The United States should not have to rely as much on charitable contributions from billionaires to help solve the nation's economic challenges,Biden campaign surrogate Pete Buttigieg told CNBC on Thursday.

"It's wonderful when there are these major commitments, generous commitments by individuals, but we've also got to ask how things got so unequal in the first place," the former Democratic presidential candidate said on "Squawk Box."

Buttigieg's remarks came in response to a question about whether to tax charitablecontributions such as the one that multibillionaire Warren Buffettjust announced. The "Oracle of Omaha" on Wednesday saidhe woulddonate nearly $3 billion worth ofBerkshire Hathawaystock.As of Wednesday's market close, Buffett ranked No. 4 on Forbes' list of the richest people in the world with an estimated net-worth of $67.6 billion.

Buffett has said he will give away nearly all of his fortune, with most of it going to a handful of philanthropic organizations including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and charities run by his three children.Since 2006, he has donated more than $37 billion, including the latest contribution.

Instead of taxing philanthropy, Buttigieg said it would make more sense for the U.S. to have a more equitable tax structure on the "front end." That way, he said, the tax revenue wouldsupport programs and other efforts that reduce inequality that have more input from voters.

"If a little bit more of that was making its way into a democratically guided process, in other words the kind of research and development that invent trillion dollar ideas like the internet itself and space travel, we know our country is better off," said Buttigieg,the former two-term mayor of South Bend, Indiana. "We've got to ask where the balance is."

For example, Buttigieg referenced a report last year that found a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour is unable to pay for an affordable two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the U.S. However, some states and localities have higher minimum wages than the federal rate, which has remained the same forabouta decade.

"I would argue that if that weren't the case, if we had higher wages and more public investment, we wouldn't need to lean on philanthropy quite as much as we do," Buttigieg said.

Buttigieg, who won the most delegates in February's Iowa caucus and finished second in the New Hampshire primary, ended his unlikely presidential bid on March 1, one day after Joe Biden's crucial victory in South Carolina.

Buttigiegendorsed the former vice president shortly after leaving the race.

On Thursday, Biden released an economic plan that proposes investments in American manufacturing. It calls for a $400 billion, four-year increase in government purchasing of U.S.-based goods and services, along with another $300 billion on research and development in technology.The Biden plan also touts the candidate's long-standing promises to strengthen workers' collective bargaining rights and to roll back part of the tax cuts passed by President Donald Trump.

Buttigieg said the U.S. economy needs that kind of spending to help it recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, which has put millions of American residents out of work. While saying he's attentive to concerns about government deficits, Buttigieg said investment plans like Biden'shave shown to have a "much higher rate of return than tax cuts."

"If you look at the overall picture of where our economy is headed, we don't have a choice and we can handle these kinds of investments if we make them before it's too late," Buttigieg said.

Continued here:

Economy shouldn't have to rely on charity from billionaires, says Biden backer Pete Buttigieg - CNBC

A long-exposure photograph of the Milky Way overlaid by the Drake equation: an equation developed by Frank Drake in 1961 for estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. Image via Medium.com.

Are we alone in our galaxy? If not, how many other civilizations might there be? And where are they? In 1961, astronomer Frank Drake created whats now known as the Drake Equation shown above a tool for discussing the question of alien life. Now two scientists have incorporated the Drake Equation into a new system called the Alien Civilization Calculator. In addition to the Drake Equation, the new calculator also employs a new method called the Astrobiological Copernican Limits, to find the number of advanced civilizations we might be able to communicate with in the future. Like the Drake Equation itself, the new calculator is a tool for thinking and discussing. Its an aid for contemplating how many advanced alien civilizations there might be theoretically speaking in our own galaxy. Using the calculator, you can compare outcomes using the Drake Equation and the Astrobiological Copernican Limits. And you can adjust the input values, to how different factors might affect the number of alien civilizations in our Milky Way galaxy, and how close the nearest ones might be.

The scientists who created the Alien Civilization Calculator are with Omni Calculator which has many different types of calculators under one roof (1,197 according to the website) and which, Omni Calculator says, makes it:

super simple for anyone to solve their day-to-day calculations and math problems with ease in no time.

So a super simple answer to the question of alien life? Lets see.

A young Frank Drake. Drake, an astronomer, has been a leader in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence since the 1960s when he implemented Project Ozma to search for radio signals from advanced extraterrestrial civilizations. He developed the Drake equation. And he created the Arecibo Message, a 1974 interstellar radio message from Earth to the globular star cluster M13, carrying encoded information about Earth and its humans. Image via Spaceflight Now.

The inspiration for the calculator came from recent news about the Astrobiological Copernican Limits method, a new method for looking at the possibilities for alien life, based on a study by Tom Westby and Christopher J. Conselice. That study reached the conclusion that there should be at least 36 worlds with advanced alien societies in our galaxy. The peer-reviewed paper was published on April 8, 2020, in The Astrophysical Journal. The study estimated that the nearest civilization would probably be about 17,000 light-years away, so not all that close.

This gave Steve Wooding and Dominik Czernia at Omni Calculator the idea to create a new calculator, combining the Astrobiological Copernican Limits method with the Drake Equation. The two approaches are rather different, so using and comparing both of them was a unique and novel way to try to find possible solutions to what scientists called the Fermi Paradox. That paradox is based on physicist Enrico Fermis famous pondering about an apparent contradiction. That is, the Drake equation suggests there should be many, many extraterrestrial civilizations. Yet, all rumors to the contrary aside, theres been no hard and fast evidence for these civilizations that we all can see and agree upon. Fermi famously asked:

Where are they?

Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) was an Italian-American physicist, who received a 1938 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in nuclear physics. He famously asked, Where are they? Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Using the calculator is quite simple. First, you select which method you want to use, and then fill in all the fields in the Milky Way assumptions section. The result gives you an estimate of the number of civilizations in the galaxy, depending on the variables that you input, such as star formation rate, number of stars with planets, etc. It will also tell you how far away the closest of those civilizations should be. You can create many different combinations of variables to test your ideas out with. Theres even a space travel calculator to find out how long it would take to travel to these other worlds by rocket!

So how do the two methods compare?

The first, the Drake Equation, is a rather simple formula, and was developed by astronomer Frank Drake, who is also the father of modern SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. The formula looks like this:

N = R* x fp x ne x fl x fs x ft x L

N stands for the number of detectable civilizations. The other variables are as follows:

R* is the average rate of star formation in our galaxy. By observing our galaxy and all nearby galaxies, we know its about 2.3 per year;fp is the percentage of stars that have at least one planet. Scientists agree that almost every star has a planet, therefore fp ? 100%;ne is the average number of hospitable planets per star. Thanks to the Kepler space mission, we know that each star in the galaxy has, on average, four Earth-sized planets;fl is the percentage of those planets where life actually emerges;fs is the percentage of those planets where life evolves into intelligent beings;ft is the percentage of those planets with intelligent creatures capable of interstellar communication; andL is the lifetime a civilization remains detectable for.

Perhaps the worlds ongoing effort to search for extraterrestrial life operates under the auspices of Yuri Milners project called Breakthrough Listen. Here is the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, one of the telescopes used by Breakthrough Listen for SETI. This is an artists concept of a signal from a Fast Radio Burst or FRB detected by the telescope. FRBs are one of the sorts of objects on the new Breakthrough Listen Exotica list, which some hope will help guide the search for ET. Image via UC Berkeley.

The first three are now well-known or fairly well-known at this point, but the remaining three are not. This of course makes it difficult still to come to any solid conclusions. But the Drake Equation is what has been used by astronomers for decades now, to try to come to at least some kind of understanding of how common, or rare, intelligent life might be.

Thats where the second method, the Astrobiological Copernican Limits, comes into play. Westby and Conselice developed it in April 2020 as a more modern form of the Drake Equation. The parameters are different from the Drake Equation, and based on the assumption that any habitable, Earth-like planet, presumably near in size to the Earth, with a similar composition, atmosphere and water, would eventually host life. That may sound like a big assumption to make, and it is. This method is also based on the one example we have so far of a communicating, intelligent civilization, our own.The paper has generated a lot of discussion, including criticism from some fellow scientists. For example, Caleb Scharf, Director of Astrobiology at Columbia University, wrote on Twitter:

From the paper:

We present a cosmic perspective on the search for life and examine the likely number of Communicating Extra-Terrestrial Intelligent civilizations (CETI) in our galaxy by utilizing the latest astrophysical information. Our calculation involves Galactic star-formation histories, metallicity distributions, and the likelihood of stars hosting Earth-like planets in habitable zones, under specific assumptions which we describe as the Astrobiological Copernican Weak and Strong conditions. These assumptions are based on the one situation in which intelligent, communicative life is known to exist, on our own planet.

For the purposes of the calculator, the premise is that an Earth-like planet could only support intelligent life when it is five billion years old or older. This is based on the knowledge that Earth is about five billion years old, and humanity has only appeared within the last three million years or so, as currently understood. The equation for this method looks like this:

N = N* x fL x fHZ x fM x (L/?)

Giant artificial constructions in space, such as this hypothetical type of Dyson sphere, are one kind of possible technosignature. Image via CapnHack.

Again, N stands for the number of intelligent, and communicable, civilizations. But now the variables are as such:

N* is the total number of stars within the galaxy;fL is the percentage of those stars which are at least 5 billion years old;fHZ is the percentage of those stars which host a suitable planet for supporting life;fM is the percentage of those stars for which there is a sufficient amount of metal resources allowing the formation of advanced biology and a communicable civilization;L is the average lifetime of an advanced, communicable civilization; and? is the average amount of time available for life to develop on a planet, or, in other words, ? is the time in which life could exist.

For this model, users can also choose between strong, moderate or weak values in regards to how strict conditions are for intelligent life to appear and evolve. Strong = only a few stars with planets able to host such life, while weak = many such stars.

The maximum distance results from both methods can be used to calculate how many civilizations might be nearby. As might be expected, the farther out you go, the greater the chances of a habitable planet having intelligent life. This is based on the volume of space involved and simple statistics. For example, according to the calculator, there is only a one in 3 billion chance of the nearest star, the Alpha Centauri system, having a planet with intelligent life. But the farther out you go, the greater the odds.

As discussed in EarthSky recently, we are also now getting a better idea of where to search for evidence of advanced alien civilizations. The new Exotica Catalog, aka The Breakthrough Listen Exotic Target Catalog, from Breakthrough Listen, currently lists over 700 objects and phenomena of interest in the universe that might be good places to look. The catalog lists one of everything in the known universe that might be a good target for study and observations.

Steven Wooding and Dominik Czernia of Omni Calculator, who created the Alien Civilization Calculator. Image via Omni Calculator.

