Category Archives: Futurism

In Brief China has just announced that it will use blockchain technology for social taxation and issuing electronic invoices. This is just the latest example of the broad array of applications possible for the technology. Blockchain In China

The Chinese government listed blockchainin its Thirteenth Five-Year National Informatization Plan from 2015, and since that time the nation has been working diligently toward incorporate the technology into daily life. The techs inclusion in the plan signals the importance China has attached to it, and this was just confirmed by the governments announcement that it will utilize blockchain technology for social taxation and electronic invoice issuance matters.

This is a major development, and given that the Chinese economy is the worlds largest, with a 2016 GDP of over RMB 70 trillion (approximately U.S. $10.4 trillion), this should be an interesting test case for the implementation of blockchain technology. China has already launched a test of its own cryptocurrency based on the technology, so these initiatives should be able to build on each other.

Furthermore, we should also see implementation at the city level in China, as several local and provincial governments have recently promulgated pro-blockchain policies. In fact, asmart cities initiative has already enticed a Chinese automaker to integrate the tech into its business model. Additionally, blockchain-based industrial parks have gone up in Chengdu, Hangzhou, and other major cities, and agencies at different levels of government have created blockchain R&D teams.

This latest development in China is a good example of how blockchain technology can be used in a broad array of applications. Blockchain tech has been proposed for use in elections do to its potential for both transparency and security. Its these features that make it appealing for taxation as well.

Governments arent the only ones exploring the techs applications. Walmarthas started experimenting with a blockchain database that would protect consumers from contaminated food products as well as guard against product waste. Toyota is using blockchain to get its self-driving cars on the road faster, and the company plans to give customers access to their own data the same way.

Moving forward, we will see more and more innovative uses of blockchain technology as its potential is more fully realized. Transparency and security are both absolute essentials in a digital age, and China appears to be recognizing that need andputting this powerful techto use throughpolicy.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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China to Start Using Blockchain to Collect Taxes and Send Invoices - Futurism

In Brief Coinbase has reversed its position on Bitcoin Cash following the fork on August 1. Now the platform has said it will offer support for the fork by January 1, although it is waiting to decide whether or not to add trading support.

Coinbase has softened its stance on Bitcoin Cash. Now the company plans to introduce support for the fork in 2018. After Bitcoin Cash was created on August 1, Coinbase, along with other cryptocurrency exchanges, opted out of trading it since it is not yet proven. Coinbase also took the position that users with original Bitcoin couldnt claim their Bitcoin Cash entitlement.

However, the company has now changed its position somewhat: in an email and blog post, Coinbase indicated that it will support Bitcoin Cash by January 1, and wait to make a decision about trading support. Users that want to withdraw their Bitcoin Cash will need to wait until support is implemented.

The shift was probably due to the outcry by Coinbase customers, some of whom threatened to leave or take legal action against the platform. According to analytics firm BlockSeer, Coinbase lost about half of its cold storage reserves after customers withdrew, although many in the community are unconcerned about the fork.

It took less than two days for Bitcoin Cash to become the markets third largest cryptocurrency (based on total on-market coins). Its market cap of $7 billion follows Bitcoin ($44 billion) and Ethereum ($21 billion) by a significant amount, but given the recency of the fork, its share is still impressive.What happens next is anyones guess.

Disclosure: Several members of the Futurism team, including the editors of this piece, are personal investors in cryptocurrency markets. Their personal investment perspectives have no impact on editorial content.

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Coinbase Will Support Bitcoin Cash Starting in 2018 - Futurism

In his 2006 documentary,An InconvenientTruth,Former Vice President Al Gore quoted author Upton Sinclair in regards to those who refuse to believe, or even acknowledge, the reality of climate change. You know, more than 100 years ago, Upton Sinclair wrote this, that Its difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon his not understanding it.'

