Paul Krugmans Theory of Interstellar Trade
Ich hatte grade meinen Spaß mit Paul Krugmans Wirtschaftstheorie vom interstellaren Handel bei Lichtgeschwindigkeit: The Theory of Interstellar Trade (PDF). Das Teil ist von vorne bis hinten mit SciFi-Anspielungen gespickt – Krugman hat das Vorwort der Neuauflage von Asimovs Foundation geschrieben – und schließt mit den Worten: „Those of us working in this field are still a small band, but we know that the Force is with us.“ Hell, yeah!
This paper extends interplanetary trade theory to an interstellar setting. It is chiefly concerned with the following question: how should interest charges on goods in transit be computed when the goods travel at close to the speed of light? This is a problem because the time taken in transit will appear less to an observer travelling with the goods than to a stationary observer.
NASAs 3D-printed Pizza in Space
Die NASA ist grade – recht überschaubar mit einer 125.000 Dollar-Förderung – beim einem Entwickler für 3D-printed Food eingestiegen. Die Space-Behörde will die Technologie für Weltraumspeisen und man arbeitet explizit an 3D-gedruckter Pizza für die Mars-Mission. 3D-PRINTED PIZZA IN SPACE FTW!
Pizza is an obvious candidate for 3D printing because it can be printed in distinct layers, so it only requires the print head to extrude one substance at a time. Contractor’s “pizza printer” is still at the conceptual stage, and he will begin building it within two weeks. It works by first “printing” a layer of dough, which is baked at the same time it’s printed, by a heated plate at the bottom of the printer. Then it lays down a tomato base, “which is also stored in a powdered form, and then mixed with water and oil,” says Contractor.
Finally, the pizza is topped with the delicious-sounding “protein layer,” which could come from any source, including animals, milk or plants.
The audacious plan to end hunger with 3-D printed food
Vorher auf Nerdcore:
Pizza on the Moon
NASAs Space Food Lab
Calculating the Costs of Commander Hadfields Musicvideo in Space:
Randal Munroe rechnet auf seinem What If-Blog aus, wieviel Commander Hadfields Space Oddity-Video an Board der ISS gekostet hat: ISS Music Video – Is this the most expensive music video ever?
Commander Hadfield sings Space Oddity in Space
Commander Chris Hadfield fliegt heute von der ISS aus die Erde zurück, nachdem er ein paar Monate lang die Erde per Twitter und Reddit mit News aus dem All beschallt hat. Zum Abschied hat er jetzt mal flugs das erste Musikvideo in Space gedreht, natürlich ein Cover von David Bowies Space Oddity.
Das Teil ist keine wirklich spontane Nummer und tatsächlich war Emm Gryner daran beteiligt, die eine Weile in Bowies Liveband gespielt hat, in seinem Facebookdings erzählt sie ein bisschen was dazu:
The task was in front of me. I came up with a piano part. i then enlisted my friend, producer and fellow Canadian Joe Corcoran to take my piano idea and Chris’ vocal and blow it up into a fully produced song. Drums! mellotrons! fuzz bass! We also incorporated into the track ambient space station noises which Chris had put on his Soundcloud. I was mostly blown away by how pure and earnest Chris’ singing is on this track. Like weightlessness and his voice agreed to agree.
And voila! And astronaut sings Space Oddity in space! I was so honoured to be asked to be a part of this. You wouldn’t get too many chances to make a recording like this and not only that, to make music with someone who – through his vibrant communications with kids in schools to his breathtaking photos to his always patient and good-humoured demeanour – has done more for science and space than anyone else this generation. Planet earth IS blue, and there’s nothing left for Chris Hadfield to do. Right. Safe travels home Commander!
