Show 24 May 2024
Story 1: NASA-funded pulsed plasma rocket concept aims to send astronauts to Mars in 2 months.
Source: Space.com Story by Samantha Mathewson
Link: https://www.space.com/nasa-pulsed-plasma-rocket-mars-2-months-howe-industries
See video here: https://www.howeindustries.net/ppr
- The goal of landing humans on Mars has presented a myriad of challenges, including the need to quickly transport large payloads to and from the distant planet, which, depending on the positions of Earth and Mars, would take almost two years for a round trip using current propulsion technology.
- Now there’s an innovative rocket system could revolutionize future deep space missions to Mars, reducing travel time to the Red Planet to just a few months.
- The Pulsed Plasma Rocket, under development by Howe Industries, is a propulsion system designed to be far more efficient than current methods of deep space propulsion, enabling the trip between Earth and the Red Planet to be made in just two months.
- Specifically, the rocket will have a high specific impulse, a measure of how efficiently an engine generates thrust. This technology could therefore enable astronauts and cargo to travel to and from Mars more efficiently and rapidly than existing spacecraft, according to a statement from NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/stmd/niac/niac-studies/pulsed-plasma-rocket-ppr-shielded-fast-transits-for-humans-to-mars/
- Stemming from [I’d say inspired by] the Pulsed Fission Fusion concept, Howe Industries’ rocket uses a fission-based nuclear power system, which obtains energy from the controlled splitting of atoms, to generate thrust for spacecraft propulsion. This makes the Howe Industries Pulsed Fission Fusion rocket smaller, simpler, and more affordable than previous concepts.
- Optional Side Note – Per Co-Pilot AI search – more on the Pulsed Fission Fusion rocket:
- The Pulsed Plasma Rocket is an innovative propulsion system currently under development by Howe Industries. It aims to revolutionize space exploration by combining high thrust with a high specific impulse (Isp). Let’s break down what this means:
- Specific Impulse (Isp): Specific impulse measures how efficiently a rocket engine uses its propellant. A higher specific impulse indicates better efficiency. In the case of the Pulsed Plasma Rocke, it is expected to achieve an impressive specific impulse of 5,000 seconds.
- Side note – If an engine has a specific impulse of 5,000 seconds, it can continuously generate thrust by completely burning one unit mass of fuel for 5,000 seconds.
- High Thrust: The Pulsed Plasma Rocket is designed to generate up to 100,000 N of thrust. This substantial thrust allows for rapid acceleration and efficient space travel.
- Side note – 100,000 N of thrust refers to a force of 100,000 newtons. In the context of rockets and propulsion systems, thrust represents the force generated by the rocket engines to propel the spacecraft forward. It’s essential for overcoming gravitational forces and achieving acceleration in space travel.
- In addition to enabling longer range missions, the Howe Industries’ Pulsed Plasma Rocket could support much heavier spacecraft, meaning additional shielding could be installed to reduce a crew’s exposure to harmful high-energy particles, called Galactic Cosmic Rays, endured during long-duration spaceflight.
- Side note – Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCRs) are high-energy particles or clusters of particles that traverse space at nearly the speed of light. These cosmic rays primarily consist of protons or atomic nuclei.
- The Pulsed Plasma Rocket concept is now moving into Phase II of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concept (NIAC) study, having completed Phase I, which focused on:
- the neutronics of the propulsion system,
- designing the spacecraft,
- power system and necessary subsystems,
- analyzing the magnetic nozzle capabilities,
- and determining trajectories and benefits, according to the statement.
- Optional Side Note – Neutronics, also known as neutron transport, is the study of the motions and interactions of neutrons with materials. Nuclear scientists and engineers often need to know where neutrons are in an apparatus, in what direction they are going, and how quickly they are moving. Neutronics plays a crucial role in determining the behavior of nuclear reactor cores and experimental or industrial neutron beams.
- During Phase II, developers will build upon the assessments from Phase I to optimize the engine design, perform proof-of-concept experiments and design a spacecraft concept to better protect crewed flights to Mars.
Story 2: Robotic “SuperLimbs” could help moonwalkers recover from falls – A new MIT system could help astronauts conserve energy and extend missions on the lunar surface.
Source: MIT News Story by Jennifer Chu
Link: https://news.mit.edu/2024/robotic-superlimbs-could-help-moonwalkers-recover-from-falls-0515
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wED3lBVopq4&t=1s
- Need a moment of levity? Try watching videos of astronauts falling on the moon. NASA’s outtakes of Apollo astronauts tripping and stumbling as they bounce in slow motion are delightfully relatable.
- For MIT engineers, the lunar bloopers also highlight an opportunity to innovate.
- Harry Asada, professor of mechanical engineering at MIT notes, “Astronauts are physically very capable, but they can struggle on the moon, where gravity is one-sixth that of Earth’s but their inertia is still the same. Furthermore, wearing a spacesuit is a significant burden and can constrict their movements. We want to provide a safe way for astronauts to get back on their feet if they fall.”
