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Failed strut caused SpaceX rocket blast: CEO Elon Musk - 3 views

phys.org/...t-spacex-rocket-blast-ceo.html launchers SpaceX Falcon9 space_flight technology
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 21 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 21 Jul 15
     
    The SpaceX Falcon 9 explosion was caused by a failed strut that allowed a helium bottle to burst free inside the rocket's liquid oxygen tank, CEO Elon Musk said Monday. "One of those struts broke free during flight," Musk told reporters on a conference call to discuss the June 28 blast on what was supposed to be a routine cargo mission to the International Space Station.
  • Thijs Versloot on 21 Jul 15
     
    I guess this is how it starts as they mentioned they will inspect struts individually before each flight. Also for the space shuttle they believed a rapid inspection between launches would be feasible, but in the end there was a need for individual assessment almost. And we haven't even considered human spaceflight yet.
  • LeopoldS on 21 Jul 15
     
    as predicted, first failure, first inquiry board, first new safety procedures ... and certainly many more will follow and all will make sense but with the risk of loosing the competitive edge
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3D Printable Graphene Composite - 1 views

www.nature.com/srep11181 technology energy storage graphene 3d
shared by Thijs Versloot on 21 Jul 15 - No Cached
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  • Thijs Versloot on 21 Jul 15
     
    Both graphene and 3d printing has been around for quite a while, but combined they could provide unique properties of materials, eg in the use of high performance 3d batteries. This paper gives a nice overview of what has been done in the field up to now.
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New Satellite Maps Reveal Global Ocean Alkalinity - 4 views

www.sci-news.com/...al-ocean-alkalinity-02511.html ocean_acidification Earth_observation technology ocean_alkalinity science marine_carbon_cycle
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 21 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 21 Jul 15
     
    Innovative techniques that use satellites to monitor ocean acidification are set to revolutionize the way that scientists study the Earth's oceans. This new approach offers remote monitoring of large swathes of inaccessible ocean from satellites, including ESA's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission.
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Picture This: NVIDIA GPUs Sort Through Tens of Millions of Flickr Photos - 2 views

blogs.nvidia.com/...flickr AI
shared by Alexander Wittig on 21 Jul 15 - No Cached
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  • Alexander Wittig on 21 Jul 15
     
    Strange and exotic cityscapes. Desolate wilderness areas. Dogs that look like wookies. Flickr, one of the world's largest photo sharing services, sees it all. And, now, Flickr's image recognition technology can categorize more than 11 billion photos like these. And it does it automatically. It's called "Magic View." Magical deep learning! Buzzword attack!
  • ...4 more comments...
  • LeopoldS on 21 Jul 15
     
    and here comes my standard question: how can we use this for space? fast detection of natural disasters onboard?
  • Alexander Wittig on 22 Jul 15
     
    Even on ground. You could for example teach it what nuclear reactors or missiles or other weapons you don't want look like on satellite pictures and automatically scan the world for them (basically replacing intelligence analysts).
  • Alexander Wittig on 23 Jul 15
     
    In fact, I think this could make a nice ACT project: counting seals from satellite imagery is an actual (and quite recent) thing: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0092613 In this publication they did it manually from a GeoEye 1 b/w image, which sounds quite tedious. Maybe one can train one of those image recognition algorithms to do it automatically. Or maybe it's a bit easier to count larger things, like elephants (also a thing).
  • jcunha on 23 Jul 15
     
    In HiPEAC (High Performance, embedded architecture and computation) conference I attended in the beginning of this year there was a big trend of CUDA GPU vs FPGA for hardware accelerated image processing. Most of it orbitting around discussing who was faster and cheaper with people from NVIDIA in one side and people from Xilinx and Intel in the other. I remember of talking with an IBM scientist working on hardware accelerated data processing working together with the Radio telescope institute in Netherlands about the solution where they working on (GPU CUDA). I gathered that NVIDIA GPU suits best in applications that somehow do not rely in hardware, having the advantage of being programmed in a 'easy' way accessible to a scientist. FPGA's are highly reliable components with the advantage of being available in radhard versions, but requiring specific knowledge of physical circuit design and tailored 'harsh' programming languages. I don't know what is the level of rad hardness in NVIDIA's GPUs... Therefore FPGAs are indeed the standard choice for image processing in space missions (a talk with the microelectronics department guys could expand on this), whereas GPUs are currently used in some ground based (radio astronomy or other types of telescopes). I think that on for a specific purpose as the one you mentioned, this FPGA vs GPU should be assessed first before going further.
  • Paul N on 29 Jul 15
     
    You're forgetting power usage. GPUs need 1000 hamster wheels worth of power while FPGAs can run on a potato. Since space applications are highly power limited, putting any kind of GPU monster in orbit or on a rover is failed idea from the start. Also in FPGAs if a gate burns out from radiation you can just reprogram around it. Looking for seals offline in high res images is indeed definitely a GPU task.... for now.
  • jcunha on 31 Jul 15
     
