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Archive for the ‘habitats’ category: Page 100

Jul 26, 2018

Ion Engine Startup Wants to Change the Economics of Earth Orbit

Posted by in categories: alien life, economics, engineering, finance, habitats, information science, law

For as long as she can remember, she’s puzzled over what’s out there. As a kid drifting off to sleep on a trampoline outside her family’s home near Portland, Ore., she would track the International Space Station. She remembers cobbling together a preteen version of the Drake Equation on those nights and realizing that the likelihood of intelligent alien life was something greater than zero. Star Trek marathons with her father catalyzed her cosmic thinking, as did her mother’s unexpected death when Bailey was 8. The house lost some of its order—some of its gravity—which led to more nights gazing skyward on the trampoline.

In college, Bailey got a hard-won paid internship at the now-merged aerospace giant Hamilton Sundstrand and joined a team repairing turbine engines. She hated it. “It was the opposite of pushing the envelope,” she says. “Nothing new ever went into that building. Nothing new ever left that building.”

By the time she set off to get a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Duke University, the idea of logging 30 years at a place like Boeing Cor NASA had lost all appeal. She tried her hand at finance and later law, and was unlucky enough to excel at both. “I made it pretty far down that path, but then I thought, Wait, if I become a lawyer, then I’m a lawyer and that’s what I do,” she recalls. “What if I don’t want to do that on Tuesdays?”

Continue reading “Ion Engine Startup Wants to Change the Economics of Earth Orbit” »

Jul 26, 2018

NASA-awarded ‘marsha’, a 3D-printed vertical martian habitat

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, habitats, robotics/AI, space

3D printing refers to various processes used to manufacture three dimensional objects in successive layers of material formed under computer control.

NASA-awarded ‘marsha’, a 3D-printed vertical Martian habitat by AI spacefactory.

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Jul 25, 2018

Mars Ice Home

Posted by in categories: habitats, space

Clouds Architecture Office and SEArch conceived an inflatable structure that incorporates in situ resources and uses ice as radiation shielding and as a structural component.

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Jul 24, 2018

How giant neurons in the brain stimulate consciousness, awareness and cognition

Posted by in categories: habitats, neuroscience

A fascinating study from scientists at Rockefeller University has shed new light on a deep brain mechanism that can stimulate awareness and cognition. The research homes in on a collection of giant neurons in the brain that seem to be able to modulate stimulation of the entire central nervous system.

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Jul 24, 2018

Search engine for ‘smart wood’

Posted by in categories: habitats, robotics/AI

The enzyme laccase is able to alter the chemical structure of wood on its surface and thus facilitate biochemical modifications without changing the structure of the material. By attaching functional molecules, Empa researchers develop waterproof or antimicrobial wood surfaces, for instance. Also it is possible to make adhesive wood fibers, which can be pressed to fiberboards without any chemical binding agents. These solvent-free fiberboards are used for insulation of eco houses.

The problem: There are many variants of laccase, which differ in the architecture of the chemically active center, and not all of them react with the desired substrate. As it is extremely difficult to predict whether or not a particular laccase will react with a specific substrate, costly and time-consuming series of experiments are required to identify suitable laccase-substrate pairs. Molecular simulations could solve the problem: You simply need a precise structural analysis of the laccase to simulate the chemical reaction mechanism for every desirable combination on the computer. However, this requires a high computer computing—capacity and, even then, would be extremely time-consuming and expensive.

But there is a shortcut: “deep learning.” A computer program is trained to recognize patterns with data from the literature and own experiments: Which laccase oxidizes which substrate? What might be the best conditions for the desired chemical process to take place? The best thing about it: The search works even if not all details about the mechanism are known.

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Jul 24, 2018

Five Teams Win a Share of $100,000 in 3D-Printed Habitat Competition

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, habitats, space

NASA and partner Bradley University of Peoria, Illinois, have selected the top five teams to share a $100,000 prize in the latest stage of the agency’s 3D-Printed Habitat Centennial Challenge competition. Winning teams successfully created digital representations of the physical and functional characteristics of a house on Mars using specialized software tools. The teams earned prize money based on scores assigned by a panel of subject matter experts from NASA, academia and industry. The judges interviewed and evaluated submissions from 18 teams from all over the world and selected these teams:

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Jul 19, 2018

World’s oldest baby snake found preserved in amber

Posted by in category: habitats

100-million-year-old fossil may provide clues to the habitat and evolution of ancient serpents.

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Jul 19, 2018

Don’t Squish the Jellyfish. Capture It With a Folding Robotic Claw

Posted by in categories: habitats, robotics/AI

A new invention could help marine scientists study sea creatures in their natural habitat more effectively without harming them in the process.

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Jul 14, 2018

How Nantes team’s 3D printing may alter shape of homes to come

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, habitats, robotics/AI

For some months now, a 3D printed house in Nantes has drawn lots of attention, not just because a printer was involved but also because it went up from start to finish so quickly (54 hours to print, then add some more time for the windows and roof). Interesting Engineering said it took some more time to add the roof, windows and doors.

A robot printer was used to print layers from the floor upwards to form the walls, and videos show a beautiful result of five rooms with rounded walls.

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Jul 13, 2018

New South African Telescope Releases Epic Image of the Galactic Center

Posted by in categories: habitats, space

You’re looking at the center of our galactic home, the Milky Way, as imaged by 64 radio telescopes in the South African wilderness.

Scientists released this image today to inaugurate the completed MeerKAT radio telescope. But these scopes form part of an even more ambitious project: the Square Kilometer Array, a joint effort to build the world’s largest telescope, spanning the continents of Africa and Australia.

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