F-35 is off track on units shipped until end of 2017 with repair and supply chain quality issues

Shipments of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter aircraft slipped during the third quarter and the firm will miss 2016 targets F35 shipments slipped to 10 units during the third quarter, down from 12 in the third quarter last year. A company official cited lower-tier supplier-issues for the shortfall, notably “out-of-spec” deliveries …

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Maximizing carbon-capture material

A careful balance of the ingredients in carbon-capture materials would maximize the sequestration of greenhouse gases while simplifying the processing – or “sweetening” – of natural gas, according to researchers at Rice University. The lab of Rice chemist Andrew Barron led a project to map how changes in porous carbon materials and the conditions in …

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Spacex disrupting the global space industry so all future launch systems must be reusable, use additive manufacturing and tight development schedules to be relevant

Elon Musk and Spacex is disrupting the space industry worldwide. All launch providers including in China and India have to rethink their approach to drive down cost. Space-launcher companies, which put satellites, cargo and humans in space, are seeking to bring prices down 50 percent or more. In April, SpaceX landed the first stage of …

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Northrop reveals design laser firing sixth generation super stealthy fighter

Northrop Grumman unveiled its vision of the so-called sixth-generation fighter, showing reporters a laser-firing aircraft that looks like a cross between the B-2 bomber and the X-47B drone. The level of complexity will make this aircraft something like an advanced satellite, where electromagnetic interference, heat offload and power requirements pose compelling and existential challenges to …

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Shawn Douglas Google Solve for X targeted cancer therapeutics with DNA origami nanobots

Recently we had covered the Google Solve for X talk on DNA nanobot microsurgery by Ido Bachelet. Here is the 2013 Google Solve for X talk by Shawn Douglas who led the work on the 2012 paper that was co-written by Ido Bachelet and George Church. Shawn Douglas has his personal website here Problem: Cancer …

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Highest reported current performance for a superconductor wire or a film on a technical substrate

The ability to control nanoscale imperfections in superconducting wires results in materials with unparalleled and customized performance, according to a new study from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Applications for superconducting wires, which carry electricity without resistance when cooled to a critical temperature, include underground transmission cables, transformers and large-scale motors and …

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China will double down on investing in solar power while Germany winds down government support for solar

China has raised its 2015 target for solar-electricity capacity, giving a shot in the arm to its solar companies, many of which are struggling due to industry overcapacity, slow global demand and overseas trade disputes. China’s State Council, or cabinet, in a statement dated July 4 but posted Monday said installed capacity for solar electricity …

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Why StarTrek is the most important piece of fiction ever

Star Trek is the most important piece of fiction ever because it has inspired or foreshadowed the development of more major technology than any other work of fiction. Star Trek Technology Real World Communicator Cellphone Universal Translator Google Translate, Microsoft Translator Warp Drive NASA Eagleworks space warping experiment led by Harold White Isolinear AI computer …

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China Economic Rebalancing and Goldman’s worst case

1. Barron’s – Goldman Sachs’ Jim O’Neill, the man who will forever be described as the guy who coined the term BRICs, outlines what a Chinese hard landing would look like if nominal economic growth averaged 7% for the remainder of the decade. Many others would not consider economic growth of 7% per year a …

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