an NYU School of engineering professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace engineering and the study's co-author.
The aerospace manufacturer is designing a hypersonic jet that it hopes will take people between the two major cities faster than most daily commutes.
A rocket motor would take it to an altitude of 100, 000ft (30,000 metres. The wing-mounted ramjets would then take control to push the jet to its final speed.
which artificially triggers the light sensors in a person's eyes to make their brain believe the sun is coming up.
#Solar activity is linked NOT to global warming: Sunspot theory of climate change is the result of an ancient error in the data The theory that solar activity is linked to rising global temperatures has been cast into doubt after scientists corrected an ancient error in the calculations.
Until now, the general consensus was that solar activity-in particular sunspots -and temperatures have been trending upwards since the harsh winters of the 17th century when the spots were thought to have been at a low.
But when the error was corrected, the records show there was no such culmination in solar activity in the late 20th century,
suggesting climate change cannot be plotted using this sunspots method. Scroll down for video In fact, solar activity appears to have remained relatively stable
since the 1700s while global temperatures have fluctuated. According to the previous calculations, harsh winters in the 17th and 18th centuries corresponded with low numbers of sunspots,
which suggested a link between climate and solar activity. This period is known as the Maunder Minimum,
and solar activity is said to have peaked in the late 20th century, sometimes called the Modern Grand Maximum, around the time of the Industrial revolution.
The correction, called the Sunspot Number Version 2. 0 was led by Frédéric Clette, Director of the World Data centre (WDC) SILSO, Ed Cliver of the National Solar Observatory and Leif Svalgaard
known as the Wolf Sunset Number and the Group Sunspot Number, showed different levels of solar activity before 1885,
The Group Sunspot Number had a major error that showed a gradual increase in solar activity for the past 300 years.
The limitations of early telescopes led to questions about the accuracy of the constant counting of sunspots for the last 300 years, leading to the Group Sunspot number being started in 1998.
we then consider the implications on our knowledge of solar activity over the last 400 years.''
''The newly corrected series clearly indicates a progressive decline of solar activity before the onset of the Maunder Minimum,
solar activity had returned already to levels equivalent to those observed in recent solar cycles in the 20th century.'
'And the trends recorded are over much longer periods than the well known 11-year cycle of the sun,
#The universe is DYING: Astronomers unveil stark new evidence that shows galaxies'energy is half
what it was two billion years ago The universe is confirmed slowly dying astronomers studying 200,000 galaxies.
Energy generated by the galaxies is only half what it was two billion years ago
-and fading steadily, according to the results of a survey using seven of the world's most powerful telescopes.
It is happening across all light wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the infrared.''The universe is fated to decline from here on in,
like an old age that lasts forever, 'said lead scientist Professor Simon Driver, from the International Centre for Radio astronomy Research (ICRAR) in Western australia.'
'The universe has plonked basically itself down on the sofa, pulled up a blanket and is about to nod off for an eternal doze.'
'The Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA) study, released on Monday, is the largest multi wavelength research to date.
Researchers collated data from the world most powerful telescopes, including the VIST and the VST at Chile Paranal Observatory, Nasa GALEX, WISE and a European space agency Herschel telescope.
In an unprecedented collection of data, they aimed to map and model all of the energy generated in the universe today.
They will now look into mapping the history of the universe's energy. All the energy in the universe was created in the Big bang that created the cosmos
with some of it locked up as mass. Stars shine by converting their mass into energy,
as described by Albert Einstein's famous equation E=MC squared. However, this energy-making process is steadily in diminishing.
Professor Driver said:''While most of the energy sloshing around was created in the aftermath of the Big bang,
additional energy is constantly being released by stars as they fuse elements like hydrogen and helium together.'
'This newly released energy is absorbed either by dust as it travels through the host galaxy,
or escapes into intergalactic space and travels until it hits something such as another star, planet, or very occasionally a telescope mirror.'
'The fact that the universe is slowly fading has been known since the late 1990s but the new work is the most accurate and prolific study to date.
