Page 148«..1020..147148149150..160170..»

Category Archives: Transhuman News

Space station’s Italian commander, with lookalike Barbie, tells girls about science in orbit – Reuters

Posted: October 8, 2022 at 3:51 pm

Oct 3 (Reuters) - The first European female commander on the International Space Station, Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, answered young girls' questions -- accompanied by a lookalike Barbie doll.

Cristoforetti recently took time to describe some of the experiments conducted aboard the ISS, as well as answer questions from five girls 8 to 11 years old from across Europe. She and her spacesuit-clad Barbie floated in zero gravity, as she spoke.

Asked why she became an astronaut, the 45-year-old said, "Growing up I was fascinated by the night sky, and the idea of flying to space, and the sense of adventure and exploration.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

"And then I became interested in science and technology; and then I really loved flying, I became a pilot. And being an astronaut kind of brings all those passions and interests of me together," she said.

A handout picture shows Europe's first female commander of the ISS, ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti with her lookalike Barbie doll at the International Space Station (ISS). ESA/Handout via REUTERS

The video conversation, excerpts of which were released on Monday, was part of a project aimed at inspiring young girls to start careers in STEM: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. It also marks World Space Week, which begins on Tuesday

The initiative was organized by Inspiring Girls International, a charity which connects girls to international role models.

Mattel Inc MAT.O> designed a Cristoforetti lookalike Barbie doll in 2019 and put it on sale in 2021. The company donated some of the profits to the charity Women in Aerospace Europe.

The first Barbie wearing an astronaut suit was released in 1965 and was garbed in the outfits worn by astronauts in the 1960s Mercury program, which put the first American men into orbit and paved the way for future space missions.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

Reporting by Chiara Rodriguez; editing by Jonathan Oatis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Excerpt from:
Space station's Italian commander, with lookalike Barbie, tells girls about science in orbit - Reuters

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on Space station’s Italian commander, with lookalike Barbie, tells girls about science in orbit – Reuters

#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: ISU SSP22 Special – Team Project International Cooperation on the Use of the China Space Station – SpaceWatch.Global

Posted: at 3:51 pm

By Prof. Gongling Sun and Dr. Yang Yang

ISU Space Studies Program (SSP) offers an intensive nine-week course hosted each year in the timeframe June-August in different locations in our planet earth since 1988. The SSP provides courses in all space disciplines, as well as hands-on education through workshops and professional visits for people working in space-related fields who wish to broaden their knowledge base. Particularly, participants spend more than 3 weeks working on 4 team projects to address current and future challenges in the space sector.

The Chinese space station is scheduled to be completed and put into operation by the end of 2022. This is not only a new attempt for China but also the beginning of a new era of international space cooperation for countries, organizations and individuals all over the world.

This year, Dr. Yang Yang and I, Prof. Gongling Sun, co-chaired the team project of International Cooperation on the Use of the China Space Station, which is sponsored by the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CSU, CAS).

We worked for two years for this team project preparation and invited various experts worldwide to provide the best insights into international cooperation and the utilization of a microgravity environment, especially that based on space stations.

This Team Project was completed by 23 participants from 17 countries with diverse backgrounds, ages, and experiences. Despite the varied cultural and professional origins, the team embraced the values of the ISU (International, Intercultural, Interdisciplinary), and we also offered our participants the opportunity to interact with our invited lecturers. They managed to create a cohesive team, who eagerly started the project, and quickly defined the mission statement and objectives according to the broad team project description.

The team endorsedthe UNstyleof leadership, avoiding hierarchies andfostering inclusivity. As is the nature ofthe spaceindustry, ideas were plentiful while time was limited. The team managed to overcome these challenges and finished the comprehensive report over a three-week period.

The team managed to satisfy most of the stakeholders by merging three areas of scientific and engineering exploration. Unique flight hardware was designed to satisfy a multitude of scientific objectives and an overarching outreach strategy was created which can be utilized for many other projects. The team picked up vital knowledge and skills learned in the program in the first 6 weeks and overcame multiple challenges due to the difficult climate, time pressures and last-minute curricular changes.

