Group items tagged

cheers to luca for pointing out the management one. netlogo model "demonstrating mathematically that organizations would become more efficient if they promoted people at random."

you mean "your management" at your current place?

Yes, it is not what is written? Indeed, it is already implemented. You are talking with the director of the Institute. I have been unlucky with the toss.

a bunch of ideas, iinitiatives, and good points about upcoming changes in space ...

"Within a few years we will see the first true prototype of a spaceship that will take us between worlds," Worden said. this sounds to me a bit too much like Pete Worden :-) but I really like this one :-) One of those billionaires might be Google's Larry Page, who is keenly interested in space travel and NASA Ames's research. "Larry asked me a couple weeks ago how much it would cost to send people one way to Mars and I told him $10 billion, and his response was, 'Can you get it down to 1 or 2 billion?,'" Worden told the Long Now audience. "So now we're starting to get a little argument over the price."

Space trip anyone?

Albania is Lonely Planet's top country to visit in 2011. Ah! The ACT confirms its ability to detect trends and to be ahead of the curve.

well - might well be that the first experiments just measured that Americans are a bit more stupid or don't remember what a candle is ... :-)

sleeping and driving on the highway

"The lead vehicle would be handled by a professional driver who would monitor the status of the road train. Those in following vehicles could take their hands off the wheel, read a book or watch TV, while they travel along the motorway. Their vehicle would be controlled by the lead vehicle." .... what or who is defining a professional driver? one of the always overly tired truck drivers?

Reminds me of something .... :)

Star travel in 2069 ! Completely crazy this guys.. and what do you do once you are around Betelgeuse or Proxima ?

Not as crazy as "one united space agency in 2020" :)

what to think about that? spoiling important ressources, smart idea?, and is it really cheap?

what's your take on these ...

Most important news: Kurzweil postponed his Singularity to 2054. I think this is the postponed postponement of the postponed postponement. Perhaps it will happen shortly after the experimental proof of the existence of the hydrino state and of antigravity in rotating superconductors...

Singularity is like fusion and commercial space travel: always 50 years away.

he new SR-72 will use a turbine-based combined cycle (TBCC) that will employ the turbine engine at lower speeds, and use a scramjet at higher speeds. A scramjet engine is designed to operate at hypersonic velocities by compressing the air through a carefully designed inlet, but needs to be traveling supersonic before it is practical to begin with. So far research projects from NASA, the Air Force and other Pentagon entities have not been able to solve the problem of transitioning from the subsonic flight regime, through hypersonic flight with a single aircraft. Same problem as Reaction Engines is trying to solve, so I am not sure whether they actually cracked it. In any case, nice pictures. Not sure why the exhaust color is purple in color. Its not running on Argon I believe.

Weird article. Intermediate thruster stage (Ramjet) is missing. Scramjet has supersonic combustion and a normal turbine delivers subsonic flows. Even with afterburner - the Scramjet inlet would decelerate the flow down to subsonic velocity with "normal" subsonic combustion. The only thing I can imagine is that the Scramjet stage is bi-functional and covers both, subsonic and supersonic combustion. But the article doesn't say anything about it.

"Hormones are molecules that act as the body's signals, triggering various physiological responses. The newly discovered hormone, dubbed "MOTS-c," primarily targets muscle tissue, where it restores insulin sensitivity, counteracting diet-induced and age-dependent insulin resistance." Good news for long distance space travelers?

as well as lazy couch potatoes

not sure what to make of this. seems like an odd change of direction "Spaceports will be key to us opening up the final frontier of commercial space travel," said Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander at the announcement of the new sites. Mr Alexander hinted that the plans could lead to Scotland becoming the home of the UK's commercial space ambitions, even as the Scottish government warns that only independence will secure a successful space industry for the country.