US renewable boom passes key milestone in April

US renewable boom passes key milestone in April

fivenewscrypto    juillet 01, 2026   

When last we looked at the state of the US grid, the ongoing explosion in solar energy had turned it into a major contributor, but one that still lagged well behind fossil-fuel-powered generation. So it was a bit of a surprise when preliminary data suggested that May 2026 saw solar power pass coal-fired generation for the first time in the US. Now, with the official release of April grid data by the Energy Information Administration, we can see that production of solar electricity had passed coal a month earlier—with a bit of a caveat.

The caveat being that a substantial chunk of that solar production never reached the grid, since it's produced by rooftop installations and used in the building they sit atop.

The situation heading into April/May was pretty simple. After a brief resurgence last year, coal use resumed its decline, despite repeated government attempts to prop it up. Meanwhile, solar continued its rapid growth, driven by its position as the cheapest way to add generating capacity in most of the US. But this growth started from a small base, and the early months of the year are marked by seasonally low solar production. As a result, growth above 20 percent year over year still left solar providing only 6 percent of the power on the US grid, a sharp contrast to coal's 16 percent.

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Supreme Court ruling guts government’s use of geofence warrants

Supreme Court ruling guts government’s use of geofence warrants

fivenewscrypto    juillet 01, 2026   

The Fourth Amendment protects a user’s “location history,” the Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The same logic already applied to a cellphone’s tracking, and the high court found “no good reason exists to reach a different result for Location History” collected by third parties like Google.

Split 6-3, the majority agreed that the government needs a warrant and must show reasonable cause to turn a phone's location-tracking services into a government surveillance tool.

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Sony erases digital content from libraries; we're reminded we don’t own what we buy

Sony erases digital content from libraries; we're reminded we don’t own what we buy

fivenewscrypto    juin 30, 2026   

Sony recently informed its PlayStation customers in the United Kingdom that they will no longer be able to watch previously purchased movies and shows from production and distribution company StudioCanal. As of September 1, affected customers will no longer be able to stream 551 titles from the PlayStation Store.

In a legal notice first spotted by gaming news outlet PlayStation LifeStyle, Sony said that affected customers will lose the ability to stream titles including Outrage: Way of the Yakuza, Paddington, Paddington 2, Pan’s Labyrinth, Rambo 3, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas “due to our content licensing agreements.” As of September, Sony will remove any affected titles that UK users bought from their PlayStation library, per the notice.

It’s possible that Sony may still make a deal with StudioCanal by September 1, or even after, that would allow users to keep watching the content they bought. This happened in 2023, when Sony said it would have to pull 1,318 seasons of Discovery shows from customers’ libraries. A few weeks after its announcement, Sony said that it would not pull the content because it had updated its licensing arrangements with Discovery.

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Ozone loss was a thing even before CFCs were widely used

Ozone loss was a thing even before CFCs were widely used

fivenewscrypto    juin 30, 2026   

The ban on ozone-depleting substances that successfully reversed the growth of the hole in the ozone layer isn’t seen as a missed opportunity. On the contrary, the quick global response is one of the best cases of common-sense environmental action. But what if it could have been done even earlier?

The fact that chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—chemicals once common in aerosol cans and refrigerant loops—could destroy ozone in the atmosphere was discovered in 1974. Within just a few years, bans on CFCs began to roll out based on the projected consequences. The seasonal ozone “hole” discovered over Antarctica in 1985 pushed things along even faster, and in 1987 an international agreement was signed to phase out CFCs everywhere.

A new study led by Jian Guan at MIT asks an interesting what-if question: Would it have been possible to detect this problem even sooner with today’s scientific tools?

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In a bold move, Rocket Lab acquires Iridium Communications

In a bold move, Rocket Lab acquires Iridium Communications

fivenewscrypto    juin 30, 2026   

Rocket Lab announced on Monday that it is acquiring the satellite communications company Iridium. The deal, made for cash and shares of Rocket Lab stock, values Iridium at about $8 billion.

The deal pairs the launch company, founded and led by Peter Beck, with a decades-old profitable satellite company whose network of 80 satellites in low-Earth orbit provides telecommunications services.

"We believe this will be one of the most transformative deals in the space industry," Beck said in a short promotional video announcing the deal. "It's the ultimate combination for growth."

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Think tank games out how to respond to disaster scenarios in space warfare

Think tank games out how to respond to disaster scenarios in space warfare

fivenewscrypto    juin 30, 2026   

Imagine this: The US military begins tracking a mysterious spacecraft maneuvering near one of the Space Force's missile-warning satellites more than 22,000 miles over the equator.

This US satellite cost several billion dollars to build and launch. It's one of a handful of sentinels keeping constant watch for ballistic missile launches that might threaten the US homeland or US military bases overseas. Suddenly, this missile warning satellite goes dark. Ground controllers at a military base just outside of Denver scramble to figure out what went wrong.

There are two possibilities. Perhaps the mystery spacecraft lurking nearby somehow disabled or destroyed it, or as sometimes happens in the unforgiving environment of space, something important broke on the satellite, rendering it unresponsive. If the former, was it an intentional attack or an accident? Who carried it out and why? If the latter, how might controllers reactivate the satellite?

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Comcast is splitting its media and broadband properties

Comcast is splitting its media and broadband properties

fivenewscrypto    juin 30, 2026   

Comcast said it plans to separate its media businesses from its mobile and broadband networks in the latest reshaping of the US industry, sending shares in the group up more than 20 percent on Monday.

The US media group said it expected to complete the break-up within a year through a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal and Sky —handing existing shareholders stock in both Comcast and the new standalone media company.

The move comes as the traditional American media industry races to keep pace as audiences shift their attention to social media and streaming platforms.

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