Professor Driver presented the findings at the International Astronomical Union's general assembly in Honolulu, Hawaii i
#Charge your smartphone in SIX minutes:''Yolk and shell'battery technology could end long waits while devices power up It is a problem almost everyone with a smartphone has faced at some point their device is almost out of battery
and there is not enough time to charge it before heading out for the evening. But a new type of battery made with tiny capsules filled with aluminium could soon mean smartphone users will be able to fully charge their device within six minutes of plugging it in.
The battery also has four times the capacity of current lithium ion batteries and degrades less over time.
#Perseids meteor shower will show hundreds of shooting stars across Europe Stargazers across Britain were treated to a stunning lightshow overnight as hundreds of shooting stars filled the sky as the annual Perseids meteor shower neared its peak.
and the north of England as limited cloud cover allowed the hotly-anticipated meteor shower to light up the sky.
with the Perseids offering one of the greatest displays of the past seven years as the meteor shower coincides with a new moon for the first time since 2007.
Tonight's show will also be enhanced by the International space station which orbits earth every 90 minutes and will be visible for four minutes from 10. 28pm.
Scroll down for videolast night's dazzling display was just the beginning of this year's Perseids meteor shower,
with experts eagerly awaiting further stunning offerings tonight. Occurring yearly between July 17 and August 24, the Perseids reach their peak tonight with more than 100 meteors an hour expected to be produced.
A similar show will occur on Thursday. Professor Mark Bailey, director of Armagh Observatory in Northern ireland, called the Perseids the'best and most reliable meteor shower of the year'.
'Mr Bailey added that the Perseids may produce an outburst of activity around 7. 40pm tonight
with keen astronomer John Downing, 71, saying the'moon will be the biggest factor'.'He said:'
'If it is a full moon then you can't see much but this year we've got a clear sky.
We could be lucky and being able to see the ISS is added an bonus.'Robin Scagell,
vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said:''The thing about shooting stars is they're a wonderful free spectacle we can all enjoy, assuming clear skies.'
these meteors are bright enough for a few to be visible.''The moon is out of the way
which makes a lot of difference because the sky will be much darker all night. For every bright shooting star you see there are always fainter ones,
and this will make it easier to see the fainter meteors and ring up the numbers.''The Perseids are usually fairly bright.
You can see the train hanging there glowing in the sky for a few seconds-sometimes for several minutes-after the meteor has gone.'
'He also urged people to keep a special eye out for the International space station.''It will move from the west below the bright star Arcturus
and then move towards the south, fading out as it passes into the Earth's shadow at 10. 32pm,
'he said.''And it will be the brightest thing in the sky, apart from aircraft. It'll be in mid sky from southern England
'Meteors are the result of particles as small as a grain of sand entering the Earth's atmosphere at high speed
'The Perseid's radiant is in the northeast constellation of Perseus. The Perseids make an August appearance each year as the Earth passes through debris shed by the comet Swift-Tuttle.
The streaks in the sky, sometimes known as shooting stars, are grains of dust and ice shed by the comet that enter the atmosphere at 37 miles per second (60 km/s). As they hit the atmosphere,
friction causes them to burn up as they heat the air around them, causing the trails seen from the ground.
The meteor show is named after the constellation Perseus as when viewed from the ground the shower seems to come from a focal point, known as a radiant, in the constellation.
Exceptionally dark skies will provide the best possible conditions for viewing the shooting stars this week due to an invisible new moon.
This is the first time since 2007 that the shower has coincided with a new moon, offering the best visibility of the light show.
The shower is active from around 17 july to 24 august but peaks between late evening on Wednesday and Thursday morning. i
Space elevator in a tower 12 miles high could one day give astronauts a leg-up into the cosmos
While Nasa is busy testing its biggest ever rocket in the hope it will propel mankind to Mars,
one company is planning a rather different approach to usher in a new era of space travel.
Canadian space firm Thoth has outlined plans for an elevator to space, potentially saving huge amounts of fuel and money that form part of the vast cost of launching rockets into orbit.
reaching 12 miles (20 km) above the planet's surface. The space tower would be more than 20 times the height of Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.
but landing at 12 miles (20 km) above sea level will make space flight more like taking a passenger jet.'
'Astronauts would ascent to 12 miles (20km) by electrical elevator.''From the top of the tower, space planes will launch in a single stage to orbit,
returning to the top of the tower for refuelling and reflight.''While other designs for space elevators have involved complex designs using graphene or carbon nanotubes,
By creating strong, far-reaching foundations deep into the Earth, the centre of gravity is shifted from above the ground, to below it.