Chris Hadfield: Space Oddity, in diesem Video hier reflektiert er nochmal ein bisschen über das allgemeine Astronautendasein und seinen Aufenthalt in Space…
Meteorite Data-Visualization:
„BOLIDES is my take on data collected and provided by the The Meteoritical Society reporting all the reported meteorites that hit the Earth. The visualization focuses mainly on meteorites that were eye-witnessed when falling and hitting the ground.“
Interactive Space Exploration HTML5-Infographic:
„Behold: the entire history of Solar System exploration in one graphic. It requires a HTML5-capable browser, so only newer ones work.“
NASA draws a giant Penis on Mars
Die NASA hat mit einem ihrer Rover einen Penis auf die Oberfläche des Mars gemalt. Yep, it’s real. Da müssen sich Voina mit ihrer Pimmelbrücke aber nochmal ziemlich anstrengen. Penis-Graffito in Space: Check. „That’s one small pipi for a man, a giant Penis for mankind.“ Ein Interplanetarischer Pimmelwitz. In Space no one can hear you ejaculate. Ich hör’ ja schon auf.
In the end it doesn’t matter how the human kind disappeared from the face of the universe, we will never find the right answer, all that matter is that those who came after the humans, like us, will find penises, penises everywhere, in planets surface, in walls, in buildings, even in discs randomly sent into space.
That’s the legacy of the human beings and I’m no expert in xenobiology but heck, those are damn fine penises.Extract from “Did humans dream with electric penises?” written by Xeox Naz’Ar’Kanaz
Berlin from Space
Von Commander Chris Hadfield auf der ISS: „Berlin at night. Amazingly, I think the light bulbs still show the East/West division from orbit.“ Kennt sich einer mit Berliner Straßenlaternen aus? (via Laughing Squid)
[update] Von Reddit (Danke Moep0r!):
The Orange is actually still gas light, not electric light. The Soviets put them in everywhere after WWII. If you’ve ever lit a camping lantern, you know the sort of orange/yellow they put off. The city has plans to switch them over by 2016, which you can find here.
[…] it’s interesting to note that the color and quality of light was a big deal to people who liked the old gas lights (even though they used 50 times the energy of electric lights).
[update] spOnline: „Doch nicht Gas- und Elektroleuchten sind schuld daran, dass Berlin aus dem All noch immer eine geteilte Stadt ist, wie eine Nachfrage bei der Vattenfall-Tochter BerlinLicht ergibt. Die Unterschiede gibt es nämlich auch bei den elektrischen Lampen: Im Osten kamen vor allem gelbliche Natriumdampflampen zum Einsatz, im Westen eher weiße Leuchstoff- und Quecksilberdampflampen. Und das hat sich zumindest zum Teil noch bis heute erhalten.“
NASA will indeed catch an Asteroid
Gerüchte darum gab’s schon eine Weile, jetzt wurden sie bestätigt: Die NASA wird in ihrer nächsten größeren Mission einen 500-Tonnen Asteroiden einfangen, in einen Orbit um den Mond befördern und dann Astronauten da hoch schicken. Die Aktion ist noch nicht offiziell bekannt gegeben, NBC schreibt von einem offiziellen Sprecher des Weißen Hauses, der die Pläne anonym weitergegeben hat.
The asteroid retrieval mission is based on a scenario set out last year by a study group at the Keck Institute for Space Studies. NASA’s revised scenario would launch a robotic probe toward a 500-ton, 7- to 10-meter-wide (25- to 33-foot-wide) asteroid in the 2017 time frame. The probe would capture the space rock in a bag in 2019, and then pull it to a stable orbit in the vicinity of the moon, using a next-generation solar electric propulsion system. That could reduce the travel time for asteroid-bound astronauts from a matter of months to just a few days. […]
He said the plan had been under discussion for months, but quickly came together after February’s meteor blast over Russia. The meteor’s breakup injured more than 1,000 people and sparked a worldwide sensation. It also sparked a series of congressional hearings about threats from space, during which Republicans as well as Democrats hinted that they would support more funding to counter asteroid threats.
White House confirms NASA’s plan: Grab an asteroid, then focus on Mars (via Gizmo)
Piece of Shit floating in Zero-G
Nettes Tumblr: Distractions in Space. Da sammeln sie Profanes im Weltall und bis jetzt ist das alles so mittelamüsant, abgesehen von dem obigen Stück Scheiße in Schwerelosigkeit während der Apollo 10-Mission. Fäkalhumor in Space, find’ ich gut. (via MeFi)
Voyager has indeed left the Building
Im Oktober letzten Jahres legte ich mich darauf fest, dass Voyager unser Sonnensystem verlassen hat und wir seit damals als wahrscheinlich erstes Lebewesen dieses Sonnensystems den interstellaren Raum erforschen. Die Ergebnisse von damals wurden jetzt zur Publikation in den Geophysical Research Letters zugelassen. Elvis has indeed left the Building.