Gores choice of quote could not have been more precipitous: a decade later, the current presidential administration has positioned itself unapologetically in the climate changeskepticism camp. In fact, several members (arguably even President Trump himself) have alignedin toto with those who deny climate change entirely even in the face of blatant evidence, regarded as fact by the vast majority of the scientific community. A community whose job it is to understand and to help the rest of us understood irrespective of any fiscal interest or compensation.

In the first six months since taking office, the Trump administration made drastic changes to several of the United States environmental policies with many of those decisions coming within the presidents first hundred days. The appointment of Scott Pruitt as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the administrations decision to remove the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, set the tone and intention.

The rollbacks to come, predominantly inthe form of slashed funding and repealed regulations, dealt a major blow to the integrity of the U.S. climate strategy, much of which was developedunder the Obama administration. The gamut of repeals included rules that protected land and water supplies from toxic chemicals (like arsenic and lead) being dumped there to the lifting of regulations that were designed to track, and ultimately reduce, emissions by oil and gas companies. Criticism of standards abounded, including those that have guidedvehicle fuel efficiencyand are aimed atreducing pollution.

The rewriting of the EPAs clean power plan, which began in March, ended a moratorium on coal mining and effectively ended requirements for climate change considerations when approving projects. Moratoriums put in place to prevent drilling on federal land were also lifted, and the Trump administration was quick to approve the controversial Keystone and Dakota access pipelines.

The policies are are really reckless and indefensible, Gore said in an exclusive interview with Futurism. But in spite of that were seeing a big movement in the U.S. to pick up where Donald Trump is leaving off. He added, referring to the grassroots movement in several cities, driven by state and municipal governments and citizens, to uphold the Paris Agreement at the citylevel efforts which Gore praises and believes will prevail. Were going to meet the commitments. [It]looks like the U.S. will meet the commitments made by former President Obama regardless of what Donald Trump says.

Gores sequel to An Inconvenient Truth aptly titledAn Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power drops this week, and it couldnt come at amore prime moment.When the first film came out ten years ago, it informed an entire generation of the real-time and longterm consequences of global warming. More importantly, it demanded that we confront our own action (and inaction) in the face of it. The sequel, then, will hopefully invigorate and further mobilize this action if not at thefederal level, than the local level.

And really, thats been the message Gore hoped to convey all along: thatthe fight against global warming has to happen where it started: with us, in our communities, our workplaces,and our homes. I dont even like to think about the prospects for humanity if we fail to act, Gore said. I think we will act. The remaining question is, how long will it take to really cross this political tipping point where we get bold action.

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Al Gore: The Trump Administration's Environmental Policies Are Reckless and Indefensible - Futurism

In Brief At the Q&A part of Tesla's 2017 second-quarter earnings call to investors on Wednesday, CEO and founder Elon Musk revealed how the company sometimes relies on SpaceX for help, and vice-versa. This sharing of ideas has often led to quick solutions. Innovation Overflows

Teslas second-quarter earnings for 2017 are in. That means theres also a bunch of updates and sneak-peaks inside the companys world of innovation. These tidbits more often than not come from CEO and founder Elon Musk himself, and this time, he revealed an interesting detail about SpaceX.

Yes, thats no typo. After some investors asked how innovation at SpaceX (which is also run by Musk) could be applied to Tesla, Musk recalled a particular instance when it actually happened. Its not about rocket propulsion or anything of the sort, of course. Instead, Musk talked about how SpaceX helped fix a major issue in Tesla cars that resulted in saving eight hours of work per vehicle.

Jon McNeill, Tesla President of Global Sales and Services, supplied the details. We had a challenge in service just over the past week where we needed to determine the quality of an object deep within our structure, an aluminum casting. Thats something that SpaceX knows how to do, he said during the earnings call. Our team reached out to the SpaceX team, the SpaceX team provided us with some ultrasonic sensors so we could quickly take corrective action.

This was made possible because both SpaceX and Tesla are run by the same person. But just as much as this collaboration isabout Musk, its due due to the kind of work being done by both companies. Each ones determined to build better products cars for Tesla and rockets for SpaceX. That determination makes it necessary, and even inevitable, for both to share research behind building their materials.

