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Cassini spacecraft prepares to celebrate 10th anniversary

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SaturnThe Cassini-Huygens probe was launched on October 15, 2007 1997 (Corrected, thanks Adam!), with the a mission to study the planet Saturn and its moons.  By any measure this has been an extremely successful endeavor. The most recent images from the spacecraft have shown giant hydrocarbon lakes on the moon Titan and jets of fine, icy particles spraying from the moon Enceladus.

The probe took seven years to reach Saturn. Since then, the robot spacecraft has been delivering stunning photographs of the ringed planet and its fantastic family of moons. “The launch was the start of one of space exploration’s great adventures and we didn’t really know what we would find,” said Professor Andrew Coates, of University College London, who heads one of the UK teams involved in Cassini. “Now we are reaping the rewards of nearly 20 years’ work on the mission and the science continues to be amazing.”

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wh00t! Futurismic makes the cut at PC Magazine’s Top 100

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PC Magazine masthead logo

I hope you’ll all excuse us a moment of self-congratulation – the Futurismic team have just discovered that we made made it into PC Magazine’s 100 Favorite Blogs list! Here’s what they had to say about us:

"This forward-thinking blog divides its focus among news and opinions on current cutting-edge science and technology, its impact on culture and people, and extrapolations on how all this will affect our future. Futurismic also features enjoyable "speculative fiction"—sci-fi stories. It’s a feast for those who love to think about the future in all its manifestations."

Well, we do try!

We’re alongside some real heavyweights in that list – sites like BoingBoing and Gawker – and to be included is a great vindication of all the work that goes into making Futurismic what it is. And so, on behalf of the whole team, I’d like to say thanks to the PC Magazine writers – we hope we continue to make the grade, and we’ll even forgive you for accusing us of publishing "sci-fi"! 😉

And to any new readers who’ve arrived here after reading that article, welcome! We hope you like what you find, and we hope you’ll stick around for more.

[tags]Futurismic, favorite, bloggers, PC Magazine[/tags]
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Wormholes a ‘possibility’

‘metamaterial’ wormholes will make beams of radiation invisibleA group of mathematicians who previously worked on possible cloaking devices have found the same theory could be equally applied to create things resembling wormholes. The team uses mathematical theory to create ‘metamaterials’ that can bend and curve electromagnetic fields – like bending light to make something appear invisible.

The wormholes they describe aren’t quite the instantaneous transportation portals described by Star Trek or Valve’s new computer game. The light still travels through the metamaterial tube but isn’t detectable outside it, by sight or other methods. Uses for this idea include endoscopic surgery and 3D televisions where all but the end tips of many beams of light are hidden by the wormhole, giving the appearance of a floating image.

[image and link via ScienceDaily, image courtesy of Rochester University]

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It’s a big year for alternative energy

These strange snake-like machines tap the power of surface wavesWhilst close to where I live the UK government is looking at proposals for the biggest tidal barrage in the world, elsewhere in Europe similarly ambitious projects are even closer to fruition. In Portugal the first ever commercial wavefarm is due to start any day now. A couple of huge wind turbines tapping into the vast wind energy of the North Sea have been a success and a farm of 200 of the 300ft high towers is now in planning, powering as much as a whole city. As I reported a few weeks ago, algae is looking more and more like the ultimate source for biofuels. Advances in nanotube growing and temperature controlled soldering are making big leaps in solar panel efficiency.

Even without the dual spectres of climate change and dwindling resources our future is likely to be wedded to many of these nascent technologies. When the Earth provides so much energy currently left untapped, it would be a shame not to use it. Economic centres in the future will be invariably tied to the amount of natural energy the environment nearby provides. It’s exciting to think that many of these technologies are reaching the point where they may soon be economically viable on large scale.

[photo from the guardian article on wave power]

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Fleshjet? Bio-printing making progress

Printed cell scaffold Bioprinting – the re-purposing of inkjet technology for constructing biological tissues – is something we’ve remarked on before here at Futurismic. But it seems deserving of another mention, as a new method called "pressure assisted spinning" promises to handle the living cells more gently by using air pressure instead of mechanical force, enabling the construction of tissue scaffolds ready to act as a medium for growing new bones and organs – or for use as bandages. [Image by Suwan Jayasinghe; copied from NewScientist article]

[tags]biology, medicine, bioprinting, technology[/tags]

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