Researchers have tested a small prototype of a nuclear-reactor engine design that could one day power deep-space exploration probes.
The proposed design is based on a Stirling engine – an engine first invented in the 19th century that uses hot pressurized gas to push a piston. It would use a 50-pound nuclear uranium battery to generate heat that is then carried to eight Stirling engines to produce about 500 watts of power.
Scientists at NASA’s Glenn Research Center and Los Alamos National Laboratory have tested a pared-down prototype of this design using a small nuclear source and a single Stirling engine that produced about 24 watts of energy. Most deep-space probes require about 600 to 700 watts of power, so it will still be a while before this early test produces something capable of powering a spacecraft. This is the first test of a nuclear reactor system to power a spacecraft conducted in the U.S. since 1965.
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As a reformed wingnut, I recall those times. So much for that Bill Ayres-Barack Obama friendship. Ayres, the 1960s radical from Chicago whom Republicans have often tried to link to Obama, says the president should be tried for "war crimes," and that his use of drones and other counter-terrorism activities amount to "acts of terror." To be fair, the former member of the Weather ...
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KTLA) — A man killed Tuesday in a fiery car crash in Hollywood was journalist Michael Hastings, his employer said. The wreck happened near the intersection of Highland and Melrose avenues around 4:15 a.m., according to LAPD Officer Lillian Carranza. The car, presumably driven by Hastings, slammed into a tree and caught fire. “I was just coming northbound on Highland and I ...
Talking Points Memo: The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has taken the unusual step of actively blocking a former committee aide from talking to TPM about congressional oversight of the intelligence community. At issue isn’t classified sources and methods of intelligence gathering but general information about how the committee functions — and how it should function. The committee’s refusal to allow former general counsel ...
BBC: A former Hollywood stunt double has sued News Corp and its subsidiary News International, accusing the companies of ordering the hacking of her phone. The suit, the first such claim from the US, was filed by Eunice Huthart, a British former double for Hollywood star Angelina Jolie. In the suit, the Liverpool resident alleges messages from family, friends and Ms Jolie were intercepted ...
From The Atlantic 2013-06-18 Conor Friedersdorf. USA Today has published an extraordinary interview with three former NSA employees who praise Edward Snowden's leaks, corroborate some of his claims, and warn about unlawful government acts. Thomas Drake, William Binney, and J. Kirk Wiebe each protested the NSA in their own rights. "For years, the three whistle-blowers had told anyone who would listen that the NSA ...
Google has petitioned a secret U.S. national security court to relax restrictions on the information the tech giant can disclose about government data requests, claiming such restrictions violate the company's right to free speech under the First Amendment. Google's motion, filed Tuesday with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, is the tech giant's latest attempt to address recent media reports that suggested it gives the ...
Beyond Camp, other lawmakers scheduled to attend the rally include GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Mike Lee (Utah) and Rand Paul (Ky.) along with Reps. Michele Bachmann (Minn.), Tim Huelskamp (Kan.) and Jim Jordan (Ohio).
More: Glenn Beck IRS Rally Gets Between Dave Camp and Sander Levin - Kelsey Snell
Call it Klan Kamp, a summertime retreat in the Ozark Mountains where, for $500 per camper, young and old can learn the fundamentals of the "HOLY mission of White Christian Revival" with the goal of becoming leaders in the "New Crusade for race, faith and homeland." On Aug. 23, the first class of the Soldiers of the Cross Training Institute (SOTC) is scheduled to ...
The Wall Street Journal's James Taranto argued Tuesday that the discussion about sexual assault in the military has become "a war on men." Taranto brought up the case of Capt. Matthew Herrera, an Air Force officer accused of sexual assault by a fellow servicewoman, in a column as an example of Congress' "effort to criminalize male sexuality." Capt. Herrera was ultimately not convicted of ...
The first experimental drug to boost brain synapses lost in Alzheimer's disease has been developed by researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute. The drug, called NitroMemantine, combines two FDA-approved medicines to stop the destructive cascade of changes in the brain that destroys the connections between neurons, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline. The decade-long study, led by Stuart A. Lipton, M.D., Ph.D., professor ...
President Barack Obama is expected to use his speech at the iconic Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday to renew calls for a reduction in nuclear weapons. It is not the first time the president has called for a reduction in stockpiles, but by addressing the issue in a major foreign speech, Obama is hoping to rekindle the issue, which was at the center of his ...
Reuters: But even the press in aggregate is not a friend to whistle-blowers, as its recent treatment of Snowden attests, what with the deep dives into his teen years (including photos), his education and employment history, his reputation as a loner and a “brainiac,” his pants-down hijinks, his online scribblings, his dancer girlfriend, his predilection for (in his own words) “post-coital Krispy Kremes.” Squeezing ...
June 4, 2013 -- In 2010, in the journal Nature, a pair of physicists at the Santa Fe Institute showed that when the population of a city doubles, economic productivity goes up by an average of 130 percent. Not only does total productivity increase with increased population, but so does per-capita productivity. Share This: In the latest issue of Nature Communications, researchers from the ...
Senior bankers guilty of reckless misconduct should be jailed, a long-awaited report on banking commissioned by the government has recommended. The Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was set up by Chancellor George Osborne last year after a number of scandals involving the industry. Jail reckless bankers, standards commission urgesThe cross-party group's fifth report attacked the lack of accountability of bankers and also said some ...
LE BOURGET, France — Boeing Co. won major orders from five customers for a stretched-out version of its popular 787 Dreamliner jet at the Paris Air Show Tuesday, further evidence of a strengthening market for more expensive long-haul jets.Boeing announced the formal launch of its 787-10 program at the Paris Air Show on Tuesday and says it already has commitments for 102 jets from ...
When Laura Gambrel, 22, of Zionsville, Ind., graduated from Indiana University in May, she wanted to keep the celebration pretty low key. She didn’t walk at the ceremony, nor did she have a party because she planned to go right back to the university this coming fall for grad school. It seemed only fitting then that the one thing her mother attempted to do ...
Are you uncomfortable with ambiguity? It's a common condition, but a highly problematic one. The compulsion to quell that unease can inspire snap judgments, rigid thinking, and bad decision-making. Fortunately, new research suggests a simple antidote for this affliction: Read more literary fiction. A trio of University of Toronto scholars, led by psychologist Maja Djikic, report that people who have just read a short ...
Dye her hair blonde and she's got a job at Fox News. Question: "A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?" Marissa Powell: "I think we can relate this back to education, and how we are ... continuing to try ...
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