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The Air Force has selected SpaceX to launch the secretive X-37B unmanned spaceplane on its fifth mission to orbit, according to Spaceflight Now. The Falcon 9 Upgrade or Full Thrust that will be used is taller and more powerful than previous versions of SpaceX’s primary launch vehicle. The Full Thrust has been launched before, carrying large payloads such as one of the Inmarsat-5 satellites. The Air Force has two X-37Bs, and these reusable, uncrewed orbital vehicles generally spend hundreds of days in orbit at a time. During the craft’s fourth and most recent mission, it orbited the planet for 718

Unit 3 of the Takahama nuclear power plant in Japan’s Fukui prefecture was restarted on June 6, 2017, plant owner Kansai Electric Power Company has announced. Takahama 4 – which had also been kept offline since March 2016 by a court injunction – was restarted last month, joining three other reactors in operation. Kansai said the 830 MWe (net) pressurised water reactor (PWR) was restarted at 2.00pm today and is expected to achieve criticality tomorrow. The company plans to resume electricity generation at Takahama 3 and reconnect it to the grid on 9 June “as the final stage of the

China has several multi-billion dollar city development projects. Nanhui New City plans to attract 800,000 residents and reportedly cost $4.5 billion. Nanhui city illustration Established in April 2017, Xiongan New Area is a redevelopment project planned for Hebei, China. Initially, the city will cover nearly 40 square miles, but eventually it will reach about 80 square miles — over three times the size of Manhattan. Xiongan will take 15 years to build and will have 4.5 million people. Xiongan has $290 billion in funding. The percentage of population living in urban areas was 56.1% in April, 2016, with a target

Lockheed Martin says hypersonic technologies are now sufficiently mature to enable progress towards a flight demonstrator. In March 2016, Lockheed CEO Hewson stated that the company was on the verge of a technological breakthrough that would allow its conceptual SR-72 hypersonic plane to reach Mach 6. A hypersonic demonstrator aircraft the size of an F-22 stealth fighter could be built for less than $1 billion. The 4600mph SR-72 unmanned drone could have a flying prototype in 2018.

China is building three air bases in the Spratlys (Fiery Cross, Subhi and Mischief reef) and another on Woody Island in the Paracels will allow Chinese military aircraft to operate over nearly the entire South China Sea. The same is true of China’s radar coverage, made possible by advanced surveillance/early-warning radar facilities at Fiery Cross, Subi, and Cuarteron Reefs, as well as Woody Island, and smaller facilities elsewhere. China has stopped expanding the reefs and is now working to add military infrastructure to them, the report states. New installations include airfields with runways of at least 8,800 feet, water and

The US Army is testing new guns and ammunition to replace the M4/M16 assault rifles. The 5.56 mm ammunition is not as lethal the in the over 300 meter range where many modern firefights are taking place. SOCOM is also developing polymer ammunition in 6.5 mm to reduce the weight load. Current research is showing polymer 6.5 mm reducing weight by one-third from 7.62 mm, reaching nearly the same weight as conventional brass 5.56 mm. Textron Systems, a private defense industry company, conducted a caliber study using a specially designed .264 (6.5 mm) caliber cartridge which they said resulted in

Tesla had its annual shareholders meeting on June 6, 2017 and there were many big announcements in it. * Tesla is making a big push to expand its supercharger network of fast-charging stations—capable of adding enough charge to drive 170 miles in 30 minute—for Tesla owners. The company plans to double the number of superchargers this year to 10,000 by end of 2017, and add at least 50% more the following year. Tesla says it’s adding “amenities” to certain supercharger stations, although did not give specifics. * Tesla is deploying a new version of its self driving system. Tesla will

In 2016, former Energy Secretary Steven Chu criticized the Clean Power Plan. He did not think energy storage can solve the reliability problems of wind and solar quickly enough, he said Friday, which led him to criticize the Environmental Protection Agency for neglecting nuclear power in its Clean Power Plan. “Even though the Clean Power Plan says we need nuclear and maintains the same ratio, they give no credit for it,” Chu said during a debate at the Silicon Valley Energy Summit hosted by Stanford University. “We should make a Clean Power Plan that’s based on clean energy, not renewable

