Daily Archives: March 10, 2017

Why Space Travel Can Be Absolutely Disgusting – Live Science

Posted: March 10, 2017 at 3:27 am

Astronaut Bruce McCandless II floats above Earth, 330 feet (100 meters) from the cargo bay of the space shuttle Challenger, in 1984.

NASA's requirements for becoming an astronautare stringent, but not overly daunting. Essentially, hopefuls must have a bachelor's degree in science, be physically fit, and stand between 58.5 and 76 inches tall. What NASA doesn't mention, however, are the intangibles. You can probably think of a few: coolness under pressure, a problem-solving mentality, and the ability to work in a team setting. But one trait you might not consider is a strong stomach. The following stories illustrate why that definitely can come in handy.

The microgravity of space can lead to a lot of disgusting situations. If you think carpet spills are hard to clean, try collecting floating vomit, or desiccated skin.

"The calluses on your feet in space will eventually fall off," astronaut Scott Kelly revealed in aReddit AMA. "So, the bottoms of your feet become very soft like newborn baby feet. But the top of my feet develop rough alligator skin because I use the top of my feet to get around here on space station when using foot rails."

Floating calluses with the potential to enter an unaware, open mouth is enough to irk most people, but that's not the worst of it. Take whathappened during STS-1, for example.

In April 1981, astronauts John Young and Robert Crippen piloted the Space Shuttle Columbia successfully through its maiden mission, but not without a few hitches. The toilet clogged early on, forcing the two crewmembers to usefecal containment systems,long, tube-shaped bags affixed to the buttocks with a sticky seal to trap, and store, evacuated feces. Even worse, during re-entry, vacuum-dried fecal matter from the broken, bloated toilet migrated to the ventilation system and entered the main cabin. Young and Crippen survived the poop particles and soldiered through the *ick* factor in professional fashion.

Fecal containment systems were a brief inconvenience during STS-1, but they were business as usual during the Apollo missions. The clunky apparatuses were far from foolproof, especially in microgravity. During Apollo 10, when Tom Stafford, Gene Cernan, and John Young orbited the Moon, it seems a few "turds" may have eluded containment. Alan Boyleuncovered the smelly situationwhilst reviewing the declassified mission logs, and brought it to light over atNBC's Cosmic Log:

"Give me a napkin, quick," Stafford says. "There's a turd floating through the air."

"I didn't do it," Young says. "It ain't one of mine."

"I don't think it's one of mine," Cernan says.

"Mine was a little more sticky than that," Stafford replies. "Throw that away."

The astronauts discuss the finer points of waste disposal in space, and then move on to other business. But minutes later, it's "Houston, we have a problem" all over again.

"Here's another goddam turd," Cernan says. "What's the matter with you guys?"

Thanks to futuristicvacuum toiletsand well-designed filtration systems, escaped turds are no longer an issue. In fact, the International Space Station is "many, many times cleaner than your bathroom at home," Astrobiologist Kasthuri Venkateswaran,told theWashington Post.

Good news for aspiring astronauts who are easily grossed out!

Original article on RealClearScience.

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EDITORIAL: Exploring private space travel – Indiana Daily Student

Posted: at 3:27 am

So far its been an eventful year for both NASA and SpaceX, the private space exploration company founded by Elon Musk.

With the recent planetary discoveries, the potential change in the Hubble constant, and now SpaceXs announcement of private space travel, theres a lot to look forward to.

SpaceX is promoting privately funded space travel, and we think this may be our best bet to literally reach the stars.

Space is expensive. Therefore, we cannot rely on just the government to get our astronauts or plain space lovers into the cosmos. By funding these programs privately, we will get more work done.

When SpaceX announced its plan to send two people on a moon tour, the Indiana Daily Student asked professor Constantine Deliyannis what he thought about these plans. Deliyannis teaches in the astronomy and physics department at IU.

Deliyannis said he loved that NASA and SpaceX were working together to get more work done than they would accomplish separately.

He stressed the importance of recognizing our accomplishments so far and putting into perspective what we will need to do for the future.

Its expensive to study space, and its even more expensive to travel and investigate space. Because of this, SpaceX felt it was more important to fund space exploration privately rather than publicly. The government has a capped budget for what it can give to space exploration. Right now, the government is giving NASA $19 billion of the $3.73 trillion budget for the fiscal year of 2017.