    The discussion of how to make FPGA hardware acceleration solutions easier to use for the 'layman' is starting btw http://reconfigurablecomputing4themasses.net/.
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Fastest Ship in the Universe: How Sci-Fi Ships Stack Up - 2 views

www.fatwallet.com/...fastest-ship-in-the-universe PHY
shared by LeopoldS on 21 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • LeopoldS on 21 Jul 15
     
    for the geeks ... and Anna&Jai
  • Thijs Versloot on 27 Jul 15
     
    Gotta love that improbability drive
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Why is life left-handed? The answer is in the stars - 2 views

phys.org/...07-life-left-handed-stars.html BIO life space chemistry science
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 22 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 22 Jul 15
     
    While most humans are right-handed, our proteins are made up of lefty molecules. In the same way your left and right hands mirror one another, molecules can assemble in two reflected structures. Life prefers the left-handed version, which is puzzling since both mirrored types form equally in the laboratory.
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Testing shows using microwaves to propel a craft into space might work - 4 views

phys.org/...owaves-propel-craft-space.html technology propulsion microwaves science
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 23 Jul 15 - No Cached
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  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 23 Jul 15
     
    A team of researchers at Colorado based Escape Dynamics is reporting that initial tests indicate that it might really be possible to launch space-planes into space using microwaves sent from the ground, to allow for a single stage spacecraft. If the idea pans out, the cost savings for sending satellites (or perhaps humans) into orbit could be considerable.
  • Thijs Versloot on 27 Jul 15
     
    Not very new, but a very slick video nonetheless! Will it work? I am not so sure whether "just engineering" applies in this case. The array of antenna's required is quite significant to compensate for beam losses. Wall plug efficiency is not that high therefore, then again.. solar energy is for free almost in the future so who cares.. let's go for it! :)
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NASA discovers Earth-like planet orbiting 'cousin' of Sun - 1 views

phys.org/...ke-planet-orbiting-cousin.html exoplanets science ESS earth-like habitable_zone
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 24 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 24 Jul 15
     
    Astronomers hunting for another Earth have found what may be the closest match yet, a potentially rocky planet circling its star at the same distance as the Earth orbits the Sun, NASA said Thursday.
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Surprising similarity in fly and mouse motion vision - 2 views

medicalxpress.com/...arity-mouse-motion-vision.html BIO science evolution biomimetics vision
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 30 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 30 Jul 15
     
    Loosely related to an old ACT project on optical flow (if I remember correctly but even if not still an interesting read I think): "At first glance, the eyes of mammals and those of insects do not seem to have much in common. However, a comparison of the neural circuits for detecting motion shows surprising parallels between flies and mice. Scientists have learned a lot about the visual perception of both animals in recent years."
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Robots to the Rescue!: JPL's RoboSimian and Surrogate Robots are here to Help - 3 views

www.jpl.nasa.gov/...lectures_archive.php ai technology science robotics
shared by Juxi Leitner on 30 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Juxi Leitner on 30 Jul 15
     
    Robots to the Rescue!: JPL's RoboSimian and Surrogate Robots are here to Help
  • Thijs Versloot on 31 Jul 15
     
    Also many other interesting videos of the Karman Lectures
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Tiny robots that can jump on water created by scientists [Video] - 2 views

www.ibtimes.co.uk/ed-by-scientists-video-1513400
shared by Thijs Versloot on 31 Jul 15 - No Cached
  • Thijs Versloot on 31 Jul 15
     
    Small robots that jump on water have been created by scientists and could one day be used in surveillance and search and rescue missions. The team led by Seoul National University's Je-Sung Koh studied water striders to replicate the insect's ability to propel itself from the surface of water.
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scrible | smarter online research - annotate, organize & collaborate on web pages - 2 views

www.scrible.com research Googling website organization
shared by jcunha on 31 Jul 15 - Cached
  • jcunha on 31 Jul 15
     
    A personal need for organizing the information I access online, going away from the pdf print of page, or browser tab just lying open for ages (Anna style) brought me here. Seems to be a quite good and featureful service, sponsored by the NSF.
  • LeopoldS on 14 Sep 15
     
    not convinced ... still stick to pdf for time being
  • Paul N on 16 Sep 15
     
    NSF, NSA, more or less the same. I'm growing increasingly weary about giving increasingly more private data away to online services.
2More

Graphene sponge can absorb light and emit energetic electrons for breakthrough solar sa... - 1 views

nextbigfuture.com/...onge-can-absorb-light-and.html space technology
shared by aborgg on 04 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • aborgg on 04 Aug 15
     
    The unique structure and properties of graphene and the morphology of the bulk graphene material make it capable of not only absorbing light at various wavelengths but also emitting energetic electrons efficiently enough to drive the bulk material following Newtonian mechanics.
  • aborgg on 04 Aug 15
     
    Hard to believe this should actually work, but would be quite a breakthrough indeed. I wonder, since the material should build up a significant electric potential over time, thus, pulling back the ejected electrons. Well, the paper apparently is not peer-reviewed, and I found some rather critical comments in some forums. Let's see if the experiment will be verified by another research team in due course.
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Tesla reveals robotic snake car charger - 2 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...technology-33794085 technology robotics tesla fun
shared by Ma Ru on 07 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • Ma Ru on 07 Aug 15
     
