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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Novel superconducting magnet thrusters to be tested out on space station – Space.com

Posted: October 17, 2022 at 10:58 am

A New Zealand research institute and U.S. commercial firm Nanoracks are combining to send a superconducting magnet technology demonstrator to the International Space Station to test a novel type of space propulsion.

The PaihauRobinson Research Institute intends to test a type of electric space thruster known as applied-field magneto plasma dynamic (AF-MPD) thrusters which uses high-temperature superconducting (HTS) magnet technology developed by the institute.

Superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with zero resistance and therefore with much greater efficiency than conventional conductive materials. Most of these superconductors, however, require temperatures close to the absolute zero (-273 degrees Celsius or - 460 degrees Fahrenheit), which complicates their use. High-temperature superconductors (HTS) can operate at somewhat friendlier temperatures of 321.1 degrees F (196.2 degrees C), which makes their operations cheaper. On top of that, HTS can generate stronger fields than low temperature superconductors, have a larger operational range and can be more compact, the PaihauRobinson Research Institute wrote in a statement (opens in new tab).

Related: Nanoracks tests tech to slice up space junk in orbit for 1st time

The AF-MPD thrusters, based on the HTS technology, use a combination of magnetic and electric fields to generate thrust. The researchers believe they could potentially provide propulsion solutions for large spacecraft instead of electric thrusters.

Superconducting magnets could have a number of other important roles to play in space exploration. The Earth's magnetic field protects life on the planet from harmful solar radiation and cosmic rays. A strong magnetic field generated aboard a spacecraft could provide protection in the same way for astronauts in deep space.

The mass and power requirements of magnetic components have been a key technological barrier to using this kind of equipment in space. This is where PaihauRobinson aims to make advances using their HTS magnet technology.

The tech demonstrator will be installed onto the Nanoracks External Platform by astronauts aboard the International Space Station. A team on the ground will then operate the magnet over several months to demonstrate the ability to generate a magnetic field thousands of times stronger than that of Earth.

The operation of the demonstrator in a relevant space environment is an important step toward the validation and commercialization of this key enabling technology, project manager Avinash Rao said in the statement.

Nanoracks' Maggie Ahern says the payload is currently expected to launch no earlier than the first quarter of 2024. The Houston-based firm Nanoracks hosts payloads on the orbital outpost through an agreement with NASA, providing power, telemetry and other services.

PaihauRobinson is leading the project with support from the University of Auckland, the University of Canterbury, IDS Consulting, and Asteria Engineering Consulting.

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Novel superconducting magnet thrusters to be tested out on space station - Space.com

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Bay Area’s ‘The Infinite’ VR show is tribute to light, space – SFGATE

Posted: at 10:58 am

A couple of ground rules for living on the International Space Station: You never wear shoes (socks are just fine), and there is no shame in existing among clutter.

From my perspective, as viewed through immersive virtual reality goggles and headphones while inside a warehouse in the East Bay, the astronauts who float above Earth inside the space station are shoeless and messy.

I saw hallways crammed with boxes like ice cubes at the bottom of a glass, and there were floating wires sprouting out from the walls. The casual atmosphere helped to acculturate me to an otherwise out-of-world experience.

SFGATE travel editor Silas Valentino wears a VR headset as part of "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently housedinside the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront.

Like a ghost of the space station, I watched as astronauts floated between their regular duties growing greens in space, pumping iron to keep their muscles active and gazing over continents on the nearby blue planet relying on a calculated schedule to keep them, well, grounded.

The space station makes 16 orbits of Earth in a 24-hour period. Meaning, the astronauts are traveling through 16 sunrises and sunsets a day. To keep their sanity and busy workload, they abide by a constant schedule. Sometimes they need a reminder to return to their sleep chamber, which is attached to the ceiling and straps them in.

At 254 miles above us, the astronauts are no longer earthlings, but that doesnt mean theyve sacrificed their humanity. And drawing this connection is exactly the goal of the exhibit. Dubbed Space Explorers: The Infinite,the VR experience occupies part of the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, which was once a Ford assembly plant located along the Richmond shoreline.

Astronaut Joseph R. Tanner, STS-115 mission specialist, waves toward the digital still camera of his spacewalk colleague, astronaut Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper as the two share extravehicular activity (EVA) duties during the first of three scheduled spacewalks. The STS-115 astronauts and the Expedition 13 crewmembers are joining efforts this week to resume construction of the International Space Station.

Customers of The Infinite try out there headsets at Craneway Pavilion in Richmond on Thursday Oct. 13, 2022.

SFGATE culture editor Dan Gentile wears a VR headset as part of The Infinite, an immersive space experience currently housedinside the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront, on Thursday Oct. 13, 2022.

A scene from VR scenes of The Infinite, an immersive space experience currently on display at Craneway Pavilion.

Footage from the International Space Station, upper left and lower right, is showcased in "The Infinite," which attendees view through a VR headset. (Images courtesy of The Infinite & by Charles Russo/SFGATE) Footage from the International Space Station, upper left and lower right, is showcased in "The Infinite," which attendees view through a VR headset. (Images courtesy of The Infinite & by Charles Russo/SFGATE)

The exhibition opened last week and will run until the end of the year, with the possibility of an extension. A joint venture of PHI Studio and Felix & Paul Studios, Space Explorers: The Infinite is a traveling circus that uses state-of-the-art technology (in particular, the Oculus Quest 2 headset) to place attendees inside the space station.

Each person is given a headset, and after a bit of fun initiation including a voiceover explaining how we are all a tribute to light and space you enter a large room with lightly padded flooring. After settling into your digital visuals, youre taught to avoid the red lines that indicate the barrier and to avoid stepping too close to other humans.

Jenna Starkey of San Francisco tries on the VR headset at "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently housedinside the Craneway Pavilion on the Richmond waterfront.

The experience is broken up into four sections that softly guide you along to experiencing everyday life on the International Space Station. The finale has you seated in a theaterlike chair to sit back and view a spacewalk outside the station and above Earth.

