An overhead view (bottom) shows cylindrical block-coploymer structures, consisting of a central polymer (blue) linked to a surrounding polymer (red). An atomic-force microscope image (center), shows the densely packed cylinders, dark in the center, with the varying height of the surface beneath them visible as alternating lighter and darker stripes. The side view diagram (top) …
The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran now has amassed a stockpile totaling one ton of uranium which could easily be made into weapons-grade material with further purification. In their first assessment of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme since Barack Obama became US president, atomic inspectors disclosed that Tehran’s leaders understated by a third …
1. Music of the Spheres has Europa Visitor FlyingSinger brushes up his space navigation skills and prepares for his April IYA podcast with a flight from Europa to Callisto, simulated in Orbiter. 2. On February 16 we celebrated Galileo’s 445th birthday: “Yet It Moves” from A Babe in the Universe. During this International Year of …
Memory and transistors appears to be in for an accelerated 1000 fold reduction to 2 to 3 nanometer sizes. The previously noted shrinking to 10 terabit/inch**2 self assembled magnetic memory, which should get further enhanced to 100 terabit/inch**2. There is also smaller The smallest features in current silicon transistors are 45 nanometres in size, but …
There is an iPhone application which assists a person at card counting while playing blackjack in a casino. Using devices to assist in playing in a casino is illegal. It operates in several modes, including a “stealth mode” where the screen is blanked, and can be operated by touching different zones on the screen. It …
Morgan Solar has the Light-Guide Solar Optic (LSO), a thin optical structure made of acrylic and/or glass that internally concentrates sunlight. They are targeting less than $1 per watt by 2011 and close to 30 percent efficiency at costs competitive with thin film. So two to three times cheaper and 50% more efficient that most …
Discovery Channel: Future Weapons. Force Multiplier especially with the frag-12 mini-grenades and high explosive. Accurate out to 175 meters. 120 grenade rounds per minute with 9 foot blast radius. The gist of the story is that the AA-12s have so little recoil that it makes the perfect gun for small robots. AA12 shotgun robots at …
The sawtooth ridges formed by cutting and heating a sapphire crystal serves to guide the self-assembly of nanoscale elements into an ordered pattern over arbitrarily large surfaces. Researchers say the new, easy-to-implement technique may transform the data storage industry. The density achievable with the technology we’ve developed could potentially enable the contents of 250 DVDs …
The Aim High program to make factory mass produced Liquid fluoride thorium reactors to replace coal power worldwide. Dr. Robert Hargraves wrote this up. Kirk Sorensen and Charles Barton over at Thoriumenergy and the many others at the Energy from Thorium forum have helped collect and refine information and plans. FURTHER READING Aim High website …
From the New Scientsit, it would be possible to perform annual tests and give existing drugs to whoever tests positive, the drugs can reduce transmission rates to 1 in 1000. A program of HIV elimination would cost several billion per year more than current treatment but would start costing less in about 2030. Better and …
The largest container ships can hold about 11,000-15000 shipping containers. The ships weigh 170,000 tons. Each container can hold a maximum of 14 tons. The space shuttle could take less than two full containers into space. The Super-Orion nuclear external pulse propulsion rocket had an 8 million ton size and could have taken 3 million …