This cross-fertilization of knowledge from the rocket and spacecraft industry to auto and back and forth I think has really been quite valuable, Musk said during the call. Its a shortcut, really. Tesla and SpaceX need not look far for support when it comes to the high-volume manufacturing of something that has to be extremely reliable, Musk said. The same can be seen in how Musks relatively newer tunnel-digging venture has been depending on SpaceX for its tunneling machine.

For Tesla and SpaceX, this combination of minds is obviously a benefit one that could help ensure the quality of materials and products developed by both. Its certainly not impossible for SpaceXs rockets to run a similar autonomous system found in Teslas vehicles. Who knows?

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SpaceX Helped Tesla Speed Up Their Car Production, Elon Musk ... - Futurism

In BriefCalifornia is quickening its pace in its plan to achieve 100%renewable energy now by 2045. If the law is passed as expected,California's influence on clean energy and climate change will growand the state will become the nation's de facto leader. Clean Energy In California

California is striding closer to a future that includes100 percent renewable energy, faster than ever before. California Senate President Kevin de Len (D) has proposed a bill which would simultaneously limit Californias hydrocarbon consumption and increase its consumption of renewables according to several goals, and the bill has, as of now, officially cleared the committee stage. Experts feel it is likely to be signed into law by Governor Brown, and when it is, it will push California to produce 50 percent renewable energy from 2030 to 2026, and set new goals for 60 percent renewable energy by 2030, and 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.

This comes at a critical time in the US. President Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement and significantly weakened the EPA and other relevant agencies. Now is a crucial time for states, especially larger states with strong economic chops like California, to show leadershipagainst climate change. Jerry Brown and the California state legislature are making it known that they are committed to doing just that. Should the bill pass, California and Hawaii will be the only two states with legal requirements for 100 percent renewable energy use by 2045, although Massachusetts is considering a goal of 100 percent renewable energy use by 2050.

Several procedural hurdles remain before this bill is signed into law, but these are dwarfed by the infrastructural and fiscal challenges that the state will face in making the law work. Currently, California imports more than one-fourth of its electricity from outside the state, and although coals share of Californias total megawatt hours of power dropped from 1 percent in 2007 to only 0.2 percent in 2015, some estimate that six percent of its imported electricity comes from coal. In 2010, California imported only 25 percent, so the trend is not dropping as hoped.

California is also the third largest state producer of oil and gas, generating about 560,000 barrels of oil every day,as of January 2015, behind only Texas and North Dakota. This means that the state will need to eliminate an entire industry by 2045 and abandon hydrocarbon resources that are both lucrative and accessible. Second, the rest of the nation will miss the production from California at the pumps, paying higher prices for gas and oil across the board. This also means a loss of approximately 456,000 jobs and $38 billion in salaries, about 3.4 percent of Californias GDP. The state will also need to modify or replace more than 50 percent of its infrastructure to support the use of renewables.

Still, if any state can succeed in this its probably California, which has an existing installed solar capacity of 18,296 megawatts as of 2016 thats sufficient to bring power to more than 4 million homes. Californias clean energy sector keeps smashing records, as clean energy jobs in California alone outnumber coal jobs nationwide by an order of magnitude. In March, solar supplied more than half of the states power for a few hours.

Even California utility companies are seeing the light with renewables, for the most part. San Diego Gas and Energy (SDG&E) communications manager Joe Britton told KPBSthat 43 percent of the power provided by the utility in 2016 came from sources that do not advance climate changeone of the highest percentages nationwide. Furthermore, investor-owned utilities in the state are already meeting 27.6 percent of their load with renewable energy sources, and eight California cities have joined a total of 37 cities in the US that have pledged to transition to 100% renewables.

Perhaps most striking is that Californians want this bill. They have come out en masse to support it, and with this kind of public support and commercial potential, the bill has a great chance of success.

