Sensors and longer range weapons means speed and dogfighting don’t matter and the future could be a Thunderbird 2 like modular battleplane

A 76 page report by the Center for Budgetary and Strategic Assessments Trends in Air-to-air combat : Implications for future air superiority by John Stillion indicates that dogfighting jet capability no longer matters. Trends from the database of air combat since 1965 show the rise of long range missiles and a steep decline in dog-fighting. …

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Stanford brings commercial fast recharging aluminum batteries closer

Stanford University scientists have invented the first high-performance aluminum battery that’s fast-charging, long-lasting and inexpensive. Researchers say the new technology offers a safe alternative to many commercial batteries in wide use today. “We have developed a rechargeable aluminum battery that may replace existing storage devices, such as alkaline batteries, which are bad for the environment, …

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US will make 180 petaflop supercomputer in 2018 and is blocking China from a 110 petaflop upgrade to Tianhe-2 this year

Under the joint Collaboration of Oak Ridge, Argonne, and Lawrence Livermore (CORAL) initiative, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $200 million investment to deliver a next-generation supercomputer, known as Aurora, to the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF). When commissioned in 2018, this supercomputer will be open to all scientific users – drawing America’s …

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DARPA’s Anti-Submarine Warfare developing submarine hunter killer drone

DARPA’s Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program seeks to develop a new type of unmanned surface vessel that could independently track adversaries’ ultra-quiet diesel-electric submarines over thousands of miles. One of the challenges that the ACTUV program is addressing is development of autonomous behaviors for complying with the International Regulations for Preventing …

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Tesla is a drivable computer that will get software update for autopilot automatic steering

Most cars don’t improve over time. By contrast, Model S gets faster, smarter, and better as time passes. With Tesla’s regular over-the-air software updates, Model S actually improves while you sleep. When you wake up, added functionality, enhanced performance, and improved user experience make you feel like you are driving a new car. We want …

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China getting three to five times as many submarines each year compared to the USA

China is building some “fairly amazing submarines” and now has more diesel- and nuclear-powered vessels than the United States, a top U.S. Navy admiral told U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday, although he said their quality was inferior. Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy, deputy chief of naval operations for capabilities and resources, told the House Armed Services Committee’s …

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Project Solaris for enabling and then scaling space based light deflection

Project Solaris is to harness space based solar. It will use a distributed system composed of a multitude of small light deflecting units (cm-sized to µm-sized). These units will be uniformly scattered over a disc shaped plane and kept in place using different techniques (radiation pressure and/or electric fields and/or magnetic fields, or other methods). …

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Leonard Nimoy on Youtube

Brian WangBrian 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 …

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World Bank list Pearl River as bigger than Tokyo

World Bank presents Key Findings: Urban Expansion in East Asia, 2000–10. Brian WangBrian 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 …

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Orbiting Rainbow Project Experiment updates

Three NASA NIAC talks 0 to 30 minutes – Marco Pavone, Stanford University – Spacecraft/Rover Hybrids for the Exploration of Small Solar System Bodies 31 -60 minutes – Thomas Prettyman, Planetary Science Institute – Deep mapping of small solar system bodies with galactic cosmic ray secondary particle showers Focus on the third talk 61+ minutes …

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Carnival of Space 392 – Rings 200 times larger than Saturn’s Rings around exoplanet J1407

The Carnival of Space 392 is up at Urban Astronomer There is a gigantic ring system around exoplanet J1407b. It is much larger, heavier than Saturn’s rings Astronomer Eric Mamajek at the University of Rochester and his co-author from the Leiden Observatory, The Netherlands, have discovered that the ring system that they see eclipse the …

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