The catalog will help guide the search efforts of those looking for evidence of intelligent life, in particular by searching for technosignatures artifacts or phenomena produced by a highly advanced intelligent species that could be detected by telescopes. Modern SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, is now finally starting to move beyond just looking for alien radio signals. Technosignatures could include many different possibilities, like Dyson spheres built around stars or other huge artificial constructions, lasers or other more exotic communications like Fast Radio Bursts, evidence of industrial pollution on a planet, etc.

The Alien Civilization Calculator is useful in trying to determine how many civilizations might exist in our galaxy, albeit based on many variables, and how close by some of them might be. Projects like the Exotic Catalog and Breakthrough Listen/ SETI will help to narrow down more specific locations and actual detected candidates. This kind of multi-pronged approach is what is needed, even if it still takes a long time to actually find something or someone.

The famous Drake Equation in illustrative form, depicting the different variables involved. The new calculator combines this formula with the new Astrobiological Copernican Limits method. Image via SETI Institute/ Enter the Realm of Guy Erma.

Bottom line: The new Alien Civilization Calculator combines two different methods of calculating how many advanced alien civilizations may exist in our galaxy.

Via Alien Civilization Calculator

See the original post here:

How many ETs are in our galaxy? Ask the Alien Civilization Calculator - EarthSky

Global Ultrathin and Superlight Solar Cells Market

Solar power is already a major part of the global renewable energy mix. The low production cost of solar energy, the abundant availability of solar power across the world, and the ease of use of solar power generation systems have led to the widespread usage of solar energy for both residential and nonresidential uses. Several countries in developed as well as developing regions have encouraged the widespread utilization of solar power to ease the pressure on the countries main power grids. Tax incentives and government entry into the field of renewable power have become commonplace all over the world, as solar photovoltaic has become a major energy source in many regions.

The firm foothold already established by the solar power sector in the overall energy generation field will massively help the development of ultrathin and superlight solar cells in the coming years. Whereas solar power is already an established renewable energy source in many countries, the application spectrum of the same is widening in several regions, which is expected to be greatly helped by the innovation of ultrathin and superlight solar cells.

The report helps deliver precise facts about the global ultrathin and superlight solar cells market by using a granular approach. Major regional segments of the global ultrathin and superlight solar cells market are examined in the report in order to provide a clear view of the geographical breakdown of the market. The competitive landscape of the market is also examined to provide key insights to readers.

Request for Report Sample @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=10550

Global Ultrathin and Superlight Solar Cells Market: Drivers and Restraints

Recently, scientists at MIT developed a solar cell literally thinner than human hair. Such ultrathin and superlight solar cells it only weighs around 3.6 g/square meter are the order of the day, and the proof of concept developed by MIT researchers will help drive the global ultrathin and superlight solar cells market massively. While the actual model developed by MIT scientists is too small and lightweight for practical use, since it would be blown away by the slightest of breezes, the field of ultrathin and superlight solar cells is just getting started. The application of ultrathin and superlight solar cells includes, but is not limited to, space travel and high-altitude balloons, where the weight-to-output ratio of energy systems can be a deciding factor. Such solar cells could even become part of apparel and wearable devices without the customer ever realizing it, potentially completely transforming the wearable electronics industry.

Request for Covid-19 Impact Analysis @ https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=covid19&rep_id=10550

The wide-ranging potential application spectrum of ultrathin and superlight solar cells will be a major driver for the global market, since R&D in the field has been allowed to go on unhindered in many regions. The high weight-to-output ratio of ultrathin and superlight solar cells MITs design delivers 400 times more energy per weight than conventional silicon-based solar cells means that widespread usage of the cells is beneficial for alleviating the rising dependence on fossil fuels, which has helped the market garner government support.

The major restraint on the global ultrathin and superlight solar cells market is the difficulty in expanding the scale of the operation of the industry. While initial R&D in ultrathin and superlight solar cells has been promising, scaling up to commercial production will require significant cost reductions for the technology to be feasible on a large scale. The sophisticated technology required to manufacture ultrathin and superlight solar cells is currently not available across the world, with developed regions such as North America dominating the R&D scenario. However, these constraints could be eased by steady demand in fields where price is no factor, such as space exploration and defense.

For More Info View @https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/casestudies/food-and-beverages-case-study

Excerpt from:

COVID-19 Pandemic Amplifies Growth Opportunities in the Ultrathin and Superlight Solar Cells Market till 2023, TMR Research Report - Jewish Life News

ESA's Euclid mission has reached another milestone on its journey towards launch. Its two instruments are now built and fully tested. These have been delivered to Airbus Defence and Space in Toulouse, France, where they are now being integrated with the telescope to form the mission's payload module.

Euclid consists of a 1.2-metre mirror telescope that is designed to work at both visible and near-infrared wavelengths - the latter being just longer than the red light humans can see. The telescope will collect light from distant cosmic objects and feed it into two instruments.

The Visible instrument (VIS) and the Near Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer (NISP) will run in parallel, recording data simultaneously from whatever portion of the sky the telescope is pointed at.

Euclid's mission is to measure the shapes of more than a billion galaxies, and the accurate redshifts of tens of millions of galaxies across more than one third of the sky. The redshift is an effect caused by the expansion of the Universe. It stretches the wavelength of light emitted by distant galaxies; the further away the galaxy, the more extreme its redshift. The galaxies in Euclid's survey will span 10 billion years of cosmic history, and allow scientists to investigate the mysterious dark matter and dark energy that are thought to dominate the Universe.

The VIS instrument will handle the precise measurement of galaxy shapes by taking the very best images of distant galaxies that it possibly can. To do this, the instrument uses a mosaic of 36 CCDs, each of which contains 4000 pixels by 4000 pixels. This gives the detector a total of about 600 megapixels.

"The design, development, manufacturing, testing and calibration of the VIS instrument over a dozen years to a stringent specification has been a challenge," says Mark Cropper, VIS instrument Lead and Professor at the UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UK.

"We are immensely proud of what the VIS Team has achieved to bring this project to its culmination. That the final performance exceeds our expectations is a tribute to their expertise, dedication and professionalism."

Not only is the number of pixels impressive, the instrument will also deliver the best low-light sensitivity over a broad range of wavelengths at long integration times.

"These are very special CCDs, they've been developed specifically for Euclid over many years," says Alex Short, ESA's VIS payload engineer.

The other instrument, NISP, is dedicated to making spectroscopic measurements of galaxies, which involves splitting their light into individual wavelengths. This allows the redshifts to be deduced. This property allows cosmologists to estimate the distance to the galaxy in question, and will allow Euclid's data to be turned into the largest, most accurate 3D survey of the Universe ever conducted.

"The international NISP team and supporting industries made an incredible job to design, develop and test this challenging instrument," says Thierry Maciaszek, NISP instrument project manager, from CNES and Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, France.

"This is, however, not the end of the story for us as many major activities have to be completed with NISP at satellite level. We are waiting impatiently for the first light in flight demonstrating the excellent global performances."

The NISP detector will feature the largest field of view ever flown in space for an infrared instrument.

"The quality of the optics is just amazing," says Tobias Boenke, Mission System and NISP Instrument Engineer at ESA.

A key factor in achieving Euclid's exceptional optical accuracy was a decision made early in the project's history to construct the entire payload module out of silicon carbide. The use of this material at ESA was pioneered in the manufacture of the telescope for the Herschel space mission. On ESA's Gaia mission, the support structure for the spacecraft's subsystems were mounted on a silicon carbide frame. On Euclid, the material has been used for the instruments as well as the telescope.

Whereas metal expands and contracts as its temperature changes, thus degrading an optical system's ability to focus light, silicon carbide is extremely stable to such variations in temperature. But using the compound brings its own challenges. Silicon carbide is a ceramic and so much more brittle than metal.

"It was a big challenge to be able to manufacture the instruments from this material and make sure they can remain undamaged during the launch," adds Tobias.

Like VIS, NISP also uses specially designed state-of-the-art detectors to record the faint light coming from distant stars and galaxies. Unlike VIS, NISP can also operate in spectrographic mode. The detectors, which are operated at -180 C to provide ultra-low noise and high sensitivity, register these 'spectra' and convert them into tiny electronic signals. These signals can then be amplified and accurately measured to provide the photometric and spectroscopic redshifts.

The instruments will receive light from Euclid's telescope, which has already been assembled at Airbus, Toulouse. Like the instruments, it too is made from silicon carbide and is a state-of-the art construction in all senses.

"We are pushing all the manufacturing levels to the limit," says Luis Miguel Gaspar Venancio, ESA's Mission Performance and Optical Systems Engineer.

A special component behind the telescope, called the dichroic, separates the collected light and diverts the visible wavelengths to VIS and the infrared wavelengths to NISP.

When the information from VIS and NISP is combined, scientists will be able to deduce the way that the Universe's large-scale distribution of galactic structures has built up throughout cosmic history. This will help them determine the speed at which such structures grow, providing strong constraints on the nature and amount of dark matter and dark energy in the Universe.

The instruments were prepared for delivery to Airbus just before the COVID-19 pandemic imposed restrictions and lockdowns in many ESA member states. Fortunately, VIS was already at Airbus, and NISP had to wait for a few weeks for shipment from Marseille to Toulouse, but was not on the critical path.

"I am extremely grateful to all project parties: institutes, industry and colleagues at ESA for their dedication and commitment during these difficult times," says Giuseppe Racca, ESA's Euclid project manager.

"We were hit by the pandemic in a particularly critical moment when both VIS and NISP were to be transferred to industry. Despite the work and travel restrictions a concerted effort by all parties allowed to minimise the delays by implementing distributed and sequential integration activities of the instrument units and remote monitoring."

Now that the instruments have been delivered to Airbus, they will be integrated first with the telescope, and next with the rest of the payload module. It has been a long journey getting this far. Euclid was selected for implementation in 2011, having already undergone almost five years of studies. While there is still a lot of hard work and testing ahead, the delivery of the instruments and telescope means that the spacecraft can really begin to come together.

"Finally, we have something in front of our eyes," says Luis Miguel. "It's not just paper anymore. It's a fantastic piece of hardware; beautiful in a way."

Integrating the payload module will last several months as it is painstaking work to get everything bolted together, precisely aligned and electronically talking. The instrument's control units have already been mechanically and electrically integrated to the payload module. These tests have verified that the instruments can be properly powered by the spacecraft, can talk to the onboard computers, and can transmit the science data that will then be downloaded to ground through the spacecraft antennas.

Once the telescope has been integrated with the rest of the payload module, it will be shipped to Centre Spatial de Liege, Belgium, for 'end-to-end' testing in a thermal vacuum chamber that can simulate the conditions of space as well as possible on Earth. This test is scheduled to take place in February and March 2021.