Out of this budget, a projected $8 billion is geared toward human exploration. While this may seem like a large number, only $3 billion of that is budgeted for actual exploration. The other $5 billion is budgeted for the research that goes into getting people into space.

Of course, that is still a large sum of money.

The two tourists traveling with SpaceX will pay at least $35 million for a ticket, which was the most recent price to send astronauts to the International Space Station. NASA is paying $80 million per astronaut for rover missions on the moon.

Private spaceflight will one day become its own industry because of the steps SpaceX is taking. In our lifetime, we may see a new era of the space race.

Blue Origin is a private spaceflight company owned by Jeff Bezos. It announced that it too will be supporting private spaceflights. The rocket design and the astronaut who will be partaking in these private spaceflights were revealed earlier this month.

This brewing competition is not only exciting, but it is producing more technology and information about space travel.

Rather than pitting countries against each other in a race to space, we are seeing privately funded companies do the exact same thing.

This time around, though, if one of them fails, it is not at the expense of the government or the people of the country.

One day humans will see commercial space tourism. Private space companies are helping us get there.

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Harvard Scientists Theorize That Fast Radio Bursts Come From Alien Space Travel – Popular Mechanics

Posted: at 3:27 am

Fast radio bursts (FRB) are perhaps the most mysterious phenomena we observe in the cosmos. Earlier this year, astronomers announced they had pinpointed an FRB for the first time in a dwarf galaxy that sits three billion light-years away. These intense blasts of radio waves last only 1 to 5 milliseconds, and they have perplexed astronomers since the first one was discovered in 2007.

The leading theories suggest that FRBs come from incredibly volatile cosmic events, such as material being ejected from supermassive black holes, the explosions of superluminous supernovae, or rotating magnetars that lash surrounding material with their immense magnetic fields. But researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) have proposed a much more enticing theory. What if FRBs aren't natural phenomena at all, but rather come from a massive artificial structure used to power alien spacecraft?

Mysterious Fast Radio Burst Located for First Time

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"Fast radio bursts are exceedingly bright given their short duration and origin at great distances, and we haven't identified a possible natural source with any confidence," said Harvard professor Avi Loeb in a press release. "An artificial origin is worth contemplating and checking."

The idea is that FRBs come from an immense alien power plant that is used to propel ships using light sails. A powerful beam of light can propel a reflective surface in the vacuum of space, which is the basis for light sail technology. Current human light sail experiments use light from the sun, but scientists are also working to develop a worldwide system of lasers that could propel small nanoprobes to about 20 percent the speed of light. Such technology, called photonic propulsion, could send a probe to Alpha Centauri, the closet star system to us, in roughly 20 years.

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It's possible that a more advanced alien species uses photonic propulsion to power much larger spaceships. Loeb and fellow Harvard researcher Manasvi Lingam found that if an object twice the size of the Earth were harnessing solar power and converting the energy into a laser beam to propel spacecraft, then the radio emissions from it would be detectable even across billions of light-years. Such a planet-sized power system would be capable of accelerating a spaceship weighing a million tons, which is about 20 times bigger than the biggest cruise ships.

"That's big enough to carry living passengers across interstellar or even intergalactic distances," says Lingam.

The team's findings are outlined in a paper titled, "Fast Radio Bursts from Extragalactic Light Sails," which has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal Letters. To accelerate a spaceship's light sail, the device would need to constantly aim its beams of light at the craft. On Earth, we would see this from time to time as a quick flash of high intensity radio waves rather than a sustained signal because the movement of distant galaxies and planets means the laser would only line up with our planet for a split second.

The Real Story Behind the Myth of Area 51

The fast radio burst that we located earlier this year actually was detected nine times over the course of six months, which, if the signal is coming from an alien power plant, could be an indication that the device lines up with us regularly, or we could be seeing the planet-sized laser system being switched on and off.

Of course, this is all highly speculative theory. The new study simply outlines the fact that it is possible that FRBs are from an alien propulsion system according to our current laws of physics. Our species is nowhere near achieving such advanced technology, but perhaps a more advanced race has unlocked large-scale interstellar travel.

