secor77

The article talks about trying to get the price below $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent. Given how the price of oil has been plunging lately, they may need to revise that downward. Interesting to see NASA involved though through their OMEGA project. Algal Biofuels: Closer to Sustainability

I have to admit, when I first heard about 3D printing I rolled my eyes. I'm a scientist, but even I couldn't see the practical value. Well, I'm starting to think I was wrong (isn't the first time, won't be the last). Check out this article on 3D Printers in manufacturing. I mean, GE is investing 50 million in it! Here's the article: 3D Printers Build on Manufacturing Success Anyway, check it out and tell me what you think. Is 3D printing a fad? I used to think so...but now I'm less sure.

Just to give you an idea of why we need quantum computers. The red line is a traditional computer, the yellow is a quantum computer. You can see that once you get to a certain molecular size or basis set size (basis set is just the equation with parameters used to solve the calculation) it pretty much takes an infinite amount of time with traditional computers.

I recently have been researching Quantum Computing for an article I was writing. It's amazing how far along it has come. Google just recently hired Dr. Martinis from the University of California, Santa Barbara to help develop and working Quantum Computer. Google has been working with the DWave Two, but there is some controversy as to whether or not that is a fully quantum computer (it very likely is only quasi-quantum). This is a pretty cool development because there are all kinds of problems that could benefit from quantum computers. Problems that would take classical computers thousands of years. Just cool stuff. Google Leaps Into Quantum Computing (click at the top to close the annoying pop up) Here is the webpage for Dr. Martinis group

Hello. My name is Roger Pink and I'm a physicist and a science writer. This is an article I wrote on the SpaceX Falcon 9. If you're interested, please give it a read and let me know what you think below in the comments here. SpaceX Falcon 9 Here is an excerpt: The current Falcon 9, known as the Falcon 9 v1.1, introduced several improvements. It is heavier at 1,115,200 pounds and taller at 224 feet, though it still measures 12 feet in diameter. The extra height and weight are due to the additional fuel required by its nine improved Merlin 1D engines that are arranged in what SpaceX calls an Octaweb configuration. In this configuration, eight of the nine engines are arranged in a circle with the ninth located in the center of the circle. SpaceX claims this configuration is more reliable, having been the preferred arrangement for NASA's Saturn I and Saturn V rockets. SpaceX claims that two of the nine engines can fail in this arrangement without endangering the overall mission. The more powerful engines result in higher specific impulse at sea level (282 seconds) with increased payloads of 28,990 pounds to LEO and 10,690 pounds to GTO. Just like the earlier v1.0, the v1.1 is a two-stage launch vehicle. The stage separation system was redesigned for v1.1 with the number of attachment points reduced from 12 to 3. The separation system uses pneumatics instead of traditional pyrotechnics for low-shock, high reliability separation that can be tested on the ground.