Open-air quantum teleportation performed across a 97km lake

Photo illustration of the beacon laser, used to track an entangled photon signal across Qinghai Lake. The statue is Padmasambhava at the Lotus Temple at Gangcha.

source: arstechnica.com

by Matthew Francis

It only works at night, but the technique sets a new distance record.

Sending signals through fiber optic cable is reliable and fast, but because of internal absorption and other effects, they will lose photons—which is a problem when the number of photons being sent is small. This is of particular concern in quantum networks, which typically involve a small number of entangled photons. Direct transmission through free space (vacuum or air) experiences less photon loss, but it’s very difficult to align a distant receiver perfectly with the transmitter so that photons arrive at their destination.

Geoengineering Could Backfire, Make Climate Change Worse

source: wired.com

By Joel Winston, Wired UK

Deploying giant space mirrors and spraying particles from stadium-sized balloons may sound like an engineer’s wild fantasy, but climate models suggest that the potential of geoengineering to offset rising atmospheric carbon dioxide may be significantly overstated.

Through a variety of computer simulations used for reporting to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the team investigated a scenario where an increase in the world’s atmospheric carbon dioxide levels was balanced by a “dimming” of the sun.

 

Across all four models tested, the team showed that geoengineering could lead to adverse effects on the Earth’s climate, including a reduction in global rainfall. They therefore concluded that geoengineering could not be a substitute for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Countdown to a black hole show

Youris.com

A computer simulation shows the elongation and breakup of a cloud of gas as it encounters the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Click on the image for an update and video on the encounter, which is expected to begin in 2013.

The Dutch startup plans to establish a colony on Mars by 2023

Forget Newt Gingrich’s moon colony. A company called Mars One is planning an endeavor to go much farther afield.

The Dutch startup plans to establish a colony on the Red Planet by 2023, according to the Mars One website. It may seem outlandish, but the company and its supporters say getting colonists to Mars is feasible, especially since they don’t plan to bring anyone back.

Colonists will stay on Mars the rest of their lives, removing the troublesome challenges of returning to Earth once they’ve landed. It’s this simplified mission that convinced Nobel prize-winning physicist Gerard ‘t Hooft that the Mars One plan might just work.

source: isciencetimes.com

By Chelsea Whyte | June 5, 2012 3:23 PM EDT

“The aspect that made all the previous plans so unbelievably expensive and complex, was the uncompromising condition that all Mars travelers must return back to Earth. A return journey would demand launching techniques and maneuvers that have not been properly investigated, and would double, triple, quadruple the price,” said t’ Hooft on the Mars One website.

Even so, establishing a permanent colony on another planet isn’t cheap. Mission leader Bas Lansdorp says Mars One will avoid expensive research and testing by using only previously tested technologies, which will keep costs down to about $6 billion for the first settlement of four astronauts, according to New York Daily News.

But the obvious question remains: how do they plan to pay for it?

Secret mission accomplished: America’s mysterious space plane to land after YEAR in orbit – and no one knows what it did up there?

image source: Reuters

Mystery tour: The mission of the X-37B space plane was extended after it spent nine months orbiting the Earth

news/article source: dailymail.co.uk

By ROB WAUGH
UPDATED: 09:12 EST, 4 June 2012

• The X-37B has been circling the Earth at 17,000mph and was due to land in California in December
• Mission of highly classified robotic plane extended for unknown reasons
• Will now land in mid- to late-June

The U.S Air Force’s highly secret unmanned space plane will land in June – ending a year-long mission in orbit.

The experimental Boeing X37-B has been circling Earth at 17,000 miles per hour and was due to land in California in December. It is now expected  to land in mid to late June.

Chinese Physicists Reportedly Break Teleportation Record

We’re not at ‘Star Trek’ transporter level yet, but the achievement represents a big step forward in the field of quantum cryptography.

By KATE SPRINGER | @katespringer | May 15, 2012

origin of article: TIME NewsFeed

Harry Potter and Star Trek fans, rejoice! Teleportation is real. Using powerful lasers and optics to manipulate photons, or units of light, researchers in China set a record for teleporting a photon more than 10 miles (16 km), TIME reported in 2010. Now a different team of physicists at the University of Science and Technology of China in Shanghai says it has shattered that record, claiming to have sent a photon more than 60 miles (97 km).

Climate Progress disappears their own climate ugliness

Reblogged from Watts Up With That?:

• 

UPDATE: They apparently had second thoughts. see below.

When the Heartland billboard fiasco came about last week, I pointed to this as a previous example of how both sides have made missteps. Heartland blundered with the unabomber billboard, was summarily denounced by both sides and pulled it within 24 hours.

My reader poll conducted about the issue suggests a majority (72% of 2561 respondents as of this writing) think Heartland made a blunder with the billboard ad.

Read more… 240 more words

3lefts2babylon I recently started following this blog. It is filled with incredible information backed by actual data and reference. I highly recommend this to anyone asking the right questions. At least those capable of seeing through the mainstream veil of false and irrelevant information. Want to learn more about climate change ?check it out: http://wattsupwiththat.com/

James Cameron, Google Founders, and Ross Perot Jr. Fund Mysterious Space Venture Company

origin of article: geekosystem

by James Plafke | 9:39 am, April 19th, 2012

MIT’s Technology Review reports that this coming, April 24, a new space venture company will be announced at Charles Simonyi Space Gallery at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. The company, sporting the kind of scary name an evil, faceless corporation in a sci-fi film would have, Planetary Resources, has some pretty famous backing, including James Cameron,Ross Perot Jr., Google co-founders Larry Page and Eric Schmidt, and Charles Simonyi, known for overseeing the creation of Microsoft Office. With the somewhat foreshadowing company name and the prestige of its backers, MIT speculates that the new company could very well be an asteroid mining company, especially due to some wordage in its press release.