SCI-FI NEWS
Lots of Action in the Sci-Fi Column this week! Cool movie, book, and game news with everything from iconic classic reboots to 21 century self-published stardom!
Cameron’s Avatar: All FOUR sequels to be filmed at once, rather than back-to-back, in one HUGE production cycle!
http://famousmonsters.com/archives/22748?mc_cid=142a464b4c&mc_eid=8fd53dc047
You can check out some Captain America: Civil War posters made for the international crowd
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/team-cap-team-iron-man-go-head-to-head-in-new-captain-america-civil-war-posters
The Blade Runner reboot, initially scheduled to be released January 2018, will now hit the theaters in early October of 2017.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-blade-runner-2-producers-apparently-think-their-mov-1772118176
Angles of Attack and Chains of Command, the latest Frontlines novels from Marko Kloos, are now available. They look like keepers!
http://io9.gizmodo.com/go-to-war-with-the-latest-frontlines-novels-from-marko-1772100249
Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Sleeping Giants’ took a not-so-traditional route to arrive in your hands. Sylvain Neuvel’s upcoming novel “The Sleeping Giants” didn’t take the traditional route to publishing. Dozens of publishers rejected it before writer turned to self-publishing. Kirkus Reviews praised the novel and declared Hollywood and the publishing world would wake up and paid attention. The result? He landed a movie deal with Sony… And Del Rey will release the book next week. The Internet levels the playing field indeed!
http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-sci-fi-thriller-sleeping-giants-awoke-1461262393
SCI-TRY NEWS
This week, the cutting edge of Sci-Tech gave us a peek or two of some pretty cool technology on the horizon.
Researchers make a superflexible electronic skin; turns your hand into a digital display
For the first time, Japanese scientists have demonstrated a superflexible electronic skin (e-skin) display, made from organic electronics, that doesn’t degrade when exposed to air. Previous organic electronic displays have been built using glass or plastic materials, or substrates, but their flexibility was limited by their thickness. Good news for robots!
http://www.livescience.com/54440-ultrathin-e-skin-turns-hand-into-electronic-display.html
A new material could lead To artificial muscle
Researchers may soon be able to create a material remarkably similar to natural muscle. The new material is super-stretchy, and can also twitch (expand and contract) when exposed to an electric field, and can also self-repair when punctured or scratched. This is good news for robots and stranded astronauts!
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-super-stretchy-self-healing-material-artificial.html
Smart Skin Self-Powered By Frictional Contact With Objects
Researchers have fabricated “smart skin”, which is self-powered by frictional contact with objects it touches. The smart skin will have applications for robots, artificial intelligence systems, and bionic limbs for amputees.
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-smart-skin-powered.html
Also, the following opinion paper caught our eye: https://theconversation.com/all-of-humanity-should-share-in-the-space-mining-boom-57740
Space mining could be around the corner and could become a not so distant reality. Behind the ideology of the benefits it presents to humanity, there is an economic reality: exploitation of asteroids resources presumes an enormous financial market. Will only a few trillionaires take advantage of space? Should all humanity directly share the potential wealth? This opinion piece in The Conversation calls for “responsible global citizens”.
SCI-FACT NEWS
A few interesting things climbed up the Sci-Pyramid to its factual apex this week!
OUR FUTURE FOR DEEP SPACE TRAVEL
Mice embryos develop in space
China launched a microgravity satellite (SJ-10) on April 6th. The satellite is packed with experiments and some results have already reached Earth! Researchers loaded 6,000 mouse embryos in an enclosed chamber. The satellite sent back images of the initial stage two-cell embryos (having grown into fully developed blastocysts!). A blastocyst is the name given to an embryo before it implants into the wall of the uterus. Results indicate the embryos were able to develop normally in zero gravity. Of course, the much bigger question remains: Will the same results hold true for humans?
Nascent Liver Damage Found In Mice Flown In Space
Scientists at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus found that mice which flew aboard the space shuttle Atlantis came back to Earth with early signs of liver damage. Prior studies were focused on bone, muscle, brain and cardiovascular impacts. Scientists already knew astronauts returned with diabetes-like symptoms which resolved quickly. The mice studied spent 13.5 days on the space shuttle. Further study is needed from mice flown aboard the international Space Station.
http://phys.org/news/2016-04-mice-flown-space-nascent-liver.html
Aerojet Rocketdyne Wins NASA Contract For Solar Electric Propulsion
Aerojet Rocketdyne has won a $67 million contract from NASA to develop an advanced electric propulsion system. The goal is to improve fuel efficiency and double the thrust capability of current electric propulsion systems. This new system could be used in future trips to Mars or the asteroid belt.
NASA Is Looking For Space Habitat Designs
NASA is soliciting proposals for the development of prototypes for deep space habitat prototypes. The first round of contracts was selected last year. Selected proposals will receive partial funding from NASA. The goal is to have a prototype ready by 2018! NASA will then have enough time to test the habitat on the Moon in the 2020s and ultimately be ready for a Mars mission in the 2030s. Bigelow Aerospace, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Orbital ATK are working on prototypes. Any ideas?
http://www.popsci.com/nasa-is-looking-for-more-mars-habitat-ideas
More Challenging Conditions For SpaceX Next Launch!