With the Main tasks to be accomplished including the Executive Summary of International Cooperation on the Use of the Chinese Space Station review, final report, and project presentation, our participants demonstrated their high levels of professionalism, discipline, and maturity. They have made great progress both as a team and as individuals, reinforcing the individual qualities and strengths of team members. We are looking forward to seeing what these promising future leaders of the space industry create in the future.

We organized a professional visit to a leading Portuguese space company, LusoSpace, which offers space hardware concept definition, and preliminary design, through the development, integration, testing and qualification.

Want to hear the experience of a SSP22 participant? Here you can listen to our interview with Madin Maseeh on the day of the final team project presentations.

Gongling is Professor of Space System Engineering and Space Policy at the International Space University (ISU), where he is also faculty lead to Business and Management in Masters of Space Studies Program (MSS). Mr. Sun held several senior executive positions both in China and Europe. He was a system engineer of launch vehicle design and project manager of international satellite launching services in China. He became a founding member of China Manned Space Agency in 1993 and worked as General Designer Assistant for China Manned Space Program until 2000. Then he worked as Managing Director of EurasSpace GmbH based in Munich, Germany. He played an important role in space business development, large project management, project financing and insurance, and export license management. As the founder of CASC European Office based in Paris in 2010, he served as the Chief representative for 7 years before he joints ISU in 2017.

Dr. Yang Yang is Director of international cooperation department of Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization, Chinese Academy of Sciences(CSU,CAS). He has been engaging the utilization mission of China Manned Space in TG-1, SZ-8, TZ-1 and China Space Station, and has been responsible for utilization mission planning and international cooperative project management. He is the commander and manager of tens of scientific utilization projects and experiments of CMS in cooperated with ESA, DLR and ASI etc. He is expert of HSTI of UNOOSA, member of IAF Microgravity Sciences and Processes Committee, member of International Microgravity Science planning group.

View post:
#SpaceWatchGL Opinion: ISU SSP22 Special - Team Project International Cooperation on the Use of the China Space Station - SpaceWatch.Global

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on #SpaceWatchGL Opinion: ISU SSP22 Special – Team Project International Cooperation on the Use of the China Space Station – SpaceWatch.Global

The Aspen Space Station keeps the future in its orbit – Aspen Public Radio

Posted: at 3:51 pm

Ajax Axe has heard the apocalypse narrative: The world is on fire. The billionaires are going to space. And the rest of us are doomed.

But what if were not?

People want to take action to secure our best future and to protect the environment, she said. But you know, when it's all doom and gloom, and it's just such a bummer, then people they just disengage, they check out, and so I think when we make it playful, that brings people back to the table.

Thats the concept behind Kairos Futura, the mothership organization for conceptual art initiatives such as the Aspen Space Station that aim to convince people that Earth is still worth saving and that we still stand a chance to actually save it.

Axe, an artist based in Aspen, is director of Kairos Futura, which also involves other artists, scientists and community members.

Our goal is making it so that it's fun and exciting to engage around often very challenging and serious issues, and that's by using play, and by using crazy narratives, Axe said. We have this ability to make people want to participate and to make it easier for people to pay attention to an issue that otherwise might be ignored.

Locally, that effort looks like the Aspen Space Station project, which wraps up a second summer of art installations and live events this weekend.

Dinners, brainstorming sessions, book clubs and happy hours were part of the expanded slate of events this year.

Also featured are an NFT art show at a secret location in the woods, a party on the backside of Aspen Mountain where the theme was Solar Punk and a series of workshops where people carved messages for the future into clay tablets that will be buried for the next 200 years.

Axe said the plan is to register the project with the Aspen Historical Society so theres a record when it comes time to dig them up.

The burial is happening Sunday, by invitation only, along with a full moon future ritual led by local artist Nori Pao.

