would have been super cool to get a lingust to dechipher the Bots language. Maybe they were trying to make a hyper drive before the 2060 deadline😜😁
Secretly I wish they were not shutdown for good.
Whatever
Chikomba chinoda nekunaka pane murume.😜😄
Reminds of a story. I was in Unit D in the Republican bar. I was on my way out the door and I was yanked back by my hoodie from the back. I was ready to get into my stance then I saw it was an old friend.
So we left the bar eventually, then she confided in me. ‘Vanhu vanga vachiti ndirikudanana ne benzi’. So I told her babie, chat dem a chat, let them talk. Thats what they do best, they are bored and have nothing better to do. Havadi kuona vanhu vanodanana. She is originally from Malawi, won’t tell you her name because you victimise people. Then we went back to the bar and danced the night away.
Ah, Mahlako. Mahlako is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever met. She is South African. She has dark skin and She wore her hair natural and short. There was a bit of a language barrier, but I would learn her mother tongue any day of the week. It was first year University She came to my room with her friend who was also not bad looking. She was light and slender and wore her hair long in a weave lock style. I think those ladies were in Baxter residence as well. Baxter is parallel to the new Graca Machel residence.
So they came in and my eyes were wide open. Yangu iyi yekuiti girlfriend in orientation week. It wasn’t going to work out so we just sat on my single bed and chatted for hours. First semester I didn’t have bedding, I think I forgot my bag with my blankets ku Orange Farm in transit to Cape Town, but I survived until winter when I came home for the first and last time during my time in RSA.
I got my bedding and also some And1 sneakers from my sister in law Aisha Tania Mapila. We did barter trade after I perstered her all vac. A phone for sneakers, good trade. She was my best friend. We tried to convince mukoma to call Chantal Chidumba, Michelle. He flatly refused but that didn’t stop us from calling her Mimi till now.
We got on really well, my elder brother was afraid to leave us alone when he when he went out na mukoma Simba on weekends. First why are you leaving your hot girlfriend at home alone, second I am your brother so I would never. I took it as an insult, that kind of thought would never cross my mind. Yes, Chantal is my daughter and she should be finished her law studies at Stellenbosch by now. Love you guys hope to meet soon.
I also have 3 grand children in Canada with a set of twins😊, I am no spring chicken. Some people by now should be having Great grand children,hence they see us as nhanha, understandable.
Imagine you have all the money and power in the World asi worambwa zvakangodaro.
Unogona kurwadziwa to the point yekuda ku’uraya munhu. You missed something in human behaviour, there are some people who are not overauled by material things especially those who didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in life.
Life changes, and some people are a parent(s) away from becoming destitute. You will be shocked how quickly you can blow a million USD.How many companies close down or.struggle After their founder dies,many. In the end the person you fought and disrespected may have to come to your aid and I will off course, raised and wired different. I can be reasoned with.
Ndakambonzi, If you get a girl pregnant, delete my number.
That is the last thing on my mind and Its not because of a lack offers.
Kids are expensive, and I need to focus, Kids require a lot of time and care.
Tongoshandira varipo ivavo. Your fears are not my fears, do not project them on me.
Boss someone else around.
I do not know why the soldiers chose me.
They could have chosen anyone, perhaps even better candidates.
Why him, uyu uyu, hapana umwe arinani here, kamupfana ikaka. ka Benzi kanotiza mari. haa Mbada haina dhiri….
Perhaps its because I am willing to take a bullet for them and my people. A brotherhood you will never understand. Shamwari dzeropa.
Imagine your sole existence and job in life is to prevent someone else from their destiny.
Its such a sad life, actually slavery,I cannot even find more words. When you succeed we will say well done good job.
At home, what do you use your brain and energy for?
So there was an incident at the Republican bar. It was a Sunday.
I sat down outside signing my songs and speakimg to myself. There were about Three ladies standing next to me.
All of a sudden, a guy who was pretending to sleep suddenly woke up and ran towards me. I didn’t run away at first because I thought he was coming for the usual, you are making noise outside a bar.
The he is like you are insulting my mom and I am like no dude. I don’t even know you and you mom. So he started hitting me. So I just blocked, Then the ladies said zvakwana kani. When he looked up, I slipped away. I am not as quick as I used to be but don’t Let that fool you.
How can a grown man hit like a girl? In my mind I was thinking If I go all KGB Alpha Team on you, I will kill you were you stand. I have to run away from your bull,to save you from yourself and you are not fit enough to even chase me. With great power comes great responsibility, sometimes tou just have to walk away….
Thats intresting Dzidzai. When someone insulted your mom at Leeds with the same jibe,youwere told suck It up, hanzi varungu vane majokes.
Low self esteem, putting money over substance. Walking contradictions they are.
I do not come cheap.
I wonder how much in time and resources you have invested in me.
UAE Thank you for the aid, much appreciated the drought has caused much anguish among farmers.
