Category Archives: Futurism

In BriefA Chinese engineer facing the realities of a widening gendergap in China, and the pressure to marry found a creative andcontroversial solution: he built himself a robot bride. Yingying

While Tindr and other apps might be the height of how technology is shaping human relationships, an engineer in China has taken it to the next level:Zheng Jiajia has married a robot he created.

Zheng, an artificial intelligence expert, spent two months dating Yingying, who he built late last year. Hemade their relationship official in asimple ceremony with his mother and friends in attendance. Or at least as official as the government would allow. Local authorities do not actually recognize the union, through the ceremony did follow Chinese tradition.Click to View Full Infographic

Zhengsdecision to wedthe robot was spurred bymounting pressure for the 31-year-old to marry. Due toChinas one-child policy,sex-selective abortions are common (and preferential to male offspring). China, therefore, has oneworst gender gaps in the world. There are 113.5 men for every 100 women in the country, according to the World Economic Forum. That fact, combined with views on matrimonyamong Chinas middle class, is making itdifficult for men to find wives.

As for Zheng and Yingying, the first hurdle in their relationship may be not dissimilar from human relationships: communication. Yingying is capable of reading some Chinese characters and images and can even speak a few words. Zheng is already working on an update which would hopefully allow her to walk (as of now she must be carried everywhere), do household chores, and converse at a higher level.

Reactions around the world to this unprecedented union have, of course, been mixed but its a very clear demonstration of how relationships and intimacy are evolving in the context of advancing technology.

Futurism explored this concept in previous report:

Technology is pushing human sexuality into uncharted terrain. Its transforming how we express love and intimacy, and holds tremendous potential for deeper emotional and physical connections. While everyone stands to benefit, this is perhaps especially true for those who face sexual challenges due to distance, loneliness, discrimination, or disability.

For many people faced with physical, emotional, and geographic challenges that impact their relationships, turning totechnology for emotional and sexual fulfillment may be their only option. And there are a number of options in that vein, many of which involve the use of remote sex tech, such as long-distance kissing devices, VR haptic body suits, or connected pillows for couples who are in two different geographic locations. Other avenues include adult virtual worlds where users create avatarsand join in virtual gatherings. Similar to Zhengs idea, there are also those creating robotic prototypes equipped with the illusion of sentience and human augmentation which provide companionship for human users.

If anything, these emerging technologies are able to provide context for the integral role that relationships play in human interaction. How these innovations will one day shape human connection and intimacy, however, is very much still evolving.

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The Relationship of The Future: A Man Married a Robot He Built Himself - Futurism

Musks Neural Lace

When Elon Musk confirmed last week that hes working on a way to combine humans and machines, it wasnt exactly a surprise. The Tesla and SpaceX CEO has long been in favor of a human-machine merger in order to keep up with artificial intelligence (AI) development. Not to mentionavoiding the end of humankind at the hands of machines.

Neuralink is Musks unconventionalproposal forpreempting thatfear.The budding company will build a deviceto be implanted into the human brain. This device which is likely to be called aneural lace would give the human brain the ability to directly interface with gadgets and other devices. It could also improve the human brains memory by increasing its storage capacity. Such brain-computer implants could also lead to improved treatments for neurological diseases and cognitive disorders.If that wasnt impressive enough, such a device could potentially be used toreprogram a persons neural code.

In an piece he wrote for CNBC, Dustin McKissen wondered aloud how such a technology would be introduced quite literally into the public consciousness: one question Musk hasnt answered (and in fairness, it may not be his responsibility to answer) is who will have the privilege of getting a neural lace? McKissen is the founder and CEO of PR and strategy firm McKissen + Company, whose work includes analyzing the effects of politics in the U.S. business climate.

If the essentialness of maternity care is up for debate, it goes without saying Elon Musks neural lace probably wont be covered under your insurance plan, McKissen wrote, referring to the Obamacare repeal that has been at the forefront of U.S. political debate as of late. In other words, not only do the rich seem to get richerthey may get the benefit of having a computer-enhanced brain.

