Researchers from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) have demonstrated the feasibility of terrestrial microwave power beaming by transmitting 1.6 kilowatts (kW) over a distance of 1 kilometre (km) – the most significant advance for this technology in nearly 50 years.
Circa 2021
With SpaceX continuing the testing phase for Starship and enthusiasm spreading for an actual crewed flight to Mars, an interesting magnetic thrust rocket concept conceived by physicist Fatima Ebrahimi at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) might make the mission much more cost effective.
The feasibility of safe, sustainable propulsion systems that will outperform traditional chemical-based rocket engines on deep space voyages, not only in our own solar system but someday perhaps to a distant galaxy outside the Milky Way, is foremost on astrophysicists’ minds.
Recent Study on the effects of Dark Energy suggests expansion of the universe could in fact slow down and eventually reverse itself to eventually result in a “Big Crunch” billions of years from now. Such a theory had been proposed in the past but was previously rejected due to observed accelerating expansion attributed to Dark Energy.
The universe may stop expanding in just 100 million years if dark energy decays over time, a new study suggests.
Posted in cryonics, life extension
This year, the Alcor Life Extension Foundation is celebrating its 50th year. To mark the occasion, we are holding a conference on June 3–5, 2022, at the Scottsdale Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The conference itself will be Alcor’s first major in-person gathering in seven years, so we’re going to “go big.” We expect members, prospective members, and others interested in life extension and the far future to turn out enthusiastically. We hope not only that our attendees will enjoy hearing from and interacting with you, but also that you may find the experience enjoyable. There is no organization quite like Alcor, after all, and very few opportunities to explore cryonics and its implications for society now and in the far future.
Ex-NASA astronaut says we must fix Earth’s big problems before we colonize other planets.
He tells Inverse that humans should seek to colonize distant planets. But before that happens, he acknowledges the tremendous amount of work that needs to be done on Earth first.
“We need to spread human presence throughout the Solar System and beyond, but we need to do it as ambassadors of a thriving planet,” Garan says. “We can’t do it as refugees escaping environmental disaster.”
The comments come as figures like SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos call on humanity to establish permanent settlements in space. Musk has repeatedly claimed he wants to establish a city on Mars by 2050, while Bezos wants to build giant, floating cities in Earth’s orbit.