THE RESOUNDING SUCCESS OF Operation Spring of Youth did not mean a letup in the string of Mossad
targeted killings in Europe.
In the final days of preparation for the Beirut raid, Meiri and another operative were in Paris, waiting for
Basil al-Kubaisi, a law professor at Beirut University and a low-level activist in the PFLP, to finish with a
prostitute before they shot him dead. (“I decided that, just as they give a condemned man a last request, this
guy also deserved some sex before he died,” Meiri related.)
Then, only hours after the Spring of Youth forces returned to Israel, Harari, Meiri, and five additional
operatives traveled to Athens, where they killed Zaid Muchassi with a bomb planted in the mattress of his
hotel bed. Muchassi had just been appointed the Fatah representative in Cyprus, where he replaced Hussein
Abd al-Chir—whom the Mossad also had killed, on January 24, with a bomb in a Nicosia hotel mattress.
On June 10, information came in indicating that Wadie Haddad had sent two of his men to Rome, to
carry out an attack on the El Al airline office. The information came from a Junction agent deep inside
Haddad’s organization. This new and promising recruit, who would be described in AMAN’s annual report
as “an outstanding source with excellent and exclusive access to the Haddad organization,” and who agreed to
spy in exchange for money, was given the code name Itzavon, Hebrew for “Sadness.” A team commanded
by “Carlos,” a Bayonet operative, began following the two men, who were driving around Rome in a
Mercedes with German registration plates.
On the night of June 16–17, the Bayonet team planted a bomb under the car. In the morning, when one
of the Palestinian men got into the car and started to drive away, he was followed by a Mossad car, with
Harari driving and Carlos in the passenger seat, holding a remote control the size of a shoebox. In order for
the bomb to be detonated, a minimal distance between the vehicles had to be maintained.
After a few minutes, the Palestinian man in the car stopped to pick up his partner, who was staying at another address,
and then drove off again. Carlos was about to push the button exactly when the car entered the Piazza
Barberini, site of the Triton Fountain, an important work by the famous sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Harari knew Rome well from the days after World War II when he was working to help refugees
immigrate to Israel, and he was someone who appreciated art. “No! Stop! The statue…It’s Bernini! Do not
detonate!” he yelled at a confused Carlos, then proceeded to explain the importance of the work to him.
A few seconds later, when the car carrying the two Palestinians had moved away from the fountain, the
button was pressed. The front part of the car exploded and the two men were very badly injured. One later
died in the hospital. Police found weapons in the car and interpreted the explosion as a “work accident,”
assuming the two were terrorists who had a bomb in the car and had handled it incorrectly.
“Sadness” also reported on the activities of Mohammed Boudia, the head of PFLP operations in Europe.
Boudia was a colorful combination of Algerian revolutionary, bisexual bohemian playboy, adventurer, and
arch-terrorist who worked for both Haddad and Black September. The small theater he ran in Paris,
Théâtre de l’Ouest, was used as a cover for his plans to attack Israelis and Jews.
Thanks to Sadness’s reports, the Shin Bet managed to thwart some of his plans before they were
executed. One was for simultaneous explosions of powerful TNT bombs in Tel Aviv’s seven biggest hotels
on the Seder night of Passover 1971.
During June 1973, Sadness reported that Boudia was plotting another big attack. A team of thirty
Bayonet and Rainbow operatives followed him the length of Paris before an opportunity arose, when he
parked his car in Rue des Fossés-Saint-Bernard, in the Latin Quarter. When he came back and started it
again, a pressure-sensitive bomb placed under the seat of his car exploded and killed him.
Bayonet’s string of triumphs instilled a sense of euphoria throughout the whole organization. “It seemed
as if there was nothing the Mossad couldn’t do,” said a Caesarea veteran, “and that there was no one we
couldn’t reach.”
That said, the reckoning with Black September remained open. Nine months after the horrific slaughter
in Munich—the attack that had triggered the uptick in targeted killings—senior members of Black
September were still at large. The Mossad had killed a lot of people, but not the eleven men it wanted most.
These included the three surviving participants of the operation, who had been imprisoned but then sprung
after Black September hijacked a Lufthansa plane and forced the Germans to release them. The other eight
had been marked by the Mossad as tied to the conception, command, or execution of the attack.
At the top of that list was Ali Hassan Salameh, Black September’s operations officer.
Ali Salameh’s father, Hassan Salameh, had been one of the two commanders of the Palestinian forces in
1947 when war broke out after the UN decision on the establishment of Israel. The Haganah had repeatedly
tried and failed to assassinate him, until he was finally killed in combat.
His son carried a heavy burden. “I wanted to be myself, [but]…I was constantly conscious of the fact that
I was the son of Hassan Salameh and had to live up to that, even without being told how the son of Hassan
Salameh should live,” Ali Salameh said in one of the only two interviews he ever gave. “My upbringing was
politicized. I lived the Palestinian cause, at a time when the cause was turning in a vicious circle. They were
a people without a leadership. The people were dispersed, and I was part of the dispersion. My mother
wanted me to be another Hassan.”