Once that test shows that everything is working as expected, the payload module will be shipped to the prime contractor Thales Alenia Space (TAS), in Torino, Italy. TAS has been building the service module, which contains essential systems such as power, propulsion and communications.

The service module's main structure recently passed its structural and thermal tests and is now ready to have the various systems integrated inside. TAS will begin by laying down the pipelines for the propulsion systems, and the cabling for other distributed systems. Flight electronics, including computers, power units, and attitude control units, are already mounted on their own structural panels and these will now be installed inside the main structure. Integration is due to be complete in the third quarter of the year, at which time tests will be performed.

TAS will then integrate the payload module with the service module to form the final, finished spacecraft. Then, another round of tests will ensure that everything is working together properly. At that point, the spacecraft is essentially finished, and ready for launch.

Launch is currently scheduled for the second half of 2022 from Europe's spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana.

Related LinksEuclid at ESAStellar Chemistry, The Universe And All Within It

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.

Read more:

The Euclid space telescope is coming together - Space Daily

In the era of generations-long, one-way interstellar space travel will humans be able to communicate ... [+] with each other?

Do you know what uptalk is?

Its when someone makes a statement that sounds like a question purely because of the intonation they use at the end.Its also called high rising terminal(HRT) or rising inflection.

People do it all the time now. The phenomenon began in Australia about 40 years ago, crossed to America, and now its common across all age groups in the entire English-speaking world.

Now imagine a scenario where there are interplanetary settlements on other planets. Where there are isolated communities of humans. Where immigrants from Earth arrive in colonies having been in space for many years.

In a future era of generations-long, one-way interstellar space travel will humans be able to communicate with each other?

Colonists both new and old may struggle to understand one another, while messages sent to and received from those back home on Earth could quickly dwindle into meaninglessness.

Theyre the questions explored in anew paperpublished in Acta Futura, the journal of the European Space Agencys Advanced Concepts Team.

Languages drift apart as communities grow more isolated from each other, say the authors, so not only will spoken language quickly change among colonists in an isolated interplanetary settlement, but also among passengers on arriving spacecraft.

Interplanetary colonists both new and old may struggle to understand one another.

If youre on this vessel for 10 generations, new concepts will emerge, new social issues will come up, and people will create ways of talking about them and these will become the vocabulary particular to the ship, said Andrew McKenzie, Associate Professor of linguistics at the University of Kansas, who co-wrote Language Development During Interstellar Travel with Jeffrey Punske, assistant professor of linguistics at Southern Illinois University.

About 200 years is long enough for significant changes to occur if the crew is physically and socially disconnected from Earth, say the authors. Possibly just one lifetime if the community is very small. They extrapolate from examples on Earth; Polynesian settlement across the southern Pacific from 1500-1800, the settling of English speakers in isolated colonies in New Zealand in the 1800s, and the development of a unique Texan-German dialect in Texas over three generations up until World War 1.

People on Earth might never know about these new words unless theres a reason to tell them, and the further away you get, the less youre going to talk to people back home, said McKenzie. Generations will pass and there wont be anyone in particular on Earth for these interstellar travellers to talk to. Theres not much you want to tell them, because theyll only find out years later, and then you'll hear back from them years after that.

An interstellar spaceship leaving Earth for futuristic deep space travel.

For years-long voyages, dialects will likely merge. For a generations-long mission, new dialects and even anew language could solidify.

Interstellar travelers and colonists individual connections to Earth could fairly quickly wane. If we have Earth English and vessel English, and they diverge over the years, you have to learn a little Earth English to send messages back, or to read the instruction manuals and information that came with the ship, said McKenzie, in what was an English-centric study merely to highlight some broad concepts.

Moreover, language back on Earth will also have changed, so the language of communication between Earth-bound humans and those in colonies will become an archaic form of language used only for that purpose. Will anyone want or need to have to learn how to communicate with people on Earth? Or vice versa?

The authors suggest older forms of English may be retained purely for ritualistic or religious use.

They also recommend that the crew of an arriving vessel in a colony may want to learn the local language before arrival to prevent discrimination.Every new vessel will essentially offload linguistic immigrants to a foreign land, they write. Will they be discriminated against until their children and grandchildren learn the local language?

So next time you look up at the stars bear in mind that one day there could one day be a spacecraft up there containing humans desperately trying to learn to make their every utterance sound like a question.

Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes

See more here:

Do You Speak Earth English? Why Interplanetary Immigrants Of The Future Will Struggle To Chat - Forbes

NASA's next Mars rover has been attached to its rocket ride.

The Mars rover Perseverance was stacked atop its United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket Tuesday (July 7) at Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a huge milestone ahead of the mission's planned July 30 launch.

"I have seen my fair share of spacecraft being lifted onto rockets," John McNamee, project manager for Perseverance's mission, which is known as Mars 2020, said in a statement Thursday (July 9).

"But this one is special, because there are so many people who contributed to this moment," said McNamee, who's based at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. "To each one of them I want to say, We got here together, and we'll make it to Mars the same way."

Related: NASA's Mars 2020 rover Perseverance in pictures

A 60-ton hoist on the roof of the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF), at Cape Canaveral's Space Launch Complex 41, lifted the protective payload fairing containing Perseverance and its associated hardware 129 feet (39 meters) high on Tuesday, placing it on top of the Atlas V, NASA officials said. Engineers then made the required physical and electrical connections between the spacecraft and the rocket.

The mating milestone ushers in the final phase of Mars 2020 prelaunch testing, which can assess the rover and rocket both separately and together. The duo will remain based at the VIF until July 28, when they'll travel by rail to the launch pad, making the 1,800-foot (550 m) journey in about 40 minutes, NASA officials said.

Perseverance doesn't have to get off the ground on July 30; the $2.7 billion mission's launch window runs through Aug. 15. (That window was once considerably wider. It originally opened on July 17, but several processing issues pushed the target date back 13 days.)

Whenever Perseverance launches this summer, it will land on Feb. 18, 2021, inside Mars' Jezero Crater. The 28-mile-wide (45 kilometers) Jezero contained a lake and a river delta in the ancient past, and the car-sized robot will search the area for signs of long-dead life.

Perseverance will do a variety of other work as well, from characterizing Jezero's geology to hunting for subsurface water ice to testing out gear that generates oxygen from Mars' thin, carbon dioxide-dominated atmosphere. The six-wheeled rover will also collect and cache several dozen samples, which will be recovered and returned to Earth, perhaps as early as 2031, by a joint NASA-European Space Agency campaign.

And Perseverance will have some company during the long flight to Mars: a 4-lb. (1.8 kilograms) helicopter named Ingenuity, which is attached to the rover's belly. If all goes according to plan, Ingenuity will make a few short test flights in the Red Planet's skies, potentially paving the way for extensive aerial exploration by future Martian rotorcraft.

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

Read the original here:

NASA's Mars rover Perseverance mated to rocket ahead of July 30 launch - Space.com

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a shift in the priorities and travel patterns of daily commuters has been observed. With safety now a top priority, commuters are expected to move away from public transportation to personal mobility options that do not require being near other commuters/drivers.

Therefore, self-driving two-wheeler rentals are uniquely positioned to address the key concerns of commuters, with a safe, reliable, and affordable service that is not shared with other commuters/drivers.

Self-drive scooter rental is a decade-old business in India. It was primarily used in tourist hotspots such as Goa, where hotels would rent out 20-30 scooters per day to customers. However, even at a smaller scale, operators faced problems such as inability to monitor the usage of vehicles, driver behaviour, frequent theft, etc.

Today, scooter rental companies have expanded their fleets to thousands of scooters, and consumer use cases range from daily work commute and chores to food delivery, leisure activities, tourism etc. The key enabler for this rapid expansion has been widespread IoT adoption by two-wheeler fleet operators.

A commuters journey on a self-drive two-wheeler rental can be broken down in 4 parts - 1) searching for available scooters 2) starting the ride 3) the ride experience, and 4) ending the ride. Each part has been optimised and streamlined using IoT.

Consumers locate available scooters on an app, and can also view features such as fuel level, presence of helmet, sanitisation status etc on the same app. Once they locate the scooter, they can start the ride within 10 seconds by scanning a QR code, which limits physical touchpoints in the overall commute. The ride experience is further optimised by real-time fuel status alerts, geo-fencing alerts, and over-speeding alerts on the app.

Finally, commuters can end the ride virtually using the app. The app also detects if the helmet has been returned to the boot, and if the boot has been locked. The consumer is then accurately charged based on this exact usage of the service.

As a function of changing priorities/commute patterns due to COVID-19, companies have utilised IoT to change their business models to enhance the safety of their services.

Many players have launched long-term rental packages for consumers, with an option of home delivery of scooters by the fleet executive (FEs). In this scenario, consumers can pick up their scooter at any point post-delivery, and then use it for months before returning.

The key enablers for the launch of this model are IoT-enabled features such as keyless transfer, virtual daily updates on vehicle health, usage during rentals, and timely servicing alerts based on predictive maintenance algorithms etc.

Customers have the flexibility to choose their scooter based on last sanitised status now available on scooter rental apps. The app would also send alerts whenever commuters venture near red zones.

The IoT device is currently installed separately by operators on the scooter. But going forward, many OEMs are considering integrating into the scooter. This will transfer the responsibility of manufacturing and designing these devices to the OEM, and cut costs for the operator significantly.

Many players are also considering a switch to e-scooters to optimise their fuel costs. IoT technology on e-scooters can analyse driving patterns and impose parental controls like limiting max speed and limit.

It can also detect, and report the use of unauthorised spare parts during EV servicing. Remote-controlled delivery of an e-scooter may even be possible, with IoT-enabled cameras and a seamless 4G connection.

Technology (IOT/AI and others) has the potential to solve problems and unlock opportunities that today can only be imagined.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

Want to make your startup journey smooth? YS Education brings a comprehensive Funding Course, where you also get a chance to pitch your business plan to top investors. Click here to know more.

Read this article:

What role will IoT/AI play in transforming the mobility space post-COVID-19 - YourStory

To assist in implementing these wide ranging schemes, the council have to date secured approximately 1.5m of funding from Transport for Londons (TfL) Streetspace for London programme as well as 100,000, the maximum available, from the Department for Transports (DfT) Emergency Active Travel funding, with further opportunities being pursued.

Councillor Harrison continued:

The steps we have taken to meet the safe travel challenge include ten full road closures that enable walking and cycling whilst restricting through-traffic; four cycle permeability schemes; widening pavements at over six locations across our town centres, high streets and residential roads that have only limited footway space; pop-up cycle lanes and improved existing cycle lanes, and facilities including installing new cycle hangars, with 84 now available across Camden.

