Sander Olson interviews Jeremy Fitton, the founder and Director of Skylifter, an Australian company that is developing a novel transportation system that uses solar powered engines to fly massive balloons. Skylifter should be able to lift 150 ton payloads and transport such payloads over thousands of miles. Although originally developed for the mining industry, skylifter …
A bullish analyst (Wedge Partners analyst Brian Blair) is predicting that Apple will double 2010 iPhone sales in 2011 His checks with the supply chain suggest Apple intends to produce 45-48 million iPads next year, which would be up from his forecast of 13.5 million in 2010. Among the drivers he anticipates is the arrival …
PHD Thesis – The Microwave Thermal Thruster and its Application to The Launch Problem by Kevin Parkin (2006) The full pdf is here (38.5 Megabytes) Nuclear thermal thrusters long ago bypassed the 50-year-old specific impulse (Isp) limitation of conventional thrusters, using nuclear powered heat exchangers in place of conventional combustion to heat a hydrogen propellant. …
Photograph of a Metaflex membrane placed on a disposable contact lens and illuminated with office light. The inset is an enlargement of the membrane. Flexible smart materials that can manipulate light to shield objects from view have been much-theorised but now researchers in Scotland have made a practical breakthrough that brings the possibility of an …
Murdoch University researchers have been able, with the help of added microorganisms, to turn sand into stone rapidly. There was PHd thesis work in 1999-2002 * This bacterium uses an enzyme to make its surroundings less acidic, which is a good environment for them to grow”, said Ms Whiffin. The by-product of this reaction is …
Mike Treder wrote an article called Are we in the future yet ? He laments failed predictions from the 1980s. Mike Treder does not know where or how to look for the “future”. Mike Treder notes several predictions and here is one – Machines will be capable, within twenty years, of doing any work a …
Here is the John Gedmark interview by Sander Olson. Mr. Gedmark is the Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, which is dedicated to promoting commercial spaceflight. Recent events indicate that the commercial spaceflight industry may soon reach critical mass and become a self-sustaining industry. Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship Two recently completed its second glide flight, …
Parabolic Arc and Hobbyspace coverage Greg Baiden, Laurentian University, Penguin Automated Systems “Lunar Mining: Taking the Best of Terrestrial Mining and Fitting it on the Moon” – 3 years ago, CSA came to him asking how to put a mine on the moon – Canadians (and Scandinavians) are really really good at mining stuff – …
Parabolic Arc coverage of space prospecting NEO (near earth objects) Mining Options * bag and boil for volatile extraction * magnetic rake for high grade ore * take small asteroid pieces home * new moon — Earth orbit * hot knife — cut up comet core with nuclear heat – Asteroid Itakowa is close to …
the Pelican quadrocopter is a prototype for a new generation of mini-drones designed for military use. The Pelican was powered by a Laser Motive system for 12 hours, 26 minutes and 56 seconds. Laser Motive won $900,000 last year in the NASA-backed Beam Power Challenge (Space Elevator Games). Nugent said that LaserMotive will be “going …
1. A October 28 agreement India’s PFC (Power Finance Corporation) intends to provide a combination of debt financing, equity financing and consultancy services to NPCIL, India’s sole nuclear operator. This should fund the expansion of India’s nuclear fleet of 19 reactors with a generating capacity of 4560 MWe to reach 9580 MWe by 2017. The …