Manned Mission to Mars Space Propulsion Comparison

An arxiv paper looks at possible engines for a manned Mars mission that are currently being tested or with flight proven capabilities. One propulsion system that was examined that is unproven is the “Pure Electro-Magnetic Thrust” (PEMT), presented in 2002 by Carlo Rubbia. In his proposal, the engine produces thrust as a Solar Sail, but …

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Carnival of Nuclear Energy 251

The Carnival of Nuclear Energy 251 is up at Neutron Bytes Atomic Power Review – SMART SMR Moves Ahead – in Saudi Arabia and at Home It has been announced that South Korea and Saudi Arabia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which includes the construction of SMART Small Modular Reactor nuclear plants. SMART …

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US Daily crude oil production highest since Nov 1972 and US all liquids oil hit an all time high of 14.56 million barrels per day

US Crude oil hit new post 1972 highs of 9.366 million barrels per day. Total liquids oil production hit a new all time high of 14.556 million barrels per day US daily crude oil production history from 1920 to today. The peak was in 1970 and was just short of 10 million barrels per day. …

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Annual Smartphone shipments will increase from 1.3 billion in 2014 to 1.9 billion in 2018

IDC forecasts smartphone increasing from 1.3 billion annual shipments in 2014 to 1.9 billion in 2018 According to a new mobile phone forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, worldwide smartphone shipments will reach a total of nearly 1.3 billion units in 2014, representing an increase of 26.3% over 2013. …

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Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria ,Saudi Arabia are sneaking up the world rankings of biggest economies

The Economist World in 2015 has its forecast for economic growth. The work was done before the outlook for oil prices clearly became far lower. Indonesia, Mexico, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria are quite high in the rankings based on purchasing power parity (PPP). In 2019, India is projected to be half of the USA economy …

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China has problems and in a show of political insecurity blocks Google services since last week

China has reportedly blocked all Google services days before the 25th anniversary of the military clampdown on the student protest centered around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. Cnet.com, citing a Chinese news website, reported Monday that Chinese users have found Google’s services to be inaccessible since last week. If you liked this article, please give it a …

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Stanford creates million neuron brain emulator chips that are 100,000 times more energy efficient than a PC simulation and switching to updated fabrication will bring the cost to $400 per million neuron system

Stanford bioengineers have developed faster, more energy-efficient microchips based on the human brain – 9,000 times faster and using significantly less power than a typical PC. This offers greater possibilities for advances in robotics and a new way of understanding the brain. For instance, a chip as fast and efficient as the human brain could …

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