The electric solar wind sail is a propulsion system that uses the solar wind proton flow as a source of momentum for spacecraft thrust. The momentum of the solar wind is transferred to the spacecraft by electrically charged light-weight tethers that deflect the proton flow. The sail electrostatic effective area is then much larger than …
The Army is fast-tracking an emerging technology which gives combat vehicles an opportunity identify, track and destroy approaching enemy rocket-propelled grenades in a matter of milliseconds. Called Active Protection Systems, or APS, the technology uses sensors and radar, computer processing, fire control technology and interceptors to find, target and knock down or intercept incoming enemy …
Russia is building a drone submarine to deliver large-scale nuclear weapons against U.S. harbors and coastal cities, according to Pentagon officials. The developmental unmanned underwater vehicle, or UUV, when deployed, will be equipped with megaton-class warheads capable of blowing up key ports used by U.S. nuclear missile submarines, such as Kings Bay, Ga., and Puget …
In 2014, Chinese factories accounted for about a quarter of the global ranks of industrial robots — a 54 percent increase over 2013. According to the International Federation of Robotics, it will have more installed manufacturing robots than any other country by 2017. Midea, a leading manufacturer of home appliances in the heavily industrialized province …
Using ever more energetic lasers, Lawrence Livermore researchers have produced a record high number of electron-positron pairs, opening exciting opportunities to study extreme astrophysical processes, such as black holes and gamma-ray bursts. The current lasers are at 500-1000 joules. The favorable scaling of electron-positron pairs with laser energy obtained in these experiments suggests that, at …
The Information reports in 2013, Google CEO Larry Page convened his direct reports, the company’s dozen or so senior vice presidents, for a project that would take up two days a week for a couple of months. About 100 other employees below the SVP rank also participated in the effort, dubbed Google 2.0. Google 2.0 …
IHS forecasts China will pass the United States as the largest world economy in nominal (currency exchange) GDP basis in 2024. Nextbigfuture believes China will pass the USA on nominal GDP in 2019 or 2020 because of growth and an appreciation in currency. Also, the IHS forecasts are not including Hong Kong and Macau’s GDP …
Construction of an extraordinary underwater high-speed rail tunnel in China’s Bohai Strait is likely to start some time after 2016, Chinese media report. The proposed undersea link would stretch more than 100km under Bohai Bay to become the world’s longest undersea tunnel, connecting the cities of Dalian and Yantai. Experts say it will put the …
India has made encouraging progress by halving its official poverty rate, from 45 percent of the population in 1994 to 22 percent in 2012. McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has created the Empowerment Line, an analytical framework that determines the level of consumption required to fulfill eight basic needs—food, energy, housing, drinking water, sanitation, health care, …
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla Motors and Space Exploration Technologies, said today he may someday work to develop a supersonic, all-electric jet that could take off and land vertically. This would be more cost effective than Hyperloop at distances greater than 1000 miles. Musk said he currently has his hands full with Tesla and …
IF Spacex fully succeeds then launch costs to orbit could drop to about $10 per pound from $4000-20000 per pound (cost of competing launch systems). This could open up space to colonization and industry and enable the economy of civilization to expand by trillions of dollars in decades and enable large scale expansion into the …