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by brian wang on (#2W212)
There was a 2015 NASA presentation on the status of solar power and batteries for use on NASA missions. There is progress on the packaging to store higher power and lighter weight solar. It also discusses the dropoff in solar power as you get farther from the sun.
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NextBigFuture.com
| Link | https://www.nextbigfuture.com/ |
| Feed | http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/advancednano |
| Updated | 2025-07-01 16:48 |
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by brian wang on (#2W1ZZ)
Aerojet Rocketdyne, the nation’s premiere propulsion provider and a subsidiary of Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:AJRD), advocates Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) as a central element of America’s deep space architecture. During testimony before the Subcommittee on Space in the U.S. House of Representatives, Joe Cassady, executive director for Space Programs at Aerojet Rocketdyne, said, “SEP is key to a sustainable architecture by enabling efficient transfer of cargo, habitats and payloads to deep space destinations in advance of astronaut arrival.†SEP systems have between 6 and 10 times the propellant efficiency (specific impulse) of traditional chemical propulsion systems. More than 200
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by brian wang on (#2W1YD)
Researchers from Tohoku University have been trying to find out how the plasma flow is influenced by its environment via laboratory experiments. They are making progress towards creating an electrodeless plasma thruster used to propel spacecraft. There are many methods of propulsion used to accelerate spacecraft and artificial satellites. And while they all have their pros and cons, electric propulsion is now mature and widely used. The technology behind the electrically powered plasma thruster can deliver large thrust density without the need to expose electrodes to plasma, which cuts down on damage from erosion over time. While nearly all spacecraft
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by brian wang on (#2W1YF)
Deteriorating reliability of the F35 will causes costs to balloon, the Pentagon’s costliest program, according to an assessment from the Defense Department’s own testing office. The aircraft and its parts aren’t as reliable as expected, and it’s taking longer to repair them than planned, according to the presentation by the director of operational testing for defense officials and congressional aides. About 20 percent of the jets must await spares in depots because suppliers can’t keep up with expanding production while fixing returned parts. Costs and delays mean it is projected to cost $379 billion program to buy the planned fleet
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by brian wang on (#2W1WD)
Our galaxy could have 100 billion brown dwarfs or more, according to work by an international team of astronomers, led by Koraljka Muzic from the University of Lisbon and Aleks Scholz from the University of St Andrews. On Thursday 6 July Scholz will present their survey of dense star clusters, where brown dwarfs are abundant, at the National Astronomy Meeting at the University of Hull. Brown dwarfs are objects intermediate in mass between stars and planets, with masses too low to sustain stable hydrogen fusion in their core, the hallmark of stars like the Sun. After the initial discovery of
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by brian wang on (#2W1WF)
Reports of North Korea’s July 4 missile test say the missile had a range of “more that 930 km†(580 miles), and flew for 37 minutes (according to US Pacific Command). The 37 minute flight time suggests that the same missile could reach a maximum range of roughly 6,700 km (4,160 miles) on a standard trajectory.
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by brian wang on (#2W1WH)
Richard Fontaine at War on the Rocks considers the North Korea problem nuclear missile problem. Fontaine believes United States should respond to North Korea’s ICBM launch with a series of tough measures based on the actual, prevailing dynamics of power on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia. He believes the following should be assumptions. * China will not solve North Korea. China does not want a unified Korea and getting of North Korea leadership could lead to a costly refugee problem for China. * South Korea and Japan will not solve North Korea. The military risks are too high
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by brian wang on (#2W1TP)
INRS researchers have achieved a breakthrough in a light-weight photonic system created using on-chip devices and off-the-shelf telecommunications components. They demonstrated that photons can become an accessible and powerful quantum resource when generated in the form of color-entangled quDits. The system uses a small and cost-effective photonic chip fabricated through processes similar to those used for integrated electronics. With an on-chip micro-ring resonator excited by a laser, photons are emitted in pairs that share a complex quantum state. The photons are constructed in a state featuring a number of superimposed frequency components: The photons have several colors simultaneously, and the
