Zac Manchester is working on a phase 2 NASA NIAC (advanced innovation) study to create kilometer sized structures in space that will fit in one rocket payload. Zac Manchester worked on Breakthrough Starshot which is trying to get a laser pushed solar sail to another star system. (aka 4+ light years in a human lifetime). …
Generating artificial gravity inside rotating space habitats has been a dream of science fiction since the earliest pioneers of astronautics. However, rotating to produce artificial gravity poses a serious challenge; Humans experience discomfort and motion sickness when exposed to rotation rates greater than a few RPM. To produce artificial gravity near 1g at rotation rates …
A visionary EU 6G research project, called RISE-6G, will create next-generation wireless connectivity. RISE-6G will design, prototype and test smart and energy-sustainable technological advances based on reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) that will enable programmable control and shaping of the wireless propagation environment. They expect to deploy by 2030. They will use surfaces of diode-based antennas …
Understanding the beginnings of the Universe and life itself is NASA’s long term vision and one of humanities’ grand challenges. Missions to the edge of our solar system and to space between stars in our galaxy – the interstellar medium – are of a great promise to shed light on these questions. However, today’s deep …
Joseph Agnew, undergrad and research assistant from the University of Alabama in Huntsville’s Propulsion Research Center (PRC), presented the results of his study “An Examination of Warp Theory and Technology to Determine the State of the Art and Feasibility“. This was part of a session at The Future of Nuclear and Breakthrough Propulsion”. The detection …
The conventional means of collecting and redirecting solar sail light uses a metal-coated polyimide film but this is sub-optimal and unstable because the very large and very thin sail must be rapidly slewed away from the sun line for navigational purposes. Stability rigging and attitude control devices add mass to the sailcraft, thereby reducing the …
Synthetic, sound-silencing structures—acoustic metamaterials can block 94% of sounds. This ring of materials will be able to make vacuum cleaners, air conditioners, fans and other devices and products much quieter. Boston University researchers Ghaffarivardavagh and Zhang wanted to block sound but not open air. They calculated the dimensions and specifications that the metamaterial would need …
Amanda D. Hanford, at Pennsylvania State University, is taking the introductory steps to make acoustic ground cloaks. These materials redirect approaching waves around an object without scattering the wave senergy, concealing the object from the sound waves. Potentially this could be applied to sonar cloaking for submarines or other objects in the ocean. During the …
The United States has been able to lead in military technology for decades with DARPA research. DARPA and ARPA helped with the creation of * the internet * GPS (global positioning system) * stealth fighters * antimissile systems * M16 * stealth fighters There was research and development beyond DARPA with the Lockheed Skunkworks. DARPA’s …
China is continuing to upgrade the J-20 stealth fighter with a higher thrust engine and new electronic equipment and radars. China is mass-producing metamaterials for the J-20 stealth fighter. Metamaterial antennas can increase radiated power, resulting in longer-range and more precise radar, as well as powerful jammers and datalinks. In turn, by fine-tuning their structures, …
China will raise its defense budget by about 7 percent this year, a government spokeswoman said Saturday, continuing a trend of lowered growth amid a slowing economy. Total defense spending would account for about 1.3 percent of projected gross domestic project in 2017, said Fu Ying, spokeswoman for the legislature. She was speaking at a …
