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Posted 2 weeks ago
Anti Gravity - does anti matter fall upwards? That question is one of the remaining mysteries about a type of matter so opposite to the “normal” world around us. Measurements taken at the ALPHA experiment in Cern have now gotten us a little closer to an answer, although a definitive yes or no is still beyond our reach. Physicists have speculated about the answer for decades, but there’s been little data to feed those efforts. Finding the answer has proved to be an experimental difficulty. Antimatter is hard to wrangle: it annihilates as soon as it comes into contact with ordinary matter. Although electromagnetic fields can be used to steer charged antimatter particles quite easily, the forces involved can easily overwhelm any gravitational signal you might hope to see. […] Despite those challenges, physicists have started making inroads with the stuff. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, a team working on the ALPHA experiment at CERN is reporting the first direct measurement of antimatter’s reaction to gravity. The scientists were able to bound the problem: gravity either “pulls” anti matter no harder than 100x the force experienced by normal matter, or repulses it no more than 65x the force experienced by normal matter. That’s still a lot of wiggle room, but there are good indications that more precise measurements will be possible in the near future. Zoom

Anti Gravity - does anti matter fall upwards? That question is one of the remaining mysteries about a type of matter so opposite to the “normal” world around us. Measurements taken at the ALPHA experiment in Cern have now gotten us a little closer to an answer, although a definitive yes or no is still beyond our reach.

Physicists have speculated about the answer for decades, but there’s been little data to feed those efforts. Finding the answer has proved to be an experimental difficulty. Antimatter is hard to wrangle: it annihilates as soon as it comes into contact with ordinary matter. Although electromagnetic fields can be used to steer charged antimatter particles quite easily, the forces involved can easily overwhelm any gravitational signal you might hope to see. […] Despite those challenges, physicists have started making inroads with the stuff. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, a team working on the ALPHA experiment at CERN is reporting the first direct measurement of antimatter’s reaction to gravity.

The scientists were able to bound the problem: gravity either “pulls” anti matter no harder than 100x the force experienced by normal matter, or repulses it no more than 65x the force experienced by normal matter. That’s still a lot of wiggle room, but there are good indications that more precise measurements will be possible in the near future.

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Posted 3 weeks ago

Beauty Reimagined - this video shows the creation of the Aston Martin CC100 Roadster concept. There is some amazing technology at display, but even more captivating is the craftsmanship of the individuals as they take the design from imagination to physical object. In today’s world of disposable technology, there’s a kind of devotion in this work that makes the result truly special.

British automaker Aston Martin is celebrating its centenary by introducing the ‘CC100 speedster concept’. Looking back to the DBR1 for styling influence,the naturally aspirated 6.0-litre v12-powered concept car made its world debut by completing a lap of the famous Nordschleife, at Germany’s 24 hours of Nürburgring race. The body and interior are crafted entirely from carbon fibre - designed and constructed in fewer than six months at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon. Paired to a six-speed hydraulically actuated automated sequential manual transmission with column-mounted paddle shifts, the ‘CC100’ reaches 0-100 km/h ( 62mph ) in 4.0 seconds, with a top speed of 291 km/h (180 mph).

Head over to design boom for many more photos of the completed car.

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Posted 3 weeks ago
We Have Always Lived On Mars - A great short story by Cecil Castellucci, posted over at Tor books. It’s a quick read, but paints a vivid image of what life on an isolated planetary colony with limited resources might be like. There are difficult choices to be made by its inhabitants, and worrisome parallels between their experiences and those of us today on planet Earth, which after all is still an isolated planetary colony itself; at least until we do at last spread our wings to reach other worlds. Nina, one of the few descendants of human colony on Mars that was abandoned by Earth, is surprised to discover that she can breathe the toxic atmosphere of the Martian surface.  The crew, thinking that their attempts at terraforming and breeding for Martian adaptability have finally payed off, rejoice at the prospect of a brighter future.  But Nina’s about to unlock the mystery of the disaster that stranded them on Mars… and nothing will ever be the same. There’s an interesting twist at the end too, read the full story at tor.com. Zoom

We Have Always Lived On Mars - A great short story by Cecil Castellucci, posted over at Tor books. It’s a quick read, but paints a vivid image of what life on an isolated planetary colony with limited resources might be like. There are difficult choices to be made by its inhabitants, and worrisome parallels between their experiences and those of us today on planet Earth, which after all is still an isolated planetary colony itself; at least until we do at last spread our wings to reach other worlds.

Nina, one of the few descendants of human colony on Mars that was abandoned by Earth, is surprised to discover that she can breathe the toxic atmosphere of the Martian surface.  The crew, thinking that their attempts at terraforming and breeding for Martian adaptability have finally payed off, rejoice at the prospect of a brighter future.  But Nina’s about to unlock the mystery of the disaster that stranded them on Mars… and nothing will ever be the same.


There’s an interesting twist at the end too, read the full story at tor.com.

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Posted 3 weeks ago

Sky City - this single building city concept is now going ahead with construction in China. The building is not just impressive in its size, but it has a decidedly ecocentric design. The design significantly reduces both the CO2 and the surface land footprint per person living in the ‘city’.It also uses green technology for renewable energy, and the most amazing part is the 202 story tall construction will be completed in just 6 months. Even the economics of the development are impressive, reducing the per square foot cost of living significantly over current mega city values.

In one building, there will be accommodation for 4450 families in apartments ranging from 645 SF to 5,000 SF, 250 hotel rooms, 100,000 SF of school, hospital and office space, totaling over eleven million square feet. The building footprint is only 10% of the site; the rest is open parkland.

[…]

The building is designed to be earthquake resistant to Magnitude 9, and to a 3 hour fire resistance rating, provided by ceramics installed around the structure. 16,000 part time and 3,000 full time workers will prefabricate the building for four months and assemble on site in three months. […] BSC claims that by building this way, they eliminate construction waste, lost time managing trades, keep tight cost control and can build at a cost 50% to 60% less than conventional construction.

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Posted 3 weeks ago
Skylab 2 - the original Skylab was an offshoot of the Apollo program; this reincarnation is meant to be placed beyond the orbit of the Moon (although it is shown in low Earth orbit above). It is part of the NASA plan to develop a new heavy lift launch capability (the Space Launch System or SLS). As part of NASA’s next push toward humanity’s space-faring future, Skylab 2 could provide us with a foothold in deep space. And it’s closer to becoming reality than you might think. Skylab 2, the planned successor to NASA’s original space station, would sit beyond the moon. In a place called “Earth-moon Lagrange point 2,” a gravity-stable point in space. From there, NASA envisions astronauts launching manned missions deeper into space — to places like asteroids, Mars and Phobos. Zoom

Skylab 2 - the original Skylab was an offshoot of the Apollo program; this reincarnation is meant to be placed beyond the orbit of the Moon (although it is shown in low Earth orbit above). It is part of the NASA plan to develop a new heavy lift launch capability (the Space Launch System or SLS).

As part of NASA’s next push toward humanity’s space-faring future, Skylab 2 could provide us with a foothold in deep space. And it’s closer to becoming reality than you might think.

Skylab 2, the planned successor to NASA’s original space station, would sit beyond the moon. In a place called “Earth-moon Lagrange point 2,” a gravity-stable point in space. From there, NASA envisions astronauts launching manned missions deeper into space — to places like asteroids, Mars and Phobos.