The experience ends up becoming one part Neil Armstrong and one part P.T. Barnum. It is a dazzling outing and even brought a member of my group to tears by the time we returned to Earth.

Tickets for adults range from $44 on weekdays to $54 on weekends, and for children ages 8-12, its $24 on weekdays and $29 on weekends. The experience is wheelchair accessible and lasts for about an hour.

An advertisement on the exterior of the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond advertises "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently housed inside.

Compared to Jeff Bezos Blue Origin (where a seat on a 2021 space flight was auctioned off for $28 million) or Virgin Galactics SpaceShipTwo (for which tickets are $450,000), the $54 ticket price for The Infinite feels manageable for the rest of us.

The experience is based on the series Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, which is billed as the largest production ever filmed in space, and its producers are not hyperbolic. Felix & Paul Studios worked with Time Studios to collaborate with the U.S. International Space Station National Laboratory, NASA and five other international space agencies.

The footage you see was shot over three years to compile more than 250 hours of virtual reality footage. The visual insights into life in space are parsed down into 60 mini clips that attendees activate by slapping at a glowing orb. To watch all 60 orbs would take at least two hours, and you really only have 35 minutes to spend inside the experience a wise marketing move by the producers to lure visitors back.

Attendees explore virtual space inside the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond as part of "The Infinite" on Oct. 13.

The show was designed and constructed in Montreal. For footage, the producers communicated with NASA in Houston to send directives to the astronauts on the space station. This was perhaps the most elaborate movie shoot of all time, and to top it off, the Canadarm contributed to some of the exterior shots from outside the space station.

Once the exhibit was finalized, it premiered in Montreal in July 2021, staying until November 2021. The plan is to stop in three cities per year until 2026. Prior to the Bay Area, the tour stopped in Houston and Tacoma, Washington.

Co-CEO Eric Albert told me it takes three weeks to set up each installation, and they hire about 50 people from each city to help put on the show. He added that the show is continuously evolving and adding or subtracting video clips for the orbs.

The Bay Area is the first to see a new clip from September 2019 of the astronauts gathering around the dinner table on the space station to celebrate one of the International Space Station crew members. Astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri from the United Arab Emirates was gifted a harmonica by one of his crewmates.

Sorry, your browser doesn't support embedded videos.

Hazza, I know its not your birthday, he begins to say before another astronaut cuts him off.

Every day is your birthday in space! she says, as the crew continues floating in the most peculiar way.

A scene from "The Infinite," an immersive space experience currently on display at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond.

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Bay Area's 'The Infinite' VR show is tribute to light, space - SFGATE

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NASA’s asteroid scout zips past Earth today on 1st launch anniversary – Space.com

Posted: at 10:58 am

A deep-space mission is celebrating the first anniversary of its launch from Earth by zipping closer to the planet than the International Space Station's orbit.

NASA's Lucy mission launched on Oct. 16, 2021, bound on a 12-year journey to explore the Trojan asteroids, which no spacecraft has ever visited. These asteroids are found at the same distance from the sun as Jupiter, with one phalanx orbiting ahead of the planet and one behind it. All told, Lucy will whiz past nine different asteroids.

But in order to keep those appointments, Lucy first needs to fly past Earth to pick up speed and adjust its trajectory. The first such flyby comes Sunday (Oct. 16) at 7:04 a.m. EDT (1104 GMT); at its closest, Lucy will be just 220 miles (350 kilometers) above Earth's surface, lower than the orbit of the International Space Station, according to a NASA statement. That's close enough that some skywatchers will be able to spot the spacecraft.

"The last time we saw the spacecraft, it was being enclosed in the payload fairing in Florida," Hal Levison, Lucy principal investigator at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in the statement. "It is exciting that we will be able to stand here in Colorado and see the spacecraft again. And this time Lucy will be in the sky."

Related: Meet the 8 asteroids NASA's Lucy spacecraft will visit

The maneuver might make for thrilling skywatching, but such a close approach is complicated.

First, Lucy must navigate the swarm of satellites orbiting Earth, more than 47,000 in total; according to a NASA statement, the spacecraft must fly through the layer in which the most satellites orbit. To tackle that challenge, mission personnel began assessing potential collisions a week in advance, as early as is helpful.

"The further you're predicting into the future, the more uncertain you are about where an object is going to be," Dolan Highsmith, chief engineer for the Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis group at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, which evaluates potential collisions for NASA's uncrewed spacecraft, said in a statement.

Mission operators had designed a plan which allowed them to conduct a small engine burn yesterday evening that would move the spacecraft's closest approach by either two or four seconds to prevent a collision.

"That's enough to avoid any one thing that could be in the way," Kevin E. Berry, Lucy's flight dynamics team lead at Goddard, said in the statement.

Satellites aren't the only threat Lucy must navigate; the spacecraft will dip far enough into Earth's atmosphere to begin experiencing drag, especially given the surface area of its two solar arrays, which each span 24 feet (7 meters).

And those arrays are more vulnerable than expected because a glitch in the system that deployed those arrays shortly after launch kept one from fully unfolding, leaving the array resembling a pie with a particularly narrow slice missing. As of NASA's latest update, in June, mission personnel were still considering attempting additional fixes after the flyby. As a protective measure, the mission team arranged for Lucy to pass Earth about 30 miles (50 km) higher than originally planned to reduce the amount of drag the spacecraft experiences.

Although Lucy is flying past Earth out of necessity, scientists are also taking the opportunity to snap a few photos of the moon as the spacecraft heads back into space. The images will help them calibrate the spacecraft's instruments on known terrain before the crucial Trojan flybys.

"I'm especially excited by the final few images that Lucy will take of the moon," John Spencer, acting deputy project scientist at the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, said in a statement. "Counting craters to understand the collisional history of the Trojan asteroids is key to the science that Lucy will carry out, and this will be the first opportunity to calibrate Lucy's ability to detect craters by comparing it to previous observations of the moon by other space missions."