McKissen warns of how social inequality could render Musks neural lace beneficial only to a select few, rather than the human race on the whole. What will income inequality look like if only the very wealthy get an upgrade? And will children be able to get a neural lace?, he asked. Such a society is reminiscent of one featured in the science fiction film Elysium, where only the privileged few had access to technologys benefits.

McKissenadded: Research has shown there is already a digital divide contributing to chronic poverty in low-income and rural communities. That digital divide will only grow when some of us can afford a brain enhanced with artificial intelligence. [] most of us are going to have to compete with computer-enhanced peers in an already unequal world.

McKissen isnt arguing that some people would be more deserving of access to advanced technology like a neural lace, but rather, he points out theneed to improve the current playing field whichone could argue extends beyond the question of who gets a neural lace.

As he said, In a world thats growing increasingly class conscious, the ability for a relatively small number of people to become more than human could be a disaster for everyoneespecially if that technology arrives in a time when income inequality is even worse than it is today.

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Elon Musk's Attempt to Merge to the Human Brain With AI May Have Serious Problems - Futurism

Lotta good writers out there.

Lotta good novelists.

Few craft an entirely new genre, though. One who did, Octavia Butler, who thousands of acolytes credit with creating Afro-Futurism, left her papers to the Huntington Library, which in a new show celebrates her amazing writing and wonderfully American life story of self-creation after a childhood of poverty in the Northwest Pasadena ghetto.

Telling My Stories, which runs through Aug. 7, is one of those roomful-of-arcana museum biopics that I suppose you have to come to with at least a little interest beforehand in the subject. But once visitors wander past the West Hall of the main library exhibit space at the Huntington, many who otherwise just wanted to get a gander at the Gutenberg will be pulled into Butlers room, first by the oversized black and white portrait of the formidable, 6-foot-tall author staring out, and then by all thats contained on the walls and in the display cases.

This isnt like a visit with the papers of some Ivy League tweedster. Octavia Butlers widowed mother was a maid in a wealthy Pasadena household. Octavias exposure to books but for the Bible was not going to happen at home. But, thanks to the childrens section then known as the Peter Pan Room of the Pasadena Library, she discovered reading for pleasure. She began to scrawl little escapist stories about horses and romance. And then, according to Natalie Russell, the Huntingtons assistant curator of literary collections, Butler saw the 1954 B movie Devil Girl from Mars, and had a simple inspiration in reaction to the dumbed-down tale: I can write better than that.

Once she graduated from Muir High and Pasadena City College, and began hanging out at the Los Angeles Library downtown, reading more science fiction, Russell says Butler grew tired of stories featuring only white male heroes. I can write my own stories and I can write myself in, Butler often said after that.

It almost looks easy, or at least inevitable, a writers life in hindsight. But a shy, gangly girl such as Butler had zero role models for her craft. This exhibit shows the Benjamin Franklin-esque manner in which Butler created herself through the national pastime of over-the-top motivational imagineering. I am a bestselling writer, she wrote in ballpoint on lined three-hole-punched papers in the show. I write bestselling books and excellent short stories. Both books and short stories win prizes and awards.

And so she did. Eventually, because she willed it, she was mentored by Harlan Ellison, the Sherman Oaks sci fi giant, and gained entry to the Open Door Program for minority writers of the Writers Guild of America, West. Not that it was easy. No MFA programs or scholarships for her. In a Dear Mama letter Butler typed but never sent from a workshop, she wrote, Im afraid I cant write and I know I cant do anything else. Im blocked. ... Im alone here. I mean, Im the only Negro. That shouldnt mean anything. It means a lot.

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She unblocked, and, working menial L.A. office jobs by day, she wrote at night. She was 28 when she sold her first novel, Patternmaster, to Doubleday in 1975. As she gave me a preview of the show on Thursday, curator Russell noted of Butlers astounding Kindred, in which an African-American woman of today time travels back to a slave plantation, that only a woman protagonist such as the novels Dana had a chance of flying under the radar of the antebellum South and and making it home.

Butler won the Hugo, Nebula and a MacArthur genius grant. The big one. Like a salary, leaving her free to write. The only thing she ever wanted to do.