On August 25, 2012, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft measured drastic changes in radiation levels, more than 11 billion miles from the Sun. Anomalous cosmic rays, which are cosmic rays trapped in the outer heliosphere, all but vanished, dropping to less than 1 percent of previous amounts. At the same time, galactic cosmic rays – cosmic radiation from outside of the solar system – spiked to levels not seen since Voyager’s launch, with intensities as much as twice previous levels.
The findings have been accepted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters, a journal of the American Geophysical Union.
“Within just a few days, the heliospheric intensity of trapped radiation decreased, and the cosmic ray intensity went up as you would expect if it exited the heliosphere,” said Bill Webber, professor emeritus of astronomy at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces. He calls this transition boundary the “heliocliff.”
Voyager 1 has left the solar system, sudden changes in cosmic rays indicate
[update] Das Voyager-Team der NASA will’s immer noch nicht wahrhaben redet von „a new region called the magnetic highway“, aber ich bleib’ dabei: Voyager befindet sich im interstellaren Raum. Hier der Dings der NASA:
The Voyager team is aware of reports today that NASA’s Voyager 1 has left the solar system. It is the consensus of the Voyager science team that Voyager 1 has not yet left the solar system or reached interstellar space. In December 2012, the Voyager science team reported that Voyager 1 is within a new region called ‘the magnetic highway’ where energetic particles changed dramatically. A change in the direction of the magnetic field is the last critical indicator of reaching interstellar space and that change of direction has not yet been observed.
Obey Giant in Space
Shepard „Obey Giant“ Fairey hat den neuen Aufnäher der ISS-Mission Casis gestaltet. Und ich meine darin einen seiner stilisierten André the Giant-Formen zu sehen und hab’ das im Bild rechts mal zusammengeklickt. Wahrscheinlich ist das Unsinn, aber sagen wir’s mal so:
Wenn ich Fairey wäre und das hier sehr wahrscheinlich meine einzige Möglichkeit bleiben würde, in meinem Leben etwas von mir ins All zu schicken und ich hätte so ein prägnantes Markenzeichen und käme aus der Streetart, wo ein nicht unerheblicher Teil der Arbeit darin besteht, Wände zu malen und mein Tag zu verbreiten – ich würde mein Tag/Logo/Icon selbstverständlich irgendwie da unterbringen. Aber wahrscheinlich ist das Unsinn, na klar. Winkwinknudgenudge.
Jedenfalls hat Shepard „Obey Giant“ Fairey den neuen Aufnäher der ISS-Mission Casis gestaltet und ist damit wahrscheinlich der erste moderne Streetartist mit Kunst im All. Vor ihm hat allerdings jemand namens Frosty Myers ein Mini-Museum mit sechs Zeichnungen auf den Mond geschickt, unter anderem einen Pimmel von Andy Warhol.
Vimeo Direktobey, via The Verge
The most recent addition to the long history of space mission crew patches was announced this past weekend live on stage from the Engadget Expand event in San Francisco, CA with artwork designed by Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant, Studio Number One, Obama Hope). The crew patch artwork will mark the inaugural CASIS-managed flight to the International Space Station. CASIS (Center for the Advancement of Science in Space) is the non-profit entity setup by Congress to promote and broker research onboard the International Space Station, U.S. National Laboratory.
Named ARK1 (Advancing Research Knowledge), the September 2013 through March 2014 flight plans will be the the start of many CASIS managed flights to the ISS.
Next ISS Mission Crew Patch Design by Artist Shepard Fairey Revealed
First Pic from Mars on TV
Wusste ich auch noch nicht: Das erste Bild vom Mars im Fernsehen entstand, indem sie die Daten der Helligkeitswerte der Pixel ausdruckten, die Zahlenkolonnen aneinanderklebten und wie bei Malen-Nach-Zahlen colorierten. Vintage analoge Datenvisualisierung from Space, quasi.