Once past the moon, Lucy will continue trekking out into deep space, farther from Earth than it's ever been.

Lucy will fly past Earth again in 2024 before trekking out to the Trojan asteroids; a third flyby in 2030 will prepare the spacecraft for its final target, a binary asteroid called Patroclus and Menoetius.

Email Meghan Bartels at mbartels@space.com or follow her on Twitter @meghanbartels. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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NASA's asteroid scout zips past Earth today on 1st launch anniversary - Space.com

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How Elon Musk used sci-fi and social media to shape his narrative : It’s Been a Minute – NPR

Posted: at 10:30 am

Carina Johansen/NTB/AFP via Getty Images; Onur Dogman/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images; Justin Williams - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images; Illustration by Kaz Fantone/NPR

The saga around Elon Musk's deal to buy Twitter has been just that: a months-long soap opera involving lawsuits and subpoenas, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, even a town hall. But why does Musk one of the world's richest and arguably most influential men want a social media platform?

It's Been a Minute host Brittany Luse puts the question to Jill Lepore, political historian and host of The Evening Rocket, a podcast about Musk. Lepore says that the idea of being a savior of free speech would appeal to Musk, who has built around himself a mythology inspired by what she sees as a misinterpretation of mid-twentieth century science fiction.

Lepore discusses how Musk crafted a powerful narrative that millions around the world have bought into; how he draws from science fiction and film; and why we need to be more critical of billionaire visionaries.

Y0u can listen to the full episode at the top of the page, or on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. These excerpts have been edited for length and clarity.

On Musk's self-mythology

Brittany Luse: In a nutshell, what is the myth that you see Elon Musk trying to sell about himself?

Lepore: The story that he tells about his own life is kind of ripped out of the pages of early science fiction. He's a boy wonder, right? He's this kind of boy genius. And there's a whole origin story about Musk in South Africa that involves winning an award for a computer game that he wrote as a boy. He's marketed as this figure straight out of comic books. And the version of the story that he's kind of bandying about now is one in which he's the ultimate futurist. He is the visionary innovator, an engineer-slash-entrepreneur who will bring the light of human civilization to the stars and colonize Mars.

On turning to science fiction for inspiration

Lepore: Musk often talks about how he was transformed as a boy by reading Isaac Asimov and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. These books, he will say, taught him that humankind must reach for the stars, that we must colonize other planets in order to bring the light of human consciousness elsewhere. For Musk, his vision of himself is as the hero of a science fiction story from the 1950s. And yet he completely misreads that very science fiction.

Luse: You brought up Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. That was also one of my favorite books when I was around the same age. I read it in middle school. I loved it. I thought it was hilarious. Different life trajectories, me and Elon Musk. But you point out in your podcast, he names a space ship after the Heart of Gold spaceship that's also in the book. He calls Douglas Adams, the author, one of his favorite philosophers. And yet, as you just said, you believe that he misses the point of the book. How does he miss?

Lepore: Yeah so, the Hitchhiker's Guide stories which are comedies, these big BBC radio plays written in the '70s were an indictment of the widening inequalities of wealth in Britain and around the world. The real bad guys in the story are these super wealthy people who want to build luxury planets where the poor can serve them. And they were broadcast to South Africa, to Pretoria, where Elon Musk grew up under apartheid, in a wholly white community where all the labor was done by Black people living under conditions of profound degradation and deprivation. And Douglas Adams had on the manual typewriter with which he typed the plays and then later the books he had a sticker that read, "end apartheid."

Hitchhiker's Guide is essentially about the injustice of advanced capitalism, as is much science fiction. We think about H.G. Wells writing The Time Machine. A lot of these science fiction writers are [indicting] colonialism in particular. Like, don't go to other planets and make other people your slaves. Wells was a big critic of the British Empire and British imperialism, especially in Africa. [Musk] is actually the villain of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He is not Arthur Dent. He's Zaphod Beeblebrox. Jeff Bezos is the same way. They talk about having read all this science fiction as boys, which inspired why they found these rocket companies later in life.

But of course, science fiction completely changed around the time that Douglas Adams was writing. You see the emergence of Afrofuturism or someone like Octavia Butler, Ursula K. Le Guin, and this kind of feminist science fiction and this interesting kind of transgender way of thinking about alternative universes and possibilities in which the future involves a lot of suffering. When I hear Elon Musk talk about the future, it really sounds to me like a very, very sad version of the past.

On being the 'real-life Iron Man'

Luse: The writers of Marvel's Iron Man cited Elon Musk as an inspiration for Tony Stark. And you also pointed out that the first Iron Man movie came out the same year the Tesla Roadsters were released. Can you talk about how the fictionalized version of Elon Musk in Tony Stark then influenced the real Elon Musk?

Lepore: It's sort of an interesting reciprocity. I mean, Iron Man dates to the 1960s when he's created in comic books by Stan Lee. The character is very much updated and kind of wrapped around the idea of Elon Musk, where you can take the same storyline about Tony Stark from the '60s and glue to it the kind of cultural fascination with the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, of which Musk was the best model.

And I don't want to be heard to be somehow discrediting Musk's accomplishments. He has this extraordinary career as a businessman. He goes to Stanford to get a Ph.D. guy's really, really smart drops out to found his first company, moves quickly through a series of startups that are extraordinarily successful. And then around the time of the first Iron Man, Musk moves from from Silicon Valley to Los Angeles, and he becomes a Hollywood figure. You can't really conceive of anyone else doing that. You can't conceive of Bill Gates going to live in Hollywood. So there's this kind of interesting trajectory that takes him from the sort of nerdy Silicon Valley inventor guy to Tony Stark with sexy cars and sexy women.

Luse: What does it say about our society that Elon Musk has become a celebrity in a similar way to somebody like a rock star?

