Elon Musk tweeted that the first test firing of the new Spacex Raptor engines have been performed. Chamber pressure is almost 3X Merlin, so engine is about the same size for a given area ratio Production Raptor goal is specific impulse of 382 seconds and thrust of 3 MN (~310 metric tons) at 300 bar …
The Pentagon’s emerging “Arsenal Plane” or “flying bomb truck” is likely to be a modified, high-tech adaptation of the iconic B-52 bomber designed to fire air-to-air weapons, release swarms of mini-drones and provide additional fire-power to 5th generation stealth fighters such as the F-35 and F-22, Pentagon officials and analysts said. It is also possible …
Cats and dogs were domesticated by humans thousands of years ago to be pets and companions. Sheep, goats and other animals were domesticated for food. But there may be more to it than that. People who have tried to simply tame individual foxes often speak of a stubborn wildness that is impossible to get rid …
Researchers have invented nanowire-based battery material that can be recharged hundreds of thousands of times, moving us closer to a battery that would never require replacement. The breakthrough work could lead to commercial batteries with greatly lengthened lifespans for computers, smartphones, appliances, cars and spacecraft. They coated a gold nanowire in a manganese dioxide shell …
Thomas Shugart at War on the Rocks makes the case that China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea are not trivial. Thomas Shugart is a Senior Military Fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a submarine warfare officer in the U.S. Navy. China has three major islands Fiery Cross, Subi, and …
In the fall of 2015, hazardous levels of smoke from agricultural fires blanketed much of Equatorial Asia. Schools and businesses closed, planes were grounded and tens of thousands sought medical treatment for respiratory illness. In a new study, Harvard University researchers and their colleagues estimate that the 2015 smoke event caused upwards of 100,000 deaths …
A subsidiary of the Russian Electronics Holding Company (itself a subsidiary of Rostec) has developed a ferrite fiber designed for protecting the electronics of armored vehicles, air defense missile systems and aircraft against enemy electronic warfare (EW) systems, according to the Izvestia daily. Ferrite fiber features a low specific weight and a high flexibility and …
Scientists and engineers are working on a number of cutting-edge technologies to make US troops faster, smarter and more resilient than their normal selves. Paul Scharre, a former Army Ranger and the director of the 20YY Future of Warfare Initiative at the Center for a New American Security, said performance-enhancers that are being explored could …
Many scientists consider graphene to be a wonder material. Now, a team of researchers at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has succeeded in linking graphene with another important chemical group, the porphyrins. Porphyrins are well-known because of their striking functional properties which for example play a central role in chlorophyll during photosynthesis. These new …
Masahiro Ono, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Journey to the Center of Icy Moons; Robert Mueller, NASA Kennedy Space Center NASA NIAC update starts at about 26 minutes in the video. 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 …
The environment near the surface of airless bodies (asteroids, comets, Moon) is electrically charged due to Sun’s photoelectric bombardment. Charged dust is ever present, even at high altitudes (dust fountains), following the Sun’s illumination. We envisage the global scale exploration of airless bodies by a gliding vehicle that experiences its own electrostatic lift and drag …