Loeb was asked whether he really believes FRBs come from an advanced alien civilization, to which he responded: "Science isn't a matter of belief, it's a matter of evidence. Deciding what's likely ahead of time limits the possibilities. It's worth putting ideas out there and letting the data be the judge."

Source: Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics

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Are These Giant Neurons the Seat Of Consciousness in the Brain? – Singularity Hub

Posted: at 3:27 am

The towering trees with their sprawling branches in the redwood forests have always reminded me of neurons in the brain.

Like trees, each neuron extends out tortuous, delicate branches in a quest to make contact with others in its ecosystem. By communicating through thousands of contact pointssynapsesdotted along their branches, neurons coordinate their activation patterns across the brain. In this way, bits and pieces of information integrate into unified experiences that are our memories, feelings and awareness of the world.

In other words, the secret of conscious thought may lie in the connections of neuronal trees.

In the 140 years of mapping neuronal projection, scientists have seen it all: stubby ones, lopsided ones, and shockingly long branches that thread all the way from the back of the head, the brainstem, to the very front.

But the brain has more surprises in store.

This week at the BRAIN Initiative meeting in Maryland, Dr. Christof Koch, the president of the Allen Institute of Brain Science based in Seattle, announced the discovery of three neurons with branches that extensively span both hemispheres of the brain.

Incredibly, these neurons sit in the claustrum, a mysterious, thin sheet of cells that Koch believes is the seat of consciousness. Among the three, the largest neuron wrapped around the entire circumference of the mouse brain like a crown of thornssomething never seen before.

A single neuron, projecting across the entire cortex! Absolutely astonishing! Koch exclaimed during his talk.

These results are the latest to come out of a national, concerted effort to map the projections of individual neurons throughout the entire brain.

To hook up or troubleshoot electronic systems, the first step is to dig up their wiring diagrams. The same principle holds for deciphering the brain.

Since information processing in neurons is deeply rooted in their structure, scientists believe that building a map of these connections can eventually help us crack the neural codethat is, the electrochemical language in which neurons talk to one another.

Its a behemoth of a task.

The brain has billions of neurons, including thousands of cell types connected into circuits by trillions of synapses. To trace neuronal projections, scientists generally inject a virus or a dye into a single neuron, and wait for the labeling agent to travel down the projections.

Scientists then thinly cut the brain, image each section under the microscope and manually trace the dye or virus. Its slow, its tedious and scaling the process to the entire brain is completely unfathomable.

To automate the process, Koch and his collaborator Dr. Qingming Luo at Wuhan University in China devised a method that slices and images the brain continuously.

The team focused on neurons in the claustrum, a beautiful part of the brain that doesnt get enough recognition, jokes Koch.

They engineered a line of transgenetic mice so that a drug activates a gene in the brain that produces a green florescent protein. Under UV light, neurons labeled with this protein glow a brilliant green, allowing them to pop out from the dark background.

The researchers then carefully fed the mice a small amount of the drug so that only a few neurons were able to switch on the genes. This is a good thing, since a sea of glowing, intertwined neurons would make it impossible to tease out individual projection trees.

The scientists then embedded the brain in a Jello-like substance, and took an image of the top surface of the brain with a microscope. Next, they used a diamond blade to precisely slice off an ultra-thin layer of tissue, and imaged the next layer. After about 10,000 cycles, the resulting images were stitched back up to digitally recreate, in 3D, the three glowing cells.

This technique allows us to gain structural informationwith uniform precision and high resolution for the individual whole brain, says Luo in an email to Singularity Hub, Our technique is revealing more and more curious structures of neurons and circuits.

The fact that the cells were found in the claustrum is perhaps not that surprising.

The enigmatic claustrum is a thin, irregularly-shaped sheet of cells tucked away under the cortex. The nondescript brain region caught Kochs eye when imaging studies showed that it may be the most connected structure in the brain, based on volume.

[Looking] at the white matter fibers coursing to and from the claustrum reveal that it is a neural Grand Central Station. Almost every region of the cortex sends fibers to the claustrum, explains Koch.

And according to Koch, connection is the secret sauce for consciousness.

Virtually all scholars agree that the defining characteristic of any subjective experience, once it reaches the consciousness level, is that its unified, he says.