During this period, Camden Council also continued work to complete a number of longer-standing transformational walking and cycling schemes including the West End Project, as well as at Camden Park Road, Brunswick Square and Prince of Wales Road (eastbound permanent cycle lane).

Councillor Harrison continued:

We will continue to carry out a wide range of measures to enable safe, healthy travel as clear alternatives to car use. For example, we are currently implementing two new pop-up cycle lanes, on York Way (southern section) and Prince of Wales Road (eastbound), as well as improving the cycling connection at Patshull Road-Kentish Town Road.

We are also developing plans for further pop-up cycle lanes, Low Traffic Neighbourhood schemes across different parts of the borough, a range of through-traffic restrictions, and more new cycle hangars.

We will also roll out new dockless bike hire bays which will mean that riders will need to leave the dockless bikes in designated areas, rather than anywhere. This will help address the clutter these bikes can sometimes cause.

By the start of the new school year in September, eight further schools across Camden will have timed road closures at the start and end of the school day as part of our Healthy School Street programme, making it safer and easier for parents and children to walk, cycle or scoot to school.

Building on Camdens success on healthy streets we have recently been rated top in London, in the published results of theLondon Boroughs Healthy Streets Scorecard.

For more information on road safety changes we are making in response to Coronavirus (COVID-19)visit our dedicated webpages.

Since lockdown the council have:

Further plans include:

Here is the original post:

Camden Council takes action to make travel safer and healthier - Camden Council

Attendees walk through the Las Vegas Convention Center January 10, 2020 on the final day of the 2020 ... [+] Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

Nobody goes there anymore. Its too crowded,said baseball great and master of the malaprop Yogi Berra. It happened to the computer show COMDEX, which went from 211,000 attendees in 2000 to out of business by 2004. Will this be the fate of giant trade shows in the coronavirus era?

Spokespeople for trade shows like the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) describe each show as the biggest and best. While best is subjective, it is clear that tradeshows like 2021 CES, scheduled forJan. 6 through Jan 9, 2021 in Las Vegas will not be the biggest everif they happen at all. The culprit: COVID-19.

Just this past January, CES 2020, billed as the largest tech event in the world, had an estimated attendance of 170,000 with 2.97 million square feet of exhibition space. And while MAD Magazine cartoons comically depicted conventioneers with lampshades on their heads, the money is serious: CES had an estimated economic impact of $283.3 million.

COVID-19 changed everything, but the banner atop the CES website reads, Our next CES in Las Vegas is in January 2021, and we plan to proceed as scheduled.

Yet many questions remain, from the availability of domestic and international airlines to international quarantines and restrictions on travelers. Can the shows hotels, transportation, press conferences, keynotes, parties, and giant convention halls be kept acceptably safe? And will companies let key executives travel in an environment where the pandemic has not been controlled?

In Nevada, gatherings are currently limited to 50 people or less due to COVID-19. How will Las Vegas go from a Strip limited to gatherings of 50 people in July (a key reason shows like now-bankrupt Cirque Du Soleil have not re-opened) to hosting 175,000 in January?

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - MARCH 14: Building wraps for the The Beatles LOVE by Cirque du Soleil show ... [+] are shown on the exterior of The Mirage Hotel & Casino as the coronavirus continues to spread across the United States on March 14, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cirque du Soleil announced that it is temporarily suspending all six of its Las Vegas shows beginning tomorrow as well as around the world to help stop the spread of the virus. Several employees at MGM Resorts International, which owns The Mirage, have tested presumptive positive for COVID-19. MGM Resorts International employees who can will start working from home next week. MGM has closed all nightclubs, dayclubs, buffets, spas, gyms and salons at its properties in Las Vegas and on Monday, it will close 150 food and beverage outlets and furloughs and layoffs will begin. The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on March 11th. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Such factors have already led to the cancellation (or postponement) of many major trade shows in favor of going digital. Virtual trade shows sprung up after the 9/11 attacks but petered out as people got back on planes. Todays video technology and bandwidth is much better, as shown by the ubiquity of Zoom, WebEx and Teams virtual meetings. But would an all-online tradeshow satisfy the need to meet, greet, discuss, display, and sell?

At this point we plan to move forward with a live show. We are a not for profit member-based organization, and we are moving ahead because our exhibitors are telling us they want to. says Jean Foster, Senior Vice President of Marketing & Communications for the Consumer Technology Association, producer of CES. Most likely it will be a hybrid show based in Las Vegas and also streamed digitally.

The show will be smaller, says Foster, because not everyone will be able to travel to US. There may be fewer smaller companies at areas like Eureka Park, which normally has 1200 startup companies.

The organization is also working on r-econfiguring the show floor with wider aisles, more spacing between booths, and foot traffic reconfigured to move in single directions. In previous years hundreds would queue up to get into popular press conferences, many of which will now be streamed. The bottom line: to increase physical distance between attendees.

Foster says the CTA is working with the Las Vegas Convention Authority and the casino hotels to mitigate crowding and enhance social distancing in bars, taxi lines, elevators, etc. There will be more shuttle buses, with less people on each, and no open buffet receptions.

There will definitely health screenings according to best practices, and everyone will wear a mask, says Foster. Whether best practices mean a quick temperature check or an actual COVID test is not yet clear, but CTA appears to be hoping for the appearance of a rapid, accurate test.

A person has his temperature screened while checking in at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las ... [+] Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Thursday, June 4, 2020. All gaming venues in Nevada must follow strict protocols to account for Covid-19, including reduced capacity, more spacing on the casino floor and increased sanitation. Photographer: Joe Buglewicz/Bloomberg

Foster says the show will be smaller, but doesnt have an exact number, Were six months out. Foster admits, There may be a scenario that says we cant do it. But at this point, Based on what were hearing, our key exhibitors are planning to send their people.

If CESshrinksor goes mostly virtual, does it risk losing its relevancy and immediacy? The CES brand is a golden brand, that goes beyond the industry. We expect a large digital audience to come in, says Ms. Foster. I think we will be able to bring more eyeballs than normal foot traffic. We will attract and bring in a broader audience, either physically or digitally.

The IFA show, a consumer electronics event to be held in Berlin from September 3 to September 5, may provide a model for such shows to succeed considering the pandemic.

IFA this year will be a hybrid show, combining physical and virtual attendance and exhibitions. While IFA Berlin 2019 boasted 1800 exhibitors and 250,000 visitors, the IFA2020 Special Edition is limited to 1000 participants per day per event by the health assessment of the State of Berlin.Social distancing, prudent visitor management and thorough hygiene measures are of the utmost importance to us, says Jens Heithecker,IFAExecutive Director.

One of many questions is whether attendees from countries affected by EU barriers due to high coronavirus rates, (like the US, Brazil, Russia, etc.) can get exemptions to attend. Who can guarantee anything in these times, says Heithecker. It is no secret that one of the greatest challenges are the travel restrictions that are still in effect.But we will support our guests wherever possible.

Considering such issues, We have optimized the conditions of participation for theIFASpecial Edition 2020. The participation costs are deliberately reduced to a minimum, Heithecker says. A key part of this years show will be the IFAExtended Space, a virtual space that will allow those who cannot be physically present to participate. How will it work? The concept will be presented shortly stay tuned and curious, says Heithecker.

Meanwhile, vendors are trying to bridge the gap between physical and virtual tradeshow events. ShowStoppers has long been one of the premier press parties at CES, where journalists meet and drink with companies displaying new products. ShowStoppers has also produced the official press event at IFA for a decade and is doing it again for the IFA Special Edition.

Exhibitor Mark Gonnella of Lenovo demonstrates the Lenovo Jedi Challenges at the ShowStoppers ... [+] exhibition on the sidelines of CES 2018 in Las Vegas on January 9, 2018. The smartphone powered augmented reality headset comes with lightsaber and location beacon. / AFP PHOTO / Mandel Ngan (Photo credit should read MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

ShowStoppers now also has a footprint in the digital world. Partner Steve Leon says ShowStoppers TV is a startup that builds on 25 years of DNA producing in-person events. We connect companies, execs and products/services with journalists looking to discover them. Both audiences are global thats part of our DNA.

Leon says every journalist attending each episode can questionevery exhibitor, both during the presentation and later in breakout rooms. You cant shake hands and meet in person during this pandemic. We can online.

For now, Leon says, ShowStoppers TV is a startup. Were building it, growing it, with the goal of profitability, just like any business. Equally important, we are building a tool that enables companies and journalists to discover each other that will benefit us when we can again produce in-person events.

Read the original post:

Will COVID-19 Kill Giant Trade Shows And Conventions? - Forbes

SALT LAKE CITY Utahns eager to find alternatives to vacations that heighten the risk of exposure to coronavirus are turning to recreational vehicle rentals in droves, spilling into RV parks for socially distant vacations.

Tempted by the level of control they offer, first time RVers people whove never rented or owned an RV before in particular are trying it out, according to Kampgrounds of America Vice President of Communications Mike Gast.

A phenomenal amount of people and most of those first timers are flocking to rent RVs from other people and give that lifestyle a try or have decided thats going to be their vacation this year, Gast said. We are seeing a huge bump in business right now.

Its a trend thats been reflected in a number of different RV parks, according to Ben Inlay, operations manager for the popular McArthurs Temple View RV Resort in St. George. He said his business has seen a very large increase of first time RVers at the park, in addition to a surge of same-day reservations.

There have also been a lot of people traveling from other states that have been locked down coming here because RV travel is one of the safest ways to travel because you have your own bed and living quarters, he said. There were also a lot of people who stayed here longer in Utah primarily because the areas they were heading home to were impacted by COVID much more and they didnt want to travel to that.

While travel restrictions, financial restraints and other travel-related fears brought down the number of stays overall this year, Gast said KOA sites are clawing their way back, and each week gets a little bit better. Recently, weekends have seen phenomenal numbers and theres been advance reservations at the end of the June that were higher than the number of bookings at that same time in 2019.

We know that demand is there. We know that people were quick to return to the camping lifestyle, and we certainly arent going to recover to the end of last year, its just too much of a gap there, Gast said. But it certainly did come back strong, and we also understand that theres likely going to be surges in certain areas.

Gast said one of the more encouraging things is that customer satisfaction is up. This coupled with the fact that more people are turning to camping and renting an RV for the first time, makes him feel positive about KOAs future.

We think the net result of COVID is we probably have been able to increase the audience for camping. Weve got more people interested in it, more people giving it a try, and we know that once they give it a try they are going to want to do it again, he said.

Chris Clark, of Orlando, Florida, is also staying at the Salt Lake City KOA site. Shes currently on a six-week trip with her husband and daughter.

