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Feb 9, 2020

Animation: Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket and the road to space

Posted by in category: space travel

An artist’s rendering shows Blue Origin’s future New Glenn rocket launching from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and landing on a ship.

Blue Origin

Feb 9, 2020

Space double-header tonight! You can watch a Cygnus cargo ship and Solar Orbiter launch live online

Posted by in categories: space, transportation

There’s a space double feature in store for rocket fans today, with two launches to some very different places off Earth. Here’s how to watch them online.

Feb 9, 2020

Weed-mapping robot moves from prototype to fleet manufacture

Posted by in categories: mapping, robotics/AI

Small Robot Company aims to take its crop-monitoring robot through to an initial production run, and beyond.

Feb 9, 2020

Researchers develop a new way to fight drug-resistant bacteria

Posted by in category: biotech/medical

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Feb 9, 2020

Metamaterial: Mail armor inspires physicists

Posted by in categories: mathematics, mobile phones, physics

Circa 2017


The Middle Ages certainly were far from being science-friendly: Whoever looked for new findings off the beaten track faced the threat of being burned at the stake. Hence, the contribution of this era to technical progress is deemed to be rather small. Scientists of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), however, were inspired by medieval mail armor when producing a new metamaterial with novel properties. They succeeded in reversing the Hall coefficient of a material.

The Hall effect is the occurrence of a transverse electric voltage across an electric conductor passed by current flow, if this conductor is located in a . This effect is a basic phenomenon of physics and allows to measure the strength of magnetic fields. It is the basis of magnetic speed sensors in cars or compasses in smartphones. Apart from measuring magnetic fields, the Hall effect can also be used to characterize metals and semiconductors and in particular to determine charge carrier density of the material. The sign of the measured Hall voltage allows conclusions to be drawn as to whether in the semiconductor element carry positive or negative charge.

Continue reading “Metamaterial: Mail armor inspires physicists” »

Feb 9, 2020

Study identifies brain stiffness as crucial for neurogenesis

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, neuroscience

A research team has shown that a key difference between neurogenic and non-neurogenic tissues is cross-linking proteins causing stiffness, a discovery that could be used to create new brain injury therapies.

Researchers compared the proteomes of regions in the brain that are neurogenic (neural stem cell niches) and those that are not (cerebral cortex). The scientists hope that by establishing how these tissues are different, future therapies for brain injury may be able to activate tissues to produce new neurons to repair the brain.

Feb 9, 2020

Bill Gates buys massive superyacht that’s powered by liquid hydrogen

Posted by in category: futurism

Bill Gates has commissioned the construction of the Aqua superyacht, designed by Dutch studio Sinot. At 370ft long and 50ft wide, it is powered by two tanks of liquid hydrogen.

Feb 9, 2020

Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Soil Makes Your Brain Happy

Posted by in categories: biological, food, neuroscience, sustainability

Antidepressant-soil.


Soil microbes have been found to have similar effects on the brain as prozac, without the negative side effects and potential for chemical dependency and withdrawal.

It turns out getting in the garden and getting dirty is a natural antidepressant due to unique microbes in healthy organic soil. Working and playing in soil can actually make you happier and healthier.

Continue reading “Antidepressant Microbes In Soil: How Soil Makes Your Brain Happy” »

Feb 9, 2020

Scientists Implant False Memories into Bird Brains

Posted by in category: neuroscience

False memories implanted in the brains of songbirds could explain how the birds learn to sing — and how people learn to talk.

Feb 8, 2020

H-IIA conducts IGS Optical 7 launch

Posted by in categories: existential risks, government, satellites, surveillance

Making its first flight in over a year, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ H-IIA rocket lifted off from the Tanegashima Space Centre on Sunday with a reconnaissance satellite for the Japanese government. Liftoff occurred at10:34 local time 01:34 UTC, during a five-minute launch window.

Sunday’s launch deployed the IGS Optical 7 satellite for the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Centre, an agency of the Japanese government responsible for space-based surveillance. IGS Optical 7 is part of the Information Gathering Satellite (IGS) or Joho Shushu Eisei (JSE) system, consisting of spacecraft collecting optical and radar images of the Earth.

Japan began development of IGS in the late 1990s, following North Korea’s attempted satellite launch in 1998. Although the North Korean launch failed to reach orbit, the rocket carrying it crossed Japan during its ascent, sparking fears that North Korean missiles would be able to target the islands. With IGS, Japan aimed to develop an independent reconnaissance capability to monitor future threats. The constellation can also be used for disaster monitoring and other civilian applications by the Japanese government.