Whether you find yourself in the icy wastes of Antarctica or caught in the midst of a scorching hot fire, you could stay safe and comfortable in either extreme
March 26th, 2003
Water could replace spacecraft heat shield tiles New Scientist
Space scientists looking for new ways to cool spacecraft on re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere are turning to one of the world’s oldest coolants: water. Existing heat-shield technology leaves a lot to be desired. In the 1960s Apollo rockets used a heat shield that burnt off slowly – but this is no good for reusable spacecraft like NASA’s fleet of space shuttles. And the silica tiles the shuttle uses are fragile and prone to damage.
March 24th, 2003
Bio-battery runs on shots of vodka New Scientist
An enzyme-catalysed battery has been created that could one day run cell phones and laptop computers on shots of vodka. The key to the device is a new polymer that protects the fragile enzymes used to break down the ethanol fuel, scientists told the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting in New Orleans on Monday. Enzyme-based batteries have the potential to be cheaper than fuel cells that rely on expensive platinum or ruthenium catalysts. “It sounds great,” says Bob Hockaday, founder of the company Energy Related Devices and designer of a methanol-powered battery. “Enzymes are inexpensive and catalytically very active.”
March 24th, 2003
Space elevator group sets up shop The Sun
The news that the Columbia space shuttle broke apart during its descent last month came as a painful loss to Bremerton businessman Michael Laine. Through his NASA-sponsored work to research an elevator into space, he had met the seven astronauts — personal heroes, he said — as they trained in Houston. But the disaster was also a shot in the arm for the fledgling businesses he helped create. “It was like a heart transplant. All of a sudden we’re much stronger, but at a very high price,” said Laine, president of HighLift Systems and newly created LiftPort Inc.
March 17th, 2003
Space Elevator Company Co-Founder Forms New Venture LiftPort
The president and co-founder of HighLift Systems, the Seattle-based company that received funds from NASA to research building an elevator to space, today announced the formation of a new company dedicated to the commercial development of a thoroughfare to space. LiftPort Inc., established by Michael Laine, will focus on the construction phase of the space elevator, as well as the creation of commerce in space. Laine will serve as president of the new company, which he is starting as a direct result of the completion of the NASA funds. “Now that the NASA grant is ending, it’s important to take the space elevator concept from research to commercial development,” said Laine. “Through companies such as HighLift Systems and Eureka Scientific, the initial Phase I and Phase II research reports have been completed. Now it’s time to actively take the research and turn this into commercial development.”
March 3rd, 2003
U.S. Project Prometheus to Gain Russian Nuclear Rocket Fuels My Wise County
The United States and Russian space flight nuclear engineers will witness greater cooperation throughout the balance of the decade to ensure the plutonium-238 for five years as the necessary fuel for the nuclear rocket program named “Project Prometheus. The Russian Atomic Energy Ministry has announced a $32-million dollar deal with the U.S. Department of Energy that sends nuclear fuel to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) through 2009, according to Russian scientist Nikolai Ponomaryov-Stepnoi. Nuclear plutonium-238 is needed by NASA after President George W. Bush announced a radically new program to push faster and further unmanned probes into the solar system and setting-up the initial needed technologies to put humans on Mars in the next decade or so.
March 1st, 2003
Novel Battery Could Power Microdevices Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry
Microscale devices are considered a promising field of research that will someday lead to advanced medical technologies, but they are still limited by their need for power. Narrower than a human hair, such devices could perform a range of vital functions
February 15th, 2003
‘Denim’ solar panels to clothe future buildings New Scientist
Buildings of the future could be “clothed” in a flexible, power-generating material that looks like denim. The Canadian company developing the material says it can be draped over just about any shape – greatly expanding the number of places where solar power can be generated. The inventors hope their power-generating material will enable architects to design complex, curvy buildings that can nevertheless carry solar cells. One day, consumer products such as personal stereos and cellphones might also harness “denim-power” to charge their batteries.
February 7th, 2003
NASA
Enthusiasm towards Project Prometheus, a major new initiative to reactivate nuclear space power and propulsion work under NASA, has been muted due to the space shuttle Columbia tragedy. NASA is undertaking Prometheus in partnership with the Department of Energy. At stake is moving forward nuclear technology in the hope of enabling an unprecedented science data return from future robotic missions, making use of high-power science instruments and advanced communications technology.
February 6th, 2003
US to Join Negotiations on Major International Fusion Project
President Bush has decided that the U.S. will join the negotiations for the construction and operation of a major international magnetic fusion research project, U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced today. Known as ITER, the project’s mission is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy. “This international fusion project is a major step towards a fusion demonstration power plant that could usher in commercial fusion energy,” Secretary Abraham said.