The second part of Mr Debney's plan is to place a satellite in geostationary orbit, and lower a cable from it to the ground.
it changes the centre of gravity of the satellite, placing it at a lower orbit and causing it to move relative to the ground.
To keep the whole thing in orbit a cable would then also need to be extended up at the same time,
to keep the system balanced. Because this would make a nonlinear system, the cable would need to extend out almost twice as far as it is brought down.
such as a suitably sized asteroid, beyond geostationary orbit to balance the cable and save the excessive length.
The design by Thoth seeks to get around the complication of geostationary orbit by limiting its height to just 12 miles (20km) instead of the full 62 milles (100 km) considered the end of our atmosphere and the beginning of space e
#The moon has a NEON atmosphere: Ladee spacecraft confirms presence of the gas for the first time The presence of neon in the moon atmosphere has been a subject of speculation for decades.
Now, for the first time, scientists have confirmed the gas is not only present, but abundant on the moon. The discovery was made by analysing data sent back from Nasa Lunar Atmosphere and Dust environment Explorer,
known as Ladee. he presence of neon in the exosphere of the moon has been a subject of speculation since the Apollo missions,
but no credible detections were made, said Mehdi Benna of Nasa's Goddard Space flight Centre in Greenbelt,
Maryland and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. e were pleased very to not only finally confirm its presence,
but to show that it is relatively abundant. Readings from the spacecraft Neutral Mass spectrometer (NMS) instrument published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters,
show there is not enough neon to make the moon glow, but its thin atmophere is made up of mostly, helium, argon and neon.
While the gas is used in electric signs On earth, there is not enough neon to make the moon glow visibly,
because the moon's atmosphere is about 100 trillion times less dense that the Earth at sea level.
The moon atmosphere is referred technically to as an exosphere because it so thin. Exospheres are the most common type of atmosphere in our solar system,
so scientists are keen to learn more about them. t's critical to learn about the lunar exosphere before sustained human exploration substantially alters it,
Dr Benna said. Since the moon's atmosphere is so thin, rocket exhaust from spacecraft could easily change its composition.
Most of the moon's exosphere comes from the solar wind, which is a thin stream of electrically conducting gas blown from the surface of the sun into space at around a million miles per hour.
Most of the solar wind is hydrogen and helium but it contains many other elements in small quantities,
including neon. All these elements impact the moon, but only helium, neon, and argon are volatile enough to be returned back to space.
The rest of the elements will stick indefinitely to the moon surface. Ladee NMS instrument confirmed the moon exosphere is made up of mostly helium, argon, and neon.
The make-up of the mixture changes depending on the time of day, with argon peaking at sunrise, neon at 4am and helium at 1am.
The instrument conducted measurements of the gases for seven months, which allowed the team to understand how they are supplied to the exosphere,
and how they are lost ultimately. While most of the lunar exosphere comes from the solar wind,
the readings showed that some gas comes from lunar rocks. For example, Argon-40 comes from the decay of naturally occurring radioactive potassium-40,
found in the rocks of all the terrestrial planets as a leftover from their formation. e were surprised also to find that argon-40 creates a local bulge above an unusual part of the moon's surface,
the region containing Mare Imbrium and Oceanus Procellarum, Dr Benna said. The scientists found that argon-40 creates a local bulge above an unusual part of the moon's surface
the region containing Mare Imbrium (shown)+ 6 The scientists found that argon-40 creates a local bulge above an unusual part of the moon's surface,
the region containing Mare Imbrium (shown) Although the reason for this local enhancement is understood not yet,
ne could not help to notice that this region happens to be the place where potassium-40 is most abundant on the surface. o there may be a connection between the atmospheric argon, the surface potassium and deep interior sources,
he explained. The team also noted that a second surprising behaviour of argon that the overall amount in the lunar exosphere was not constant over time.
In fact it increased and decreased by about 25 per cent during the course of the Ladee mission.
trapped, frozen or absorbed in some material-from the surface that is triggered by tidal stress on the moon.
