Daily Archives: November 7, 2019

It is time for a baking high! An oven has been launched to the International Space Station (ISS) for astronauts to be able to bake chocolate chip cookies in it. Now, while no one knows how the cookies being baked in space will turn out to be like, the fact remains that it will be the first time astronauts living there will be able to bake anything.

According to a report in BBC, this is the first time that astronauts are set to test the impact of high heat and zero gravity on the shape and consistency of the chocolate chip cookies.

Hilton's Double Tree hotel chain has provided the dough for the space baking experiment. The hotel chain took to Twitter to celebrate the moment.

Houston we have a cookie. Now serving warm welcomes in space. Follow the adventure with #CookiesinSpace pic.twitter.com/U5OzwQhJUH

— DoubleTree by Hilton (@DoubleTree) November 2, 2019

Furthermore, according to BBC, Hilton's DoubleTree hotel chain said that it was a "landmark microgravity experiment."

The hotel chain further said the whole idea behind bring in this on-board is to make space travel "more hospitable."

The report added that the capsule that took off from the US state of Virginia on Saturday was also loaded with other equipment including parts from sports car and a vest to protect against radiation.

According to NASA, the Zero-G Oven, which will be used for the baking experiment, "examines heat transfer properties and the process of baking food in microgravity."

They further add that the Zero-G Oven, "uses an oven designed specifically for use aboard the space station with a top temperature of 363.3 C," stating that in the future, during "long-duration missions" it could be used to, bake fresh food that could have "psychological and physiological benefits for crew members."

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Now Astronauts Can Enjoy Chocolate Chip Cookies after Baking Them in Space - News18

The dream of traveling through time is both ancient and universal. But where did humanity's fascination with time travel begin, and why is the idea so appealing?

The concept of time travel moving through time the way we move through three-dimensional space may in fact be hardwired into our perception of time. Linguists have recognized that we are essentially incapable of talking about temporal matters without referencing spatial ones. "In language any language no two domains are more intimately linked than space and time," wrote Israeli linguist Guy Deutscher in his 2005 book "The Unfolding of Language." "Even if we are not always aware of it, we invariably speak of time in terms of space, and this reflects the fact that we think of time in terms of space."

Deutscher reminds us that when we plan to meet a friend "around" lunchtime, we are using a metaphor, since lunchtime doesn't have any physical sides. He similarly points out that time can not literally be "long" or "short" like a stick, nor "pass" like a train, or even go "forward" or "backward" any more than it goes sideways, diagonal or down.

Related: Why Does Time Fly When You're Having Fun?

Perhaps because of this connection between space and time, the possibility that time can be experienced in different ways and traveled through has surprisingly early roots. One of the first known examples of time travel appears in the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic poem compiled around 400 B.C., Lisa Yaszek, a professor of science fiction studies at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, told Live Science

In the Mahabharata is a story about King Kakudmi, who lived millions of years ago and sought a suitable husband for his beautiful and accomplished daughter, Revati. The two travel to the home of the creator god Brahma to ask for advice. But while in Brahma's plane of existence, they must wait as the god listens to a 20-minute song, after which Brahma explains that time moves differently in the heavens than on Earth. It turned out that "27 chatur-yugas" had passed, or more than 116 million years, according to an online summary, and so everyone Kakudmi and Revati had ever known, including family members and potential suitors, was dead. After this shock, the story closes on a somewhat happy ending in that Revati is betrothed to Balarama, twin brother of the deity Krishna.

To Yaszek, the tale provides an example of what we now call time dilation, in which different observers measure different lengths of time based on their relative frames of reference, a part of Einstein's theory of relativity.

Such time-slip stories are widespread throughout the world, Yaszek said, citing a Middle Eastern tale from the first century BCE about a Jewish miracle worker who sleeps beneath a newly-planted carob tree and wakes up 70 years later to find it has now matured and borne fruit (carob trees are notorious for how long they take to produce their first harvest). Another instance can be found in an eighth-century Japanese fable about a fisherman named Urashima Tar who travels to an undersea palace and falls in love with a princess. Tar finds that, when he returns home, 100 years have passed, according to a translation of the tale published online by the University of South Florida.

In the early-modern era of the 1700 and 1800s, the sleep-story version of time travel grew more popular, Yaszek said. Examples include the classic tale of Rip Van Winkle, as well as books like Edward Belamy's utopian 1888 novel "Looking Backwards," in which a man wakes up in the year 2000, and the H.G. Wells 1899 novel "The Sleeper Awakes," about a man who slumbers for centuries and wakes to a completely transformed London.

Related: Science Fiction or Fact: Is Time Travel Possible?

In other stories from this period, people also start to be able to move backward in time. In Mark Twains 1889 satire "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court," a blow to the head propels an engineer back to the reign of the legendary British monarch. Objects that can send someone through time begin to appear as well, mainly clocks, such as in Edward Page Mitchell's 1881 story "The Clock that Went Backwards" or Lewis Carrol's 1889 children's fantasy "Sylvie and Bruno," where the characters possess a watch that is a type of time machine.

The explosion of such stories during this era might come from the fact that people were "beginning to standardize time, and orient themselves to clocks more frequently," Yaszek said.

Wells provided one of the most enduring time-travel plots in his 1895 novella "The Time Machine," which included the innovation of a craft that can move forward and backward through long spans of time. "This is when were getting steam engines and trains and the first automobiles," Yaszek said. "I think its no surprise that Wells suddenly thinks: 'Hey, maybe we can use a vehicle to travel through time.'"

Because it is such a rich visual icon, many beloved time-travel stories written after this have included a striking time machine, Yaszek said, referencing The Doctor's blue police box the TARDIS in the long-running BBC series "Doctor Who," and "Back to the Future"'s silver luxury speedster, the DeLorean.

More recently, time travel has been used to examine our relationship with the past, Yaszek said, in particular in pieces written by women and people of color. Octavia Butler's 1979 novel "Kindred" about a modern woman who visits her pre-Civil-War ancestors is "a marvelous story that really asks us to rethink black and white relations through history," she said. And a contemporary web series called "Send Me" involves an African-American psychic who can guide people back to antebellum times and witness slavery.

"I'm really excited about stories like that," Yaszek said. "They help us re-see history from new perspectives."

