The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments had a study with recommendations for improving the US Navy surface ships. It appears that one of the recommendations that was made is being followed. The recommendation was to upgrade a version of the LCS to fill the Small surface combat ship role. In 2001, the Navy planned …
Spider silk is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar, but efforts to spin our own have so far failed to match the real thing. Now a German research group has come up with artificial fibres that equal its toughness, which could lead to safer airbags. Previous attempts to mimic spider silkMovie Camera have focused …
Greencarcongress reports researchers added a polysulfide to the polymer membranes during their synthesis with the aim to reduce the cathode dissolution during operation. To improve the room-temperature ionic conductivity of the polymer electrolyte, they plasticized the LiS8 added membrane. The resulting LixSn-C/GPS-Li2S8/S-C lithium-ion sulfur cell is characterized by a high safety level, due to the …
Astronomers have measured the passing of a super-Earth in front of a bright, nearby Sun-like star using a ground-based telescope for the first time. The transit of the exoplanet 55 Cancri e is the shallowest detected from the ground yet. Since detecting a transit is the first step in analyzing a planet’s atmosphere, this success …
Minimally invasive surgery is becoming more popular. A surgeon uses video game like controls to manipulate robotic arms with long tools on them. These surgical robotic systems do not provide haptic feedback. This can result in accidents that cause bleeding or broken sutures. Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery (RMIS) holds great promise for improving the accuracy …
The Carnival of Space 378 is up at Is Universe. Double Disc Found Feeding Each Other In Binary Star System This artist’s impression shows the dust and gas around the double star system GG Tauri-A. Researchers using ALMA have detected gas in the region between two discs in this binary system. This may allow planets …
Nonproliferation role of 231Pa and 232U from a fusion breeder for the thorium molten salt reactor by Ralph Moir [21 pages] Initial and makeup 233U fuel for a thorium molten salt reactor can be produced in a fusion breeder with 2.4% 232U that will make this fuel “self-protected” by its strong gamma radiation according to …
[EEtimes] China took the lead in carbon nanotube and graphene research and manufacturing, according to Lux Research, by adding to a global glut market, driving down prices, eroding margins, and likely causing an early shakeout in the fledgling industry. Lux forecasts that the global graphene nanoplatlet and carbon nanotube demand in 2018 stands at 1,520 …
[Newsweek] Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that Russian forces had been deployed in Ukrainian territory amid claims that around 15,000 Russian soldiers have been sent to the Donetsk region. Reports of intensifying Russian military activity on its border with eastern Ukraine have increased in the last 12 hours with Reuters reporting spotting two Russian military …
Investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) today announced a new research initiative designed to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. The goal of the project, which is made possible by a $30 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), is to design and …
The world has the capacity to manufacture over 40 Gigawatts of solar panels each year, the vast majority of them silicon-based. And it’s easy to see why: our expertise with processing the material has led to a staggering drop in costs, making photovoltaics (PVs) much more cost-competitive than just about anyone had predicted. But that …