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Archive for the ‘space’ category: Page 704

Feb 14, 2017

The Island of Dr. Moreau For Real

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, health, space, time travel

By Drs. David Niesel and Norbert Herzog, Medical Discovery News

H.G. Wells was a writer of fantastic science fiction during the 1890s. He is considered one of the fathers of science fiction and wrote novels whose stories remain popular today. He wrote about time travel in “The Time Machine”, about interplanetary conflict originally made popular by the Orson Wells’ “The War of the Worlds” and in “The Island of Dr. Moreau” he described beings that were part human and part animal. Two of the three remain pure science fiction but one is on the verge of becoming a reality. Do you know which one?

In August, 2016, the National Institutes of Health announced that it was lifting its ban on research that introduces stem cells from humans into animal embryos. Stem cells have the ability to evolve into any human cell and can grow into any human tissue. The goal of this type of research is to grow human tissues and eventually human replacement organs in animals. What an innovative way to improve upon transplantation medicine! But to realize this potential, we would create an organism that is part animal and part human! These hybrids are the stuff of ancient mythology. These mixtures of different animals are called chimeras after the mythical ancient Greek creature that was part lion, snake and goat. One goal of today’s research is to produce tissues and organs for experimentation that will improve our understanding of human disease. An alternative and longer term goal would be to produce organs directly for human transplantation.

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Feb 13, 2017

Colonizing Mars could spark a new kind of frightening human evolution

Posted by in categories: evolution, space

Humans on Earth might not be allowed to meet Martians.

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Feb 13, 2017

Elon Musk envisions human colonies ‘beyond Mars’, skyrocketing unemployment on Earth

Posted by in categories: Elon Musk, employment, robotics/AI, space

SpaceX founder Elon Musk has laid out predictions for a near-future where humans live among the stars and a dystopian-like employment crisis hits parts the world, because of advanced robot technology.

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Feb 12, 2017

A Vision to Bootstrap the Solar System Economy

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, biological, economics, information science, robotics/AI, space, transportation

Early probes are one thing, but can we build a continuing presence among the stars, human or robotic? An evolutionary treatment of starflight sees it growing from a steadily expanding presence right here in our Solar System, the kind of infrastructure Alex Tolley examines in the essay below. How we get to a system-wide infrastructure is the challenge, one analyzed by a paper that sees artificial intelligence and 3D printing as key drivers leading to a rapidly expanding space economy. The subject is a natural for Tolley, who is co-author (with Brian McConnell) of A Design for a Reusable Water-Based Spacecraft Known as the Spacecoach (Springer, 2016). An ingenious solution to cheap transportation among the planets, the Spacecoach could readily be part of the equation as we bring assets available off-planet into our economy and deploy them for even deeper explorations. Alex is a lecturer in biology at the University of California, and has been a Centauri Dreams regular for as long as I can remember, one whose insights are often a touchstone for my own thinking.

By Alex Tolley

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Feb 11, 2017

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station remotely controlled robots on Earth this week

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Such research could lead to methods of controlling advance-scouting rovers on asteroids, moons, or planets from nearby orbit. All this and more in a recap of science on the Space Station. Details: http://go.nasa.gov/2lBDZrq

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Feb 11, 2017

Astrobee: NASA’s Newest Robot for the International Space Station

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Small, versatile, and autonomous, Astrobee will be getting to work on the ISS.

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Feb 10, 2017

The Origami Revolution Preview

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, robotics/AI, space

Engineers are using origami to design drugs, micro-robots, and future space missions.

Don’t miss “The Origami Revolution,” airing February 15, 2017 at 9 pm on PBS: http://to.pbs.org/2lp78cv

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Feb 8, 2017

NASA Announces Space Robotics Challenge Finalists

Posted by in categories: robotics/AI, space

Top teams will compete in a simulated Mars mission.

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Feb 8, 2017

Astronomers find first white dwarf pulsar

Posted by in category: space

Feb. 7 (UPI) — Astronomers at the University of Warwick have located a white dwarf pulsar — the first of its kind.

Until now, pulsars have been the domain of neutron stars. First discovered by astronomers in the 1960s, the binary stay systems are characterized by rhythmic blasts of electromagnetic radiation.

The newly identified white dwarf pulsar is called AR Scorpii, or AR Sco. It’s located in the constellation Scorpius, 380 light-years from our solar system.

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Feb 8, 2017

Hubble image captures the death of a star

Posted by in categories: physics, space

Feb. 3 (UPI) — A new image from the Hubble Space Telescope displays the beauty of a stellar death — in this case, the death of a low-mass star, similar to our sun in size.

Once a red giant, the star is currently in a transitionary phase: It’s on its way to becoming a planetary nebula. The Hubble image reveals the star’s layers of gas and dust being shed and thrown outward. The expelled material, now forming clouds, could eventually form new stars and planets.

Astronomers rarely catch dying red giants in their transitionary phase. It will only be a few thousand years before the star is a pure planetary nebula — a blip in space time.

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