Lepore: Well the happy reading of it is: Celebrities are not celebrated for having ideas. Musk has many ideas. We should be heartened by the idea of someone with engineering genius being celebrated. That's not exactly what he's being celebrated for, but I think in some ways that's maybe the least concerning piece of it.

It's surprising that people aren't more concerned about the idea that you would go from extraordinary, unrivaled business success, to Hollywood fame celebrity stardom, to political aspirations that bring you in and out of the White House, to a pursuit of a position of power possibly over communication across the whole planet. It's very much like a scripted Marvel moment where people keep giving this character more and more power, and the viewer's like, "I think he might be evil." But people still give him more power. This is kind of where we are in the movie moment right now. We just don't quite know.

This episode of 'It's Been a Minute' was produced by Barton Girdwood, Liam McBain, Jessica Mendoza, Janet Woojeong Lee and Jamila Huxtable. Engineering support came from Joby Tanseco and Natasha Branch. It was edited by Jessica Placzek. Our executive producer is Veralyn Williams, our VP of Programming is Yolanda Sangweni and our Senior VP of Programming is Anya Grundmann. You can follow us on Twitter @npritsbeenamin and email us at ibam@npr.org.

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How Elon Musk used sci-fi and social media to shape his narrative : It's Been a Minute - NPR

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New ghost tour unearths the grisly side of Old Montreal this Halloween season – The Suburban Newspaper

Posted: at 10:30 am

Haunted Montreal recently announced its new ghost tour created for the 2022 Halloween season, set in Old Montreal, featuring twisted tales of deranged ghosts and paranormal activity in the citys most haunted neighborhood.

With its cobblestone streets and timeworn buildings, some dating back to the 1600s, Old Montreal is a popular neighborhood for tourists and residents alike.However, as the site of the French colonial establishment of Ville-Marie in 1642, it also has an extremely dark and disturbing side. The area has witnessed countless horrors brutal colonization, bloody guerilla warfare, unspeakable tragedies, heinous crimes, shocking executions, and the imposition of European Imperial regimes.

The Haunted Old Montreal ghost walk visits the Place dArmes, Cours Le Royer, the Courthouse District, Place Vauquelin, Champs-de-Mars, Jacques Cartier Square, and the infamous Chateau Ramezay areas said to be rife with paranormal activity and ghost-sightings.

Guests will learn the deranged stories of various ghosts and other apparitions, including Marie-Joseph Anglique, a slave woman who was hanged during the New France era; Jeanne Le Ber, a Catholic recluse who frequently self-flagellated; and the Demon of the Htel-Dieu Hospital. Other spirits include the babbling decapitated head of Jean Saint-Pre, wife-murderer Adolphus Dewey and former museum warden and perfectionist Miss ODowd.

The Haunted Old Montreal ghost walk also features dark history, including strange colonial legends and their Indigenous detractors, forgotten cemeteries, devastating fires, sickening tales, unsavory plaques and statues and unmarked colonial sites of torture, barbarity, and execution.

Led by a professional actor and storyteller, this ghost tour will please ghost hunters, history buffs, and Halloween lovers with its creepy tales of paranormal activity and the ghostly spirits that haunt Old Montreal!

Visit Haunted Old Montrealfor more information.

Haunted Montreal

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Competing in the new ‘Space Race’ – Royal Aeronautical Society

Posted: at 10:30 am

As the UK gets set to return to launching its own satellites after half a century, where might Britain's space sector be in 2035 and beyond? RICHARD GARDNER reports from Space-Comm Expo22.

Space Comm Expo22 which took place at Farnborough, Hants on 6-7 September presented a timely window on just how much progress is being undertaken to raise the bar on UK involvement in space, generating new policies, innovations, and capabilities needed to deliver on the vast potential that awaits those prepared to invest appropriately.

Once again a new global space-race is underway, with the global space economy expected to grow from 270bn in 2019 to 490bn by 2030, according to the governments National Space Strategy. Furthermore, the UK space sector is determined to grab a much larger proportion of it.

This is as exciting as ever, despite a grim current economic backdrop, as new breakthroughs emerge that are showing how advances in human and robotic space exploration will lead to new sources of raw materials and manufacturing in space. Alongside developments ranging from large, automated orbital platforms to micro-satellites capable of operating individually or within a global mesh, the UK is also well on its way to establishing multiple launch facilities within its own national boundaries for the first time. This opens up capability for speeding the pace of satellite launches and lowering launch costs as well as offering new sector competition.

Any future Moon Base will need more than just solar power to maintain the output needed to provide continuous power generation. Rolls-Royce is designing Micro Reactors for this very purpose. (Rolls-Royce)

The potential for new, lower cost UK military satellite projects is likely to become even more important as it confers greater operational flexibility in national defence planning. Providing UK vertical launch bases, space-ports for air-launches, with infrastructure and control elements, and a new generation of launch vehicles, complete the missing links in the total UK space offering. Alongside sits global leadership in small and micro satellites for LEO use, complex commercial, and military GEO satellites and exploratory space vehicles, including participation in deep space probes and expeditionary planetary programmes.

In a session dedicated to discussing UK National Space Growth, David Morris MP, Deputy Government Whip, told the audience that he was very proud to have been given the portfolio as Space Champion and had previously been Chairman of the Space Group of MPs. He had recently visited Machrihanish in Western Scotland where he saw progress on Skyrora engine testing in preparation for a UK launch, with five sites now agreed for development. He said, The UK is now playing catch-up, 50 years on, to re-enter a global market for orbital delivery where we aim to capture a 10% share, starting later this year. This will bring new high skill employment opportunities across the sector and we look forward to numbers rising from 47K to 100K as new jobs emerge and innovative applications, such as manufacturing in space, receive incentivised commercial as well as official support.

Morris added that via the Return to the Moon programme the UK had an important communications role in tracking space vehicle movements and also expertise in producing service and habitation modules that would be needed for a Moon station. He said that the wider public still take for granted the benefits brought about in everyday life by space access, and they dont realise that there is a return of 12 for every 1 invested. He said, The UKs space effort is a lot more than simply the sum of its parts, and we should speak out to be heard in Government.