Pao said she saw a lot of optimism and some introspection in the workshops to make the tablets, where people shared ideas they hope will resonate two centuries from now.

I have always been able to see the joy in the moment in the future, even when things are pretty dark, Pao said.

She recognizes that there is some darkness to the idea of our climate future, but there is also a broad sense of hope, she said.

She encouraged workshop participants to channel that hope, returning to a feeling of childlike curiosity and being present and open.

That perspective can point people toward new solutions, she says.

Quite naturally, when people come together, they tend to have more of a positive outlook, and look at things as problem-solving and solution-oriented, she said, rather than when you're alone, and you feel alone, and you're just, like, ready to give up.

The community element of the Aspen Space Station project bolsters that, Pao said.

If you don't have the energy to keep going, but there's someone to the left of you that does, she said, you feed off each other's energy and kind of keep that high and that curiosity and just willingness to maybe approach things differently.

Axe said that willingness does exist and that she sees a positive outlook as a much more effective mechanism for change than a negative one.

As the Kairos Futura project moves forward, the focus is shifting from messaging to action, she said.

A lot of the programming we've done until now has been about building community and creating awareness around imagining the future and getting the community together to talk about challenges that we have here, Axe said. Now, we want to start to use the momentum we've created to catalyze action so that people are engaging in these issues in ways that are productive.

That was evident in some of this summers events, where attendees were strongly urged to sign petitions for climate initiatives before they could get a drink.

At the solar punk party, for instance, Axe says about 50 to 60 people signed a petition for the CORE Act that aims to protect 400,000 acres of public land in Colorado.

The action is also manifesting in a partnership with Wilderness Workshop, a conservation nonprofit based in Carbondale that is focused on advocacy for public lands.

We're essentially drawing attention to these really important projects that they're working on around conservation, Axe said. And we, as a group of artists, have the power to make these things sexy and sticky in a way that I think is more difficult without creativity.

Sticky, as in engaging, Axe said, at a time when people can get so overwhelmed by information that they end up tuning out rather than tuning in.

It's not that people don't know about these issues, Axe said. It's that they're so overwhelmed by the cascade of information and issues that they just switch off and they don't want to engage.

According to Axe, the strategy is working.

To get into some of the Aspen Space Station events this summer, people had to take a Future Proof exam that asked them how they think about their future and the future of our planet.

Click the most-optimistic, solutions-focused answers, and youll be deemed a Wild Futurist.

Nearly 80% to 90% of the respondents got that result, Axe said.

The apocalypse narrative is growing more and more uninspiring for people, Axe said. People are really starting to challenge the fact that the apocalypse narrative is just so cheap and so easy. And I think if we can find ways to make engagement fun and exciting, I think that that is a way to grow optimism.

She recognizes that not every idea sticks with everyone.

The really crazy stuff that appeals to the younger crowd might not click with older participants, she said.

Reconciling those things together is definitely an ongoing challenge, but one worth taking on, she said. I think bringing community together, though, in a creative way is the most amazing powerful thing.

See the original post:
The Aspen Space Station keeps the future in its orbit - Aspen Public Radio

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on The Aspen Space Station keeps the future in its orbit – Aspen Public Radio

NASA’s tiny CAPSTONE moon probe has finally stopped tumbling in space – Space.com

Posted: at 3:51 pm

NASA's moon-bound CAPSTONE probe is coming under control.

The microwave oven-sized CAPSTONE, which has been in safe mode for a month since an engine burn Sept. 8, finally stopped tumbling in cislunar space following a command from ground control.

The command executed Friday (Oct. 7) resulted in "clearing a major hurdle in returning the spacecraft to normal operations," NASA wrote in an update (opens in new tab) to its Artemis blog. (CAPSTONE is a pathfinder for the planned NASA Gateway space station's orbit, which will support moon operations under the Artemis program.)

The 55-pound (25 kilogram) spacecraft initially entered trouble following "a valve-related issue in one of the spacecraft's eight thrusters," NASA added, noting one of those thrusters was partially open and causing a spin. The team is now moving further ahead on their recovery plan before the cubesat's expected arrival at the moon on Nov. 13.