But by the mid-1960s, the pressure from Ali’s family, together with Yasser Arafat, was enough.
Ali gave in and presented himself at the Fatah recruitment office. “I became very attached to Fatah,” he recalled. “I
had found what I was looking for.”
“He very quickly became Arafat’s favorite,” said Harari.
In 1968, he was sent to Egypt by Arafat, for training in intelligence and the operation of explosives. He
became an assistant to Abu Iyad, who assigned him to oversee the identification and liquidation of Arabs
who collaborated with Israelis.
Salameh was young, charismatic, wealthy, and handsome, and enjoyed the high life that went hand in hand
with membership in Rasd, the secret intelligence arm of Fatah. He combined his love of women and parties
with his terrorist activities in a manner that “raised eyebrows in Fatah,” according to an Israeli military
intelligence report on him.
The Mossad believed that Salameh had been involved in a long list of terror attacks, some against Jordan
and some against Israel, including the hijacking of the Sabena airliner. Documents seized in al-Najjar’s
apartment in Beirut indicated that Salameh’s responsibilities included liaising with European terrorist
organizations, and that he had invited Andreas Baader, co-founder of the German Baader-Meinhof Gang, to
a Palestinian training camp in Lebanon. “We showed the documents to the Germans,” said Shimshon
Yitzhaki, head of the Mossad’s counterterror unit, “to make it clear to them that the danger of Palestinian
terror was their concern as well.”
There is no disagreement about these charges, but the Mossad was also convinced that Salameh was
implicated in the planning and execution of the Munich massacre, and that he had even been present not far
from the scene when the terror squad was dispatched to Connollystrasse 31 in the Olympic Village.
However, Mohammed Oudeh (Abu Daoud) maintained that Salameh wasn’t involved at all and that he,
Oudeh, planned and commanded the operation. Doubts about Salameh’s role were also raised in two books
on the subject, Kai Bird’s The Good Spy and Aaron Klein’s Striking Back.
But to this day, Yitzhaki remains confident: “The fact that Abu Daoud, years after the event, when
Salameh was no longer alive, wanted to take all the credit for himself makes no difference. Ali Salameh was
not present when the attack went down in Munich, but he was involved in the deepest manner possible in the
planning, recruitment of personnel, and perpetration of that shocking murder.”
In any case, Salameh was a marked man. “Ali Hassan Salameh was the number-one target,” Harari said.
“We hunted him for a long time.” The Mossad had only one recent photograph of him, though, which they
used, without success, to try to locate him. Information about him took Bayonet operatives to Hamburg,
Berlin, Rome, Paris, Stockholm, and other European cities. Each time, they seemed to have missed him by
moments.
The breakthrough came in mid-July 1973, after an Algerian named Kemal Benamene, who was working
for Fatah and had links with Black September, left his apartment in Geneva for a flight to Copenhagen and
waited for him there. The Mossad had reason to believe he was planning an attack with Salameh, and he was
followed. If they could stick close to Benamene, the Israelis reasoned, they would reach Salameh and be able
to kill him.
The Caesarea men trailing Benamene saw that he didn’t leave Copenhagen airport, but instead went to the
area for passengers in transit and then immediately boarded a flight to Oslo. From there he took a train to
Lillehammer. The whole time, he was followed by Mossad operatives. Harari and Romi concluded that he
was going to meet their target in the sleepy Norwegian town…..
THE LILLEHAMMER MESS NOTWITHSTANDING, the general mood in the defense establishment remained
euphoric following Operation Spring of Youth. There was a newfound sense of confidence, and it was not
limited to the Mossad, but spread through all of the Israeli leadership.
Two days after the operation, Defense Minister Moshe Dayan climbed to the top of the mountain fortress
of Masada. It was here that Jewish zealots rebelling against the Roman Empire killed themselves and their
families rather than be taken captive, thus creating the nation’s major heroic myth. Dayan declared, “We
shall establish a new Israel with wide borders, not like those of 1948….These days are blessed with
conditions the likes of which it is doubtful that our nation has ever seen in the past.” Chief of staff Elazar, in
a letter to Zamir, boasted that after Spring of Youth, “the prestige of the IDF has soared to new heights and
its glory has increased.” And Golda Meir, on April 15, 1973, wrote, “Perhaps the day will come when the
stories of heroism and resourcefulness, sacrifice and devotion, of these warriors will be told in Israel, and
generations will recount them to those who follow them with admiration and pride, as yet another chapter in
the heritage of heroism of our nation.”
