Mar 24

CERN to Power Up Collider to 7 TeV March 30

Posted in: science, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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Things are heating up at the Large Hadron Collider, and not in a bad way this time.
CERN says that they plan to collide particles at the highest energy level so far beginning on March 30th, by circulating twin beams in the 16.8-mile tunnel at 7 tera-electron volts, or twice the current (already record-breaking) 3.5 TeV, Reuters reports.
At that rate, “it may take hours or even days to get collisions,” according to Rolf Heuer, CERN’s director-general, in the article.
Scientists hope that the multiple particle collisions will each create mini-Big Bangs, which should generate plenty of rich data for scientists to mine in the years ahead, according to the report.
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Mar 23

SpaceShipTwo Takes Maiden Flight

Posted in: science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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We have liftoff: Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo “rocket plane” has taken its maiden flight from the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, MSNBC reports.
The SpaceShipTwo, pictured above attached to the WhiteKnightTwo carrier airplane, flew for almost three hours at altitudes up to 50,000 feet, though it still remained within the Earth’s atmosphere. The report said we still have several months before SpaceShipTwo hits outer space for the first time. Right now, the company is testing SpaceShipTwo’s aerodynamics.
Virgin Galactic is planning to begin taking passengers as early as 2011 or 2012. The Richard Branson-backed project first unveiled SpaceShipTwo late last year.
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Mar 23

3D Imagery From Mars To Make James Cameron Jealous

Posted in: NASA, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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The big news in the world of 3D imagery recently has come from Pandora, the unobtanium rich moon in James Cameron’s Avatar. Spectacular, but pure fantasy. in the realm of the real the big 3D news comes from NASA and some stereoscopic images from Mars, specifically Mojave Crater.

About 60 kilometers (37 miles) in diameter Mojave Crater is a recent addition to Mars. It’s only around 10 million years old. Its depth of 2.6 kilometers (1.6 miles) suggests minimal erosion. In other words, it’s in relatively pristine shape.

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Mar 18

Scientists Discover Jupiter-Like Alien World

Posted in: science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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It’s not quite Earth-like. But scientists have discovered a “normal” exoplanet, dubbed CoRoT-9b, that resembles other planets in our Solar System.
The planet appears to be orbiting its star about as close as our own Mercury, and yet is the approximate size of Jupiter, Space.com reports. Still, it’s a lot further away than other “hot Jupiter” exoplanets, and likely has a much more temperate climate, the report said.
CoRoT-9b is likely made of hydrogen and helium, just like Jupiter and Saturn. The planet is named after the French space agency CNES’s CoRoT satellite, which first picked up the light signature of the planet passing in front of its star.
To date, astronomers have discovered over 430 exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, orbiting other stars–with the expectation that there are many, many more out there. (Image credit: ESO/L. Calcada)
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Mar 15

Orange Dwarf Star On Collision Course With Earth, Nobody Panic

Posted in: Space Tech, Today's Chili

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“Don’t panic!” So said the cover of a certain famous book. Even so, you might want to have a
look at a Popular Science report, which says a prominent astronomer is
predicting an “86 percent chance” that a certain neighboring star
named Gilese 710 will smash into stray rocks orbiting the outer solar
system in the next 1.5 million years.

Or maybe it won’t.

But that collision, if it occurs, would take place in the Oort Cloud
beyond Pluto, upon which it could send comets heading straight for
Earth.

In addition, the same astronomer–a real cheery fellow, it seems–has
found a high probability of nine other stars that have already swung
near the sun, or that might do so again in the future, the report
said. If we emerge unscathed–whoever “we” is at the time–then so
much the better, as we’ll have plenty of time to get back to planning
for the Andromeda galaxy’s eventual collision in 4.5 billion years.

Image credit: NASA/Gilese 710

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Mar 12

Could Computers Read Minds?

