chinaDebating China’s BRI and Being Home to the Next Silicon Valley

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March 18, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
China’s Belt and Road has some questionable economic return potential. However, the Belt and Road is providing geopolitical returns. The Belt and Road has successful projects in Pakistan, Greece and some other countries. The projects are boosting the volume of …
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energyPlanet Labs Gets $168 Million in Funding and Launching More Satellites

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March 18, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
Planet Labs received $168 million in funding and some of the funding will be to launch many more satellites. On April 1, 2019 they will launch 20 next-generation Dove satellites – Flock 4a – are scheduled to launch on ISRO’s …
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climate changeClimate Change is a Problem But Not the End of the World

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March 18, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
Cost-benefit climate change analyst Bjorn Lomborg has the following analysis of the costs. Bjorn is taking the UN panel report as being mostly credible and accurate. Bjorn does believe that sea levels would rise but that this is not a …
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economic impactSeries of Fusion Experiments that Could Lead to Cheap, Clean, Abundant Fusion Energy

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March 18, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
The bootstrapped LPP Fusion dense plasma focus nuclear fusion project will be starting a potentially big year of testing. They are completing work on their beryllium electrode. If everything goes smoothly on four critical steps then this could be the …
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spaceSpaceX Test Firing Integrated Raptor Engine Today or Tomorrow

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March 18, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
SpaceX will begin test firing the Starhopper. The Starhopper will be tethered and the hops will not be visible from offsite. This will likely be only a few feet or less of lift in the initial tests. The first integrated …
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energyLatest Space Based Solar Power Concepts and Experiments at Caltech

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March 17, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
Caltech and Northrop Grumman are continuing to make research progress towards space-based solar power. In 2018, the aerial density of the 1-meter solar tiles in 600 grams. This is an improvement from 1500 grams per square meters in 2017. They …
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materialsSpaceX is Already Building the Orbital Starship

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March 17, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
SpaceX will not build a new nosecone for the Starhopper. Elon Musk tweeted that the new nosecone is being built for the orbital Starship. Elon has previously indicated that the orbital version of the Starship would be completed in June …
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future weaponsMagnetized Plasma Hypersonic Projectile Gun

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March 16, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
China is working on magnetized plasma artillery which could enable hypersonic projectiles from a tank. This technology is different than railguns. China has started testing railguns on large navy ships. This technology could be ten to one hundred times smaller …
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energyStanford New Measurement to Ensure High Quality Quantum Dots

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March 16, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
Stanford has a new measurement technique for quantum dots. Uncertainty about the quality of quantum dots are holding back the use of quantum dots. Above – A close-up artist’s rendering of quantum dots emitting light they’ve absorbed. (Image credit: Ella …
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energyArtificial Muscles for a Future Air Conditioner

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March 16, 2019 | Brian Wang |
 
A prototype device has been developed that is able to transfer heat using ‘muscles’ made from nickel-titanium. Nickel-titanium (aka nitinol) is a shape-memory material that releases heat to its surroundings when it is mechanically loaded in its superelastic state and …
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