Yet confidence can too easily slip into overconfidence, the pitfalls of which weren’t limited to Caesarea
and the Lillehammer fiasco. Forty years after the raid, Ehud Barak, the leader of the Beirut hit team and
later chief of staff, prime minister, and minister of defense, suggested that this hubris had disastrous
consequences for the entire nation. “In retrospect,” he said, “it seems to me that we came back from Beirut
that night and the country’s leaders drew the wrong conclusions from the success of the operation. It created
a self-confidence that lacked foundation. It is impossible to project from a surgical, pinpoint commando
raid onto the abilities of the entire army, as if the IDF can do anything, that we are omnipotent.
“They—the prime minister, the defense minister, and all the rest—saw us, the Sayeret and the Mossad, get the order and, within a few weeks, act on it. And we acted on it well. This gave them the sense that such
a capability was common to the entire military. But our successes, both in the Six-Day War and in the
operations that followed it, sprang from accurate planning and optimal use of the element of surprise. We
were the ones who initiated. We set the timetables as well as the outcomes.
“And with our new sense of security came complacency as well. We did not think that they could take us
by surprise, too, that they could damage us just as badly.”
Unwavering faith in the armed forces and the belief that the three branches of the defense establishment
—the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Mossad—could save Israel from any danger whatsoever led the country’s
leadership to also feel that there was no pressing need to reach a diplomatic compromise with the Arabs.
Others outside Israel disagreed.
In 1972, U.S. National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger launched a secret diplomatic initiative aimed at
achieving a peace agreement, or at least a non-belligerency pact, between Israel and Egypt. He realized that
as long as Israel held on to the Egyptian territories it had conquered in 1967, Egypt would do whatever it
could to reconquer them, and the next conflagration in the Middle East would be only a matter of time.
The high point of the initiative came during dramatic meetings at a CIA safe house in Armonk, New
York, on February 25 and 26, 1973, between Kissinger and an Egyptian emissary. The emissary declared
that Egypt was prepared to sign a peace treaty with Israel, the terms of which—Israeli recognition of
Egypt’s sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula, but retention of Israeli forces there, with a full retreat later on
in exchange for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries—were unprecedentedly
favorable to Israel. Yet Egypt’s president, Anwar Sadat, also warned that if his offer was not taken up by
September, he would go to war.
Meir refused. “We’ll pass on this,” Meir told Kissinger.
Dayan concurred. “I prefer Sharm el-Sheikh without peace,” he said, “to peace without Sharm el-
Sheikh.”
By this time, Egypt and Syria were already feverishly engaged in preparing their armed forces for war:
massive troop movement toward and then away from the front lines; air force exercises in conjunction with
the advanced surface-to-air missile systems the Soviets had supplied them; training commando forces in the
use of Sagger antitank missiles; and vast maneuvers to prepare for crossing the Suez Canal in great force.
These were all obvious preparations for war, but without any intelligence explicitly confirming that fact, the
Israeli defense establishment dismissed them as mere war games.
Elazar had been convinced that the Mossad and AMAN would be able to give Israel at least forty-eight
hours’ warning before the outbreak of war, enough time to mobilize the reserves. He and his cohorts
weren’t much worried, in any case, confident as they were that the Arabs were frightened of Israel and
wouldn’t dare start a war. If they did, the Israelis were sure that “we would break their bones” in short
order.
They were wrong.
On October 6, at 2 P.M., the Egyptian and Syrian armies launched massive, concerted surprise attacks
against Israel. It was Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, when Israelis, even nonreligious ones, fast
and go to synagogue or stay at home, so the forces on the front lines were thinly spread. The Egyptians
threw 2,200 tanks, 2,900 armored personnel carriers, 2,400 artillery pieces, large amounts of antiaircraft
and antitank weaponry, and hundreds of thousands of infantry and commando troops into the battle, much
of it across the Suez Canal. On the Golan Heights, the Syrians invaded Israeli territory with 60,000 troops,
1,400 tanks, and 800 guns. Both also activated the bulk of their air and naval forces. The Israeli units facing
them were made up of a few hundred men, mostly reservists who’d been kept there to allow the regular
forces to go home for the holy day.
Within the first few days, the Arab armies scored notable victories against the Israelis, who, in addition to
being taken by surprise, also read the other side’s tactics incorrectly. The Egyptians established a formidable
beachhead on the Sinai side of the canal, and the Syrians penetrated deep into the Golan Heights and were
threatening to sweep down into the Jordan Valley and the Galilee.
However, by dint of massive effort and sacrifice, the Israelis managed to stem the invasions and, after
nineteen days of counterattack, turned the tables on the enemy. The Egyptians were expelled from almost
the entire beachhead. Israeli units crossed the canal and, after surrounding the enemy forces on the western
side of the waterway, advanced toward Cairo, reaching a point only sixty miles from the Egyptian capital.
The Syrians were driven out of the Golan, and Israeli forces advanced until they were within artillery range
of Damascus.
But the victory came at a heavy cost. More than 2,300 Israeli soldiers died in the Yom Kippur War, a
war that could have been prevented through negotiation, or at least prepared for with adequate prior
intelligence.