Related: Why it'll take NASA's tiny CAPSTONE probe so long to reach the moon

After reviewing CAPSTONE's telemetry and other observational information, NASA and the Colorado company Advanced Space (which operates the spacecraft on behalf of the agency) said engineers now have command of yaw, pitch and roll (the three axes of a craft's orientation) to control the cubesat's position in space.

"CAPSTONE now has oriented its solar arrays to the sun and adjusted the pointing of its antennas to provide a better data connection to Earth," NASA said, which presumably will allow further commands to stabilize the spacecraft even further.

The agency hedged its success bets, however, noting the risks of this procedure alone were "significant" and that more tweaks might be needed to stop the partially open thruster valve from interfering again with CAPSTONE's position in space.

Nevertheless, the spacecraft "remains on track" to occupy and characterize a lunar near rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO), NASA emphasized, to test its stability ahead of Gateway's arrival in a few years.

Advanced Space did several spacecraft tests and ground simulations ahead of attempting the recovery, the company said in its own CAPSTONE update (opens in new tab) on Friday. The company added it is committed to helping the spacecraft along for "upcoming critical events" and to troubleshoot the valve closure "to further reduce the risk of future propulsive operations."

"The CAPSTONE mission team is grateful for the public and private support provided to the team during this challenging phase of the mission." added Advanced Space.

CAPSTONE, short for Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment, launched atop a Rocket Lab Electron booster on June 28 and has already overcome another major glitch.

On July 4, the spacecraft went darkshortly after separation from Rocket Lab's Photon spacecraft bus. An improperly formatted command caused the issue and engineers addressed it successfully the next day.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter@howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter@Spacedotcom (opens in new tab)orFacebook (opens in new tab).

See the original post:
NASA's tiny CAPSTONE moon probe has finally stopped tumbling in space - Space.com

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on NASA’s tiny CAPSTONE moon probe has finally stopped tumbling in space – Space.com

Science News Roundup: SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and Russian; Nobel prize goes to pioneers of Lego-like "click…

Posted: at 3:51 pm

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

A 'cataclysmic' celestial couple gone wrong - a star eats its mate

Unlike the lonely sun, about half the stars in our Milky Way galaxy are in a long-term committed relationship with another star, orbiting each another in a celestial marriage called a binary system. Researchers this week described one of these marriages gone wrong - a twosome that borders on the extreme, with the pair whirling around each other every 51 minutes in the fastest such orbital period known for a rare class of binary stars. As part of the drama, one star is eating its companion.

Rugby-Research shows huge spike in MND risk among former international players

A new study looking at the impact of concussion on a group of former Scottish international rugby players has found that they were 15 times more likely to develop motor neurone disease (MND) than the general population. The figure is likely to send shock waves through the sport, which is already embroiled in a legal fight over the link between concussion and early onset dementia and which is scrambling to find ways of reducing incidences of concussion in matches and training at all levels.

Puny critter shows humble beginnings of magnificent flying reptiles

Pterosaurs, the flying reptiles that thrived during the age of dinosaurs, achieved great size - some with wingspans like a fighter jet - and displayed striking anatomy including exotic head crests and a hugely elongated finger to support their wings. While the ancestry and early evolution of these creatures have long puzzled scientists, a fresh examination of remains found in Scotland of a small reptile that lived about 230 million years ago during the Triassic Period is helping shed light on the humble origins of pterosaurs, researchers said on Wednesday.

Nobel prize goes to pioneers of Lego-like "click chemistry"

Scientists Carolyn Bertozzi, Morten Meldal and Barry Sharpless won the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for discovering reactions that let molecules snap together to create new compounds and that offer insight into cell biology. The field of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry has been harnessed to improve the targeting of cancer pharmaceuticals now being tested in clinical trials, along with a host of health, agricultural and industrial applications.

SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and Russian

A SpaceX rocket soared into orbit from Florida on Wednesday carrying the next long-term International Space Station crew, with a Russian cosmonaut, two Americans and a Japanese astronaut flying together in a demonstration of U.S.-Russian teamwork in space despite Ukraine war tensions. A high-ranking official of the Russian space agency Roscosmos said shortly after the launch that the flight marked "a new phase of our cooperation" with the U.S. space agency NASA.

(With inputs from agencies.)

Originally posted here:
Science News Roundup: SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and Russian; Nobel prize goes to pioneers of Lego-like "click...

Posted in Space Station | Comments Off on Science News Roundup: SpaceX capsule heads to space station ferrying NASA crew and Russian; Nobel prize goes to pioneers of Lego-like "click…

Kylie Jenner Has a Futuristic Take on the Barbiecore Trend – Harper’s BAZAAR

Posted: at 3:47 pm

Summer may be over, but the color trend of the season is taking over autumnal fashion too.

Yesterday, Kylie Jenner headed out for Balenciaga's spring 2023 fashion show in Villepinte, France, in an outfit that put a futuristic spin on the seemingly ubiquitous Barbiecore trend.

She wore a hot pink iteration of a clingy shearling dress seen on Balenciaga's runway. The long-sleeved piece cinched at her waist and featured structured shoulders and a high neck. She accessorized with more Balenciaga statement pieces, including oversized sunglasses with a pointed white frame, black pumps, and an oversized black leather clutch.

Older sister Khlo Kardashian attended the fashion fete with Jenner. The Good American cofounder opted for an all-black look, appearing in a sleek windbreaker, shiny black trousers, and a pair of black shield sunglasses.

Jacopo M. Raule//Getty Images

Anthony Ghnassia//Getty Images

Jenner has been wearing multiple boundary-pushing ensembles this fashion month.

Recently, the mogul attended Business of Fashion's 500 gala during Paris Fashion Week in a lingerie-turned-eveningwear look. Accompanied by Mugler's creative director, Casey Cadwallader, Jenner wore a deconstructed version of a wrap dress from the French fashion house, featuring swaths of black lace and sheer mesh panels diagonally wrapping across her torso. Underneath the gown was a matching black lace catsuit. For a finishing touch, she wore strappy black heels.

Prior to that, Jenner continued the lingerie fashion streak by wearing a pair of white underwear to Loewe's fashion show. She layered the risqu look with a white tank top, black stockings, and a sweeping gray coat.

Chelsey Sanchez is an Associate Editor at HarpersBAZAAR.com, where she covers pop culture, politics, and social movements.

See the article here:
Kylie Jenner Has a Futuristic Take on the Barbiecore Trend - Harper's BAZAAR

Posted in Futurist | Comments Off on Kylie Jenner Has a Futuristic Take on the Barbiecore Trend – Harper’s BAZAAR

Launch of futuristic 1.3m ‘floating home’ results in red faces when it starts sinking – Daily Star

Posted: at 3:47 pm

A luxury floating home unveiled in Panama late last month embarrassingly failed to live up to the floating part of its description.

The SeaPod was intended to be the first part of a plan to make the 72% of the world that is covered in water into an eco-sustainable paradise according to manufacturers Ocean Builders.

Our technology will allow civilisation to move onto the sea and it will unlock the ocean as a new frontier with a quality of life that is unbeatable anywhere else, the company boasted.

READ MORE: Giant nuclear-powered 'flying hotel' with gym and swimming pool to carry 5,000 passengers

The unique habitat includes a special smart ring that will summon takeaway-carrying drones when the owner gets a little peckish.

But the futuristic homes launch turned out to be a bit of a damp squib when the 1.3m ocean habitat keeled over in front of an audience that included Panamas president, Laurentino Cortizo.

In their advertising pitch for the SeaPod, Ocean Builders explain that: "Just like an iceberg, the hidden magic of a SeaPod lays beneath the surface."