According to a survey of more than 350 artificial intelligence researchers there is a 50 per cent chance that machines will outperform humans in all tasks within 45 years. AI will master many activities a lot sooner, though. Machines are predicted to be better than us at translating languages by 2024, writing high-school essays by 2026, driving a truck by 2027, working in retail by 2031, writing a bestselling book by 2049 and surgery by 2053. In fact, all human jobs will be automated within the next 120 years, say respondents. Arxiv – When Will AI Exceed Human Performance? Evidence

A researcher with the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at UT Dallas has designed a novel computing system made solely from carbon that might one day replace the silicon transistors that power today’s electronic devices. “The concept brings together an assortment of existing nanoscale technologies and combines them in a new way,” said Dr. Joseph S. Friedman, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UT Dallas who conducted much of the research while he was a doctoral student at Northwestern University. The resulting all-carbon spin logic proposal, published by lead author Friedman and several collaborators in

The number of children dying worldwide of diarrhea fell by a third between 2005 and 2015, researchers have found. The study says better access to clean water and sanitation is key, with fewer weak and malnourished children becoming infected. New vaccines have also had a positive impact. However, diarrhea is still the fourth-biggest killer of children globally, with almost 500,000 a year dying before their fifth birthday. This figure could well be a significant under-estimate because of the lack of data in sub-Saharan Africa, where most cases occur. Preventable and treatable Diarrhea is also indirectly responsible for large numbers of

Since August 2016, Karmazin’s company, Ambrosia, has been transfusing people aged 35 and older with plasma – the liquid component of blood – taken from people aged between 16 and 25. So far, 70 people have been treated, all of whom paid Ambrosia to be included in the study. Blood biomarkers None of the people in the study had cancer at the time of treatment, however Karmazin’s team looked at the levels of certain proteins called carcinoembryonic antigens. These chemicals are found in the blood of healthy people at low concentrations, but in larger amounts these antigens can be a

The Oceaneos Marine Research Foundation of Vancouver, Canada, says that it is seeking permits from the Chilean government to release up to 10 tonnes of iron particles 130 kilometers off the coast of Coquimbo as early as 2018. But Chilean scientists are worried because the organization grew out of a for-profit company, Oceaneos Environmental Solutions of Vancouver, that has sought to patent iron-fertilization technologies. The Oceaneos foundation has accused the scientists of improperly classifying its work as geoengineering, rather than ocean restoration. * Iron in some parts of the Ocean are at 2-4 parts per trillion when it should be

Spacex unmanned Falcon rocket blasted off carrying a Dragon capsule that made a station delivery nearly three years ago. The refurbished Dragon capsule is the first returning craft since NASA’s now-retired shuttles. The first-stage booster flown Saturday afternoon was brand new, and as is now the custom, returned to Cape Canaveral following liftoff for a successful vertical touchdown. The plan is to launch the booster again, instead of junking it in the ocean as so many other rocket makers do. Just two months ago, SpaceX launched its first recycled booster on a satellite mission. Another flight featuring a reused booster

Strategy Analytics has predicted the potential economic impact of the Passenger Economy once fully autonomous pilotless vehicles begin to proliferate globally in 2035 and by 2050, the base year of our scenarios, account for nearly 50 percent of all vehicles sold. The study predicts an explosive economic trajectory growing from $800 billion in 2035 to $7 trillion by 2050. Key report highlights include: Business use of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) is expected to generate $3 trillion in revenues, or 43 percent of the total passenger economy. Consumer use of Mobility-as-a-Service offerings is expected to account for $3.7 trillion in revenue, or nearly

The US Army has created a lightweight Titanium version of its iconic .50-cal machine gun designed to better enable Soldiers to destroy enemies, protect convoys, mount weapons on vehicles, attack targets on the move and transport between missions. The new weapon is 20-to-30 percent lighter than the existing M2, will be made of durable, but lighter weight titanium, Army officials said. This made a 60 pound version of the current 86 pound weapon. The machine gun is currently used on Humvees, tactical trucks, M1 Abrams tanks, Strykers, some Navy ships and several aircraft such as CH-47 Chinook cargo helicopters and

