Tech – Page 4 – NeRDs Moonbase

‘Them space drugs cooked real good:’ Varda Space just made an HIV medicine in Earth orbit

March 29, 2024 NeRD

On Feb. 21, after some seven months in space, Varda Space Industries’ W-1 capsule successfully returned to Earth, carrying with it a unique payload: the HIV/AIDS medication ritonavir. Varda Space seeks to autonomously manufacture pharmaceuticals in microgravity, a strategy that could ultimately reduce the cost of life-saving drugs — and, according to a new preprint paper, the company is one step closer to achieving that goal. The W-1 mission sought to test the feasibility of making therapeutics in space, testing Varda’s hardware off Earth for the first time. During its time…

Keep the lines of communication open by building your own infrared transmitter

March 25, 2024 NeRD

(Image credit: Future) The idea of being in a remote location, unable to communicate with civilization, is foreign to most people. With cell phones, Wi-Fi, and radio readily available to us, we hardly think about how difficult it would be to communicate over long distances without them. But that could be a reality for members of the United States Space Force in the future. What do you do when your ability to communicate is hindered? In the second episode of the Space Force STEM Challenge, we show you how to…

World’s 1st fault-tolerant quantum computer launching this year ahead of a 10,000-qubit machine in 2026

February 11, 2024 NeRD

The world’s first commercial fault-tolerant quantum computer with “logical qubits” may be running before the year’s end. Logical qubits — physical quantum bits, or qubits, connected through quantum entanglement — reduce errors in quantum computers by storing the same data in different places. This diversifies the points of failure when running calculations. The new machine, which has 256 physical and 10 logical qubits, will launch in late 2024, representatives from QuEra, the startup that is building it, said in a statement. The announcement follows a new study, published Dec. 6,…

Wild Mars plane concept could seek water from high in the Red Planet’s atmosphere

January 21, 2024 NeRD

The search for water on Mars could include a hunt from Red Planet skies. An early-stage vehicle, affectionately called MAGGIE, would search for water on Mars from high in the planet’s atmosphere. In fact, MAGGIE just received its first tranche of funding from NASA on the long road to getting ready for flight. While there’s no timeline yet for the craft’s first flight, another flying vehicle on Mars continues to exceed and excel. The Ingenuity helicopter on the Red Planet, originally built for a mere five flights, is well past…

Watch NASA test revolutionary new rotating detonation rocket engine (video)

January 19, 2024 NeRD

Houston, Texas-based Venus Aerospace, a hypersonics pioneer aimed at developing reusable hypersonic flight platforms, recently achieved one of the longest sustained tests of a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in collaboration with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. A rotating detonation rocket engine combusts its fuel and oxidizer in a circular motion inside a ring-shaped channel. The shockwaves from the detonation of fuel and oxidizer create a self-sustaining combustion reaction, making this form of propulsion more efficient than conventional combustion engines. Venus Aerospace’s recent RDRE demonstration sustained the longest engine run…

We’ve been ‘close’ to achieving fusion power for 50 years. When will it actually happen?

January 14, 2024 NeRD

Nuclear fusion power was supposed to be a dream come true. As soon as we discovered that you could smash little atoms together to make bigger atoms and release a small amount of energy in the process, scientists around the world realized the implications of this new bit of physics knowledge. Some wanted to turn it into weapons, but others wanted to develop it into a clean, efficient, inexhaustible supply of electrical energy. But it turns out that fusion power is … hard. Really hard. Really complicated. Full of unexpected…

NASA funds Venus sample-return, interstellar probes and other far-out space tech

January 9, 2024 NeRD

NASA has awarded funding to 13 innovative space technology concepts that could shape future missions to Venus, Mars and worlds beyond our solar system. The space agency’s NIAC (NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts) program supports the development of early-stage technology ideas from America’s innovators and entrepreneurs. Each Phase 1 award is worth up to $175,000, according to a statement from NASA. “The daring missions NASA undertakes for the benefit of humanity all begin as just an idea, and NIAC is responsible for inspiring many of those ideas,” NASA Associate Administrator Jim…

‘Cooling glass’ could fight climate change by reflecting solar radiation back into space

January 3, 2024 NeRD

As the world continues to experience a worsening climate crisis with record-breaking temperatures, scientists have developed a new, highly reflective glass coating that may help cool a rapidly warming Earth. In theory, the coating — a slurry-like mixture of inexpensive glass and aluminum oxide particles — could reflect high amounts of sunlight off of the surfaces on which it is painted, such as roofs of buildings and roads. Laboratory tests have shown it to reflect up to 99 percent of solar radiation back into space. If it pans out, the…