Space Comm Expo22 took place at Farnborough on 6-7 September. (Richard Gardner/RAeS)

Space Comm Expo is now the UKs biggest space-focussed event, and provided a very encouraging glimpse of progress through top-level conference sessions featuring 80 keynote speakers and supported by over 150 exhibitors, representing a 65% increase over the previous event. The speaker programmes extended over the shows two days, and the subjects included: Duel-use satellites- civil and military; Nano-micro-satellites, Integrating and sharing the digital fabric of space; Prospects for the colonisation of Mars; Connectivity with the Moon; Sustainability for Small Satellites; Space and weather prediction; Future space travel; Space security; Space partnerships; Space cyber security; Space domain protection; Space and Net Zero and the Economic development of space. The sessions were introduced by familiar television space and science presenters Dallas Campbell and Dr Maggie Aderin Pocock. Amongst the guest speakers were: Dr Paul Bate, CEO, UK Space; John Hanley, Chair, UK Space; Ian Annett, Deputy CEO Project Delivery, UK Space; Kevin Craven, CEO ADS; Andrew Staniland, CEO, Thales Alenia; Rebecca Evernden, Director for Space, BEISD; Elizabeth Seward, Head of Space Strategy, BAE Systems; Pam Underwood, Director, Spaceports, FAA; and Malissa Thorpe, CEO Spaceport Cornwall.

The strong international representation at the show was reflected in the numbers of overseas businesses exhibiting and participating in conference sessions, some 35%, including 20% from the US. Many now have UK bases as well as partnering agreements, with expanding centres of excellence, working closely with the UK Space Agency, UK regulatory authorities and various UK government-supported specialist advanced technology organisations and academia.

A computer generated image of the Skynet 5D satellite in orbit. The Skynet project sustains approximately 800 British jobs. (MoD)

While other specialised military space-focused conferences have been held recently in the UK, defence was also featured in the sessions. Airbus and Northrop Grumman have combined to bring the best of UK and US space communications capabilities together in the latest progression of the UKs Skynet programme, originally started 50 years ago. It is at the forefront of providing secure global military communications for UK Forces and its allies. Airbus is the prime integrator and the UK MoD has supported an expansion of the Skynet architecture which includes upgraded ground stations as well as the supply of new satellites.

Protecting Global Security was the subject of a session which included Air Commodore Mark Flewen, Head of Operations, Plans and Training in UK Space Command. He underlined the criticality of collaboration to secure data and intelligence that was essential to decision-making in the face of an evolving global threat. Flewen told the audience, Anti-satellite activities, including interference, were increasing with methods including interception, jamming and laser dazzling, and a UK Space Ops Centre was expanding with a commercial integration cell, to enable us to monitor nefarious activity out there. This will also have the capability for the development, procurement and operation of new space assets.

Cardiff-based Space Forge is pioneering returnable satellites that are designed for manufacturing next generation super materials in space. (Space Forge)

Many speakers made reference to the need to encourage young specialists to provide an expanding future workforce of scientists, engineers and innovators. It should be a question of training up the best of the best talented candidates working closely with academia, but recognising that suitable talent from abroad should not be excluded, and also due inclusion of those enterprising innovators in small start-ups who can offer unconventional solutions that might produce genuine breakthroughs.

One such example is Space Forge, which didnt exist before the Covid crisis, but in less than three years the young team has gone from working in a garage to growing a company that created a small payload, offering experiments relating to space manufacturing, that will be carried into orbit aboard the first new UK launch vehicle. The company believes that the development of returnable and repairable satellites and orbital fabrication will help reduce operating and sustainment costs as well as reducing waste and adding to the total of space debris that is an increasing menace.

Astroscales QR-style magnetic docking plate is designed to be compatible with a variety of capture mechanisms, either magnetic or robotic. (Richard Gardner/RAeS)

One barrier to space manufacturing is limited capacity where it can be done, and reusable space platform architecture is needed. The International Space Station (ISS) was intended to run on until 2030 but with the earlier than planned withdrawal of Russian participation, US-European co-operation on a future orbital base will develop in a different direction.

Apart from its limited internal size, the problem with using the ISS for experimental manufacturing, as discussed in one conference session, is that it created a task backlog ensuring a long waiting time to carry out proposed new experiments.

How to use space infrastructure to get the best value from new investments touched on such issues as how to refuel space platforms to extend orbital life of satellites and how to use robotics to maintain or up-grade them in-orbit, or assist in safe removal. Some of these associated innovations are destined to be expensive and demanding to bring to market, while others are delightfully simple. Just such an example was to be found on the Astroscale stand in the form of a QR-style magnetic docking plate. The plate is designed to be flexible and adaptable and is compatible with a variety of capture mechanisms, either magnetic or robotic. Fixing this onto satellites before launch will allow easy follow-up access in space. Its designed for an in-space life of over 15 years and aimed at future-proofing docking systems on small satellites.

Much was discussed about using the micro-gravity of space to create new materials and components that will support platforms and other activities in space, but space manufacturing for use on Earth also opens up new areas of possible future growth. Making next-generation semi-conductors could extend benefits throughout the terrestrial supply chain, but how and where manufacture might be located, and the products transported back to Earth, opens up new transfer issues. The end-to-end solution, including sustainment of orbital space or Moon-based enabling infrastructure assets, will prove to be highly expensive to establish. Trying to find ways of making these future visions come true is no longer a science-fiction fantasy and the Space Comm exhibition and conference highlighted how the UK Space sector community is rising to many of these new challenges.