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by brian wang on (#2W05Z)
Four years ago, researchers at MIT’s Media Lab developed a computer vision system that can analyze street-level photos taken in urban neighborhoods in order to gauge how safe the neighborhoods would appear to human observers. Now, in an attempt to identify factors that predict urban change, the MIT team and colleagues at Harvard University have used the system to quantify the physical improvement or deterioration of neighborhoods in five American cities. In work reported today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the system compared 1.6 million pairs of photos taken seven years apart. The researchers used the
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by brian wang on (#2W061)
Fightaging reviews 15 years of SENS antiaging research. Go to this link to donate to SENS where your money can have the most impact on improving human longevity. Here is the highlights of since 2015. 2015 * The SENS Research Foundation’s yearly budget reaches $5 million. * The Spiegel Lab at Yale announces a method of creating glucosepane, a vital and to this point missing tool needed to develop glucosepane cross-link breaker drugs. This work was funded by the SENS Research Foundation. * A research team demonstrates the first senolytic drug candidates capable of selectively destroying senescent cells. The number
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by brian wang on (#2W02K)
A US congressional committee is proposing that the US armed forces add a new military branch called the United States Space Corps. If this is passed it would be the first new branch of the armed forces since the Air Force was created in 1947. The Space Corp would provide “combat-ready space forces†that enable the commanders of the combatant commands to fight and win wars. The Space Corps would fall under the Air Force in the same way the Marine Corps works with the Navy. The 2018 Air Force space budget: it grew at least $1.5 billion. That’s a
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by brian wang on (#2VZET)
Once propulsion challenges are overcome, allowing humans to travel great distances quickly without incurring significant radiation damage, Saturn’s moon Titan is the optimal location in the solar system for an off-Earth human settlement. It has Earth-like qualities and a thick atmosphere that provides shielding from damaging radiation unlike any other solid surface location in the solar system. Given the distance from Earth (~1.3 billion km), such a settlement must be self-sustainable, and in particular, humans will need to produce oxygen to breathe and provide heating for habitats. The abundance of hydrocarbons and availability of wind and hydro-based power give this
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by brian wang on (#2VZEW)
Researchers at the KIT are developing sunglasses with glasses made from semi-transparent, organic solar cells that supply an integrated microprocessor with energy. The solar glasses are an example of future mobile applications of photovoltaics. Organic solar cells are flexible, transparent and light – and can be produced in any shape and color. As a result, they offer a wealth of applications that can not be realized with conventional silicon solar cells. Researchers at the KIT are now presenting in the trade magazine Energy Technology a pair of sunglasses with colored half-transparent solar cells in the glass surfaces, which supply a
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by brian wang on (#2VZEY)
Researchers demonstrated a performance improvement of state-of-the-art silicon solar cells by cloaking their metal contact fingers. The cloaking free-form surfaces are fabricated on silicon heterojunction solar cells using direct laser writing of polymers and subsequent soft imprinting. Cloaking performance is determined experimentally by measuring spatially resolved and angle-resolved current generation and the spectral response of the cell. The short-circuit current density of the cell increases by 7.3%; its power-conversion efficiency is enhanced by 9.3%. Overcompensation of the shadowing loss is found to be caused by improved light-gathering and light-trapping in the polymer layer. The experimental findings are in good agreement
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by brian wang on (#2VYJG)
Materials that can withstand very high temperatures well over 2000 degrees (up to 3000 degrees celsius) can enable hypersonic vehicle, better rockets, better reentry vehicles and other space and military applications. The new material ihas a rate of material loss over 12 times better than conventional zirconium carbide at 2,500 °. Being able to withstand higher temperatures is central to better engineering for more efficient jet engines, high efficiency turbines for energy. Higher temperature materials are fundamental to allowing many things to be faster, more powerful and more efficient. University of Manchester and Central South University of China performed the work.