A wave of protest swept through Israeli society, which led to the establishment of a commission of
inquiry and the forced resignation of chief of staff Elazar and AMAN chief Zeira, along with other top
officers. The war dispelled, at least temporarily, Israelis’ sense of military and espionage supremacy and,
thus, their sense of security. Although the panel did not explicitly blame Meir or Dayan, due to heavy public
pressure, the prime minister tendered her resignation on April 11.
Department of Architecture
College of Engineering & Architecture
Prairie View A&M University
students:
Dale Ayem
Timothy Barnes
Woody Bryant
Paween Ciwwdizwy
Joe DiUard
Vernadette Gardner
George Gregory
Cheryl Hmn
Brock Hadl
Shed Hilton
Ronald Livingston
Leisa N o m n
Damiun Ohale
Kiut Shannon
Jew Tennyson
Jose ViUanueva
Ricardo Watson
David Ways
Project Director & Faculty Advisor:
Was Sabouni, Ph.D.
Faculty Advisor
Marshall Brown, P.E., Dean
August 1991
ABSTRACT
The College of Engineering and Architecture at Prairie View A&M
University has been participating in the NASA/USRA Advanced Design
Program since 1986. The research goal for the 1990-91 year is to
design a human habitat on Mars that can be utilized as a permanent
base for twenty crew members. The research is being conducted by
undergraduate students from the Department of Architecture.
The objective of this study which is the first for the Department
of Architecture is to develop a conceptual design for a permanently
manned, self-sustaining martian facility, to accommodate a crew of
20 people. The goal is to incorporate the major functions required
for long term habitation in the isolation of a barren planet into
a thriving ecosystem. These functions include living facilities,
working facilities, service facilities, medical facilities, and a
green house. The main design task was to focus on the internal
layout while investigating the appropriate structure, materials,
and construction techniques. The general concept was to create a
comfortable, safe living environment for the twenty crew members
for a stay of six to twelve months on Mars. Two different concepts
have been investigated, a modular assembly reusable structure
(Lavapolis) and a prefabricated space frame structure (Hexamars).
Lavapolis, a modular assembly reusable structure (M.A.R.S.) system
consists of inflatable cylinders supported at the ends with light
weight aluminum rings. The cylinders are made of pneumatic
material with a 30 ft diameter. For future expansion additional
cylinders can be connected to the habitat without having to
depressurize the existing structure.
The habitat is organized in
a linear pattern in respond to the geometry of the (M.A.R.S.)
system and the tubular nature of the site inside.a Lava tube which
would provide radiation shielding for the entire base without
having to move a lot of dirt.
Hexamars, a prefabricated space frame structure consists of a
central core and secondary modules radiating from the core. The
sphere shaped modules will be partially buried below the martian
surface. Interchangeable structural members are utilized in the
construction of this habitat. The construction of this habitat
will occur in five phases. The space frame structure concept will
allow for future expansion by constructing and adding more modules
connecting to the existing modules via airlock structures.
INTRODUCTION
The Research goal for the 1990-1991 year was to design a human
habitat on Mars that can be utilized as a permanent base for twenty
crew members. The research was being conducted by undergraduate
students from the Department of Architecture. During the Fall
semester the students were engaged in extensive research and
studies pertaining to Mars. Some of the issues that were
investigated are: Living and moving devices in space, planetary
habitats, the martian atmosphere and terrain, ,space radiation,
construction technology and techniques in space and sources of
oxygen and water upon others. The following is a literature review
of the above topics.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Living in Space
We are all currently living in space upon the Spaceship Earth, a
self sustaining ecosystem in orbit around the sun, which provides
it with the energy for life.
Man has created miniature environments to support his life as he
ventured into space away from the mother ship,
Skylab was American’s first facility that housed astronauts for
several months as they observed the dynamics of the sun. We have
learned much about long duration space flight from the experience
of these missions. Skylab has since been destroyed, as its orbit
decayed and it burned up in the atmosphere.
The Soviet Union holds the record for the longest duration space
flight in their IMirl Space Station, which has been in orbit for a
couple of years. One cosmonaut stayed on board for over 300 days.
They presently have men in space and they have had since the
beginning of their IrMirV1 program.
There are many reasons for the advocacy of the space movement. The
Exploration of the unknown, a quest for knowledge of our origin,
and conqueringthe challenge of adventure are all inherent emotions
of our species which have brought us, as a civilization, to where
we are now.
As societies continue to expand into the solar system and beyond,
new resources will be discovered that could be utilized back home.
The promotion of trade between Earth and new settlements in space
would have valuable economic benefits.
The quality of life on Earth could be enhanced with the application
of solar power satellites operated from space, The first space
settlers might be involved with the construction of these large
facilities.
There are proposals of replacing all the industries on Earth with
facilities in space, leaving Earth as a garden playground where no
toxic emissions would pollute its environment.
