Star Scientific Non-Combustion Heat Exchanger and Catalyst

Star Scientific has raised over $100 million over two decades. Early on they were working on muon catalyzed fusion but they seem to have transitioned to non-combustion heat generation from hydrogen. The are using some thin-film catalyst that generates heat when exposed to hydrogen and oxygen. The Hydrogen Energy Release Optimiser (HERO) converts hydrogen into …

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Asian economies out to 2030, India third place world economy by 2028

Japan Center for Economic Research has forecasted the Asian economies out to 2030. The center released its third Medium-Term Asian Economic Forecast for 2017 through 2030. The report, titled “Digital Asia 5.0 — Innovation changes economic power relationship,” puts the Philippines on track to log 6.4% real GDP growth in 2030, with India expected to …

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Gravitational wave detection with optical lattice atomic clock

Researchers propose a space-based gravitational wave detector consisting of two spatially separated, drag-free satellites sharing ultra-stable optical laser light over a single baseline. Each satellite contains an optical lattice atomic clock, which serves as a sensitive, narrowband detector of the local frequency of the shared laser light. A synchronized two-clock comparison between the satellites will …

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DNA nanocomputer detect antibodies and could be used to control drug delivery into the bloodstream

Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) present a new method that should enable controlled drug delivery into the bloodstream using DNA computers. In the journal Nature Communications the team, led by biomedical engineer Maarten Merkx, describes how it has developed the first DNA computer capable of detecting several antibodies in the blood and performing …

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Only the costs of the Space Launch System are going to the moon

NASA is requesting help to minimize the production, operations, and maintenance (POM) costs of the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion, and Exploration Ground Systems (EGS). SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft are costing more than $3 billion per year in development costs. The request would also look at other launch systems. Clearly Spacex offers a lower …

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Boeing and Saab are making a fighter that beats the best Russian SU-35 and would be ten times cheaper to operate than the F-35

Simulation show the Swedish Gripen E fighter shooting down the best Russian Su-35 fighter at almost the same rate that the F-22 does. The Gripen E is estimated to be able to shoot down 1.6 Su-35s for every Gripen E lost, the F-22 is slightly better at 2.0 Su-35s shot down per F-22 lost. In …

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Korea unveils door-to-door self-driving taxi

A team from Seoul National University on Tuesday unveiled a door-to-door self-driving taxi for the first time in the nation. Called Snuber 2, it is an upgraded version of an app-based self-driving taxi Snuber developed in November 2015. The new autonomous car developed with Hyundai’s Genesis sedan is capable of tracking moving subjects, avoiding collision …

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China’s belt and road is integrating countries in Asia, Africa and Europe into China’s financial, industrial and infrastructure model into one global value chain

The ultimate purpose of the Belt and Road Initiative is deep economic integration through the development of global value chains. Importantly, the initiative is supposed to abide by market rules. Either geopolitical considerations were never taken into account or everything in the Vision and Actions document was carefully checked and revised to make it read …

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Alibaba’s Jack Ma sees 3-5 tough years for China but then about 5% GDP per year for 15 years

China’s economy will face “a difficult three to five years” but the slowdown will be good for its long-term development, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma told the South China Morning Post in an interview just before the e-commerce giant’s takeover of the 113-year-old newspaper. Ma said the Chinese economy was indeed grappling with structural problems …

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Photos of China J-20 stealth fighter with camouflage paint as they move toward 2019 combat readiness and the start of full production

The Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group (CAC) is involved in preparation for some kind of aerial display involving the low-rate initial production (LRIP) J-20A. This included what was essentially a semiofficial ‘presentation’ of the J-20A with a flurry of news reports and images issued between September 30 and October 1. Four pre-production aircraft — two of …

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