Menu

Blog

Page 11719

Nov 3, 2015

The UK has just invested in a super plane that could fly anywhere in four hours

Posted by in categories: finance, transportation

It almost sounds like a dream: a new kind of hypersonic space-kissing jet that can take you anywhere in the world in just four hours. But the Skylon super plane being developed by UK aerospace firm Reaction Engines is very real.

The project took a big step forward this week with Reaction Engines announcing a new partnership with defence and aerospace giant BAE Systems, whose financial backing, along with a considerable investment from the UK government, will help Reaction develop its new class of aerospace engine dubbed SABRE (Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine) by as early as 2020, with test flights possible just five years later.

It’s thanks to the SABRE engine that the Skylon could theoretically take you to the other side of the planet for lunch, before dropping you safely back home in time for dinner.

Read more

Nov 3, 2015

Interesting Futurism Animation

Posted by in category: futurism

Read more

Nov 3, 2015

New Star Trek Series To Premiere In 2017

Posted by in categories: entertainment, space

This is the best news you will read all day: Star Trek is coming back. The franchise will get a brand new series in January 2017, one year after it turns 50.

CBS made an announcement today, stating that Alex Kurtzman, who co-wrote the two latest Star Trek films will be the executive producer for the new series, which will be streamed over CBS’ on-demand online service, CBS All Access. You can watch the premiere on TV, but after that you’ll have to subscribe to the $5.99/month service in order to see more episodes. It’s a clever ploy to bring in subscribers, because, really, who doesn’t want to see the next Star Trek series?

A Star Trek television show hasn’t graced the airwaves since Enterprise ended its four season run in 2005. This news is likely utterly thrilling to fans of the series that have contented themselves with movies and binge-watching episodes from the original Star Trek series, The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, and Voyager.

Read more

Nov 3, 2015

Professionals, your time is up, prepare to be sidelined

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, law, robotics/AI

A new book, The Future of the Professions, argues that machines will soon do the work of lawyers, doctors, and others. Should babies be delivered by robots?

Read more

Nov 3, 2015

World’s Largest Nuclear Fusion Reactor

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, supercomputing

This is the world’s largest nuclear fusion reactor launching this month in Germany. And it was designed by a supercomputer…

Read more

Nov 3, 2015

Skype founders invent self-driving robot that can deliver groceries for £1

Posted by in categories: business, internet, robotics/AI, transportation

The local delivery market is worth approximately £150bn in the UK alone. This includes parcel and delivery companies (20 pc) and personal shopping trips by people (80 pc). Starship said that robot deliveries are potentially five to fifteen times cheaper than current “human-powered” delivery services.

“It does not take the whole delivery chain from an Amazon warehouse to your doorstep, it only takes the last few miles. But right now the last few miles are the most difficult part for the delivery vans. They need to find parking spaces and so forth, so our robot is taking care of that,” said Mr Heinla.

“For the large e-commerce companies it helps to reduce the costs. For the local businesses it opens up new possibilities, allowing people to order deliveries over the internet rather than coming to the store physically.”

Read more

Nov 2, 2015

The Active Sun: US Unveils Plan to Deal with Space Weather

Posted by in categories: energy, space

The U.S. government is getting more serious about dealing with the dangers posed by powerful sun storms.

On Thursday (Oct. 29), the White House released two documents that together lay out the nation’s official plan for mitigating the negative impacts of solar flares and other types of “space weather,” which have the potential to wreak havoc on power grids and other key infrastructure here on Earth.

The new “National Space Weather Strategy” outlines the basic framework the federal government will pursue to better understand, predict and recover from space-weather events, while the “National Space Weather Action Plan” details specific activities intended to help achieve this broad goal. [The Sun’s Wrath: Worst Solar Storms in History].

Read more

Nov 2, 2015

In a new round of testing, NASA confirms yet again that the ‘impossible’ EMdrive thruster works

Posted by in categories: physics, space travel

Engineer Roger Shawyer’s controversial EM Drive thruster jets back into relevancy this week, as a team of researchers at NASA’s Eagleworks Laboratories recently completed yet another round of testing on the seemingly impossible tech. Though no official peer-reviewed lab paper has been published yet, and NASA institutes strict press release restrictions on the Eagleworks lab these days, engineer Paul March took to the NASA Spaceflight forum to explain the group’s findings. In essence, by utilizing an improved experimental procedure, the team managed to mitigate some of the errors from prior tests — yet still found signals of unexplained thrust.

Isaac Newton should be sweating.

Flying in the face of traditional laws of physics, the EM Drive makes use of a magnetron and microwaves to create a propellantless propulsion system. By pushing microwaves into a closed, truncated cone and back towards the small end of said cone, the drive creates the momentum and force necessary to propel a craft forward. Because the system is a reactionless drive, it goes against humankind’s fundamental comprehension of physics, hence its controversial nature.

Read more

Nov 2, 2015

Mauna a Wakea: Hawai’i’s sacred mountain and the contentious Thirty Meter Telescope | The Conversation

Posted by in categories: astronomy, science, space

image-20150914-1212-mfvscn

“Should astronomers be allowed to build the TMT on Mauna Kea? This question raises concerns that we, as practising astronomers, see as a reoccurring issue within the scientific community.”

Read more

Nov 2, 2015

New Electronic Skin Can Sense Sound and Temperature

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, materials

South Korean scientists develop an electronic skin that uses a layer of graphene film to detect sound and temperature.

A team led by materials scientist at the Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea has developed rubbery plastic-and-graphene film that mimics the structure of human skin. The team claims that the film can accurately detect texture, temperature, pressure and sound. This marks the first time that an electronic skin has been able to demonstrate the ability to sense the entire spectrum of stimuli, and the team is hopeful that this technology can create practical artificial skin.

Read more