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Archive for the ‘satellites’ category: Page 180

May 27, 2016

The Future of Humanity’s Food Supply Is in the Hands of AI

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, computing, food, health, information science, mobile phones, robotics/AI, satellites

Perhaps it’s serendipitous, then, that the machines have finally arrived. Truly smart, truly impressive robots and machine learning algorithms that may help usher in a new Green Revolution to keep humans fed on an increasingly mercurial planet. Think satellites that automatically detect drought patterns, tractors that eyeball plants and kill the sick ones, and an AI-powered smartphone app that can tell a farmer what disease has crippled their crop.

Forget scarecrows. The future of agriculture is in the hands of the machines.

A Digital Green Thumb

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May 26, 2016

China may send the first unhackable messages with quantum encryption

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, encryption, quantum physics, satellites

I sure hope US, Canada, UK, etc. are already for a Quantum Net China.


China is set to become the first nation in the world to launch a quantum communications satellite, which might make its data hacker-proof.

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May 23, 2016

Assessing the Scientific Potential of Small CubeSat Satellites — New Report

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, engineering, physics, satellites

In the last few years, hundreds of contained “nano” satellites known as CubeSats have been launched in low Earth orbit for many purposes, including for collecting targeted scientific data. Federal agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation are exploring the potential of these highly affordable satellites in advancing research goals.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concludes that CubeSats have demonstrated usefulness for scientific data gathering and can also augment – but not replace — the capabilities of large satellite missions and ground-based facilities. The report identifies examples of high-priority science goals that could be pursued through the use of CubeSats in areas such as solar and space physics, planetary science, and Earth science.

In order to continue building the capabilities of CubeSats for research, federal support is crucial, the report says, which identifies several steps NASA and NSF should take to ensure that CubeSats reach their full potential.

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May 23, 2016

2020 Tokyo Olympics May Open With Huge Meteor Shower Launched By Satellites

Posted by in category: satellites

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vHvyz3h-rRo

You can’t make this stuff up — scary to think about the fallout.


Japan’s ALE startup plans to open the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with man-made meteor shower.

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May 17, 2016

Seeding space with nanosatellites for affordable Internet

Posted by in categories: internet, satellites

https://youtube.com/watch?v=W0YgV1TgnF8

Luv this as long as it doesn’t pollute space.


Space seeds could bring high-bandwidth Internet connectivity to the globe at less expense than the cost of putting one satellite into space.

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May 17, 2016

From data to service: the transition to “space-to-space” commerce

Posted by in categories: energy, military, satellites

Excellent read about future Commerce in Space — could we see an Amazon or a HomeDepot in space?


In space there are no service stations to pull into and get replacement parts for your satellite. Nor is there a towing service if a satellite is in the wrong orbit, a construction contractor to help you build structures, or a “Space Depot” for those who wish to “do-it-themselves” on orbit. In other words, we still operate within a first-generation space industrial enterprise, i.e. all commerce is on Earth, and we only focus on bits (data) coming from monolithic things that go up (i.e., satellites), which eventually die or just come down with no chance of repair or reuse.

Today the commercial space industry focuses exclusively on applications that support launching science, exploration, military, or established earth-bound data communication or delivery services, focusing data to/from space. The lack of technology to support or “markets” to enter has resulted in nebulous, unconsolidated and without-a-critical-mass investment in space-based infrastructure, industrialization, space resources (survey and process maturation) and global utility creation and delivery applications in space. However, all that may finally be changing.

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May 13, 2016

NASA satellites find trigger for magnetic explosions near Earth for first time

Posted by in categories: nuclear energy, satellites

Explosive storms spawned by interactions between the magnetic fields of Earth and the sun can endanger satellites, spacecraft and astronauts in space, as well as power grids on Earth. Now, a fleet of NASA spacecraft has for the first time directly witnessed the mysterious way in which these magnetic explosions occur.

This work could help shed light on dangerous solar outbursts and help improve the design of advanced nuclear reactors, researchers said. The discovery was made using NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (or MMS for short), which launched four spacecraft into Earth’s magnetosphere, the bubble of plasma controlled by the planet’s magnetic field.

SEE ALSO: Satellite quartet: NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission in pictures.

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May 10, 2016

DARPA is building acoustic GPS for submarines and UUVs

Posted by in categories: government, military, mobile phones, satellites

A new underwater GPS.


For all the benefits that the Global Positioning System provides to landlubbers and surface ships, GPS signals can’t penetrate seawater and therefore can’t be used by oceangoing vehicles like submarines or UUVs. That’s why DARPA is creating an acoustic navigation system, dubbed POSYDON (Positioning System for Deep Ocean Navigation), and has awarded the Draper group with its development contract.

The space-based GPS system relies on a constellation of satellites that remain in a fixed position relative to the surface of the Earth. The GPS receiver in your phone or car’s navigation system triangulates the signals it receives from those satellites to determine your position. The POSYDON system will perform the same basic function, just with sound instead. The plan is to set up a small number of long-range acoustic sources that a submarine or UUV could use to similarly triangulate its position without having to surface.

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Apr 30, 2016

IRNSS: Desi GPS to liberate India from dependence on US, Russia

Posted by in category: satellites

India frees itself from the US & Russian GPS system.


Back home, the mission control room of Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO) resonated with thunderous applause. The scientists who were till then glued to their monitors burst into cheers. India’s mini GPS, a regional positioning system, was ready to be rolled out.

Prime minister Narendra Modi who was watching the launch live from his office in Delhi congratulated the scientists. “With this successful launch, we will determine our own paths powered by our technology. This is an example of made in India and made for Indians,” he said. The navigational structure was given a new name — NavIC (Navigation Indian Constellation) — by the prime minister. “125 crore Indians have got a new Navic,” he tweeted.

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Apr 28, 2016

Technology moving too fast for governments to keep up, says former DARPA chief

Posted by in categories: drones, encryption, government, internet, military, satellites

Hmmm; I guess the government needs to change its mode of operations. I believe that everyone has been saying this for a while now.


Technology companies are moving too fast for governments to keep up, according to a former chief of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Kaigham (Ken) Gabriel was acting director of DARPA and the man behind drone technology and global positioning satellites, as well as the military’s top secret, high-tech operation responsible for inventing the forerunner to the internet, Arpanet.

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