Intel has introduced its new Core X high-performance desktop chips, led by the Core i9-7980XE, its first 18-core processor. It is the first consumer desktop CPU with teraflop performance. Compared with Intel’s four-core, seventh-generation Core i5 and Core i7 processors for mainstream users, the Core X-series is aimed at gamers who want to live-stream, and users running applications such as VR video editing, 3D modeling, and special-effects creation. The top end of the series is for anyone who feels the need for extreme performance on the desktop and is willing to pay for it. The Core X-series is spearheaded by

IBM and its Research Alliance partners GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Samsung, and equipment suppliers have developed an industry-first process to build silicon nanosheet transistors that will enable 5 nanometer (nm) chips. The details of the process will be presented at the 2017 Symposia on VLSI Technology and Circuits conference in Kyoto, Japan. In less than two years since developing a 7nm test node chip with 20 billion transistors, scientists have paved the way for 30 billion switches on a fingernail-sized chip. The resulting increase in performance will help accelerate cognitive computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and other data-intensive applications delivered in

Chinese state media has reported that the Cihina is fitting its newest nuclear sub with an electromagnetic engine that sounds a lot like Tom Clancy’s fictional Red October engine. Rear Admiral Ma Weiming, China’s top naval engineer, is notably responsible for the development of multiple Chinese naval electromagnetic programs, including the electromagnetic catapult and railguns. He said the Chinese navy is adding a “shaftless” rim-driven pumpjet, a revolutionary and silent propulsion system to their newest attack submarine, the Type 095 SSN. This electric drive is an attempt to leap beyond current submarine technology to technology with a long history of

Reports claim there has been substantial design work and concept proofing for a new underwater arsenal ship in China. A leading chinese naval engineer Professor Dong Wei Cai continued to work on a key aspect of the arsenal ship design: the high-speed wave hydroplane up until his recent death. There are two concepts in circulation: 1. a high-speed warship with much of its hull submerged but otherwise has a functional superstructure with defense weapons and radar 2. other is almost completely submerged arsenal ship with two conning towers. Both ship designs could displace roughly about 20,000 tons at full load.

A single treatment giving life-long protection from severe allergies such as asthma could be made possible by immunology research at The University of Queensland. A team led by Associate Professor Ray Steptoe at the UQ Diamantina Institute has been able to ‘turn-off’ the immune response which causes allergic reaction in animals. “When someone has an allergy or asthma flare-up, the symptoms they experience results from immune cells reacting to protein in the allergen,” Professor Steptoe said. “The challenge in asthma and allergies is that these immune cells, known as T-cells, develop a form of immune ‘memory’ and become very resistant

Carnival of space 511 is up at Everyday Spacer Planetaria – New moon discovered by Hubble orbiting third largest dwarf planet in Kuiper Belt Hubble Space Telescope and two other telescopes, orbiting the third largest known dwarf planet known as 2007 OR10. 2007 OR10 orbits the Sun in the far distant outer fringes of the Solar System, in the Kuiper Belt. The discovery also means that astronomers can learn more about how moons formed in the early Solar System. Hubble spots a moon around the dwarf planet 2007 OR10. These two images, taken a year apart, reveal a moon orbiting

The Carnival of Space 510 is at Urban Astronomer Universe Today – We Will Launch on Reusable Rocket After Exceptional SpaceX Performance – Inmarsat CEO Tells Universe Today “I’m sure we will be using a ‘reused rocket’, Inmarsat CEO Pearce stated. “And we will be launching on a ‘reusable rocket’ in the future.” We will be looking to support them in any way we can with their new innovation programs.” All 9 Merlin 1D first stage engines firing beautifully as SpaceX Falcon 9 arcs over down range successfully carrying Inmarsat 5F4 #I5F4 to geostationary transfer orbit at twilight after liftoff