She said she understands why traveling by RV is such a popular thing these days.

Camping is naturally socially distancing, Clark said. It was easy for us because it gives us the flexibility of you can go and do. There are so many advantages of traveling by RV.

Grid View

Peer-to-peer rentals like RVshare and Outdoorsy have seen a considerable surge in public interest. Similar to Airbnb, these companies allow people to rent out or find an RV all over the country.

RVShare CEO Jon Gray said stays in Utah specifically have doubled in June compared to the previous year. While the service exists all over the country, the Western metro area is a big market Salt Lake City being one of the top cities.

Gray said RVshares rentals have shifted quite a bit since mid-March when the coronavirus began heavily impacting life in the U.S. Initially, the company pivoted business to service health care workers so they could have access to an RV in their driveway in order to lessen the odds of potentially infecting family members, and to other critical workers who needed to isolate themselves.

As states have steadily loosened restrictions, RVshare has seen surges in rentals in those areas and a pretty high percentage of new bookings coming from first timers, Gray said, explaining the numbers are pretty astounding.

He credited this to the aspects of the RV business that are attractive to people where control is a premium when there are so many unknowns because of the pandemic.

RVs allow you to have your own bathroom and your own kitchen. They allow you to stay away from crowds. They allow you the flexibility to stay where you want to control the environment around you, Gray said. These things cast in the light of COVID have become even more important.

He pointed to a recent RVshare survey that found 93% of respondents are aiming to avoid crowds this summer on their vacation.

You have the RV and you can drive it to where you want. If you come upon a campground that you feel is too crowded, you dont have to go there. You can go to the next one, Gray said.

Sharon Ginger, of San Diego, echoed these sentiments. She and her family are staying in the Salt Lake City KOA campground while embarking on a 17 day trip.

Its our space. Nobody is coming into our space unless we invite them into it. Its our bed every night, its our sheets and our pillows. We can cook in our camper if we want to, Ginger said. You can be fully self-contained.

Ginger said she has a compromised immune system because of her history with a rare form of cervical cancer. She explained she feels totally safe camping, and said her diagnosis actually helped encourage her to get out and live including selling her home four years ago and embarking on a six-month trip with her familys first camper.

Original post:

Amid pandemic, RVs offer many the control they want over vacations - Deseret News

Competition in the space tourism industry is heating up, and a new company is taking a unique approach to near-space exploration.

IMAGE: Space Perspective

The prospect of space travel has long-since enchanted humanity. Now, as competition heats up across the burgeoning spaceflight industry, this sci-fi fantasy may soon become reality. The company Space Perspective is offering a unique transport twist on the standard spacefaring business model. Rather than harnessing the latest propulsion technology or rocket busters, the company is using a pressurized cabin and a high-altitude balloon to chauffeur tourists to the cusp of the final frontier. But how much will it cost? Also, why balloons?

Space Perspective was founded by co-CEOs Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum. While a balloon may not immediately strike some as the ideal mode of transport for such an undertaking, the "serial entrepreneurs" behind the company have a rich history of lofty ideas tethered to these buoyant instruments.

Prior to Space Perspective, the pair founded World View Enterprises, a company that uses high-altitude balloons for a host of applications ranging from remote sensing to communication. MacCallum was previously the chief technology and safety officer at StratEx, a project which culminated with Google Executive Alan Eustace's record-setting "space dive" from a balloon at 136,000 feet. The two have parlayed this experience to reimagine the space tourism model.

Space Perspective's balloon-bound capsule, known officially as Spaceship Neptune, is designed to reach an altitude of 100,000 feet, nearly 20 miles above the Earth's surface.

"You're above 99% of the atmosphere. So for all intents and purposes, you're in space, right? We call it the edge of space," said Poynter.

IMAGE: Space Perspective

SEE:NASA's unsung heroes: The Apollo coders who put men on the moon (cover story PDF) (TechRepublic)

For the full adventure, Spaceship Neptune occupants will need to set aside about six hours. After liftoff, the balloon will slowly make its ascent at a casual speed of about 12 miles per hour. At this rate, it will take about two hours to reach the upper levels up the atmosphere. Once at the apex of its trajectory, the balloon glides along the mere cusp of the final frontier for another two hours, offering occupants incredible views.

"If we can get the passengers up and the flight up to altitude before the sun rises, you might see just the most incredible star scape you've ever seen. And then you will start to see the sunrise over the limb of the earth, and, of course, you'll see the curvature of the earth. You'll see the thin blue line of our atmosphere, you'll see the terminus go across the Earth below you," Poynter said.

SEE:Rural America is in the midst of a mental health crisis. Tech could help some patients see a way forward. (cover story PDF)(TechRepublic)

The spaceship will slowly make its descent over the course of approximately two hours, before splashing down in the ocean. Although "splashdown" may be a bit of an overstatement. It's important to understand that the Spaceship Neptune design is strikingly dissimilar to the classic reentry capsules used for returning astronauts.

"When you look at a NASA capsule, when it comes in, it almost does a belly flop on the water," Poynter said.

A water landing in Spaceship Neptune should be an exceptionally more pleasant experience, she said. Instead of a blunted flat bottom, the capsule is attenuated like a spinning top; this allows the bottom of the capsule to gently penetrate the surface of the ocean and gradually reduce speed during landing.

"You won't have to brace for impact, it should be pretty comfortable. We're really aiming to make this entire flight really gentle and accessible from beginning to end," Poynter said.

Onboard, the vessel will feature a restroom, a refreshment bar, as well as Wi-Fi, so explorers can snap and share near-space selfies in real time.

IMAGE: Space Perspective

Spaceship Neptune will eventually launch from the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company hopes to expand globally in select locations. The ability to take off from land, ride the winds of the upper atmosphere, and then land in water enables the company the ability to scale much more quickly than landing on terra firma.

"Landing on land is very difficult to take that around the world. It turns out that it becomes much more readily expandable around the planet by splashing down, because there [are] many, many locations, spectacular locations where you can launch from land and then splashdown. And it turns out that the winds, the stratospheric winds tend to go east and west depending on the time of year," Poynter said.

The company plans to conduct a test flight of the uncrewed capsule in the first quarter of 2021. The flight will include a full-scale capsule although the test capsule will not be at full mass, according to Poynter.

SEE:Hiring Kit: Computer Research Scientist(TechRepublic Premium)

Space Perspective has positioned itself squarely in the middle of the booming human spaceflight market. Competitors Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic are developing systems to take humans to suborbital space. Ballpark estimates for Blue Origin spaceflights range between $200,000 and $300,000. Virgin Galactic is charging prospective space tourists $250,000 a pop.

While some reports have listed a firm price for a ride on Spaceship Neptune, Poynter reiterates that a specific dollar amount has not been determined, however, the company is certainly taking the market into consideration.

"We are thinking that it's going to be somewhere in the neighborhood of half the price of the existing suborbital flight ticket providers. So you can do the math as well as anyone, that translates to about $125,000 a seat. But again, we haven't set that price," Poynter said.

IMAGE: Space Perspective

To date, a rather short list of humans have been fortunate enough to behold such an external view of planet Earth from the vacuums of space. For astronauts, staring back at one's home planet adrift in the cosmos is often a transformative experience. The emotional reaction and lasting impression of this moment is a phenomenon formally known as the Overview Effect.

"When you talk to astronauts about their experience of going to space, they really connect deeply with our planet. And not only the planet as this sort of cradle of humanity where all life exists as we know it, but also that we are all one human family," Poynter said.

Many describe the looking back at their home planet and being struck by the sheer beauty and fragility of Earth. Poynter hopes Spaceship Neptune can help bring this experience to more people in the years ahead.

"The reason that we called the company Space Perspective, is because we want to enable thousands, hundreds of thousands eventually, of people to have the experience of that space perspective, which is the experience of seeing our world as a planet in space. And then what does that mean we do with that experience?" Poynter said.

"We're all leaders in some aspects of our lives," Poynter continued. "So it is then up to each of us to internalize that experience and live our lives according to it."

Be in the know about smart cities, AI, Internet of Things, VR, AR, robotics, drones, autonomous driving, and more of the coolest tech innovations. Delivered Wednesdays and Fridays

Link:

Up, up, and away: A cosmic balloon ride to the edge of space - TechRepublic

Dr Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, shared a throwback image of planet Earth, seemingly taken during the Apollo 11 mission | Image credit: Reuters/Reuters

Every Thursday, the internet starts to swarm with "throwback" images with people across the world taking to social media platforms to share old photos of themselves in a bid to remember the good old' times. This "Throwback Thursday", however, was owned by American astronaut Dr. Buzz Aldrin who also happens to be one of the first persons to step foot on the moon following Neil Armstrong. Taking to the microblogging site Twitter, Aldrin shared an image of Planet Earth as seen from the surface of the moon in 1969.

The image was seemingly taken in 1969 when Aldrin, along with Armstrong and Michael Collins, became the first humans to achieve a successful moon landing aborad the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

"This view of home never gets old," Aldrin tweeted with the hashtag #ThrowbackThursday.

The moonwalker's photo raked in thousands of likes on Twitter with many commenting on the breathtaking and unique beauty of the image. Yet others such as astronaut Richards Garriott even suggested Aldrin should give space travel another try since he was still in great shape.

Aldrin has been active in the last few months, speaking out about his experience of quarantine to help people get through the coronavirus pandemic. Aldrin along with the fellow moonwalkers on Apollo 11 had spent three weeks in quarantine after their return from the historic mission to ensure they did not spread any "space germs" on Earth.

In April, the 90-year-old Aldrin announced he will be auctioning off signed photographs of the quarantine period aboard the Airstream trailer in the USS Hornet aircraft to raise funds to help fight coronavirus

Read the original:

Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin Just Set Serious 'Throwback' Goals with Photo of Earth as Seen from Moon - News18

No one expected the future to be quite this ... well, boring. We were promised jet-packs and space elevators, bionic eyes and walkie-talkies implanted in our wrists. Instead we got the mundane convenience of cell phones, drone warfare, search engines, and Uber Eats. The 21st century is not turning out to be nearly as exciting as the movies had led us to believe.

What is exhilarating, though, is to relive what life was like before our fandangled present. A new crop of technothrillers are doing just that: mining old technologies for adrenaline rushes, rather than imagining future ones. The World War II battleship drama Greyhound, out today on Apple TV+, is just the latest example of a script that finds the sort of thrills in a near-past that were previously found in the near-future, confirming that it is the absence of technology that now scares us the most not what it might evolve into.

