The coronavirus is currently changing slowly. There are only about two dozen mutations. There have been many reports of multiple strains of SARS-CoV-2. Virologists use the world strain as a label to the same group of samples. This does not mean they are functionally different. Strain can also refer to viral genotypes that are functionally …
Michael Shellenberger of the Breakthrough Institute has written Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All.” An article covering his book was published and then censored at Forbes. The Breakthrough Institute has scientists on the staff. Zeke Hausfather, Director of Climate and Energy, is a climate scientist and energy systems analyst whose research focuses on …
If we send telescopes out to 4 light days we can use the gravity of the sun to amplify the power of telescopes by 100 billion times. Although we can build larger telescopes with higher resolution than exists today near to Earth, the telescopes that are sent out to gravitational lensing regions would resolve much …
The US has runway repair teams that can repair holes in two hours or less. They use truckloads of dirt and rocks and then cover with a 45 by 60-foot fiberglass mat. Chinese suppliers sell fiberglass paving mats for 55 cents per square meter in lots of 10000 square meters. T17 fast setting cement can …
A large reservoir of freshwater was discovered beneath Fiery Cross Reef, one of the artificial islands China made in the South China Sea. The reservoir is growing at a rate of about 1 meter (3.3 feet) per year. This is twice as fast as reservoir water level growth in naturally formed islands. Freshwater can support …
There is a company called Nikola which claims they will sell semi-trucks using hydrogen. Amazingly, with virtually no revenue and no vehicles made, Nikola is worth over $22 billion. They say they will lease the vehicles and get hydrogen for $2 per kilogram. Most have the lowest cost of hydrogen at about $2.5-4.5 per kilogram. …
People know that computers became a multi-trillion dollar industry because it rode the exponential growth in power of Moore’s Law. Aviation also experienced decades of exponential growth and Space has had ten years of exponential growth and is looking at 40 years of exponential growth. Air passenger travel had decades of exponential growth in passengers. …
Dr. Steven Howe identified an antimatter niche for the acceleration of small unmanned interstellar probes. Small amounts of antimatter can be used to initiate fission events whose daughters provided thrust. * use a dedicated customer $670 million accelerator to produce 10 grams of antimatter per year * form the antiprotons into antihydrogen and coat it …
Extreme metamaterial solar sails as proposed here have the potential to shift the paradigm of space exploration enabling numerous low cost and high-speed missions to be launched anytime and anywhere. Such sails could gain accelerations over 60AU/yr when coupled to low mass spacecraft and dive to extreme proximity to the sun (just 2-5 solar radii). …
A new six-junction solar cell, developed by NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory), converts 47.1% of incident light into electricity when combined with optical concentration. Indications thus far suggest solar cells of this type can reach an efficiency rate of 50%. 143 sun concentration means they use mirrors or lens to focus light onto a smaller …
RUSI provides an analysis of China and India military balance and the border war situation. Royal United Service Institute (RUSI) is the world’s oldest and the UK’s leading defense and security think tank. Its mission is to inform, influence and enhance public debate on a safer and more stable world. RUSI is a research-led institute, …