What would you do with a 600km high structure? That would be hundreds of times higher than the highest ever built so far. I think it is feasible. Here I will suggest super-light, super-strong building materials that can substitute for steel and concrete that can be grown up from the base using feasibly high pressures.
I recently proposed a biomimetic technique for printing graphene filaments to make carbon fur (- in this case, for my fictional carbon-obsessed super-heroine Carbon Girl. I am using the Carbon Trio as a nice fun way to illustrate a lot of genuine carbon-related concepts for both civil and military uses, since they could make a good story at some point. Donât be put off by the fictional setting, the actual concepts are intended to be entirely feasible. Real science makes a better foundation for good science fiction. Anyway, this is the article on how to make carbon filaments, self-organised into fur, and hence her fur coat:)
Americaâs newest air-dropped nuclear weapon variant has entered production. The U.S. Department of Energyâs National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that on November 23, it had successfully completed the first production units of the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP), an updated version of the warhead used on weapons dropped from fighters and bombers. This paves the way to create an estimated 480 of the weapons, which will homogenize four existing variants of the bomb.
The B61-12 LEP helps modernize Americaâs nuclear weapons stockpile and sustain the Nationâs air-delivered nuclear deterrent capability. The nuclear security enterprise and the U.S. Air Force worked together to deliver the B61-12 FPU after more than nine years of design, development, qualification, and component production.
Deployed from U.S. Air Force and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bases, the B61 nuclear gravity bomb has been in service for over 50 years. Since the first B61 entered services in 1968, many modifications have been made to improve the B61âs safety, security, and reliability. Currently, there are four B61 variants remain in the stockpile: the 3, 4, 7, and 11. The B61-12 will replace the B61-3, 4, and 7.
Launched in 2010, DARPAâs Living Foundries program aimed to enable adaptable, scalable, and on-demand production of critical, high-value molecules by programming the fundamental metabolic processes of biological systems to generate a vast number of complex molecules. These molecules were often prohibitively expensive, unable to be domestically sourced, and/or impossible to manufacture using traditional synthetic chemistry approaches. As a proof of concept, DARPA intended to produce 1,000 molecules and material precursors spanning a wide range of defense-relevant applications including industrial chemicals, fuels, coatings, and adhesives.
Divided into two parts â Advanced Tools and Capabilities for Generalizable Platforms (ATCG) and 1,000 Molecules â the Living Foundries program succeeded not only in meeting its programmatic goals of producing 1,000 molecules as a proof-of-concept, but pivoted in 2019 to expand program objectives to working with military mission partners to test molecules for military applications. The performer teams collectively have produced over 1,630 molecules and materials to-date, and more importantly, DARPA is transitioning a subset of these technologies to five military research teams from Army, Navy, and Air Force labs who partnered with the agency on testing and evaluation over the course of the program.
âBiologically-produced molecules offer orders-of-magnitude greater diversity in chemical functionality compared to traditional approaches, enabling scientists to produce new bioreachable molecules faster than ever before,â noted Dr. Anne Cheever, Living Foundries program manager. âThrough Living Foundries, DARPA has transformed synthetic biomanufacturing into a predictable engineering practice supportive of a broad range of national security objectives.â
The disclosure is the strongest indication yet that the service is banking on autonomous weapon systems to give it an edge in the increasingly fierce military competition with China.
Beijing is making moves to challenge the dominance of the American military. Reports claim that China wants to establish its first permanent military presence on the Atlantic Ocean in Equatorial Guinea. Palki Sharma tells you more.
#Gravitas #China #EquatorialGuinea.
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Americans have become accustomed to images of Hellfire missiles raining down from Predator and Reaper drones to hit terrorist targets in Pakistan or Yemen. But that was yesterdayâs drone war.
A revolution in unmanned aerial vehicles is unfolding, and the U.S. has lost its monopoly on the technology.
Some experts believe the spread of the semi-autonomous weapons will change ground warfare as profoundly as the machine gun did.
Warhead modernization activities ensure the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile continues to meet military requirements while enhancing safety and security.
WASHINGTON â The U.S. Department of Energyâs National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) successfully completed the B61-12 Life Extension Program (LEP) First Production Unit (FPU) on November 23, 2021.
