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Technology

NASA Robotic Rocket Plane To Survey Martian Surface

By Stuart Fox Posted on 11.24.2009 17 Comments
Since budget cuts and the inability to overcome problems like boredom and high radiation doses have ruled out any manned mission to Mars in the foreseeable future, NASA has shifted gears back towards a program of robotic exploration. To that end, NASA now wants a rocket-powered UAV to fly around the Red Planet, photographing the surface.

11.26.2009 at 12:33pm - Comment by rlb2

I agree with several people here. All that money spent wasted on the research of a Mars airplane that will have just a few minutes of flight time should have been spent on more realistic longer term items. A wind riding balloon, The Windsurfer, proposed in 2003 is my favorite that pulls a surface rover that could cover over 1,500 kilometers in at least three weeks. It would have two vantage points one from the air and another one on the ground. It could also leave small robotic rovers on the surface as it sails along and when the wind isn't blowing the rover can move on the surface... See here: www.shineinnovations.com/5812.html See YouTube animation here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg9OCyyPi4M Here it is in a test climbing up a rocky hill: www.members.cox.net/arrow-space-innovations/101-0121_MVI.AVI
Science

NASA Scientists Say Martian Meteorite May Have Brought Life to Earth

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.25.2009 11 Comments
Martians may have already landed on Earth, at least in ancient microbial form. The same NASA team that discovered the controversial Allen Hills meteorite has shared new data that points to a biological origin for structures within the Martian rock, Spaceflight Now reports. NASA headquarters plans to officially address the new findings within days.

11.26.2009 at 11:57am - Comment by rlb2

This makes the finding at the Phoenix Lander even more interesting; scientist said that they found all the necessary nutrients to sustain life there. That is why these time lapse images that show something crawling around in the Phoenix Landers microscopic imager, one with a scorpion-like tail, even more intriguing…. www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhfSjJeQf58
DIY

Guess This Part, Win a Tool

By Vin Marshall Posted on 11.16.2009 74 Comments
Since we inaugurated Guess This Tool, you've all proven way too hard to stump, so for this week's contest, we're mixing it up a bit and giving you a mystery part rather than a tool.

11.16.2009 at 07:26pm - Comment by rlb2

Thread ring gage or Pipe thread ring gage or thread cutting die
DIY

Guess This Part, Win a Tool

By Vin Marshall Posted on 11.16.2009 74 Comments
Since we inaugurated Guess This Tool, you've all proven way too hard to stump, so for this week's contest, we're mixing it up a bit and giving you a mystery part rather than a tool.

11.16.2009 at 05:35pm - Comment by rlb2

Toilet tank O-Ring seal.
Science

Modified Algae Produce Clean, Easy Hydrogen

By Clay Dillow Posted on 11.16.2009 15 Comments
Algae get a lot of airtime as a possible future source of biofuels to wean us from dirty fossil fuels, but even biofuels don't go so far as to eliminate hydrocarbons (and their constituent carbon emissions) from our energy diet. But a different use for algae could prove a better solution to the future of fuel. A new process that produces clean, sustainable hydrogen from photosynthesis in algae could change all that. The means of manufacturing clean, usable hydrogen has heretofore required a high-energy process that drastically dilutes the upside.

11.16.2009 at 03:29pm - Comment by rlb2

It's been a dream of scientist to mimic photosynthesis for years because of its high efficiency, now they seem to have found a useful way to do that. This technique is new, usually new ideas once proven is the start of something much bigger when more work is done to improve the efficiencyand cost. However that being said, it took wind energy hundreds of years to get as efficient and economical as it is today, solar energy over 5 decades...
Science

China's Weather Manipulation Brings Crippling Snowstorm to Beijing

By Posted on 11.11.2009 24 Comments
In The People's Republic of China, it's no secret that the Party controls just about everything. But as Beijing suffers through its second major snowstorm this season, residents are growing weary of their leadership's control-freak tendencies. After all, while the storm came as a surprise to residents, the government knew about it all along. In fact, the government caused it.