Ladee readings also revealed an unexpected source of some of the helium in the lunar exosphere. bout 20 percent of the helium is coming from the moon itself, most likely as the result from the decay of radioactive thorium and uranium
The spacecraft entered its science orbit around the moon's equator in Mid-november and its mission was extended.
However, the craft lacked fuel to maintain a long-term lunar orbit or continue science operations and was sent intentionally into the lunar surface,
The ship is fitted with speed of light weapons, while the ultra-strong acrylic hull, coated in a form of carbon called graphene, could be made see-through.
including communications between Earth and spacecraft. Quantum teleportation depends on a phenomenon called quantum entanglement. This allows connections to be made between atoms,
and it's only a matter of time before we will be'beaming'across the universe.
and with engineers at Nasa to improve techniques for collecting a person's vital signs,
which look remarkably similar to the star of 1986 film Short circuit, could be used to carry casualties to safety while under fire.
With caterpillar-style tracks and a head on top of a flexible neck, they look remarkably like Johnny Five-the malfunctioning mechanical star of the Short circuit films.
Both Google and Nasa have been developing a quantum computer as part of their artificial intelligence work. However their D-Wave quantum computer needs to be kept at temperatures of around-273°C(-459°F). The latest research by Professor Dzurak and his colleagues,
and exploring the fundamental nature of the universe
#HIV breakthrough could lead to a CURE as markers on immune cells identified The way a patient's immune system responds to HIV infection could offer clues as to
their study could be key to confirming the standard model explanation of the universe. This argues that four forces make up the interactions of particles:
gravity, electromagnetic, weak nuclear and strong nuclear. Quarks are small elementary particles that make up such things as neutrons and protons.
A confirmation of its existence would also once demonstrate that higher dimensional gravity research can be used to solve particle physics problems.
and safeguard entire species. Researchers claim to have worked out how to accurately predict the eruption of'supervolcanoes'that blanket the earth in giant ash clouds triggering a'nuclear winter'.
They throw 100 times more superheated gas, ash and rock into the atmosphere than run-of-the-mill eruptions-enough to blanket continents and plunge the globe into decades-long volcanic winters.
Repeatedly throughout Earth's history, when they become a super-eruption, the resulting gigantic volcanic outbursts that throw 100 times more superheated gas,
ash and rock into the atmosphere than run-of-the-mill eruptions-enough to blanket continents and plunge the globe into decades-long volcanic winters.
'said Guilherme Gualda, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at Vanderbilt University, who directed the project.'
The movement and structure of these waves could then be used to map the earth beneath.
Liquid-oxygen or kerosene rockets would be fired to enable the plane to rapidly climb higher in the sky
Nasa explains. It's predicted scramjets could reach 15 times the speed of sound. Bombardier Skreemr's sleek design, with four wings and two large rockets on the rear, is intended to be used as a commercial aircraft to carry 75 passengers in luxury.
While Bombardier came up with the idea Mattison, from Design Eye-Q in Minnesota, created the renderings of the concept.
which describes a craft that climbs vertically into the air before breaking the sound barrier as it travels horizontally across the sky.
A rocket motor would take it to an altitude of 100,000 feet (30,000 metres. The wing-mounted ramjets would then take control to push the jet to its final speed.
#MIT refreshes fusion reactor with modern superconductors Rare-earth barium copper oxide (REBCO) superconducting tapes could mean earlier practical fusion reactors, according to MIT.
The technology, funded by the National Science Foundation, allows for natural clays found readily all over the planet to be turned into reliable masonry products and offers a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete masonry,
They also believe the unique water-repelling nature of the material could be used in paint applied to airplanes and satellites or as part of electromagnetic shields for such things as unmanned aerial vehicles.
Tao likens the process to techniques used to discover exoplanets--new planets beyond our solar system.
evidence of their presence can be inferred from fluctuations in starlight due to gravitational effects caused by the unseen exoplanets.
"Xylochemistry could represent an important alternative to the climate-damaging use of the earth's finite resources of natural oil and gas in the production of chemicals."
"explains Sara Munk Jensen, Ph d. student at both the Nordic Center for Earth Evolution (Nordcee), Department of biology and the Department of physics, Chemistry and Pharmacy, University of Southern Denmark (SDU).
it doesn't. Nothing in the universe travels faster than light carrying information--Einstein is still right about that.