Set during 1942, in the early days of America's entry into World War II, Greyhound tells the story of an Allied convoy being set upon by German U-boats during the Battle of the Atlantic. Almost the entirety of the film is spent in the bridge of one destroyer, the USS Keeling, where United States Navy Commander Ernest Krause (played by Tom Hanks, who also wrote the script) seeks to outwit and outmaneuver his counterpart aboard the Graue Wlfe. The film is based on the 1955 novel The Good Shepherd by C. S. Forester, which, though fictional, is "deeply researched and noted for its accurate depiction of naval warfare," Smithsonian Magazine writes.

This obsession with period details effectively carries over to the film. As part of a 37-ship convoy, the Keeling (which uses the call sign "Greyhound") frequently communicates with its counterparts using signal lamps, which are basically bright lights used to flash messages in Morse code across open water (today, we call them text messages). While radio calls are possible, the U-boats are able to intercept communications or commandeer them, as the smack-talking captain of the Graue Wlfe often does. These might have been quaint period details, except that director Aaron Schneider turns them into points of tension, like when it takes agonizing moments to convey messages from the Keeling's combat information center, where officers are interpreting sonar, to the bridge time that, when fighting an invisible enemy, is quite literally a question of life and death. You won't watch a more poorly-timed sneeze in a movie this year.

Additionally, ample attention is given to the janky technology used for locating the U-boats, stressing the overwhelming threat that the convoys faced. While being stalked, the Allies were forced to rely on hydrophones to literally listen for the sound generated by U-boat propellors a sound that could be masked by the noise of nearby friendly ships, or faked by decoys. Rapid battle maneuvers for targeting the subs had to be drawn out on plotting boards, and confirmation of a kill meant scanning rough waves for a telltale oil slick. The torturously basic technology all of it analog is as much an enemy, in the eyes of a 21st century audience, as the Axis attackers. While we know, to a degree, how the story will end since it's inspired by historical fact, the difficult machinery is what gets our pulse up more than some grander threat to the Americans. When the heroes find success, it is as much for overcoming the limits of their technology as anything else.

Greyhound, though, is far from the first film to exploit the inherent tension of prone-to-fail early mechanics. Last year's Ford v Ferrari also took a story with a fairly knowable outcome (based as it is on the true story of the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France) and used the technology of mid-century auto racing to heighten tension: the suspense of a potentially deadly brake failure looms throughout the film. (As if emphasizing the absurdity of the threat the groundbreaking engineering involved, a faulty door is fixed at one point by a good bang of a mallet). And while brake failure isn't unique to 1960s auto racing by any means, the "nerve-wracking technical glitches," as Slate called them, are why its race scenes are nailbiters, even more than the actual stakes of the competition.

First Man, the 2018 film recounting the effort to send Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon, likewise uses a known story and cranks up the tension by emphasizing how truly monumental a feat it was using the technology, or lack thereof, available to NASA in the 1960s. The film only works at all because it is "grounded in the tension between technology that's almost laughably fragile (the astronauts really do seem as if they're going up in tin cans)," wrote Vulture in its review at the time. Like Greyhound and Ford v Ferrari, there is an almost pedantic obsession with getting the period details exactly right: the sound designers, for example, tried to authentically replicate what going to space would have sounded like. In fact, all these films stress the limits of their technology largely through sound, the way the rev of a car engine, the rattle of a rocket, or the pips of sonar are exaggerated to the audience, stressing the mechanistic and thereby prone to failure nature of the vehicles in question.

Notably, none of these movies would work if they took place today. While there are still wars being fought, cars being built, and advances to space travel being made, the computer era, with all its certainties and simulations and precautions, feels somehow safer and simpler than the Wild West days of cruder technologies. Just as the cell phone has ruined the horror movie (why go in the spooky attic when you can just call for help?), the computer, counterintuitively, has ruined the technothriller. It was so much more exciting before we were actually good at this stuff.

Then again, it's all relative, right? From the smug perch of 2020, it can look like we have it all figured out compared to the horrors of the Dark Ages before computers and GPS and autonomous cars. But today's mundanity is tomorrow's technothriller; by 2080, who knows how horrifyingly backwards we'll look now.

Excerpt from:

The techno-thriller goes old-school - The Week Magazine

Fast & Furious 9 star Ludacris has potentially given away that the franchise is about to head into space.

The idea that space was the final frontier for the Fast franchise has been a long-running joke, but given how outlandish the series has become, we wouldn't be too surprised.

Appearing on Sirius XM's The Jess Cagle Show, Ludacris explained how the delay on the release of Fast 9 has given the creative minds behind the franchise more time to make the film (and possible sequels) some of the best of all time.

Prince Williams / ContributorGetty Images

Co-host Julia Cunningham then said: "I don't even know creatively what they could come up with to wow us even though I know they do every time.

"I'm like, space has to be involved, submarines, I don't even know. In my mind I can't imagine what happens in the next movie."

Ludacris responded: "You just said something very important. I will say that you are very intuitive, cause you said something right, but I'm not going to give it away."

"It was space I said space," Julia then shouted, to which the rapper simply put his hand over his mouth, so as not to say anything more.

Related: Vin Diesel hints there's a "big surprise" coming for Fast & Furious 9

Obviously, this could all be a big wind up, but we're actually kind of excited about the possibility of seeing the gang potentially hop in a spaceship.

Last year, Fast & Furious screenwriter Chris Morgan admitted that "nothings out of the question" when asked whether we could see Dominic Toretto and the gang travel to space one day.

"It just has to be cool and it has to be good," he explained in an interview with Polygon. "You know, thats the thing. I would say nothing is off-limits as long as we can stay on the right side of keeping the audience engaged."

Fast & Furious 9 will be released in April 2021.

Fast & Furious 8-Film Collection DVD (1-8 Box Set) [2017]

24.99

Fast & Furious 8 (Amazon Prime)

amazon.co.uk

Fast & Furious 7 [Blu-ray] [2017] [Region Free]

3.54

Fast & Furious 6 (Limited Edition Steelbook) [Blu-ray] [2013] [Region Free]

6.50

Fast & Furious 1-6 (includes sneak peek of Fast & Furious 7) [Blu-ray] [2015]

Universal Picturesamazon.co.uk

Fast & Furious 5 [DVD] [2011]

Universal Picturesamazon.co.uk

Fast & Furious 1-8 (4K + Blu-ray) [2019] [Region Free]

Fast & Furious Monopoly Board Game

23.71

Digital Spy now has a newsletter sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox.

Want up-to-the-minute entertainment news and features? Just hit 'Like' on our Digital Spy Facebook page and 'Follow' on our @digitalspy Instagram and Twitter accounts.

This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io

This commenting section is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page. You may be able to find more information on their web site.

Continued here:

Fast 9 star might have revealed that the movie goes to space - digitalspy.com

Roscosmos/Globallookpress

In the fall of 2022, Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, plans to send Anna Kikina, Russias only current female cosmonaut, to the International Space Station (ISS). We give the lowdown on who she is and how she passed the selection process.

35-year-old Anna Kikina was born on Aug. 27, 1984, in Novosibirsk. At school, she excelled at sport. In 2005, she took a first aid instructor course under the Russian Ministry of Emergencies, and in 2006 graduated from the engineering faculty of the Novosibirsk State Academy of Water Transport with the specialization Protection in Emergency Situations. Two years later, in 2008, she received another degree from the same university, this time in Economics and Management (Transport Industry).

Later Anna decided to dabble in journalism and became a radio host on Radio Siberia. And in her free time she competed in multisport events and did white-water rafting, receiving the title of Master of Sport in both disciplines. Another hobby is parachuting, and Kikina already has 151 jumps under her belt. According to the online newspaper Lenta.ru, she loves books and films, especiallyThe Lord of the RingsandAvatar.

Anna Kikina during a press conference dedicated to the experiment on ground simulation of the flight to the moon SIRIUS-17 in Moscow

In 2012, on learning that Roscosmos was looking for trainee cosmonauts, Anna decided to apply.

It was a bolt from the blue. I was just calmly living my life when a colleague at the radio station told me the cosmonaut corps was recruiting. I joked, Sure, we'll be flying to space soon. Then when I realized it was true, the idea of becoming a cosmonaut got stuck in my head, Kikina recalls her decision to go for it.

The selection process lasted about a year, during which time the number of applicants was whittled down to 304, including 43 women. Among the eight candidates finally selected, Anna was the only woman.

NASA astronaut Anna Lee Fischer (left) and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina during a meeting at the cosmonautics Museum

Anna was assigned to the position of test cosmonaut only in 2014, since when she has been preparing to fly into space. One of the most difficult tests was the SIRIUS isolation experiment in November 2017, which simulated a flight to the Moon.

On June 27, 2020, a messageappearedin the official Twitter account of Roscosmos that Kikina would be heading to the ISS as part of a Russian crew in two years. The head of the Russian cosmonaut corps, Oleg Kononenko, live on air during the popular Russian talk showEvening Urgant, announced that the flight would take place in the fall.

Cosmonaut Anna Kikina during a meeting at the cosmonautics Museum

In an interview withGlamormagazine, Kikina admits that she has no time for the romance of space travel.

The launch, approach and docking are the crucial flight phases. Theres no room for emotion. Only after docking with the ISS can you relax a tiny bit, observe the Earth and realize that your dream has come true, explains Anna.

She hopes that in future more women will join the Russian cosmonaut corps.

Sure, its not boring for me [in the cosmonaut corps], but it would be better if there were more women. Earth is home to so many women and men, yet for some reason theres only one woman in the corps. I hope and believe that the next selection, which is already underway, will pick more women, she said.

The last Russian woman to fly into space was Elena Serova, who spent 167 days aboard the ISS from September 2014 to March 2015. She was the fourth Soviet/Russian female cosmonaut in history.

If using any of Russia Beyond's content, partly or in full, always provide an active hyperlink to the original material.

Check your email to confirm the subscribtion

') }, error: function() { $email.val(''); alert('An unknown error occurred. Try later.'); } }); } }); }; initFormSubmit(); $completeButton.on('click', function (evt) { evt.preventDefault(); evt.window.location.reload(); }); }());

Excerpt from:

For the first time in eight years, a Russian woman will fly to the ISS. Who is she? - Russia Beyond

CAN you remember running down eagerly to the newsagents on the corner every Tuesday (or Wednesday, or Saturday) afternoon, hot coins clutched in your hand, to seize your copy of , the , , , ? And then taking it home and devouring every page, ignoring all calls to do your homework or lay the table for tea, until you had got right to the back page and the small ads? They meant nothing to you then, but you read them anyway. And next day at school you discussed the latest adventures of The Bash Street Kids, Lord Snooty, or Dennis the Menace. Would Roy of the Rovers score that vital goal? Would people one day actually fly into outer space, like Dan Dare? They opened up a magical world to our young eyes, those comics.