The towering structure, looking like a classic Bond-villain lair, is kept afloat by 1,688 cubic feet of air-filled steel tubes which, according to the manufacturers, results in so much buoyancy that it is able to push the entire SeaPod up 3 metres above the water.

Unfortunately, a malfunctioning bilge pump threw the prototype habitat off balance and caused it to flood.

The company explained: "At roughly 4:35pm on Thursday Sept 22nd, our SeaPod experienced a ballast tank and pumping system malfunction which caused flooding in the jacuzzi spar. This flooding quickly passed through to the other spars causing what were referring to as 'The Tilt'."

Ocean Builders stressed that no-one was harmed in the unfortunate, but hilarious, mishap.

In a statement to Autoevolution, a spokesperson for the company said, Like all innovation and new technology, there is a likelihood of trial and error, and that provides an opportunity to learn, improve, and continue to innovate on ocean technology.

If youre still interested in a life on the ocean wave, prices of the SeaPod at around $295,000 (263,000), but can reach up to $1.5 million (1.3m).

READ NEXT:

Read this article:
Launch of futuristic 1.3m 'floating home' results in red faces when it starts sinking - Daily Star

Posted in Futurist | Comments Off on Launch of futuristic 1.3m ‘floating home’ results in red faces when it starts sinking – Daily Star

Nuclear-powered futuristic sky hotel can stay in the air for several years – Parametric Architecture

Posted: at 3:47 pm

Have you ever imagined a holiday on a sky cruise?

Hashem Al-Ghali presented a video explaining all of the features and sections of this sky hotel, which is based on Tony Holmstens architectural idea and redesigned and animated by Hashem Al-Ghali.Sky crews is a nuclear-powered futuristic sky hotel with a capacity of over 5000 guests. Its elegant design blends commercial plane elements with luxury sky cruise amenities such as a large hall with a 360-degree view of your surroundings.

It will have shopping malls, sports centers, swimming pools, restaurants, bars, childrens playgrounds, theaters, and cinemas. Theres also a part for planning events, such as a sky cruises wedding. Why not?

Two exterior elevators with a magnificent view link the levels of the main entertainment deck. According to Hashem Al-Ghali, there is no reason to be concerned about the carbon footprint of a sky cruise. Its 20 electric engines are fueled entirely by pure nuclear energy, and a tiny nuclear reactor works a well-regulated fusion process to offer endless energy to the sky hotel. In this way, the nuclear energy hotel never runs out of fuel and may stay in the air for several years without ever touching the ground.

Hashem Al-Ghali, also, has a solution for air turbulences. They plan to build an artificial intelligence system that can predict air turbulence minutes before it occurs. When any possible air turbulence is detected, the system will automatically prevent any vibration, so passengers will not feel the turbulence.

The concept has received diverse reactions from social media platforms, especially on YouTube.

If physics and aerodynamics didnt exist, then this vessel might actually be able to take off. J Tompkins

The designers at Fisher Price must be proud to see their vision come close to reality. KLSYFY

I must say, one of my recurrent dreams features this plane. More precisely, it has the glass dome in the middle, white rooms with beds, and a smaller version of the mall. A. M.

Its interesting as a concept, although unfeasible. Still, a good exercise in creativity. Perhaps a mega airship, powered by a small atomic reactor, is more viable. It would be a kind of floating citadel. tarquela

See original here:
Nuclear-powered futuristic sky hotel can stay in the air for several years - Parametric Architecture

Posted in Futurist | Comments Off on Nuclear-powered futuristic sky hotel can stay in the air for several years – Parametric Architecture

The dead US military weapons that came back to life as Hollywood future firearms – Task & Purpose

Posted: at 3:47 pm

When it comes to the world of action cinema, a truly talented armorer can summon fictional firearms out of thin air. With the right additions, a skilled mind can transform AKS-74U into the multi-functional Zorg ZF-1 Pod Weapon System from The Fifth Element, or slap together Ruger Mini-14/AC-556 rifles and Ithaca 37 pump-action shotgun to form the venerably utilitarian Morita series of rifles from Starship Troopers. Hell, nobody cared about the Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer pistol until George Lucas turned it into Han Solos reliable BlasTech DL-44 Heavy Blaster Pistol on the set of Star Wars.