11.14.2009 at 09:38am - Comment by rlb2

When you fool with mother nature you get spanked...
Technology

German Architect Wants to Build World's Largest Artificial Mountain

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.13.2009 12 Comments
Berliners may soon get more to see on the horizon than just construction cranes, if a German architect realizes his massive vision. The world's largest artificial mountain could sit on the spot currently occupied by Tempelhof airport, and provide a natural getaway for Berliners and tourists alike. Did we also mention the fine skiing opportunities from September through March? Architect Jakob Tigges has named his 1,000-meter-tall mountain "The Berg," which may conjure up images of some bygone World War II-era redoubt. But the idea supposedly has many supporters among Berlin residents, and we have to admit that it's a novel way of one-upping all those other cities focused on having the tallest buildings.

11.13.2009 at 02:18pm - Comment by rlb2

I once snow skied on a large manmade garbage dump in Wisconsin, I'm sure it wasn't mountain size, over 2,000 feet high, but it was a very large dump. Ha, the way we are trying to outdo ourselves after this someone will try to make a mountain out of a dump hill...
Science

Moon-Bombing Mission Finds Significant Amount of Water in Lunar Soil

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.13.2009 11 Comments
NASA's moon-smashing mission may not have provided a huge show for the folks on Earth, but now there's sweet vindication for scientists. The plume of lunar debris kicked up from ancient lunar crater kicked up 24 gallons of water, LCROSS mission staff reported today.

11.13.2009 at 01:59pm - Comment by rlb2

It's a holy cow moment for impacts, according the pessimist at the briefing, pessimist usually when they find the obvious get all the glory. According to the briefing they are now questioning some of their past model findings on the moon including finding traces of organics. Water and organics trace amounts were ruled out by Apollo findings because they thought it was from contamination after returning to earth. If you look at the past models most are made to be broken, this is a fact throughout the history of human thought... Here is one place you can go to see the briefing: www.cnn.com/video/flashLive/live.html?stream=stream1 Now we shown that we have water ice what are we waiting for, lets dig a hole, find a cavern or do something for a natural long term stay. One thing we do know is how to get there, there is no guesswork. , let's go -- stop the bellyaching about where to go and just g-o-o-o-o-o
Science

After Earth-Based Sandbox Tests, NASA Trying One More Time to Get Spirit Rover Unstuck

By Rebecca Boyle Posted on 11.12.2009 3 Comments
Fans of the intrepid Mars rovers got some bittersweet news today. The good news: Starting Monday, NASA will try to drive the Spirit rover out of a sandy spot where it has been mired since April. The bad: It will not be easy, and in announcing their plans today, NASA scientists sounded like they were preparing to say goodbye.

11.12.2009 at 10:33pm - Comment by rlb2

I first, like many, gave my opinion of what might help like using the robotic arm to push the rover out of its trap or using the robotic arm weight as a leverage to counterbalance the rover by putting more weight on other wheels that have traction. The second thought would be like a sail boat racer hanging off the side of the boat opposite of the direction of the sail's. It evidently isn't as easy as it seems for if the brightest minds can't do it then it may be doomed. I predicted its fate if it didn't get unstuck several weeks ago because I couldn't see how they can treat a rover that has turned into a Lander with more funds after being stuck for 6 months especially during this time of budget cuts. It will be sad to see spirit go for me because I have spent many hours over the last 6 years creating over 2,000 color images from JPL's raw images, see here: www.picasaweb.google.com/home For YouTube time lapse movie of how it got stuck see here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4LjmE9rJ0I or here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMbBgVqxXKA
Technology

Carbon Nanotube Sponge Could Suck Up Oil Spills

By Jeremy Hsu Posted on 11.11.2009 8 Comments
Spongebob may want to look into a nanotech upgrade that could permit him to walk on water. Chinese scientists have created carbon nanotube sponges that don't absorb water, leaving them plenty of room for absorbing oil or other icky organic goo. The new sponges rely upon interconnected carbon nanotubes that naturally repel water, and can absorb 180 times their weight in organic matter. Current sponges used for oil spill cleanups and industrial applications can only absorb up to 20 times their own weight.

11.12.2009 at 02:32am - Comment by rlb2

One final note from my post above. If this can be used for hydrogen or methane gas tanks then all you need to do to extract out the gas from the tank would be the same thing that they show in that video in the article above, just squeeze the carbon sponge enough to extract out the necessary amount of gassssss....