Engineer UK – A novel 3D printing method could allow the creation of polymer features at a resolution of just 10nm, opening up the path to a raft of new metamaterials. ‘Currently, there is no real three-dimensional fabrication method on the nanoscale,’ said lead investigator Joachim Fischer of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). ‘The …
FalconSAT-7 is a 3U CubeSat satellite measuring just 30cmx10cmx10cm. It is a DARPA funded project that is led by Geoff Andersen and colleagues at the US Air Force Academy. They hope to launch a device into orbit in 2014. While not optimized for ground observation, such a telescope would have a 1.8 meter resolution at …
A new technology, the Fission Fragment Rocket Engine (FFRE), requires small amounts of readily available, energy dense, long lasting fuel, significant thrust at specific impulse of a million seconds, and increases safety by charging the reactor after arrival in LEO. If this study shows the FFRE potential, the return could be immense through savings in …
Researchers have found a mechanism that can be hijacked in order to import RNA into the mitochondria as desired. This work was described as a potential game changer by Aubrey de Grey A decline in the function of mitochondria may contribute to the aging process and age-related disorders. A functional decline could arise from accumulated …
The World Nuclear Association has an update of the nuclear reactors that are starting (or restarting after complete overhauls) from 2012 through 2017 There are 46 reactors that are scheduled to start from 2012 to 2014. 14 Reactors in 2012 2012 India, NPCIL Kaiga 4 PHWR 202 2012 Iran, AEOI Bushehr 1 PWR 950 2012 …
National Academy of Science – Interim Report-Status of the Study “An Assessment of the Prospects for Inertial Fusion Energy” 60 pages pdf) In this interim report, the Committee on the Prospects for Inertial Confinement Fusion Energy Systems reached the following preliminary conclusions and recommendations. Conclusion 1: The scientific and technological progress in inertial confinement fusion …
The Terrafugia Transition® (flying car / roadable plane) can take off or land at any public use general aviation airport with at least 2,500′ of runway. This represents the majority of the over 5,000 public airports in the United States. On average, you’re within 30 miles or less of one of these fields anywhere in …
1. Fuel depots. 2-17 times more stuff to the moon or other space missions. Lowering costs for GTO closer to LEO orbit costs Boeing Propellant fuel depot 2. Lunar concrete would reduce the amount of material needed to build things on the moon by ten times. A 50 meter telescope could be built from lunar …
The National Institute for Materials Science succeeded in realizing superconductivity in fullerene nanowhiskers, which are a nanosized carbon material that is lightweight and has a fine fibrous shape. This is a giant step toward the birth of lightweight, flexible superconducting materials. The National Institute for Materials Science succeeded in realizing superconductivity in fullerene nanowhiskers, which …
the International Telecommunications Union estimates that at the end of 2011 there were 2.42 billion internet users in the world (an increase from 2.04 billion internet users at the end of 2010) There were just short of 6 billion active mobile subscribers in the world. There are more than 500 million internet users in China, …
Dwave quantum computers at 512 qubits should run some algorithms that achieve a speed advantage I’m some cases. However, there are a lot of supercomputers and a petaflop scale machine could come down to $10 million prices in the next year. The main utility of the quantum computers will be to run unique quantum algorithms …