But the realm of action and sci-fi isnt the only place thats obsessed with finding the next big gun: look no further than the halls of the Defense Department, which only recently eked out a purported replacement for the M4 carbine and M249 Squad Automatic Weapon in the form of the XM5 and XM250 Next Generation Squad Weapon variants. But while moviemakers manage to build the best and brightest new toys with relative ease, no such luck applies to the Pentagon, which spent nearly 40 years working through Advanced Combat Rifles and Objective Individual Combat Weapons in search of the perfect next-generation service rifle. Sure, it took from 1982 to peacekeeping operations in Kosovo in 1999 for the U.S. military to formally field the M4 carbine, but no search has left more potential candidates in its wake than the search for its replacement.

Luckily, Hollywood is always there to pick up where the Pentagon leaves off quite literally, in fact. Below is a brief tour of potential U.S. military weapons systems that, once abandoned to the ashheap of history, found second life as a futuristic firearm on the silver screen. (Is it weird that all of them are Heckler & Koch weapons? I didnt think so.)

Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today. Get the latest military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily.

An unusual bullpup-style assault rifle that chambered caseless ammunition (and a personal favorite of the Task & Purpose team), firearms manufacturer Heckler & Koch offered the prototype G11 assault rifle to the U.S. Army during the Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) program that ran from 1986 to 1990. Defined by its blocky appearance, only 1,000 units of the G11 were ever produced, and the rifle eventually entered cinematic history as the Magnetic Accelerator 1X.31A particle weapon pilfered from a museum armory exhibit in 2032 by insane convict Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes) in the dystopian action comedy Demolition Man.

The XM29 Objective Individual Combat Weapon (OICW), also known as the Selectable Assault Battle Rifle or SABR, was a post-ACR attempt to produce a hybrid 5.56mm assault rifle-airburst grenade launcher firearm in order to replace the M16, the M4 carbine, and the M203 grenade launcher all in one sitting. Developed as part of the DoDs Small Arms Master Plan (SAMP) weapon series that ran from the mid-1990s until 2005, the insanely-bulked but undeniably-futuristic-looking XM29 became a featured firearm in the hands of Jean-Claude Van Damme in Universal Solider: The Return and that godawful final Pierce Brosnan James Bond flick Die Another Day, although both versions were in fact mocked-up MP5 and G36Ks, respectively, per the Internet Movie Firearms Database.

The cancellation of the XM29 OICW gave birth to a handful of successor prototypes, chief among them the XM25 semiautomatic airbursting grenade launcher that was developed from the XM29s grenade launcher module. While other prototype weapons often died on the vine before seeing rigorous field testing, the Punisher actually ended up in the hands of 101st Airborne Division soldiers in Afghanistan before field testing was halted in 2013 and the program was formally killed in 2017. Luckily for the moviegoing public, the Punisher found a second life as an extremely deadly surprise for guards at a Russian prison when Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) takes out their observation tower in the Marvel movie Black Widow.

A modular assault rifle spun off from the rifle portion of the XM29 OICW, the XM8 that emerged in 2002 based on Heckler & Kochs G36 rifle series was seen as a potential replacement for the M4 carbine and M16, but according to the Internet Movie Firearms Database, Army personnel who got their hands on the prototypes immediately complained about the weight of the system as well as a the low battery life of the integrated optic and a handguard that melted during sustained use. The only true cinematic appearance of the rifle, which features a distinctive curved handle and birdcage flash hider, was in XXX: State of the Union, where this bad boy graced the likes of Ice Cube and Samuel L. Jackson. (The weapons appearance in Children of Men and District 13: Ultimatum, were apparently Airsoft replicas.)

Want to write for Task & Purpose? Click here. Or check out the latest stories on our homepage.

