SingularityFlow

We still have a long ways to go when it comes to learning about space. While this isn’t a revolution itself, I’m encouraged by scientists who persist to learn more about what’s out there beyond our cozy atmosphere. Recently, scientists debated the possibility of the existence of a Milky Way galaxy twin.

The debate arose as scientists could not explain a mysterious gravitational pull impacting the motion of our own Milky Way galaxy. The inability to prove if such a galaxy exists stems from massive dust clouds literally clouding our vision in a certain direction from Earth. It just goes to show we have a ways to go when it comes to learning about the universe.

Also in space news, a private firm has stepped up with the intention of providing cargo shuttles to the ISS. PlanetSpace, Inc. is confident they can achieve a low cost, automated supply ship. They will be joining the fray with Rocketplane Kistler, who has been attempting to develop a similar technology for a number of years.

The private sector has been encouraging space research in other ways as well. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin and the X Prize Foundation are offering a $30 million Google Lunar X Prize for any team that can (more…)

While hydrogen is certainly in the running for the next energy source for cars, it’s not alone. I’d like to do a quick follow up on my talk about alternative energy sources for cars in this post with the news that fuel cells are still vying to become the next generation power behind automobiles.

A number of groups (including professors at MIT, Stanford, and Harvard and MIT spinoff Lilliputian Systems) are contributing research in hopes of making fuel cells the wave of the future. If the comments after the article are any judge, a slight rift between hydrogen supporters and fuel cell enthusiasts may be developing (or has already arisen). I think this can only help spur on the development of these new technologies. As competition builds, oftentimes so too does innovation.

Sticking with the power theme, nuclear power is heading downhill and the number of operational nuclear power plants has decreased over the last half decade. What was once a viable alternative power source to reduce pollution from fossil fuels ultimately did not pan out, so what will take its place? Will we go back to fossil fuels or will another power source arise?

One possibility is space-based solar power. Satellites would be launched into Earth’s orbit, gather solar power, and feed it back down to Earth. This possibility has been (more…)

New news in the race for an alternative energy source for cars was announced today. Israeli startup Engineuity (founded by scientist Amnon Yogev) is exploring the possibility of storing water and boron in fuel tanks, and then combining the two to produce hydrogen fuel.

The past several years with gasoline prices climbing, hydrogen has been a widely talked about replacement; there are even hydrogen fueling stations popping up, albeit infrequently. One of the main issues holding back this technology is safety concerns about transporting hydrogen safely in fuel tanks. Even recently, there has been talk that hydrogen cars would be unsafe to drive through underground tunnels due to potential fire hazards.

Although BMW has noted that (more…)

It looks as though politics always rears its ugly head in the end. Science and innovation draw the short straw again as the focal point of irate critics, screaming that NASA should focus more attention on keeping earth safe than on experiments to advance scientific research and innovation.

The main issue up for debate surrounds NASA’s Spaceguard Survey, which plans to identifying 90% of potential earth-impacting asteroids larger than 1 km by the end of 2008. Critics demand that this simply is not good enough and instead want to reduce the cutoff point to asteroids a mere 140 meters large.

So who’s at fault here?
(more…)

Before anyone asks, yes, I like alliteration.

A couple of stories I touched on in my previous post have continued to pop up in the news:

First, another step towards quantum computing has been made as scientists successfully tested a method of storing quantum information. Even though the test was successful, scientists still caution that this is a primitive method and may not store the quantum information flawlessly.

Also in quantum computing news, scientists in Korea are exploring the possibility of using carbon nanotubes to build a single electron device for use in a quantum computer. Unfortunately, they also state that we currently don’t have the necessary technology to test such a structure.

So while these two stories show that we are continuously learning more and more about quantum computing, they also show that we still have a ways to go before Bill Gates begins designing Windows Quantum. Either way, it’s great to see different fields of science combining to further innovation. It certainly seems that research in material technology (especially on carbon nanotubes) will be key in the future, and that a breakthrough (more…)

Lots of interesting news coming out in the past few days and only so much time to talk about it. Sorry for the long post!

First, for you video game enthusiasts out there, this next bit of innovation news comes straight from the head of Nintendo himself, CEO Satoru Iwata. At last quarter’s financial results conference when asked about a successor to the Nintendo DS, Iwata announced that the company does not plan on releasing a replacement simply because 5 years have passed since the launch of the DS. In fact, he believes that such a cycle, with new platforms arriving every 5 years is an outdated trend. Instead, and perhaps most importantly, he believes that platforms should arrive when new forms of entertainment are developed that can revolutionize the industry. In fact, we have already seen this strategy in place with the Nintendo Wii. While not as powerful as rival platforms, the Wii makes use of innovative controller and game design that had not been seen in the industry prior.

This innovation policy is refreshing in a world where companies are ripe with copycats, rushing to imitate their competitors with product clones. Innovation is not easy, and when a company vows to compete with innovation rather than with financial and economic strategies (read: cost cutting and ad-blitzing), they should be praised and lauded for their efforts. Here’s to hoping the folks at Nintendo follow through and wow us with their next platform as they have in the past.

In another fresh breath of optimism, researchers believe that nanotechnology will revolutionize that face of computer data storage within the next decade. One of the first steps to such storage mechanisms was allowing cells to carry more data than the traditional 0 or 1.

Say goodbye to traditional bulky disk drives. (photo by rosendahl)

Since that breakthrough, scientists have been scrambling to see exactly how many logic states can be carried by a single cell. Such technology is reminiscent of quantum computing, which also surpasses simple binary memory (albeit in a very different manner!).

This seems like a good time to mention that quantum computing (more…)

Perhaps a sign of the beginning of a nanotechnology revolution, scientists recently completed the world’s first nanoradio. While radios might seem like an old-fashioned gadget from the 20th century to some people, it’s the underlying technology that holds promise for multiple applications across a wide spectrum of fields. The ability to receive and transmit data at such a small scale leaves open the potential to adapt this technology to medical inventions, environmental devices, and even extend to other electronics.

We’ve heard the potential for nanotechnology for some time and now we’re finally starting to see breakthroughs on this front. The real test, however, will be getting such nanotechnology products available to the general public.

Since today is Halloween, I thought I’d celebrate with some appropriately themed stories from the science world…

Bizarre, a bit disgusting, but true:
With technology increasing, expeditions to explore the ocean’s depths are discovering new and fascinating creatures. While the handful of creatures shown here conjures up memories of Halloween costumes, many other creatures, such as the Giant Tube Worm also live in the depths and surprise scientists with each trip down in the ocean depths . Hopefully we can learn more about their unique adaptations, from bioluminescence to chemosynthesis, and implement such knowledge to improve our own biotechnology.

Missing an arm? No problem:
Zombies may have reason to celebrate as scientists are well on the way toward regrowing human limbs. So far they have been successful at regrowing human fingers. Progression is definitely encouraging in this field as this news follows this announcement late last year that the wings of chickens were successfully regrown. How soon until this regenerative technology becomes widespread?

Speaking of costumes:
And finally, even astronauts are allowed to have fun on Halloween. Here’s to hoping everything gets fixed up speedily and safely up on the ISS.

Happy Halloween everyone!