- Asada and his colleagues are designing a pair of wearable robotic limbs [to me they look like extra arms] that can physically support an astronaut and lift them back on their feet after a fall.
- The system, which the researchers have dubbed Supernumerary Robotic Limbs or “SuperLimbs” is designed to extend from a backpack, which would also carry the astronaut’s life support system, along with the controller and motors to power the limbs.
- The researchers have built a physical prototype, as well as a control system to direct the limbs, based on feedback from the astronaut using it. The team tested a preliminary version on healthy subjects who also volunteered to wear a constrictive garment similar to an astronaut’s spacesuit.
- When the volunteers attempted to get up from a sitting or lying position, they did so with less effort when assisted by the SuperLimbs, compared to when they had to recover on their own.
- The design could prove especially useful in the coming years, with the launch of NASA’s Artemis mission, which plans to send astronauts back to the moon for the first time in over 50 years.
Story 3: Scientists make ‘living plastic’ with bacterial spores that could put an end to forever plastic pollution – The bacterial spores are incorporated into the bulk plastic. Interestingly, this plastic is more durable and flexible, mirroring the way rebar reinforces concrete.
Source: ZME Science Story by Tibi Puiu
Link: https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/scientists-make-living-plastic/
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGfbwA7DKHQ&t=10s
- Less than 10% of plastic in the United States is recycled, with this percentage even lower in other nations.
- In reaction to these challenges, biodegradable plastics have been advertised as the solution to the plastic pollution problem bedeviling the world. These biodegradable and compostable plastics can be broken down into water, carbon dioxide, and biomass by microorganisms — but only under the right conditions.
- Researchers at the University of California, San Diego have now put a new spin on biodegradable plastics. And this change may finally usher in a new class of guilt-free plastics (one can only hope).
- They have pioneered a new type of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) that is not only durable but also truly biodegradable. Thermoplastic polyurethane is common in products ranging from footwear to memory foam, making it a staple in various industries.
- The innovative twist introduced by the UC San Diego team involves embedding bacterial spores within the plastic, which activate and break down the material when exposed to nutrients found in compost environments.
- These harmless spores are essentially dormant bacteria, ready to wake up when the time is right — such as when you’ve decided that your plastic product has reached the end of its lifetime [my add on – and when your discarded plastic winds up in a landfill].
- This research utilizes Bacillus subtilis — a bacterium known for its ability to decompose polymer materials.
- Side note – Bacillus subtilis, also sometimes referred to as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium commonly found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of animals and humans . It is a member of the genus Bacillus, which is known for its ability to form tough, protective endospores that allow the bacteria to survive harsh environmental conditions.
- Unlike fungal spores, bacterial spores have a protective protein wrapping, allowing them to survive in a vegetative state without nutrients. This protein shield also enables the bacteria to withstand the high-temperature environment during the plastic manufacturing process, which is why they can be embedded inside bulk plastic.
- The process involves feeding Bacillus subtilis spores and thermoplastic polyurethane pellets into a plastic extruder, which combines and melts them at 135 degrees Celsius into thin plastic strips. [135 C is 275 degrees Fahrenheit].
- Another notable feature is that the presence of the bacterial spores enhances the durability and stretchability of the plastic. This mirrors the way rebar reinforces concrete, which could make the material attractive for a broader range of applications.
- The research team continues to refine this technology. Currently their goals are to scale up production and explore the degradation of other types of commercial plastics.
- The findings appeared in the journal Nature Communications.
Story 4: Swallowable sensors could pinpoint gut movement problems for patients.
Source: MedicalXpress.com Story by Heriot-Watt University
My comment – we’ve covered multiple stories in the past several years about the idea of swallowable devices for internal medical diagnostics – this is a good, latest example.
- Scientists have developed an ingestible capsule dotted with sensors that can detect pressure in a patient’s guts and detect points of failure.
- The ingestible system will give colorectal medical teams an unprecedented understanding of the movement of a patient’s digestive tract, or lack thereof.
- Instead of simply taking images of the inside the gastrointestinal tract, the system will sense whether it’s contracting, how much pressure is exerted and exactly where it might be inactive.
- Professor Marc Desmulliez specializes in medical device technology at Heriot-Watt University and leads the project. Desmulliez said, “The traditional way to look at intestines or the gut is to have an endoscopy—it’s a camera attached to a tube that will hopefully see any visible obstructions or problems. We wanted to find a way to detect when the digestive tract isn’t working, when it’s not contracting and relaxing as it should when pushing waste along, and when there isn’t a visible problem.”
- The system has been tested in a synthetic gastrointestinal tract and animals. A patent for the technology is pending.
- The team from Heriot-Watt University and the University of Birmingham, with colleagues from the University of Edinburgh, have reported their system’s success in the journal Device.
- The research team has spent five years developing their new system.
- It is a swallowable capsule, 3 cm long and 1 cm in diameter, dotted with up to five very thin sensors, all the thickness of one or two human hairs.
