1. Chandra X-Ray Space Telescope – Can Black Hole Tidal Disruptions Leave Remnants?
2. Cosmoquest – A star that had a brush with a giant black hole and lived to tell the tale through exclamations of X-rays
3. The Hill – How the United States plans to make space exploration pay
4. The Hill – NASA’s Artemis program is a perfect response to China’s coronavirus cover-up
5. Cosmoquest -Cornell astronomers have improved a model to gauge the temperatures of exoplanets
6. Atmospheric tidal waves maintain Venus’ super-rotation
7. NASA’s Swift Mission Tallied Water From Interstellar Comet Borisov
8. Nextbigfuture – The Coronavirus Pandemic is reshaping our current world and it is reshaping the future. The pandemic and global lockdown is causing a global economic depression, shattering the energy markets and killing previously might companies and industries. The continued test phase work on supersonic startups is despite the existential impact of Coronavirus on traditional airlines. Airbus and Boeing are struggling to survive. Governments will ensure the survival of commercial airlines but there is and will be massive consolidation.
Aerion, Spike and Boom are continuing with supersonic testing is different from actually getting billions in funding and executing to reach and operate a commercial service. The Aerion AS2 has a target price of $120 Million each.
SpaceX Starship is in the process of leapfrogging supersonic (1.5-2.5 times the speed of sound) to hypersonic (20-30 times the speed of sound). Musk says mass-produced SpaceX Starships will cost $5 million each. They would be ten over times faster than supersonic planes and would have more payload. All international cargo and passenger travel could be monopolized by SpaceX.
9. Nextbigfuture – The SpaceX SN4 Starship has passed a lower pressure cryo fuel test. The next milestone will be the static fire test, where the Starship will be held in place during engine firing.
SN4 will have one engine and a lower pressure 200-meter flight. SpaceX is already assembling Starship SN5.
Newer Starships will switch to a new steel alloy that has higher strength under cryo temperatures. The new material will be able to handle higher pressures for higher altitude and orbital flights.”
Human use of materials has been used to define human history and technological progress. Here we review material usage from the stone age to diamond and beyond. The Stone Age never ended if we consider cement and concrete part of the stone age. We now use about 100 tons of diamond per year and have materials that are stronger than diamond.
Celebrating Frank Drake’s 90th Birthday this week and offering some resources (a video interview and a non-technical article) to illuminate his work in the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
Known for identifying cutting edge technologies, he is currently a Co-Founder of a startup and fundraiser for high potential early-stage companies. He is the Head of Research for Allocations for deep technology investments and an Angel Investor at Space Angels.
A frequent speaker at corporations, he has been a TEDx speaker, a Singularity University speaker and guest at numerous interviews for radio and podcasts. He is open to public speaking and advising engagements.