    Quoting Elon Musk, "it does seem kinda wrong"...
  • Thijs Versloot on 10 Aug 15
     
    Is it just me but isn't this just needlessly complicated? I mean, you can design the plug on the car, its horizontal and symmetric. Why not just translational motors. Probably because its boring and one wants to make a metal Dr. Octavius tentacle of course
  • Ma Ru on 14 Aug 15
     
    Precisely!
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Portable ultra-broadband lasers could be key to next-generation sensors - 0 views

phys.org/...asers-key-next-generation.html technology lasers science sensing
shared by jcunha on 11 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • jcunha on 11 Aug 15
     
    Quantum Cascade Lasers are rising in the mid-infrared region, the so-called fingerprint zone of the electromagnetic spectrum for a whole bunch of chemical species that we are most of times interested in sensing. One more sign of the underlying importance of this technology comes just by seeing NSF, USHS, Naval Air Command and NASA as the main monetary contributors to this research.
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Robots collaborate to deliver meds, supplies, and even drinks - 2 views

phys.org/...8-robots-collaborate-meds.html AI technology robots
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 11 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 11 Aug 15
     
    At the recent Robotics Science and Systems (RSS) conference, a CSAIL team presented a new system of three robots that can work together to deliver items quickly, accurately and, perhaps most importantly, in unpredictable environments. The team says its models could extend to a variety of other applications, including hospitals, disaster situations, and even restaurants and bars.
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Attack on the pentagon results in discovery of new mathematical tile - 2 views

www.theguardian.com/...overy-of-new-mathematical-tile Math
shared by Alexander Wittig on 14 Aug 15 - No Cached
LeopoldS liked it
  • Alexander Wittig on 14 Aug 15
     
    In the world of mathematical tiling, news doesn't come bigger than this. In the world of bathroom tiling - I bet they're interested too. If you can cover a flat surface using only identical copies of the same shape leaving neither gaps nor overlaps, then that shape is said to tile the plane. Also only mathematicians can put the words "Pentagon", "attack", and "plane" in the same sentence...
  • LeopoldS on 14 Sep 15
     
    I especially love this part of the story: "The hunt to find and classify the pentagons that can tile the plane has been a century-long mathematical quest, begun by the German mathematician Karl Reinhardt, who in 1918 discovered five types of pentagon that do tile the plane. (To clarify, he did not find five single pentagons. He discovered five classes of pentagon that can each be described by an equation. For the curious, the equations are here. And for further clarification, we are talking about convex pentagons, which are most people's understanding of a pentagon in that every corner sticks out.) Most people assumed Reinhardt had the complete list until half a century later in 1968 when R. B. Kershner found three more. Richard James brought the number of types of pentagonal tile up to nine in 1975. That same year an unlikely mathematical pioneer entered the fray: Marjorie Rice, a San Diego housewife in her 50s, who had read about James' discovery in Scientific American. An amateur mathematician, Rice developed her own notation and method and over the next few years discovered another four types of pentagon that tile the plane. In 1985 Rolf Stein found a fourteenth. Way to go!"
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ISS astronauts bite into space-grown lettuce - 0 views

www.bbc.co.uk/...science-environment-33854240 technology science space ISS lettuce fun
shared by Ma Ru on 15 Aug 15 - No Cached
  • Ma Ru on 15 Aug 15
     
    Next great step for humankind. "... and we're standing by now for the first consumption of one of these red romaine lettuce leaves ..." :-)
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ProtonMail - Secure email based in Switzerland - 4 views

protonmail.ch security privacy encryption mail secure encrypted
shared by anonymous on 17 Aug 15 - No Cached
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  • anonymous on 17 Aug 15
     
    Something for the e-mail privacy fighters (Leopold). Protagonist in "Mr. Robot" is using it so it must be good!
  • ...1 more comment...
  • jcunha on 18 Aug 15
     
    Seems to be very good, I am going to make one account for me.
  • LeopoldS on 19 Aug 15
     
    I have an account with them since 30 June 2014 - nice but since I don't like webmail I prefer using mail with PGP installed ... unfortunately very few others are using PGP encryption .... even smart ACT guys ... :-(
  • Paul N on 26 Aug 15
     
    We know not to use email at all for any kind of critical communication
2More

Going solid-state could make batteries safer and longer-lasting - 3 views

phys.org/...ries-safer-longer-lasting.html technology solid_state_physics PHY energy
shared by Nina Nadine Ridder on 18 Aug 15 - No Cached
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  • Nina Nadine Ridder on 18 Aug 15
     
    If you pry open one of today's ubiquitous high-tech devices-whether a cellphone, a laptop, or an electric car-you'll find that batteries take up most of the space inside. Indeed, the recent evolution of batteries has made it possible to pack ample power in small places.
  • Thijs Versloot on 18 Aug 15
     
    solidstate batteries would be perfect indeed, but up to now I know of no solid electrolyte that can do the trick. The article itself does not mention any material beyond superionic lithium-ion conductors, but does not specify which one in particular. The premis seems to be "if it conducts fast enough, the battery can conduct efficiently"
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