NASA now has the Dawn spacecraft in orbit around the dwarf planet Ceres. Ceres has one-tenth of the total water in Earth’s oceans. The solar irradiance of 150 W/m2 at aphelion, one ninth that on Earth, is high enough for solar-power facilities. The total volume of water on Earth is about 1.4 billion cubic kilometers, …
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that over the 2015–2024 period, the Administration’s plans for nuclear forces would cost $348 billion, an average of about $35 billion a year, and an amount that is close to CBO’s December 2013 estimate of $355 billion for the 2014–2023 period. (Both estimates are given in nominal dollars; that …
Using a new algorithm, Stanford engineers can design and build a prism-like silicon structure that can bend light at right angles. The goal is to transmit data faster and more efficiently via optical rather than electrical signals. The optical link is a tiny slice of silicon etched with a pattern that resembles a bar code. …
[Global Construction Review] Earlier this year, the Chinese Railway Authority announced that it was to expand its present network, which is somewhere north of 11,000km, by almost 7,000km. This comprises 48 projects and investments in rail in the first quarter of this year increased by 9% compared with the first quarter of 2013. China is …
US daily crude oil production over 8.5 million barrels per day and natural gas liquids nears 3 million barrels per day. US crude oil production is within about 5% of the mid-1980s peak. There was a high crude oil peak in the 1970s. The United States is on track in late 2015 to have crude …
A 26-year-old female chemist formulated polymers and coatings usually using silver ink particles. When she later began working with nickel nanoparticle powder weighed out and handled on a lab bench with no protective measures, she developed throat irritation, nasal congestion, “post nasal drip,” facial flushing, and new skin reactions to her earrings and belt buckle …
Our energy future depends on nuclear fusion, says Michel Laberge. The plasma physicist runs a small company with a big idea for a new type of nuclear reactor that could produce clean, cheap energy. His secret recipe? High speeds, scorching temperatures and crushing pressure. In this hopeful talk, he explains how nuclear fusion might be …
Are there any suggestions and volunteers for an overhaul of the nextbigfuture website ? The User Interface needs to be overhauled. Currently the site resides on blogger.com. If a good custom template could be created that might resolve some issues quickly. Ideally the URLs of the old articles should be preserved. Although if there were …
Noah Smith at Quartz makes that the following points * there has been 700 years where the gun has dominated the battlefield * infrantrymen displaced the archer * archers required people with more training The analysis is a massive simplification of the history of warfare: Spears and swords were dominant for longer than bows and …
Dr. David LeBlanc and Chris Popoff of Terrestrial Energy conducted an in-car interview regarding the use of nuclear power to make oilsands production more environmentally friendly. Their reactor is a Denatured Molten Salt Reactor called the “Integral Molten Salt Reactor”, drawing on the single fluid MSR research conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. There is …
Ukraine accused Russia of staging an “armed invasion” of Crimea on Friday. Russia has admitted that its troops are in Crimea in the Ukraine Eight Russian transport planes landed in Crimea Peninsula in southern Ukraine with unknown cargo. Unidentified armed men were patrolling outside of Crimea’s main airport early Friday while gunmen were also reported …