Light reading for children has been around for quite a long time, although the earliest publications would seem rather formal and serious to our television-jaded eyes now. , , , would have been familiar to our grandparents, while young gentlemen being groomed at boarding school avidly read , in which Billy Bunter, the fat owl of the Remove first appeared.

The great golden age of comics, though, started in 1905 with an enterprising Dundee publishing house. The town became known for generations as The Three Js Jam, Jute, and Journalism: for its marmalade, its sailmaking, and the publishing firm of D. C. Thomson. As well as a range of newspapers, Thomsons brought out dozens of comic titles, two of which at least are still familiar to millions - and , first appearing in 1937 and 1938 respectively. And werent the characters they introduced totally part of our lives? Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, Desperate Dan, Korky the Cat, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Little Plum, Lord Snooty, Biffo the Bear? Quite often the characters were shown as misbehaving, or generally acting against adult advice, which was heady stuff for us back then. Earlier publications would have stressed good behaviour; now, for the first time, naughtiness was becoming the norm.

Older boys were delighted when first appeared in 1950. More upmarket than most, its biggest attraction was undoubtedly Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future. Oddly enough, Eagle was founded by an Anglican vicar who wanted to bring out a comic based on Christian values. At first he intended Dan Dare to be chaplain to an interplanetary patrol, but that idea somehow got sidelined as the excitement of space missions took hold of young minds. Dans exploits in outer space were so popular indeed that they became a serial on Radio Luxembourg as well. Who can remember listening to those thrilling episodes after tea, perhaps having nightmares afterwards about the frightening green Mekon, arch-enemy of the redoubtable pilot? Incidentally, a young writer called Arthur C. Clarke was a consultant on these programmes.

Other popular strip stories in Eagle which went on to become legends were Riders of the Range, P.C.49, Harris Tweed, Luck of the Legion, and more, but a big attraction to mechanically-minded boys was the centre section which had detailed cutaway diagrams of advanced machinery, so that the actual workings could be understood. And, with increasing commercialisation, there was a members club, and you could buy items related to the stories printed. How many parents were pleaded with, one wonders?

appeared in 1939, a rival to the and . It featured The Steam Man (a robot), Sexton Blake, a revival of Billy Bunter as a comic strip instead of a text story, and, perhaps best remembered, Our Ernie Mrs. Entwistles Little Lad. This was the enduring adventures of a Wigan child at a time when most of us had no idea where Wigan, or indeed industrial Lancashire was and every episode ended with his dads catchphrase, Daft, I calls it.

first came out in 1954, and was immediately popular for its comic-strip character Roy of the Rovers, a brave lad who played for Melchester Rovers and could always be relied upon to come through at the final whistle. Other popular strips in were Hot Shot Hamish and Jet Ace Logan.

is a real oldie, first appearing in 1920, when the movie industry was barely getting to its feet, but continuing right up into the Sixties. Basically, it highlighted the comedy celebrities who could be seen in your local cinema, with skilful cartoonists emphasising their most instantly recognisable features. Kids of the 30s and 40s loved to see stories based around Old Mother Riley, George Formby, or Fatty Arbuckle, while Laurel and Hardy, one of the few duos to make a successful transition from silent to sound, were in every issue right up to the end, when the older stars were being replaced by the new breed such as Tony Hancock, Terry Thomas, and even Morecambe and Wise. At its height, before WWII, sold around 800,000 copies a week. It also had thrilling detective stories, and tales about famous cowboy screen stars like Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. So while with Dan Dare you had the spin off from strip cartoon to radio, with you had the leap sideways from screen to page.

Thats all very well, you might say, but what about the girls? They were not usually quite as interested in space travel or courageous cowboys, and football left them cold. So what did they read? Well, the range of publications for girls, whether young or teenage, was exceptionally wide.

came out in 1935 as a story paper, but changed to comic format in 1953, with the increasing demand for less text and more pictures which characterised the new age. Regular strips included Princess Anita, a Ruritanian aristocrat who donned peasant garb and moved among her people in order to do good; Jill Crusoe, a castaway on a desert island who befriends a young native girl; and Dilly Dreem, the scatty schoolgirl. It merged with in 1963, when one of the real greats of the comic strip canon was born: The Silent Three. This was the long-running tale of a trio of well-bred boarding school girls who put on monks robes in order to solve mysteries and prevent crime, and it was hugely popular. That had a subsequent rebirth of an unusual kind when in May 1977 the renowned artist Posy Simmonds started a weekly comic strip for the , titled the Silent Three of St Botolphs, showing what the girls had become in later life middle class, middle-aged, somewhat disillusioned. It was a brilliantly witty series, and gathered later into several books.

, which ran from 1951 to 1964, was created as a sister publication to Eagle, and was definitely intended to be more educational in outlook than the usual comics, with heroines who might get into scrapes, but also were involved in distinctly moral and indeed adventurous tales. Angela, Air Hostess; Belle of the Ballet; Claudia of the Circus; Robbie of Red Hall; and Lettice Leefe: The Greenest Girl in the School, who obviously competed with Dilly Dreem in . It also featured the biographies of real-life heroic women, showing what you could do if you tried.

Ballet and horse riding were sure-fire winners with young female readers back then, and publishers knew this. Most girls comics featured either or both.

became an instant hit with its first issue in 1960, which introduced Sandra of the Secret Ballet., which came out two years earlier (they were both Thomson comics) had first Moira Kent, and then Lorna Drake, both appealing to youngsters dreaming of stardom in a sparkling tutu. Forbidden to Ride, featuring an amnesiac girl and the horse she loves, was another popular Bunty story.

There was such a range of weekly delights available, for boys and girls, from toddlers to teenagers, with an incredible variety of stories, be it about pet dogs (Black Bob, anyone?) or exotic locations, brave heroes or determined down and outs who somehow win through. There was something for everyone, and those brilliantly-drawn comic strips drew us into a world of dreams where anything might happen, and usually did.

And come Christmas, there was the joy of the annual, a full quarto sized book with all your favourite characters, just right for reading after dinner while the parents reposed. You might be given yours as a gift, or you could put some money down each week at a local shop like Woollams in MacCurtain St, and finally pick up the coveted volume on Christmas Eve. While the weekly papers rarely survive, and those which do can go for high prices, there are many of the old annuals kept lovingly tucked away at the back of bookshelves, memories of more innocent days when the violence and horror of modern TV were unthinkable.

What were the comic strips you most loved? Which ones do you still remember as if it were yesterday? Email me at [emailprotected]

Read more:

The comics that Cork kids used to read... - Echo Live

It's been two months since astronaut and Maine native Jessica Meir returned from space and now the Caribou native is speaking out about what it was like to be a member of the first all-female spacewalk.

Meir, who was first selected by NASA in 2013, had a childhood dream of going to space.

From 2019 to 2020, she got to serve as a flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 61 and 62.

Over the past year, and particularly since the beginning of her time on the ISS in 2019, Meir said she found herself in a variety of situations she didn't necessarily expect.

Those moments have included giving tips on isolation for people stuck at home during the COVID-19 pandemic, making appearances on late night talk shows and getting serenaded by one of her favorite bands, The National.

But it was the spacewalk that made a lot of national headlines, when she and fellow astronaut, Christina Koch, donned space suits and went outside the ISS to do maintenance and keep the orbiting lab functional.

During the time she and Koch were doing that work, Meir says the priority was just that. The work.

She had a job to do and, as she points out, the class of astronauts she was part of in 2013, was also the first to have 50% men and 50% women.

By the numbers, Meir says everyone should expect to see more women on more NASA missions and notes the agency has committed to putting a woman on the Moon.

Still, she'll also tell you that just because space can be a physical and emotional vacuum when you're working in it, with inches of a protective suit between you and death, there are moments of reflection after the hatch closes.

"It was a very proud and humbling moment," she said, during an interview with NECN and NBC10 Boston on Friday.

She explained that she and Koch, "were quite overwhelmed by the level of excitement for it on the ground" and that the experience wasn't necessarily something she had expected.

The credit for the achievement, however, Meir says, actually goes to all of the previous NASA astronauts whose shoulders, Meir feels she stands on.

"That spacewalk had really nothing to do with Christina and myself," she said. "That was really for all these women that came before us."

In the present and on Earth, Meir has continued contributing to efforts for future efforts, who Meir believes will be from many diverse backgrounds, as they prepare for more private-sector supported space travel along with missions to the Moon and Mars.

In particular, Meir is looking forward to the publication of a paper she worked on about an experiment in space to find different ways to combat muscular and skeletal atrophy.

She explained that the zero-gravity environment in space takes a heavy toll on an animal's muscles and bones, which, in turn, would make a long space flight to somewhere like Mars rather difficult since a spacecraft making that journey would likely be smaller and not have room for the exercise equipment Meir had access to stay healthy on the ISS.

A third of all humans currently in space are from the state of Maine. Last week, York native Chris Cassidy joined Caribou native Jessica Meir on the International Space Station who will be preparing to head back to Earth.

"There was one experiment using a mice model that has applications not only for long-term space flight but also to many disease states on the ground, conditions where people have problems with their muscular and skeletal systems," Meir said.

"That's actually yielded some incredibly interesting results and we've recently just submitted a paper to publish those results. You'll have to stay tuned just a little bit longer," she added.

Waiting a bit longer is something Meir quickly realized she too would be doing after landing in Kazakhstan in April.

Because of COVID-19, her mother was unable to fly to Houston to see her in person as planned and Meir hasn't been able to fly to Maine either.

"I still haven't seen my mom," she said. "Outside of [her] friends in the local area, I haven't seen any of my family or friends and that's been disappointing and difficult for me to deal with but it's something that everybody is having to deal with."

Meir says keeping her family and friends healthy by not traveling to them is more important right now.

While she stays grounded, Meir is also waiting to find out if she will be selected for any of NASA's upcoming missions to the Moon or beyond.

As she pointed out, the decision is not hers, but if possible she would get on a rocket tomorrow to return to space.

"To go to the Moon, that is really my next great dream and there's a chance that could happen," she said.

In the meantime, Meir says she's going to appreciate everything she missed while she was in orbit, a list that includes the friends she can see right now, fresh fruits and vegetables, yogurt at breakfast and salads.

She is also thinking about what she will do when she eventually returns to Maine and thinking of all the people she wants to thank in person.

"New England has always played such a special part of my life, I was living and working in Boston before I got this job and spent all of my first years in Maine and spent all of my first 18 years in Maine," she said.