The B61-12 LEP helps modernize Americaâs nuclear weapons stockpile and sustain the Nationâs air delivered nuclear deterrent capability. The nuclear security enterprise, in close coordination with the U.S. Air Force, worked together to deliver the B61-12 FPU after more than nine years of design, development, qualification, and component production.
This is the same type of double double DOUBLE down on hyperbolic and aggressive anti expert BS that has pushed a not insignificant portion of the population of the US to throw a violent tantrum against covid19 vaccines and wearing a piece of cloth on their face to keep from DYING. Similarly, ultra environmentalists on the far left have ceased to try to protect the environment FOR future generations. Now they want to protect the environment FROM future generations. Theyâve become ANTIHUMAN, often to a disturbingly horrific â if hilariously stupid â extent. LITERALLY. Unless you think we shouldnât build anything on the sterile, irradiated and dead surface of the moon by polluting it â or any other moon, asteroid, or planet by stepping on itâs surface with our filthy monkey feet. Or throwing trash into the SUN because weâd beâŠ
đđđPOLLUTING IT!đđ€Șđ
There is a reason why experts are experts. It isnât because they want to eat children on pizza with Hillary Clinton with space lizards, nor because they want an irradiated earth beneath their feet. Nuclear power is clean, cheap, and safe. Until fusion gets here, and with electric vehicles quickly becoming the dominant mode of transportation every minute that ticks by, nuclear power isnât just preferential, its absolutely REQUIRED if we want to get a handle on global warming while simultaneously maintain or improve the standard and quality of life we are accustomed to, and that developing nations will, already are, and SHOULD be seeking for themselves too. Building nuclear power into the foundation of a developing nations energy generation and distribution infrastructure from day one will PREVENT all the massive amount of damage that will inevitably exponentially accelerate global warming and pollution, lowering the quality of life in that nation which will in turn prompt even GREATER use of fossil fuels to mitigate temporarily. Heat caused by fossil fuel powered global warming is dealt with symptomatically by turning up the air-conditioning. Dangerous spikes in particulates and pollution in the air is symptomatically dealt with by using high energy consuming industrial or home air filtration systems, etc. If all that energy comes from coal or other fossil fuels, that lovely tesla youâve got plugged in to charge in your garage overnight is doing just as much damage to the environment as that douchebag down the street with his fire eagle painted hummer filling up on gasoline before he goes to a kid Rock show that heâs actually LOOKING FORWARD TO!
ăâThis isnât breaking news exactly, but still relevant. I apologize in advance for its, uh, occasional rantishness and length! đâă
Helen Caldicott is the worldâs most prominent anti-nuclear activist. Helen has been featured on CNN, 60 Minutes, CBC and Democracy Now speaking about the dangers of nuclear power and radiation.
A new video released by nonprofit The Future of Life Institute (FLI) highlights the risks posed by autonomous weapons or âkiller robotsâ â and the steps we can take to prevent them from being used. It even has Elon Musk scared.
Its original Slaughterbots video, released in 2017, was a short Black Mirror-style narrative showing how small quadcopters equipped with artificial intelligence and explosive warheads could become weapons of mass destruction. Initially developed for the military, the Slaughterbots end up being used by terrorists and criminals. As Professor Stuart Russell points out at the end of the video, all the technologies depicted already existed, but had not been put together.
Now the technologies have been put together, and lethal autonomous drones able to locate and attack targets without human supervision may already have been used in Libya.
With Gauss Rifles [military squads] could pitch a solar panel, charge their gunsâ batteries, and fire nuts and bolts off the ground as ammunition.
âYou can hold far more energy in batteries than you can with gunpowder,â Wirth told Futurism. And a battery eliminates the need for âexplosive chemical propellants.â
But itâs an entirely new type of armament that could have some potentially dangerous consequences, opening the doors to turn anything from metal rods to nuts and bolts into deadly projectiles. And its creators are already imagining military applications.
âImagine a scenario where a military squad is pinned down behind enemy lines and theyâre out of ammunition,â Wirth told us. âWith Gauss Rifles they could pitch a solar panel, charge their gunsâ batteries, and fire nuts and bolts off the ground as ammunition.â