Avoidance of possible disasters on Earth contributed to pollution,
toxic waste, exhaust emissions, acid rain, deforestation of the
rain forest, over population, and the threat of nuclear war could
very well be incentives for leaving this planet for a life
elsewhere in the solar system.
Many people argue that we should not spend money on space programs
but direct those funds to resolving the problems we face on Earth.
Maybe the solutions to these problems can be understood after
discoveries and observations are made in space. The possibility of
the discovery of new life forms would expand mankind’s mind and
totally change the way we view ourselves.
Once the decision to leave the planet is made, where do we go? Low
Earth Orbit is a starting point, from where further steps into
space can be made. The United States Space Station, ffFreedomlf, is
proposed to commerce construction in 1994. This facility should
function as a transportation hub from where the next space missions
will originate.
Lagrangian points are where the moon and the Earth’s gravity are
canceled, creating relatively stationary points in space, where the
placement of large space structures would orbit the Earth and
maintain the same orientation to the moon.
Lunar materials would be utilized to manufacture these structures,
since shipping up materials from Earth would be expensive due to
the large gravity well. The moon is a possible location, since it
provides land to build upon. The resources are also there and need
not be shipped from the earth.
Mars is the most similar planet to Earth compared to any other in
the solar system. It has an atmosphere, there is water at the
poles, and its gravity is roughly half that of Earth’s. If life
existed or does exist anywhere else in the solar system, scientists
argue that it would be on Mars. Mars offers the best possibility
for terraforming, that is modifying the environment to sustain life
as we know it. There are many factors which must be addressed
before we can live beyond the comforts of our planet.
In space, the force of gravity is not felt, due to the orbit that
the habitat and everything around it is falling at. Some form of
downward force is needed for the human body to function properly.
Spinning the facility to create a centrifugal force is the most
acceptable way to solve the problem, as long as the spin radius is
large enough to lessen the sensation of spinning.
Its raining in Dungwiza🔥. Thank you Lord for replenishing our water table. We pray that farmers also receive adequate rainfall throughout the country.
Smokey Robinson – Tracks of my tears
Mr. Vegas – Wat a nite
Season 03 is a big moment for Call of Duty: Warzone and Black Ops 6, and we’re taking the time to deliver a great experience starting on April 3.
More to come following Call of Duty: Warzone’s 5th anniversary next week…
Could dogs have domesticated themselves? 🐾
While there’s strong evidence that humans have been artificially selecting dog traits for around 15,000 years—helping to create modern breeds that barely resemble their wolf ancestors—what happened before that?
New research supports the theory that ancient wolves could have chosen to live near humans—scavenging through their garbage and trading aggression for easier meals before eventually isolating themselves from other packs.
Learn more about the theory of “self domestication” here: https://on.natgeo.com/4i9v5N4
Photograph of a coastal wolf by Paul Nicklen
With a list price of $3.7 million, Ferrari’s new “hypercar” was revealed to the public in October with a twist: It wasn’t available for sale. Money isn’t enough to buy a top-of-the-range Ferrari. You need to be in a long-term relationship with the company.
By leveraging the rabid fandom of its customers through a business model based on uber-scarcity, the storied Italian company is enjoying a new golden age.
Read more: https://on.wsj.com/4h8NMzT
There have been a series of mysterious incidents of severed undersea cables. Damage to undersea cables could negatively impact the global financial ecosystem. Security and policy experts say what it could mean for finance firms and how to mitigate the risk. 👉 https://trib.al/0WEK65k
CHAPTER ONE
SUPPLY NEEDS AND RATIONS
Introduction
The Romans were well aware of the importance of good diet in
maintaining an effective fighting force. Vegetius emphasizes the need
for proper diet both in the army and in a besieged city,1citing the
military proverb: “Whoever does not provide for provisions and other
necessities, is conquered without fighting.”2The study of military
logistics begins with the needs of the individual soldier and of the
army’s animals. The first chapter discusses the nutritional require-
ments of the Roman soldier and his diet, as well as other logistical
needs such as firewood and fodder.
Nutritional Requirements of the “Average” Roman Soldier
In the 1960s, the Recommended Daily Allowance (hereafter “RDA”)
for a 19-year old male soldier of the modern United States Army
was calculated at 3,600 calories per day.3Engels used this figure as
a basis for calculating the nutritional requirements of ancient sol-
diers.4This is, however, only a recommended daily allowance; it rep-
resents the amount of calories and nutritional elements the U.S.
Army considered necessary not only to sustain a healthy soldier, but
also to accommodate periods of extraordinary activity and to per-
mit “other potential benefits.”5The minimum daily requirement of a
soldier is considerably lower and significantly altered by factors such
as age, body size, activity and environment.6As will be shown below
(p. 12), the Roman soldier’s caloric needs were significantly below
that of a mid-20th century American soldier (mainly because of size
and age), and considerably below the modern American Army’s rec-
ommended daily allowance.
Poor diet negatively impacts an army’s combat capability. Of
course, sufficient calories alone do not preclude malnutrition and
diet-related diseases, humans require many nutrients for good health.