This super-metal is the hottest commodity on the market right now—and it’s NOT lithium. Instead… It’s a metal that early investors are eyeing as a massive opportunity. This is a sponsored post Supply is already in deficit – and that’s before the anticipated 500 percent increase in demand. It’s a metal that is critical to the future stock price of everything from Google, Apple, Tesla, Amazon, UPS and many more. Welcome to the supply crisis that is all about Cobalt Cobalt is a metal that few investors know much about – it is critical to the electric vehicle (EV) revolution

Russia has claimed it has carried out more successful tests of a hypersonic Zircon missile, a year ahead of schedule. In April, 2017, Russia’s new hypersonic anti-ship Zircon missile has reached eight times the speed of sound (about 6100 mph) during the test, a source with Russia’s defense sector told TASS. The source noted that Zircon missiles can be launched from universal launching platforms 3C14 which are also used for the Onyx and Caliber missiles. It is expected that the new missiles will be installed at the heave nuclear-powered cruisers Peter the Great and Admiral Nakhimov. The expected range with

Some user are getting some errors with a cached this ssl certificate. This is not problem that may be fixed on server side. Users to clean ssl cache of his system. Most probably following this guide https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/refresh-firefox-reset-add-ons-and-settings will solve problem. If not maybe please try contacting your ISP for help about this case.

China has developed a new type of ultrafast anti-missile interceptor capable of knocking down an incoming projectile that is flying 10 times faster than a bullet, according to the nation’s largest missile maker. China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, one of the major defense contractors for the People’s Liberation Army, recently revealed that its Second Academy in Beijing has made a “new-generation aerospace defense missile” that incorporates top space technologies, and which it describes as one of the cornerstones of a world power’s strategic prowess. The weapon is so difficult to design that only a handful of nations in the

Non-Newtonian fluids are made with substances like cornstarch. They are gooey and oozy to a gentle touch, but become as hard as steel when struck. In an academy lab, Cadet Hayley Weir mixed up batches of her secret formula, a viscous black goo. She says it’s less like science and more like baking a cake. The substance is put in vacuum-seal bags normally used for leftovers and flattened into a quarter-inch layer. That is layered into a wafer with Kevlar fabric. “It’s all about the layering,” Weir said. A quarter-inch thick design repeatedly stopped a round fired from a 9mm

The number of babies born in Japan fell below 1 million in 2016 for the first time since records began in the 19th century, underscoring the demographic challenges facing the nation with an aging and declining population. There were 976,979 babies born last year in Japan, the fewest since the government started tracking the data in 1899, according to labor ministry data released on Friday. India had 25.6 million births in 2016. China had 18.5 million births in 2016. Nigeria had 10-11 million births in 2016 (Nigeria has especially inaccurate demographics) Indonesia had 4.5 million births in 2016. The USA

In May 2017, the world atmosphere has been measured at 409.25 ppm CO2. There have been some measurements in Hawaii of 411 ppm. The levels rose from 407.42 ppm in April 2016. For the odds to be greater than 66 per cent probability of less than 2 degrees of warming, the CO2-e concentrations should be should be lower than 415 ppm. Within 2 to 3 years the world will be at 415 ppm concentration. Previous calculations of 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 2 degrees or less gives an allowable budget of Kyoto gases of approximately 2 020

Rocket Lab broke new ground today when its Electron rocket reached space at 16:23 NZST. Rocket Lab has said they will charge $5 million for each rocket. The SpaceX Falcon 9 has a launch cost of $57 million. Rocket Lab will launch up to 225 kilograms. The Falcon 9 can launch 22800 kilograms to low earth orbit. Rocket lab 3D prints almost all of parts. They use carbon composite materials for many parts which are lighter. Rocket labs uses advanced batteries to enable electric turbopumps. Electron lifted-off at 16:20 NZST from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on the Mahia Peninsula

The USS Carl Vinson and the USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike groups had joined up off the Korean coast. * Each carrier strike group usually contains two destroyers (each with a 96-cell vertical launch missile system primarily used for cruise missiles and anti-air weaponry * one cruiser (equipped with a 122-cell vertical launch missile system) * at least one attack submarine lurking nearby. * each carrier has about 90 aircraft. * Japanese ships are also with the US ships

