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Monthly Archives: May 2009
Catalytic Nuclear Ramjet
Catalytic Nuclear Ramjet(application/pdf Object). Robert Bussard first proposed the Nuclear-Fusion Interstellar Ramjet in 1960 and it caught the imagination of researchers (like Carl Sagan) and fiction writers (like Larry Niven & Poul Anderson) alike. Basically Bussard proposed to scoop up … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmos, Energy futures, SETI, Starflight, Super-Tech
2 Comments
What the Hell is a Polytrope?
polytrop.pdf (application/pdf Object). This little pdf file covers some interesting properties of polytropes – but what’s a polytrope? Basically it’s a sphere of gas, or some other matter, governed by a particular equation of how the pressure and the density … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmos, Sol Space, exoplanets
1 Comment
STEV
STEV. The Stellar Evolution course page of Onno Pols & Matteo Cantiello at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, in English, the Universal language of Academia (at least for non-Dutch speakers like moi.) An aside: The more I speak to non-English … Continue reading
Posted in Anthropology, Cosmos
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Pulsars for interstellar navigation
Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: How to use pulsars for interstellar navigation. Thanks to the TechReview arXivBlog… a proposed means of navigating via known pulsars. Accurate to within metres, at least within the solar system, but surely it can be … Continue reading
Posted in Carnival
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Helium-burning Puzzler
The Triple-Alpha fusion process “burns” helium-4 into carbon-12 and powers stars on the Helium Main Sequence, the short-lived and bright After-Life of a star when it has exhausted its Core hydrogen and is reborn through the Phoenix-like pyre of the … Continue reading
How much is there?
Just how much oxygen is in our atmosphere? And is it imperilled by sequestering carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels? Firstly, how much atmosphere is there? Earth’s surface pressure is defined as 101,325 newtons/metre2 and Earth’s surface gravity is roughly … Continue reading
Posted in Energy futures, Super-Tech
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Rydberg Matter… Invisible Hazard?
Rydberg Matter in Space. Rydberg atoms are atoms orbitted by electrons in an excited state which leaves them barely attached to their nucleii, often for surprisingly long time periods. Rydberg Matter is basically clusters of Rydberg atoms attracted to each … Continue reading
Posted in Cosmos, SETI, Starflight
8 Comments
Dense Deuterium for Nuclear Fusion
News detail – University of Gothenburg, Sweden. A Swedish physical chemist, Leif Homlid, is producing ultra-dense deuterium, though the news-bite is a bit vague on how much and how stable it is. However it’s 130,000 times denser than water and … Continue reading
Posted in Energy futures, Starflight, Super-Tech
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Proterozoic Metazoans?
Complex life pushed back in time (ABC News in Science). The Vindyan sedimentary basins in central India have been contentious for quite some time, with claims of animal body and trace fossils going back into the Meso-Proterozoic (1.6-1.0 Gya.) That … Continue reading
Giant trilobites had (complex?) social lives
Giant trilobites had complex social lives (ABC News in Science). Trilobites ganged together to molt, just like modern day horseshoe crabs – themselves relicts of a bygone age. Such “social” behaviour is surprisingly old, as molting groups have been found … Continue reading
Posted in Biology, SETI
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