Activity covers development of advanced in-space robotics and micro-engineering, the creation of a global connectivity and observation mesh, and all aspects of returning to the Moon to establish bases for long-term, sustainable human habitation and exploration, potential mining of rare minerals, and fabrication of space platforms and assembly of deep space vehicles, and then beyond to the next already identified goal a Mars base. At the core of enabling these bold visions to become a reality will be the mix and availability of human ingenuity and what quantum physics will be able to deliver beyond artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Rolls-Royce has designed Micro Reactors for use on the Moon and other demanding operating environments where continuous, consistent, highly-efficient and emission-free power is demanded. (Rolls-Royce)

The Rolls-Royce exhibition stand featured an eye-catching model of a Micro Reactor, set against an impression of a future Moon Base. The company enjoys a 60 year pedigree in nuclear power provision, including building powerplants for the UKs nuclear submarine fleet. It has now designed Micro Reactors for use where continuous, consistent, highly-efficient and emissions-free power is demanded, in a compact package, operating in demanding operating environments. Space is just one example and comes with its own challenges, but Mark Cheesman, Rolls-Royces Head of Business Development and Future Programmes, explained to AEROSPACE that a future Moon Base will need more than just solar power to maintain the output needed to provide continuous power generation through cycles which include 14 days of dark and surface temperatures which vary from +250 to -100C. NASA is committed to a Fission Surface Power programme that would lead to a full development programme in 2030 and this would act as a steppingstone to a very suitable base solution he explained. The Micro Reactor is a very safe design solution with tiny uranium oxide pellets sealed within silicon carbide layers. This is a dry environment and wont release any fission products. The design is scalable and there are no moving parts and operations would be passive and remotely monitored in use.

In a mining situation either in space or on earth its adoption would slash costs and provide continuous power independently of the day/night conditions for comprehensive power services on the Moon Base. It would also provide a well-suited power solution for a follow up base on Mars. There is always a regulatory challenge dealing with radical new technologies but if any company can deliver on the promise it has been shown that Rolls-Royces optimism is to be believed.

This year's Royal Aeronautical Society President's Conference, hosted by2022 President Peter Round FRAeS, will take place at 4 Hamilton Place and online between 18-19 October and is titled New Space. It will bring together experts and practitioners in order to inform potential users of the current and future capabilities of commercial new space and its benefits to society. Recent rapid increase of availability of launch, and reducing costs of launch, now mean that access to space is a commercial reality. Thousands of companies are now looking at how space can be used that wouldnt have in previous years because it was deemed as unaffordable to do so.

The conference will:

- Look at current and evolving trends in the global space sector from the perspective of the primes, the people and the skills required, finance, new business and infrastructure and the importance of launch as a national capability.- Analyse the need for regulation (congestion in space, space control etc.) and the funding of new space (how do financial markets invest and what does the future look like).- Allow you to hear from new space operators, bringing together an impressive panel of speakers from across the world.- Discuss how the UK can become a space power by 2030 and its path to get there.

For more details, visit:https://www.aerosociety.com/events-calendar/raes-presidents-conference-new-space/

Richard Gardner FRAeS 14 October 2022

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Did Darwin Say It Is ‘Not the Strongest of Species That Survives’ but the ‘Most Adaptable’? – Snopes.com

Posted: at 10:13 am

Charles Darwin said, It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change.

This quote appears to have originally been presented as a paraphrase of Darwins ideas.

English naturalist Charles Darwin has been subject to numerous misunderstandings and misattributions across the internet. One in particular takes the form of a popular quote that you can find on random blogs and in graphics, where Darwin reportedly said: It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most adaptable to change.

This quote often varies depending on where you look, with another version replacing adaptable with responsive, for example. Nicholas J. Matzke, of the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley learned that this quote may have been taken from someone who was paraphrasing Darwin. Matzke won an award for his debunking effort from the Darwin Correspondence Project back in 2009.

The Darwin Correspondence Project, a collection of Darwins writings housed at the University of Cambridge, featured Matzkes discovery on their website. He found that the quote appeared to start out as a paraphrase of Darwins work, and came from a 1963 speech by Leon C. Megginson, Professor of Management and Marketing at Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. The exact words of the speech were printed in the article Lessons from Europe for American Business, published in the The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly. Megginson said:

According to Darwins Origin of Species, it is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.

Matzke, in his blog, also found Megginson used a version of this paraphrase in other writings, and even a former student told him what he heard in his classes: I learned a lot of good things from Leon Megginsons classes. One of the most valuable things I heard him say went something like this: Charles Darwin didnt say that only the strong survive. What he said was that those who survive are the ones who most accurately perceive their environment and successfully adapt to it.

Matzke shared a few observations on how the quote had evolved:

(1) The quote appears to start as a paraphrase; there is no evidence that Megginson initially intended this to be taken as an exact quote; rather, at some later stage, someone copied down the phrase (perhaps in lecture notes, for example), and then later assumed it was an actual quote of Darwin. (2) The quote has apparently evolved over time to become shorter and pithier. I suspect that quotes that are shorter and more pithy have an adaptive advantage in collections of inspirational quotes, motivational seminars, and similar venues which seem to be common habitats for the quote in the business world. I hereby dub this process pithification. If, as I suspect, this is a common trend in bogus quotes, remember that you first heard the process described and named here first. (3) The untold piece of the story concerns what happened between 1964 and 1982. I have looked carefully in several old Megginson textbooks, thus far without success (although it is apparent that Megginson was very widely read, and liked to start his chapters with pithy quotes from famous people, usually unreferenced, and usually the authors are not indexed in the book index, so just looking at the index doesnt tell you whether or not Darwin has been cited).

According to the Darwin Correspondence Project, Megginson had an interest in the theories of evolution through mutual aid advocated by the Russian zoologist Karl Kessler, and his statements about Darwin clearly reflect that.

John van Wyhe, founder of Darwin Online and a professor at the University of Cambridge also debunked this quote in 2008, arguing that it was not found anywhere in the archived versions of Darwins letters, which brought it to Matzkes attention.

We thus rate this claim as a misattribution.

Sources:

It Aint Necessarily So The Guardian, 9 Feb. 2008. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2008/feb/09/darwin.myths.