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California Aims to Use 100% Renewable Energy by 2045 - Futurism

In Brief IBM and Sony have successfully developed a magnetic tape storage cartridge capable of containing more than 300 terabytes of data. This device, which comes in the smallest format there is, could revolutionize data storage even in cloud platforms. On a Roll

Magnetic tape drives have been around for more than six decades now. Its commercial use has been mostly for storing data, such as tax documents and health care records, from mainframe computers. From the first 2-megabyte tape drives in the 1950s, todays versions are now capable of storing up to 15 terabytes. IBM has been pushing it further.

In partnership with Sony Storage Media Solutions, IBM has broken its previousrecord for the worlds densest tape drive, announcing a product capable of storing 330 terabytes of uncompressed data. Thats more storage than the worlds biggest hard drives, capable of holdingabout 330 million books. The tape drives cartridge could fit into the palm of a persons hand.

The results of this collaboration have led to various improvements in the media technology, such as advanced roll-to-roll technology for long sputtered tape fabrication and better lubricant technology, which stabilizes the functionality of the magnetic tape, IBM fellow Evangelos Eleftheriou said in a statement, The Verge reported.

To achieve such storage capacity, IBM researchers had to develop new technologies, including advanced nanotech and new signal-processing algorithms. The end result was a tape that had an areal surface capable of storing 31gigabits per cm (201 gigabits per in). Details of the devices development was published in the journal IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

The end goal, of course, is commercial use. Specifically, IBM is looking to expand magnetic tape use to applications in the cloud. Tape has traditionally been used for video archives, back-up files, replicas for disaster recovery, and retention of information on premise, but the industry is also expanding to off-premise applications in the cloud, Eleftheriou said according to reporting from The Verge.

While sputtered tape is expected to cost a little more to manufacture than current commercial tape, the potential for very high capacity will make the cost per terabyte very attractive, making this technology practical for cold storage in the cloud, he added.

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IBM Announces Record Breaking New Data Storage Device - Futurism

Next-Level Integration

As automakers like Tesla, Toyota, and Volvo focus on developing vehicles that can interact autonomously with their environments, Ari Teman is exploring ways the cars of the future could interact with you. The inventor, designer, and technologist told Futurism he sees biometrics, which is the ability for a vehicle, an environment, or a service to recognize who you are and how you are, as one of the biggest developments in transportation in recent years.

Though the tech may sound futuristic, biometrics are already a part of our everyday lives the fingerprint sensor you use to unlock your smartphone or the voice recognition software that lets you command your tech via speech are two fairly prevalent examples. While the use of biometrics in the automotive sector isnt as common, it is predicted to grow steadily over the next few years, and a report by Frost & Sullivans Intelligent Mobility Team predicts that a third of new cars will incorporate biometric sensors by 2025.

Teman is currently working with Deutsche Telekoms datacom division to take biometric technology to the next level. He envisions a future in which cars are able to do far more than simply transport passengers from point A to point B. This smart transportation experience will begin before you even enter the car, he predicts.

Your vehicle will recognize you as you approach, says Teman. Theres no driver whos going to look out the window and go, Oh, its Neil. Its going to be a camera, and its going to say, I have to pull up to Neil, whos standing on the sidewalk, and not Joe, whos standing 10 feet away from him.

As soon as a rider enters the vehicle, the cars biometric sensors will go to work. Once youre in the car, were reading your vitals, and were reading your neurological signs, asserts Teman. Everything from how a car operates to the route it chooses can be automatically adjusted based on this information to best suit the passenger.

The car may notice that every time it makes a turn, your heart rate rises, Teman explains. The vehicle could interpret this information as a sign that youre nervous and that it should make an adjustment. The car will think Maybe I should slow down or Maybe theres something in this neighborhood that is bothering this passenger, and it will consider taking a detour or different route next time, says Teman.

He thinks the biometric-equipped car of the future will even be able to make subtle environmental changes based on the biological data it collects: If the car sees youre tired, it can dim the lights. If it sees youre shivering, it can turn up the heat.

