#Plastic eating worms could save the world A tiny worm, which is actually the larva of a beetle, eats Styrofoam and other forms of polystyrene,
#Ancient Mars had long-lasting lakes, rivers: Nasa Mars harboured long-lasting lakes and water streams about 3. 8 to 3. 3 billion years ago,
boosting the odds that life may have existed once on the Red planet, scientists, including one of Indian-origin,
have found. Using data from the Curiosity rover, Nasa's Mars science laboratory/Curiosity team has determined that, long ago,
water helped deposit sediment into Gale crater, where the rover landed more than three years ago. The sediment deposited as layers that formed the foundation for Mount Sharp,
the mountain found in the middle of the crater today.""Observations from the rover suggest that a series of long-lived streams
and lakes existed at some point between about 3. 8 to 3. 3 billion years ago,
Mars science laboratory project scientist at Nasa's Jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena, California. The findings build upon previous work that suggested there were ancient lakes on Mars,
and add to the unfolding story of a wet Mars, both past and present. Last month, Nasa scientists confirmed current water flows on Mars."It's clear that the Mars of billions of years ago more closely resembled Earth than it does today.
Our challenge is to figure out how this more clement Mars was even possible, and what happened to that wetter Mars,
"said Michael Meyer, lead scientist for Nasa's Mars Exploration Program at Nasa Headquarters in Washington.
Before Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012, scientists proposed that Gale crater had filled with layers of sediments.
Some hypotheses were"dry, "suggesting that sediment accumulated from windblown dust and sand. Others focused on the possibility that sediment layers were deposited in ancient lakes.
The latest results indicate that these wetter scenarios were correct for the lower portions of Mount Sharp.
Based on the new analysis, the filling of at least the bottom layers of the mountain occurred mostly by ancient rivers and lakes over a period of less than 500 million years."
"During the traverse of Gale, we have noticed patterns in the geology where we saw evidence of ancient fast-moving streams with coarser gravel,
#First nanosatellite functional: Nasa WASHINGTON: A miniature satellite sent in the space aboard an Atlas v rocket from the Vandenberg Air force base in California on October 8 is working fine,
Nasa has announced. The Optical Communications and Sensor Demonstration (OCSD) Cubesat spacecraft is in orbit and operational, said Nasa and The Aerospace Corporation of El Segundo, California on Monday.
Cubesats are going to play a key role in exploration, technology demonstration, scientific research and educational investigations.
They provide a low-cost platform for Nasa missions, including planetary space exploration, Earth observations, fundamental Earth and space science."
"Technology demonstration missions like OCSD are said driving exploration Steve Jurczyk, associate administrator for the Space technology Mission Directorate (STMD) at NASA headquarters in WASHINGTON DC."
"By improving the communication capability of small spacecraft to support data-intensive science missions, OCSD will advance the potential to become a more viable option for mission planners,
"he said in a statement. Cubesats also allow an inexpensive means to engage students in all phases of satellite development, operation and exploitation through real-world, hands-on research and development experience.
OCSD is the first in a new series of six Nasa-managed technology demonstration missions set to be launched during the coming months using Cubesats.
These will test technologies that can enable new uses for these miniature satellites which measure about four inches per side.
OCSD differs from other space-based laser communication systems because the laser is mounted hard to the spacecraft body,
and the orientation of the Cubesat controls the direction of the beam. This makes the laser system more compact than anything previously flown in space.
The Cubesat will evaluate the ability to point a small satellite accurately as it demonstrates data transfer by laser at rates of up to 200 mb per second--a factor of 100 increase over current high-end Cubesat communications systems.
The second OCSD mission is scheduled to be launched in February 2016 6
#Cure for cancer might accidentally have been found, and it could be malaria Scientists might have made accidentally a huge step forward in the search for a cure for cancer discovering unexpectedly that a malaria protein could be an effective weapon against the disease.
