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DENIS NAUGHTEN IS passionate when it comes to the problem of rural broadband.
Last week Naughten, the Minister for Communications and a member of the Rural Alliance of independent TDs, was interviewed on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland about his department’s plan for rural broadband.
Asked by presenter Cathal Mac Coille about previous comments in February when he compared the internet in Roscommon to that available on the moon, the minister said:
I live in rural Ireland. In parts of my constituency, yes, there is better broadband on the moon than we have access to at the moment.
In doing so he echoed his comments last February, when he said:
There is something fundamentally wrong if engineers can make it possible to receive around 20mbps on the moon but yet we cannot get it in many parts of the Roscommon Galway constituency.
So what’s the truth? With the help of some experts in space engineering, optical broadband and the more terrestrial kind, we found out.
(Remember if you see or hear a politician making big claims, about broadband, space engineering or otherwise, email factcheck@thejournal.ie or tweet @TJ_FactCheck).
Claim: There is faster broadband on the moon than in parts of Roscommon-Galway, the home constituency of Minister for Communications Denis Naughten.
Verdict: Half-true.
RTÉ Radio 1 / SoundCloud
We asked the Department of Communications about the minister’s comments, and a spokeswoman said Naughten’s views on lunar broadband access “reflected the frustration” of those unable to access it in rural Ireland.
The department then sent us this story about of this 2013-14 experiment by scientists from Nasa and MIT.
The experiment succeeded in transmitting internet at broadband speeds to a satellite orbiting the moon, and back again – at almost 20 megabits per second (mbps).
It proved that it would be possible to connect to fast broadband, and even stream movies, to the moon, almost 400,000 km from Earth.
According to its advance publicity, the experiment also proved that technology exists to:
provide space dwellers with the connectivity we all enjoy here on Earth, enabling large data transfers and even high-definition video streaming.
At the time, researcher Mark Stevens of MIT said:
Communicating at high data rates from Earth to the moon with laser beams is challenging because of the 400,000-kilometer distance spreading out the light beam.
According to a list compiled by CompareBroadband for TheJournal.ie, the average broadband speed in Co Roscommon is 11.3mbps.
The average for Co Galway, meanwhile, is 13.8mbps.
This map, meanwhile produced by Compare Broadband for FactCheck, shows a selection of various speeds in Naughten’s constituency of Roscommon-Galway.
Yet, as the above map shows, in certain places of Naughten’s constituency (e.g. Roscommon town and Frenchpark) broadband speeds reach, and even exceed, the speeds of almost 20mbps transmitted to and from the moon.
(Click here to view an interactive map.)
So: does that mean broadband received by a satellite near the moon was actually faster than in many households in Roscommon-Galway?
Yes. But – it’s only been done once, in a ‘proof of concept’ experiment, as Dr Alan Morrison, Dean of Engineering at UCC, explains to TheJournal.ie.
It was a demonstration to show you could send information at broadband speeds between the earth and the moon…. but there is no broadband on the moon.
“I understand where Minister Naughten is coming from,” he added.
There is technology out there that can send information over 400,000 km to the moon… faster than speeds many in Ireland are receiving.
Also, there was no ‘contention’ – meaning the lunar satellite didn’t have to compete with other subscribers in the same area, Morrison said.
Another leading expert, Dr David McCloskey, of the photonics group at Trinity College Dublin’s school of physics, explained to TheJournal.ie that the problems in connecting rural Ireland to broadband over 30mbps are quite different to those in transmitting to the moon.
He said:
Although Mark’s team can provide download rates of up to 600mbps this would only suffice to keep 20 homes happy in the west of Ireland.
The broadband in Nasa’s experiment wasn’t actually beamed to the moon itself but rather to satellites circling it.
Also, it’s not being done regularly - yet
Nevertheless, Nasa and MIT have shown it is possible for broadband to be sent to the moon at speeds faster than the average connection available in Roscommon-Galway.
Allowing Minister Naughten some leeway for making what was essentially rhetorical point, rather than a scientific analysis, we rate this claim Half-True.
Send your FactCheck requests to factcheck@thejournal.ie
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The idea that the sale of e-cigarettes should be as restricted, or even more restricted, than the sale of cigarettes is incredibly stupid.