It Is Not The Strongest of the Species That Survive Charles Darwin. Due, 30 Dec. 2015, https://due.com/blog/not-strongest-species-survive-charles-darwin/.

It Is Not the Strongest of the Species That Survive, nor the Most Intelligent, but the One Most Responsive to Change. Charles Darwin. Quotespedia.Org. https://www.quotespedia.org/authors/c/charles-darwin/it-is-not-the-strongest-of-the-species-that-survive-nor-the-most-intelligent-but-the-one-most-responsive-to-change-charles-darwin/. Accessed 12 Oct. 2022.

Matzke, Nick. Survival of the Pithiest. The Pandas Thumb, 3 Sept. 2009, https://pandasthumb.org/archives/2009/09/survival-of-the-1.html.

Megginson, Leon C. Lessons from Europe for American Business. The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 1, 1963, pp. 313. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/42866937. Accessed 12 Oct. 2022.

The Evolution of a Misquotation. Darwin Correspondence Project, 25 Nov. 2016, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/people/about-darwin/six-things-darwin-never-said/evolution-misquotation.

Who We Are. Darwin Correspondence Project, 3 May 2015, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/about/who-we-are.

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Descendant of ‘Dracula’ author to share ‘story behind the story’ – Bowling Green Daily News

Posted: at 10:13 am

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United States of AmericaUS Virgin IslandsUnited States Minor Outlying IslandsCanadaMexico, United Mexican StatesBahamas, Commonwealth of theCuba, Republic ofDominican RepublicHaiti, Republic ofJamaicaAfghanistanAlbania, People's Socialist Republic ofAlgeria, People's Democratic Republic ofAmerican SamoaAndorra, Principality ofAngola, Republic ofAnguillaAntarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S)Antigua and BarbudaArgentina, Argentine RepublicArmeniaArubaAustralia, Commonwealth ofAustria, Republic ofAzerbaijan, Republic ofBahrain, Kingdom ofBangladesh, People's Republic ofBarbadosBelarusBelgium, Kingdom ofBelizeBenin, People's Republic ofBermudaBhutan, Kingdom ofBolivia, Republic ofBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswana, Republic ofBouvet Island (Bouvetoya)Brazil, Federative Republic ofBritish Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago)British Virgin IslandsBrunei DarussalamBulgaria, People's Republic ofBurkina FasoBurundi, Republic ofCambodia, Kingdom ofCameroon, United Republic ofCape Verde, Republic ofCayman IslandsCentral African RepublicChad, Republic ofChile, Republic ofChina, People's Republic ofChristmas IslandCocos (Keeling) IslandsColombia, Republic ofComoros, Union of theCongo, Democratic Republic ofCongo, People's Republic ofCook IslandsCosta Rica, Republic ofCote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of theCyprus, Republic ofCzech RepublicDenmark, Kingdom ofDjibouti, Republic ofDominica, Commonwealth ofEcuador, Republic ofEgypt, Arab Republic ofEl Salvador, Republic ofEquatorial Guinea, Republic ofEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFaeroe IslandsFalkland Islands (Malvinas)Fiji, Republic of the Fiji IslandsFinland, Republic ofFrance, French RepublicFrench GuianaFrench PolynesiaFrench Southern TerritoriesGabon, Gabonese RepublicGambia, Republic of theGeorgiaGermanyGhana, Republic ofGibraltarGreece, Hellenic RepublicGreenlandGrenadaGuadaloupeGuamGuatemala, Republic ofGuinea, RevolutionaryPeople's Rep'c ofGuinea-Bissau, Republic ofGuyana, Republic ofHeard and McDonald IslandsHoly See (Vatican City State)Honduras, Republic ofHong Kong, Special Administrative Region of ChinaHrvatska (Croatia)Hungary, Hungarian People's RepublicIceland, Republic ofIndia, Republic ofIndonesia, Republic ofIran, Islamic Republic ofIraq, Republic ofIrelandIsrael, State ofItaly, Italian RepublicJapanJordan, Hashemite Kingdom ofKazakhstan, Republic ofKenya, Republic ofKiribati, Republic ofKorea, Democratic People's Republic ofKorea, Republic ofKuwait, State ofKyrgyz RepublicLao People's Democratic RepublicLatviaLebanon, Lebanese RepublicLesotho, Kingdom ofLiberia, Republic ofLibyan Arab JamahiriyaLiechtenstein, Principality ofLithuaniaLuxembourg, Grand Duchy ofMacao, Special Administrative Region of ChinaMacedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascar, Republic ofMalawi, Republic ofMalaysiaMaldives, Republic ofMali, Republic ofMalta, Republic ofMarshall IslandsMartiniqueMauritania, Islamic Republic ofMauritiusMayotteMicronesia, Federated States ofMoldova, Republic ofMonaco, Principality ofMongolia, Mongolian People's RepublicMontserratMorocco, Kingdom ofMozambique, People's Republic ofMyanmarNamibiaNauru, Republic ofNepal, Kingdom ofNetherlands AntillesNetherlands, Kingdom of theNew CaledoniaNew ZealandNicaragua, Republic ofNiger, Republic of theNigeria, Federal Republic ofNiue, Republic ofNorfolk IslandNorthern Mariana IslandsNorway, Kingdom ofOman, Sultanate ofPakistan, Islamic Republic ofPalauPalestinian Territory, OccupiedPanama, Republic ofPapua New GuineaParaguay, Republic ofPeru, Republic ofPhilippines, Republic of thePitcairn IslandPoland, Polish People's RepublicPortugal, Portuguese RepublicPuerto RicoQatar, State ofReunionRomania, Socialist Republic ofRussian FederationRwanda, Rwandese RepublicSamoa, Independent State ofSan Marino, Republic ofSao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic ofSaudi Arabia, Kingdom ofSenegal, Republic ofSerbia and MontenegroSeychelles, Republic ofSierra Leone, Republic ofSingapore, Republic ofSlovakia (Slovak Republic)SloveniaSolomon IslandsSomalia, Somali RepublicSouth Africa, Republic ofSouth Georgia and the South Sandwich IslandsSpain, Spanish StateSri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic ofSt. HelenaSt. Kitts and NevisSt. LuciaSt. Pierre and MiquelonSt. Vincent and the GrenadinesSudan, Democratic Republic of theSuriname, Republic ofSvalbard & Jan Mayen IslandsSwaziland, Kingdom ofSweden, Kingdom ofSwitzerland, Swiss ConfederationSyrian Arab RepublicTaiwan, Province of ChinaTajikistanTanzania, United Republic ofThailand, Kingdom ofTimor-Leste, Democratic Republic ofTogo, Togolese RepublicTokelau (Tokelau Islands)Tonga, Kingdom ofTrinidad and Tobago, Republic ofTunisia, Republic ofTurkey, Republic ofTurkmenistanTurks and Caicos IslandsTuvaluUganda, Republic ofUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited Kingdom of Great Britain & N. IrelandUruguay, Eastern Republic ofUzbekistanVanuatuVenezuela, Bolivarian Republic ofViet Nam, Socialist Republic ofWallis and Futuna IslandsWestern SaharaYemenZambia, Republic ofZimbabwe