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by brian wang on (#2VYC7)
Half the world’s nations have fertility rates below the replacement level of just over two children per woman. Countries across Europe and the Far East are teetering on a demographic cliff, with rates below 1.5. On recent trends, Germany and Italy could see their populations halve within the next 60 years. The world has hit peak child, says Hans Rosling at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. Peak person cannot be far behind. Some demographers had predicted peak global population by 2076 but most new estimates project continued world population growth past 2100. However, the population growth is focused in
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by brian wang on (#2VXXF)
Red.com who makes high resolution cameras used by photographic professionals and movies is making a $1200 holographic smartphone that will need no special glasses. It will be the world’s first holographic media machine and it will fit in your pocket. * view all 2D content at normal full resolution * view RED holographic hydrogen 4-View content * view stereo 3D content * view 2D/3D VR (virtual reality), AR (Augmented Reality) and MR (multi dimensional) It also has multidimensional audio. The new holographic phone will also integrate with all of RED’s high end video and still cameras. It will ship in
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by brian wang on (#2VW3D)
China claims an all electric rim-driven pump-jet had been fitted to the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s newest nuclear submarines. China is talking about putting the new ultra quiet propulsion system on new nuclear-powered type 095 attack submarines and Type 096 ballistic missile submarines. Nextbigfuture had covered the electric drive for submarines about one month ago. A rim-driven pump-jet has a ring-shaped electrical machine inside the pump-jet shroud, which turns the vane rotor inside the pump-jet cavity to create thrust. The design reduces noise by removing the shaft and also creating smaller water bubbles , Making it even quieter. Modern American
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by brian wang on (#2VW29)
In 2016, IBM made a five-qubit quantum processor available to developers, researchers and programmers for experimentation via its cloud portal. In May, 2017 IBM announced a 16 qubit processor for its cloud-based quantum computer and a more tightly engineered 17-qubit processor could be the basis for commercial systems. IBM is using wire-loop superconducting circuits. Google’s 20-qubit processor is also using wire loop superconducting circuits. Google’s Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab expects to achieve quantum supremacy (quantum computers with a 49-qubit chip by the end of this year. Superconducting circuits and trapped ions should both be able become larger than 50 qubits
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by brian wang on (#2VVSS)
Scientists in China raised them have set a world record by achieving 101.2 seconds of steady-state H-mode operation of the tokamak, an experimental device designed to harness the energy of fusion. The milestone meant China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), dubbed “artificial sun,†becoming the world’s first tokamak device to achieve the 100-second level, Hefei Institute of Physical Science under the Chinese Academy of Sciences said Wednesday. Last year, the EAST team in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, created a record by achieving over 60 seconds of steady-state long-pulse H-mode discharge of the device. EAST’s steady-state H-mode operation has provided
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by brian wang on (#2VVQR)
South Korea offers North korean defectors $860,000 in cash rewards for sensitive information about Kim Jong-un regime. An expanded $10 billion program of rewards could buy chaos, mass defections and breakdown of the North Korean nuclear and missile programs and pressure the North Korean leadership. There was also a $25 million bounty for Bin Laden. Taiwan used to give gold (550 pounds or almost $10 million in todays value) for Chinese pilots who defected with their jets. The South Korean rewards would go to “people who provide intelligence and knowledge that can enhance South Korea’s securityâ€, the Yonhap news agency
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by brian wang on (#2VV9W)
In May, a study claimed that the revolutionary CRISPR gene editing technique can cause thousands of unwanted and potentially dangerous mutations. The authors called for regulators to reassess the safety of the technique. But doubts were raised about these claims from the very beginning, not least because it was a tiny study involving just three mice. Some critics have called for the paper to be withdrawn. Now a paper posted online on 5 July has proposed a simple and more plausible explanation for the controversial results. Tsang and colleagues claimed that by sequencing the entire genome, they found off-target mutations
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by brian wang on (#2VV14)
The Straddle bus project gained worldwide attention when it was shown at various trade fairs in 2016 and with coverage 2009 to 2016. The project was also covered at Nextbigfuture. Time listed the Straddle bus as one of the top 50 innovations of 2010. The project was officially stopped last month. Police in Beijing have launched an investigation and arrested 32 people for illegal fundraising, as speculation mounts that rather than China’s next ambitious transit solution it was never much more than an elaborate investment scam. The BBC reported Tuesday that among those arrested was Bai Zhiming, CEO of the
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by brian wang on (#2VS0S)
