Impossible Drives, Missing Nukes and Balloons in Space

The 'impossible'  em - drive

Perhaps the biggest news is the publication of a paper by NASA following their exhaustive testing of the enigmatic EM drive.
I mentioned this in a post some time ago, as it holds incredible potential for space travel at near light speed - it also makes flying cars a possibility.
The fact that it negates part of Einsteins Theory of Relativity is a minor hurdle , but one which it seems to have overcome.
After all , rules were made to be broken.
The ramifications of this news are truly amazing - Earth to Mars in 70 days - making a swift visit to those distant relatives a very real possibility...

MEANWHILE, UP IN SPACE...

bloostar

With the recent comet-landing , and Bennu sample mission underway, much of the current space activity seems to be aimed at future near - world asteroid mining which has potential already identified by at least two companies ; Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries.
With Blue Origin and SpaceX both offering commercial rocket flights and bloostar offering a balloon - assisted launch for smaller payloads , including spacecraft, it will soon be quite a busy place up there - so if you want to take advantage of the serene view of Earth from the edge of space, you'd better quickly book a balloon flight with zero2infinity.com  ( I love the slogan 'purveyors of elevation')

There seems to be an upsurge of interest in off-world stuff, so have a tour of the ISS in 4K .
The leisurely pace of the film also provides a relaxing 'chill-out' factor, just the thing to take your mind off all that Earthbound stress...
Today the crew known as expedition 50 sucessfully boarded the ISS to begin their six - month stint of experiments and living in the confined space.
Plans are being made for a joint space station orbiting the moon , when the ISS has been decommisioned. The projected date for the new facility is 2028 or thereabouts, just to be unscientific...

We learn that there is a huge chasm on Mercury big enough to rival the Deep Rift valley in Africa, and the Grand Canyon, at 600 miles long and 250 miles wide.
Whilst its dimensions are impressive, the main thing is that it indicates active geology on Mercury - and the little planet is shrinking - hardly surprising being so close to the sun ,...but this also tells us that both Mercury and Pluto appear to have an unknown internal heat source.
In other news, Mars has a funnel which could potentially support  microbial life , being a depression from an old volcano atop a glacier.

MEANWHILE BACK ON EARTH...

A long lost 'nuke' may have been found off the Canadian coast , where it has lain since 1950 when it was abandoned following a plane crash .
Phew, one less cause for sleepless nights among Canadians...

Only dedicated applicants need apply to see Marie Curies notes ; they have a radioactive half-life of 1500 years.
In fairness you should probably wear a hazmat suit, which makes page-turning difficult, too.


                               

Touchdown , Smackdown , Saturn and Giant Wombats

16 sunrises every day on the ISS

It is now 21 years since the discovery of  the first exoplanet , 51Pegasi B, in the constellation of Pegasus.
Following this find , the number of exoplanets has rocketed ( no pun intended) , and now stands at  approximately 3500 
Whilst many exoplanets are woefully unsuitable for Earth comparisons - 51Pegasi B is a 'hot Jupiter', a tidally locked world that orbits its sun every four days with an average surface temperature of 1200°c .
The figure of 3500 exoplanets gives only a tiny fraction of potentially Earth - like worlds - personally, I think we're wasting precious resources looking for our own reflections.
Are we a world of Narcissists ?
Actually...

NASA celebrates 16 years of the ISS in orbit with the release of an amazing selection of  gifs charting the development of the little 'space colony '.
 A recent touchdown of returning crew from the ISS in Kazakhastan  generated some great photos courtesy of  Bill Ingalls

Returning Soyuz capsule    pic NASA/ Bill Ingalls

Saturn pic Cassini   NASA

The mysterious hexagon , which is bigger than Earth at Saturn's north pole has changed color,
shifting from blue to gold...speculation abounds online that the planet is the solar systems mood-ring.
Meanwhile, it is revealed that Saturns moon Titan is littered with steep- walled canyons filled with liquid methane .
Stunning views and fine sailing for anyone brave enough...seriously though, when Cassini reaches the end of its tenure, there is a proposed submarine mission 

Giovanni Cassini's journals.
He discovered four of  Saturn's moons
between 1671-1684

 Meanwhile on Mars...

The dauntless explorer Curiosity is still roving over the rugged martian landscape.
Its latest find is a meteorite ( known as egg-rock) composed of a nickel / iron mixture .
Whilst it's not exactly big news, I include it here as evidence that NASA are scanning images for even such small oddities - although they obviously missed the squirrel , witchy woman and alien -crab -thingy amongst other uncanny similes.
For those who wish to conduct a post -mortem , the wreckage of the ill- fated Schiaparelli has been imaged by the Mars Orbiter.
I hope that someday the wreckage can be displayed alongside Beagle II and remnants of the many other ill- fated expeditions to the ' Red Planet'.
No doubt the Curiosity rover will be first in line to mock its failed predecessors / rivals in an understated , robotic way

Following the revelation that there are huge amounts of galaxies ( at least two trillion ) in the observable universe, it's the brain- melting number -crunch time again.
Apparently dark matter ( the theoretical crazy-glue of the cosmos) is comprised of trillions of axion particles.
Trillions of axions in every cubic centimeter of the universe.
Ponder.
Feel incredibly small.
Then get annoyed at all the ' ifs' and ' possiblies' associated with what is undoubtedly impressive but almost totally conjectural work.
Personally, I was initially impressed, but increasingly angered by the vagueness of the piece ( see above link).
Perhaps.


MEANWHILE, BACK ON EARTH...

A mysterious 'ping' sound emanating from the seabed in the Arctic is being investigated by the Canadian military .
Early reports dismiss industrial exploration and international subterfuge .
Apparently this ping is pretty serious then , or we're involved in a publicity scam for a new X-files movie....

In the last post, I mentioned the discovery of a hybrid cattle / bison species depicted in cave paintings - now we hear of a discovery indicating that Australia was populated 10 000 years earlier than previously thought.
Evidence has emerged with the discovery of bone fragments, weapons and egg shells in the Australian outback.
The media spin tells us that a man made the discovery when he was caught short and decided to answer the call of nature in a rocky shelter .

Other ancient discoveries recently include what may or may not be a dinosaur brain.
Found some 50 miles from London , ( for the politically inclined, there are dinosaur brains in London , in the Palace of Westminster, which are still functioning in a rudimentary fashion) it is currently being studied as a rare anomaly  (soft tissue tends to degenerate quickly , leaving no trace)  by a Paleobiologist - blimey - first I knew of such a profession !

Finally , a tip of the hat to the tireless writers of  Gizmodo , ( particularly the excellent work of Maddie Stone) , the Planetary org , NASA and  also thanks to you for indulging this weird little micro -blog 
Until next time

G Alias Me