The most important nutrient is protein, which provides eight amino
acids essential to tissue growth, the creation of body fluids and the
balancing of the nitrogen level in the body. The 20th century U.S.
Army recommends approximately 70 grams of protein per day,7but,
being smaller on average, the amount needed by the Roman soldier
was slightly lower. The body also requires Vitamin C to prevent
scurvy (Latin scorbutus): the U.S. government RDA is 60 milligrams/
day. Polybius reports that, due to poor diet and conditions, Han-
nibal’s men suffered from scurvy (limopsoros). Limes, introduced into
the British navy in the 18th century are the best known of the anti-
scorbutics, but a number of foods consumed by the Romans, vine-
gar for example, provided vitamin C.8In addition, small amounts
of the amino acid lysine, provided by meat or legumes, is necessary
when wheat is the main source of calories, as is the case with Roman
diet. Human beings also require other nutritional necessities such as
calcium, iron and iodine in small quantities.9
In order to maintain life, the minimum caloric intake need not
be consistently maintained nor obtained through the daily consump-
tion of food. Stored body fat can also be used to provide the sol-
dier with energy. The rate of burning human body fat is constant
and does not depend on age or size: one kilogram of body fat always
provides approximately 1600 calories. If caloric intake is reduced
only slightly below the minimum, stored body fat can be used for
a considerable period. If calories drop too much, however, a soldier’s
physical and mental abilities will be substantially reduced over the
course of as few as two or three days.10
Height, Weight and Age of Roman Soldiers
A soldier’s weight and height determine the amount of calories
required. Adults in antiquity were certainly shorter than today: esti-
mates for the average height of an adult male in ancient times range
from 162 cm. (5’4”) to 171 cm. (5’7”).11Passages in both Apuleius and
Tacitus suggest, however, that soldiers were taller than the average
civilian male.12Every potential recruit was inspected before being
enrolled, in a process known as the probatio.13The Roman army cer-
tainly had a minimum height requirement which exceeded the aver-
age height of the population as a whole. A story from a Talmudic
Midrash, dating to the Roman period, makes this point:
There is a case of a man who conscripted recruits. A man came to
conscript someone’s son. [The father] said: look at my son . . . how
tall he is! His mother said: look at our son, how tall he is. The
[recruiter] answered: in your eyes . . . he is tall. I do not know. Let us
see whether he is tall. They measured [him] and he proved to be [too]
small and was rejected.14
Roman records directly attest such measuring of recruits, although
determining the exact height requirement is problematic. Vegetius
gives the minimum standard, or incomma, as “6 [Roman] feet [178
cm.] or 5 feet 10 inches [ca. 173 cm.] among the auxiliary cavalry
or the [soldiers] of the legionary first cohort.”15Although both Fritz
Wille and N.P. Milner see Vegetius’s figures as an optimum and
a minimum figure respectively, the expression incommam . . . exactam
strongly suggests a regulation height.16Vegetius may mean that
cavalrymen must be 6 feet and soldiers of the first cohort five foot
ten. In any case, these are clearly height requirements for elite sol-
diers and not for the entire military. Praetorian Guardsmen probably
had a higher minimum height than rank and file legionaries until the
Septimius Severus started recruiting the latter into the imperial guard
at the end of the second century.17
This last point was well
understood by the ancients. Onasander advises feeding troops espe-
cially well just before battles in order to prepare them for such bursts
of exertion:
. . . soldiers who have eaten moderately, so as not to put too great a
load into their stomachs, are more vigorous in battle, armies have
often been overpowered for just this reason, their strength failing for
lack of food.
Manufacturing Consent
The Propaganda Model
The political economy of mass media
Edward S. Herman
Noam Chomsky
FURTHERAPPLICATIONS
InhisbookGolden Rule,political scientistThomasFergusonarguesthat
wherethemajorinvestorsinpoliticalpartiesandelections agreeonan
issue,thepartieswillnotcompeteonthatissue,nomatterhowstrongly
thepublicmightwantanalternative.Hecontendsthatforordinaryvot-
ers to influence electoral choicestheywouldhavetohave”strongchan-
nelsthatdirectly facilitatemassdeliberationandexpression.”IOIThese
wouldincludeunionsandotherintermediateorganizationsthatmight,
throughtheircollectivepower,causetheinterestsofordinaryvoterstobe
givengreaterweightinthepolitical system.
Thepropagandamodel,andthe institutionalarrangementsthatitre-
flects, suggeststhatthesameforcesthatprecludecompetitionamongthe
partiesonissuesonwhichthemajorinvestors agree, will alsodominate
media choicesandruleOUt”massdeliberationandexpression”onthose
issues.Forexample,polls regularly indicatethat,exceptinperiodsofwar
andintensewarpropaganda,thepublicwantsasmallerdefensebudget
andfavors aspendingshiftfromdefensetoeducationandothercivil
functions.