Three weeks without a single cig , never would have gotten near that with out the e-cig , really is working for me
A tip. Always have 3 ecigs. One on you’re person, one on the charger and one spare and ready to go.
I smoke less using an e-cigarette than when I use normal cigarettes. How long before the Government slap a tax on them due to loss of revenue?
It comes down purely to the decrease in the tax income. That’s why they are against it.
If that’s true, then why do they put giant photos of lung cancer all over the cigarette boxes now?
Cause they have to I think.
No I meant why does the government make them do it, if they really only care about the revenue, as is being suggested above.
Finally some positive feedback from experts. I’m sick to death of people regurgitating the government’s drivel that e cigs are “poison” and worse than real cigarettes. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it
Myself and husband off the fags 8 months now, after many times trying and failing in the past, but this time thanks to e-cigarettes we’ve packed in the fags, don’t really use mine anymore, and he only uses it when he wants it, so I couldn’t fault them what so ever!
Tobacco claims a life every 6 seconds. That’s all I got from this. So every minute 10 deaths could be avoidable? Imagine how many families could avoid the pain of losing someone. It’s an addiction, I acknowledge that, the figures are just startling
Not to disagree with you but these people will die anyway, the only thing that it does is decrease life span, the same number of people will die every year it will just delay the inevitable.
You might not be so blasé if you’ve ever had a loved one in agony as tubes are inserted to drain cancerous fluid from a lung. Or when you know that your youngest child will never know the grandfather she has because he went early due to lung cancer. Our lungs separate us and death by a about 5 minutes. Filling them with tar is profoundly stupid in this day and age when we know the effects.
I’m not being blasé, Audrey stated that these 10 deaths every minute are avoidable, they are not they happen unnecessarily early due to cigarette smoke.
Your an idiot ….. ” these people”.
Amazing how some people miss the point and think themselves smart if they can find some minor pedantic point to comment on. I think anyone with an ounce of intelligence would understand the implication that the term “deaths are avoidable” implies “within a limited lifespan”. We know all people will die. You haven’t stumbled upon some great nugget of truth that needed to be shared with the ignorant masses. But thanks for sharing what you thought was wonderful insight. Unfortunately, it’s the type of dodgy logic that nicotine addicts will cling to – a bit like “sure, you could get hit by a bus to tomorrow”. It’s the sort of dodgy logic that means that many of them will miss out on daughter’s weddings, grandchildren being born, the chance to pursue their hobbies in retirement etc. instead, they swap those for an experience of constant nausea, chemo and radio-therapy, collapsed lungs, semi-drowning in their own cancerous fluids, confusion as the cancer spreads to the brain and affects critical areas of mental and physical function.
“You’re” or “You are”
Colin C, I don’t smoke never had and don’t think I ever will, but as you are aware I will die, that is unavoidable, the method of my demise is issue. It is the “Tobacco claims a life every 6 seconds” and the use of this truly dodgy logic that is so irksome.
That’s what gets you about all this?
Yep, in 1952 the readers digest published a article called “Cancer in a carton”, that was 62 years ago, if anybody doesn’t know cigarettes are terrible things then they must be living on a different planet. Lets for moment think about what would happen if nobody smoked, those 10 people wouldn’t die this minute, they will die though. So at some point in the future those people will still die cigarette or not. The number doesn’t change just life span.
But do you want to live forever? Plenty of children never get to see their grandparents and smoking had nothing to do with it. I lost two grandparents to cancer and neither of them smoked. Look, we’re all adults here and if someone wants to smoke to help themselves get through their lives then fair enough. Who am I to stop them.
Hey I’m trying to have a ridiculous argument here
Indeed.
its the way you die that is the problem – dying from smoke related death is an utterly absolutely horrible and protracted agonizing death – which is an utterly awful thing for the family and a huge drain on the health system.
It is the suffering that causes these deaths that we need to do everything we can to avoid or minimise
But they look ridiculous, nowhere nearly as cool as a real cigarette.
Moron.
