Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 10h

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 · 15h

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 · 1d

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

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

"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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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 · 1d

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

ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

Godzilla roars: it's a luminous blue variable star going through a particularly intense outburst and "the brightest star currently observable".
Situated 10.6 billion lightyears away, it's up to 2365x wider than the Sun and 255,000,000x brighter!
arxiv.org/pdf/2203.08158

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 1d

The under-appreciated S-3 Viking served for 42 years in the anti-submarine warfare role, and its combination of range and payload (up to 5120 km, up to 2200 kg) means there are still calls to bring it back.
#art by Robert Bonchune.
www.artstation.com/artwork/DArB2O

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2d

That would be grand!

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 2d

Hubble Space Telescope's images turned into 3D scenes are stunningly beautiful.
From BBC Horizon's "Hubble: The Wonders of Space Revealed".

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

Yeah, they're big engines.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 3d

The first US space station was Skylab: a repurposed Saturn IV-B tank, an Apollo command module and a telescope already integrated on the ground, all launched in a special shroud.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 4d

Not a photo!

ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 5d

The Mark V Special Operations Craft is a 25m long boat that can cross 900+ km and reach 100 km/h on water, powered by 2x MTU TE94 engines that add up to 4570 horsepower.
Problems with the original design included delivering 20g shocks to occupants when riding over waves at high speed.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 5d

It's possible that each big nozzle has many smaller engines clustered inside!

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 5d

98% of coming up with good ideas is reading about the ideas that came before and how people arrived at them.

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