Group items tagged

DARPA in search for orbit debris removal ideas

Nature: Scientist have found a plant that has a very small genome because it manages to remove junk DNA.

ElectroDynamic Debris Eliminator ... seems similar to the Ariadna proposal if I remember correctly

It was presented during the second day of the SpaceTech workshop. As far as I understood (which I am not sure!) the double tether is spinning ... isn't a bit crazy!

nice story from Andrés: my only concern: "At Gran Sasso, the ingots will be melted into a 3-centimetre-thick lead lining that will surround the cubic CUORE detector. Before the ingots are melted down, the inscriptions on each one will be removed and sent back to Cagliari for preservation. "They are trademarks, bearing the names of various firms that extracted and traded lead," explains Donatella Salvi, an archaeologist at the Cagliari museum.

Free software or a marketing move?

They have all the weight they need to pull this through. I'm dreaming of a day in which they will switch all Youtube videos to WebM, with all the Apple devices becoming useless to watch Internet video :) And Steve Jobs struggling to explain why, after wearing the mantle of open standards in the whole Flash vs HTML5 thing, he's now pushing H.264 against WebM... Anyway, in my view the less encumbered formats around the best for everyone's freedom.

Engineers launch a plan to start removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere within 10 to 20 years.

If you get suspicious text you can have an automated check. However, I suggest to remove any references chapter since they boost the amount of hits. My last Ariadna report has a plagiarism rate of 8.7%. Anyone higher?

Some people answering the question 'What's cooler than blasting space debris with lasers...?'.

If it fires in both directions, can we align it such that it deorbits two debris with one shot?

:) the idea of having this method for debris removal is actually an ACT one from Claudio Bombardelli (ACT RF in MAD https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion-beam_shepherd). This is just a technological device to implement it so that the system on board is simplified (i.e. instead of two engines, you get away with one and a weird nozzle) Marcus, you cannot align it to get rid of two debris as you need to keep the spacecraft close to the debris as this is a long duration acion. One of the two would drift away (can only follow one!)

Doesn't really sound sexy, but this is of utmost importance for next generation grids for renewable energy.

I agree on the significance indeed - a small boost also for my favourite Desertec project ... Though their language is a bit too "grandiose": "ABB has successfully designed and developed a hybrid DC breaker after years of research, functional testing and simulation in the R&D laboratories. This breaker is a breakthrough that solves a technical challenge that has been unresolved for over a hundred years and was perhaps one the main influencers in the 'war of currents' outcome. The 'hybrid' breaker combines mechanical and power electronics switching that enables it to interrupt power flows equivalent to the output of a nuclear power station within 5 milliseconds - that's as fast as a honey bee takes per flap of its wing - and more than 30 times faster than the reaction time of an Olympic 100-meter medalist to react to the starter's gun! But its not just about speed. The challenge was to do it 'ultra-fast' with minimal operational losses and this has been achieved by combining advanced ultrafast mechanical actuators with our inhouse semiconductor IGBT valve technologies or power electronics (watch video: Hybrid HVDC Breaker - How does it work). In terms of significance, this breaker is a 'game changer'. It removes a significant stumbling block in the development of HVDC transmission grids where planning can start now. These grids will enable interconnection and load balancing between HVDC power superhighways integrating renewables and transporting bulk power across long distances with minimal losses. DC grids will enable sharing of resources like lines and converter stations that provides reliability and redundancy in a power network in an economically viable manner with minimal losses. ABB's new Hybrid HVDC breaker, in simple terms will enable the transmission system to maintain power flow even if there is a fault on one of the lines. This is a major achievement for the global R&D team in ABB who have worked for years on the challeng

The wisdom of crowds breaks down when people are biased. Now researchers have discovered a simple method of removing this bias-just listen to the most confident.

So, those who insist know better? I reckon that an ignorant can also insist on his opinion.

Hehe... as far as I know the Russians, they won't miss a chance to "clean up" a few enemy satellites too...

For those working on space debris removal... Watch out for moon-protection activists that will accuse you of distroying a historical heritage: "There are countless places on Earth that have been awarded protection to preserve their historic or cultural importance. The moon has none. But that may be about to change...."

A rain forest vine has evolved dish-shaped leaves to attract the bats that pollinate it, scientists have found. Tests revealed that the leaves were supremely efficient at bouncing back the sound pulses the flying mammals used to navigate. When the leaves were present the bats located the plant twice as quickly as when these echoing leaves were removed.

That's very interesting. The algae can be used as an absorber of CO2. The problem is that in order to be efficient it has to cover a wide surface and needs water. Would it be possible to grow algaes in the clouds...? Do you know some plants that are capable of floating in the air ?

Yes. There are some epiphytic plants who do not have roots and remove CO2 and H2O from air. Oisin is doing some calculations on it.

A good example of how loosing perspective makes so-called "novel ways" actually "rubish ways"

here the paper: http://arxiv.org/abs/1104.1401 well spent defence funding ....

Interesting article about theoretical physics theories vs. experimental verification. Can we state that a theory can be so good that its existence supplants the need for data and testing ? If a theory is proved to be untestable experimentally, can we still say that it is a scientific theory ? (not in my opinion)

There is an interesting approach by Feynman that it does not make sense to describe something of which we cannot measure the consequences. So a theory that is so removed from experiment that it cannot be backed by it is pointless and of no consequence. It is a bit as with the statement "if a tree falls in the forrest and nobody is there to hear it, does it make a sound?". We would typically extrapolate to say that it does make a sound. But actually nobody knows - you would have to take some kind of measurement. But even more fundamentally it does not make any difference! For all intents and purposes there is no point in forcing a prediction that you cannot measure and that therefore has noto reflect an event in your world.

"Mathematics is the model of the universe, not the other way round" - M. R.

Their accuracy is orders of magnitude better than what is currently being used, however at the moment, it sounds like quite a large setup -> they're working on getting it down to 1m^3 :o, still any gravity mapping instruments could benefit from these in the future.

Actually GPS is much more accurate, but as it doesnt work under water, the only alternative (without building an underwater GPS equivalent using probes) is to use cumulative accelerometer data. But as this is prone to drifting over time, quantum systems like this can help improving the accuracy significantly.

Very true :). I was thinking though when you want to remove 'noise' from any gravity mapping experiment, highly accurate accelerometers are required, like those used in GOCE.