A discussion of possible limitations on the power of quantum and classical computers It is a useful discussion of NP hard problems. My reaction to it is that even if his conjecture that we cannot globally solve NP hard problems is correct there is still commercial viability in improving and expanding the cases where we …
A recent paper “Use of Mini-Mag Orion and superconducting coils for near-term interstellar transportation” discusses using a massive laser beam to accelerate fuel pellets to catch up to and supply a minimag Orion with fuel. The 1000 ton minimag Orion could then accelerate to 10% of light speed. The laser array would need 2500 times …
News from Centauri Dreams of progress on the mini-mag Orion concept Take what would be a rocket design that is 70-80 times more efficient than existing chemical rockets and beam particles at it so that it can go at 15% of the speed of light at a cost of $3 billion per flight in Uranium. …
The tale of two chinese coal miners who lived. Remember these are the two who lived while 179 others died We also recently had the 12 coal mining deaths in the United States. The two who lived had to drink their own urine, eat coal and dig through 66 feet of dirt and coal. digg_url= …
Here is an analysis of a case where a 2007 supercomputer running a 1977 algorithm would be outperformed by a 1977 personal computer running a 2007 algorithm This is also discussed here This relates to the question of getting to better and better intelligence just by speeding up the hardware. Brian WangBrian Wang is a …
An application has been filed for nuclear plants near Peace River Alberta. Projected completion 2017. Energy Alberta, which teamed with state-owned Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd, said it would first build one twin-unit reactor that could produce 2,200 megawatts of electricity by early 2017. I have had several articles discussing the oilsands and using nuclear …
A discussion at resource investor about the resource demands of scaling up so that all cars are hybrids and electric cars Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and …
The US current account deficit was a record $857 billion in 2006 A 45% depreciation of the dollar against the yuan would not result in balanced U.S. bilateral trade with China. The cost advantage of most Chinese exports is simply too great to be eliminated by currency movements alone. Moreover, many of the goods that …
Human stem cells could soon improve heart function in people if injected following a heart attack, a new study suggests. Heart attacks killed 267 out of 100,000 people in 2007. If everyone who had a heart attack or fatal heart disease was saved then 700,000 people in the USA and 7.1 million people worldwide would …
Dwave systems, CTO Geordie Rose, theorizes about the usefulness and possible necessity of quantum computers for human level and higher artificial intelligence Summarizing: Are humans somehow getting good approximate solutions to problems that are NP hard ? If so, would quantum computers be useful to develop alternative ways to get as good or better than …
Businessweek reports on a shift from scooters to small cars in India A critical factor for India and China’s environment and the global environment is the form of the 1+ billion vehicles that India and China will use from 2007-2020. How many will be two wheelers versus four wheelers and how many will be electric …