Time travel has found a home in a wide variety of genres and media, including comedies such as "Groundhog Day" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" as well as video games like Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda:Majora's Mask" and the indie game "Braid."

Yaszek suggested that this malleability and ubiquity speaks to time travel tales' ability to offer an escape from our normal reality. "They let us imagine that we can break free from the grip of linear time," she said. "And somehow get a new perspective on the human experience, either our own or humanity as a whole, and I think that feels so exciting to us."

That modern people are often drawn to time-machine stories in particular might reflect the fact that we live in a technological world, she added. Yet time travel's appeal certainly has deeper roots, interwoven into the very fabric of our language and appearing in some of our earliest imaginings.

"I think it's a way to make sense of the otherwise intangible and inexplicable, because it's hard to grasp time," Yaszek said. "But this is one of the final frontiers, the frontier of time, of life and death. And we're all moving forward, we're all traveling through time."

Originally published on Live Science.

Link:

Where Does the Concept of Time Travel Come From? - Livescience.com

Our sense of time will be altered via the advent of self-driving cars.

Ask any physicist about the famous twin paradox problem and you are likely to find yourself facing a lengthy diatribe about the topic.

Often referred to as Einsteins twin paradox, Einstein was known for focusing on the nature of time and clocks, doing so as part of his theories on relativity, so the topic can be referred to as the Einstein clock paradox rather than mentioning twins per se (historians point out that the origins of the thought experiment can be traced to scientist Paul Langevin in a 1911 paper that he wrote and in which he used twins for the earlier framing of the problem).

What exactly is the paradox, you might be wondering?

Imagine that you are standing here on earth, which I assume most of you are, and suppose further that you happen to have been born with an identical twin. Your beloved twin has decided to become an astronaut and venture into the far reaches of outer space.

You are both the age of 25, lets say.

You wave goodbye as your twin rockets away. Pretend that the spaceship is incredibly fast, so fast that it moves at nearly the speed of light.

Marking the days on your calendar here on earth, your twin flies for 25 years to a far point in the universe, turns around, and for another 25 years flies back to earth.

Upon arriving here on earth, you greet your long traveling twin, embracing with a firm hug.

Ill ask you a seemingly simple and innocent question: What is your age and what is the age of your twin upon meeting each other at the end of your twins voyage?

Well, we know that you marked the days and believe that the trip took 50 years. The trip started when you both were 25 years old. Therefore, the rote math suggests that you are now 75 years old and that presumably your twin is also 75 years old.

Suppose I told you that your twin is now actually only 30 years old, having aged a mere 5 years while you have aged fifty years.

Is that shocking to you or does it comport with what you would have expected?

If youve ever watched any science fiction movies about space travel, youve undoubtedly seen story after story that involves a space traveler experiencing time more slowly than those of us on earth. When they get back to earth, their children are older than they are, and the peers that they left on earth are now long deceased.

Im guessing that you, therefore, accept the premise that your twin would be younger than you and has aged more slowly than you.

Not everyone would necessarily agree with that premise.

Your basis for believing that your twin aged more slowly is that they traveled at a fast speed and therefore approached our fundamental unit of time per the speed of light.

The paradox aspect is that we could turn the situation around and say that instead of looking at the twin that flew away from you, suppose we look at things in the eyes of your twin and they would perceive that you essentially flew away from them. You might say that the twin was stationary and you here on earth were moving away from the twin.

In that case, maybe you ought to have aged only five years and your twin should have aged fifty years.

That is the crux of the paradox.

Which is it, did you age the fifty years or did your twin age the fifty years?

Of course, you might toss your hands in the air and say that you are both still the same age, regardless of how many years passed, since you could try to argue that both of you aged the same number of years while the traveling occurred (those that undertake such hand tossing are considered deniers).

Most of todays physicists would agree that the correct answer is that you aged fifty years and your twin aged the five years.

For such physicists, there isnt any paradox and the answer easily is derived via Einsteins theory of special relativity and using too the handy Lorentz factor (a vital equation for figuring out elapsed time based on your velocity and number of years traveled).

Heres what Einstein said: If we placed a living organism in a box ... one could arrange that the organism, after any arbitrary lengthy flight, could be returned to its original spot in a scarcely altered condition, while corresponding organisms which had remained in their original positions had already long since given way to new generations.

Note that you dont need to use twins in this thought experiment and could substitute the twins by simply saying that you have two clocks that are set to the same time, of which you then send one of the clocks on the journey, and upon return of the traveling clock to earth, you compare the time of the two clocks.

In fact, the entire twin story can be reduced to the belief that moving clocks go slower (a matter of time dilation, as it were).

Mentioning twins makes the tale a bit more entertaining. It is partially used to suggest that the two items being compared are to be as nearly identical as possible, aiming to reduce any side arguments about the fact that maybe something different in the two originating elements can account for a time difference.

You are welcome to mull over the paradox and study it with whatever intensity and gusto you prefer.

For purposes herein, the infamous problem brings up the overall notion that time can be perceived differently and on a relative basis for an observer or participant seem to be longer or shorter in length.

Heres an intriguing question: Could the advent of true self-driving cars cause us to have a different sense of time?

Dont misinterpret the question to somehow suggest that self-driving cars are going to move at the speed of light. Sorry, thats not in the cards for now.

Self-driving cars might though subtly alter our sense of time via the convenience and ease of transit via car travel, changing our perception about time.

Lets unpack the matter.

The Levels Of Self-Driving Cars

It is important to clarify what I mean when referring to true self-driving cars.

True self-driving cars are ones that the AI drives the car entirely on its own and there isnt any human assistance during the driving task.

These driverless cars are considered a Level 4 and Level 5, while a car that requires a human driver to co-share the driving effort is usually considered at a Level 2 or Level 3. The cars that co-share the driving task are described as being semi-autonomous, and typically contain a variety of automated add-ons that are referred to as ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems).

There is not yet a true self-driving car at Level 5, which we dont yet even know if this will be possible to achieve, and nor how long it will take to get there.

Meanwhile, the Level 4 efforts are gradually trying to get some traction by undergoing very narrow and selective public roadway trials, though there is controversy over whether this testing should be allowed per se (we are all life-or-death guinea pigs in an experiment taking place on our highways and byways, some point out).

