GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) and Southern Nuclear are to collaborate on the development and licensing of fast reactors including GEH’s Prism sodium-cooled fast reactor, the companies announced yesterday. Prism is a sodium-cooled fast neutron reactor design built on more than 30 years of development work, benefitting from the operating experience of the EBR-II prototype …
Stephen Hsu estimated the impact if we could alter the known intelligence related genes in humans. His estimate is that it would provide an average boost of 10-15 IQ points. It is likely that we have found about 2 to 10% of the intelligence related genes. Recently published SSGAC study (Nature News) found 74 genome-wide …
Chris Patil gave an Ignite talk at the 20th Anniversary Summit of the Long Now Foundation. The talks were intended to convey the broad interests of the membership of this organization, which is devoted to long-term, planetary-level thinking. He spoke about the coming era of anti-aging medicine, first giving some short background on the fundamental …
Unit 4 of the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant in Russia has started commercial operation, state nuclear corporation Rosatom announced today. The BN-800 fast neutron reactor started operating at 100% power for the first time on 17 August. The BN-800 reactor was brought to minimum controlled power for the first time in June 2014, at which …
Spinach is no longer just a superfood: By embedding leaves with carbon nanotubes, MIT engineers have transformed spinach plants into sensors that can detect explosives and wirelessly relay that information to a handheld device similar to a smartphone. This is one of the first demonstrations of engineering electronic systems into plants, an approach that the …
Times have changed since the supersonic Concorde was made. Eli Dourado is the director of the Mercatus Center’s Technology Policy Program discusses the changes in technology that will make a new commercial supersonic passenger jet. Modern materials such as carbon fiber are lighter and stronger than aluminum, and modern engines are much more efficient than …
DARPA awarded Raytheon a $174.7 million contract today for a program designed to develop technologies that would enable weapon systems to fly more than five times the speed of sound — the third and final contract expected for the agency’s hypersonic-related programs. According to an Oct. 31 Federal Business Opportunities notice, DARPA awarded Raytheon the …
China has showcased its long-awaited J-20 stealth fighter in public for the first time. Two of the radar-evading jets did a 60-second flypast at the Zhuhai air show in Guangdong province – the country’s biggest meeting of plane makers and buyers. Previously the jets had only been seen by bloggers. The fighters are being seen …