Read more:

Astronaut and Maine Native Jessica Meir Talks About Experience in Space - NECN

priestmangoode is working on naptune, a high-performance balloon and pressurized capsule capable of flying passengers to the edge of space. the london-based design company, led by nigel goode and paul priestman, is working with US-based space perspective on the project, which will also transport research payloads. flown by a pilot, the vehicle will take up to eight passengers on a six-hour journey to the edge of space where only 20 people have been before and safely back to earth.

all images and video courtesy of priestmangoode

spaceship neptune will carry people and research payloads on a two-hour gentle ascent above 99% of the earths atmosphere to 100,000 feet (30,480 meters). here, it will cruise above the earth for up to two hours allowing passengers to share their experience via social media. the spaceship then makes a two-hour descent and splashes down into the sea, where a ship retrieves the passengers, the capsule, and the balloon.

neptune is a great project to work on, its the culmination of a long-term collaboration that has resulted in the only spaceship that is designed with the human experience at its core and will pave the way for the future of commercial space travel, says nigel goode, designer and co-founder of priestmangoode. our starting point was the passenger experience. we looked at all the different elements that would make the experience not just memorable, but truly comfortable as well and included essentials for a journey of six hours, like a lavatory.

space perspective is developing a uniquely accessible space travel experience, comments taber maccallum, founder and co-CEO of space perspective. the team at priestmangoode worked with us to create that experience with spaceship neptune, giving it an off-world yet classic design, while meeting a wide range of human factors, engineering, manufacturing and operating requirements.

the design of the capsule is a critical component of providing our explorers the inspirational experience that astronauts describe of seeing our earth in space, adds jane poynter, founder and co-CEO of space perspective. the first un-crewed test flight will include a suite of research payloads and is scheduled for early 2021 from the shuttle landing facility at NASAs kennedy space center in florida.

project info:

name: spaceship neptunedesign: priestmangoode / space perspectivestatus: first un-crewed test flight scheduled for early 2021

philip stevens I designboom

jun 18, 2020

See the article here:

spaceship neptune is a balloon that will take you to the edge of space - Designboom

The original founders of World View Enterprises a company aimed at using giant balloons to send payloads into the stratosphere are launching a new venture together, one that will use those same massive balloons to send people leisurely above the Earth. Named Space Perspective, the now distinct company is focused on floating paying customers up to the edge of space, where they can get a rare view of the curvature of the Earth.

Such a relaxed space travel experience has long been the aim of Jane Poynter and Taber MacCallum, the co-CEOs of Space Perspective who are announcing the launch of the company today. They originally started World View with tourist flights as the primary end game, but theyre now making a separate enterprise to focus on the goal full-time. The idea is to give people a spectacular view of Earth from above, without having to strap into a rocket and shoot up into the sky at thousands of miles an hour, as other companies plan to do. We came right back to the idea of using these high-altitude balloon systems to be able to take people really gently to the edge of space, Poynter tells The Verge.

Technically, Space Perspective doesnt plan to send people to actual space. The company wants to fly customers up to 100,000 feet, or close to 19 miles high. Its a much lower altitude than what many consider to be the edge of space at 50 miles up, so you wouldnt get the full space experience. Space Perspective crews wouldnt experience weightlessness, for instance (though theyll feel about three pounds lighter). Still, the team argues people will be located above 99 percent of the Earths atmosphere, and that their balloon vessel will be regulated like a spacecraft through the FAAs Office of Commercial Spaceflight.

Plus, the real point is the view. We say were going to the edge of space, but the experience is really what astronaut [and Space Perspective advisor] Jeff Hoffman calls the authentic experience, MacCallum tells The Verge. Because for him, seeing the Earth from space with time and quiet and being relaxed and really being able to contemplate what hes seeing thats what he calls the authentic experience, and so thats what were really concentrating on.

Space tourism that sends people to the edge of space and back has been slow to get into full swing, with companies like Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic still a ways off from entering commercial operations. Those vehicles rely on rocket engines to get people off of Earth, and they go much higher between 50 and 62 miles up. Poynter contends that their system is very different from these rockets notably lacking a rocket engine so they dont expect to run into some of the same problems.

To get to the stratosphere, customers would ride inside a spherical white capsule called Neptune that looks a bit like a spinning top, with wide glass windows providing a clear view of the Earth below. The propellant would be a massive translucent balloon filled with hydrogen, which would ascend at the breakneck pace of 12 miles per hour. Eight passengers could fit inside the craft, along with one pilot to make sure everything runs smoothly, according to the company. The entire flight is meant to last about six hours, with two hours spent hovering above the Earth. A bar and a bathroom will be situated in the center, and there will absolutely be a Wi-Fi connection of some kind.

Some kind of satellite communication will be key for talking with ground control, but it will also allow riders to post photos from the sky. And then if people want to do some kind of special event on board such as a wedding or art show there will be other options. For special events where we really want to livestream something from the Neptune, we will have a swankier communication system that will be able to do really high resolution, broadband live streaming, says Poynter.

Its an ambitious idea, but the two CEOs have a history of working on fantastical projects together. Poynter and MacCallum both participated in the much hyped and controversial Biosphere 2 experiment back in the early 90s, where a small group of people attempted to live in a closed-loop ecosystem to simulate what it would be like to live on Mars. They also have experience working on a high-altitude balloon flight that carried a person to the stratosphere. While working together at their other space company, called Paragon, they created a life-support system for Alan Eustace, the former senior vice president of engineering at Google, who broke the record for the highest altitude jump from a balloon from above 135,000 feet.

Inspired by the idea of travel-by-balloon, they started World View together in 2012. But that company has started to focus less on tourism and more on science. World View has been developing a new product called the Stratollite a vehicle that acts akin to a satellite without actually orbiting the Earth. It consists of a metallic package filled with sensors, instruments, and more that travels to the stratosphere underneath a balloon. Up there, the Stratollite is meant to hover over one place on the Earth for an extended period of time, collecting data of the surface below. The company is currently planning to deploy fleets of Stratollites over North and Central America starting this summer.

With World View so focused on Stratollites, Poynter eventually stepped down as CEO in order to keep the dream of balloon-travel tourism alive. Poynter says theyve done market research on their idea and that theres plenty of interest from potential customers. To keep up the momentum, Space Perspective has set up shop at Cape Canaveral, Florida, leasing a building from NASA at Kennedys Space Center. They plan to launch their first uncrewed test flight from Space Floridas Launch and Landing Facility a runway where NASAs Space Shuttle used to land sometime early next year. That flight will take up some scientific payloads, which the company will announce in the coming months.

Theres still work to be done before regular flights are ready, though, especially when it comes to landing. While carrying passengers, Space Perspective plans for its Neptune capsule to splash down in the Atlantic Ocean or the Gulf of Mexico following flights from the Cape. The company is reliant on the direction of the winds for where the vehicle ends up, as there wont be options for controlling the direction of the vehicle in flight. That means theyll need a recovery boat to come pick up the capsule from the seas. Space Perspective says it has been talking to the people who recover SpaceXs Crew Dragon capsule from the ocean to figure out that best way to do that. This splashdown method also means the company can launch from other areas, like Hawaii or Alaska.

The company also needs to ensure that the ride will be safe for passengers, which Poynter and MacCallum insist it will be. The Neptune capsule will have a life support system and pressure control, and though the vehicle will mostly be flown by people on the ground, the designated pilot on board can assist customers if some kind of problem arises. And if the balloon suffers some kind of leak or failure, a reserve parachute will be on hand to bring the capsule down safely, according to MacCallum.

There may just be other kinks to work out on the way though. World Views Stratollite development, for example, has taken longer than expected, as the company has spent years trying to extend the amount of time the vehicle can last while in the air. Poynter and MacCallum say that those issues shouldnt impact the development of their new system, since they are less focused on navigating their capsule the same way World View handles its Stratollite. Altitude control and working that out for the Stratollite was a huge undertaking and very different than human flight, says MacCallum. These are really very, very different worlds, and while theyre both balloons going into the stratosphere, thats really where the similarities end.

With all these things in mind, Space Perspective still has very big plans for the future. Poynter and MacCallum say their Neptune capsule will be reusable, and they hope to get 1,000 flights out of each vehicle. Eventually they plan to fly up to 100 flights a year, and ticket prices, while still high, will be lower than other space tourism ventures, they claim. Poynter expects each ticket to be less than half of what Virgin Galactic charges, which is $250,000 a seat. She expects tickets with finalized prices to go on sale next year.

But really, Space Perspective says it wants everyone to be able to enjoy this method of travel. The company has also partnered with Space for Humanity, a non-profit that hopes to provide all-expenses-paid trips to space. Space Perspective also wants to fly artists, political leaders, spiritual leaders, and more, to help them see the world differently. The astronauts who talked about seeing the one human family and no borders and one small planet... really resonated with us, MacCallum says. Weve always thought that thats a really important set of ideas, to have that visceral experience to help move the needle.

See the original post:

New company Space Perspective wants to take you to the stratosphere via high-altitude balloon - The Verge

Here are five things you need to know about the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday. We'll have another update for you on Monday.

UK tourists can visit Spain without having to quarantine on arrival, Spanish officials have told the BBC, giving fresh hope to those wishing to have a summer holiday abroad this year. British citizens will be allowed to enter the country freely, without the need to self-isolate, said Spain's foreign affairs minister. Meanwhile, do you really know Britain's lockdown rules? Test your knowledge.

Countries around the world are easing their lockdown restrictions, but coronavirus is far from over and even those controlling the outbreak fear "the second wave". The second phase of Spanish flu a century ago was deadlier than the first. So, is a second wave inevitable, and just how bad could it be?

More staff at a chicken factory that produces a third of all poultry products consumed in the UK have tested positive for coronavirus. All staff at the 2 Sisters meat processing plant in Llangefni, Anglesey, northern Wales, are self-isolating after a number of workers were confirmed to have the virus on Thursday. Public Health Wales said that the number of staff affected had risen to 75, with cases expected to increase.

A Scottish architect has filled six A4-size sketchbooks documenting his family's life under lockdown. Prof Alan Dunlop has drawn about 120 pictures - one or two for each day of the 10 weeks since restrictions came into place.

Lockdown has led many to explore new hobbies - and inspired a new generation of backyard vegetable growers. But what do you do if your only outside space is tiny? Here's how to grow lockdown veg in a tiny space, from window ledges to patio pots.

Get a longer coronavirus briefing from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning, by signing up here.

You can find more information, advice and guides on our coronavirus page and get all the latest via our live page.

What questions do you have about coronavirus?

In some cases, your question will be published, displaying your name, age and location as you provide it, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. Please ensure you have read our terms & conditions and privacy policy.

Use this form to ask your question:

If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or send them via email to YourQuestions@bbc.co.uk. Please include your name, age and location with any question you send in.

Read this article:

Coronavirus: Travel to Spain, and the 'second wave' - BBC