Since the semi-autonomous cars require a human driver, such cars arent particularly going to alter the dynamics of time perception. There is essentially no difference between using a Level 2 or Level 3 versus a conventional car when it comes to the time paradox aspects.

It is notable to point out that in spite of those dolts that keep posting videos of themselves falling asleep at the wheel of a Level 2 or Level 3 car, do not be misled into believing that you can take away your attention from the driving task while driving a semi-autonomous car.

You are the responsible party for the driving actions of the car, regardless of how much automation might be tossed into a Level 2 or Level 3.

True Self-Driving Cars And Time Perception

For the use of Level 4 and Level 5 driverless cars, there isnt a human driver in the car. Occupants inside the self-driving car are all considered passengers.

When you get into a self-driving car, the AI system will whisk you away to whatever destination youve stated. No need on your part to watch the road. No need to provide driving advice about which way to go. You can liken this to acting as a passenger in an airplane, whereby you simply sit back, relax, and the traveling occurs without you having to lift a finger.

Suppose you want to visit a good friend that lives twenty miles away from you.

Normally, youd need to grab up your prescription glasses, make sure you have your valid drivers license on you, and then drive your car to see your friend. During the driving journey, youd be stressed out about the horrid traffic and the near misses with ornery drivers.

By the time you reached your friends place, youd be exhausted, irritable, and exasperated at the drive. As such, you might vow to your friend that it will be a rare day that you opt to drive to see them again, given the arduous nature of getting there. The trip seemed to take forever.

Switch to a scenario involving the use of a driverless car.

You get into the self-driving car and have no worries about whether you can see the road, and nor do you have a drivers license on you or even need one at all. During the trip, you watch some streaming videos and enjoy the time spent in the self-driving car. In fact, you might recline the seat and take a nap, dreaming perhaps about time travel and someday visiting planets at the far reaches of our galaxy.

In the former case of driving the car, time seemed to go slowly, agonizingly so.

In the latter case of being a passenger in a self-driving car, time seemed to move along quickly.

Even your friend might perceive the time differences of your taking a self-driving car versus having driven yourself.

Upon your arrival at your friends place when you drove a car, you are vocal in complaining about the drive, and your friend feels terrible that you had to endure the long drive.

When arriving via a self-driving car, you are refreshed and happy, and your friend feels like it was just moments ago that you said youd be on your way.

In short, your perception of time could change as a result of making use of self-driving cars. Likewise, your friend, though not having traveled in the driverless car, might also perceive time differently as a result of your using a driverless car.

Again, this is not to suggest that time changed in some physical manner as a result of the self-driving car.

Instead, the emphasis is on the perception of time by both the participant and the observer.

Conclusion

If this change in a sense of time can occur, one argument to be made is that presumably via todays ridesharing services you would already be undergoing that same change in time perception.

A ridesharing service of today allows you to sit back and relax since there is a human driver at the wheel.

The comparison is only half-right.

You still need to be wary about the human that is your ridesharing driver. In theory, the human driver could make wayward moves and crash the car. Being in a ridesharing car is not the same as being absent of all concerns about the driving task.

For self-driving cars, some assert that they will be entirely safe and never crash. I dont subscribe to that belief. There will still be car crashes, though (hopefully) of a much smaller volume and a lesser force of damage or injury, though we dont yet know if that will be the case.

Assume for the moment that driverless cars eventually will be extremely safe and safer than human drivers in the aggregate. In that case, the claim is that youll be less on-edge when in a driverless car and more prone to being able to enjoy the ride without any substantive qualms.

Another factor is that self-driving cars will gradually be rolled-out and there will be a mixture of both conventional cars and driverless cars on our roadways for many years to come.

One could contend that youll sometimes be using a human-driven car and other times be using a self-driving car.

The use of conventional cars will continue to remind you of the time related aspects and therefore continue to keep the driverless car perception as a fresh one. Eventually, the number of conventional cars will presumably dwindle, and youll only rarely use a human-driven car.

In that case, youll inevitably get used to being inside a driverless car.

Over time, we will all become used to the self-driving car as this time-saver or time enabler. A new normal will inexorably take hold of us.

At that juncture, we will no longer perceive the time of travel as any different since it will all be of the same nature. Our time perception will have adjusted.

Thats admittedly a long time from now, so lets enjoy our new perception of time as it unfolds, relishing it for as long as time will allow.

See more here:

Einsteins Twins Paradox And How Self-Driving Cars Will Change Our Sense Of Time - Forbes

The first and original photograph developed of Neil Armstrongs Footprint on the Moon will be shown among a series of 40 declassified images retrieved from the agencys museum as part of a private collection.

The month-long exhibition, entitled SpaceTimeContinuum will be held at the Continuum residences in Miami Beach, through Nov. 24. The exhibit will show a hand-picked selection of 40 of NASAs never-before-seen prints developed from its most famous and historic missions between 1955 and 1994. These include original images from the 1969 Apollo 11 mission that celebrates its 50 anniversary this year.

Images in the collection include the most infamous photograph taken by Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, of Neil Armstrongs boot imprint after becoming the first to set foot on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. Each photograph in the collection includes the original typed description of the image by NASA on the back, the date the photograph was taken, the respective mission, together with a stamp of authenticity given by NASA administration. Additional images in the exhibit include the first photo taken of the earth from space by astronaut John Glenn; the earth from the moons surface (moon and earth in the same photo-frame), the Apollo 11 shuttle launch and the U.S astronauts boarding and landing from all the Apollo and Gemini missions. The original footprint-on-the-moon photograph taken by Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins is estimated to be worth around $15,000. Thousands of photos that were not framed by NASA over the decades are under lock-and-key at Rudolf Budja Gallery, and contained within several dozen binders that were used by NASA to preserve the integrity of each image.

With this being the 50-Year Anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, we thought it more than appropriate to commemorate this monumental occasion with a worlds first exhibition of an historic nature, says Keith Marks, board president of the Continuum North Tower. Rudolf Budja Gallery has been our gallery-in-residence for a number of years, with notable art showcases enjoyed by our residents and guests alike. This will prove to be the most memorable to-date.

