Humans have dreamed about traveling to other star systems and setting foot on alien worlds for generations. To put it mildly‚ interstellar exploration is a very daunting task. As we explored in a previous post‚ it would take between 1000 and 81‚000 years for a spacecraft to reach Alpha Centauri using conventional propulsion (or those that are feasible using current technology). On top of that‚ there are numerous risks when traveling through the interstellar medium (ISM)‚ not all of which are well-understood. Under the circumstances‚ gram-scale spacecraft that rely on directed-energy propulsion (aka. lasers) appear to be the only viable option for reaching neighboring stars in this century. Proposed concepts include the Swarming Proxima Centauri‚ a collaborative effort between Space Initiatives Inc. and the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) led by Space Initiative’s chief scientist Marshall Eubanks. The concept was recently selected for Phase I development as part of this year’s NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. According to Eubanks‚ traveling through interstellar space is a question of distance‚ energy‚ and speed. At a distance of 4.25 light-years (40 trillion km; 25 trillion mi) from the Solar System‚ even Proxima Centauri is unfathomably far away. To put it in perspective‚ the record for the farthest distance ever traveled by a spacecraft goes to the Voyager 1 space probe‚ which is currently more than 24 billion km (15 billion mi) from Earth. Using conventional methods‚ the probe accomplished a maximum speed of 61‚500 km/h (38‚215 mph) and has been traveling for more than 46 years straight. Graphic depiction of Swarming Proxima Centauri: Coherent Picospacecraft Swarms Over Interstellar Distances. Credit: Thomas Eubanks In short‚ traveling at anything less than relativistic speed (a fraction of the speed of light) will make interstellar transits incredibly long and entirely impractical. Given the energy requirements this calls for‚ anything other than small spacecraft with a maximum mass of a few grams is feasible. As Eubanks told Universe Today via email: “Of course‚ rockets are a common way to go fast. Rockets work by throwing “stuff” (typically hot gas) out the back‚ the momentum in the stuff going backwards equaling that in the velocity increase of the vehicle in the forward direction. The essence of rocketry is that it is only really efficient if the velocity of the stuff going backwards is comparable to the velocity  you want to gain going forward. If it isn’t‚ if it is very much smaller‚ you just can’t carry enough stuff to gain the velocity you want. “The trouble is that we have no technology – no energy source – that would enable us to throw out a lot of stuff at anything like 60‚000 km/sec‚ and so rockets won’t work. Antimatter might conceivably enable this‚ but we just don’t understand antimatter well enough – and can’t make anywhere near enough of it – to make this a solution‚ probably for many decades to come.” In contrast‚ concepts like Breakthrough Starshot and the Proxima Swarm consist of “inverting the rocket” – i.e.‚ instead of throwing stuff out‚ stuff is thrown at the spacecraft. Instead of heavy propellant‚ which constitutes the majority of conventional rockets‚ the energy source for a lightsail is photos (which have no mass and move at the speed of light). But as Eubanks indicated‚ this does not overcome the issue of energy‚ making it even more important that the spacecraft be as small as possible. “Bouncing photons off of a laser sail thus solves the speed-of-stuff problem‚” he said. “But the trouble is‚ there is not much momentum in a photon‚ so we need a lot of them. And given the power we are likely to have available‚ even a couple of decades from now‚ the thrust will be weak‚ so the mass of the probes needs to be very small – grams‚ not tons.” This artist’s impression shows the planet Proxima b orbiting the red dwarf star Proxima Centauri‚ the closest star to the Solar System. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser Their proposal calls for a 100-gigawatt (GW) laser beamer boosting thousands of gram-scale space probes with laser sails to relativistic speed (~10-20% of light). They also proposed a series of terrestrial light buckets measuring a square kilometer (0.386 mi2) in diameter to catch the light signals. By their estimates‚ this mission concept could be ready for development around midcentury and could reach Proxima Centauri and its Earth-like exoplanet (Proxima b) by the third quarter of this century (2075 or after). In a previous paper‚ Eubanks and his colleagues demonstrated how a fleet of a thousand spacecraft could overcome the difficulties imposed by interstellar travel and maintaining communications with Earth. However‚ the eight-year round-trip time lag imposed by interstellar distances and General Relativity makes control from Earth impossible. As such‚ the swarm must possess an extraordinary agree of autonomy when it comes to navigation (coordinating a thousand probes) and deciding what data is returned to Earth. While these strategies address distance‚ energy‚ and speed (at least for the time being)‚ there is still the issue of how much it will cost to create the swarm and the associated infrastructure. The single greatest expense will be the laser array itself‚ whereas the gram-scale craft will be reasonably cheap to produce. As Eubanks indicated in a previous article‚ their proposal can be developed with a budget of $100 billion. But as Eubanks said‚ the benefits of the mission architecture they’ve envisioned are legion‚ and the payoff of sending a swarm of probes to Proxima Centauri would be astronomical: “The simple fact is that the cost of a laser-propelled interstellar mission‚ with light-weight probes and a huge laser system to propel them to the stars‚ will be dominated by capital costs – the costs of the laser system. The probes themselves will be pretty cheap by comparison. So‚ if you can send one‚ you should send lots. Clearly‚ sending a lot of probes brings the advantage of redundancy. Space travel is risky‚ and interstellar travel is likely to be especially risky‚ so if we send a lot of probes‚ we can tolerate a high loss rate. But we can do a lot more.” “We want to look for signs of biology and even technology‚ and so it would be good to get probes very close to the planet‚ to get good pictures and spectra of the surface and atmosphere. That will be tough for one probe‚ as we don’t know very well where the planet will be 24-plus years in the future. By sending a bunch of probes in a spread‚ at least a few should get close to the planet‚ giving us the close-up view we want.” A collage of illustrations highlighting the novel concepts proposed by the 2024 NIAC Phase I awardees. Credit: (clockwise‚ from upper right) Steven Benner‚ Beijia Zhang‚ Matthew McQuinn‚ Alvaro Romero-Calvo‚ Thomas M. Eubanks‚ Kenneth Carpenter‚ James Bickford/Alvaro Romero/Calvo/Peter Cabauy/ Geoffrey Landis/Lynn Rothschild/Ge-Cheng Zha/NASA Beyond that‚ Eubanks and his colleagues hope that the development of a coherent swarm of robotic probes will have applications closer to home. Swarm robotics is a hot field of research today and is being investigated as a possible means of exploring Europa’s interior ocean‚ digging underground cities on Mars‚ assembling large structures in space‚ and providing extreme weather tracking from Earth’s orbit. Beyond space exploration and Earth observation‚ swarm robotics also has applications in medicine‚ additive manufacturing‚ environmental studies‚ global positioning and navigation‚ search and rescue‚ and more. While it could take many decades before an interstellar mission is ready to travel to Alpha Centauri‚ Eubanks‚ and his colleagues are honored and excited to be among NASA’s selectees for the 2024 NIAC program. For them‚ the research took many years but is closer to realization than ever. “It’s been a long time – almost a decade – and we feel honored to be selected‚” said Eubanks. “Now the real work begins.” Further Reading: NASA The post NASA Selects Bold Proposal to “Swarm” Proxima Centauri with Tiny Probes appeared first on Universe Today.