All US Presidents from Reagan, to Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, Obama and Trump have failed to reverse the North Korean Nuclear program. Presidents from Eisenhower to Carter failed to prioritize and solve the North Korean rogue state issue. China has long feared a refugee crisis flooding its borders if North Korea’s leadership collapses. South Korea does not want to pay the price of a second Korean war. China does not want a unified Korea and China and Russia have seen some utility for North Korea in its current state. Sanctions have not worked because China has not enforced them
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by brian wang on (#2VRZ3)
Duke Robotics makes the TIKAD drone, which is a drone modified to carry a machine gun, a grenade launcher, and variety of other weapons to fight tomorrow’s urban warfare battles. They are selling the drone to the the US and Israeli military. It is a fully robotic weaponry system to an airborne platform. TIKAD, which is a proprietary development of Duke, uses the delivery of a unique suppression firing and stabilization solution. The TIKAD allows us to utilize completely new capabilities against terrorist groups and reduce the number of deployed ground troops, and therefore, the number of casualties. Instead of
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by brian wang on (#2VRSC)
Instead of relying on silicon-based devices, a new 3D chip uses carbon nanotubes, which are sheets of 2-D graphene formed into nanocylinders, and resistive random-access memory (RRAM) cells, a type of nonvolatile memory that operates by changing the resistance of a solid dielectric material. The researchers integrated over 1 million RRAM cells and 2 million carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, making the most complex nanoelectronic system ever made with emerging nanotechnologies. The RRAM and carbon nanotubes are built vertically over one another, making a new, dense 3-D computer architecture with interleaving layers of logic and memory. By inserting ultradense wires between
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by brian wang on (#2VPMD)
NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) is keenly interested in nanotechnology – an approach that can reduce the mass and improve the performance of aerospace systems. NASA computer modeling analysis has shown that composites using carbon nanotube reinforcements could lead to a 30 percent reduction in the total mass of a launch vehicle. “No single technology would have that much of an impact to reduce the mass of a launch vehicle by that much,†explains Michael Meador, Program Element Manager for Lightweight Materials and Manufacturing at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Tensile properties of a carbon nanotube fiber-based
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by brian wang on (#2VPHC)
Lockheed Martin plans to build the fly the first prototype of a mach 6 SR-72 hypersonic plane as early as 2018. the SR-72 will be a strike and reconnaissance aircraft that tops Mach 6. Hypersonic technologies, including a combined cycle propulsion system that blends a rocket engine and a supersonic jet engine, are now sufficiently advanced to allow the planned SR-72 project to begin. China’s TurboÂaided rocket augmented ram/scramjet combined cycle China is looking to free jet test a TurboÂaided rocket augmented ram/scramjet combined cycle (TRRE) engine later this year. Concept combines three main propulsion systems—turbine, rockets, ram/scramjets—in just two
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by brian wang on (#2VP2F)
China’s economic growth will accelerate because the country will finally get leaders who aren’t scared, a former advisor to China’s central bank said Wednesday. “The most important reason is that there is a new group of officials being appointed … (who will emerge) around the 19th Party Congress which will be in mid to late October,†said Li Daokui, who is now Dean of the Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Li said the Chinese economy will grow 6.9 to 7 percent by 2018 from 6.7 percent in 2017. China posted 6.7 percent GDP growth in 2016, the slowest
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by brian wang on (#2VP2H)
NASA’s technology development branch has been funding a project called Kilopower for three years and testing is due to start in September, 2017 and end in January 2018. NASA Game Changing Development program backed Kilopower, with the goal of building and testing a small fission reactor by Sept. 30, 2017, the end of the current fiscal year. The project is costing about $15 million. The test reactor, which is about 6.5 feet tall (1.9 meters), is designed to produce up to 1 kilowatt of electric power, but to keep costs down, the test unit does not include a full array
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by brian wang on (#2VP18)
The US believes North Korea fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile on Tuesday, two U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News — a significant step forward in Pyongyang’s weapons program. The ICBM, which is believed to be “two-stage,†officials said, would have a range of at least 3,500 miles, and thus be capable of reaching Alaska. Other sources indicate the missile range is 7,000 km (4200 miles). The 4200 mile range missile would cover the entire Asian continent and can reach any target from Hawaii to Australia, India and Scandinavia. The North Korean regime earlier Tuesday claimed it successfully fired a
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by brian wang on (#2VP1A)