MIT researchers have created edible origami, in the form of flat sheets of gelatin and starch that, when submerged in water, instantly sprout into three-dimensional structures, including common pasta shapes such as macaroni and rotini. The edible films can also be engineered to fold into the shape of a flower as well as other unconventional configurations. Playing with the films’ culinary potential, the researchers created flat discs that wrap around beads of caviar, similar to cannoli, as well as spaghetti that spontaneously divides into smaller noodles when dunked in hot broth. They describe their shape-morphing creations as not only culinary

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has become the first head of a major semiconductor company to say what academics have been suggesting for some time: Moore’s Law is dead. Since 1975, the number of transistors on a chip doubled every two years. From 1965 to 1975 the number of transistors doubled every year. “Microprocessors no longer scale at the level of performance they used to — the end of what you would call Moore’s Law,” Huang said. “Semiconductor physics prevents us from taking Dennard scaling any further.” Huang says new GPU architectures for graphics and AI will continue the increase in

The US Navy could get to a 355 ship navy in 2030 instead of 2045 by spending more to maintain cruisers, destroyers, amphibious class ships, and other Steel hulled ships. They could not extend the lives of submarines, aircraft carriers or Aluminum hulled ships. Aircraft carriers already reach 50 years of use by getting a midlife overhaul. Submarines have too much problems with stress on their hulls and the planned lives of their nuclear reactors.

The Navy accepted delivery of the first-in-class aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78) on May 31, following the completion of acceptance trials on May 26. The carrier had been scheduled for a March 2016 commissioning originally, but technological problems with the advanced arresting gear and other first-in-class issues slowed delivery by a year and a half. The carrier is expected to be operational in 2020 following achievement of initial operational capability.

What are the commitments made by 184 countries related to the Paris Agreement on the environment ? Developed countries have offered absolute economy-wide emissions targets (the United States, for instance, had pledged to reduce its emissions 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025). If fully implemented, the submitted INDCs for 2025 and 2030 are projected to lead to a warming of around 2.7°C by 2100 reflecting a 0.4°C improvement on the situation in December 2014, where only announcements for 2030 and pledges for 2020 were available. Compared to the 3.6°C by 2100 warming that is projected to result from current

NASA has renamed the Solar Probe Plus spacecraft — humanity’s first mission to a star, which will launch in 2018 — as the Parker Solar Probe in honor of astrophysicist Eugene Parker. Parker believed there was high speed matter and magnetism constantly escaping the sun, and that it affected the planets and space throughout our solar system. This phenomenon, now known as the solar wind, has been proven to exist repeatedly through direct observation. Parker’s work forms the basis for much of our understanding about how stars interact with the worlds that orbit them.

For $32 you can back a Kickstarter by Aryzon for an augmented reality app that works with something similar to Google Cardboard for Virtual reality. The current best example of Augmented Reality (AR) is the Microsoft HoloLens which costs $3,000. This system is 100 times cheaper. The Aryzon does not compete directly with current AR solutions but to bring Augmented Reality to everyone.

President Trump will likely withdraw from the Paris climate agreement. The matter has deeply divided the Trump administration. Ivanka Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have urged the president to remain in the deal, and White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt have been pushing for a withdrawal. Even CNBC has a commentary that supports the withdrawal and the emptiness of the Paris accord. * Paris accord has no enforcement mechanism for the voluntary promises that each nation has made * The Paris accord is environmental theater, just like the airport boarding process

Morgan Stanley analysts Brian Nowak and Adam Jonas say Alphabets Waymo self-driving car unit could be worth $70 billion. Waymo could be a good spin out candidate and that its value is not being taken into account in Alphabet’s current stock price. They do not believe Waymo or any of the ‘Other Bets’ are currently being reflected in GOOGL’s share price. The potential $70 billion valuation is based on Waymo holding 1% of global miles driven by 2030 and generating $1.25 in revenue for each mile driven. Some have forecast that 95% of driving miles could be self driving electric