While the technology Teman is working on is still on the horizon, several companies have already demonstrated examples of how biometrics can be applied to the transportation sector to make driving safer and more comfortable today.

At the 2017 Consumer Electronics Showcase in Las Vegas, German automaker Continental debuted theirBiometric Access System. Drivers in cars with the system must provide fingerprint authentication to start the engine, helping prevent theft. Meanwhile, an interior camera uses facial recognition software to adjust the cars settings based on the driver, ensuring a more comfortable, personalized experience.

At the same event, electronics company Gentex revealed theirbiometric system. This iris-scanning technology can be incorporated into a vehicles rear-view mirror and is 99.9 percent accurate at confirming a drivers identity. If the person in the car isnt recognized, the system can text the cars owner or limit functionality. If the driver is recognized, everything from the seat to the radio can be adjusted automatically to suit their preferences.

Other companies are taking a focus on safety with their biometric innovations.

Two firms are currently developing car headrests with built-in electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors to tell if a driver is distracted or even falling asleep. If one of these systems notices a problem, it can trigger the cars steering wheel or seat to shake to return the drivers attention to the road.

Meanwhile, Olea Sensor Networks has created a device that attaches to the seat belt in a car to monitor the driver or passengers vital signs. In the case of an accident, it can even automatically notify first-responders, letting them know the passengers identities and conditions.

These innovations are just the beginning. The relationship between ourselves and our cars is poised to shift dramatically in the coming years, transitioning from one in which we dictate the transportation experience into one in which we are quite literally along for the ride.

This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.

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In The Future, Your Car Will Read Your Biology to Make Decisions for You - Futurism

2012 TC4

Our Solar System is littered with chunks of space rocks that whizz around in different orbits and varying speeds and its no big deal until one of those rocks turns out to be on a nasty unexpected trajectory and smashes into Earth.

Itsactually a pretty unlikely apocalypse scenario, but even with one in 10,000 odds its a good idea to keep an eye out. Now NASA scientists are excited theyll finally get to test out some of their defence systems with an upcoming asteroid fly-by in October.

Dont run for the panic room just yet the inbound asteroid, called2012 TC4, is estimated to safely pass our planet at a distance of about 6,800 kilometres (4,200 miles). We dont have a more concrete number because the space rock has been out of telescope range since 2012.

At a width of roughly 10-30 metres (30-100 feet), TC4 is pretty small. So far astronomers have only caught a glimpse of it once when it hurtled past Earth back in 2012 at a distance much closer than our own Moon.

Back then they only had a window of seven days to make observations and calculate when this asteroid will show up next.

But based on that data, it looks like TC4 will zoom around again on October 12 this year, and researchers are making preparations to not only update their observations of this particular object, but also to test out some of their planetary defense strategies.

This time we are adding in another layer of effort, using this asteroid flyby to test the worldwide asteroid detection and tracking network, assessing our capability to work together in response to finding a potential real asteroid threat,says observation campaign lead Michael Kelleyfrom NASA.

This is the first time NASA researchers get to use an actual space rock for their planetary defense efforts, which involve astronomers from all over the world.

The Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) wasonly established last year, with the goal to survey the skies for any near-Earth objects that are big enough and close enough to pose a risk to us.

Just last October the offices new space monitoring systemsgave us a heads-up about an unexpected asteroid flyby, calculating its timing, risk, and potential flight paths.

But this time around researchers can actually plan to coordinate their activities.

This is a team effort that involves more than a dozen observatories, universities and labs across the globe so we can collectively learn the strengths and limitations of our near-Earth object observation capabilities,says Vishnu Reddy from the University of Arizonawho will coordinate this new exercise.

While we know for sure that TC4 is not going to smash into Earth, theres so little astronomers know about its orbit that its actually a great test subject for strategies that can improve our ability to track and predict near-Earth objects.

