New intrepretation of Viking science data could mean 0.1% of Mars soil is made up of “extremophiles” – in this case, microbes whose cells are filled with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water. That is roughly comparable to biomass levels found in some Antarctic permafrost, home to a range of hardy bacteria and lichen. …
Nanowerk reports that the Advanced Energy Consortium (AEC), is to develop subsurface nanosensors that can be injected into oil and gas well bores. By virtue of their very small size, these sensors would migrate out of the well bores and into the pores of the surrounding geological structure to collect data about the physical characteristics …
Scientists at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have discovered favorable “longevity” genes that protect very old people from the effects of bad genes. People who live to a hundred have just as many if not more bad genes which cause disease as people who live shorter lives but they have genes …
The Bussard fusion reactor might have gotten funded There have been some prior false alarms on funding. Prior articles on Robert Bussards Inertial Electrostatic fusion system Robert Bussard the designer of the Bussard ramjet has an electrostatic fusion device that is supposed to be 100,000 times better than other electrostatic fusion systems. He will get …
Carnival of Space 17 is up at the Planetary society blog My contribution was my look at key technologies that are achievable and which would make for a non-technologically crippled future in space within fifty years Centauri Dreams looks for Astronomical phenomena for clues to dark matter and spacetime manipulation Brian WangBrian Wang is a …
DNA is being used to control nanoparticle self assembly Learning how to control and tailor the assembly of nanoparticles, which have dimensions on the order of billionths of a meter, could potentially lead to applications ranging from more efficient energy generation and data storage to cell-targeted systems for drug delivery. “We can synthesize nanoparticles with …
Mark Whittington had a submission for the week 16 space carnival on what could happen in 2057 for space The following is my scenario for space in 2057. At the end of this article, I provide pointers to key projects that should be pursued to enable this version of Space in 2057. Developing key technologies …
Electrical bikes and scooters are making a significant impact on transportation The biggest impact is in China where 450 million bicycle riders are converting to electric bicycles. 12-18% are converted to electric bicycles (Over 60 million by the end of this year). Higher performance electric bicycles can achieve speeds of 36-42 mph ($2000). Electric scooters …
Three physicists in Italy and the US have proposed a method for retrieving quantum information from memory that should make total quantum recall more reliable. A quantum computer uses not bits but qubits, which can be a blend of 0 and 1 – a quantum superposition of the two states. Therefore, in quantum RAM, the …
We are getting closer to cyborgs that are as strong and as fast as people. The prototype rocket powered mechanical arm can lift (curl) about 20 to 25 pounds – three to four times more than current commercial arms – and can do so three to four times faster. “That means it has about 10 …
Time magazine is reporting that various people in the CIA and in the US bureaucracy think that an attack against Iran nuclear facilities and the Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps could happen within 6 months Update: More discussions of the possibility for war with Iran I had made a wildcard prediction of the possibility of …