Menu

Blog

Page 11741

Oct 20, 2015

GAO Reports: The Internet of Things — FAQs

Posted by in categories: futurism, internet, privacy, security, virtual reality, wearables

I think about pros and cons of living in a connected world … think about it …sometimes the answer it is not so simple, nor unique.

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R44227.pdf by Eric A. Fischer — Senior Specialist in Science and Technology, October 13, 2015

Oct 20, 2015

The Scientific Basis of Cryonics

Posted by in categories: cryonics, life extension

What the nervous system of the roundworm, frozen embryos, and extreme hypothermia tell us about preserving the mind.

Read more

Oct 20, 2015

U.S. Plans $6 Billion Investment in Space Situational Awareness

Posted by in categories: business, military, satellites, science, security, space, surveillance

http://spacenews.com/planned-u-s-investment-in-space-awarene…PqrOS.dpuf

Oct 20, 2015

U.S. Air Force Assigns Two Block Buy Launches

Posted by in categories: government, military, science, space, weapons

http://spacenews.com/u-s-air-force-assigns-two-block-buy-launches/

Oct 20, 2015

Drone ‘Angst’ extends beyond backyard spying

Posted by in categories: automation, counterterrorism, defense, disruptive technology, drones, ethics, military, privacy, surveillance

http://aviationweek.com/defense/drone-angst-extends-beyond-backyard-spying

Oct 20, 2015

Positron Dynamics plans to fly an antimatter powered cubsat

Posted by in category: space

In 2013, Positron Dynamics had seed funding from Paypal billionaire Peter Thiel’s Breakout Labs. Initial simulations show that as much as 10 micrograms of positrons could be produced each week with a linear accelerator,” says co-founder Ryan Weed, PhD, a physicist and former cryogenic engineer for Jeff Bezos’s space flight company Blue Origin.

Now they have stated in a new presentation that they will have an antimatter powered cubesat vehicles in 2016–2019. They will be able to keep a cubesat in low earth orbit for seven years instead of few days. Then they will enable high speed spacecraft to go the outer solar system and then to the stars at a significant fraction of the speed of light.

Read more

Oct 19, 2015

SpaceX Changes Its Falcon 9 Rocket Return-to-Flight Plans — By Peter B. de Selding | SPACE.com

Posted by in categories: business, Elon Musk, satellites

orbcomm-falcon-9-hanger

“SpaceX on Oct. 16 said it had changed its Falcon 9 return-to-flight plans and would first launch 11 small Orbcomm messaging satellites into low Earth orbit, and then test reignition of the rocket’s redesigned second-stage engine during the same flight before launching SES’s heavier telecommunications satellite into higher orbit, a mission that will need the reignition capability

Read more

Oct 19, 2015

Search For Intelligent Aliens Near Bizarre Dimming Star Has Begun

Posted by in category: alien life

The search for signs of life in a mysterious star system hypothesized to potentially harbor an “alien megastructure” is now underway.

Astronomers have begun using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a system of radio dishes about 300 miles (483 kilometers) northeast of San Francisco, to hunt for signals coming from the vicinity of KIC 8462852, a star that lies 1,500 light-years from Earth.

NASA’s Kepler space telescope found that KIC 8462852 dimmed oddly and dramatically several times over the past few years. The dimming events were far too substantial to be caused by a planet crossing the star’s face, researchers say, and other possible explanations, such as an enormous dust cloud, don’t add up, either. [13 Ways to Hunt Intelligent Alien Life].

Read more

Oct 19, 2015

Chinese Researchers Knock Out Myostatin Gene in Beagles with CRISPR, Generating First Gene-Edited Dogs

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, genetics

First Gene-Edited Dogs Reported in China.


An extra-muscular beagle has been created through genome engineering. Are we on our way to customizing the DNA of our pets?

Read more

Oct 19, 2015

3D printing used to make first real handheld railgun, which fires plasma projectiles at 560 mph

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, engineering, military, mobile phones

If you think the image above looks frightening, you’re right. The crazy contraption pictured in the image is the first portable railgun, a futuristic projectile launcher associated most commonly with the military or NASA. The man in the image above isn’t in the military, and he’s not a NASA engineer. Instead, he’s a civilian who used some engineering smarts, some widely available parts and a 3D printer to create a functioning weapon that can fire graphite, aluminum, tungsten and even plasma projectiles at speeds of more than 560 mph.

And then there’s the best part: There are videos of this homemade railgun in action.

Continue reading “3D printing used to make first real handheld railgun, which fires plasma projectiles at 560 mph” »