On November 20th 2015, NASA announced that it had made its first crewed mission order from SpaceX. With this order, SpaceX becomes the second private company to be awarded one of four guaranteed orders under NASA's CCtCap (Commercial Crew Transportation Capability) contracts. In May of 2015, NASA made an order for Boeing to send a commercial crew to the ISS (International Space Station) in 2017.
NASA states that SpaceX's Crew Dragon and Falcon 9 have been certified after successfully passing through their development phases. NASA is looking to Boeing and SpaceX as a means of reducing the cost of accessing space. Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle program, NASA has been paying Russia $70 million a seat for a ride on a Soyuz to the ISS. NASA expects to have each mission carry four crew members and 220lb of pressurized cargo.
NASA has been working for some time to cede control of its low earth orbit operational flights to private companies. The idea is to move the agency back to mission destinations like the moon, an asteroid, or Mars. Meanwhile, since CCtCap orders are made two to three years in advance, and both Boeing and SpaceX have now both received orders, the race is on to see which company will launch first.
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Breakthrough Brings IBM To Nanotube Chips
On October 1st 2015, IBM announced that they had made a breakthrough in their efforts to continue the miniaturization of computer chips. A $3 billion project has helped researchers develop computer chips that are made of carbon nanotubes. Current silicon based technology has been swiftly approaching a barrier to further chip miniaturization, due to the inability to continue to scale transistors. Carbon nanotubes have solved this problem.
Nanotubes are hollow cylinders with walls that are made of a single layer of carbon atoms aligned in a hexagonal lattice. The lattice is 10,000 times smaller than a human hair and looks like a tiny roll of chicken wire. Electrons in carbon transistors move freer and easier than in silicon based devices, which allows for quicker transport of data. An advantage of using nanotubes, is that they can be shaped for transistors at the atomic level.
Transistor gate and contact length have been the two major issues in regard to chip scalability. The gate issue was solved by IBM two years ago. IBM has now solved the contact length issue by shrinking down the contact length to 9nm, without any increase in resistance. IBM scientists say that at maximum power, the carbon nanotube chips could run at significantly faster speeds.
Nanotubes are hollow cylinders with walls that are made of a single layer of carbon atoms aligned in a hexagonal lattice. The lattice is 10,000 times smaller than a human hair and looks like a tiny roll of chicken wire. Electrons in carbon transistors move freer and easier than in silicon based devices, which allows for quicker transport of data. An advantage of using nanotubes, is that they can be shaped for transistors at the atomic level.
Transistor gate and contact length have been the two major issues in regard to chip scalability. The gate issue was solved by IBM two years ago. IBM has now solved the contact length issue by shrinking down the contact length to 9nm, without any increase in resistance. IBM scientists say that at maximum power, the carbon nanotube chips could run at significantly faster speeds.
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Closest Earth Sized Exoplanet Is Found
On November 12th 2015, a team of scientists announced the discovery of what they are calling the closest rocky exoplanet ever found. The planet is named GJ 1132b, which is derived from the name of the star that it orbits. The star the planet orbits is 39 million light years away. The scientists say that this is important because it means that GJ 1132b is close enough that they can use telescopes to examine the chemistry of its atmosphere.
The planet, GJ 1132b orbits a red dwarf star in the constellation Vela, which can be found in the southern sky. GJ 1132b is about 16% larger than the Earth and orbits at 1.4m miles from its sun. This is closer than Mercury is to our sun which orbits at 39m miles. Scientists estimate that it has a surface temperature range between 278 degrees and 572 degrees. These temperatures are too hot for the planet's surface to retain water, so life there would be impossible.
The scientists are hoping that this planet has an atmosphere. The belief is that if it does have an atmosphere, it may be possible that they will find cooler planets just like it that orbit smaller stars and have atmospheres. GJ 1132b is tidally locked to its star, so that one side of the planet faces its sun, just as our moon is locked to the Earth. The team has already asked for more time on the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes so they can examine the planet in more detail.
The planet, GJ 1132b orbits a red dwarf star in the constellation Vela, which can be found in the southern sky. GJ 1132b is about 16% larger than the Earth and orbits at 1.4m miles from its sun. This is closer than Mercury is to our sun which orbits at 39m miles. Scientists estimate that it has a surface temperature range between 278 degrees and 572 degrees. These temperatures are too hot for the planet's surface to retain water, so life there would be impossible.
The scientists are hoping that this planet has an atmosphere. The belief is that if it does have an atmosphere, it may be possible that they will find cooler planets just like it that orbit smaller stars and have atmospheres. GJ 1132b is tidally locked to its star, so that one side of the planet faces its sun, just as our moon is locked to the Earth. The team has already asked for more time on the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes so they can examine the planet in more detail.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Twitter Replaces Favorites With Likes
On November 3rd 2015, Twitter officially changed its star symbol for favorites to a heart symbol for likes. The change will take place on Vine as well, which is also owned by Twitter. The move was made in an effort to simplify the the Twitter experience and to woo new users to the service. Twitter's product manager, Akarshan Kumar said, "We want to make Twitter easier and more rewarding to use, and we know that at times the star could be confusing, especially to newcomers."
Favorites came about shortly after the birth of Twitter. Originally, favorites were designed as a means of bookmarking tweets. Over time, the act of favoring was made possible in real time. This gave power users like journalists a way to save articles that they wanted to read at a later date. Retweets and Hashtags were added later. With the move to hearts, Twitter is taking a cue from Facebook which is considering adding emojis as a means of giving its users more ways to express themselves.