Larry Wilson is on the Southern California News Group editorial board. lwilson@scng.com.

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With Afro-Futurism, Octavia Butler created her own reality: Larry Wilson - The Daily Breeze

In BriefAs the ISS winds down its mission and scientific work, the aninternational team considers a station in lunar orbit to replaceit. A lunar outpost would support the same scientific research andserve as a way station along the route to Mars. ISS is Passing the Baton

In the latest instance of our human obsession with the Moon, the International Spacecraft Working Group (ISWG), the agency architects of the International Space Station (ISS), recently met to discuss how to replace the station, which is set to be decommissioned in 2024. A plan to construct a space outpost in lunar orbit is evolving, and at this latest meeting the participants agreed to a tentative orbit trajectoryto be finalized by 2018.

The ISS was created as an international scientific laboratory for astronauts to conduct experiments in space. Despite our many technological advances, the environment of space is impossible to recreate on Earth, yet the drive to explore and even colonize space demands scientific experimentation in that environment.

The ISS has also been the center of private, commercial research in support of space colonization initiatives. The work conducted on ISS has greatly improved life back on Earth, supporting global water purification efforts, growing high-quality protein crystals for use in medical research, and providing new technologies for use in a wide range of industries.

A space station in lunar orbit poses significant challenges, but, compared with the ISS, holds more opportunity for testing technologies for deep space missions and greater scientific potential. Much ISS research centers on microgravity, studieswhich could be supported within a lunar outpost. The station would also allow for more study of the Moon itself thanks to its proximity to our natural satellite. A lunar orbit station could also serve as a stepping stoneon a journey to Mars.

Members of the ISWG agreed that the stationshould utilize plug and play parts so that new components can be adapted to existing infrastructure. They also want to make the development of common standards a priority.

At this time, designs for the new station incorperatethe Canadian robotic arm from the ISS, a Russian airlock, and propulsion and power systems from the U.S. Although Russia favors a lunar surface base, NASA is pushing for a higher orbit because of its convenience forMars access. Thus far, the plans cite a Near-Rectilinear Halo Orbit, a widened oval path 1450 km (900 miles) from the Moon at its closest and 69,000 km (43,000 miles) at its furthest, taking a week to complete one rotation.

Additionalbenefits of a station in this orbit would include good communication with Earth, constant sunlight for solar panels, and reduced need for departing spacecrafts to use height boosts that consume large amounts of fuel. The primary drawback of the design is that trips to the Moons surface would be somewhat difficult based on the distance, which has left Russia carrying on with its investigation of a Moon base. Solutions might include compromising with a modular design, or changing the orbit periodically.

The timeline right now plans for construction throughout the 2020s. This would have the new station ready to serve missions to Mars and elsewhere in the 2030s. Interestingly, if this timeline holds true, by the time the station is in orbit, private companies may already be on the Moon or in orbit around it.Bigelow Aerospace hopes its inflatable space station will be in orbit around the Moon by 2020, and SpaceX may be there even sooner.

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A Space Station That Orbits the Moon May Be on the Way - Futurism - Futurism

In BriefA company in Sweden is turning employees into cyborgs byimplanting them with tiny microchips. These chips change how theemployees interact with their office environment, giving them theability to do everything from open doors to order snacks with awave of their hands. Worker Implants

A company based in Stockholm, Sweden, is turning its employees into cyborgs usinga microchip implant about the size of a grain of rice. Though not the first time such microchip implants have been used, this program is the first example ofsuch implants being made available to a companys employees on this sort of level.

The biggest benefit I think is convenience, Patrick Mesterton, co-founder and CEO of Epicenter, told the Associated Press. Epicenter provides network and office space to budding digital startups, and it is currently home to more than 100 companies and about 2,000 workers. The companycalls itself Stockholms first digital House of Innovation, and it only started implanting workers in January 2015.

The microchips, which are implanted in the hands of employees and startup members, function as swipe cards.It basically replaces a lot of things you have, other communication devices, whether it be credit cards or keys, Mesterton said, who demoed opening a door just by waving his hand near it. The implant doesnt just open doors, though. Epicenters cyborg employees can operate their printers with it or even order smoothies with a wave of their hands.

