3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) and Planetary Resources, Inc. announced today that 3D Systems has joined Planetary Resources’ core group of investors and will be a collaborative partner in assisting Planetary Resources to develop and manufacture components of its ARKYD Series of spacecraft using its advanced 3D printing and digital manufacturing solutions. Planetary Resources already has multiple …
University of Southern California published a paper that comes that much closer to showing the D-Wave is indeed a quantum computer. Research shows “a very great agreement” between quantum annealing and the way the D-Wave system operates. Dwave is is not using a computing model known as “simulated annealing,” which obeys the laws of classical …
Tom Wong, a graduate student in physics and David Meyer, professor of mathematics at the University of California, San Diego, have proposed a new algorithm for quantum computing that will speed a particular type of problem. But swifter calculations would come at the cost of greater physical resources devoted to precise timekeeping, their analysis has …
The US Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) in Washington DC has developed a method to grow epitaxial nitride semiconductors on graphene. The researchers hope that this could lead to high-speed current-switching applications using devices such as hot-electron transistors (HETs). The NRL team believes that using graphene as the base region, in conjunction with nitride semiconductors, could …
A 28 page Synopsis of the Limits to Growth: The 30-Year Update is online here Main flaws – * increasing pollution does not have a tight correlation to massive increase in deaths. Pollution mitigation (especially for particulates is affordable) * If resources dropped there would not be a massive increase in deaths (rationing can handle …
Planetary Resources has raised $1.22 million from nearly 15,000 supporters for the public space telescope that is to be launched in 2015. The basic goal of raising $1 million has been met and they are targeting various stretch goals in the last three days of fund raising. If you liked this article, please give it …
Fitch Ratings says in its newly published Global Economic Outlook (GEO) that it expects the global economy to strengthen gradually in H213 and 2014-15 as the US gathers steam and the eurozone approaches a cyclical turning point. However, the agency has cut its 2013-2014 growth forecasts for all four of the BRIC nations. Its latest …
The authors of The Limits to Growth predicted that before 2013, the world would have run out of aluminum, copper, gold, lead, mercury, molybdenum, natural gas, oil, silver, tin, tungsten, and zinc. Oil and natural gas were to run out in 1990 and 1992, respectively; today, reserves of both are larger than they were in …
The Carnival of Space 307 is up at Links Through Space Universe Today – Thierry Legault had less than half a second to capture these incredible shots of the Shenzhou-10 module docked to Tiangong-1 Chinese station transiting across the Sun. And it he did it not only once, but twice, on two consecutive days. Nextbigfuture …
The Montague Paratrooper Pro [$999] bike is built like a tank, folds like a Swiss Army knife, and weighs less than body armor. Backed by a DARPA grant, David Montague designed the original Paratrooper bike in 1997 to be used by the U.S. Marines. The result was a cycle that a paratrooper could unfold as …
Alan Boyle at MSNBC looks at the budgetary realities have raised new questions about just how much of a future fusion power has. Nextbigfuture position on nuclear fusion. * mastering commercial nuclear fusion is worthwhile and worthy of private and public investment. * ITER (large tokomaks) project is costing the most money for fusion and …