When you look at the face of a loved one, for example, brain regions that support sight, smell, memories and emotions all activate individually, and these pieces of informationboth external and internal perceptionintegrate into a unified conscious experience.

The claustrum, given its massive connections, may be coordinating the inputs and outputs like a conductor of consciousness, says Koch.

Kochs theory is hard to prove, though a medical case in 2014 gives it tangential support.

While stimulating various brain regions of an alert epileptic woman to identify the source of her seizures, neurosurgeons zapped the nerve bundles near the claustrum, and the woman became unresponsive.

She stopped reading, stared blankly into space, didnt respond to auditory and visual commands and slowed her breathing, the team reported at the time. As soon as stimulation stopped, the woman restarted all activities, without any memory of the event. The neurosurgeons repeated the test over two days, and 10 out of 10 times the same thing happened.

To Koch, the finding that neurons in the claustrum project so extensively across the brain further adds evidence for his theory.

This really supports, or is at least compatible, with the idea that Francis Crick and I wrote about in terms of the involvement of the claustrum in consciousness, he says.

According to an email from the Allen Institute to Singularity Hub, the team is in the process of packaging up their results into a scientific manuscript, and details of the technique will be released to scientists around the world.

Other neuroscientists are more hesitant to link claustrum neurons to consciousness, but applaud Koch and Luos new imaging technique.

Its quite admirable, says Dr. Rafael Yuste at Columbia University to Nature.

According to Yuste, the technology could help scientists better identify different cell types in the brain based on morphology. The 3D reconstructions can then be compared to other datasets, such as gene expression patterns, to better understand the different neuron populationsand how they interactin our brains.

As for Koch, he plans to keep mapping neurons in the claustrum, although the technology is currently still too expensive to reconstruct the entire brain region. The team is also looking at ways to further develop the technique, so that it can image multiple neurons in multiple brain regions at the same time.

Bit by bit, the goal is to reconstruct the entire brain, says Koch.

If the brain is a language, were still learning the alphabet, remarks Yuste. But every characterization of every single neuron brings us closer to identifying key components of neural networks that control our thoughts, feelings, behavior, and yesmaybe even consciousness.

Image Credit:Shutterstock

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Musk and Bostrom’s computer simulation theory isn’t as crazy as it first sounds – The Plaid Zebra (blog)

Posted: at 3:26 am

Musk and Bostroms computer simulation theory isnt as crazy as it first sounds

BY: DUSTIN BATTY

As augmented reality and virtual reality technology continues to improve, concerns have arisen that in the future, we wont be able to tell what is real and what is computer-generated. According to some peopleincluding well-known innovator, inventor, and entrepreneur Elon Muskthere is a very good chance that we are all living in a computer simulation.

I know, I know; it sounds crazy. Weve all seen The Matrix, and most of us are aware that its just science fiction. But this theory isnt just senseless balderdash. Musk and the others who hold this theory, such as philosopher Nick Bostrom, make fairly compelling points to corroborate their arguments.

At Code Conference 2016, Musk points out the fact that video games have advanced from Pong to 3-dimensional near-realistic graphics in just over 40 years. It follows that in a few more decades, if we continue at our current rate of technological advancementor in a few millennia, if our advancement slows by a factor of a thousand, but eventuallywe will reach the level of technology necessary to create a fully realistic-seeming virtual reality.

One of the strongest counter-arguments to the computer simulation theory, as posited in an IFLScience article, is that running a truly lifelike simulation of a city, with all its trillions of interactions, would require a city-sized computer. In other words, the amount of computing power that would be required in order to process all of the human minds that are currently aliveas well as the environment in which we all exist and the visible universe that we can detectwould be impossible to develop.

After a lengthy build up in the paper he wrote on the subject, Bostrom claims that developing the computing power required to allow for the lives of 100 billion people, as well as the surrounding environment, is not actually impossible. It would, however, require a computer with the mass of a large planet, which is obviously something that were not even close to building. He says that the technology will become available eventually, if we are able to survive as a species long enough to become what he calls posthuman.

He describes the posthuman as those who are alive when humankind has acquired most of the technological capabilities that one can currently show to be consistent with physical laws and with material and energy constraints. It will probably take us thousands of years to reach a posthuman state, but Bostrom and Musk both point out that the time-frame doesnt matter. As long as the possibility of realistic simulations exists, then we are most likely in one.

