• Technology

    Gearing Up for Manned Mission To An Asteroid

    By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.24.2009 8 Comments

    Cue the Aerosmith soundtrack; a plan to send a manned space mission to land on an asteroid is gaining traction within both NASA and the aerospace industry as experts look to bridge the feasibility gap between lunar missions and an eventual rendezvous with Mars. Of course, no party is ruling out the possibility of an Armageddon-esque trip to a Near Earth Object (NEO) on a harmful trajectory, should the need arise in the future.

    11.28.2009 at 01:20am - Comment by animemaster

    @lnwolf41 I have been wondering if you could use a turbine to exhilarate low velocity gas to increase isp for very small thrusters in a vacuum. Think turbo pump in reverse. If such a device worked it could be coincided a jet.

  • Technology

    Superconducting Magnetic Heat Shield Could Protect Spacecraft During Reentry

    By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.25.2009 7 Comments

    Energy shields haven't arrived just yet, but this magnetic heat shield could do nicely in the meantime. European researchers have created a magnetic field technology that can protect spacecraft from fiery atmospheric temperatures during reentry, and perhaps cut back on the need for traditional heat shields.

    11.28.2009 at 12:47am - Comment by animemaster

    The real question is will the batteries and coolant have less mass than the difference in traditional heat shielding.

  • Technology

    Sea Lions Help U.S. Navy Handcuff Enemy Divers and Sweep Mines

    By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.25.2009 3 Comments

    Californian sea lions have become U.S. Navy recruits alongside dolphins and human divers, as seen in this amazing picture. The Daily Telegraph reports that this particular fellow put on a display for officials at the NATO Underwater Research Center in La Spezia Bay, Italy.

    11.28.2009 at 12:43am - Comment by animemaster

    Will they train narwhals to stab enemy divers?

  • Science

    This Week in the Future, November 23-26, 2009: Thanksgiving Special

    By Posted on 11.26.2009 23 Comments

    There's a lot to be thankful for in the future. Gather 'round the table, all you Navy Sea Lions, Jazz Bots, Star Wars enthusiasts and ethical scientists. Today is a day for futuristic feasting. (Get the details, and win the t-shirt, after the jump).

    11.28.2009 at 12:40am - Comment by animemaster

    I feel kinda lame leaving just for a chance to get a shirt but that wont stop me.

  • Technology

    Rat Brain Modelers Denounce IBM's Cat Brain Simulation as "Shameful and Unethical" Hoax

    By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.24.2009 16 Comments

    IBM's claim of simulating a cat cortex generated quite a buzz last week, but now the head researcher from the Blue Brain project, a team that is working to simulate its own animal brain (a rat's), has gone incandescent with fury over the what

    11.23.2009 at 03:43pm - Comment by animemaster

    Why cant they simulate every cell down to the molecule and fold of each preteen. Now that would be a show of brute force worth wowing over.

  • Science

    Yikes: Peruvian Jungle Gang Arrested for Selling Fat of Its Murder Victims

    By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.20.2009 9 Comments

    Plentiful fat seems more reviled than revered in today's society, even when it has uses for the medical and cosmetic industries. But today police announced the arrest of a Peruvian gang accused of murdering people and selling their fat to the cosmetics industry, according to The Associated Press.

    11.21.2009 at 12:09am - Comment by animemaster

    Someone must have repented a story discarded from the onion.

  • Technology

    Intel Wants Brain Implants in Its Customers' Heads by 2020

    By Posted on 11.20.2009 31 Comments

    If the idea of turning consumers into true cyborgs sounds creepy, don't tell Intel researchers. Intel's Pittsburgh lab aims to develop brain implants that can control all sorts of gadgets directly via brain waves by 2020.

    11.20.2009 at 03:26pm - Comment by animemaster

    Dude instant porn has been around since like the late 80's early 90's

  • Technology

    IBM's Blue Gene Supercomputer Models a Cat's Entire Brain

    By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.18.2009 27 Comments

    Cats may retain an aura of mystery about their smug selves, but that could change with scientists using a supercomputer to simulate the the feline brain. That translates into 144 terabytes of working memory for the digital kitty mind.

    11.18.2009 at 02:57pm - Comment by animemaster

    Hmm so when they simulate these brains just what are they doing? Do they have any stimulus? What data is collected? If you let the thing run for 100 years would you have a perfect 1 year old virtual cat?

  • DIY

    Kit Pick: A Rugged TV Transmitter Kit

    By Vin Marshall Posted on 11.3.2009 1 Comments

    If you were anything like I was as a kid, you'll remember fondly the time spent soldering electronics kits. In recent years, I've been busy building things like pink camouflage tanks, and have mostly missed the recent electronic-kit resurgence. That is, until I had the need to broadcast live video images from the cockpit of a recent project to TV screens piled around the arena, and rediscovered an awesome kit source.

    11.18.2009 at 02:46pm - Comment by animemaster

    I know there are very low powered fm transmitters that the fcc allows but I did not know you could transmit tv legally. Well there is the amateur radio tv but that's a little different.

  • Science

    Soon, Babies May Have Three Biological Parents

    By Stuart Fox Posted on 11.12.2009 4 Comments

    Even though the combination of affluence and fertility drugs has raised the age at which many women give birth, children born to older women continue to suffer a disproportionately high rate of birth defects and genetic disease. Many of these problems result from the degradation of the area of the region of the egg around the nucleus. To correct for those problems, a team of Japanese researchers has implanted the nucleus of an older woman's egg into the egg cell of a younger donor. This may fix the problem, but it also moves medicine closer to the ethically challenging creation of a person with three biological parents.

    11.18.2009 at 05:26am - Comment by animemaster

    Mitochondria has genetic material. The mitochondria stay with the downer egg and will be passed on to decedents through matriarchal lines.

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