Danish researchers were hunting for a way of protecting pregnant women from malaria, which can cause huge problems
because it attacks the placenta. But they found at the same time that armed malaria proteins can attack cancer, too an approach
which could be a step towards curing the disease. that can then bury into cancer cells and release the toxin,
killing them off. The scientists have found that in both cases the malaria protein attaches itself to the same carbohydrate.
It is the similarities between those two things that the cure could exploit. The carbohydrate ensures that the placenta grows quickly.
But the team behind the new findings have detailed how it serves the same function in tumours
Devesh Mistry, a postgraduate research student in the School of Physics and Astronomy, at the University of Leeds is working with liquid crystal to create a truly adjustable artificial lens."
#Space suit that'mimics'gravity tested An innovative'Skinsuit'designed to reduce the debili ating physical effects of space light has been trialled for the first time on the International space station by a European space agency (ESA) astronaut.
The Skinsuit is he brainchild of Dr James Waldie, aerospace engineer and senior research associate at Royal Melbourne Institute of technology.
Denmark's first astronaut, Andreas Mogensen, spent 10 days in the International space station ISS) last month,
Waldie and his collaborators have spent more than 15 years getting the suit into space. Skintight and made of bidirectional elastics,
Skinsuit has been designed to mimic the impact of gravity on the body to reduce the debilitating physical effects space flights have on astronauts'bodies.
In the weightless conditions in space, astronauts can lose up to 2%bone mass per month.
Following flight, astronauts have four times the risk of herniated discs as the general population.""Given the impact of atrophy on astronauts in space,
I wondered if a suit like the one worn by Freeman could fool the body into thinking it was on the ground rather than in space,
and therefore stay healthy, "Waldie said. Mogensen is yet to publicly report his findings s
and seemingly defy gravity, "said one of the researchers Sriram Subramanian, professor of informatics at University of Sussex in England."
and our capacity to turn sunlight into electricity for Australian consumers and small businesses, "Mr Shorten said.
#Open Space agency gears up to launch open source 3d printed telescope For those of us who love space
and space exploration but are currently earthbound for the time being, the next best thing is to have a professional-grade telescope that ransportsus into space
The only problem of course, has been in handing over the many thousands of dollars needed to purchase an automated robotic telescope that capable of providing clear images of the outer cosmos automatically.
wel soon be able to just 3d print our own high-powered automated robot telescopes right at home.
Parr, who is the founder of the Open Space agency (OSA), has been actively developing a downloadable,
the Ultrascope. ifty years ago space exploration was the domain of governments, explains Parr. ecently things have changed again.
additive manufacturing and low-cost micro controllers that are further driving down the cost of space exploration, finally allowing anybody to conceive
and launch their own space program. Thanks to the efforts of Parr and his team, the OSA Ultrascope automated robot telescope kit is extremely cheap to produce
and is capable of being assembled using a single tool. Altogether-without the smartphone-the cost of building the telescope is just $312.
In an interview with Science Magazine Parr said that the idea is that ou use one screw
Among other unique features of the Ultrascope include its ability to communicate with satellites to determine its exact location On earth.
With this information the telescope is able to direct itself towards various objects in space including planets, galaxies, asteroids and stars automatically.
Parr and the OSA team sees the potential for a distributed network of telescopes across neighborhoods around the world.
or be used for more advanced research projects. ur vision is to enable a new era of citizen aerospace exploration through enabling consumer space technologies,
This is) part of a bigger vision of citizen space exploration enabled by open technology platforms. Those interested in being among the first to know
when the Ultrascope files become available can sign up over at the Open Space agency o
#Made In Space successfully completes 3d printing in vacuum of space, outside the ISS 3d printers have slowly
and very successfully been creeping into the aerospace industry, where giants like NASA are even embracing the technology as a way of manufacturing spacecraft parts on long-term missions in the future.