This could revolutionize food production.

Sneaky!

Good news everyone!

'Well‚ let's be honest about that‚ Laura'

These days‚ it’s not controversial to point out that on the Biden administration’s watch‚ the world has become far less stable and far more dangerous. The sudden and haphazard U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 surely emboldened our adversaries‚ given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine six months later. And Russia‚ despite failing to take Ukraine as rapidly as many predicted‚ has resorted to nuclear coercion‚ threatening to use nuclear weapons not only in Ukraine‚ but on many NATO countries—including the United States. More recently‚ the United States failed to respond to the Hamas attacks in Israel—despite the fact that as many as 31 Americans were killed in the attack‚ and as many as 20 Americans were held hostage by Hamas. Despite the Biden administration taking the Yemen-based‚ Iran-backed Houthis off the list of terrorist groups‚ Houthis’ missiles are now forcing global shipping to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope‚ just as in the days of Vasco de Gama.  And Tehran—despite ejecting International Atomic Energy Agency weapons inspectors from Iran and stockpiling 60% enriched uranium (just a technical step away from weapons-grade nuclear material)—continues to sponsor Hamas‚ Hezbollah and the Houthis‚ with nary a word of objection from the Biden administration. And amid all those gathering threats‚ a truly bizarre‚ unprecedented story broke over the weekend about how‚ for roughly three days‚ no one was apparently in charge of the Pentagon. If what follows is unclear and ambiguous‚ that’s because the entire story is unclear and ambiguous—and still unfolding.  The public learned on Saturday evening that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in intensive care at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington‚ D.C. Austin‚ 70‚ was admitted on Jan. 1 due to “intense pain” that followed a few days after a yet-to-be specified “elective procedure” he undertook on Dec. 22. As of Sunday‚ Austin remained at Walter Reed. While Austin was supposedly teleworking the week of Jan. 1‚ according to his front office staff‚ he was in fact in intensive care—a fact that he shared with only the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff‚ Gen. C.Q. Brown‚ and Austin’s chief of staff‚ Kelly Magsamen.  No one else knew that Austin was in intensive care—not the president‚ not the National Security Council‚ not the military service chiefs‚ our military combatant commanders‚ nor service secretaries‚ nor the undersecretaries‚ let alone congressional leaders‚ until Thursday‚ three days after Austin was hospitalized. One odd exception was the No. 2-ranking civilian in the Defense Department‚ Deputy Secretary Kathleen Hicks‚ who was on vacation in Puerto Rico with her family. Officials in the Pentagon informed Hicks on the afternoon of Jan. 2 that she was assuming “certain operational responsibilities that require constant secure communications capabilities.” However‚ Hicks wasn’t informed that Austin was hospitalized until Jan. 4‚ the same day that the Pentagon informed the White House and the day that President Joe Biden learned that his secretary of defense had been incapable of performing his job functions for the better part of a week. According to public statements‚ Biden spoke with Austin on the phone on Sunday‚ as the secretary remained in a hospital bed at Walter Reed and they are said to have had a cordial conversation. Unfortunately‚ very little beyond that is known at this point. And the more we learn‚ the more questions we have.  What was the elective surgery that triggered all this?  Austin‚ of course‚ is due some privacy‚ but given the number of crises unfolding in the world‚ why have elective surgery at all at this time?     Why did Austin not tell more people about his hospitalization than Brown and his chief of staff?  He is a Cabinet secretary at a time of two wars‚ in Europe and the Mideast. Why did he not tell the National Security Council or the relevant combatant commanders?  If Austin was in intensive care on Jan. 1‚ why did the deputy secretary not assume the responsibilities of acting secretary until the afternoon of Jan. 2?  And why was she not told he was in the hospital until Jan. 4? Even if Austin was unable to call more than a couple of individuals that he was being put in intensive care on Jan. 1‚ why didn’t Brown inform the White House‚ the service secretaries and the senior military commanders?  Magsamen apparently was ill‚ which was why she didn’t inform the White House or Hicks before Jan. 4. Everyone has been flat on their back sick for a few days. That’s a part of life. Literally‚ all she or Brown would have to do is say to a member of the secretary’s Secret Service detail‚ “Place a secure call to the White House Situation Room and brief them on what’s going on.” As noted‚ Hicks was in Puerto Rico on a no-doubt well-earned family vacation. But during this time of crisis‚ if the secretary of defense was hospitalized and no senior leaders were aware of his condition‚ why was she not summoned back to the Pentagon? Finally‚ the defense secretary was in the hospital and was incommunicado during a period in which Iranian generals are being killed‚ Russians are shelling hospitals in Ukraine‚ Israel is conducting a war in Gaza‚ and global shipping is being rerouted out of the Red Sea … and no one in the White House or the National Security Council noticed? More details will surely come to light. But this potential disaster is without precedent in the Defense Department.  There has never been a week when the Pentagon’s chain of command broke down to such an extent that—for all we can discern—no one was in charge. While we wish Austin a full and speedy recovery‚ the fact of the matter is that had anyone else in any other organization been so derelict in his or her responsibilities for the organization they lead‚ they would have been fired. But as is the case with the failures in Afghanistan‚ Ukraine and Israel‚ it appears no one will be held accountable‚ and the American people are less safe for it. Have an opinion about this article? To sound off‚ please email letters@DailySignal.com‚ and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state. The post The Bizarre Case of a Missing Defense Secretary appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Trump Co-Defendant Claims Fani Willis Had Relationship with Prosecutor She Hired

