Quantum techniques to improve broadband and encryption are closer to market

The Quantum Wave Fund has raised over $30 million to invest and aims to collect $100 million. Quantum physics does indeed offer some intriguing ideas about how fiber optic data links, the Internet’s backbone, could be made more capacious and secure. New ways to handle individual or small groups of photons could allow existing fiber …

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Wall Street Journal Considers Our Superabled Transhumanist Future

WSJ – High-tech implants will soon be commonplace enhancements under our skin and inside our skulls, making us stronger and smarter. Daniel H. Wilson on our ‘superabled’ future. “Amped” author Daniel Wilson discusses the emergence, in the not-so-distant future, of a new class of people whose microchip-enhanced mental abilities may raise questions about what it …

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Sanmen Westinghouse AP1000 reactor connected to offsite power for testing

World Nuclear News – Unit 1 of China’s Sanmen nuclear power plant has been connected to a nearby substation to provide offsite power for testing electrical systems. The reactor is set to begin operating next year. The Westinghouse AP1000 reactor in Sanmen, China is still on schedule. China’s other AP1000 reactors also appear to be …

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Vernor Vinge is interviewed about the Singularity, rebooting civilization and living to 100,000

Wired – futurist Vernor Vinge is surprisingly optimistic when it comes to the prospect of civilization collapsing. Rebooting Civilization from the rich carcass Could humanity really claw its way back after a complete collapse? Haven’t we plundered the planet’s resources in ways that would be impossible to repeat? “I disagree with that,” says Vinge. “With …

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Ways to make Space Solar Power Work

Tom Murphy a UCSD professor has put out an article that argues against space based solar power. This is similar to an argument made in 2004 by Steve Fetter Tom makes the arguments that launch costs are too high and it will be too expensive to make the space based solar power to justify about …

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Catalyzer description at new Leonardo-ecat website

Rossi has a new website http://www.leonardo-ecat.com The site has the involvement of Hank Mills and Sterling of PESN (Pure Energy Systems Network). The site has descriptions of how the energy catalyzer is supposed to work, the 1 MW unit and an upcoming 5 KW version. Leonardo Corporation is offering one megawatt E-Cat plants for sale, …

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Japan Industry Minister Kaieda calls for local permission to restart 20 nuclear reactors to enable the recovery of the Japanese economy

Banri Kaieda, minister for economy, trade and industry, has now said that for nuclear to remain one of Japan’s key energy sources, “It is indispensible to obtain lessons we should learn from the accident in order to present a general image of nuclear safety measures and to put such measures into practice.” He added that …

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CO2 Ice Deposits in the South Pole of Mars are 30 times larger than previous estimates

(A) Polar stereographic map of the south polar region of Mars, showing where reflection-free zones (RFZ) were mapped on 118 SHARAD ground tracks, overlain on a Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) shaded relief map. Analysis shows 30 times moer CO2 ice than prior estimates. Journal Science – Massive CO2 Ice Deposits Sequestered in the South …

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Minimag for near term interstellar transportation

The full “Use of Mini-Mag Orion and superconducting coils for near-term interstellar transportation” paper is available for free online (2007, 9 pages) I had previously suggested avoiding the 1000 Terawatt laser of the interstellar minimag by predeploying the fuel along the path of the minimag. Pacman gobbling up dots Interstellar transportation to nearby star systems …

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Calcite cloaks a pink piece of paper

A piece of pink paper vanishes under a new invisibility cloak developed by MIT researchers. Science news has a picture of a calcite cloak covering a pink piece of paper. In principle, Barbastathis says, the same method could be used in real-life situations to conceal an object from view — and the only limitation on …

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