Since the inception of NASA in the mid-fifties, more than 250 robotic spacecraftand 24 humanshave ventured into space since the space agency first began exploring beyond Earths atmosphere in 1958. The 40 years of space travel catalogued in the collection includes a number of important exploratory milestones, including the first NASA launch of Pioneer 1 from Cape Canaveral in 1958; the launch of Friendship 7 with John Glenn as the first American to go in to orbit in 1962; Gemini 4 taking astronaut Ed White to perform the first American spacewalk in 1965; Apollo 8 carrying the first 3-man crew in to space in 1968; the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969; Apollo 14 sending NASAs second astronaut, Alan Shepard, to the moon in 1971; the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1986 and Space Shuttle Endeavours mission to complete the first three-person space walk in 1992.

Im looking forward to presenting a carefully chosen selection of the rarest photography from NASAs photo archive that has never been seen before in public, says Rudolf Budja. We are all exposed to the most popular images of space travel, but no one outside of NASA has been able to witness the original film of images developed at the time of these historic missions. Over the last 12 months, I have combed through the entire archive all 8,000 prints to choose 40 of the most captivating photographs that tell the story of these enthralling four decades of astral achievement. Ive learned the true meaning of how a picture really does say a thousand words.

The SpaceTimeContinuum exhibition will be shown until Nov. 24 at the Continuum, located at 50 South Pointe Drive in Miami Beach. Viewing appointments may be made through Rudolf Budja Gallery by calling 786-556-6685 or by emailing Budja@me.com.

The rest is here:

Month-long exhibit celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing - The Miami Times

Richard Branson rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange on October 28 as Virgin Galactic became the first commercial spaceflight company to list on the stock market. It was valued at more than US$1 billion following its merger with publicly-listed holding firm Social Capital Hedosophia, then experienced a 20% drop in its share price after a week of trading. It is now worth around US$800m.

The route to success in the space tourism industry is bound to be a wild ride and Branson is hoping his first mover advantage will bring healthy returns in the long run. Indeed, this high-risk venture could well pay off - it's just a question of when.

Virgin Galactic was founded in 2004 to offer paying customers a trip into suborbital space. For US$250,000, anyone can take a 90-minute flight into the upper reaches of the atmosphere where they will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the curvature of the Earth's surface. According to Virgin, 600 people from some 60 countries have already made their reservations, while a further 3,700 people have registered for the opportunity to buy flights once ticket sales are back on offer. This suggests that the combination of Branson's marketing prowess and the allure of space for humans are a plausible value proposition for investors.

Virgin is also offering a much cheaper route to experiencing space than its competitors. There have only been seven space tourists to date and none since 2009. All travelled on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) at a reported price tag of tens of millions of dollars.

NASA announced in June that it would offer trips to the ISS at a cost of US$35,000 per night, not including the cost of a taxi ride there from SpaceX and Boeing. The cost of these rides is likely to be at least US$60m, which is what NASA pays to take its astronauts to the ISS, and these visits are due to start in 2020. In September 2018, SpaceX unveiled its 2023 lunar passenger flight that would take Japanese billionaire businessman Yusaku Maezawa and six of his guests on a space flight around the moon using its Big Falcon Rocket for an undisclosed, but certainly a very substantial, price.

Substantial progressAlthough it has yet to fly any paying passengers and is currently loss making, Virgin Galactic aims to be profitable by 2021, based on completing 115 flights that generate US$210m in revenue. By 2023, it is forecasting revenues of US$590m and expects to have flown more than 3,000 passengers. Since that number is a tiny portion of the target market of high net-worth individuals with assets of at least US$10m, its projections could well be achievable. And, currently, Virgin Galactic appears to be ahead of Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin in fulfilling the vision of space tourism.

While Virgin Galactic has failed to deliver on expectations in the past - it missed its own targets for flights commencing and experienced a catastrophic accident in 2014 - it has more recently made substantial progress. In December 2018 it achieved its first suborbital space flight. Given that achievement and subsequent progress, it seems likely that commercial flights could commence within the next 18 months.

It is also diversifying its offering as it gears up for launch. In collaboration with the sportswear maker Under Armour, Virgin Galactic has developed a line of high-tech clothing that its passengers will wear on their flights. At the same time, it is moving into its new facilities at Spaceport America in the desert lands of New Mexico.

Spaceport America, where Virgin's flights will take off from and return to, has a US$220m investment by the New Mexico government. It is also here that passengers will undergo three days of training to prepare for the G-forces and weightlessness that they will experience on flights.

The business of space tourism is only just beginning. Air travel similarly started small with a limited target market, but grew to become a mass market with many commercial air carriers and millions travelling every month, served by airports that over time became large commercial hubs. The trajectory for space tourism travel in the decades to come has the potential to be similar. From a highly niche market, it can become one that has much broader appeal when costs reduce.

At the same time, spaceports can, like airports before them, become large concentrated centres of commercial activity. Should Virgin Galactic maintain its first mover advantage in space tourism in the years ahead, there is the prospect for healthy returns to investors in this high risk venture.

Related LinksVirgin GalacticSpace Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

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Virgin Galactic's high-risk space adventure will likely pay off - Space Daily

Pack your bags, because you wont have to wait longer than 2025 until you can book a stay at an actual space hotel, thanks to The Gateway Foundation. The Foundation wants to put tourists in space, in the first hotel with artificial gravity, a place that will blend home comfort with ultimate luxury. The hotel, Von Braun Space Station or spaceport, will (hopefully) be operational by that deadline, accommodating an average of 100 tourists per week.

Of course, the idea of sending tourists into space is not new. Hollywood has all but exhausted all possible scenarios, and there are plans to make space tourism a reality as well. The Von Braun will be different than these, in that it will have artificial gravity and will operate pretty much like a regular hotel. Thats because Tim Alatorre, senior design architect of the spaceport, believes that this is what humans want: they dont want a sterile environment but something that reminds them of home, something they can connect with on a deeper level.

In total, the spaceport will be able to house an estimated 400 people, and they will be having as much fun as we do today on a cruise. The fact that theres artificial gravity will make both visiting and long-term stay comfortable, while the on-spot amenities will add to the fun of space travel.