102
Butbecausethemajorinvestorsagreethata large defense
budgetis desirable,thetwodominantpartiescompeteonlyonwhether
theoneortheotheris st.inting on militaryexpenditures,withbothprom-
ising to enlarge it (asbothGeorgeW.BushandAIGoredidinthepresi-
dentialelectioncampaignof2000).Andthemainstreammediadothe
same, limitingdebatetothetermsdefinedbythetwopartiesandexclud-
ing deliberationandexpressionofthepositionthatlargecutsare desir-
able.Thealternative presidentialcandidate,RalphNader,called forsuch
cuts,butthemediadeniedhima voiceontheissues,someofthem
explicitlydefendinghis exclusion fromthepresidentialdebatesonthe
groundsthattheoptionsafforded bythetwopartiessufficed.103
TheU.S.corporatecommunityhasfavoredanimmensedefense
budget..—–eurrentlymorethanfivetimesthesizeofthatofa steadily weak-
ening Russia,thesecondbiggestspender-becauseofthegreatbenefits
itsmembersderivefrommilitary spending.Theseincludeweaponsand
othercontractingbusiness,directandindirectsubsidiesinresearch,104
andtheroleplayedbymilitarypowerinsupportingtheglobaleconomic
expansioninwhichmanyU.S.transnationalcorporationsare active
I
I
A Propaganda Model
THEMASS MEDIA SERVEASA SYSTEM FOR COMMUNICATING
messages and symbols to the general populace.Itis their function to
amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the
values, beliefs, and codesofbehavior thatwillintegrate them into the
institutional structuresofthe larger society.Ina worldofconcentrated
wealth and major conflictsofclass interest, to fulfil this role requires
systematic propaganda.1
Incountries where the leversofpower areinthe handsofa state
u’t:1reao:\:flIcy;”ute-lIronopon~n”C..om:…”rluVCCi.liC…..rt:o.f1d;uf\\:f1.-“appn!’”
meotedbyofficial censorship, makes it clearthatthe media serve the
endsofa dominant elite.Itismuch more difficult to see a propaganda
system at work where the media are private and formal censorshipis
absent. Thisisespeciallytruewhere the media actively compete, peri-
odicallyattack and expose corporate and governmental malfeasance,
and aggressively portray themselves as spokesmen for free speech and
the general community interest. Whatisnot evident (and remains
I
undiscussed in the media) is the limited natureofsuch critiques,aswell
asthe huge inequality in commandofresources, and its effect bothon
access to a private media system and on its behavior and performance.
A propaganda model focuses on this inequalityofwealth and power
and its multilevel effects on mass-media interests and choices.Ittraces
the routes by which money and power are able to filter out the news
fitto print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and domi-
nant private interests to get their messages across to the public.The
essential ingredientsofourpropaganda model, or setofnews “filters,”
fall under the following headings:(1)the size, concentrated ownership,
owner wealth, and profit orientationofthe dominant mass-media firms;
(2) advertisingasthe primary income sourceofthe mass media;(3)the
relianceofthe mediaoninformation provided by government, business,
and “experts” funded and approved by these primary sources and
agentsofpower; (4) “flak” as a meansofdisciplining the media; and
(5)”anticommunism”asa national religion and control mechanism.
These elements interact with and reinforce one another.Theraw mate-
rialofnews must pass through successive filters, leaving only the
cleansed residuefitto print.Theyfixthe premisesofdiscourse and
interpretation, and the definitionofwhat is newsworthy in the first
place, and they explain the basis and operationsofwhat amount to
propaganda campaigns.
Theelite dominationofthe media and marginalizationofdissi-
dents that results from the operationofthese filters occurs so natu-
rally that media news people, frequently operating with complete
integrity and goodwill, are able to convince themselves that they
choose and interpret the news “objectively” and on the basisofpro-
fessional news values. Within the limitsofthe filter constraints they
often are objective; the constraints are so powerful, and are built into
the system in such a fundamental way, that alternative basesofnews
choices are hardly imaginable.Inassessing the newsworthinessofthe
U.S. government’s urgent claimsofa shipmentofMIGsto Nicaragua
on November5,1984, the media do not stop to ponder the bias that
is inherent in the priority assigned to government-supplied raw mate-
rial, or the possibility that the government might be manipulating the
news,2 imposing its own agenda, and deliberately diverting attention
from other materiaJ.3Itrequires a macro, alongside a micro- (story-
by-story), viewofmedia operations, to see the patternofmanipula-
tion and systematic bias.
Letusturn nowtoa more detailed examinationofthe main constitu-
entsofthe propaganda model, which will be applied and tested in the
chaptersthatfollow.
Mr..Mushonga, longtime Sir..Are you still at ABC Holdings?. A man with similar taste in cars. The lads should be about done with high school at St. Georges. One day I may be in the Christon Bank area.
Isn’t time we get some comment moderation nhai Leonard and TechZim?