Carnival of Space Week 48

I am stepping in as late last minute host for the Carnival of Space week 48. Thanks to Fraser Cain of Universe Today for letting me host. Send your Carnival of space entries for week 49 to carnivalofspace at gmail dot com.

We have Mars, Red Dwarfs, Astronomy meetings, 2001, Forbidden Planet, Dr Who, aliens that could hide their solar system and more.

From Centauri dreams we have Red Dwarfs: Dust, Details and Habitability

One of three pictures in the red dwarf ariticle.


Here Paul Gilster is looking at a recent paper on dust disks around red dwarfs, but the broader speculation is really about red dwarfs themselves and the odds on habitable planets around them. 75 million in our galaxy if we assume 1 per thousand stars -- and the article goes on to look at the other assumptions in that statement, and contrasts red dwarfs to G and K stars.

From Ed Minchau at Space Feeds Every day, Space Feeds shows a space video of the day; from these Ed chooses a Space Video of the Week.


This week's video is the classic 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet.

From Hobby space and Space Transport News is

Surrey's GIOVE-A : a full success

The GIOVE-A satellite, built and launched by Surrey Satellite, is another example of how an entrepreneurial, innovative, "NewSpace" style approach can succeed at rapid, low cost development of space systems.

David Portee at altairvi has a series of blog posts on the 40th anniversary of the film 2001. The film premiered 40 years ago today in Washington, DC. David's blog series started on Monday and will continue through Sunday, April 6, when the trimmed-back version of the film screened for the first time in NYC. His first post gave the dates of 2001's press screenings and premieres, and the second considered the inspiration behind the good ship Discovery. Today's will look at a Earth-moon transportation proposal described in a paper with the title "2001: A Space Odyssey Revisited."

There will also be one in which he compare the monolith and the TARDIS and discuss our perceptions of superraces.


Dynamics of Cats at science blogs has NASA launches USS enterprise. Note the date of the article.

Martian Chronicles has an update on the Opportunity rover from Monday's planning session. They are working on driving over close to a cliff in Victoria Crater called Cape Verde. They posted a low-resolution "thumbnail mosaic" of Cape Verde
See their links for more pictures.
as well as an image showing where the rover is now.

Another posting after the second rover planning meeting.

Starts with a bang has a little game called "Mars or Arizona?" He shows you pictures and you have to guess whether it's a picture of Mars or a picture of Arizona. So far the highest score is 10/13.

From Cumbrian Sky we have what will Phoenix see [on Mars] when she opens her eyes?

Pamela Gay at Star Stryder
has IYA taking shape

Summary: IYA is taking shape - People and tools are all slowly emerging to make 2009 a year of great astronomical promise

Ian O'neill at Astroengine has a brief story about the recent sunspot activity and cycle overlap.

Orbiting frog is submiting the entire National Astronomy meeting blog They are covering the UK National Astronomy meeting which is on this week and since its a one-week thing. They are covering press releases from the UK and talks/poster sessions.

Astroprof's Page has Too Much Radiation?

Summary: About radiation exposure to astronauts on long duration space missions.

A Babe in the Universe has Eruptions. Halma'uma'u crater on Hawaii's Big Island is erupting and simultaneously our Cassini spacecraft has found organic molicules erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus

Earth and a distant moon share the phenomenon of internal heat sculpting their surfaces. Study of worlds like Enceladus offers clues to our own planet

My own Next Big Future entry Fermi Paradox, metamaterials and alien civilizations that are not distinguishable from dark matter.

Summary: Recently developed metamaterials are being developed to make objects that they surround invisible to microwaves and some optical wavelengths. They can also make things invisible to magnetic fields and sound and other waves. The Fermi paradox is based on assumptions about what aliens with advanced technology would or would not do and that the works of very advanced aliens should be visible to humans or that they or their robots should be greeting us like the galactic welcome wagon. Advanced aliens if they could build massive Dyson spheres could also make those things fade into the interstellar background. Plus we need to be humble and realistic in our assessment of how hard we have looked at the universe for life. This year we are finding that the Milky way is twice as thick as we thought (12000
light years not 6000) and last year the Andremeda Galaxy is five times bigger than we thought. These kinds of errors should tell us how clueless we are judging whether looking at some pinpoints of light tells us about whether there is or is not advanced life.