The devices arent mandatory, but being chipped has become popular amongst Epicenters employees, with more than 150 now implanted withthe devices. The company even hosts monthly events where participants can get the implants for free, as well as parties to celebrate those who got implanted.

An obvious concern is security and privacy. Of course, putting things into your body is quite a big step to do, and it was even for me at first, Mesterton said, recalling his initial doubts about the implants, which carry information that can be transmitted to other devices via electromagnetic waves, but cannot receive information themselves.

The data that you could possibly get from a chip that is embedded in your body is a lot different from the data that you can get from a smartphone, explained Ben Libberton, a microbiologist at Stockholms Karolinska Institute. Such devices, he said, can be exploited by hackers to gain huge amounts of information.

Conceptually you could get data about your health, you could get data about your whereabouts, how often youre working, how long youre working, if youre taking toilet breaks and things like that, Libberton added. The more sophisticated a microchip is, the bigger the ethical dilemmas that can come with them.

For Mesterton, there really isnt a problem. I mean, people have been implanting things into their body, like pacemakers and stuff to control your heart, he said. Thats a way, way more serious thing than having a small chip that can actually communicate with devices.

Indeed, devices that augment the human body, whether through implants or other means, have been turning people into cyborgs for some time now. Some call the trendbiohacking, and it can potentially help us do much more than simply navigate an office environment. The tech couldbe used to monitor health conditions orto treat neurodegenerative diseases. Elon Musk is working on his own version of such a device with a soon-to-be-launched company, Neuralink.

As one Epicenter employee said while she was being implanted, I want to be part of the future, and that may just mean becoming a cyborg.

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Real-Life Cyborgs: A Company Is Implanting Its Employees With Microchips - Futurism

In Brief Following last month's successful reuse of a Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk stated he is confident that his company can cut the cost of space access by a hundred-fold. Reusable rockets are, indeed, far more cost-effective than the "disposable rockets" previously used, so cheaper space exploration is likely on the way. A Cheaper Space

On March 30, SpaceXmanaged to launch and land a previously used Falcon 9 rocket for the first time. The company has long claimedthat itsFalcon 9 would prove to be the worlds first fully reusable orbital rocketand that such rockets would be a game-changer in space exploration. After last weeks success, those predictions are starting to come true.

Prior to reusable rockets, space flight missions relied on rockets built for single use. These disposable rockets, so to speak, were used in NASAs space shuttle missions, but they were costly for every mission, a new rocket had to be made.

Now, SpaceXs cost-saving rockets are poised to usher in a new, cheaper era of space exploration. At this point, Im highly confident that its possible to achieve at least 100-fold reduction in the cost of space access, SpaceXs founder and CEO Elon Musk said after the historic SES-10 mission last week.

SpaceX has proven its mettle when it comes to space missions. On its website, the private space company has logged more than 70 flights in its manifest. These include numerousmissions funded by NASA, such as SpaceXs 10 resupply runs to the International Space Station (ISS).

SpaceXs 2012 mission to the ISS marked the first time a private spacecraft docked on the space station, andthe latest of its supply missions just took place on February 19. SpaceX has also completed a number of landing tests using its Falcon 9 rockets, as well as missions that launched private satellites into orbit.

Now, with the Falcon 9s reusability confirmed, things are moving forward for SpaceX. The next step is successfully reusing a Falcon 9, after an inspection and a re-fuel, within 24 hours after landing. According to Musk, Rapid and complete reusability of rockets is really the key to opening up space and becoming a space-faring civilization.

The Falcon 9 is powerful and massive enough to reach orbital speeds, and its tough enough to survive re-entry. Its also currently the only truly reusable orbital rocket available. However, it likely wont be the only one for long as Jeff Bezos Blue Origin is well on its way to developing its own reusable rocket. The more of these game-changing rockets we have available, the better the future looks for humanitys exploration of Mars and other off-world wonders.

