China’s state council has released a white paper on China’s military. In general the paper indicates that China is shifting a military just for defense to one focused on offense and defense. Taiwan pitches sharing South China Sea Resources Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou laid out a plan on Tuesday to ease tensions in the vast, …
Krylovsky State Research Center (KRSC) came up with a scale model of a new aircraft carrier known as 23000 “Storm,” daily newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported. “Storm” can carry 90 deck-based aircraft for various combat missions. The carrier has two ramps and two electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft from its deck. The ship’s power plant will …
The Ministry of Defence will begin building an experimental laser weapon later this year as a prototype for Star Wars-type armaments that could one day be used by British forces. The project costing up to £100 million aims to create a high-energy laser that can track and hit moving targets in any weather. Britain is …
Scientists have found evidence of neuroinflammation in key regions of the brains of patients with chronic pain, according to a new study from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a Harvard affiliate. By showing that levels of an inflammation-linked protein are elevated in regions known to be involved in the transmission of pain, the study paves the …
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has raised a billion dollars in a financing round with two new investors, Google and Fidelity. They join existing investors Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Valor Equity Partners and Capricorn. Google and Fidelity will collectively own just under 10% of the company. SpaceX designs, manufactures, and launches the world’s most advanced …
A normal Spacex Falcon 9 launch costs roughly $65 million to $70 million—which is already about half the cost of competing services—but that price could drop to between $30 million $40 million, Caceres estimates, if SpaceX can learn to land the launch vehicle. How many times the Falcon 9 could be reused is not known. …
Spacex will again try to launch what could be a rocket that will attempt to successfully land its first stage on a barge. This will enable recovery and reuse. This is the link to the livestream broadcast on Saturday Weather is currently 80% “GO” for Falcon 9 and Dragon’s launch attempt tomorrow. Liftoff is targeting …
I hope everyone had a great Christmas. We have another open thread. We are also in the season on Festivus so you can air grievances but please still be polite and try to be amusing and interesting Brian WangBrian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per …
Thanks to Talk Polywell for the links to several more articles on Mach Propulsion Keith H. Wanser from the University of California has used Newton’s second law to explain propellantless acceleration, and he explicitly compares his findings to Woodward’s work on the Mach Effect. Journal of Space Exploration – Center of mass acceleration of an …
1. Nicaragua’s 6 million people are among the poorest, with as many as a quarter living on less than two dollars a day, which makes subsistence farming all the more important. President Ortega has described the canal, which would dwarf the old Panama Canal and the new one under construction as well, as “phase two” …
The China Bicycle Association reports that 36,950,000 electric bicycles (e-bikes) were produced in 2013; 5.4% more than in 2012. Production of regular bikes reached 82 million units in 2013; 0.9% down on the 2012 total. Electric Bike Worldwide Report (EBWR) had projected worldwide electric bike sales at 35 million for 2014, 40 million in 2025, …