While a little bit like something out of sci-fi, that concept has just become far more realistic. Made In Space,
which was founded with the express focus of zero gravity 3d printing, has announced just that they have concluded successfully 3d printing experiments in the vacuum of space.
To explain Made In Space was founded in 2010 as the first space manufacturing specialist in the world.
Their goal? To make additive manufacturing viable in space, with the express purpose of broadening the scope of space development.
Founded by Aaron Kemmer, Jason Dunn and Mike Chen, they have been very successful. In their own words, their they have realized over more than 30,000 hours of 3d printing testing, with more than 400 parabolas of microgravity tests.
But their biggest claim to fame: last year, they were contracted by NASA for the design,
building and operation of the first 3d printer in space, called the 3d printing In Zero-Ge Experiment.
This concept was taken to the International space station (the ISS), and was controlled from a mission operations center at the Made In Space HQ, located in the NASA Ames Research Park in San jose, California.
This Zero-G 3d printer is the first machine to operate in zero gravity, and was launched into orbit on September 21, 2014.
It served as a test bed for understanding the long-term effects of microgravity on 3d printing and the parts as well crucial information for use in future space exploration.
As those initial tests were successful (producing 24 parts that have since been returned to earth),
the team since moved on to 3d printing in the vacuum of space outside the ISS. ast month Made In Space successfully completed a round of tests,
proving that their next generation of 3d printers can operate in the vacuum of space, they now announce on their website.
These tests took place in a vacuum chamber. The zero gravity 3d printer used in space. This latest mission is set to be a precursor for the company commercial Additive manufacturing Facility,
which is set to fly to the ISS later this year. e believe we are as little as 18 months away from incorporating the current designs into on-orbit tests,
Made In Space chief engineer Mike Snyder reveals. hese preliminary tests, combined with our experience with microgravity additive manufacturing,
show that the direct manufacturing of structures in space is possible using Made In Space developed technologies.
Soon, structures will be produced in space that are much larger than what could currently fit into a launch fairing,
designed for microgravity rather than launch survivability. Complete structural optimization is now possible in space.
An initial version of this AMF, complete with vacuum-compatible extrusion heads, is thus successful.
Over a week of testing was done, in which various specimens were 3d printed using aerospace-grade thermopolymers. hose specimens will be tested this month to determine
if any mechanical properties differ when compared to parts produced in Earth atmosphere. Preliminary results suggest that the vacuum-based 3d printing process works as expected, without any show stoppers,
they reveal. If all goes well, this AMF 3d printer could be launched by the end of this year to provide manufacturing services to NASA and the US National Laboratory on the ISS. 3d printing,
it seems, is moving beyond our world n
#Scientists develop 3d printed device to help solve cocktail-party problem Engineers are increasingly employing 3d printers to solve complex issues in the field of robotics,
but we are surprised still by how simple these solutions sometimes are. This is again the case with a 3d printed solution for a problem almost as old as robots equipped with microphones themselves:
how do you enable robots to distinguish between different voices? Something that is so simple for humans has proven to be exceptionally difficult for robots,
having become known as the ocktail-party problem However, with a very simple 3d printed solution, scientists from Duke university have now come up with a good,
if somewhat unwieldy solution. This ocktail-party problemhas been around in the artificial intelligence business for a while,
and computers have struggled simply to continue to pick out your voice when nearby people are talking simultaneously.
and on Mars As regular readers will have noticed doubtlessly, 3d printing technology is already steadily making a name for itself as a genuine and very useful medical technology.
this fantastic initiative uses multipurpose solar-powered suitcase 3d printers that can be used to manufacture all sorts of medical tools in the remote corners of the world and even in space by astronauts.
a series of tests have already proven that astronauts can also benefit from this portable kit, for
which she took it to the Mars Desert Research Station which is used to prep the forthcoming mission to Mars. ince the International space station is powered by solar panels,
I decided to use solar energy to power my 3d printer to make medical supplies during my simulated Mars mission.
