Oct 4, 2015
Spooky Quantum Action Might Hold the Universe Together
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: quantum physics, space
Caption: Tensor networks could connect space-time froth to quantum information. Hannes Hummel for Quanta Magazine.
Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 992
Oct 4, 2015
Computer that could outlive the universe a step closer
Posted by Andreas Matt in categories: computing, physics, space
The heat-death of the universe need not bring an end to the computing age. A strange device known as a time crystal can theoretically continue to work as a computer even after the universe cools. A new blueprint for such a time crystal brings its construction a step closer.
Ordinary crystals are three-dimensional objects whose atoms are arranged in regular, repeating patterns – just like table salt. They adopt this structure because it uses the lowest amount of energy possible to maintain.
Earlier this year, Frank Wilczek, a theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, speculated that a similar structure might repeat regularly in the fourth dimension – time.
Oct 2, 2015
Google, NASA using quantum computing to push A.I., machine learning
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in categories: computing, quantum physics, robotics/AI, space
Google and NASA are continuing to test quantum computers and this week entered into a new agreement to work with a series of updated systems.
D-Wave Systems, a quantum computing company based in Burnaby, British Columbia, announced this week that it had signed a deal to install a succession of D-Wave systems at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. NASA and Google on Wednesday also confirmed the deal.
NASA and the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) are collaborating on the project, which is focused on advancing artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Oct 1, 2015
Scientists suggest a new, earth-shaking twist on the demise of the dinosaurs
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: existential risks, space
Oct 1, 2015
New Maps of Ceres Highlight Mysterious Bright Spots, Giant Mountain
Posted by Sean Brazell in category: space
New maps of Ceres show the dwarf planet’s mysterious bright spots and huge, pyramid-shaped mountain in a new light.
The new maps of Ceres come courtesy of NASA’s Dawn spacecraft, which has been orbiting the heavily cratered dwarf planet since March. The maps highlight the compositional and elevation differences across Ceres, the largest object in the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
For example, one new topographic map focuses on an odd mountain dubbed “the Pyramid,” which rises about 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) into space from Ceres’ surface. And another map zeroes in on the 56-mile-wide (90 km) Occator crater, whose floor features the most luminescent of the dwarf planet’s enigmatic bright spots. [Ceres’ Mysterious Bright Spots Coming Into Focus (Video)].
Sep 29, 2015
Terraforming Mars: Things to do to make Mars habitable
Posted by Aleksandar Vukovic in categories: engineering, environmental, space
Terraforming can be approximately defined as transforming the state of any heavenly bodies such as moons, planets to that of Earth.
Sep 29, 2015
Exclusive first picture of Water on Mars… #NASA #WaterOnMars
Posted by Aleksandar Vukovic in category: space
Sep 29, 2015
The Inside Story on Lightless, One of the Year’s Most Exciting New Space Operas!
Posted by Sean Brazell in categories: computing, entertainment, space
The brand new space opera novel Lightless is a fast-paced, gripping read, and like all good science fiction, explores the human side of cutting-edge scientific concepts. We talked to debut author C.A. Higgins about using real physics in her story.
In Lightless, a prototype spaceship on its maiden voyage on behalf of a totalitarian regime is infiltrated by escaped terrorists. And it’s up to Althea, a socially awkward computer scientist who prefers the company of the Ananke’s disturbingly sentient electronic system to that of her crewmates, to save the day as her well-ordered world begins to unravel.
http://www.amazon.com/Lightless-C-A-Higgins/dp/0553394428?ta…9236004136
Sep 28, 2015
NASA Says There’s Evidence Of Flowing Water On Mars
Posted by Shailesh Prasad in category: space
Sep 28, 2015
NASA Confirms Evidence That Liquid Water Flows on Today’s Mars
Posted by Amnon H. Eden in category: space
New findings from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) provide the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.
Using an imaging spectrometer on MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures are above minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 23 Celsius), and disappear at colder times.
“Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected,” said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. “This is a significant development, as it appears to confirm that water — albeit briny — is flowing today on the surface of Mars.”