Air Force Chief Scientist Greg Zacharias told Scout Warrior in an exclusive interview that the AFRL (Air Force Research Lab) is already working on experimental demonstrator laser weapons able to bolt-on to an aircraft. The AFRL is working on externally-mounted POD with sufficient transportable electrical power. Air Force Research Laboratory officials have said they plan to have a program of record for air-fired laser weapons in place by 2023. The first airborne tests are slated to take place by 2021. Combat laser pods will be mounted onto B52s and C130s. Fighter planes would need more aerodynamic systems (like conforming fuel

5 kilowatt combar lasers were placed on a Stryker armored vehicle and shot down drones in a test fire exercise. A Mobile Expeditionary High Energy Laser was used shoot down an 18-by-10-inch drone at a distance of 650 yards. In 2013, a 30-kilowatt High Energy Laser Mobile Demonstrator on a large truck shot down dozens of mortar rounds and several drones. A 60-kilowatt combat laser will be placed on Army truck and will have test firing within the next 18 months.

The United States will test an existing missile defense system to try to intercept an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) next week, U.S. officials said on Friday, at a time when North Korea is trying to develop one. The test, scheduled for Tuesday, is the first time the United States will try to intercept an ICBM. The United States has used the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense (GMD) system, managed by Boeing Co. and in place to counter attacks from rogue states such as North Korea, to intercept other types of missiles but never an ICBM. SOURCES- Reuters, Boeing While U.S. officials believe

A team of researchers from MIT, Harvard University, and Sandia National Laboratories reports a new technique for creating targeted defects in diamond materials, which is simpler and more precise than its predecessors and could benefit diamond-based quantum computing devices. Quantum computers are experimental devices that offer large speedups on some computational problems. One promising approach to building them involves harnessing nanometer-scale atomic defects in diamond materials. But practical, diamond-based quantum computing devices will require the ability to position those defects at precise locations in complex diamond structures, where the defects can function as qubits, the basic units of information in

Solsource Cooker has an innovative design which allows you to capture sunlight to grill, pan fry, slow-cook and boil water. Advance self-healing polymer maximizes the effectiveness of the solar reflector and ensures durability. The Solsource cookware heats up five times faster than traditional charcoal. That means you can get cooking faster. Other solar cookers restrict the way you cook, SolSource solar cooker has a versatile reversible pot stand that accommodates a wide variety of cookware and cooking styles. Whether you want to use your light-weight skillet for panfrying salmon, or a heavy dutch oven for slow-cooking short ribs, you can

A new class of “miracle materials” called organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites could be a game changer for future spintronic devices. Researchers discovered that the perovskites possess two contradictory properties necessary to make spintronic devices work—the electrons’ spin can be easily controlled, and can also maintain the spin direction long enough to transport information, a property known as spin lifetime. “It’s a device that people always wanted to make, but there are big challenges in finding a material that can be manipulated and, at the same time, have a long spin lifetime,” says Sarah Li, assistant professor in the Department of Physics

The in vitro fertilization (IVF) services market is expected to touch $23 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 10.3% from 2017 to 2025. Asia-Pacific is estimated to dominate the IVF market throughout the analysis period and is set to grow at a prominent CAGR of 13.0%, due to wide availability of IVF clinics, high IVF success rates, and the rising trend of fertility tourism. Japan leads the Asia-Pacific IVF services market, accounting for majority of the market share, and is expected to maintain its position during the analysis period. In terms of revenue, Europe dominated the market in

The US Missile Defense Agency is speeding up a program to create multiple warhead missile interceptors by five years. North Korea is likely working hard on missiles that can fire decoys to confuse interceptors. The most recent Pentagon budget request seeks $259 million to move the Multi-Object Kill Vehicle, or MOKV, program into a new development phase — and speed up its projected completion by five years. There is a 37 page report on the Missile Defense Agency. MDA accelerates Multi-Object Kill Vehicle/MOKV development by five years in FY18 #TrumpBudget for introduction in 2025 (Raytheon/LM/Boeing) pic.twitter.com/0k385sD02p — James Drew (@JamesDrewNews)