UPDATE: Centauri Dreams has an excellent follow up to my article on what aliens might do with Dyson spheres and current efforts to look for Dyson sphere building aliens.

Read More...

Summary only...

Transhuman comic book series

There is a new comic book series entitled Transhuman

Note: a comment on the pictured excerpt talking about average life expectancy. Some countries such as Japan already have life expectancy over 82 years.

People who do not smoke, exercise, eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and moderate alcohol consumption live 14 years longer

In the not so distant future, pharmaceutical companies fight over the next advancement in their field. Heinrich Dowidet is our narrator in this documentary of how Chimera Corp and Humonics, Incoporated took iPharm’s folly with a R&D project and fought to rule the world. What is this advancement? Quite simply, the means to create post humans. Transhuman is a scathing indictment of the pharmaceutical industry and the leeches of ailing people that it produces.

The author Jonathan Hickman has his own website.

There is a seven page pdf preview sample.

I believe that safer and more effective forms of genetic engineering and drugs for modifying humans will be made. We already have useful but not always safe modification means currently. Lasik for eyesight, drugs (provigil and others) for cognitive enhancement, steroids for strength etc... for current capabilities.

I think that follistatin boosting myostatin inhibition will be made safe for strength enhancement with health benefits. There will also be more widely available and affordable powered devices with highly efficient power usage for always on ability and power generation from walking break assistance.

I also believe that life extension projects such as SENS will be effective. Initial success could come from mimicking calorie restriction, stem cell treatments, organ replacement and significant progress against specific diseases. The labels below provide a list of my articles on each topic.

Just better equipment and training techniques will also help significantly. New swimsuits may be an unfair advantage.

Three world records had already been broken by LZR-clad swimmers back in February, 2008. Eight more records fell in the past month, the suit is causing some serious waves.

Other gear for enhancing capabilities:

The Poseidon Discovery, is a simple to use rebreather, lets divers stay underwater at least three times as long as scuba gear can, and since you don't exhale into the water, you don't create bubbles or noise that can scare off fish.

Bill Stone's recreational model automates the safety system with built-in computers that check all components pre-dive, plus two oxygen sensors that monitor the gas mix. If the system spots an air-recycling malfunction, the mouthpiece vibrates and blinks an alert. Just flip its lever to inhale from a small fresh-air tank and return safely to the surface.

High tech gear for soldiers appear to be finding a funded niche.

Soldiers that actually used the system in Iraq stripped the Land Warrior [high tech gear] down, made the gear more functional, and discovered the equipment could actually be pretty useful in combat.

By consolidating parts, a 16-pound ensemble was whittled down to a little more than 10 [pounds]. A the digital gun scope was abandoned -- too cumbersome and too slow for urban fights. And not every soldier was ordered to lug around Land Warrior. Only team leaders and above were equipped.

The leaders of the 2nd Infantry Division's 5th Brigade Combat Team officially asked the Army to give them 1,000 units of an upgraded Land Warrior system. And now, Inside Defense reports, that request has been approved

Using technology in a way that provides an actual practical advantage. Those who find it useful adopt it and those who do not find it useful use something else.

This is discussed by Phil Bowermaster in his article on plateaus of rejection. There is open market buffet of options, you only have to buy and use what works for you.

FURTHER READING
Proper framing of the transhumanist debate.

Recently there is lab work for human power generated from regenerative braking from walking. Generates 5 watts while someone is walking A square meter of flexible solar cells could generate 19-56 watts depending upon location and sunlight conditions. US army has solar tent material for generating up to 1000 watts.

There is plenty of other energy that could be captured to power devices.

Broken into usable terms, waiting to be harvested are 81 watts from a sleeping person, 128 from a soldier standing at ease, 163 from a walking person, 407 from a briskly walking person, 1,048 from a long-distance runner, and 1,630 from a sprinter, according to the center. But of course there’s not 100% capture. Body heat, for example, can only be converted with 3% efficiency with current thermoelectric materials.

Next generation bionic arms

Roadmap to enabling regeneration in humans

Artificial intelligence widespread but most people are unaware of it

Read More...

Summary only...