Being honest, that comment made me laugh
Smoking real cigarettes isn’t cool
Just leave us alone with our eCigs will ye? I’m 31 years old, stupidly smoking since I was 14. These bloody eFags are the only thing who make me smoke less. I’m on 5 real cigarettes a day from 20+ in a few months.
Pierce2020 with all due respect, I think it’s fair to assume most people know I’m not saying death is avoidable. If someone dies tragically in a car accident I’m sure people would say that could have been avoided, hence it’s a tragedy. We all die, I get that! But what I’m saying is it’s terribly sad that so many die as a direct result of tobacco. But look, it’s a beautiful day so let’s enjoy that eh?
I love my e-cigarette, 14 weeks without a silkcut purple, :), I was spending nearly €60 a week on cigarettes, one bottle of pure vape does me 9 days so I’m saving a fortune.
Smokers are jokers!
Conspiracy theory….. The tobacco industry has long been associated with lobbying governments and health organisations to sustain it’s market…
Who would have thought the the Pharma industry would shoulder some of that burden? Well they have, and actively lobby health organisations, governments and EU to heavily control, and preferably ban, e-cigs.
The reason? Pharmas produce the patch, the nrt mints and Gums and sprays etc… the least successful of smoking cessation therapies ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1759113/ ), E cigs are eating into their monopoly. points 29 to 32 make interesting reading here http://apps.who.int/gb/fctc/PDF/cop5/FCTC_COP5_13-en.pdf
Note pharmas lobby only for the banning alternative nicotine delivery systems, and have no record of lobbying for the banning of cigarettes.
20 year smoker, currently 2 years a non smoker. In the past I have tried Hypnotherapy, Alan Carr, Patches, Gums, Mints, Champix (horrible experience). It took all those attempts to finally realise that will power and commitment were my enablers, but whatever works for you, go for it!
Nicotine is poisonous whether it is inhaled or exhaled affecting the passive e-smoker. I wonder who is sponsoring these’experts’
Your sister
Everything is poisonous in a high enough dose.
Eating 22 packets of cream crackers without a drink will kill you too. They should also be banned.
Nicotine is only poisonous in high doses
What about car fumes?
So is methane gas aka farts
Hank! you obviously have no idea of the horror of nicotine related cancer and to refer to a family member is frankly disgusting. I have no issue with e-cigarettes as long as they have the same restrictions apply as regular cigarettes We were subjected to legal poisoning for too long
tuba hg, “the horror of nicotine related cancer”? Are you serious? I think your brain may have dry rot.
From 2007 to 2011 (when the economy/bankers/government forced me to close)I had a little chain of 5 consumer electronics shops. I was one of only 2 companies in Ireland at the time that imported and sold the e-cigs and the funny thing is that people laughed at it then. “Jesus that’ll never take off”!! I sold about 40 units in a year and gave up trying. Granted, they’ve improved massively since then but if only I stuck at it…
The ecig is another disaster waiting to happen. More toxic fumes being inhaled and God knows what the long term damage and effects will be. Nicotine is a drug like any other and the government makes a fortune in duty and taxes on people’s addictions. Then the healthcare system is left to pick up the pieces when these addicts get sick. A drug is a drug and whatever way you powder coat it nicotine causes a lot of illnesses and death in this country.
Can you identify one illness caused by nicotine that is of a gravity greater than caffeine related illnesses?
Says the man holding a glass of the deadliest drug ever made.
Caffeine is a drug too, let’s ban it. You state nicotine is a drug and kills people, wrong. It is the delivery mechanism that kills people, the tar in cigarettes.
That’s the whole point of e-cigs, it takes that away.
You strike me as a person who can’t think for themselves and leaves that to the Government and media.
So does alcohol, another poison, what’s that in your hand Stevie?
Passive drinking is the real killer.
So that would be like, getting run down on the street by a drink driver? Would that be “passive drinking”?
I hate this attitude that ecigs are a disaster waiting to happen. there’s no evidence that they are harmful and they help people quit smoking which is very harmful. should we do studies for 40 years to prove they are ok first. even if they caused some problems down the road it’s a better risk than all the known problems that smoking causes.
Yes cancer
They should be regulated and taxed the same way cigarettes are!
have your say