The reason for this is simple logic. A simulation this advanced contains sentient beings that can create their own simulation; like in the movie Inception, there would be simulations within simulations within simulations. The chances that we are in the base reality rather than in one of the Inception layers is unlikely because there is only one base reality, but many simulated realities. And there would be no possible way to tell the difference.

So what does this mean for us? How do we move forward, knowing that theres a decent chance that we are in a computer simulation rather than in base reality? Well, we just keep on as if nothings changed. Because, if you think about it, nothing has changed. The world is just as real as it always was, and our reasons for living our lives the way we do are still true. We have simply been given a possible answer to the question about life, the universe, and everything. And I, for one, think its fascinating.

Tagged: computer simulation, elon musk, Nick Bostrom, posthuman, technology, Virtual Reality

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Familiar face picked to lead Ascension – Simi Valley Acorn

Posted: at 3:24 am

Delkeskamp made senior pastor

ANSWERING THE CALLThe Rev. Timothy Delkeskamp will be installed as senior pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church on March 19. He served as associate pastor of the church for 13 years. The Rev. Timothy Delkeskamp has been called to become the new senior pastor of Ascension Lutheran Church, School and Foundation in Thousand Oaks.

This call to service comes after an 18-month process during which multiple candidates from across the country were interviewed by a call committee and following a congregation-wide vote that took place Feb. 26.

Delkeskamp will be installed during a ceremony at the church Sun., March 19, with reception to follow.

For the past 13 years, he has served as an associate pastor at Ascension. His duties have included serving as liaison pastor for the school, as well as outreach, worship and adult education.

He is also on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Ventura County.

Delkeskamp was born in Brea, Calif., and raised in Orange County.

He graduated from Cal Lutheran University and has a doctorate from Luther Seminary in Minnesota.

After serving at Mount of Olives Lutheran Church in Mission Viejo, Calif., for five years, he accepted the call to come to Ascension in 2003.

His wife, Chamie, a United Methodist pastor, is Ascension Lutheran Schools religion teacher and coordinator of chapel.

The Delkeskamps have three children.

Ascensions former senior pastor, the Rev. Larry Wagner, retired in 2015 after 38 years at the church. The Rev. Paul Gravrock has served as interim senior pastor since then.

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Ascension to begin using GPS devices on parish equipment – WBRZ

Posted: at 3:24 am

ASCENSION Ascension Parish officials will begin using tracking devices on all parish-owned vehicles to track their resources, however some are confused about its true intentions.

Some council members say the GPS policy is not fully ironed out. The vehicles were installed with the GPS's, but some have not been used.

"I think some of them were turned off or not installed at all, under the previous administration," Martin McConnell, of the Ascension Parish government, said.

However the rules are now changing. Ascension Parish officials say that whether it's a tractor or vehicle, they want to keep tract of their equipment.

"You know GPS tells us things like number of hours that equipment has been in operation," McConnell said.

For example, if a tractor or vehicle is not being used enough at one site, it can be transferred to another.

"Because if it's sitting parked we don't need it right?" McConnell said.

Parish officials say the GPS's are about staying organized and ensuring that parish equipment is being used efficiently. However, some council members say there is more to the issue.

"Every single person that works in the parish that has a vehicle has to be subject to the same rules," Aaron Lawler, Ascension Parish council member, said.

Lawler said that he supports the use of GPS devices, but says the policy is missing key information.

"Right now there's no policy whatsoever, so if somebody is caught speeding they can fire that person," Lawler said.

Others argue that the devices are not in place to get workers in trouble.

"The primary reason is to know that parish-owned vehicles are being used in an efficient manner to their best and highest use," McConnell said.

A total of 180 GPS systems are installed in parish vehicles and equipment.

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Leadership Ascension breaks ground today – News – Donaldsonville … – Donaldsonville Chief

Posted: at 3:24 am

Greg Fischer

A 2017 Leadership Ascension team has decided to provide the Council On Aging (COA) facility on Irma Boulevard an outdoor area to enjoy at the Gonzales location.

This location was deemed to lack an outdoor space for individuals to gather in a centralized area that is safe from traffic and weather conditions.

