New Satellite Will Be Space Mechanic, Gas Station - Yahoo! News

Innovation in private commercial is just stunning.  If only the government would get out of the way of other industries, we would be leaping forward in the economy.  So Cool:

New Satellite Will Be Space Mechanic, Gas Station.

A young spaceflight company is building what it hopes will be the ultimate space handyman, a combination repair droid and orbital gas station to serve ailing satellites around Earth.

The company, called ViviSat, is planning to launch a fleet of specially built spacecraft that will be able to attach to other vehicles in Earth orbit that need a pick-me-up.

"We call them Mission Extension Vehicles," ViviSat chief operating officer Bryan McGuirk said Nov. 15 at the 2012 Satellite and Content Delivery Conference and Expo here. "Our job will be to dock with commercial satellites to extend their lives."

Brilliant.  I have a few logistical questions, but this is someone thinking with their head and being creative.  If they can deliver this product and service, they could make a killing.

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Whoa! Japanese Space Elevator Planned

This is just too cool!

From cyborg housemaids and waterpowered cars to dog translators and rocket boots, Japanese boffins have racked up plenty of near-misses in the quest to turn science fiction into reality.

Now the finest scientific minds of Japan are devoting themselves to cracking the greatest sci-fi vision of all: the space elevator. Man has so far conquered space by painfully and inefficiently blasting himself out of the atmosphere but the 21st century should bring a more leisurely ride to the final frontier.

For chemists, physicists, material scientists, astronauts and dreamers across the globe, the space elevator represents the most tantalising of concepts: cables stronger and lighter than any fibre yet woven, tethered to the ground and disappearing beyond the atmosphere to a satellite docking station in geosynchronous orbit above Earth.

Up and down the 22,000 mile-long (36,000km) cables — or flat ribbons — will run the elevator carriages, themselves requiring huge breakthroughs in engineering to which the biggest Japanese companies and universities have turned their collective attention.

In the carriages, the scientists behind the idea told The Times, could be any number of cargoes. A space elevator could carry people, huge solar-powered generators or even casks of radioactive waste. The point is that breaking free of Earth's gravity will no longer require so much energy — perhaps 100 times less than launching the space shuttle.

“Just like travelling abroad, anyone will be able to ride the elevator into space,” Shuichi Ono, chairman of the Japan Space Elevator Association, said.

The vision has inspired scientists around the world and government organisations including Nasa. Several competing space elevator projects are gathering pace as various groups vie to build practical carriages, tethers and the hundreds of other parts required to carry out the plan. There are prizes offered by space elevator-related scientific organisations for breakthroughs and competitions for the best and fastest design of carriage.

Here is my basic question, it takes a long time to travel 22,000 miles, how fast will these things accelerate and what will be their speed?

Could Plug In Cars Save GM?

With the revelation of the Chevy Volt, maybe, just maybe.

Right now, my morning and afternoon commute is a combined 22 miles. In theory, I could use the Volt and its 40 mile battery range comfortably. With gas approaching $4 a gallon, this would be great. The only thing I haven't seen is price point on the car.

Update: More on Volt here, including a $35,000-$40,000 price tag and expected first year production of 10,000 or so. I would expect the price to go down as more cars are produced, but that is still a steep price for what is a compact car. GM will sell its first production run without any problem, but for a consumer like me, the premium on price is a little steep.

Cool: Exoskeleton helps paralyzed man walk again.

Too cool for words.

The device, called ReWalk, is the brainchild of engineer Amit Goffer, founder of Argo Medical Technologies, a small Israeli high-tech company.

Something of a mix between the exoskeleton of a crustacean and the suit worn by comic hero Iron Man, ReWalk helps paraplegics -- people paralyzed below the waist -- to stand, walk and climb stairs.

Goffer himself was paralyzed in an accident in 1997 but he cannot use his own invention because he does not have full function of his arms.

The system, which requires crutches to help with balance, consists of motorized leg supports, body sensors and a back pack containing a computerized control box and rechargeable batteries.

The user picks a setting with a remote control wrist band -- stand, sit, walk, descend or climb -- and then leans forward, activating the body sensors and setting the robotic legs in motion.

Human ingenuity at its best.

Babe of the Week : Jessica Alba

For just having had a baby, WOW!!!Courtesy of FoxSports.com Photo Gallery

GodBlogCon Returns to Vegas

Something is just odd about a Christian blog conference being held in "Sin City."

But still, I think this is good.

World's First 'Building In Motion' Set For Dubai

Interesting Concept.

Will it get built? Don't know, but I can imagine that a desert nation that has an indoor skiing building can figure this one out.

I don't know if I want to pay $4 million for an apartment though.

Fear In A Crisis

John Robb has a book review that should be read as well as the book he reviews, it is all about response in a crisis.

It is said that bravery is merely the ability of one person to keep his head for five minutes longer than everyone else who has panicked. That "keeping" one's head might be a result of training, luck or just personality, but it can and does make all the difference.

We can counter fear, however. The best method, FBI trainers say, is to get control of your breathing. “Combat breathing” is a simple variant on Lamaze or yoga training—breathe in four counts, hold four counts, exhale four counts, and repeat. It works because breathing is a combination of the somatic (which we control) and the autonomic (which we can’t easily control) nervous systems. Regulation of the autonomic system deescalates the biological-fear response and returns our higher-level brain functions to full capacity. So one of the best ways you can prepare yourself to overcome fear in a crisis is as simple as a meditation, Lamaze, or yoga class.

Fortunately, in many disasters, someone is often biologically and psychologically well-suited for dealing with the chaos. Such people typically are the most likely to survive or to shepherd a docile group of survivors out of a disaster zone. What makes them different? Some have a natural psychological buffer that allows them to bounce back from extreme stress. Examination of people who always perform well in extreme circumstances has shown high levels in the blood of “neuropeptide Y”—a compound that allows one to stay mentally focused under stress. It’s so closely correlated with success in pressure situations that it is almost a biological marker for selection into elite groups for military special operations.

If you’re lucky enough to have someone like this in your group during a disaster, your chances of survival are much better. But even those of us not so disposed can, through training and experience, manufacture a workable degree of self-confidence.

Interesting is the science behind fear and its response.

Supporting the Fans that Support You

Not likely that any American team would do this, but still The Scottish Premier Leagues Rangers have done something extraordinary. Follow the link to find out.

German Physicists Claim to have Broken Speed of Light

If true, this could change the way physics is understood.

However, Dr Gunter Nimtz and Dr Alfons Stahlhofen, of the University of Koblenz, say they may have breached a key tenet of that theory.

The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons - energetic packets of light - travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.

Being able to travel faster than the speed of light would lead to a wide variety of bizarre consequences.

For instance, an astronaut moving faster than it would theoretically arrive at a destination before leaving.

The scientists were investigating a phenomenon called quantum tunnelling, which allows sub-atomic particles to break apparently unbreakable laws.

Wow!

Now comes the effort to replicate the experiment and verify their findings.