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Elon Musk Says His Reusable Rockets Will Make Space Access 100-Times Cheaper - Futurism

In BriefThe FDA has approved the first and only treatment that fightsboth relapsing and primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis.Now patients with the progressive form of MS have a treatmentoption that could prevent permanent disability. B Cell Targeted Therapy

On March 28, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new drug called Ocrevus (ocrelizumab), the first and only treatment that fights both relapsing and primary progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Ocrelizumab represents a shift in focus for MS drug design, as it is a first-in-class therapy that specifically targets CD20-positive B cells thought to be linked to myelin and axonal nerve damage. Until now, treatments and research had been targeting T cells alone, which is not as effective.

Approximately 400,000 people in the U.S. and more than 2 million worldwide suffer from MS, a chronic disease for which there is no cure. MS is characterized by abnormal attacks by the immune system on myelin sheaths of nerve cells in the brain, optic nerves, and spinal cord. The myelin sheath supports and insulates the nerve cells. When it is attacked, it becomes inflamed and eventually sustains damage. Symptoms of damage to the myelin sheath include fatigue, pain, muscle weakness, and difficulty seeing, which can eventually lead to disability, including the inability to walk.

MS is the leading cause of non-traumatic disability in younger adults, typically first striking between the ages of 20 and 40. Patients experience relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), which is the initial diagnosis for 85 percent of MS sufferers, as episodes of new or worsening symptoms (relapses) with periods of recovery in between.

Most people with RRMS will eventually transition into a diagnosis of secondary progressive MS, which steadily worsens over time without periods of recovery just like primary progressive MS (PPMS) does. Everyone with any kind of MS experiences disease activity in the brain and nervous system even when theyre asymptomatic. For all of these reasons, reducing disease activity and slowing disease progression are critical components of treating MS.

Stephen Hauser of the University of California, San Franciscos Weill Institute for Neurosciences, whose research led the drugs development, told Scientific American that early use of ocrelizumab will allow patients with a new diagnosis of PPMS to look forward to a full life without significant disability. This treatment opens up a new option for people with RRMS, but even more significantly, represents the first disease-modifying therapy available for patients with PPMS.

Hauser and his team also see the fact that ocrelizumab provides primary progressive disease patients with only about a 25 percent benefit as useful from a research standpoint; it suggests that the progressive form of the disease is driven by a different biology. Since this research has proved that the B cell plays a key role in MS, but the majority of the immune cells found in MS lesions are T cells, the question is, what do B cells do within the disease process?

Hauser believes that the B cells may be orchestrating the T cell damage process, and notes that many other drugs used to treat MS interfere with B cells even as they target T cells. Ocrelizumabs success has led to a rethinking of how the other MS therapies may be working, he remarked to Scientific American. [O]ur foot is in the door, but were not there yet.

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First-Ever Progressive MS Treatment Has Been Approved by the FDA - Futurism

In Brief New research from the University of Manchester developed a graphene-based sieve that can filter out salt from seawater. The graphene oxide membrane could be a cheaper and more efficient filter for desalination plants to use. Abundantly Scarce

The Earths surface is largely made up of water. The irony is, this highly abundant resource is also generally scarce, particularly in its potable form. While the Earths surface may be 71 percent water, 96.5 percent of this come from the planets oceans. Salt water, as everyone knows, isnt potable. The quest to find ways totap into this abundant source and turn it into drinkable water iswell underway, facilitated mainly bydesalination plants. But these plants are expensive to maintain and dont necessarily serve the populations that need them most.Click to View Full Infographic

The question, then, is how to make these plants cheaper and more efficient? Thats just what a study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnologyrecently explored. The research was conducted by a UK-based team led by Rahul Nair from the University of Manchester. Their solution to the worlds drinking problem? A graphene oxide sieve that can remove salt from seawater.

Since it was first discovered in 2004, graphene has become a wonder material capable of remarkable feats. Graphenesremarkable nature is at least in part thanks to its unique properties,such as electrical conductivity and tensile strength. Graphene oxide can be produced by simple oxidation in the lab, Nair told the BBC. As an ink or solution, we can compose it on a substrate or porous material. Then we can use it as a membrane. In terms of scalability and the cost of the material, graphene oxide has a potential advantage over single-layered graphene.