A new MRC study by Bill D'Agostino found that of 337 Biden-scandal questions asked of White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in the second half of 2023‚ only eight (2.38 percent) drew an answer instead of a maddening deferral or a blatant refusal to answer. Bill joins the show to discuss the consistency of KJP's stonewalling‚ and his generous definition of an actual answer. His eight answers included lame defenses of Biden: "I’m just going to quote him and say‚ 'It’s malarkey.'” But that's an actual attempt at rebuttal‚ instead of endlessly referring all inquiries to the White House Counsel's office‚ which also wasn't answering. The answer was meant to be a dead end‚ so you'd avoid that street. Or you received preposterous claims in response to softball questions‚ like "The Department of Justice is independent." About two-thirds of the questions were about Biden's improper holding of classified materials in his garage and at the Penn Biden Center. Out of 220 questions‚ the Press Secretary concretely answered five all year (2.27 percent). The baggie of cocaine found in the West Wing on the evening of July 2 was the sole focus of scandal-related questions for the first half of July. Reporters asked a total of 30 questions about the cocaine across five briefings from July 5 to July 17. KJP would not give a concrete response to a single question. Enjoy the podcast below‚ or wherever you listen to podcasts. 

A man arrested for car burglary in San Francisco was caught on video by a YouTuber who set up an elaborate prank‚ but an investigation found that he had been recently been released by a judge on previous charges related to car burglary. YouTuber and former NASA engineer Mark Rober baited car burglars by setting up cameras on a car that had a rigged backpack inside. When burglars cracked the car window and stole the backpack‚ it would later emit a foul odor and announce a countdown to scare the robbers. He also installed bulletproof glass in one car just to watch burglars impotently try to break the glass to get to their booty. Rober then took things a step farther and obtained help from KGO-TV reporter Dan Noyes‚ who looked into identifying the alleged burglars by looking up the license plates to the cars they drove to commit the burglaries. While he found that most used stolen license plates to conceal their identities‚ one man drove his car with his regular license plate‚ and they were able to identify him. 30-year-old Charvel Augustine of San Francisco is recorded on video smashing the window to one of Rober's bait cars and grabbing a backpack from inside. Another video from inside the backpack shows him open up and peer inside before abandoning it after it deploys the foul odor and starts counting down. "Fart spray cannon fired!" reads a message automatically texted from the bag. Augustine is then caught on video allegedly stealing a second backpack from another one of Rober's bait cars an hour later. When Noyes looked into Augustine's past‚ he found that the man had been released days previously by a judge over charges related to car burglary. When he failed to appear‚ a judge issued a $35‚000 bench warrant. He had been charged with second-degree burglary of vehicle and possession of burglar tools. Police said that they had recovered U.S.‚ Indian‚ and Euro currency from the suspect's car‚ as well as watches and jewelry. Despite this‚ the judge released him on his own reconnaissance. "The judges are showing poor judgment there" "Looks like it would be easily settle-able‚" said Judge Loretta Giorgi on Oct. 9 when she dropped the bench warrant. Three days later‚ Augustine was caught on video by Rober's bait cars and also videotaped by police allegedly burglarizing two other cars. Frank Noto of Stop Crime SF told KGO that this incident is not unusual in the courts. "That's just crazy‚" Noto said. "The judges are showing poor judgment there. They're saying this criminal is not going to commit a crime‚ at least not pending trial. But they're dead wrong." Noyes noted that Augustine appeared to wear designer jeans to court that were very similar to those he wore while allegedly committing the car burglaries. He pleaded not guilty‚ and his public defender told KGO that he was "loving and kind" and takes care of his sick grandmother. She also claimed that incarceration did nothing to deter car burglaries. Rober has more than 4.6 billion views on his various videos on YouTube. Here's the news report: Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors‚ sign up for our newsletters‚ and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

On November 28‚ 1994‚ Jesse Anderson was murdered by Christopher Scarver while serving a life sentence in a Wisconsin prison for killing his wife. The post Jesse Anderson‚ The Man Who Killed His Wife And Was Later Beaten To Death Alongside Jeffrey Dahmer appeared first on All That's Interesting.