This had never been done before she says. hen I returned home, I had printed my medical supplies tested by clinic staff to see
and one used by NASA for various experiments. This is good news for the aging Chinese society
#American Wind turns wind-generated electricy on its head with 3d printed Microcube Aerospace engineer Robert Yost has developed
and stacking several Cubes together in the same space it takes for one solar panel can produce 18x as much energy.
he will have created a cost-effective and Earth-friendly power alternative, and accomplished what other said could never be done.
As an engineer with a backround working for major aerospace companies such as Boeing and GE Aircraft engines, Yost founded American Wind and quickly put his skills to work."
which has led to the depletion of Earth resources and has increased dramatically global warming. 3d printing technology has made already huge contributions to address both of these concerns individually,
or the tendency of the 3d printed object to deform after it is 3d printed because of surface tension, gravity,
assistant professor in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Florida, took advantage of the physical properties of a commercially available granular hydrogel made up of 7 m-wide particles.
most of the materials that the researchers are interested in working with are more big enough for this to not be a serious problem. hatever it is that comes out of the nozzle is trapped in space wherever we place it,
or solid substance rather than empty space-is something researchers have been trying to perfect for years, and for good reason."
Its applications range from medicine, advanced energy, electronics, aerospace design and many others. Despite these groundbreaking characteristics,
The company is a worldwide leader in the manufacurting and retailing of graphene and other advanced materials, with clients such as NASA, Ford motor, Apple, Samsung, Harvard and Stanford.
and a lack of either space or time to invest in it as a hobby.
Additionally, the higher temperatures inside a human body provide a different atmosphere to that of the initial testing,
and predicts that it could be used in paint applied to airplanes and satellites, however the idea to incorporate it into a wearable technology came from Pinar Guvenc, Inanc Eray and Gonzalo Carbajo, partners of Eray Carbajo,
Their distributed network of fabrication includes Fab Labs and Maker Space, equipping all participants with digital fabrication machines such as laser cutters, 3d printers,
CASCADIA AN and TL Interbody Systems spinal implants"With 3d printed Lamellar Titanium Technology, an innovative alternative to many traditionally manufactured PEEK and titanium designs now exists in the interbody space,
Their work is being sponsored by NASA Langley Research center In virginia, which has interests in the developing technology.
could be useful for constructing such things as aircraft or spaceship parts. Like the development of SAMS, Dr. Liou explains that for the FGMS it is also a matter of finding the correct cooling rate.
and Christopher Bader & Dominik Kolb from Deskriptiv) develop concepts of wearables capable of augmenting human capabilities and making life possible on inhospitable planets.
or biofuels when exposed to the sun. The underlying concept is that such functions will,
#3d printing in the Vacuum of Space Now Possible from Made In Space At the end of last year,
Made In Space made what was a huge achievement for 3d printing in space by sending their Zero G 3d printer, capable of 3d printing without gravity, to the International space station.
There, it has 3d printed numerous components, including a now famous wrench and twenty-three other prints that have returned
since to Earth for lab analysis. The ability to 3d print without gravity restraints will allow those aboard the ISS to 3d print tools
preventing the need for direct shipments of such objects from Earth. This ability is an exciting one,
but the true goal of NASA and Made In Space has been to 3d print in vacuum of space itself.
Today, Made In Space has announced that such a feat has now been proven possible through a series of tests performed here On earth.
Made In Space has been working on a commercial 3d printing lab that will be flown to the ISS later this year.
the space-focused startup has been performing a round of tests on this next generation 3d printing system to demonstrate the ability to 3d print in the vacuum of space an image
as Made In Space was able to 3d print a number of specimens from aerospace-grade plastics that will now be analyzed in terms of their mechanical properties,
which will be compared to the same parts made in the Earth atmosphere. Mike Snyder, Chief Engineer at Made In Space,
says of the astounding accomplishment, e believe we are as little as 18 months away from incorporating the current designs into on-orbit tests.