The Von Braun will include full-working kitchens, restaurants, bars, entertainment areas, and rooms. Entertainment will range from music concerts to movie screenings, to fancy dinners and educational seminars. Everything will be furnished using natural materials and colors, because Alatorre believes that a homely dcor is what people want to see, regardless of where they travel. So forget what you may have seen on the big or small screen regarding accommodations in space.

Eventually, going to space will just be another option people will pick for their vacation, just like going on a cruise, or going to Disney World, he says. Because the overall costs are still so high most people assume that space tourism will only be available to the super rich, and while I think this will be true for the next several years, the Gateway Foundation has a goal of making space travel open to everyone.

Its also thinking past the 2025 deadline: the Von Braun spaceport is but a stepping stone. Once its built and proven viable, the Foundation will build The Gateway, which is an entirely new class of station that will accommodate over 1,400 people.

You still have some time until 2025, but you might want to start packing your bags.

Continue reading here:

Pack Your Bags for Space Travel by 2025, You Will Be Staying at the Von Braun - autoevolution

Since its debut, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power has subverted traditional expectations of what it means to be a princess.

In Etheria, the setting of the DreamWorks/Netflix animated series, princesses with magical superpowers rebel against the Evil Horde. This includes Adora, whose mythical sword transforms her into the powerful (and physically imposing) She-Ra, and Glimmer, now the leader of the Princess Alliance, who wields sparkly energy blasts and can teleport.

Theyre just two of the many princesses in the She-Ra reboot with talents and interests ranging from sleuthing and conducting scientific experiments to meditating and ice sculpting. Some princesses are attracted to boys, while others are dating fellow princesses. And the shows beloved villains are no less diverse.

Now, in its fourth season, which premiered Tuesday, She-Ra has introduced its first nonbinary character, a shapeshifter named Double Trouble.

Double Trouble is just a mischievous little chaotic being that causes all kinds of trouble for basically everybody, said Jacob Tobia, the nonbinary performer and writer who voices the character. Theyre fearless and deeply in touch with their own power and arent scared of pretty much anyone in Etheria.

As a mercenary, Double Trouble is sort of figuring out how they want to play this whole rivalry between the Horde and the Princess Alliance when you first meet them, added Tobia. By the end [of the season], theyve made some choices.

Double Trouble, voiced by Jacob Tobia, in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power on Netflix.

(DreamWorks / Netflix)

Tobia auditioned for the role before the series premiered. As soon as they booked the part, they watched episodes of the original 80s cartoon to get a sense of the shows roots. When they were finally shown the reboots first episode in advance of its Netflix premiere last fall, Tobia could see how Double Trouble fit perfectly into She-Ras universe.

The beauty of this series is that Double Trouble joining as a nonbinary character in Season 4 is not out of nowhere, Tobia said. Theyre coming into a world that has been flexing with gender norms and creating a more expansive understanding of gender from the get-go. From the pilot of this series, gender does not work in the same restrictive ways were used to it working.

Although there was a Double Trouble toy (and backstory), the character did not appear in the original She-Ra cartoon. For She-Ra and the Princesses of Power showrunner Noelle Stevenson, introducing Double Trouble wasnt a matter of if but when.

Double Trouble was one of those characters that I knew I wanted to find a place for in the story one way or another, said Stevenson. The character is a shapeshifter, and I love shapeshifters. Like, theyre my favorite type of character to write.

Double Trouble shapeshifts into villain Catra (AJ Michalka), She-Ras childhood rival, in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

(DreamWorks / Netflix)

Stevenson, whose Eisner Award-nominated graphic novel Nimona is about a shapeshifting sidekick to a supervillain, can trace her affinity for the archetype to one specific character: Zam Wessell, from 2002s Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.

Intrigued by the idea of a female bounty hunter like Wessell, Stevenson said she was obsessed even before seeing the film. In her brief appearance, Wessell was revealed to be a shapeshifting reptilian alien before quickly being killed.

I like latched onto that really, really hard as a kid, said Stevenson, who credits the character for shaping a lot of her storytelling. Shes just become such a crucial part of my DNA, this bit Star Wars character. Double Trouble is just another homage to Zam Wessell, my No. 1 favorite character in the world.

She-Ra Season 4 sees many characters bonds of friendship put to the test on top of the line between good and evil getting further blurred which made it a perfect time to introduce a more morally ambiguous character like Double Trouble. They have plenty to do, none of it limited to educating others about nonbinary issues.

She-Ra is built for a generation that doesnt need that kind of education in the same way anymore, said Tobia. Young people in Generation Z know who nonbinary people are, they know what they/them pronouns are. They know that gender is a spectrum, not a binary. They already know this.

That means everybody in Etheria already knows this too, including the leader of the Evil Horde.

The thing that was really gratifying in a very surprising way for me is a scene where Hordak talks about Double Trouble and just says they effortlessly, with no thought, and just uses gender-neutral pronouns, said Tobia. Even the most evil person on the planet doesnt misgender people, because that would be rude. Theres something really cool about that.

Also, if Hordak can use they/them pronouns appropriately, I think anyone can. Do you really want to be worse than Hordak by misgendering nonbinary people? No, you dont.

Catra, left, and Double Trouble in She-Ra and the Princesses of Power.

(DreamWorks / Netflix)

As Tobia acknowledged, Double Trouble follows in the footsteps of other animated shows that have paved the way with regards to transgender and nonbinary representation. This includes animated characters that were never explicitly gendered as well as groundbreaking shows such as Danger & Eggs, cocreated by transgender showrunner Shadi Petosky, which featured the nonbinary character Milo (voiced by nonbinary actor and advocate Tyler Ford).

Additionally, Steven Universe, whose creator Rebecca Sugar identifies as a nonbinary woman, features alien Gems who are all nonbinary women.

I dont want to pretend as if animation and kids animation hasnt been a source of gender play since its inception, said Tobia. There have been hundreds of gender nonconforming characters who have had unspecified genders or different genders or complicated genders across so many different shows.

They added: Queer and trans people have been working in animation and have been influencing how kids animation looks and what the worlds of kids animation are for a really, really long time. This is only an extension of all of that work. Its a next step in a much longer journey.

While Double Trouble was not created specifically to educate viewers on nonbinary issues, Stevenson recognizes that approach is legitimate (and important) while pointing out that it can also be limiting, since it often requires characters to be close to perfect.

