Scientists in China and Japan are working to create a space elevator, and an experiment aboard the International Space Station could help point the way.
Category: space – Page 959
Scientists develop smart technology for synchronized 3D printing of concrete
Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a technology whereby two robots can work in unison to 3D-print a concrete structure. This method of concurrent 3D printing, known as swarm printing, paves the way for a team of mobile robots to print even bigger structures in the future. Developed by Assistant Professor Pham Quang Cuong and his team at NTU’s Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, this new multi-robot technology is reported in Automation in Construction. The NTU scientist was also behind the Ikea Bot project earlier this year, in which two robots assembled an Ikea chair in about nine minutes.
Using a specially formulated cement mix suitable for 3D printing, this new development will allow for unique concrete designs currently impossible with conventional casting. Structures can also be produced on demand and in a much shorter period.
Currently, 3D-printing of large concrete structures requires huge printers that are larger in size than the printed objects, which is unfeasible since most construction sites have space constraints. Using multiple mobile robots that can 3D print in sync means large structures and specially designed facades can be printed anywhere, as long as there is enough space for the robots to move around the work site.
The Next Social Networks Could Be Brain-to-Brain
It might already feel like social media is taking up too much of our mental space, but just wait until it’s literally inside of our brains.
Physicists and neuroscientists have developed the world’s first “brain-to-brain” network, using electroencephalograms (EEGs), which record electrical activity in the brain, and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which can transmit information into the brain, to allow people to communicate directly with each other’s brains — a new and thrilling (and a little terrifying?) example of science fiction brought to life.
Researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle announced last week that they successfully used their interface, which they call BrainNet, to have a small group of people play a collaborative “Tetris-like” game — with their minds.
The Stellina Smart Telescope Finds The Stars For You
Pick a constellation, and this tiny telescope shows it to you. (Via Seeker)
Scientists Think They’ve Finally Found The Crushing Limits of Gravity Humans Could Survive
They don’t call Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson ‘The Mountain’ for nothing.
In 2015, the strong man and Game of Thrones actor broke a millennium-old record by taking – or more accurately, staggering – five steps with a 650 kilogram (1,430 pound) log on his back.
To most of us, this was simply an extraordinary example of heroic strength. To scientists, this feat marked a crushing limit to the gravitational pull any mortal could ever hope to endure, setting a boundary on the mass of planets we might expect to colonise.
Settle down, guys. A skull-shaped asteroid is not headed for Earth this Halloween
In 2015, the asteroid missed Earth by just 300,000 miles and was visible to those with good telescopes. This year, the closest it will come is 25 million miles — which is way too far to tell what it looks like.