He continued, hese preliminary tests, combined with our experience with microgravity additive manufacturing, show that the direct manufacturing of structures in space is possible using Made In Space developed technologies.
Soon, structures will be produced in space that are much larger than what could currently fit into a launch fairing,
designed for microgravity rather than launch survivability. Complete structural optimization is now possible in space. ith the ability to 3d print in space,
humanity will be able to fabricate objects that are too large to launch due to size and weight restrictions.
For instance NASA Spiderfab project intends to 3d print the underlying structures for such objects as antennas and solar panels.
Not only can these objects be larger than those currently being folded up and flown aboard rockets,
but they can have optimized geometries to be more effective. While an antenna could improve communication, an optimally designed,
large-scale solar array could power spacecraft, robots, drones, and more. And, though such projects as mining asteroids with solar-powered drones might seem like science fiction,
the news that Made In Space plans to send their AMF to the ISS later this year implies that science fact could be realized in the very near future d
#3d printed Micro-Fish to Explore the Oceans of Our Bodies In the exponentially vital industry of nanoengineering,
This is particularly evident in space-based projects, such as those carried out by Made in Space.
However, long before extra-planetary manufacturing, on-site manufacturing will prove useful to produce useful tools in remote areas of our own planet.
That is what Dr. Julielynn Wong, founder of 3d4md, set out to prove in her latest study, published in the Aerospace medicine and Human Performance journal
and participated in the Made in Space-NASA program for solar-powered 3d printing in space,
and customized medical resources at a Mars analogue research station. This study describes a 3d printer with a PV system improvised on-site by providing a detailed components summary.
and evaluating three case study prints appropriate for providing medical care on a Mars mission. The findings from this work were used to design an ultraportable, plug-and-play, solar-powered 3d printing system suitable for transport to,
while a specific inverter is included in the kit in case the standard Mars analogue mission battery pack cannot be transported on the plane due to varying airline regulations
And Dr Wong probably has quite a bit more time to optimise the technology before sending it with humans to Mars t
but, when the sun can provide electricity to the dwelling, the PUV, equipped with a natural gas-powered generator, generates that power.
hen the sun is out. Sun is available during the day, when wee at work. So, electricity storage is needed.
What wee doing is taking a different approach to battery storage where the batteries wee using for this project were once a part of a vehicle.
when it is extruded in space (under pressure), and then behaving as a solid when no pressure is applied to it.
especially in the case of biomaterials. olding material within the gel negates the effects of surface tension, gravity,
#Save the Planet While You Swim in the 3d printed Spongesuit Bikini As our oceans become more and more polluted by our habits of wasting
#Progress cargo spacecraft failure delays ISS crew's return to Earth An unmanned cargo spaceship that failed to complete its ISS resupply mission
and burnt up as it reentered the Earth's atmosphere last week, forcing the Russian space agency to postpone the return of three cosmonauts onboard the station.
Russia initially planned to bring back the crew home on 14 may; however, the agency has asked them to stay there until early June
and agreed to work an extra month or so in orbit.""In accordance with space and aviation regimen, we can't immediately make a manned launch."
"The agency is planning to launch the Progress spaceship to the ISS in early July,
prior to transporting replacement astronauts, in order to ensure crew safety. Launched aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on 28 april,
the Progress was intended to supply 3t of food, fuel and supplies to the station. The spacecraft lost contact with the flight controllers shortly after it reached orbit
and the capsule was found tumbling. Reuters quoted Roscosmos head Igor Komarov as saying that the Soyuz rocket's third stage separated from the cargo ship early,
leaving it 20km short of its intended altitude e
#AFRL providing cost-effective inspection solutions for turbine engine aircraft Aircraft engine inspections are an essential part of maintaining a healthy and reliable fleet.
However, the inspection process is often labor-intensive and challenging, and parts are replaced often before their serviceable life is over.
