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Jun 29, 2020

Surprising Findings Beneath the Surface of Our Galaxy’s Water Worlds

Posted by in categories: alien life, habitats

A team of researchers simulated conditions on water-rich exoplanets in the laboratory and learned something surprising about their geological composition.

Out beyond our solar system, visible only as the smallest dot in space with even the most powerful telescopes, other worlds exist. Many of these worlds, astronomers have discovered, may be much larger than Earth and completely covered in water — basically ocean planets with no protruding land masses. What kind of life could develop on such a world? Could a habitat like this even support life?

A team of researchers led by Arizona State University (ASU) recently set out to investigate those questions. And since they couldn’t travel to distant exoplanets to take samples, they decided to recreate the conditions of those water worlds in the laboratory. In this case, that laboratory was the Advanced Photon Source (APS), a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science User Facility at the DOEs Argonne National Laboratory.

Jun 29, 2020

A Worm’s Hidden Map for Growing New Eyes

Posted by in category: neuroscience

When a planarian loses its eyes, cellular guides connect new ones to its brain so it can see again.

Jun 29, 2020

‘Travel will never, ever go back to the way it was,’ Airbnb CEO says

Posted by in categories: business, transportation

Chesky predicted that vacationers will stay closer to home in the future, largely limiting their travel to places within driving distance, with national parks becoming even more popular destinations.

“I think you’re going to start to see travel becoming more intimate, more local, to smaller communities,” he said, citing Airbnb data that shows travel within countries is recovering to normal levels. But its international business is still being hit hard. “People are not getting on airplanes, they’re not crossing borders, they’re not meaningfully traveling to cities, they’re not traveling for business.”

Read: Is it safer to stay at a hotel or an Airbnb during your summer vacation? ‘We need to balance sanity and risk’

Jun 29, 2020

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule looked ‘pretty awesome’ in spacewalk, astronaut says

Posted by in category: space travel

NASA astronauts got a “pretty awesome” view of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon vehicle docked with the International Space Station during a spacewalk on Friday (June 29).

Astronauts Chris Cassidy and Bob Behnken got the view of a lifetime when they stepped outside the space station to replace the outpost’s old solar array batteries. The star of that view was Endeavour, the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft that delivered Behnken and his fellow NASA astronaut Doug Hurley to the station May 30 on their Demo-2 mission.

Jun 29, 2020

Molten-Salt Fusion Reactors and Molten-Salt Fission Reactors — Dr. Charles Forsberg @ ORNL MSRW 2019

Posted by in categories: innovation, nuclear energy

Dr. Charles Forsberg observes technological overlap between Molten-Salt Reactor (fission) development and Fusion Reactors due to manufacturing breakthrough of Rare-Earth Barium Copper Oxide (REBCO) Superconducting Magnets onto steel tape.

REBCO superconducting tape enables doubling magnetic fields.

Continue reading “Molten-Salt Fusion Reactors and Molten-Salt Fission Reactors — Dr. Charles Forsberg @ ORNL MSRW 2019” »

Jun 29, 2020

Electron accelerator recycles energy

Posted by in category: particle physics

Device sends particles repeatedly through superconducting cavities.

Jun 29, 2020

Mice ‘cured’ of Parkinson’s in accidental scientific discovery

Posted by in category: futurism

Existing treatments focus on easing symptoms and improving quality of life.

Jun 29, 2020

GM Defense Chevy Colorado ISV and Ricardo Ford Ranger Demonstrator

Posted by in category: futurism

View detailed pictures that accompany our GM Defense Chevy Colorado ISV and Ricardo Ford Ranger Demonstrator article with close-up photos of exterior and interior features. (14 photos)

Jun 29, 2020

NASA’s New Moon-Bound Space Suits Will Get a Boost From AI

Posted by in categories: information science, robotics/AI, space

Engineers are turning to generative design algorithms to build components for NASA’s next-generation space suit—the first major update in decades.

Jun 29, 2020

US Solar Plants Now Expected to Run for More Than 30 Years: Berkeley Lab

Posted by in category: futurism

Cheaper modules brought solar plants into the energy mainstream. Longer operating lives are making them better investments.

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Justin Gerdes