Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re: It'll get there technically, but not economica (Score 1) 218

Neither those batteries nor those panels last very long and the production and shipping of both is terrible for the environment. Proponents will quickly point at coal plants or gasoline powered cars and the relative difference. Last I checked destroying the planet still counts even if you destroy it somewhat less than something else.

Meanwhile, please tell us how much concrete a fusion reactor will use? (For our convenience, please express in Cubic Mile units).

Submission + - SPAM: Elon Musk's Starlink helping Ukraine to win the drone war

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Drone teams in the field, sometimes in badly connected rural areas, are able to use Starlink to connect them to targeters and intelligence on their battlefield database. They can direct the drones to drop anti-tank munitions, sometimes flying up silently to Russian forces at night as they sleep in their vehicles.

PD-1 unmanned aerial vehicles, which have a wingspan of 10ft and are fitted with infrared sensors, are also used to collect information on Russian troop movements.

The Ukrainian drone unit uses a sophisticated system called "Delta" which has been built over recent years with help from Western advisers and can be accessed from basic laptops.

It includes “situational awareness” software which creates an interactive map, incorporating imagery from drones, satellites, sensors and human intelligence so the enemy can be tracked. Delta is said to be compatible with Nato systems, and to have been tested in the Sea Breeze military exercise in the Black Sea last year, which involved the US, Ukraine and 30 other nations.

Now the drone squads face increasing danger as the Russians try to track them, and they have to move frequently. Drones are proving so effective that the Pentagon feels supplying Ukraine with aircraft is not necessary. Instead, it is now sending more lethal Switchblades — so-called “kamikaze drones” — which were designed for US special forces, can be carried in a backpack and can destroy a tank.

As Ukraine's internet is inevitably degraded, Starlink will be an alternative. General James Dickinson, commander of US Space Command, told the Senate armed services committee: "What we’re seeing with Elon Musk and the Starlink capabilities is really showing us what a megaconstellation, or a proliferated architecture, can provide in terms of redundancy and capability."
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Why Musk's biggest space gamble is freaking out his competitors

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Starship is threatening NASA’s moon contractors, which are watching its progress with a mix of awe and horror.

“They are shitting the bed,” said a top Washington space lobbyist who works for SpaceX’s competitors and asked for anonymity to avoid upsetting his clients.

NASA and its major industry partners are simultaneously scrambling to complete their own moon vehicles: the Space Launch System mega-rocket and companion Orion capsule. But the program is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule — and, many would argue, generations behind SpaceX in innovation.

The space agency’s first three Artemis moon missions over the next three years — including a human landing planned for 2025 — are all set to travel aboard the SLS rocket and Orion capsule, which are being built by Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Aerojet Rocketdyne and numerous other suppliers and engineering services firms.

But with the SLS’ first flight this year further delayed at least until late spring, concerns are growing that even if it succeeds, the system, at an estimated $2 billion per launch, could prove too costly for the multiple journeys to the moon that NASA will need to build a permanent human presence on the lunar surface.

That makes Starship, which conducted a successful flight to the edge of space last year, especially threatening to the contractors and their allies in Congress.

As Starship progresses, it will further eclipse the argument for sticking with SLS, according to Rand Simberg, an aerospace engineer and space consultant.

“Once the new system’s reliability is demonstrated with a large number of flights, which could happen in a matter of months, it will obsolesce all existing launch systems,” he said.

“If SLS is not going to fly more than once every couple of years, it’s just not going to be a significant player in the future in space, particularly when Starship is flown,” he added.

And that will derail the multibillion-dollar gravy train.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - SPAM: Finally, a Fusion Reaction Has Generated More Energy Than Absorbed by The Fuel 2

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: A fusion reaction has achieved a record 1.3 megajoule energy output – and for the first time, exceeding energy absorbed by the fuel used to trigger it.

Although there's still some way to go, the result represents a significant improvement on previous yields: eight times greater than experiments conducted just a few months prior, and 25 times greater than experiments conducted in 2018. It's a huge achievement.

Physicists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will be submitting a paper for peer review.

"This result is a historic step forward for inertial confinement fusion research, opening a fundamentally new regime for exploration and the advancement of our critical national security missions. It is also a testament to the innovation, ingenuity, commitment and grit of this team and the many researchers in this field over the decades who have steadfastly pursued this goal," said Kim Budil, director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Physicists detect signs of neutrinos at Large Hadron Collider (phys.org)

Submitted by fahrbot-bot
fahrbot-bot writes: The international Forward Search Experiment team, led by physicists at the University of California, Irvine, has achieved the first-ever detection of neutrino candidates produced by the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN facility near Geneva, Switzerland.

In a paper published today in the journal Physical Review D, the researchers describe how they observed six neutrino interactions during a pilot run of a compact emulsion detector installed at the LHC in 2018.

"Prior to this project, no sign of neutrinos has ever been seen at a particle collider," said co-author Jonathan Feng, UCI Distinguished Professor of physics & astronomy and co-leader of the FASER Collaboration. "This significant breakthrough is a step toward developing a deeper understanding of these elusive particles and the role they play in the universe."

He said the discovery made during the pilot gave his team two crucial pieces of information.

"First, it verified that the position forward of the ATLAS interaction point at the LHC is the right location for detecting collider neutrinos," Feng said. "Second, our efforts demonstrated the effectiveness of using an emulsion detector to observe these kinds of neutrino interactions."

The pilot instrument was made up of lead and tungsten plates alternated with layers of emulsion. During particle collisions at the LHC, some of the neutrinos produced smash into nuclei in the dense metals, creating particles that travel through the emulsion layers and create marks that are visible following processing. These etchings provide clues about the energies of the particles, their flavors—tau, muon or electron—and whether they're neutrinos or antineutrinos.

Slashdot Top Deals

It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster. - Voltaire

Close