A groundbreaking ceremony has grown as of March 9, according to team member Josh Ory. Representatives from both Ascension Parish, as well as the City of Gonzales will attend to support the project and participate in the ceremony. This will take place today at 4:30 p.m.

"We named our team 'Rockin' Through the Ages,'" Ory said. "We are accepting donations."

The 2017 Leadership Ascension class has been broken up into four teams to find ways to improve the community. The Ascension Parish Chamber of Commerce began its Leadership Ascension program in 1995 to educate and prepare future leaders within Ascension Parish.

For more information, contact Traci Furlow by email at traci.furlow1969@gmail.com, or by phone at 225-614-5565.

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Motorcyclist dies after being struck by vehicle in Ascension – BRProud – www.brproud.com

Posted: at 3:24 am

BATON ROUGE, La (LOCAL 33) - Troopers from Louisiana State Police Troop A began investigating a two vehicle fatality crash that occurred on LA 940 west of LA 44 in Ascension Parishshortly before 11:00 am on March 8, 2017 that tookthe life of 18-year-old Aiden Womack of Gonzales, LA.

The initial investigation by State Police revealed that the crash occurred as Womack was operating his 2005 Kawasaki motorcycle eastbound on LA 940. At the same time, 72 year old Hazel Miles of Gonzales, LA was traveling westbound on LA 940 in a 2002 Ford F-150. For unknown reasons, Miles failed to yield and began to make a left turn into the path of Womacks motorcycle. Womack was unable to avoid Miles vehicle and struck the passengers side

Womack suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash and was transported to University Medical Center where he was later pronounced deceased. Miles was properly restrained and sustained minor injuries in the crash. Impairment is not suspected to be a factor in this crash but a toxicology sample was taken from both drivers for analysis. This crash remains under investigation and charges are pending.

Louisiana State Troopers would like to remind motorist to Watch for Motorcycles. As the spring and summer months approach, more and more motorcyclists will be traveling on Louisiana highways. We ask that motorist take an extra second to look for motorcycles before pulling out, turning, or changing lanes.

Troopers also encourage all riders to take an approved motorcycle safety course. These courses teach safe riding practices and help you apply safe riding strategies that can help reduce your chance of injury should a crash occur. Making good choices while riding a motorcycle, such as never driving while impaired and obeying all traffic laws, can often mean the difference between life and death.

For more information on the Louisiana Motorcycle Safety, Awareness, and Operator Training Program, visit http://www.lsp.org/motorcycle.html

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NASA Funds 133 Projects to Aid Deep Space Exploration – PC Magazine

Posted: at 3:23 am

Each project will receive funding to support development over the next 2 years before hopefully being ready for use in missions.

NASA is full of brilliant minds attempting to solve all the problems that stand in the way of exploring deep space, visiting Mars, and maybe one day even living on other planets. But there's only so much time in the day and so many people the agency can employ, so NASA also runs the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program.

Through SBIR, NASA is able to select and help fund research and development of innovative technologies by small businesses that could ultimately benefit the agency. And 133 of those projects from 112 businesses have just been selected to receive Phase II SBIR funding, thought to be worth in the region of $100 million.

The SBIR program consists of three phases. Phase I establishes the feasibility of an idea over the course of six months with up to $125,000 of funding. Phase II allows Phase I projects to be further developed over the course of two years with up to $750,000 of funding. Phase III sees successful Phase II projects commercialized and funding provided from sources outside of the SBIR program.

These 133 selected projects made it through the Phase I feasibility process and now have a real chance to be turned into commercial products. Projects highlighted by NASA from those selected to receive Phase II funding include:

As the lightweight materials technology highlighted above demonstrates, although these projects are focused on benefiting NASA, they also hold the potential to improve other on-Earth industries such as aircraft design.

With Phase II projects receiving two years of support, we'll now have to wait until 2019 to find out how many of the 133 make it and get turned into commercial and space-ready products.

Matthew is PCMag's UK-based editor and news reporter. Prior to joining the team, he spent 14 years writing and editing content on our sister site Geek.com and has covered most areas of technology, but is especially passionate about games tech. Alongside PCMag, he's a freelance video game designer. Matthew holds a BSc degree in Computer Science from Birmingham University and a Masters in Computer Games Development from Abertay University. More

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