SpaceX has set a tentative date for a new launch on May the 3rd. A Falcon9 will deliver a Japanese satellite into a high orbit (22,000 km) above Earth. The first stage will need to reach a much greater velocity, with a trajectory almost parallel to the surface of earth, taking it much farther from the launch site before it releases the second stage. The rocket will then have a lot less fuel to arrest its motion and control its descent toward the barge. Good Luck!
SOME ASTRONOMY NEWS
Black Holes Collision Emits Light
Earlier this year, scientist working at the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) made one the the biggest announcements in space history: they detected gravitational waves caused by the merger of two black holes. They didn’t expect to spot anything, no flash, no glow, no light. That is because theoretical and observational work suggested that when big black holes (30 times the mass of the sun) merge, there is nothing to see. But in September 2015, NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected a very weak and brief burst of high-energy X-rays, consistent with a short gamma-ray burst (or GRB) in that same region of the sky, only 0.4 seconds after the collision. While more evidence is needed to make solid conclusions, for some scientists, the chances are good that the burst indeed came from the black hole merger. LIGO is expected to detect as many as 100 merging black holes per year, at the instrument’s peak design sensitivity, so scientists will have plenty of opportunities to see if merger and gamma-ray signals coincide.
http://www.space.com/32615-black-hole-merger-gamma-ray-burst-gravitational-waves.html
Some Dust Around Saturn Comes From Outer Space
Some of the dust swirling around Saturn is interstellar. Cassini, NASA’s Saturn orbiting spacecraft sampled a large amount of dust grains when it arrived around the planet in n 2004. Most of the grains come from eruptions from Enceladus (Saturn’s icy moon). Of these grains, 36 turned out to have come from outer space. Cassini instruments revealed the grains contain rock-forming elements: magnesium, silicon, iron and calcium (all in abundances that meet the average for cosmic proportions). Sulfur and carbon, however, were not as common as they are in “average” space dust. Cassini will end its mission in 2017 by intentionally diving into Saturn atmosphere.
http://www.space.com/32614-interstellar-dust-saturn-origin-cassini-spacecraft.html
Japan’s X-Ray Astronomy Satellite Hitomi Collected Data Before Running Into Trouble
Japan’s out of control Hitomi satellite managed to collect and send back some scientific measurements before cutting all communication. The satellite is equipped with instruments that allows observation of X-ray and gamma-ray wavelength. It collected some spectroscopic data (chemical and atomic properties of a source based on the light it emits.) The Japanese craft observed the Crab Nebula and the Perseus cluster. Officials are still working on saving the satellite that appeared to have broken into several pieces.
http://www.space.com/32630-japan-hitomi-satellite-science-data.html
New Study From Old Moon Data: A Supernova Blasted Earth Millions Years Ago
A new study suggests that a supernova blasted Earth a few millions years ago. Previous research found supernovae create huge amounts of a mildly radioactive variety of iron that is flung into space. Scientist have discovered unusually high levels of that iron in moon rocks picked up by Apollo missions 12, 15 and 16 between 1969 and 1972. This finding supports the idea that stellar explosions may have influenced life on Earth.
http://www.space.com/32631-radioactive-iron-supernova-apollo-moon-rocks.html
We learned something about Venus polar atmosphere: it can be cold
The European Space Agency reviewed the data sent by its first mission to Venus, the Venus Express. The polar atmosphere on Venus is way colder than what we thought: -157 degrees Celsius (colder than anywhere on Earth). scientist learned also that the polar region is dominated by strong atmospheric waves.
LISA Pathfinder will count how often tiny rocks hit it
The Laser Interferometer Space Antennae Pathfinder (LISA) was designed to search for gravitational waves. Scientists found a way for the spacecraft to count the average number of micrometeoroid collisions that a spacecraft or astronaut can expect to experience. Micrometeoroids, bits of space rocks, are less than 1 cm across, weigh less than 1 gram and travel at an average speed of 6.2 miles per second. They can potentially destroy million of dollars of equipment or seriously injure an astronaut. LISA orbits the Sun at Lagrange Point 2. At this location, spacecrafts can orbit without firing thrusters to remain stable.
http://www.space.com/32639-lisa-spacetime-hazardous-space-rocks.html
ARTICLES THAT WILL HELP YOUR SPACE KNOWLEDGE
Not sure what cosmic rays are? Brush up your scientific knowledge by reading the following article:
http://www.space.com/32644-cosmic-rays.html
Not sure what pulsar is? Read this:
http://www.space.com/32661-pulsars.html
AND A LITTLE SPACE POLITICS to wrap things up…
Senate Bill Increases Space Exploration Programs And Cuts Other Major NASA Programs
A bill, approved by a Senate committee, offers major increases in the Senate’s 2017 spending bill for several exploration programs and trims other major programs. The bill increases the 2017 budget by $280 million, while NASA’s exploration account increases by almost $1 billion. The increase will benefit the Orion and the Space Launch Systems. Science, aeronautics, space technology and space operations were cut by $660 million for its request.
http://spacenews.com/senate-bill-cuts-other-nasa-programs-to-fund-sls-and-orion/
See you next week !