This speed of light increases or decreases depending on the material it's moving through. When light passes through water, for example, its phase velocity is reduced as its wavelengths get squished together.
night-vision goggles and smoke detectors to surveillance systems and satellites--that rely on electronic light sensors. Integrated into a digital camera lens, for example, it could reduce bulkiness and boost both the acquisition speed and quality of video or still photos.
"So the recent film The Martian, which involved an astronaut stranded on Mars growing potatoes
while living in an artificial habitat, had a bit more science fact than fiction than people might think,
#Self-healing material could patch up damaged spacecraft in under a second Space is big and mostly empty,
but it the small part that isn empty that ends up being an issue for space exploration.
Even a tiny piece of debris from a derelict satellite or ancient bit of space rock can cause damage to a spacecraft,
and that damage can expose your fragile atmosphere-loving body to the harsh vacuum of space in a real hurry.
Researchers from the University of Michigan working with NASA have developed a material that might add an extra layer of protection from space debris
The International space station is the most heavily shielded craft ever built, a necessary distinction as it designed to operate for years in orbit.
The current design relies on a series of impact shields known as Whipple bumpers or Whipple shields.
the air inside a spacecraft will be sucked out quickly. The air on the inside of the ship reacts with the resin as it leaks out,
causing it to harden into a solid plug that stops more atmosphere from escaping. This happens extremely fast as well the video above shows the resin hardening in just a few milliseconds.
The plug only has to hold one atmosphere of pressure inside the ship, so it doesn have to be as strong as the undamaged hull.
#Particle collider creates rimordial gooof the early universe A quark-gluon plasma is the original state of the universe.
After the Big bang, for a length of time extending for perhaps a few milliseconds, matter was so unimaginably super-heated that it was in its most disordered possible state.
is one of the most important questions for early universe cosmology today. That why it so surprising that an American particle collider called the Relativistic Heavy ion Collider (RHIC) was able to create it with very little actual mass.
But the Big bang is thought to have put all the matter in the universe into this state, all that once.
and out of existence can offer a window into the very earliest events in the history of the universe.
#The first satellite powered entirely by ion engines is online Getting a satellite into orbit is only the first step in making it a useful piece of equipment.
It also needs to arrive in the correct orbit and stay there, known as station-keeping.
but more modern satellites have relied upon a mix of chemical and electric propulsion. Now Boeing has announced the first all-electric ion propulsion satellite is fully operational.
The satellite in question doesn have a snappy name it a communications satellite called ABS-3a 702sp.
It was launched last March aboard a Spacex Falcon 9 rocket. It has just recently been handed over to its owner
Bermuda-based telecommunications company ABS. Because ABS-3a is a communications satellite, it needs to remain in a geosynchronous orbit.
Thus, station-keeping is essential. When it can no longer maintain its orbit, it will cease being useful.
Ion thrusters make a lot of sense in this scenario. Ion engines operate on the same basic principles of physics that chemical thrusters do expel mass from a nozzle to push a craft in the opposite direction.
Instead of the combustion of volatile chemicals, ion engines operate with chemically inert xenon gas. Using an electrostatic field,
This is the same type of thruster technology used on NASA Dawn spacecraft, which is currently studying the dwarf planet Ceres. Ion thrusters are considerably more efficient than conventional rocket motors.
In this case, Boeing claims the Xenon Ion Propulsion system (XIPS) designs used for ABS-3a is ten times more efficient than liquid fueled rockets.
ABS-3a needs only 11 pounds (5kg) of xenon gas per year to maintain station-keeping,
meaning it can remain operational much longer than a similar satellite with conventional thrusters. ABS expects the satellite to remain active for about 15 years.
Ion thrusters are also considerably lighter than chemical engines making launches cheaper. The drawback is the very low thrust of an ion engine.
That why past satellites have carried conventional thrusters as well. Upon delivery to orbit, ABS-3a used its ion thrusters to reach a geosynchronous orbit at 3 degrees west longitude.
After being tested by Boeing, the satellite was turned over to ABS on August 31st. Now that the design has proven itself viable,
Boeing is forging ahead with a second satellite for ABS using the same XIPS engines.
This one will be blasted into space sometime next year x
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