Aug 31, 2015
Double black hole is powering quasar, astronomers find
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: cosmology, space
Astronomers have discovered a galaxy is being powered by a quasar that contains two black holes whirling about each other.
Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 988
Aug 29, 2015
Boeing’s new laser canon can destroy drones in mid-flight
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: drones, habitats, military, space
Drones are everywhere these days. They’re at your local park, they’re in the ocean, they’re hovering over the White House lawn, and they may even be hovering overhead armed with tear gas.
In a world that’s becoming increasingly drone friendly, there are some serious safety considerations that shouldn’t be ignored.
Continue reading “Boeing's new laser canon can destroy drones in mid-flight” »
Aug 28, 2015
Terminator-style ‘skin’ quickly repairs itself after a gunshot | New Scientist
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: habitats, materials, space
Other self-healing plastics exist, but they take much longer to repair themselves. The ability to instantly plug holes could be especially useful to protect structures in space, where flying objects can puncture spacecraft or orbiting habitats. The plastic could be incorporated into their walls, creating a seal if the atmosphere inside a vessel starts to leak out, putting astronauts at risk.
Other fabrics take a different approach: stopping projectiles altogether. A futuristic tissue combining human skin cells with spider silk can cushion a gunshot when fired at half speed. Pure graphene, which is made up of layers of carbon one-atom thick, is being investigated for use in bulletproof armour because it can handle blows better than steel.
Continue reading “Terminator-style 'skin' quickly repairs itself after a gunshot | New Scientist” »
Aug 28, 2015
Say it ain’t so: 6 Mars hoaxes you keep falling for
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: space
Aug 25, 2015
Ceres’ Four-Mile Tall ‘Pyramid’ Is Closer Than Ever, Still Puzzling
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: space
The closer we get to Ceres, the largest object in our solar system’s asteroid belt, the stranger it becomes.
In June, NASA released a photo of Ceres, taken by the Dawn spacecraft from 2,700 miles away, that showed a several-mile high “pyramid” protruding from the dwarf planet’s otherwise generally smooth surface. And a new photo, taken last Wednesday from only 900 miles away, shows the mountain is four miles high and has a perimeter of previously unseen, reflective streaked slopes.
Aug 24, 2015
Laniakea is made up of about 100,000 galaxies with a total mass about 100 million billion times that of the sun
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: space
Laniakea is made up of about 100,000 galaxies with a total mass about 100 million billion times that of the sun.
Image via Beyond Our Sight.
Aug 21, 2015
Life on Jupiter’s moons? Juice may hold the key — CNN.com
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: space
Aug 20, 2015
Here’s A Book That Adds a Fascinating New Dimension to Posthuman Space Opera
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: cyborgs, entertainment, space
By now, the stories of humans transcending their limitations in space have become pretty much ubiquitous. We’ve had space cyborgs, space immortals, and tons of other posthumans in space. But the new novel Edge of Dark by Brenda Cooper still represents a fascinating new approach. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00?tag=lifeboatfound-20…
Aug 19, 2015
This Is the Curiosity Rover’s Newest Selfie—and There’s Something Unusual About It
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: robotics/AI, space
The Curiosity rover has snapped a brand new self-portrait and, like any good newbie selfie-taker, it’s figuring out its best angles—not only to show itself off, but also to show us something new about the Martian landscape it lives on.
This newest selfie was made, like the others, by stitching together panoramic shots from the rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager. But by dropping to a low-camera angle and not an overhand shot like before, we’re suddenly able to see the full surrounding horizon. Essentially, we’re seeing not just Curiosity in this selfie; we’re also seeing what Curiosity sees. That view becomes even more pronounced in this second version of the selfie, this one with the horizon wrapped entirely around the robot:
Aug 19, 2015
This cool Christmas tale features love, spaceships, and scary meteors
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: entertainment, space
Anomaly is an unusual Christmas tale, set in the late 60’s, which tells the story of a group of people connected by the same astrological event: A frightening meteor that will enter and exit the atmosphere. It is weird and sad and hopeful and just really interesting to watch.
Anomaly is an independent short film directed by Dan DiFelice & Salomon Lightelm. The film rose up to $60,000 in its Kikstarter campaign but it looks as gorgeous as if they had spent two million. Great post production houses like The Mill and Framestore also collaborated in the project. We featured Anomaly here the same day it was released on the Internet and we are very happy to have it on the Sploid Short Film Festival.
