Showing posts with label TechBytes. Show all posts

3D-Printed Shelter Designed for Astronauts on Mars

A French firm has designed a conceptual shelter for future astronauts on Mars that would be 3D-printed on the red planet using locally-available materials.
Resembling an igloo from the surface, the shelter, dubbed Sfero, would be partially buried beneath the ground. A

ccess to the shelter would be gained by its one long corridor, which contains an airlock.
The interior comprises three floors. The uppermost floor measures just 3 sq. m, and food can be grown here, while the next floor down measures 29 sq. m and comprises a work area and bathroom.
The lowermost floor measures 40 sq. m and contains sleeping quarters. The occupants would navigate between each floor by a spiral staircase, 'Gizmag' reported.
The firm Fabulous envisions that the red planet's own substrata could be used as a raw material for 3D printing. The process would involve a central mast that can extract iron from the planet's soil and rock, and also seek out permafrost to turn into water and use as insulation between the structure's inner and outer shell, reducing the effects of solar radiation.
The firm envisions the shelter being tested in California's Mojave Desert or somewhere in Hawaii, while the Gale Crater is slated as the shelter's final Mars location. The project has been created in response to Nasa's call for designs for 3D-printed habitats for Mars, despite the competition being only officially open to US residents, according to 'Dezeen'.
"We still decided to show the French expertise in 3D printing, space travel, and architecture, presenting a standout record," said Fabulous founder Arnault Coulet.
Courtesy: NDTV Gadgets
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Researchers Create Networks faster than Internet

Stifled by the current data transfer speeds, the researchers on the West Coast have been creating their own network of ultra high-speed fiber optic cables. This high-speed network mesh will connect the regions’ university campuses and other scientific laboratories.
This ingenious project is dubbed as Pacific Research Platform and is funded by National Science Foundation. The fiber optic high-speed network will allow the data transfers of 100 gigabits per second across 10 University of California campuses and in 10 other state universities and research institutions. Just to let you know the enormity of the achievement, Google Fiber allows about 1 Gbps whereas I get about 100 Mbps data transfer speed on my Internet connection. So, I leave the basic math to you.
Necessity is the mother of  inventions, or rather we should say “innovations”, in today’s world. Recently, we saw how a physicist created his own supercomputer from old PlayStations to help him study the Black Holes.
You might also see the network speeds of 10Gbps overall capacity in some of the Internet connections out there. Generally, the Internet connections are rated at higher data speeds, but the real transfer rate is merely a fraction of the total capacity.
Recently, President Mr. Barack Obama desired his wish to get the world’s most powerful andthe fastest supercomputer for the United States. This supercomputer will be 20 times faster than the current supercomputing king Tianhe-2.
The high speed network will also be of immense help in large scientific research projects and laboratories such as CERN’s Large Hadron Collider to keep and maintain the important data at various locations and retrieve it at the blink of an eye.
This high-speed network of optical cables is not just fast, but also secure. It has a hardware security features that ensure its safety while connected to the Internet and blows any hacking attack.
Don’t want to sound grouchy, but as the world continues to advance and get faster, patience is losing its virtue. And, this novel development will definitely get a thumbs up.
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