One way to avoid that dilemma is by creating an inclusive universe like Etheria, where gender isnt constricted and heteronormativity doesnt exist. In a sci-fi/fantasy show where magical powers and interdimensional space travel exist, it shouldnt be a stretch to believe queer and gender nonconforming people do too whether as protagonists or antagonists.

We wanted to make a character who was really dimensional and not 100% good or nice all the time, said Stevenson. We want to have those compelling characters who arent so squeaky clean. We want the messy characters. We want the antiheroes. We want the villains.

See the article here:

She-Ra' on Netflix: Why its new non-binary character is so important - Los Angeles Times

The life of a celebrity has never been something we population-fillers have simply mulled over. Nope, not for a second. We obsess over Brad Pitts extravagant spending habits, gawk at Justin Biebers car collection and kick ourselves with jealousy because we cant afford Christina Aguilera's private chef. More than most, we follow their vacation habits like clockwork.

For a handful of famous faces, theres no place like home - its staycation or nothing. Flipped over, theres the adventurous, those who have become fed up with routine trips to Hawaii or Cancun.

Thanks to revolutionary minds like Elon Musk and Sir Richard Branson, the age of commercial space travel is quickly approaching. Some celebrities already have their tickets to space - when will you buy yours?

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Hes piloted planes (as Captain Sully), steered carrier ships through pirate-infested waters and lived to tell the tale (Captain Phillips), and now, our beloved Tom Hanks has signed himself for a date with the final frontier. The famous actor was actually one of the first celebrities to throw his hat in the ring for the SpaceShipTwo project.

You know whats fun? Watching the latest blockbuster movies on a 10-inch iPad strapped to the back of a rigid, lowly-padded chair onboard a 747. Do you know whats a little less fun? Flying through a flashing, thunderous, intimidating electrical storm. That what happened to Jennifer Aniston, and thats why shes not going to space anytime soon.

Are you even a teenie tiny bit surprised to see the one and only Sir Richard Branson on this list? Of course not! Without this genius (read: potential nutcase - but most geniuses are) then we wouldnt even have the option to head up into alien territory. As the brains behind the SpaceShipTwo project as well as Virgin Galactic, you can bet that well be seeing Richie up on Mars pretty darn soon.

Could you imagine T-Swizzle up there floating around in the outer atmosphere? Honestly, as fans, we wouldnt put it past her. But for those who know her a little better, they understand that shell probably be staying out of the spotlight. When we travelled down to New Zealand for a music video the paparazzi attention was overwhelming for her, and we imagine itd be the same if she shot off to Jupiter.

Weve seen him on yacht-style ships in pristine waters all over the world and weve seen him on ill-fated ships (thats you, Titanic) as well - the next ship? A spaceship! Thats right, Leonardo was one of the first to register his interest in a space flight, although with a little twist added in: he bought a second ticket and sold it to raise money for charity.

Whether its a 45-minute interstate trick from Los Angeles to Vegas for a rowdy bachelorette weekend or, on the flip side, a rocket to the dark depths of the milky way, Kirsten Dunst simply will not hop on board a plane. As the lovely lady says herself, "I always get scared on planes. Whenever I fly I pack those Bose headphones that dull the noise of the plane

Seriously, Ashton Kutcher has it all, doesnt he? Good looks, a ten-out-of-ten wife, raw acting talent, and now a ticket to outer space as well! Please, Ashton, leave some of the good stuff for the rest of us. He wasnt one of the first few to buy a ticket, nor was he even in the first hundred - he was, however, lucky number 500.

Who else remembers that Duck Sauce song Barbara Streisand? Okay, now that we can apologise for getting that stuck in your head 10 years later, lets look at why this famous singer is a pure homebody. Simply put, she hates driving. With such apprehension on the road, its only multiplied tenfold when it outer space.

When you boast the unmatched fame and fortune of pop sensation Justin Bieber, then whatever your heart desires can essentially appear at the snap of the fingers. Back in 2013 when the concept of SpaceShipTwo was in full force, Justin nabbed himself a ticket for a cool $250,000 - chump change for this dude, however.

Although not a celebrity in the traditional sense of the word, Dennis Bergkamp, the Dutch soccer star, has still been forced to travel all over the world to compete. Trust us when we say he hated every high-altitude moment of it. This man trembles more than a freshly-cooled bowl of jelly when seated upon a little Cessna, so theres no way hes headed intergalactic.

Heck, if Jack (by which we mean Leonardo DiCaprio) can head to space, then its only fitting that his tragic love, Rose, should be able to tag along too. So, any guesses how much this shining actress paid for her shuttle ticket to space? Not a darn dime - she received it as a gift from Richard Brandson in celebration of her wedding.

He might fly around the racetrack at break-neck speeds and be comfortable on dangerous roads all over the world (even the infamous Bolivian Death Road), however, being shot far past the stratosphere seems like too much of a tough task for this Top Gear host. Despite being a TV personality, hes not a huge fan of the spotlight and cant stand long-haul travel. Last we checked, space is pretty long-haul.

One man who has absolutely no qualms with flying is long-haired, British funny-man (well, that depends on who you ask - the funny part, not the British part), Russell Brand. As reported by The Toronto Sun, Brand received his ticket to the outer worlds as a gift from Katy Perry - slightly better than an Amazon gift card if you ask us.

Some of our glamorous celebs do whatever it takes to ensure that the spotlight on them never fully fades. Billy Bob Thornton is not one of those people - more than anything, he craves his own space and private time, doing his best to stay out of the public eye. Combine that with a crippling fear of flying and its easy to see why hes staying on the ground.

Before you and I have even been given access to commercial space flight, the fat cats making all the calls have already organised some intergalactic entertainment. As told by the Toronto Sun, Andrew Lloyd Webber and his ex-wife, singer Sarah Brightman, have actually collaborated on a song to perform out on Saturn, or whichever planet has the best acoustics.

Weve seen time and time again how celebrities can fall victim to the obtrusive, hounding nature of the paparazzi. As normies, we can blend into the shadows; as A-listers, theres no off switch for fame. Not only is Christina Aguilera intimidated by too much attention but she also prefers not to drive, and as weve established, flying a rocket ship is another scope entirely.