Posted in: medical, science, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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It’s the stuff of science fiction, and yet it could soon become reality–at least down the road, if not today.
NPR reports that a new computer program analyzing brain activity figured out which of three short films 10 volunteers were thinking about–with perfect accuracy.
Here how it works: the program analyzes the hippocampus, a part of the brain that appears to index memories of events, and searches it for traces of these events in brain scans. The volunteers watched the three short films over and over–word is they weren’t just cat videos–and then were asked to recall the movies when hooked up to the scanner.
Not only did the program get every single case correct, but scientists also discovered that the pattern for each movie was similar across all 10 brains, the report said. Yikes. The study originally appeared in the journal Current Biology. (Image credit: Barco Coronis medical LCD)

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Mar 12

CERN Plans One-Year LHC Shutdown for 2012

Posted in: science, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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The Large Hadron Collider will close down at the end of next year for up to 12 months for modifications to the design, according to BBC News.
Everything is still on track to power up the LHC to begin smashing together particles at 7 trillion electron volts (7 TeV) later this month. But after a year and a half of that, LHC director Dr. Steve Myers said in the report that the faults prevent the machine from hitting its full potential of 14 TeV for two years.
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Mar 11

Virgin Galactic Lands Legal Protection Against Space Tourists

Posted in: science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili
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Enter at your own risk–or so should read a sign on the door of every passenger spaceship in the future.
Space tourism operators like Virgin Galactic have won a legal reprieve against potential litigation by surviving family members in the event of passenger injuries or death during flight, according to Space.com.
“This helps give us a really solid insurance foundation” for the business, Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn said in the report regarding the new legislation, which was signed into law on February 27 by New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. “It includes the principle of informed consent. Participants will be required to sign a waiver before flight.”
The possibility of lawsuits with staggering sums attached is only higher in the space tourism industry’s early years, thanks to the high costs that will invariably draw enthusiasts with very high net worth statements. The law won’t hold in the event that the space tourism operator is found guilty of gross negligence or willful misconduct, according to the report.
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Mar 10

Hubble IMAX 3D: The Next Best Thing to Being in Space

Posted in: NASA, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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Astronaut Andrew Feustel spacewalks to perform repairs on the Hubble; click to enlarge.

Take a number of the Hubble Space Telescope’s most stunning images, give them a 3D look, and display them on an IMAX screen–what’s not to love? Yet Hubble 3D, an IMAX and Warner Brothers film made in cooperation with NASA, manages to go far beyond that.

Much of the film focuses on last May’s mission of the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-125) to repair the Hubble. The astronauts brought an IMAX 3D camera with which they were able to capture spectacular sequences of the grueling and dangerous spacewalks the crew undertook to conduct the repairs. Coupled with stunning views of Earth, this section of Hubble 3D provides an immersive experience that astronauts who have seen the video have termed the closest thing yet to actually being in orbit. Hubble 3D will open in selected IMAX theaters March 19, but we were fortunate enough to get a preview this week.

The movie, narrated by Leonardo Dicaprio, opens with the STS-125 crew suiting up and talking about the importance of the mission and their growing excitement about it in the hours before liftoff. Among them is Mike Massimino (@Astro_Mike), who on that mission became the first astronaut to tweet from space. The film cuts away to a history of Hubble and a tour of its images (some of which you’ll find after the jump) but always returns to the saga of the repair mission.

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Mar 10

You, Too, Could Own a Working Jetpack for $90,000

Posted in: Gadgets, science, space, Space Tech, Today's Chili

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Near the top of the list of “unfulfilled science fiction concepts,” you’ll find the jetpack, a staple of future transportation that somehow hasn’t arrived yet. (Well, we did get the Segway.)
Nonetheless, Martin Aircraft Company wants to change that with the Martin Jetpack, a $90,000 carbon fiber model that can generate 600 pounds of thrust. Wired reports that the jetpack is self-righting; you can let go of the controls and just hover.
The Martin Jetpack runs on gasoline, and burns through its five-gallon tank in about half an hour. It’s classified as an ultralight aircraft, so you don’t need a pilot’s license, although the company enforces its own training program.
Anyone who wants one faces a 12-month wait; to get on the list, you’ll need to put 10 percent down ($9,000).
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