TROL VCC News
[Oct 26, 2026] Reflect Orbital wants to steal the night : Oliver Milman reports in his Guardian article “Sunlight at night: US startup’s demonstration of lighting Earth from space draws critcism” that Reflect Orbital is making progress in their efforts to develop and install space infrastructure to direct sunlight to the night side of Earth. Not only would this take away the darkness needed by ecosystems to thrive and by humans to be healthy, it also would add energy to the already very large Earth Energy Imbalance and increase global warming. This insane misuse of technology adds to the long list of insanities humanity is engaged in.
[Oct 25, 2026] The island that goes dark to save young seabirds: Andrea D Zanenga reports in her article in the Guardian titled “Lights out: the island that goes dark to save young seabirds – in pictures” that the roughly 450 inhabitants of Corvo Island in the Azores have chosen to turn off public lighting for a few key days every autumn for five nights. This is done to tackle the disastrous effects that artificial light has on fledgling Cory’s shearwaters, a seabird endemic to the Atlantic Ocean. They need the guidance of the stars as they attempt to fly to the ocean. The inhabitants of the island have chosen to accommodate this need of the Cory's shearwaters by switching off outside lights for a few critical nights.
[Sep 29, 2026] We’re forgetting what darkness feels like: Tove Danovich reports in the Guardian article “The night sky is getting 10% brighter every year. We’re forgetting what darkness feels like” on a new study based on citizen science. This study found trends in data showing “that the average night sky got brighter by 9.6% per year from 2011 to 2022, which is equivalent to doubling the sky brightness every 8 years.” The new world atlas of artificial night sky brightness shows that 80% of people live under light-polluted skies.
[Jul 25, 2026] FCC approves Space Mirrors: In an article titled “FCC approves giant mirror satellite designed to beam sunlight to Earth after dark,” Rob Thubron reports that the FCC granted satellite permission to the company Reflect Orbital to operate the radio equipment on Eärendil-1, which is a demonstration satellite designed to test whether sunlight can be redirected from orbit onto specific locations on Earth. Reflect Orbital plans to deploying thousands of mirrors by the end of the decade and as many as 50,000 by 2035. These very large reflectors could be the brightest objects on the night sky. Critics have raised serious concerns about the effects on nocturnal wildlife, human sleep patterns, aviation, and the issue of a private company deciding where and when parts of the planet should be illuminated.
Platform News
[Nov 03, 2026] AI is in all Google Searches but not on Place4Us: As Johana Bhuiyan reports in the article “Google says there’s no way to use Search without using artificial intelligence”, Google has made clear that all Google searches use AI. Anybody who uses Google search therefore supports the uncontrolled development of AI. The article unfortunately does not point to alternatives. DuckDuckgo.com, for example, allows switching of AI totally for all searches. It should be made mandatory that users can switch off AI in whatever service they utilize. Importantly, we working on Place4Us make every effort to keep AI away from the platform.
[Sep 26, 2026] “Digital Technology should be governed by people for people”: Joseph Gorden-Levit, the UN Global Advocate for Human-centric Digital Governance, in his opening remarks (starting at about 20:00 in the recordings) at the Digital Cooperation Day 2026 emphasized that “the decision we make in this moment are going to have a massive impact on everyone's life, on the whole future of humanity.” He underlined that how “digital technology is designed and developed and deployed should be governed by people for people.” The challenge is that some believe digital technology should be governed by the market. Place4Us is designed and governed by people and for people with no role to play for the market.
[Sep 26, 2026] “In the absence of truth, trust deteriorates”: This is what Mia Amor Mottley made very clear in her amazing speech at the 81st United Nations General Assembly. She said: “When we luck truth and we luck trust law becomes theater, News become spectacle, and science becomes just another opinion.” With respect to the ongoing ecocide in Gaza she quoted the Roman historian Tacitus who reported a statement of a Scottish chieftain about the Roman soldiers: “They make it desert and they call it Peace.”
[Sep 21, 2026] End Times Fascism: The book “End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World” by Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor underlines that the End Times Fascist have given up on humanity and this world. They are not only building the arks for themselves, they also accelerate the coming of the flood.
[Sep 21, 2026] Meta and Instagram ban ads with “social topics”: Stephen Burgen reports in the Guardian article “Meta bans ads for Virginia Woolf play in Spain because they relate to feminism” that Meta explained that “any mention of civil rights, feminism or social reform are usually classified as ‘social topics’ by our automatic system” and are filtered out. These topics are central to Woolf’s work. As reported, Meta recommended removing “key words” so that the text doesn’t appear to encourage activism. This underlines the importance of Place4Us, where social topics are at the forefront and activism is encouraged.
[Sep 13, 2026] "They are traitors to creation, to the wonders of here": Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor in their article “The end times fascists are plotting their escape from our world. Our mission is clear” make clear that the unholy alliance of the billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk and others, who suffer from an absence of awe in the face of the unique beauty of our home planet, is working toward an apocalyptic future from which only they as the chosen few will emerge unscathed. The authors claim that it is becoming clear how we stop them.