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Descendant of 'Dracula' author to share 'story behind the story' - Bowling Green Daily News

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Oct. 13 Letters to the Editor: Our Readers’ Opinions – Lewiston Morning Tribune

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Royal commission into veteran suicides to commence hearings in Darwin this week – ABC News

Posted: at 10:13 am

After 30 years in the Australian Defence Force, former Sergeant Dan Tellamconsiders himself one of the lucky ones.

Unlike the 648 defence personnel between 1970 and 2020 who are confirmed or suspected to have died by suicide, Sergeant Tellum survived an attempt at taking his own life.

He said part of what contributed to his suicidal ideation was his treatment by senior officers in the Royal Australian Air Force.

"Even though I did love defence, it was unfair how you could be treated. You could be harassed and bulliedwithin defence [and] it was part of the job," he said.

He saidhe was posted away from his family in Darwin against his wishes,in what he believes was a coercive plot from senior officers to get him to discharge.

The former airman, who was discharged on medical grounds in 2015, made his submission to the Royal Commission into Defence and VeteranSuicide last week.

New figures show he's far from alone, with the commission receiving a fifth of its overall submissions in just the past two months alone.

The commission will hold its next two weeks of sittings in Darwin in its first session sincehanding down an interim report in August, which made 13 recommendations and led to a government apology.

And itstask remains unchanged:to listen and document many harrowing stories and produce effective change to reduce the comparatively higher rates of suicide among defence members and veterans.

Another veteran, Sam Weston, said the Australian Defence Force provided "zero" support to him after two deployments to Timor Leste.

"For me personally there was no assistance when I got out," he said.

"I got out in '04,it was 'see ya later'. There was no aftercare. it wasn't until years later when I contacted them that I got any type of help," he said.

Mr Weston has already provided evidence to the commission in Darwin ahead of public hearings that begin tomorrow.

"While I am sceptical, I think, if things can be put on a paper and the public can be see what we're going on about that's a good start," Mr Weston said.

Though public hearings are yet to begin, Commission Chair Nick Kaldas has already begun gathering on the ground information.

The commissioner toured Darwin Navy Base HMAS Coonawarra last week, and today heis expected to visitRAAF Base Tindal, near Katherine.

As with the previous six locations where the commission has held hearings, the next two weeks in Darwinwill look to learn more about the challenges facing veterans and defence personnel in the local community.

Mr Kaldas said looking at the challenges of geographic isolation for veterans in the Northern Territoryand access to services would be at the forefront of the commission's work over the next fortnight.

Mr Weston said the tyranny of distance was complicated by the territory's relatively small population.

"There's not enough psychologists, there's not enough doctors to deal with all of us," he said.

Former defence personnel and their families have made more than2,500 submissions to the royal commission since it was established in 2021.

But 514 of those submissions have only been received since the commission handed down its interim report two months ago.

Among those who have noticed the uptick in submissions is senior solicitor Rachael Vincent of the Defence and Veterans Legal Service.

The organisation has supported more than 400 people since the commission began, and Ms Vincent said that number seemed likely to grow.

"We have noticed a lot more interest in: 'How can I have my story heard? What are my options?'There's a lot of people that have said to me all of these issues in the interim report are all issues that we've been saying for years," she said.

"So, I think that acknowledgement that the commission is listening, and that is really encouraging."

With its large defence bases, Darwin is also attracting more submissions from current members of the ADF.

While only 18 per cent of submissions to the royal commission have come from currently serving members nationwide, 26 of Darwin's 57 submissions are from people presently employed in Defence.

Mr Tellamsaid he hoped the commission will at least give him and other suicide survivors some catharsis.

"[To] put things to bed, put the ghosts away back in cupboard and lock them up throw away the key. That's the reason I am doing it, I need to get this off my chest."

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Category Archives: Transhuman News

Novel superconducting magnet thrusters to be tested out on space station – Space.com

Bay Area’s ‘The Infinite’ VR show is tribute to light, space – SFGATE

NASA’s asteroid scout zips past Earth today on 1st launch anniversary – Space.com

How Elon Musk used sci-fi and social media to shape his narrative : It’s Been a Minute – NPR

New ghost tour unearths the grisly side of Old Montreal this Halloween season – The Suburban Newspaper

Competing in the new ‘Space Race’ – Royal Aeronautical Society

Did Darwin Say It Is ‘Not the Strongest of Species That Survives’ but the ‘Most Adaptable’? – Snopes.com

Descendant of ‘Dracula’ author to share ‘story behind the story’ – Bowling Green Daily News

Oct. 13 Letters to the Editor: Our Readers’ Opinions – Lewiston Morning Tribune

Royal commission into veteran suicides to commence hearings in Darwin this week – ABC News

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