Last fall Yale astronomer Tabetha (Tabby) Boyajian and colleagues posted a paper on an astronomy preprint server reporting a star (KIC 8462852) 1,480 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus had found fluctuations in the light coming from the otherwise ordinary F-type star (slightly larger and hotter than the sun). The most remarkable of these fluctuations …
There seems to be no theoretical obstacles to the production of 10^18 antiprotons per day (the amount required for triggering one thermonuclear bomb), the construction of such a plant involves several techniques which are between 3 and 4 orders of magnitude away from present day technology. Considering the financial and energy investments needed to produce …
The Sikorsky-Boeing SB-1 DEFIANT™ Joint Multi-Role Technology Demonstrator (JMR TD) helicopter is their third X2® aircraft in less than 10 years. The aircraft will prove the scalability of the X2 design to a 30,000-lb. class weight. (This contrasts with the 6,000-lb X2 Technology Demonstrator and the RAIDER™ at 11,400 lbs.) Sikorsky-Boeing expects to begin final …
China is being encouraged by three industry groups to double the nation’s solar-power goal for 2020 to fill a gap forecast to emerge because nuclear and hydropower are due to fall short of targets. The world’s biggest solar market needs 200 gigawatts of such capacity by then, according to a document seen by Bloomberg. China …
In June, the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board completed a study (the first of three) that suggested the Air Force could modify the Reaper to be at least somewhat useful against a well-defended enemy The military has long thought drones to be “useless” against against decent air defenses with radar, interceptor missiles, or aircraft. Currently …
Under the most aggressive assumptions China will still be using coal for over 50% of its power needs in 2030 At the same time as China renewables grow, the absolute amount of China coal fired generation will continue to skyrocket. According to Bloomberg, 343-450 Gigawatts of new coal generation will be built in China over …
Transatomic Power, developers of a molten salt nuclear reactor design, announced today that FF Science, an investment vehicle of Founders Fund, has invested $2 million to assist the company with its seed stage development. The funds will be used for bench-top laboratory testing and refinement of the company’s designs and computer models. Transatomic Power is …
A new form of solid, stable light-sensitive nanoparticles, called colloidal quantum dots, could lead to cheaper and more flexible solar cells, as well as better gas sensors, infrared lasers, infrared light emitting diodes and more. The work, led by post-doctoral researcher Zhijun Ning and Professor Ted Sargent. Collecting sunlight using these tiny colloidal quantum dots …
Here is the weekend open thread for new discussion topics and for suggesting interesting URLs. Please be polite and courteous in your discussions. Argue about the material but do not make personal attacks Thanks If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks Brian WangBrian Wang is a …
Mega-regions have been defined as the extended networks of metropolitan centers and the surrounding areas that include layers of relationships in environmental systems, infrastructure systems, economic linkages, settlement pattern and land use, and shared culture and history. In the US, 10 mega-regions have been proposed by the Regional Plan Association (2006). They include the Northeast, …
Guest Article by Jason Hope: Humankind has learned how to control many serious illnesses over the centuries, from polio to tuberculosis, but scientists have yet to figure out how to stop the aging process. The founders of the SENS Research Foundation decided to change all that. SENS is an acronym for Strategies for Engineered Negligible …