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Feb 11, 2018
Should we seed life through the cosmos using laser-driven ships?
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: innovation, space
Light sails can later use space-dust braking Richard Bizley/Science Photo Library By James Romero Our galaxy may contain billions of habitable worlds that don’t host any life. Should we attempt to change that? Breakthrough Starshot is a project with ambitious aims to use such systems to send tiny, lightweight probes to Alpha Centauri. The goal is to take pictures of our nearest star, but these systems could also deliver much larger payloads into orbit around nearby stars, says Gros. Potential targets include the planetary system around TRAPPIST-1, a red dwarf star just 40 light years away…
Feb 11, 2018
Charge your phone using ambient light and printed solar cells
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: mobile phones, solar power, sustainability
Printed plastic solar cells should be able to harvest enough energy from indoor light to power your phone within the next few months.
Feb 11, 2018
Free-fall experiment could test if gravity is a quantum force
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: quantum physics
The effort to reconcile general relativity with quantum mechanics always hits one snag: gravity. An experiment could finally tell us if it is a quantum force.
Feb 11, 2018
Peek inside a gilded cage of liquid argon made to spot neutrinos
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: particle physics
This huge shiny cube is just a 1/20th scale model of the planned DUNE neutrino detector. It will be filled with liquid argon to catch these elusive particles.
Feb 11, 2018
We’ve figured out how to ensure quantum computers can be trusted
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: computing, quantum physics
Can spot quantum errors IBM research By Mark Kim What good is a fast computer if you can’t trust it? Thanks to half a century of research on getting computers to do their job correctly even in the presence of mechanical errors, our modern machines tend to be pretty reliable. Unfortunately, the laws of sheer complexity of which leaves them prone to errors. Now, we finally have the first demonstration of a quantum program that can detect data corruption.
Feb 11, 2018
Gravitational waves have let us see huge neutron stars colliding
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: physics
We’ve taken the first pictures of neutron stars colliding 130 million light years away. The resulting gravitational waves may solve some big cosmic mysteries.
Feb 11, 2018
Roadside barrier that folds like origami blocks traffic noise
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: futurism
Traffic noise has many frequencies, making it hard to suppress. A new barrier with movable folds can change its acoustic properties in response to traffic patterns.
Feb 11, 2018
We can finally map the spiral arm on the far side of the galaxy
Posted by Genevieve Klien in category: space
Using a jet of radio waves, astronomers have begun to map the other side of the Milky Way. Within 10 years we could have a complete map of the entire galaxy.
Feb 11, 2018
Tesla updates mobile app to bring new cold weather convenience features
Posted by Genevieve Klien in categories: sustainability, transportation
Tesla released a new update to its mobile app to include some new cold weather convenience features when combined with its latest car software update.