A major new technology has been developed by The University of Nottingham, which enables all of the world’s crops to take nitrogen from the air rather than expensive and environmentally damaging fertilizers. Nitrogen fixation, the process by which nitrogen is converted to ammonia, is vital for plants to survive and grow. However, only a very …
Life cycle energy and greenhouse gas emissions of nuclear energy: A review by Lenzen is fairly frequently quoted for its energy return analysis of nuclear energy. Lenzen had calculated nuclear energy return at 3-10 times the energy input. Lenzen assumes nuclear plants have an operating life of 25-45 years. Many nuclear plants are heading to …
The newest longevity studies show that * Metformin increases lifespan in Mice by 5.83% when started in middle age mice * Reveratrol improves health but is not showing a significant increase in lifespan * Rapamycin suppresses cancer tumors, Rapamycin life extension is because the mice do not die early from cancer 1. Long-term treatment with …
The world’s cities are in the midst of a skyscraper boom, and not with just tall buildings, but with ones officially designated as “supertall.” Nearly 600 buildings of at least 200 meters—or about 60 stories high—are either under construction or in the planning stages. That would almost double the number that height within the next …
A small blog listed Nextbigfuture among three optimistic future related blogs (Singularity Hub and KurzweilAI are the two others). He lists six blogs that are pessimistic about the future. One of the pessimistic blogs is collapse of industrial civilization which has a sample article that proposes that a collapse will be well underway by 2047 …
Bubble fusion is the theory that nuclear fusion can be induced by rapidly collapsing bubbles in certain fluids. According to a new investigative report [by New Energy Times, Steven B. Krivit] into Oak Ridge National Laboratory records, a highly publicized finding from 2002 that cast the controversial tabletop nuclear fusion experiment into doubt has itself …
The Z-pinch is a plasma configuration that occurs when a pulsed high current arc discharges between two electrodes, causing a plasma column to implode under its own self-generated magnetic pressure. Over the years, researchers have had difficulty predicting and understanding its behavior. DARPA is interested in using Z-pinches to make compact neutron sources. However, DARPA’s …
People could look to new 3D printing to save money but there are likely many conventional ways to save money that they could choose. There are also ways to aggressively pursue early retirement. It may be unorthodox to retire at age 50 but not impossible. It may take unorthodox strategies to execute though. For many, …
A Michigan University researchers feels the typical family can already save a great deal of money by making things with a 3D printer instead of buying them off the shelf. The big savings are for things like orthotics (custom insoles for shoes), iPhone docks, IPad stands and showers heads. The likely scenario is that the …