Graphene oxide has proven effective for sieving out nanoparticles, organic molecules, and large salts. To filter out common salt, Nair and his colleagues used walls made of epoxy resin on both sides of a graphene oxide membrane. This prevented the graphene oxide from expanding when immersed in water. It also gave the researcher the ability to control these pores.

When dissolved in water, common salts form a shell of water molecules around the molecules of salt. Tiny capillaries from the graphene oxide membranes can then block these salts from flowing through. This also allows the water molecules toflowthrough the membrane much faster. Water molecules can go through individually, but sodium chloride cannot. It always needs the help of the water molecules. The size of the shell of water around the salt is larger than the channel size, so it cannot go through, Nair explained.

Once these graphene oxide membranes can be industrially (and cheaply) produced, they can become a more efficient option than the polymer-based membranes currently used in desalination plants. The selective separation of water molecules from ions by physical restriction of interlayer spacing opens the door to the synthesis of inexpensive membranes for desalination, Ram Devanathan, from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory wrote as a review to Nairs research. The ultimate goal is to create a filtration device that will produce potable water from seawater or wastewater with minimal energy input.

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Scientists Just Figured Out How to Use Graphene to Make Seawater Drinkable - Futurism

Giant Steps For Humankind

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic successfully used intense physical therapy and electrical stimulation on the spinal cord to help a patient stand, intentionally move his paralyzed legs, and make step-like motions. These were the first movementsthe patient had experienced in his legs in three years.

26-year-old Jered Chinnock injured his spinal cord at the sixth thoracic vertebrae three years ago. He could not move or feel anything lower than the middle of his back, and was diagnosed with a motor complete spinal cord injury.

At the outset of the study, Chinnock underwent 22 weeks of physical therapy with three training sessions per week. His training goal was to prepare his muscles so they would be strong enough to attempt the physical tasks while his spinal cord was being stimulated.

Next, the team implanted an electrode below the injured area in the epidural space, close to the spinal cord, and a computer-controlled device just under the patients abdominal skin.The FDA gave permission to the Mayo Clinic for this off-label use of the device, which controls thetransmission of an electrical current to the spinal cord, which in turnallowed the patient to create movement in his muscles.

After a recovery period, Chinnock resumed his physical therapy sessions with the stimulation settings for thedevice adjusted to enable his muscle movements. Within the first two weeks, he was able to intentionally move his legs and make step-like motions while lying supported, on his side. He was also able to stand independently using support bars. The intentional movement indicates that his brain is once again able to signal his spinal cord successfully.

Were really excited, because our results went beyond our expectations, says neurosurgeon Kendall Lee, the studys principal investigator. These are initial findings, but the patient is continuing to make progress.

For Jered Chinnock, the results are something to get used to. It definitely feels like science fiction, he said. The first day they turned it on, it was almost mind-blowing because it was, like, right away I was able to move my toes, and it was something I havent seen in a while, you know.

As amazing as the experiment is, itsstill early work. Although the data seems to indicate that epidural stimulation therapy may work for people with discomplete spinal cord injuries, current classification of such injuries is vague. It includes only general information about the status of the injury and omits characterizations of specific descending or ascending spinal pathways. This reflects the limitations on our current diagnostic approaches.

More research is needed to determine how researchers and physicians can identify which pathways are still transmitting residual descending and ascendingalbeit subfunctionalsignals in patients with these types of injuries. In addition, the extent to which neural substrates underlie the phenomenon of discomplete SCI and contribute to EES-enabled functional recovery has yet to bedetermined. However, these results have clarified those long-term research goals, and prove that this technique is very promising.

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New Spinal Cord Treatment Lets Paralyzed Man Stand for the First Time in Years - Futurism

In BriefNASA is currently preparing a probe that will travel furtherinto the center of our solar system than ever before. The probewill travel at speeds of 200 km/sec (124.27 mi/s) and deal withscorching temperatures in excess of 1371 C (2500 F).

Coronal Mass Ejections (aka. solar flares) are a seriously hazardous thing. Whenever the Sun emits a burst of these charged particles, it can play havoc with electrical systems, aircraft and satellites here on Earth. Worse yet is the harm it can inflict on astronauts stationed aboard the ISS, who do not have the protection of Earths atmosphere. As such, it is obvious why scientists want to be able to predict these events better.

