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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1h

The AMP suit from Avatar is 4.2m tall and weighs 1700 kg. Its main weapon is a 30mm cannon.

Later, "Alpha Centauri Expeditions" uses these suits to assist tourists visiting Pandora.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2h

Molten steel spills at Saarstahl AG, in Germany:
www.reddit.com/r/interestin...

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2h

Prototype underwater weapons, based on flechettes and sonar instead of bullets or magnifying scopes.
#art by Joe_Chen.
www.artstation.com/artwork/YGvO5K

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2h

Project Sunshine, a 1953 evaluation of the radioactive fallout and contamination from the widespread use of nuclear weapons, a following up to the first such effort Project Gabriel in 1949:
www.rand.org/content/dam/...
From it is derived a worldwide "megaton limit" of 800 MT.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

1985 concept for a Orbital Transfer Vehicle.
It used aerobraking to return payloads from GEO to LEO without a braking burn, and with its lifting body design, perhaps get a free inclination change out of it too. But, it would be dead weight in all other maneuvers.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

Solar-powered airships for high altitude (18-20 km) long-endurance surveillance and early warning:
ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citation...
6 of these could cover the entire US east coast with 500 km range radar, but they'd need to be 185m long and generate 300 kW.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

Flight mishap aboard a Weyland-Yutani space shuttle. You won't be escaping LV-426 this time!
#space #art by Benoit Godde.
www.artstation.com/artwork/weyl...

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

The ISV Aethera, a 250m long antimatter-powered relativistic starship:
www.reddit.com/r/KerbalSpac...

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

'Swarm', a 200 kW one-way solar electric vehicle for towing solar power satellites into GEO:
ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/...
It starts at 40 tons, to be delivered into LEO by the Argus spaceplane, but produces a measly 16N of thrust at 2500s Isp from Krypton ion engines.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

A Ferarri animation for the 122 kWh battery installed in the upcoming Elettrica:
youtu.be/s3CKfHyABuo
It delivers 880V to two pairs of electric motors, and can be charged at 350 kW. Ferarri says they have the highest energy density of any production EV battery with 195 Wh/kg.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2d

Majestic space scenes showing a mobile fuel depot orbiting various gas giants.
#space #art by Isaiah.
www.artstation.com/artwork/YGvK66

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2d

You're in luck, so did they.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_...

Boeing B-29 Superfortress variants - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2d

@qraal.bsky.social wrote this, I think.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

"Coxiella burnetii" bacteria that cause Q-fever may actually help us:
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
The invading pathogen is able to employ human Glutathione Peroxidase 4 to help defend its host cell from oxidative damage, prolonging its life despite the burden of infection.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

A pure deuterium-deuterium fusion rocket would have an exhaust velocity of 0.063 C.
www.centauri-dreams.org/2009/10/26/r...
With a high mass ratio and a magnetic sail for propellant-free braking, a DD fusion starship could cruise at 0.29C.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

The Boeing XB-39 Superfortress was a backup plan to use Allison V-3420-17 engines in case the original Wright R-3350 radial engines weren't ready on time.

The Allisons were twin V-12s (W24) that produced 2100 horsepower.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

New Horizons makes its mark on history as it speeds past Pluto, Charon and Arrokoth.
Excellent #space #art by @gtgraphics.bsky.social
www.artstation.com/artwork/Zl98PN

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

If you've got a human breathing air (in a space suit) then there's a speed of sound to count on!

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

The ElectraAero EL9 is a hybrid-power plane uses blown-lift wings to achieve STOL from a 45m runway, and an onboard turbine to extend its range to 2000 km, or 600 km with 1360 kg payload.
It already has 2100 orders:
www.electra.aero/news/electra...

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

An obscure particle beam weapon program: Delphi.
It used a laser to create a plasma channel through air, then shoot a electron beam through it to help discriminate warheads from decoys.
Refs:
apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/A...
apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/A...
www.forecastinternational.com/archive/disp...

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

A space station with lots of rings! Sadly, I don't see any spinning nor thick enough to be habitat spaces, so what purpose could they serve?
#space #art by Nana Dhebuadze.
www.artstation.com/artwork/k46zLy

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

A cyclist on the Moon would exceed the speed of sound.

With rolling resistance coefficient of 0.002, weight 164N, and 5% drivetrain losses:

You might manage 110 W, overcoming the resistance from 1210 km/h.
A peak sprinter would manage 300W for long periods, reaching 3300 km/h.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

Railguns powered by explosive flug generators, from an LNLL-LANL program:
ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/106...
2.7 kg of HE was used to deliver up to 2 MA of current.
The next step was to develop a hybrid railgun which was both strip generator and coaxial railgun with an annular projectile.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

Forward's interstellar laser-pushed lightsails:
path-2.narod.ru/design/base_...
A 65 GW beam for a 1 ton one-way probe to reach 0.11C, then a 7.2 TW laser for a 785 ton sail that brakes in the target system with the help of a 26 TW beam.
A human round trip climbs to 75,000 TW (!!).

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

About 117 billion people have ever lived on Earth.
www.prb.org/articles/how...
There are roughly a million billion billion stars in the Universe though.
www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?

The global population milestone of 8 billion people represents nearly 7% of the total number of people who have ever lived on Earth.

www.prb.org