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Oct 28, 2018

Mars Colony Prize — Design the First Human Settlement on Mars

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, economics, food, robotics/AI, space travel

The Mars Society is holding a special contest called The Mars Colony Prize for designing the best plan for a Mars colony of 1000 people. There will be a prize of $10,000 for first place, $5,000 for second and $2500 for third. In addition, the best 20 papers will be published in a book — “Mars Colonies: Plans for Settling the Red Planet.”

The Mars colony should be self-supporting to the maximum extent possible – i.e. relying on a minimum mass of imports from Earth. In order to make all the things that people need on Earth takes a lot more than 1000 people, so you will need to augment both the amount and diversity of available labor power through the use of robots and artificial intelligence. You will need to be able to both produce essential bulk materials like food, fabrics, steel, glass, and plastics on Mars, and fabricate them into useful structures, so 3D printing and other advanced fabrication technologies will be essential. The goal is to have the colony be able to produce all the food, clothing, shelter, power, common consumer products, vehicles, and machines for 1000 people, with only the minimum number of key components, such as advanced electronics needing to be imported from Earth.

As noted, imports will always be necessary, so you will need to think of useful exports – of either material or intellectual products that the colony could produce and transport or transit back to Earth to pay for them. In the future, it can be expected that the cost of shipping goods from Earth to Mars will be $500/kg and the cost of shipping goods from Mars to Earth will be $200/kg. Under these assumptions, your job is to design an economy, cost it out, and show that after a certain initial investment in time and money, that it can become successful.

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Oct 28, 2018

A Huge Achievement in Math Shows the Limits of Symmetries

Posted by in category: mathematics

In a major mathematical achievement, a small team of researchers has proven Zimmer’s conjecture.

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Oct 28, 2018

If atoms are mostly empty space, why is matter not transparent?

Posted by in category: particle physics

Sure there’s lots of empty space within atoms, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing there to see.

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Oct 28, 2018

Young scientists develop enviro-friendly bricks made out of urine

Posted by in categories: climatology, sustainability

It seems unusual, but concrete brick production is a major contributor to climate change.

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Oct 28, 2018

One state doesn’t want to ‘fall back’

Posted by in category: futurism

Florida wants to have daylight saving time year-round. But it would be tricky to change.

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Oct 28, 2018

Coastal Pacific Oxygen Levels Now Plummet Once A Year

Posted by in category: futurism

Scientists credit the crab and oyster industries with noticing a change in oxygen levels in coastal Pacific waters.

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Oct 28, 2018

There Are More Tiger Types Than We Thought, New Genetic Analysis Reveals

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, genetics

Tigers seem pretty straightforward: stripes, sharp claws, awe-inspiring grace wielded by hundreds of pounds of rippling muscle, fondness of sugary cereal, etc. But new research on the big cats’ DNA is the latest indication that underneath that striking orange and black pelage, not all tigers are the same. Scientists are now reporting that tigers are broken up into six distinct subspecies spread out across Asia.

In endangered species like tigers, pegging down the exact number of subspecies can be pretty important for conservation purposes. Being mindful of how the species is naturally divided up in the wild—and how populations may be evolving independently of one another—can allow conservationists to more effectively manage populations as cohesive units. Global tiger conservation has struggled with this since there’s been plenty of disagreement on how many subspecies even exist.

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Oct 28, 2018

Scientists Say New Material Could Hold up an Actual Space Elevator

Posted by in categories: materials, space

This is a breakthrough.

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Oct 28, 2018

Ice-Filled Lava Tubes On The Moon Could Aid Astronauts

Posted by in category: space

A recent discovery.

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Oct 28, 2018

Look to Africa to advance artificial intelligence

Posted by in categories: education, information science, robotics/AI

That will require widening of the locations where AI is done. The vast majority of experts are in North America, Europe and Asia. Africa, in particular, is barely represented. Such lack of diversity can entrench unintended algorithmic biases and build discrimination into AI products. And that’s not the only gap: fewer African AI researchers and engineers means fewer opportunities to use AI to improve the lives of Africans. The research community is also missing out on talented individuals simply because they have not received the right education.


If AI is to improve lives and reduce inequalities, we must build expertise beyond the present-day centres of innovation, says Moustapha Cisse.

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