It will be incumbent upon the observatories to get a fix on the asteroid as it approaches, and work together to obtain follow-up observations than make more refined asteroid orbit determinations possible,explains Paul Chodasfrom NASAs Center for Near-Earth Object Studies.

Even though so far a space rock apocalypse is relatively unlikely, NASAs efforts to detect and catalogue as many asteroids as possible is commendable it only took one stray chunk of space debris to wipe out the dinosaurs, after all.

Unfortunately, even with the coordinated efforts to find these space threats, for now theres not a lot we can actually do about them. Thats why some experts warn we really should build anintercepting spacecraft before we need it.

You dont have to lose any sleep over the October 12 flyby, but lets hope that by the time PDCO has sharpened its skills and does find a real threat, we actually have some space bombto blow it up with. Or something.

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An Asteroid Headed Our Way Is About to Test NASA's Planetary Defense System - Futurism

In Brief U.S. President Donald Trump decided to back out of the Paris climate deal two months ago. This doesn't mean, however, that the nation has hung up the gloves in the global fight against climate change. A group of states is taking the lead. The Will to Fight

When a door closes, a window opens, says an old adage. Well, for a number of states and their effort to fight climate change, its not enough to open a window theyre keeping the door open. Almost immediately after U.S. President Donald Trump decided to withdraw the countrys commitment to the historic Paris Climate Agreement, the United States Climate Alliance was born.

First there were three California, New York, and Washington State. I dont believe fighting reality is a good strategy not for America, not for anybody, California governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. previously said in a statement. If the President is going to be AWOL in this profoundly important human endeavor, then California and other states will step up.

Now, the alliance boasts a membership of 13 states and Puerto Rico representing a bi-partisan coalition committed to the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions [26-28 percent from 2005 levels] consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Latest to join the group is Colorado, after governor John Hickenlooper passed an executive order to cut the states greenhouse gas emissions before 2025.

So far, the U.S. Climate Alliance represents more than 33 percent of the U.S. population. Thats roughly $7.16 trillion of the nations GDP. The 14 members also cover a total of 1.3 million clean energy jobs. This is a grassroots-based movement, Gov. Hickenlooper said in a statement, the Denver Post reported. That groundswell will build into a national movement.

Clearly, the alliance is not something that can be ignored or easily dismissed and theyve been showing it. Each of the governors of these states have firmed up efforts in their respective states to make sure they meet the goals set by the Paris accords.

Above all, what these states represent is hope for a cleaner future. At the very least, it means that the U.S. currently the second largest contributor to greenhouse gasses, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists isnt letting up on efforts to save our planet, despite the seeming absence of federal support.

As Washington state governor Jay Inslee said, Our collective efforts to act on climate will ensure we maintain the [United States] commitment to curb carbon pollution while advancing a clean energy economy that will bring good-paying jobs to Americas workers.

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An Alliance Upholding the Paris Agreement Now Represents a Third of the US Population - Futurism

In BriefOnly a little more than 10 light-years away is a glimpse intothe past of our solar system. The nearby star system resembles anapproximation of what our solar system may have looked like in itsearly development.

Astronomers are understandably fascinated with the Epsilon Eridani system. For one, this star system is in close proximity to our own, at a distance of about 10.5 light-years from the Solar System. Second, it has been known for some time that it contains two asteroid belts and a large debris disk. And third, astronomers have suspected for many years that this star may also have a system of planets.

On top of all that, a new study by a team of astronomers has indicated that Epsilon Eridani may be what our own Solar System was like during its younger days. Relying on NASAs Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) aircraft, the team conducted a detailed analysis of the system that showed how it has an architecture remarkably similar to what astronomer believe the Solar System once looked like.

Led by Kate Su an Associate Astronomer with the Steward Observatory at the University of Arizona the team includes researchers and astronomers from the Department of Physics & Astronomy of Iowa State University, the Astrophysical Institute and University Observatory at the University of Jena (Germany), and NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Ames Research Center.

