The pieces for large scale nuclear fission on the moon. 1. Hyperion Power Generation Uranium Hydride reactor maybe ready 2013. – if fusion is available because of success with IEC fusion or colliding beam then those could be used instead – If lightweight molten salt reactors were developed those would be better fission reactors 2. …
1. A Colombian woman has become the world’s first recipient of windpipe tissue constructed from a combination of donated tissue and her own cells. Stem cells harvested from the woman’s bone marrow were used to populate a stripped-down section of windpipe received from a donor, which was then transplanted into her body in June. The …
The panel and presentations on life extension were the highlight of the Convergence08 unconference. – Gregory Benford’s companyGenescient has bought Methuselah fruit flies. The flies were not allowed to breed until half were dead. So selective breeding over 28 years has resulted in flies that live 4.5 times longer than normal. Over 700 genes have …
Nvidia has desktop supercomputers through several retail partners that have a peak of 4 teraflops performance using GPGPUs and a cost in the range of $8000-10,000 Nvidia personal supercomputing information is here There are links to the online retailers for the Nvidia desktop supercomputers here Here is the datasheet for the Convey Computer HC-1. In …
Energy price estimates from Lazard. A June 2008 study. The energy costs here have adjusted alternative energy with tax credits. The nuclear energy price assumes that the facility lasts 20 years instead of 40 to 60 or more years which has been the actual experience. Assumptions in the Estimates Nuclear is the carbon friendly conventional …
Convergence08 was this past weekend, Nov 15-16, 2008. There were many talks and discussions. I gave an update on high impact technology. I did not have the proper connection for a Macbook and an older projector, so gave this talk with the slides as mainly my own notes. A preamble was added. During the initial …
Carnival of space 79 is up at One Astronomers’ Noise This site contributed an article about buying the future that we want. Centauri Dreams covers the concept of an inflatable beryllium sail to send a mission to the Oort comet cloud. The concept goes back to Joerg Strobl, who first published it in a 1989 …
Hyperion Power Generation is venture capital funded company that is trying to factory mass produce a uranium hydride nuclear reactor. $25-30 million per unit which would be 15-20 tons and generate 27 MW of electricity and 70 MW thermal. It would burn up to 50% of the uranium nuclear fuel for 5-10 years. It would …
1. Air pollution from fossil fuel use is costing California $28 billion per year and 3800 lives per year. It increases healthcare costs and kills more people each year 3812 than 9/11. 2. The EPA’s (Enviromental Protection Agency) recent decision, likely future decisions and President-elect Obama and the likely new federal energy plan will be …
The Economist estimates China’s past and current growth. They also examine China $600 billion stimulus effort. Any analysis of China’s growth prospects is clouded by the widely held belief that the government smoothes its GDP numbers and always overstates growth during economic downturns. The chart plots China’s official growth rate against an alternative estimate calculated …
By Alvin Wang People have been asking what is Web 2.0 and what is 3.0.People have been asking what is Web 2.0 and what is 3.0. Is Web 2.0 ajax or social networking? I would propose that the question is completely irrelevant. The current Internet is an application of the next generation of computer architectures. …