Spacecraft have used a plutonium isotope to stay afloat for decades, but another isotope could last even longer.
Category: space travel – Page 4
ASI Risks: Similar premises, opposite conclusions | Eliezer Yudkowsky vs Mark Miller
A debate/discussion on ASI (artificial superintelligence) between Foresight Senior Fellow Mark S. Miller and MIRI founder Eliezer Yudkowsky. Sharing similar long-term goals, they nevertheless reach opposite conclusions on best strategy.
“What are the best strategies for addressing risks from artificial superintelligence? In this 4-hour conversation, Eliezer Yudkowsky and Mark Miller discuss their cruxes for disagreement. While Eliezer advocates an international treaty that bans anyone from building it, Mark argues that such a pause would make an ASI singleton more likely – which he sees as the greatest danger.”
What are the best strategies for addressing extreme risks from artificial superintelligence? In this 4-hour conversation, decision theorist Eliezer Yudkowsky and computer scientist Mark Miller discuss their cruxes for disagreement.
They examine the future of AI, existential risk, and whether alignment is even possible. Topics include AI risk scenarios, coalition dynamics, secure systems like seL4, hardware exploits like Rowhammer, molecular engineering with AlphaFold, and historical analogies like nuclear arms control. They explore superintelligence governance, multipolar vs singleton futures, and the philosophical challenges of trust, verification, and control in a post-AGI world.
Moderated by Christine Peterson, the discussion seeks the least risky strategy for reaching a preferred state amid superintelligent AI risks. Yudkowsky warns of catastrophic outcomes if AGI is not controlled, while Miller advocates decentralizing power and preserving human institutions as AI evolves.
STARSHIP STARPORT NETWORK | Can Rocket Cargo Replace Air & Sea?
💹 Starship’s efficiency could potentially make it highly profitable, “making tons of money like a Tesla.”
🚨 Starship IFT-10’s success has reignited bold ideas for a Starship Starport Global Network.
Could Rocket Cargo really replace today’s air and sea freight? 🚀
In this episode of @overthehorizon, Chris Smedley and Scott Walter join me for a deep dive on the Starport Network vision — offshore launch pads, mobile rigs, and eVTOL last-mile links — and ask if suborbital rocket cargo can outcompete aircraft and ships.
We explore 👇🏽
🚀 How Starship’s scale changes global logistics.
🌍 Why rocket cargo could disrupt ports, airlines, and shipping.
⚡ The “rocket time dilation” effect that multiplies daily throughput.
🛳 From oil rigs to Starports: how offshore hubs could reshape trade.
🔮 First use-cases: military logistics, high-value freight, GCC & island tourism.
Starship Starports may be the end of hubs, choke points, and slow supply chains. But can they really replace air and sea?
Students develop novel multi-metal 3D printing process
Students at ETH Zurich have developed a laser powder bed fusion machine that follows a circular tool path to print round components, which allows the processing of multiple metals at once. The system significantly reduces manufacturing time and opens up new possibilities for aerospace and industry. ETH has filed a patent application for the machine, and the results are published in the CIRP Annals.
Today, virtually all modern rocket engines rely on 3D printing to maximize their performance with tight coupling between structure and function. Students at ETH Zurich have now built a high-speed multi-material metal printer: a laser powder bed fusion machine that rotates the powder deposition and gas flow nozzles while it prints, which means it can process several metals simultaneously and without process dead time. The machine could fundamentally change the 3D printing of metal parts, resulting in significant reductions in production time and cost.
The team of six Bachelor’s students in their fifth and sixth semesters developed the new machine in the Advanced Manufacturing Lab under the guidance of ETH Professor Markus Bambach and Senior Scientist Michael Tucker as part of the Focus Project RAPTURE. In a mere nine months, the students realized, built and tested their idea. The machine is particularly aimed at applications in aerospace featuring approximately cylindrical geometries, such as rocket nozzles and turbomachinery, but is also of broad interest for mechanical engineering.
SpaceX Reveals New Cargo Starship for US Military Contract
The US military is considering SpaceX’s Starship for rapid Earth-to-Earth transportation of cargo, leveraging its high-speed capabilities to revolutionize military logistics, humanitarian missions, and commercial shipping operations.
🚀 Q: How does Starship revolutionize military transport capabilities? A: Starship can carry 150 metric tons of cargo, including heavy artillery tanks and helicopters, with a payload capacity of 1M tall and 9m in diameter, enabling transport of large military equipment in a single trip.
🌍 Q: What advantage does Starship offer for global military operations? A: Starship’s orbital velocities make it 10 times faster than commercial aircraft, allowing transport of cargo and personnel globally in under an hour, significantly enhancing military response times and operational flexibility.
Elon Musk’s Secret ‘Starfall’ Programme for SpaceX Starship
SpaceX’s rumored “Starfall” program, related to its Starship initiative, aims to revolutionize in-space manufacturing, enabling advancements in various fields and reducing cargo transportation costs to unlock economic potential in space ## ## Questions to inspire discussion.
In-Orbit Manufacturing Potential.
🚀 Q: What unique advantages does in-orbit manufacturing offer? A: In-orbit manufacturing provides no gravity, perfect fluid flow, stable heat flow, and no air moving heat around, enabling growth of structures without scaffolding and benefiting industries like pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, and military logistics.
🏭 Q: Which industries could be disrupted by in-orbit manufacturing in the 2040s? A: In-orbit manufacturing could disrupt terrestrial industries in the 2040s, particularly pharmaceuticals, advanced materials, and military logistics, allowing production of high-value goods like protein crystals, retinal organoids, ZBLAN fiber, and semiconductor ingots in space.
Starfall Program.
🛰️ Q: What is SpaceX’s Starfall program? A: Starfall is a secret SpaceX program using small return pods from Starship to bring high-value goods back from orbit, potentially slashing the $40,000/kg cost of returning materials to Earth.
An Apollo 8 Christmas Dinner Surprise: Turkey and Gravy Make Space History
On Christmas Day in 1968, the three-man Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, Jim Lovell, and Bill Anders found a surprise in their food locker: a specially packed Christmas dinner wrapped in foil and decorated with red and green ribbons. Something as simple as a “home-cooked meal,” or as close as NASA could get for a spaceflight at the time, greatly improved the crew’s morale and appetite. More importantly, the meal marked a turning point in space food history.
SpaceX’s troubled Starship prototype pulls off successful flight after months of explosive mishaps
• SpaceX launched the 10th test flight of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket booster tonight. Both achieved successful splashdowns on opposite sides of the world during the roughly hour-long test.
• The test flight marked a signficant and encouraging stride forward for SpaceX’s Starship program, which had experienced a string of explosive missteps dating back to January.
• Tonight’s success could queue up SpaceX to conduct another boundary-pushing flight next month, aimed at improving the vehicle’s performance before SpaceX upgrades to a larger version of Starship next year.