The Institute of International Finance (IIF) Global Debt Monitor 2017 report shows that growth in global debt has slowed over the past several years, particularly in mature economies. However, Emerging Market economies borrowing more heavily, global debt has set a new record high of USD217 trillion (over 327% of GDP) in early 2017. The IIF report highlighted “rollover†risks, especially in emerging markets that have borrowed in hard currencies such as euros and dollars. Such debts will become costlier to service if Western interest rates rise and currencies strengthen. While U.S. interest rates have already been raised four times, the
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by brian wang on (#2VK9M)
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has ambitious plans to put an astronaut on the moon sometime around 2030, according to new proposals from the space agency. This is the first time JAXA has publicly explored sending astronauts anywhere beyond the International Space Station, a JAXA spokeswoman said Friday. The idea is to first join a NASA-led mission in 2025 to build a space station in the moon’s orbit — part of a longer-term effort by NASA to reach Mars. Tokyo hopes that contributing to the multinational mission and sharing Japanese technology will land it a coveted spot at the
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by brian wang on (#2VK2M)
India plans to commission its first fast breeder reactor (FBR) by the end of this year at Kalpakkam in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. India’s Prototype Fast Breed Reactor will produce 500MW of power. India would be the second country worldwide to have a commercial reactor currently produce power through a fast-breeder reactor. Russia owns the other commercially run FBR, the Beloyarsk Nuclear Plant. Countries such as the US, France, and Japan have also experimented with fast breeder technology programmes. France had a commercial fast breeder (Superphenix reactor) from 1985 to 1998. India’s nuclear power program has been focused
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by brian wang on (#2VK0G)
Tesla Motors Model 3 mass-market electric car will begin production on Friday after passing regulatory production requirements. The first car will roll off the assembly line two weeks ahead of schedule. Tesla has scheduled a “handover party†for the first 30 customers for July 28. Planned Model 3 Production by Month in 2017 July 30 August 100 Sept 1500 Oct 5000 est Nov 11000 est Dec 20000 Looks like we can reach 20,000 Model 3 cars per month in Dec — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 3, 2017 Handover party for first 30 customer Model 3's on the 28th! Production grows
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by brian wang on (#2VJWG)
NASA approved the DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) which will fly a spacecraft into an asteroid and measure the deflection. NASA is also developing a first-ever robotic mission to visit a large near-Earth asteroid, collect a multi-ton boulder from its surface, and use it in an enhanced gravity tractor asteroid deflection demonstration. The spacecraft will then redirect the multi-ton boulder into a stable orbit around the moon, where astronauts will explore it and return with samples in the mid-2020s. This Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) is part of NASA’s plan to advance the new technologies and spaceflight experience needed for a
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by brian wang on (#2VJWJ)
The first-ever mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defense — the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) — is moving from concept development to preliminary design phase. Artist concept of NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft. DART, which is moving to preliminary design phase, would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate an asteroid deflection technique for planetary defense. Credits: NASA/JHUAPL “DART would be NASA’s first mission to demonstrate what’s known as the kinetic impactor technique — striking the asteroid to shift its orbit — to defend against a potential future asteroid impact,†said Lindley Johnson, planetary defense
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by brian wang on (#2VH38)
Carnival of Space 516 is up at links through space. Planetaria – New Horizons team successfully observes transit of next KBO target, and clouds on Pluto. Images of seven possible clouds on Pluto, as seen by New Horizons. The other bright layers are haze in the thin atmosphere. Image Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI Nextbigfuture – Spacex had two successful launches in one weekend and has new titanium fins able to handle indefinite number of flights with no service Nextbigfuture – If EMdrive is real and scales with Q factor then we get almost Star Trek level Technology Nextbigfuture – Solar powered EMdrive
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by brian wang on (#2VGNZ)
The IMF has increased the projected GDP growth for China to 6.7 percent in 2017 and average annual growth of 6.4 percent between 2018-20. Previous predictions from the IMF had China at 6.2% or less GDP growth from 2018 to 2020. Based on the lower projections the IMF had China with purchasing power parity GDP increasing for $16600 now to $23960 in 2022. If China matched the improved GDP growth then per capita GDP would be about $24800 in 2022. It would still another 10 to 15 years beyond 2022 (2032 to 2037) for China to move up from slightly
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by brian wang on (#2VGM2)
China’s launch of a new heavy-lift rocket, the Long March-5 Y2, carrying what the government said was its heaviest ever satellite, failed on Sunday. The same rocket type had been expected to take China’s latest lunar probe to the Moon this year and to return with samples. It is not clear how the timetable for that mission could be affected by the failed launch. Last year, China had a successful launch of its first Long March 5.
