The Dream is collapsing

e4rleb1rd:

physicsphysics:
An interesting model of our solar system’s path as it travels through space in the Milky Way.
Certainly a departure from usual models that show the Sun as a static object, which it certainly isn’t

crookedindifference:
The Engine Burns Blue

743 ♥

alexob:

NASA invites you to…
Go to Mars with MAVEN! Submit your name and a message to be sent into Mars orbit on the MAVEN spacecraft.
NASA is inviting members of the public to submit their names and a personal message online for a DVD to be carried aboard a spacecraft that will study the Martian upper atmosphere. The DVD will carry every name submitted. The public also is encouraged to submit a message in the form of a three-line poem, or haiku. However, only three haikus will be selected. The deadline for all submissions is July 1. An online public vote to determine the top three messages to be placed on the DVD will begin July 15.
Enter it here now.

7 ♥

143 ♥

$ralphewig: Ocean City - this is a concept for an ocean habitat, using both above and below surface spaces. io9 has a gallery of several concepts posted, showing how humanity might expand into the ‘other two thirds’ of planet Earth. There certainly are logistical challenges with making your permanent home on the high seas, but a good fraction of the basic resources we consume are already coming from our oceans. The Malaysian Sarly Adre Sarkum’s concept envisions a self-sufficient structure: it generates its own electricity using solar, wind and wave power, has its own food farming system and a small forest on the surface. The kinetic energy-using system of ballasts is meant to keep the Water-Scraper upright.$

14 ♥

107 ♥

0 ♥

2 ♥

ralphewig:

Europa Report - I’m hugely excited about this film. It is rare to see really good hard scifi in mainstream movies, and even more so to see a story of near term space exploration without ludicrous monsters or psychopath human idiocy. IO9 posted a preview report, and it has me counting the days for its release:

Europa Report is hands down the most painstakingly accurate space movie we’ve seen in ages. You want some semblance of realism in the story of a three-year journey to Jupiter’s Moon Europa? AND a gripping narrative, you got it.
[…]
Europa Report centers around a six-person crew on a three year trip to Europa. The cast is made up of both men and women — but there’s no drama. Don’t expect the aged Russian astronaut to drop trou with the female pilot, that shit doesn’t fly on this ship. Because they’re scientists, experts, athletes, and military folk who take their mission just as seriously as Cmdr. Chris Hadfield of the International Space Station.
The brilliance behind this no-nonsense approach is seen the second real problems occur. The first time you witness a member of Europa Ventures (this trip is privately funded) breakdown or let out a tiny yelp, it hits you. Hard.

So here then is a movie where the challenge of space exploration itself might just be what drives the story. In the days of the Apollo Moon landings it was this kind of entertainment that brought the wonder of space exploration to the masses; let’s hope Europa Report will revive that fire.

4 ♥

Just test drove the greatest car ever made. I am 100% buying one soon.

5 ♥

241 ♥

futurist-foresight:

A more detailed look at IBMs solar power system. (See more in this previous post).
smartercities:

This High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal System (HCPVT) can harness the energy of 2,000 suns and provide fresh water and air conditioning in remote locations. The prototype HCPVT system under development uses a large parabolic dish, made from a multitude of mirror facets, which is attached to a tracking system that determines the best angle based on the position of the sun. Once aligned, the sun’s rays reflect off the mirror onto several microchannel-liquid cooled receivers with triple junction photovoltaic chips — each 1x1 centimeter chip can convert 200-250 watts, on average, over a typical eight hour day in a sunny region.
Read more: http://huff.to/11vTQGE

336 ♥

144 ♥

futurist-foresight:

IBMs solar collector advances solar power by harnessing the equivalent of 2,000 suns.
smarterplanet:

IBM Solar Collector Harnesses the Power of 2,000 Suns | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
A team of IBM researchers is working on a solar concentrating dish that will be able to collect 80% of incoming sunlight and convert it to useful energy. The High Concentration Photovoltaic Thermal system will be able to concentrate the power of 2,000 suns while delivering fresh water and cool air wherever it is built. As an added bonus, IBM states that the system would be just one third the cost third of current comparable technologies. Based on information by Greenpeace International and the European Electricity Association, IBM claims that it would require only two percent of the Sahara’s total area to supply the world’s energy needs. The HCPVT system is designed around a huge parabolic dish covered in mirror facets. The dish is supported and controlled by a tracking system that moves along with the sun. Sun rays reflect off of the mirror into receivers containing triple junction photovoltaic chips, each able to convert 200-250 watts over eight hours. Combined hundred of the chips provide 25 kilowatts of electricity.
The entire dish is cooled with liquids that are 10 times more effective than passive air methods, keeping the HCPVT safe to operate at a concentration of 2,000 times on average, and up to 5,000 times the power of the sun. The direct cooling technique is inspired by the branched blood supply system of the human body and has already been used to cool high performance computers like the Aquasar. The system will also be able to create fresh water by passing 90 degree Celsius liquid through a distillation system that vaporizes and desalinates up to 40 liters each day while still generating electricity. It will also be able to amazingly offer air conditioning by a thermal drive absorption chiller that converts heat through silica gel.
Replacing expensive steel and glass with concrete and pressurized foils, the HCPVT is less costly than many other similar installations. Its high tech coolers and molds can be manufactured in Switzerland, and construction provided by individual companies on-site. Through their design, IBM believes they can maintain a cost of less than 10cents per kilowatt hour.

271 ♥

splurt:

New lithium-ion battery design that’s 2,000 times more powerful, recharges 1,000 times faster

1 ♥