Using a compact but powerful laser to heat arrays of ordered nanowires, CSU scientists and collaborators have demonstrated micro-scale nuclear fusion in the lab. They have achieved record-setting efficiency for the generation of neutrons – chargeless sub-atomic particles resulting from the fusion process. Above – The target chamber (front) and ultra-high density laser (back) used …
F-35s, F-22s and other fighter jets will soon use improved “artificial intelligence” to control nearby drone “wingmen” able to carry weapons, test enemy air defenses or perform intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance missions in high risk areas, senior Air Force officials said. Air Force Chief Scientist Gregory Zacharias said that technology was progressing quickly at the …
The Project 955A nuclear submarine Prince Vladimir and the Project 885M Yasen-M nuclear-powered underwater cruiser Kazan will be floated out in 2017, Russian Navy Deputy Commander-in-Chief Vice-Admiral Viktor Bursuk The Prince Vladimir was laid down in 2012 and will become the fourth submarine in the series of eight Borei-class underwater cruisers and the first submarine …
Researchers from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech), the Technological Institute for Superhard and Novel Carbon Materials (TISNCM), the National University of Science and Technology MISiS (Russia), and Rice University (USA) used computer simulations to find how thin a slab of salt has to be in order …
China and Sudan have signed a framework agreement for the construction of the east African country’s first nuclear power plant. Sudan – one of China’s main suppliers of oil – was on the list of priorities for Chinese reactor sales in a State Council (cabinet) Energy Development Strategic Action Plan 2014-2020. Sudan’s Ministry of Energy …
China’s Long March 6 (CZ-6) carrier rocket can also be used to fire 20 missile warhead at once. The Long March 6 was used to luanch 20 microsatellites. Microsatellites can be switched to warheads. They had a successful launch. A CZ-6 rocket can technically be a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) for up to …
Michael Ivanovitch is president of MSI Global, a New York-based economic research company. He wrote a piece for CNBC which looks at the positive side of China’s economy. Chinese are just warming up for their big ‘Belt and Road’. In the first half of this year, China invested $7 billion – a 22.2 percent increase …
For the first time, images from NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft are revealing bright and dark regions on the surface of faraway Pluto – the primary target of the New Horizons close flyby in mid-July. The images were captured in early to mid-April from within 70 million miles (113 million kilometers), using the telescopic Long-Range Reconnaissance …
A Nasa probe is to start photographing the icy world of Pluto, to prepare itself for a historic encounter in July. The New Horizons spacecraft has travelled 5 billion km (3 billion miles) over nine years to get near the dwarf planet. And with 200 million km (120 million miles) still to go, its images …
At Centauri Dreams, James Benford looks more closely at particle beam driven magsails. He has found a problem for interstellar missions but promise for interplanetary missions and an interplanetary infrastructure. The first column shows a fast interplanetary probe, with high interplanetary-scale velocity, acceleration 100 m/sec2, 10 gees, which a nonhuman cargo can sustain. Time required …
Wood Mackenzie anticipates that oil production in the North Dakota and Montana sections of the Bakken and Three Forks formations will grow to 1.7 million barrels per day in 2020. Oil production in North Dakota and Montana’s Bakken and Three Forks formations will average 1.1 million barrels per day in 2014 according to Wood Mackenzie. …