You know SpaceX-- the enterprise Elon Musk founded in 2002 to improve ordinary peoples' access to outer space and to colonize Mars? As I write, the upper stage of a discarded Falcon 9 Space X rocket barrels (unplanned) toward the Moon at 5400 miles per hour. Falcon 9 transports commercial payloads, satellites and national security missions to space. Researchers expect this rocket part will slam into the Moon's western lunar limb on Tuesday, August 4 at 11:34pm PST (2:34am ET August 5). Since they know the rocket's speed and the exact time that it'll crash (trash?), Los Alamos National Lab researchers in New Mexico consider the event a unique opportunity to study lunar impacts-- and collect data.
The moon is about 4.5 billion years old, a bit younger than the Earth. The Earth's solid crust, oceans, plants, corals, dung beetles and more develop in relationship to lunar gravity and light. Since humans first appeared on Earth about 300,000 years ago, our psyches, menstrual cycles and sense of time have oriented by the moon.
How/will tomorrow night's crash affect sentient creatures?
Is the moon sentient?
I think of Henry David Thoreau, lamenting in 1861: "Most men... do not care for Nature and would sell their share in all her beauty, as long as they may live, for a stated sum.... Thank God men cannot yet fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the Earth."
FCC, AT&T, LANDLINES and CELL TOWERS
In May 2026, AT&T petitioned the FCC and sued in federal court to be relieved from state regulations that prevent it from retiring copper landlines. The company argued that California's carrier-of-last-resort rules, created to ensure that basic telephone service reaches all residents, should be preempted in communities with more modern networks. In June, the FCC approved AT&T's request. Then, The Communication Workers of America, rural counties in California and a consumer advocacy group for affordable utilities urged the FCC to reverse this approval, and first address significant public interest concerns. The labor union, Rural County Representatives of California and the Utility Reform Network said in an application to the FCC that the agency must consider adequate replacement services, emergency communications and impacts on rural communities. A federal judge denied AT&T's bid. For now, AT&T must continue to provide wired telephone service, while the underlying lawsuit continues.
In a proposal to re-allocate spectrum and boost radiofrequency emission power, the FCC has adopted an order that doubles the limit of devices' power and increases cell tower power for next-generation terrestrial wireless use. According to the Order, these actions will "put America on a path toward massive gains that could result in at least $264 billion in GDP, 1.5 million new jobs, and $388 billion in consumer surplus."
Cell towers drop property values, create fire risks and emit radiofrequency (RF) radiation that affects health. Children absorb higher rates of wireless radiation and are biologically more vulnerable to cell towers' radiation emissions. Scientific studies, expert recommendations, and international policies increasingly support stronger protections and greater setbacks for cell towers from schools. Yet the U.S. has not updated its federal safety rules since 1996; and communities have little legal authority to stop cell tower construction, even when credible health concerns are raised.
704 NO MORE!
Do you know Section 704 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act? It states that no health or environmental concern may interfere with the placement of a cellular antenna. (N.B. that Section 704 does NOT address cell towers' fire and collapse hazards.)
To create setback policies and community rights regarding cell towers, check out 704NoMore.org.
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