- Desmulliez said, “The pressure sensors will measure movement and activity right along the eight or nine meters of the gastrointestinal tract. They will identify regions where there’s absolutely no movement of the gut, where the gut is functioning as expected or if there’s something unexpected in terms of movement.”
Honorable Mentions:
Story: New Blood Test Rapidly Identifies Life-Threatening Strokes, Enabling Timely Treatment
Source: ScienceBlog.com
- A team of researchers led by investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and collaborators has developed a groundbreaking test that combines blood-based biomarkers with a clinical score to accurately identify patients experiencing large vessel occlusion (LVO) stroke.
- This aggressive type of ischemic stroke, caused by a blockage in a major brain artery, requires swift treatment with mechanical thrombectomy to restore blood flow and prevent severe consequences.
- The study, published in the journal Stroke: Vascular and Interventional Neurology, demonstrates the potential of this accessible diagnostic tool to ensure more stroke patients receive critical, life-restoring care in a timely manner.
- Senior author Joshua Bernstock, MD, PhD, MPH, a clinical fellow in the Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital noted, “We have developed a game-changing, accessible tool that could help ensure that more people suffering from stroke are in the right place at the right time to receive critical, life-restoring care.”
- The research team targeted two specific proteins found in capillary blood: glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), which is also associated with brain bleeds and traumatic brain injury, and D-dimer.
- They demonstrated that the levels of these blood-based biomarkers, combined with field assessment stroke triage for emergency destination scores, could identify LVO ischemic strokes while ruling out other conditions such as brain bleeds.
- The accessibility of this diagnostic tool holds promise for use in low- and middle-income countries, where advanced imaging is not always available.
- It may also prove useful in assessing patients with traumatic brain injuries.
- Bernstock’s team is currently conducting another prospective trial to measure the test’s performance when used in an ambulance, as well as an interventional trial that leverages the technology to expedite the triage of stroke patients by bypassing standard imaging and moving directly to intervention.
- “In stroke care, time is brain,” Bernstock emphasized. “The sooner a patient is put on the right care pathway, the better they are going to do. Whether that means ruling out bleeds or ruling in something that needs an intervention, being able to do this in a prehospital setting with the technology that we built is going to be truly transformative.”
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Story: Quantum mechanics: Definitions, axioms, and key concepts of quantum physics
Source: LiveScience.com Story by Adam Mann
Link: https://www.livescience.com/33816-quantum-mechanics-explanation.html
- At the smallest scales, the universe behaves very differently than the everyday world we observe around us. Quantum mechanics is the subfield of physics that describes this bizarre behavior of microscopic particles — atoms, electrons, photons and almost everything else in the molecular and submolecular realm.
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Story: ‘Quantum-inspired’ laser computing is more effective than both supercomputing and quantum computing, startup claims
Source: LiveScience.com Story by Owen Hughes
- Engineers have developed an optical computer, about the size of a desktop PC, that can purportedly execute complex artificial intelligence (AI) calculations in nanoseconds, rivaling the performance of both quantum and classical supercomputers.
- The computer, dubbed the LPU100, uses an array of 100 lasers to perform calculations through a process called laser interference, LightSolver representatives said in a March 19 statement.
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Story: Northrop Grumman Debuts Undetectable Military Drone Submarine
Source: Mobilityengineeringtech.com
See video here: https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/northrop-grumman-debuts-undetectable-military-drone-submarine/vi-BB1lIdid
See also https://uk.news.yahoo.com/northrop-grumman-debuts-undetectable-military-131500281.html
- Northrop Grumman has completed the assembly of its first full-size prototype of Manta Ray, the defense manufacturer’s new unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV).
- The company describes Manta Ray as a new class of UUV, designed as an extra-large glider that will operate long-duration, long-range and payload-capable undersea missions without need for on-site human logistics.
- Manta Ray was developed under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) program aimed at advancing key technologies to benefit future UUV designs, including techniques to manage energy, increased payload capacity, low-power propulsion and more.
- The company has released few details about the design of the Manta Ray or its capabilities, other than noting that it is autonomous and operates without the need for on-site human logistics.
- Note – this story appeared April 11
- Manta Ray is also payload-capable to support a variety of missions and has the ability to anchor itself “to the seafloor and hibernate in a low-power state.” The prototype is also modular and can be transported in “five standard shipping containers,” according to Northrop.
- According to DARPA’s description of the program, Manta Ray seeks to achieve the following goals in future UUV designs:
- Novel energy management techniques for UUV operations and undersea energy harvesting techniques at operationally relevant depths.
- Low-power, high efficiency undersea propulsion systems.
- New low power means of underwater detection and classification of hazards or counter detection threats.
- Mission management approaches for extended durations while accounting for dynamic maritime environments.
- Unique approaches for leveraging existing maritime data sets and exploiting novel maritime parameters for high-efficiency navigation and/or C3; and
- New approaches to mitigate biofouling, corrosion, and other material degradation for long duration missions.