Yearly Archives: 2013

Swiss Space Systems aims for low-cost satellite service

"A new Swiss-based company said Thursday it would offer low-cost satellite launches which it claims could be a quarter of current market rates. Swiss Space Systems-S3 said its goal was to offer launches for 10 million Swiss francs (8.1 million euros, $10.5 million) using unmanned suborbital spaceplanes that could carry satellites weighing up to 250 kilos (550 pounds). The company said it planned to open such a spaceport by 2015 at the Payerne airfield in western Switzerland, which has already been used by the Solar Pulse sun-powered aircraft of Swiss astronaut Bertrand Piccard." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss Space Systems aims for low-cost satellite service

Swiss solar-power plane set for trans-US flight

"The experimental Solar Impulse plane, which has made several trips since its maiden flight in 2009, will take off on May 1st on a transcontinental tour split in five stages. 'We are ready to do this flight across America,' said Solar Impulse co-founder Andre Borschberg during a press conference at a hangar in Mountain View, near San Francisco. A non-stop flight would take approximately three days travelling at the aircraft's cruising speed of around 43 miles (70 kilometres) per hour. 'We have limited ourselves to fly a duration maximum of 24 hours,' said Borschberg, who will share the piloting duties with Solar Impulse president Bertrand Piccard." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss solar-power plane set for trans-US flight

Is Virgin Galactic ready for powered flight?

"SpaceShipTwo (SS2) performed a 10.8-minute glide flight April 12 in the skies above the Mojave Air and Space Port in California, the second such flight in as many weeks. This flight was distinguished by a 'cold flow' test of the SS2′s propulsion system, where nitrous oxide flowed through the rocket engine and out the nozzle, creating a distinctive contrail. 'As well as providing further qualifying evidence that the rocket system is flight ready, the test also provided a stunning spectacle due to the oxidizer contrail and for the first time gave a taste of what SpaceShipTwo will look like as it powers to space,' Virgin Galactic noted in a statement." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIs Virgin Galactic ready for powered flight?

New space race: Putin unveils $50 billion drive for Russian supremacy

"President Vladimir Putin on Friday unveiled a new $50 billion drive for Russia to preserve its status as a top space power, including the construction of a brand new cosmodrome from where humans will fly to space by the end of the decade. Fifty-two years to the day since Yuri Gagarin became the Soviet Union’s greatest hero by making the first human flight into space, Putin inspected the new Vostochny (Eastern) cosmodrome Russia is building in the Amur region of the Far East. Putin said that Russia hoped to have the first launches from Vostochny in 2015 and the first manned launches in 2018." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew space race: Putin unveils $50 billion drive for Russian supremacy

Scientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats

"Scientists on Thursday said they had enabled a rat to help a fellow rodent while the animals were a continent apart but connected through brain electrodes. With electrodes imbedded in its cortex, a rat in a research institute in Natal, Brazil sent signals via the Internet to a counterpart at a university lab in Durham, North Carolina, helping the second animal to get a reward. The exploit opens up the prospect of linking brains among animals to create an 'organic computer,' said Brazilian neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis. It also helps the quest to empower patients stricken with paralysis or locked-in syndrome, he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingScientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats

Veterinary School the Latest Bad Deal in Higher Ed

"When I was in college, the conventional wisdom among students was that veterinary school was even harder to get into than medical school. Presumably this was because there were fewer veterinary schools than there are medical schools. I don't know if that's even true, but that's what we thought, and it was therefore assumed that veterinary grads were rare and that vets would always make a good living. No one even mentioned, back then, the massive debt loads that could be involved. Well, it turns out that demand for vets is falling, and that many vets nevertheless have six-figure debt loads while the starting salary is down to $45,500." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVeterinary School the Latest Bad Deal in Higher Ed

Venezuela inmates open jailhouse nightclub

"Venezuelan inmates have opened their own nightclub and hosted friends and family at an inaugural bash complete with strippers and a light and sound show, a newspaper reported Saturday. The so-called 'Yacht Club' at a prison on Margarita Island in the Caribbean boasts 'professional sound, spectacular lights, air conditioning, strippers, bad girls and all the toys,' the inmates wrote in an invitation to their opening night gig, according to the El Universel newspaper. The party was attended by friends and relatives of the detainees, who publicized it through messages on social media, the newspaper reported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVenezuela inmates open jailhouse nightclub

Samaritans in Taiwan turn plastic junk into items for the needy

"At the station operated by Taiwan’s largest charity group Tzu Chi Foundation, hundreds of volunteers help sort and recycle plastic waste along with used glass bottles and electronic appliances. Tzu Chi runs 5,400 recycling stations across Taiwan with the help of more than 76,000 volunteers and has distributed more than 460,000 blankets made from plastic bottles since 2007 for relief use at home and abroad. For the volunteers in charge of crushing the plastic bottles, who are from two nearby nursing homes for the mentally ill, the recycling work has also become part of their therapy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSamaritans in Taiwan turn plastic junk into items for the needy

Entrepreneur Works With Coke’s Distribution to Deliver Medicine to Remote African Villages

"In the 1980s, entrepreneur Simon Barry was an aid worker in remote villages in Zambia, and he became aware of how easy it was to grab a Coke nearly every place he went, but he also noticed how many basic necessities were missing. Barry got the idea to somehow use Coca-Cola's distributing success to deliver lifesaving supplies to the countries most in need. Unfortunately, the idea did not become a reality until about five years ago, with the help of Facebook and the Internet. The joint efforts resulted in a test program, called ColaLife. The program gets medical aid to Zambia using the extra space in Coke crates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEntrepreneur Works With Coke’s Distribution to Deliver Medicine to Remote African Villages

Peru’s engineers ‘make’ their own drinkable water in response to shortages outside of Lima

"The fresh, pure water on offer along a busy road in this dusty town some 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Lima, has been extracted, as if by magic, from the humid air. Within the enormous, raised, double-paneled billboard inviting all takers is concealed a tube, wires and mechanical equipment that draws the water from the air and purifies it. Inhabitants from far and wide who flock here toting liter bottles and buckets say this purified water is a wonderful alternative to the stagnant well water that used to be the only water source for many in this town." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeru’s engineers ‘make’ their own drinkable water in response to shortages outside of Lima