If Ashtons gonna lace up his space boots and kick on over to Mercury then you better believe that his better half is going to be a step behind him. The Hollywood power couple has ventured all over the world on luxury vacations, which, apparently, just doesnt quite cut it anymore. Next holiday destination? The sandy shores of Venus.

If youre finding yourself scratching your noggin trying to place a face to the name Noel Gallagher, hes one of the members of the cherished British band, Oasis. Youre welcome. Now, he might have reached new heights with his music, but this man is one wholl be keeping his feet firmly on the ground - he doesnt even like to drive.

As one of the most recognisable names and faces of Hollywoods last 30 years, what Brad Pitt wants, Brad Pitt gets (unless its Angelina - sorry, bro). Anyway, Brad is said to already have his ticket to outer space all sewn up. Ironically, so does Angelina, so well just have to twiddle our thumbs and wait to see who makes it up there first.

What do you mean Brads got a ticket to space? Fine, Ill take one too, but put me in first class. Dont quote us on that, however, thats close enough to how it went when Angelina decided to snap up her very own space shuttle seat. Wouldnt it be awkward if she ended up being seated next to Brad - would they share pretzels?

The rest is here:

11 Celebs Who Bought Tickets To Outer Space (And 9 Who Hate Leaving The House) - TheTalko

In 2014, the world's top polluter, China, told the United States president they unequivocally would not even discuss emissions caps or targets until 2030 and American speechwriters quickly tried to spin that into a positive. China had never even agreed on a future date before, they rationalized, so that was progress.

Well, not really, but it was as much as almost everyone else was going to do under the Paris Climate Agreement.

Despite any real commitments from exempt countries, like the world's largest polluter, China, that will cause a 48 percent increase in energy consumption by 2040, the next year western governments jammed through the Paris Agreement, but it was more "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" than science. Commitments were arbitrary, the methodology was opaque, and no one believed the policies would result in a 2 degree cap.(1)

The argument was we have to do something. And the US does. We are even told we must agonize over washing our clothes. Well, the New York Times mostly wants you to change your behavior, they are have a highly popular fashion section so not washing is just for we plebians.

Washing clothes less is a meaningless gesture, an intellectual placebo for the kind of people who make herbal potions because they need to do something for their cold and then insist it works because the cold went away in three days. That cold was going away regardless.

The space travel analogy

Because no one is against space travel, especially just after the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, in talks I often use a space example. If we decide we want to travel to Alpha Centauri, and can get a ship there in 100 years, some will argue we should do it.(2) Others might argue that instead of rushing to subsidize aerospace companies today we should instead fund more basic research. If things work out as science often does, in 80 years we will be able to create a ship that would overtake anything that would've been sent in 2019 - and probably for a fraction of the cost and risk. Sometimes investing in science instead of subsidizing existing technology gets you where you want to go faster, even if it means waiting.(3)

What isn't constructive is for people to claim that if you don't think it's a great idea to send a ship now rather than a faster one later, you hate space travel and deny astronomy. And it is downright terrible for science acceptance if pundits declare an entire political party hates space travel if they don't agree to send one now. When those kinds of partisan narratives are used, the public begins to distrust everyone in science.

That gets us to the problem with the Paris Climate Agreement. No one really thought it was going to help, instead we got 'we have to do something' rationale, and if you didn't agree you were a global warming denier.

The Paris Agreement was gushed over by some journalists and by people engaging in political theater and even by scientists who said doing something that won't succeed is better than doing nothing. But unlike a ship to Alpha Centauri, where there is no way to know, a climate agreement has milestones that can already be analyzed.

And objective analysis shows that complaining about the U.S. not doing it is meaningless. It was not going to work anyway, because we are still doing our part while most of the world is only pretending.

***

The reason it was never going to work is because it is toothless. Not because of enforcement, I believe governments who signed on fully mean to honor their commitments. But the really bad pollution actors are not capping emissions, they can just claim they are because of the way the Paris Agreement was structured. We didn't need to sign it at all. In 2017 we met the emissions targets that would have been required under the never-enacted Clean Power Plan by 2025, without any government involvement. Our overall emissions will plummet just as much as we would've agreed to under the plan.

Historical and projected CO2 emissions from the U.S. power sector in relation to natural gas prices (as delivered to electric generators). Projected emissions and gas prices are national averages based on scenarios in the AEO 2017 for the reference case and the high oil and gas resource and technology case. Source.

The decline in energy emissions was due to natural gas replacing coal. Coal that had become increasingly essential because US environmentalists had gotten nuclear energy in the US officially killed during the Clinton administration but had really been blocking it far longer. The same groups who now insist we are terrible human beings for not agreeing to the Paris agenda.

Meanwhile they all ignore a superpower, China, letting it hide behind "emerging nation" status for the simple reason that they are afraid of China. You don't have to be embarrassed when a country tells you to kick rocks about emissions if you never ask them to stop polluting the world.

But China could have signed onto it because the agreement is meaningless. So meaningless we could've did what Russia did and pick a target year in the 1990s, when our coal emissions were at runaway levels, and claimed to be climate heroes when they dropped.

Here's why everyone is fooling themselves about what the agreement is really accomplishing.

Absolute emission reduction targets- but self-chosen by each country

Imagine you state to the world's journalists that you are going to create an absolute emissions reduction target - no exceptions, it's for the planet - but leave out the fine print that the absolute emission reductions are for a target year in percentage terms relative to a historic base year. And that the base year is chosen by each country and can be anywhere between 1990 to 2014, while the target year will be 2030.(4) Life is easy, as Russia has shown, because emissions can go up while they claim to be honoring the Paris Agreement.

Maybe you'd like to choose a 'Business As Usual reduction' target instead

If you don't have a good high emissions year between 1990 and 2014 to choose as your target for reduction, countries could instead opt for a 'business as usual reduction - a percentage reduction in emissions compared to if they just did things the same old way until 2030.

Since governments got to pick their own 'business as usual' emissions out to 2030, this is an easy one. And it's no surprise that various models show a huge range of emissions growth, all while countries doing this claim they are doing their part. Pakistan, for example, will see emissions rise nearly 200 percent while meeting their Paris Agreement commitment of reduction.