They are planned also for use in the next Mars rover vehicle. ut if they become easier and cheaper to make,
they could be used widely in many applications including as exceptionally strong components in personal electronic devices, in space exploration vehicles,
and setting of the sun, ensuring that we sleep at night. One of the reasons this is possible is
it may soon be feasible to harness the sun to split water. In the Labasianscientist (Oct 13, 2015)- Researchers at the University of Tokyo and Miyazaki University have produced hydrogen under natural sunlight at an energy conversion efficiency of 24.4 percent,
the highest ever achieved, using high efficiency solar cells to power water electrolysis. Their results, published in Applied Physics Express,
or greater thermal conductivity. iniaturization results in less space to dissipate heat generated from today high-performance processors,
in smaller spaces like the new Apple Watch. Angstron is able to tailor its thermal foil sheets in thicknesses ranging from 5 um to 40 um with thermal conductivity between 800 W/m-K and 1,
the molecules are guided into close enough range, like docking spacecraft, by their complementary shapes. The new technology from Dietz's lab imitates this approach.
has created a new chemical process that makes use of the widely available rare-earth metal cerium to improve the manufacture of nylon.
and demand of rare-earth metals. he research group focused on three or four different catalytic reactions used in high production volume chemicals,
While other scientists are trying to find ways to use less of the least abundant rare-earths,
which includes reducing reliance on rare-earth materials. But rare-earth metals like cerium, which is as abundant as copper,
are primary products of mining for other, more valuable rare-earth elements. With minimal demand for these abundant rare earths, they are stockpiled.
and reduce reliance on rare-earth metals and other materials critical to the success of clean energy technologies.
These have highly symmetric arrangements in space, which is why the molecule is particularly beautiful.
Made In Space made what was a huge achievement for 3d printing in space by sending their Zero G 3d printer, capable of 3d printing without gravity, to the International space station.
There, it has 3d printed numerous components, including a now famous wrench and twenty-three other prints that have returned
since to Earth for lab analysis. The ability to 3d print without gravity restraints will allow those aboard the ISS to 3d print tools
preventing the need for direct shipments of such objects from Earth. This ability is an exciting one,
but the true goal of NASA and Made In Space has been to 3d print in vacuum of space itself.
Today, Made In Space has announced that such a feat has now been proven possible through a series of tests performed here On earth.
Made In Space has been working on a commercial 3d printing lab that will be flown to the ISS later this year.
the space-focused startup has been performing a round of tests on this next generation 3d printing system to demonstrate the ability to 3d print in the vacuum of space an image
as Made In Space was able to 3d print a number of specimens from aerospace-grade plastics that will now be analyzed in terms of their mechanical properties,
which will be compared to the same parts made in the Earth atmosphere. Mike Snyder, Chief Engineer at Made In Space,
says of the astounding accomplishment, e believe we are as little as 18 months away from incorporating the current designs into on-orbit tests.
He continued, hese preliminary tests, combined with our experience with microgravity additive manufacturing, show that the direct manufacturing of structures in space is possible using Made In Space developed technologies.
Soon, structures will be produced in space that are much larger than what could currently fit into a launch fairing,
designed for microgravity rather than launch survivability. Complete structural optimization is now possible in space.
With the ability to 3d print in space, humanity will be able to fabricate objects that are too large to launch due to size and weight restrictions.
For instance NASA Spiderfab project intends to 3d print the underlying structures for such objects as antennas and solar panels.
Not only can these objects be larger than those currently being folded up and flown aboard rockets,
but they can have optimized geometries to be more effective. While an antenna could improve communication, an optimally designed,
large-scale solar array could power spacecraft, robots, drones, and more. And, though such projects as mining asteroids with solar-powered drones might seem like science fiction,
the news that Made In Space plans to send their AMF to the ISS later this year implies that science fact could be realized in the very near future e
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