Lava tubes large enough to house cities could be structurally stable on the moon, according to a theoretical study presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference on Tuesday (March 17). The volcanic features are an important target for future human space exploration because they could provide shelter from cosmic radiation, meteorite impacts and temperature …
Here is a summary of supercavitation an article from Caltech written in 2001. This relates to a recent report that chinese researchers have made progress overcoming a few of the problems for implementing supercativation. For ships traveling faster than 60 miles per hour, propeller-induced cavitation is unavoidable. Supercavitation offers a solution. In supercavitation, the small …
Forbes and other sources are reporting on the the budget cut impacts on the US military. The sequestration provisions of the 2011 Budget Control Act are the big problem for the US military today, because savings goals can only be met in the near term by reducing funding for training and technology. The Army plans …
212 Bridge Academies have opened in Kenya during the past four years. Bridge’s “schools in a box” spring up seemingly overnight: In January of 2013, the company launched 51 schools at once, while in September it opened another 78. Bridge now educates roughly 50,000 students in Kenya every day, and its global aspirations may transform …
The US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Disease states that more than 20 million adults in the US have some form of chronic kidney disease, showing the need for better knowledge and treatment of the condition. Now, scientists have created miniature 3D kidney structures from human stem cells with the aim of providing …
The increasing worldwide energy consumption calls for the design of more efficient energy systems. Thermoelectrics could be used to convert waste heat back to useful electric energy if only more efficient materials were available. The ideal thermoelectric material combines high electrical conductivity and thermopower with low thermal conductivity. In this regard, the intermetallic type-I clathrates …
U.S. crude oil production increased to an average of 7.5 million barrels per day (bbl/d) in July 2013, the highest monthly level of production since 1991. EIA forecasts U.S. total crude oil production will average 7.4 million bbl/d in 2013 and 8.2 million bbl/d in 2014, both about 0.1 million bbl/d higher than forecast in …
Molecular farming is an easy, fast, and safe method for producing vaccines and therapeutic proteins in plants. Now a team of Fraunhofer researchers from the USA has built up a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant plant factory. “We use tobacco plants because they multiply and maintain our virus vectors very well. In addition, they grow …
Israeli jets have bombed a target in Syria in what one report suggested was a strike on a chemical weapons facility. The move will raise tensions in the Middle East and comes amid mounting pressure over the alleged use of chemical weapons by president Bashar Assad’s regime. Israel refused to comment directly, but its embassy …
Over 20% of the world’s population still lives without electric lighting, and about 40% do not own a television. Despite increasing rhetoric on the need to improve access to clean-burning fuels and electricity globally, the number of households depending on solid fuels is increasing and the number of new electricity connections in sub-Saharan Africa is …
The world’s biggest laser missed a key target date on the road to producing clean energy via nuclear fusion, an independent review panel says the technology holds enough promise to continue the quest – with a few modifications. NIF’s approach was to fire a 192-beam laser at a metal shell the size of a pencil …