This image represents the first view of another planet from a vantage point in space. It was taken on July 15th, 1965, when the space probe Mariner 4 flew by only 6,118 miles from the surface of Mars. Before this image the most sophisticated, high res image of Mars was this image by Percival Lowell from the late 1800′s. […]
After a few variations, it seemed most efficient to print out the digits and color over them based upon how bright each pixel was. So Mr. Grumm went to a local art store and asked for a set of chalk with different shades of gray. The art store replied that they “did not sell chalk” […], but they did have colored pastels. Richard did not want to spend a lot of time arguing with them, so he bought the pastels (actual pastels seen [besides]), had the 1’s and 0’s printed out on ticker tape about 3in wide, and his team colored them by their brightness level.
Die ganze Story gibt’s hier: First TV Image of Mars, das Bild in HighRes hier. (via Reddit)
Mars Mission Shield from Poo
Die Inspiration Mars Mission will schon im Jahr 2018 auf einem privat finanzierten einen Mann und eine Frau zum Mars und wieder zurück schicken, jetzt haben sie ihre Pläne bekannt gegeben, wie sie mit dem nicht so ganz trivialen Problem der GCR (Galactic Cosmic Rays) umgehen wollen. Mit Strahlungsschilden aus Kacke. Your Mars Mission is full of Shit, yay!
McCallum told New Scientist that solid and liquid human waste products would get put into bags and used as a radiation shield – as well as being dehydrated so that any water can be recycled for drinking. “Dehydrate them as much as possible, because we need to get the water back,” he said. “Those solid waste products get put into a bag, put right back against the wall.”
Food too, could be used as a shield, he said. “Food is going to be stored all around the walls of the spacecraft, because food is good radiation shielding,” he said. This wouldn’t be dangerous as the food would merely be blocking the radiation, it wouldn’t become a radioactive source.
Mars trip to use astronaut poo as radiation shield (Danke Dominik!)
Bonustrack: Schönes und ziemlich ernüchterndes Posting auf Reddit zur kosmischen Strahlung auf Reddit: Despite being a huge space nerd for many years, I’ve gradually come round to monkeys in deep space being a Really Stupid Idea.
Problem #2 is the aforementioned SPEs [Solar Particle Event, Sonneneruptionen]. These are occasional events, and vary hugely in magnitude, but a medium-sized one can dump 2Sv in an hour. For the big ones, it’s an order of magnitude higher. With an acute dose of 2Sv, you don’t have a 11% chance of getting cancer, you have a 100% chance of bleeding out of every orifice by the end of the week. More, these things can arrive at Earth within 15 mins of leaving the Sun, which means that in a space colony no-one could venture more than 15, 30, 60 mins (depending on how far from the Sun you are) from the nearest shelter. On a Moon or Mars colony, you can of course travel as much as you want during the night, but if your rover breaks down 8 hours out you are In For It.
Marijuana from Space
Der ehemalige NASA-Wissenschaftler Dale J. Chamberlain hat früher Botanik-Systeme für die ISS und das Space Shuttle gebaut und Anbauverfahren für kommende Mond-Basen entwickelt. Jetzt wendet er dieses Wissen in seiner neuen „High Altitude School of Hydroponics“ (H.A.S.H.) für Homegrower in Colorado an. Kein Scheiß. Es gibt eintägige Seminare für Amateurgärtner sowie eine Master Class mit Abschluss für professionelle Dope-Bauern. Ich will da hin.
Chamberlain knows more about far-out farming than almost anyone. At the Kennedy Space Center in the early 1990s he studied horticulture for future lunar colonies. “I assisted in building a plant-growth chamber that is still on the space shuttle,” he says, explaining that low-gravity hydroponics left him uniquely prepared to handle Colorado’s new legal landscape. “[…]
“Will there be weed in space?” He inhales and holds it for a beat before answering. […] anyone who’s seen how astronauts go to the bathroom knows a bong in zero gravity could be very messy. Chamberlain is undaunted. “Anything can be engineered. I’m envisioning the filter in my mind now, you’d have to somehow strain the water from the air. It could be done, but there are better ways in space. They’d probably use a vaporator-type system or even edibles. The short answer to your question is: hemp in space!”
Meet the Former NASA Scientist Who’s Teaching Coloradans How to Grow Marijuana Legally (via Animal NY)