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by brian wang on (#2VGM4)
SpaceX is looking to extend its soaring flight rate with a third Falcon rocket launch in nine days, as the company works off a backlog of missions that piled up after an accident 10 months ago. The company’s 39th Falcon 9 rocket is being prepared for liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7:36 p.m. EDT Sunday (July 2). The launch of Intelsat 35e to geostationary orbit some 22,300 miles up means the booster will not have enough fuel to make a return landing. Spacex is on pace to launch more than 20 Falcon rockets this year, including
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by brian wang on (#2VGJP)
China is has nearly completed build up of missile shelters, radar/communications facilities, and other infrastructure on Fiery Cross, Mischief, and Subi Reefs. In February, AMTI (Asian Maritime Initiative, CSIS) identified eight hardened shelters with retractable roofs at each of the Big Three, which Reuters had earlier reported would house missile launchers. China has now built four additional shelters at Fiery Cross. The annual Pentagon military assessment expects China to base three regiments of military aircraft on the various island bases. The US military has had numerous close passes of the islands to show the US exercises freedom of navigation. A
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by brian wang on (#2VGDS)
Michael Hippke has calculated how to have multi-megabyte communication speeds between a laser pushed sail probe and a telescope at our solar systems gravitational lensing point. Previously Hippke had determined how to use stellar photon pressures of the stellar triple α Cen A, B, and C (Proxima) together with gravity assists to decelerate incoming solar sails from Earth. Hippke works out the problems of interstellar communication and communication using the gravitational lensing points in more detail. There have been past work on interstellar communication using gravitational lens for improved performance as reported here at Nextbigfuture. There was a 238 page
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by brian wang on (#2VEKR)
China continues to have an economy that is growing at about 6 to 6.5% over the next three years and about 5-6% for a few years afterward. China’s middle and affluent classes continue to grow. This has and will continue to see a growing insurance and financial market. China is shifting from family and village support to insurance and other developed approaches. China’s health and life insurance markets will more than double by 2030. It will likely double by about 2026 from 2017 levels. The Chinese insurance market has grown at a furious pace in recent years. Between 2000 and
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by brian wang on (#2VD9R)
Stars exploding as supernovae are the main sources of heavy chemical elements in the Universe. In these star explosions, radioactive atomic nuclei are synthesized in the hot, innermost regions during the explosion and can thus provide insights into the unobservable physical processes that initiate the blast. Using elaborate computer simulations, a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) and the research institute RIKEN in Japan were able to explain the recently measured spatial distributions of radioactive titanium and nickel in Cassiopeia A, a roughly 340 year old gaseous remnant of a nearby supernova. The computer models
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by brian wang on (#2VD2M)
Errors in how scientists account for water loss from leaves may be skewing estimates of how much energy plants make through photosynthesis and cause errors in the models of how individual leaves function and even of the global climate. The errors are particularly pronounced when a plant’s water supply is limited — a condition of increasing interest as plant breeders and climate scientists grapple with the effects of global warming. Researchers have long assumed that the main way that plants lose water is through leaf pores called stomata. When water is abundant, the stomata open wide to let carbon dioxide
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by brian wang on (#2VD1M)
IBM scientists have made carbon nanotube transistors smaller and faster silicon transistors. Carbon nanotube transistors have long had the potential to be better than silicon, but this is the first time when that promise has been realized. Now IBM and others will have to scale up superior carbon nanotube devices. IBM scientists have been experimenting with carbon nanotubes, rolled-up sheets of carbon atoms just 1 nanometer, or a billionth of a meter, in diameter. But difficulties working with the material have meant that, for optimal performance, nanotube transistors have to be even larger than current silicon transistors, which are about
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by brian wang on (#2VCNH)
Lockheed Martin is using turbine rocket combined cycle (TRCC) to build a mach 6-10 hypersonic plane. The TRCC is an engine that switches between turbofan, ramjet and scramjets for subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flight. The TRCC engine will be tested on a fighter-sized flight testbed by 2020. They would then try to develop a Mach 6, unmanned spyplane by 2030 that would perform the same role as the old SR-71 Blackbird. The hypersonic spyplane would enter highly contested and defended airspace at altitudes of 18 and 62 miles, using its speed to outrun enemy defenses. Hypersonic planes could fire hypersonic
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by brian wang on (#2VCNK)
At asphalt volcanoes in the Gulf of Mexico that spew oil, gas and tar, mussels and sponges live in symbiosis with bacteria providing them with food. Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and colleagues from the USA have now discovered deep-sea animals living in symbiosis with bacteria that use oil as an energy source and appear to thrive on short-chained alkanes in the oil. According to the researchers, bacteria closely related to the symbionts, which bloomed during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, used this ability to degrade the oil in the sea. Oil forms the basis for
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by brian wang on (#2VCD3)
The United States announced six goals to achieve global energy dominance. 1. Revive and expand nuclear energy sector 2. Address barriers to financing of overseas coal energy plants 3. Build an oil pipeline to Mexico 4. Sell more American natural gas to South Korea 5. Approve two long-term applications to export additional natural gas from the Lake Charles LNG terminal in Louisiana 6. Release new offshore oil and gas leasing program. The US will perform a complete review of US nuclear energy policy to help find new ways to revitalize nuclear energy. Nuclear Energy Institute president and CEO Maria Korsnick
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