Opinions about this latest move by Twitter are mixed. It's hard to imagine that the change will make a huge difference, as long as the functionality of the new heart symbol remains the same as the star symbol. The gamble will be whether it is easier and more rewarding to like something than it is to favorite something.
Favorites came about shortly after the birth of Twitter. Originally, favorites were designed as a means of bookmarking tweets. Over time, the act of favoring was made possible in real time. This gave power users like journalists a way to save articles that they wanted to read at a later date. Retweets and Hashtags were added later. With the move to hearts, Twitter is taking a cue from Facebook which is considering adding emojis as a means of giving its users more ways to express themselves.
Opinions about this latest move by Twitter are mixed. It's hard to imagine that the change will make a huge difference, as long as the functionality of the new heart symbol remains the same as the star symbol. The gamble will be whether it is easier and more rewarding to like something than it is to favorite something.
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
YouTube Red Arrives
On October 28th 2015, Google officially launched it new subscription video service called YouTube Red. As announced earlier this month, YouTube Red will be an ad free version of the popular video site, priced at $9.99 a month. The new service was originally introduced as YouTube Music Key in the fall of 2014. As YouTube Red, the service will be released first in the U S before being rolled out to the rest of the world.
Ad free viewing is only the beginning. Subscribers will be able to access YouTube Red from their PCs, smartphones, tablets, and TV apps. You will also be able to subscribe to Apple devices, but the cost is $12.99 per month. A YouTube Red membership also comes with full access to Google Play Music at no extra cost. Videos can be downloaded for viewing offline for up to 30 days.
In early 2016, YouTube Red subscribers will get access to members only original shows and movies. If it all of this sounds temping but you're still not sure, you can get a 30 day free trial to YouTube Red, so you can try before you buy
Ad free viewing is only the beginning. Subscribers will be able to access YouTube Red from their PCs, smartphones, tablets, and TV apps. You will also be able to subscribe to Apple devices, but the cost is $12.99 per month. A YouTube Red membership also comes with full access to Google Play Music at no extra cost. Videos can be downloaded for viewing offline for up to 30 days.
In early 2016, YouTube Red subscribers will get access to members only original shows and movies. If it all of this sounds temping but you're still not sure, you can get a 30 day free trial to YouTube Red, so you can try before you buy
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Artificial Skin Gives Sense Of Touch
On October 16th 2015, researchers at Stanford University announced that they had created artificial skin that could feel pressure. This development is expected to one day give prosthetic limbs a sense of touch. The researchers say that the plastic skin is capable of distinguishing the strength of a hand shake and can send that information to the central nervous system. The break through was made by Zhenan Bao, professor of chemical engineering and her team, and was a decade in development.
Dr. Bao and her coworkers made the artificial skin by connecting, microstructured resistive pressure sensors, flexible organic electronic circuits, and nerve cells that contained light activated ion channels. The sensors, which measured conductance in response to applied pressure, were made of carbon nanotube elastomer that coated the surface. Each sensor was then connected to an organic printed circuit that converted the pressure signal into electrical impulses that increased in frequency in response to an increase in pressure.
From there, the electrical impulses were used to modulate the frequency of a light emitting diode (LED). Light from the LED was fed through an optical fiber which then stimulated a slice of mouse brain tissue. The nerve cells in the mouse brain tissue were treated with channelrhodosins that opened and closed in response to light, which triggered the nerve cells to fire.
Dr Bao said, "This is just the beginning of the path toward building fully integrated artificial skin." She and her team hope to mimic other human sensing functions, such as the ability to feel heat.
Dr. Bao and her coworkers made the artificial skin by connecting, microstructured resistive pressure sensors, flexible organic electronic circuits, and nerve cells that contained light activated ion channels. The sensors, which measured conductance in response to applied pressure, were made of carbon nanotube elastomer that coated the surface. Each sensor was then connected to an organic printed circuit that converted the pressure signal into electrical impulses that increased in frequency in response to an increase in pressure.
From there, the electrical impulses were used to modulate the frequency of a light emitting diode (LED). Light from the LED was fed through an optical fiber which then stimulated a slice of mouse brain tissue. The nerve cells in the mouse brain tissue were treated with channelrhodosins that opened and closed in response to light, which triggered the nerve cells to fire.
Dr Bao said, "This is just the beginning of the path toward building fully integrated artificial skin." She and her team hope to mimic other human sensing functions, such as the ability to feel heat.
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
YouTube Subscription Services Coming Soon
On September 25th 2015, it was announced that YouTube is in the final stages of launch preparations for its much anticipated new music service. According to Peter Kafka of Recode.com, an email was sent to content creators advising them to accept and agree to new terms by October 22nd 2015. After such time, if they have not, their "videos will no longer be available for public display or monetization in the United States."
YouTube plans to bundle two separate services into one offering. They are going to offer both its music service, YouTube Music Key, and another service that they have yet to launch. The services will be priced at $10 a month and will be ad free. Most of the money will go to the record labels and copyright owners. While an actual launch date has not been given, the new premium ad free subscription service is expected to arrive by the end of November.
YouTube plans to bundle two separate services into one offering. They are going to offer both its music service, YouTube Music Key, and another service that they have yet to launch. The services will be priced at $10 a month and will be ad free. Most of the money will go to the record labels and copyright owners. While an actual launch date has not been given, the new premium ad free subscription service is expected to arrive by the end of November.
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