Diagram of an Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator. Credit: U.S. Department of Energy Two of the robotic missions NASA selected for further study last week would be powered by experimental nuclear generators. NASA picked robotic missions to Mars, a comet and Saturn’s moon Titan as finalists last week for a launch opportunity in 2016, and two …
It seems likely that the National Security Agency is spending about ten times more money and using a generator that is ten times larger to bring an exaFLOP supercomputer into existence 4-5 years earlier than a 2019/2020 expectation. $896 million and 60 megawatts instead of $100 million and 6 megawatts. A similar increase in budget …
An Air Force Flight Test Center B-52 Stratofortress from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., carries an X-51A Waverider prior to the scramjet’s first hypersonic flight test on March 26, 2010. Air Force engineers have made design modifications to the three remaining X-51A demonstrators and plan to resume the hypersonic flight test program in early spring …
Several nuclear reactors in northeast Japan shut down during today’s massive earthquake in Japan. Work is ongoing to stabilise three reactors at Fukushima Daiichi continues into the morning. An International Atomic Energy Agency announcement at 4.20am confirmed the work to restore power using mobile power supplies. There is increase pressure at unit 1 and said …
The role of space power in solving prospective problems in the interests of global safety, science and social economic sphere by А.S. Koroteev President of Russian Academy of Cosmonautics 2010 (19 pages) The presentation discusses nuclear power sources for space up to 1 megawatt for flying to Mars, moon base power and for orbital tugs. …
The US has important strategic interests in Bahrain, including the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet – patrolling oil shipping lanes, keeping an eye on Iran, and involved with the war in Afghanistan. But US officials also worry about Bahrain’s violent response to pro-democracy demonstrators. With about 30 ships (including two aircraft carriers) the Fifth Fleet patrols …
Columbia University – At its core the Internet has “waterfalls of bandwidth,” Bergman says, and should be able to handle the traffic. But traffic jams start as the volumes of information travel through narrower channels controlled by various Internet service providers. The current optical fibers can’t recognize what kind of data is coming through; when …
Stanford researchers have found that adding a single layer of organic molecules to a solar cell can increase its efficiency three-fold and could lead to cheaper, more efficient solar panels. Their results were published online in ACS Nano on Feb. 7. So far the actual efficiency is only 0.4% but the potential benefit is a …
Guest Post by Joseph Friedlander A NOTE ON Development of THE H-CANNON CONCEPT. I independently thought of a variant of the Wang Bullet a few years ago (and as the Thunderwell work (which we are trying to find a good reference for– ) shows, that was not original either– most young boys get around to …
Ultrasonic engineers at Bristol University and The Big Bang: UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair are uncovering how a real life version of the fictional screwdriver – which uses sonic technology to open locks and undo screws – could be created. Professor of Ultrasonics, Bruce Drinkwater, who is working with The Big Bang to inspire …
1. Carey King at the University of Texas at Austin tries to make a case that is common at Peak Oil websites – lower energy return on fossil fuels causes economic recessions. The worst recessions of the last 65 years were preceded by declines in energy quality for oil, natural gas, and coal. Energy quality …