GLIMPSES OF THE
FUTURE |
Mining The Moon To Fuel Fusion Reactors On Earth It sounds futuristic, even for 'Glimpses', but it seems as if American and Russian space agencies are planning to mine the moon for helium-3, an isotope purportedly an ideal fuel for future fusion reactors but almost unavailable on Earth. NASA's 'Vision for Space Exploration' has U.S. astronauts scheduled to be back on the moon in 2020 and permanently staffing a base there by 2024. While the U.S. space agency has neither announced nor denied any desire to mine helium-3, it has nevertheless placed advocates of mining He3 in influential positions. For its part, Russia claims that the aim of any lunar program of its own will be extracting He3. Who says there's no energy crisis? Full Size Electric-Powered Plane Flies In Osh-Kosh A prototype electric Waiex aircraft flew in public for the first time at the Osh-Kosh Airshow last month. With battery technologies advancing by the day - gaining power, reliability, endurance and efficiency while constantly shedding size and weight - plane makers believe the time is ripe to adapt new brushless electric motors for powered flight Satellite Multi-Media To Your 'Mobile Phone' The European Space Agency (ESA) says it is supporting the development of technology needed for satellite systems to broadcast digital multimedia content and data to mobile telephones and vehicle-borne receivers. The development of mobile video services through satellites will provide the benefit of the universal coverage and broadcasting that satellites can provide. High-power satellites in geostationary orbit have the ability to broadcast to large coverage areas and reach huge numbers of users. The proposed system will employ a mixture of satellites and Earth-based repeaters. Satellites ensure global coverage and repeaters make it possible to receive the signals inside buildings. The system will be able to be integrated into modern mobile telephone and vehicle-mounted receiver designs at very low cost, making it ideal for the mass-market. Don't Put A Dummy In The Passenger Seat, Dummy Lone drivers who put a dummy human in the passenger seat and then drive illegally in car pool lanes are about to get caught out. Loughborough University has launched the Dtect system – an infra red camera and image processing unit that can determine how many occupants a car has in an instant. And unlike a sleepy toll booth operator, or other photography based systems, it won’t be fooled by dressed up mannequins. The Dtect system operates by projecting two wavelengths of low intensity infra red light at the oncoming vehicle. The device has a range of up to 50 metres, and is effective on cars traveling at up to 80 miles per hour, eliminating the need for them to stop or even slow down. As the beams are fired, two digital cameras, specifically coordinated to capture the infra red wavelengths, take a photo. The accompanying software combines the two images and eliminates non-facial aspects of the photo before logging the picture with a printed timestamp, location and person count. Now, Mobile Phones With Micro Projectors Microvision of Redmond, Washington says that it has signed an agreement with Motorola to develop its micro projector display system for mobile applications using Microvision's ultra-miniature, laser-based display engine, called PicoP. Tiny laser-based projectors are expected to enable a 'big screen' viewing experience from mobile devices, by projecting content displayed on the device screen onto a nearby wall or clean surface. Personal Devices That Monitor Your Health The features and portability that people have come to expect in mobile phones and personal communicators may soon become common in health-care devices, thanks to new technology announced recently by the University of Florida and IBM. The new technology creates the first-ever roadmap for widespread commercial development of 'smart' devices that, for example, take a person's blood pressure, temperature or respiration rate the minute a person steps into his or her house - then transmit it immediately and automatically to doctors or family. Such an automated system could eliminate the need for many doctor's visits, which are often difficult for the elderly or sick. By enabling regular updates via text message or email, the technology also could pave the way for people to share real-time information on their health or well-being with absent family. And it could prove useful for doctors who need to keep tabs on many patients at one time by helping the doctors to prioritise whom to treat first.
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NASA Designs 'Armageddon' Nuclear Warhead Spacecraft To Kill Asteroids NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has designed a nuclear-warhead-carrying spacecraft, to be launched by the US agency's proposed 's Ares V cargo launch vehicle, to deflect an asteroid on collision course with Earth. The 8.9m long 'Cradle' spacecraft would carry six 1,500kg missile-like interceptor vehicles that would carry one 1.2MT B83 nuclear warhead each, with a total mass of 11,035kg. Launched by an Ares V, the six spacecraft would leave low-Earth orbit using a 45,359kg liquid-oxygen/liquid-hydrogen fuelled 'kick stage' rockets and would fly directly into the oncoming asteroid to deflect it from its collision course. Bruce Willis was not consulted about the design. The Singularity Summit 2007 If you loose sleep worrying about what will happen when computers become as smart as people, book now for The Singularity Summit 2007.. Being held at the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts between September 8-9th, the world's leading thinkers on The Singularity are gathering to debate how humankind should plan for the moment when it is no longer the dominant species on Earth. See you there. Nano-Paper Battery - Smaller Size, More Power - Powered By Blood Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new energy storage device that easily could be mistaken for a simple sheet of black paper. The nanoengineered battery is lightweight, ultra thin, completely flexible, and geared toward meeting the trickiest design and energy requirements of tomorrow’s gadgets, implantable medical equipment, and transportation vehicles. 'Google Phone' To Take On Apple's iPhone? Speculation has been rife in recent weeks that Google will soon launch its own mobile 'phone' to contest directly with Apple's recently introduced iPhone. Google's concept of how mobile phones should work make Apple's offering seem as conservative as an ageing monarch. While Apple charges at least $500 for a phone and a further minimum of $80 in monthly subscription charges, recent reports say that Google plans to offer its phone for free. "We turned the internet on its head and now we plan to do the same to the cellphone industry," a Google software engineer who has been working on the project told Cellular News. Good job success hasn't gone to Google's head. U.S. Police Forces Testing Armed Robots Armed robots - similar to the ones now on patrol in Iraq - are being marketed to American domestic police forces, according to the machines' manufacturer and to law enforcement officers. None of the gun-toting 'bots appear to have been deployed officially yet. Both cops and company officials say it's only a matter of time, however. Massachusetts state police are one of a dozen forces testing the robots. Last autumn a man in Wilbraham, Massachusetts had barricaded himself into his house. But the overwhelming odour of propane fumes made police reluctant to send humans in. The robot went instead - and discovered propane tanks, as well as the man, who had committed suicide. Can Red Wine Delay Ageing? Harvard researcher David Sinclair says that resveratrol, a chemical found in red wine, may be able to extend human life. In mice, resverstrol extends life by up to 24 percent and in other animals, including flies and worms, by as much as 59 percent. Sinclair hopes that resveratrol will bump up the life span of people, too. 'The system at work in the mice and other organisms is evolutionarily very old, so I suspect that what works in mice will work in humans,' he says. Sinclair thinks resveratrol works by activating SIRT1, a gene that many scientists believe plays a fundamental role in regulating life span in animals. Biologists have found that increasing the expression of SIRT1 slows aging and fends off maladies associated with growing old, including cancer and heart disease. If Sinclair is right, and resveratrol can activate SIRT1- and if the gene does in fact help control aging - he has found something truly remarkable. Cheers! And Finally... In Memorium, Alex Krywald Alex Krywald, life president and founder of CSA-Celebrity Speakers died on August 11th. Alex was a good friend and, as the pioneer of corporate speaking in Europe, created a market from which I and many other speakers have benfitted greatly. Today CSA-Celebrity Speakers is a global business and it serves as a fitting memorial to the exceptional Alex Krywald. Back issues of 'Glimpses' are archived here. |