For this reason, the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory a Cambridge, Massachusetts-based non-profit engineering organization are working to develop specialized sensors for NASAs proposed solar spacecraft. Launching in 2018, this spacecraft will fly into the Sun atmosphere and touch the face of the Sun to learn more about its behavior.

This spacecraft known as the Solar Probe Plus (SPP) is currently being designed and built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. Once it is launched, the SPP will use seven Venus flybys over nearly seven years to gradually shrink its orbit around the Sun. During this time, it will conduct 24 flybys of the Sun and pass into the Suns upper atmosphere (corona), passing within 6.4 million km (4 million mi) of its surface.

At this distance, it will have traveled 37.6 million km (23.36 million mi) closer to the Sun than any spacecraft in history. At the same time, it will set a new record for the fastest moving object ever built by human beings traveling at speeds of up to 200 km/sec (124.27 mi/s). And last but not least, it will be exposed to heat and radiation that no spacecraft has ever faced, which will include temperatures in excess of 1371 C (2500 F).

As Seamus Tuohy, the Director of the Space Systems Program Office at Draper, said in a CfA press release:

Such a mission would require a spacecraft and instrumentation capable of withstanding extremes of radiation, high velocity travel and the harsh solar conditionand that is the kind of program deeply familiar to Draper and the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.

In addition to being an historic first, this probe will provide new data on solar activity and help scientists develop ways of forecasting major space-weather events which impact life on Earth. This is especially important in an age when people are increasingly reliant on technology that can be negatively impacted by solar flares ranging from aircraft and satellites to appliances and electrical devices.

According to a recent study by the National Academy of Sciences, it is estimated that a huge solar event today could cause two trillion dollars in damage in the US alone and places like the eastern seaboard would be without power for up to a year. Without electricity to provide heating, utilities, light, and air-conditioning, the death toll from such an event would be significant.

As such, developing advanced warning systems that could reliably predict when a coronal mass ejection is coming is not just a matter of preventing damage, but saving lives. As Justin C. Kasper, the principal investigator at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and a professor in space science at the University of Michigan, said:

[I]n addition to answering fundamental science questions, the intent is to better understand the risks space weather poses to the modern communication, aviation and energy systems we all rely on. Many of the systems we in the modern world rely onour telecommunications, GPS, satellites and power gridscould be disrupted for an extended period of time if a large solar storm were to happen today. Solar Probe Plus will help us predict and manage the impact of space weather on society.

To this end, the SPP has three major scientific objectives. First, it will seek to trace the flow of energy that heats and accelerates the solar corona and solar wind. Second, its investigators will attempt to determine the structure and dynamics of plasma and magnetic fields as the source of solar wind. And last, it will explore the mechanisms that accelerate and transport energetic particles specifically electrons, protons, and helium ions.

To do this, the SPP will be equipped with an advanced suite of instruments. One of the most important of these is the one built by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory with technical support from Draper. Known as the Faraday Cup and named after famous electromagnetic scientists Michael Faraday this device will be operated by SAO and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Designed to withstand interference from electromagnetic radiation, the Farady Cup will measure the velocity and direction of the Suns charged particles, and will be only two positioned outside of the SPPs protective sun shield another crucial component. Measuring 11.43 cm (4.5 inches) thick, this carbon composition shield will ensure that the probe can withstand the extreme conditions as it conducts its many flybys through the Suns corona.

Naturally, the mission presents several challenges, not the least of which will be capturing data while operating within an extreme environment, and while traveling at extreme speeds. But the payoff is sure to be worth it. For years, astronomers have studied the Sun, but never from inside the Suns atmosphere.

By flying through the birthplace of the highest-energy solar particles, the SPP is set to advance our understanding of the Sun and the origin and evolution of the solar wind. This knowledge could not only help us avoid a natural catastrophe here on Earth, but help advance our long-term goal of exploring (and even colonizing) the Solar System.

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NASA Is Sending a Spacecraft To Touch the Sun - Futurism