For the sake of their study the results of which were published in The Astronomical Journal under the title The Inner 25 AU Debris Distribution in the Epsilon Eri System the team relied on data obtained by a flight of SOFIA in January 2015. Combined with detailed computer modeling and research that went on for years, they were able to make new determinations about the structure of the debris disk.

As already noted, previous studies of Epsilon Eridani indicated that the system is surrounded by rings made up of materials that are basically leftovers from the process of planetary formation. Such rings consist of gas and dust, and are believed to contain many small rocky and icy bodies as well like the Solar Systems own Kuiper Belt, which orbits our Sun beyond Neptune.

Careful measurements of the disks motion has also indicated that a planet with nearly the same mass as Jupiter circles the star at a distance comparable to Jupiters distance from the Sun. However, based on prior data obtained by the NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope, scientists were unable to determine the position of warm material within the disk i.e. the dust and gas which gave rise to two models.

In one, warm material is concentrated into two narrow rings of debris that orbit the star at distances corresponding respectively to the Main Asteroid Belt and Uranus in our Solar System. According to this model, the largest planet in the system would likely be associated with an adjacent debris belt. In the other, warm material is in a broad disk, is not concentrated into asteroid belt-like rings, and is not associated with any planets in the inner region.

Using the new SOFIA images, Su and her team were able to determine that the warm material around Epsilon Eridani is arranged like the first model suggests. In essence, it is in at least one narrow belt, rather than in a broad continuous disk. As Su explained in a NASA press release:

The high spatial resolution of SOFIA combined with the unique wavelength coverage and impressive dynamic range of the FORCAST camera allowed us to resolve the warm emission around eps Eri, confirming the model that located the warm material near the Jovian planets orbit. Furthermore, a planetary mass object is needed to stop the sheet of dust from the outer zone, similar to Neptunes role in our solar system. It really is impressive how eps Eri, a much younger version of our solar system, is put together like ours.

These observations were made possible thanks to SOFIAs on-board telescopes, which have a greater diameter than Spitzer 2.5 meters (100 inches) compared to Spitzers 0.85 m (33.5 inches). This allowed for far greater resolution, which the team used to discern details within the Epsilon Eridani system that were three times smaller than what had been observed using the Spitzer data.

In addition, the team made use of SOFIAs powerful mid-infrared camera the Faint Object infraRed CAmera for the SOFIA Telescope (FORCAST). This instrument allowed the team to study the strongest infrared emissions coming from the warm material around the star which are otherwise undetectable by ground-based observatories at wavelengths between 25-40 microns.

These observations further indicate that the Epsilon Eridani system is much like our own, albeit in younger form. In addition to having asteroid belts and a debris disk that is similar to our Main Belt and Kuiper Belt, it appears that it likely has more planets waiting to be found within the spaces between. As such, the study of this system could help astronomers to learn things about the history of our own Solar System.

Massimo Marengo, one of he co-authors of the study, is an Associate Professor with the Department of Physics & Astronomy at Iowa State University. As he explained in a University of Iowa press release:

This star hosts a planetary system currently undergoing the same cataclysmic processes that happened to the solar system in its youth, at the time in which the moon gained most of its craters, Earth acquired the water in its oceans, and the conditions favorable for life on our planet were set.

At the moment, more studies will need to be conducted on this neighboring stars system in order to learn more about its structure and confirm the existence of more planets. And it is expected that the deployment of next-generation instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in October of 2018 will be extremely helpful in that regard.

The prize at the end of this road is to understand the true structure of Epsilon Eridanis out-of-this-world disk, and its interactions with the cohort of planets likely inhabiting its system, Marengo wrote in a newsletter about the project. SOFIA, by its unique ability of capturing infrared light in the dry stratospheric sky, is the closest we have to a time machine, revealing a glimpse of Earths ancient past by observing the present of a nearby young sun.

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A Star System Only 10 Light-Years Away is Our ... - futurism.com