Don't like either of those? The Paris Agreement allows GDP emission intensity reductions

If creating models of pretend emissions if nothing changed is too much work, and you had rather low base years for targets between 1990 and 2014, you could instead opt to create a reduction in emissions per GDP. Again relative to a base year. So if your country had heavy industry or manufactured products that were cheap cost in the past, you could pick a base year, and then you wouldn't have to change a thing about actual pollution. As long as you made more money, your emissions per GDP went down and you did your part. India has emissions skyrocketing so much, real smog and not American virtual PM2.5 hoopie,they have to close schools.But they are actually on pace to meet their Paris Agreement commitment.

Finally, inconvenient emissions belching can simply be exempt from emission targets

The Paris Agreement wanted to be really inclusive so they provided a safe way to avoid the pesky intrusiveness of actually doing anything. Countries can give projects that do not even bother to include the pretense of a nationally determined contribution to greenhouse emissions a pass, by saying they do not have an explicit greenhouse gas emission target.

Russia and India are giant polluters but can claim to be doing their part

Russia, which will agree to anything the world wants as long as Europe pretends the energy it buys from them does not cause emissions and its food is all organic, happily agreed to emissions reductions based on their hand-picked base year. If you know anything about the collapse of the USSR you know that 1990 was a great year for them to choose, because the country had been stunted for decades by then (the same reason Germany likes to include EastGermany in its old totals to show how much "better" they are now). Meanwhile, Australia chose 2005. Yet though both agreed to the same reduction percentage, in real numbers Australia has gone down since 2015, 9 percent,while Russia has actually gone up 13 percent - but claiming they are meeting their Paris Agreement target. Well, they are, because they got to create their own.

India also chose percentage reductions based on a base year, but they chose relative to emissions per GDP. Since they made their own GDP projection they said they will have a 173 percent increase in that over 2014 but in real terms they will also have emissions growth of 229 percent over 2015. And they and China already account for a third of the world's air pollution. Yet because emissions relative to GDP are lower, India is honoring the Paris Agreement.

If we look at smaller countries that took advantage of the 'Business As Usual Reduction' option, Pakistan says it will reduce emissions by 20 percent compared to what they say they would have done otherwise, but in real terms, they go up 182 percent while Mexico, which used the same target, is down11 percent. Both are honoring their Paris Agreement commitments but only one is helping anything.

Under the Paris Agreement, everyone can claim to do their part while only the regions that were mitigating anyway don't exploit the system that was created so it would look like their was worldwide agreement. In order to get everyone to sign on, they gave almost everyone an easy out.

In real terms, not bogus Paris Agreement commitment virtual terms, emissions will continue to go up whether the US participates or not, because the EU and the US are reducing emissions anyway while much of the world is not. People can make political theater about the US formally leaving the Paris agreement, but it was never making a difference. We are on pace to meet our target regardless of which President is in the White House. All government has to do is stay out of the way.

NOTES:

(1) Yet the U.S. was criticized for not engaging in hypocrisy and instead stating that we could meet targets without mitigation, penalties on unpopular energy sources, or rationing. This turned out to be true.

(2) People on the fence about solutions to the emissions issues we face are going to either no longer trust journalists who claim to be "science", they won't trust the BBC,or won't trust the science this guy cherry-picks when claims like this are thrown out there.

(3) But let me ask, whether you are running a business or a university lab; do you agree doing doing the wrong thing is better than doing nothing?

When you get a grant, you want the experiment you are tackling to succeed, but if it fails you learned something important also, and that is at least a case to make when it comes to government committee time. In no case should you do nothing at all and watch money disappear in salaries.

The risk in waiting until you are more sure the experiment will succeed is that money may not be available then.

(4)

The Kyoto Protocol famously did this same thing. The target date was pushed through by France and Germany and conveniently picked a target date that included, in Germany's case, emissions from a whole lot of Soviet East German factories, while in France it was prior to their latest nuclear plant. Literally all Germany had to do was replace 1950s USSR factories and they met their target. France didn't need to do anything. Meanwhile, since activists had gotten a ban on nuclear science, and natural gas prior to fracking was too expensive, we had switched to more coal. Environmentalists caused the American spike in emissions that fracking would later solve. Then they protested fracking too.

The U.S. knew their methodology was a joke in 1999 but President Clinton didn't want to look like he didn't care, so he "agreed" to the treaty knowing full well that U.S. Presidents can't do that. He never bothered to submit it to the Senate for ratification, and then blamed Republicans.

Read the original post:

Arbitrary Targets Made The Paris Agreement Useless - And The US Does More Without Being Involved Than Russia And Asia Anyway - Science 2.0

As we are trying to navigate these virgin waters of three losing seasons in a row, we must remember to not let our fellow Husker comrades swim alone. This can be done in a number of ways: politely remind our fans to not tweet players anything other then positive affirmations, talk about how Nebraska is better than Iowa, and invite each other to complain about the changing weather. Personally, I have started to tell my Dad the wrong start times of each game for which he texts me every Saturday morning. I am also considering canceling my YouTube.TV subscription, so I am forced only to listen to the game on the radio, much more productive that way.

At the end of the day, we have discovered what we all knew to be true anyways. John Cook has ruined Husker Football. We were doing just fine until he had to come in 2000 and instantly our program began to tank. People do not talk about this but if you start connecting the dots...well you have a lot of dots and lines. But at the center of those dots and lines is John Cook continually beating expectations and performing at the highest level in the country. He is the culprit.

Not really. Hes great. On to Flakes.

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CRISPR Approach To Fighting Cancer Called Promising In 1st Safety Test

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This Congolese Doctor Discovered Ebola But Never Got Credit For It Until Now

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Secret Air Force Space Plane Lands After More Than 2 Years In Orbit

After a record-breaking 780 days circling the Earth, the U.S. Air Forces mysterious X-37B unmanned space plane dropped out of orbit and landed safely on the same runway that the space shuttle once used.

NASAs First All-Female Spacewalk Set For Friday

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Elon Musk Unveils SpaceXs New Starship, Designed To Fly To The Moon, Mars And Beyond

Speaking into gusts of wind at the SpaceX launch facility in Cameron County, Texas, on Saturday night, CEO Elon Musk talked up the space travel giants newest innovation, the SpaceX vehicle Starship.

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Wednesday Frosted Flakes: Support A Fellow Husker - Never Watch A Game Alone - Corn Nation