Category Archives: Tech

Suddenly, paperclips. Billions of them.

Posted on February 11, 2018 by

So I may have spend some of my idle brain and CPU time yesterday making paperclips. Wait! I promise this is more interesting than it sounds! The game Universal Paperclips, shown to me by a friend (thanks Wil!) after my … Continue reading →

Posted in Sci Fi, Tech | Tagged , | 1 Comment

An Uncomfortable Truth About Spacecraft

Posted on March 23, 2017 by

Since Juno’s arrival at Jupiter, a lot of people have noted how impressively technology has improved, with Juno being powered by solar panels. Indeed, without the progress we’ve made, Juno wouldn’t have been possible. It may not be immediately apparent … Continue reading →

Posted in chemistry, physics, Tech | Tagged , ,

Artificial Trees, Real Energy

Posted on March 19, 2017 by

Take a look at this thing. It may look like an art installation of some kind, but it’s much more than that. This is a Wind Tree, made by a French startup company called New Wind, and it may hopefully … Continue reading →

Posted in Environment, Tech | Tagged | 5 Comments

Riding a Dragon to the Moon

Posted on February 28, 2017 by

SpaceX have managed to make quite a splash by announcing yesterday that they plan to send a couple of space tourists on a trip around the Moon by the end of next year! Fly me to the moon … Okhttps://t.co/6QT8m5SHwn … Continue reading →

Posted in space, Tech | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Oh print me a home where the cosmic rays roam…

Posted on January 31, 2013 by

3D printing really is pretty amazing. By laying down successive layers of precursor material (typically liquid or powder), a 3D printer can create essentially any solid object, no matter how intricate. On the small scale, 3D printing technology has already … Continue reading →

Posted in space, Tech | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Eyes in the sky – looking at exoplanets

Posted on December 23, 2012 by

Anyone who’s been paying attention this last year will know that it’s been a turbulent year for space telescopes. Turbulent, but not without some unexpected windfalls. One in particular is that earlier this year, the US National Reconnaissance Organisation (NRO) … Continue reading →

Posted in astronomy, physics, space, Tech | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Now leaving the Solar System…?

Posted on October 7, 2012 by

There was an interesting tweet from the UK Space Agency yesterday… I have to agree. While it’s difficult to say exactly where the boundary of the solar system lies, it’s certainly true that the cosmic rays which Voyager’s reading seem … Continue reading →

Posted in space, Tech | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Shiny!

Posted on September 25, 2012 by

When constructed, the James Webb Space Telescope (or JWST for short) is scheduled for launch in 2018. When it does, it will be the largest and most complex orbital telescope ever constructed, with a 6.5 m primary mirror giving it … Continue reading →

Posted in space, Tech | Tagged ,

Second star to the right, and straight on till morning…

Posted on September 20, 2012 by

Dreamed up by the British Interplanetary Society in the 1970s, Daedalus was an idea for an unmanned interstellar space probe. It was to be powered by a nuclear fusion rocket, using a rocket engine bell larger than St Paul’s Cathedral. Continue reading →

Posted in Sci Fi, space, Tech | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Warp drives! Nothing’s gonna stop us now?

Posted on September 19, 2012 by

Starships. The idea captures the imagination, doesn’t it? But special relativity is a harsh law to live by if we, as a species, ever plan to make it beyond the constraints of our own solar system. It imposes the ultimate … Continue reading →

Posted in physics, Sci Fi, space, Tech | Tagged , | 10 Comments