See the rest here:
The dead US military weapons that came back to life as Hollywood future firearms - Task & Purpose

Posted in Futurist | Comments Off on The dead US military weapons that came back to life as Hollywood future firearms – Task & Purpose

Life finds a way, but should it? The ethics of genetic engineering – The Trinitonian

Posted: at 3:44 pm

Most people have seen or at least know the premise of the Jurassic Park franchise. Man tries to bring back dinosaurs from the dead and ends up pushing the limits of science too far, with disastrous consequences. The movies serve as a lesson in caution and respecting natural life, portraying the dangers of not doing so through a very fictionalized scenario. Although we may be a long way from bringing back the dinosaurs, the technology used to genetically engineer the DNA of existing species is well-established and could potentially be used to bring extinct species back.

The process of reverse-engineering species involves taking the genetic material from a living species and using the genetic material of similar species in order to achieve a creature similar in genes and physical appearance to an extinct species. This is difficult to do for dinosaurs, as we do not have good enough documentation of their DNA sequences to create an accurate picture, and would instead have to guess by working backwards from reptiles or birds. However, just because Jurassic Park is further away than we might think doesnt mean this technology cannot be used to bring back more recently extinct species, such as certain rhinos, birds and tortoises.

In fact, in 2003, scientists attempted to use genetic engineering technology in order to bring back the extinct Pyrenean ibex, a type of goat. Although the attempt ultimately failed, it showed that scientists have the ability to bring back extinct species if they have access to the genetic material of that animal. With strides in gene-editing technology, it might not be necessary to have the full genetic sequence of a species in order to resurrect it.

CRISPR is a widely known DNA editing technique that involves taking short sequences of DNA and splicing them together to create a new DNA strand. In humans, this experimental technology has been largely used for editing out specific mutations to treat diseases on a genomic level. In extinct animals, it could be used to splice together DNA of existing animals to emulate an extinct animal for which scientists might not have the complete genetic information.

Even if this process has yet to be fully developed, as the possibility becomes more realistic it necessitates thinking through not only if it could happen, but if it should.

Bringing back extinct species, especially those from as far back as the Jurassic period, could have disastrous environmental effects. A study found that reintroducing extinct species to the ecosystem could overall decrease biodiversity, rather than increase, especially if the government or private institutions start allocating more resources towards the revived species rather than our existing life. Bringing back extinct species also means bringing back their sources of food. It means making sure that they are able to withstand different global temperatures, pathogens and predators of today. Without all this, they would have to be kept under close watch in enclosures, requiring even more resources.

The cost of the resources that these revived species would need to survive is expensive, and not just in monetary terms. Currently, species are going extinct 100 to 1,000 times faster than anticipated, meaning that at least 2,000 species go extinct each year (and that number might be a severe underestimate). Instead of focusing efforts on trying to bring back each of these, it would be much more efficient and effective to simply focus on spending money, time and energy on finding ways to reduce the rate at which human activity is killing life on Earth.

Investigating more sustainable sources of energy, developing consumption policies for individuals and corporations and trying to limit our global pollution would all be much more likely to sustain or at least slow down the destruction of our current biodiversity. When we can limit the destruction of biodiversity, then the whole planet will benefit, from improving water and air quality to mitigating food shortages and resource depletion.

The concept of genetic engineering is not inherently bad. It could be used to bring back recently extinct species, i.e., ones that are more adapted to the current environment, without negatively affecting our biodiversity. It could be used to treat life-threatening heritable disorders. But when put into the larger context of our planet and the current climate crisis, it seems to be a waste of resources and time. There are many other ways to improve our planets health without looking to the past, if only we look to preserve the future instead.

Continue reading here:
Life finds a way, but should it? The ethics of genetic engineering - The Trinitonian

Posted in Genetic Engineering | Comments Off on Life finds a way, but should it? The ethics of genetic engineering – The Trinitonian

Page 148«..1020..147148149150..160170..»