Engadget

Google X lab is full of smart people with crazy dreams and frozen yogurt machines, probably

Brian Heater — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:49:00 EST

A Google lab so secret that even some of the company's own employees don't know of its existence? That's Google X -- or it was, before The New York Times ran a profile on the lab's super secret goings-on at an undisclosed location somewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area. Naturally, the paper doesn't have a ton of information about the lab, which some claim is "run like the CIA," though it paints a picture populated by robots who are are learning menial work tasks and how to take photos for Google Maps. There are around 100 concepts in all from the lab that helped give rise to those driverless cars, including social networking dinner plates and internet-connected refrigerators. No word on the lab's production of an adamantium-laced super soldier for the Canadian government, but we're sure it's around there somewhere.

Google X lab is full of smart people with crazy dreams and frozen yogurt machines, probably originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Nov 2011 11:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space Elevator conference gets theoretical, says lift won't not happen in 150 years

Sean Buckley — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:36:00 EST

With the shuttle program being mothballed, we're going to need a new way to get off this rock. How about that old space ladder concept? You know, the one riddled with issues that nearly trump its ambitions. The idea has faced its share of technological walls: NASA's related Beam Power Challenge ended without a winner for years on end, and the project's Tether Challenge remains unconquered today. Not to mention that the week-long lift might expose you to deadly levels of radiation. Lucky for us, attendees of the annual Space Elevator Conference aren't ready to give up, and set to work last week brainstorming potential solutions. Could we replace the laser power system with solar panels? How strong are modern nanocarbons, and what issues do we need to be aware of to keep the carbon nanotube cables from breaking? Wouldn't it be cool if the next design featured six cars instead of just three? Although the outpouring of ideas flowed like water, the response to many of them seemed to be the same: we really need to look into that. Despite the seemingly insurmountable issues, researchers remain optimistic, "We try not to be narrow-minded and say it won't happen for 150 years," stated one NASA program manager. We'll just take the stairs, thanks.

Space Elevator conference gets theoretical, says lift won't not happen in 150 years originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 05:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inhabitat's Week in Green: of space elevators, floating cities and solar sheltered drinking machines

Inhabitat — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:00:00 EST

Each week our friends at Inhabitat recap the week's most interesting green developments and clean tech news for us -- it's the Week in Green.

This week Inhabitat showcased several incredible examples of futuristic architecture, starting with an epic floating ark that houses a self-sustaining city at sea. We also saw a plan to harness carbon nanotubes to create the world's first space elevator, and we brought you an ingenious solar-powered shelter that harvests and purifies rainwater for drinking.

In other news, Asia revved up the world of eco transportation as South Korea unveiled the world's first commercial electric bus, and Beijing launched a plan to cut eliminate gridlock by cutting vehicle registration by 2/3. We also checked in on the electric Bluebird supercar, which is gearing up to break the UK land speed record next year, and we took an in-depth look at the year's best electric vehicles.

Finally, welcome to 2011! As the final countdown rang out we took a look at Times Square's dazzling 2011 eco ball, which is studded with 32,256 LEDs. We also looked back on Inhabitat's top green energy, transportation, and tech stories of 2010, and we rounded up the year's best green products and wearable technology concepts that stand to change the way we get dressed for the day. And if you're running errands this week to return any unwanted holiday gifts, check out Amazon's new preemptive return tool - it could save you a trip next year.

Inhabitat's Week in Green: of space elevators, floating cities and solar sheltered drinking machines originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LaserMotive finally wins NASA's Elevator:2010 Beam Power Challenge, climbs at 3.9 meters/second (video)

Tim Stevens — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:43:00 EST

NASA has been trying to find someone that could meet its rigorous Space Elevator demands since 2005 and, after some notable failures, we finally have a winner. A company called LaserMotive has won the Beam Power Challenge, tasked with creating a laser-powered robot able to lift a weight on a cable at a speed of greater than two meters per second. LaserMotive's bot nearly doubled that, managing 3.9 meters per second in one test. It was the only competitor to beat the requirement, meaning it gets the full $900,000 prize, and if anyone ever gets around to winning the Tether Challenge we might just be able to get somewhere. Nausea-inducing test video is embedded below.

Continue reading LaserMotive finally wins NASA's Elevator:2010 Beam Power Challenge, climbs at 3.9 meters/second (video)

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

LaserMotive finally wins NASA's Elevator:2010 Beam Power Challenge, climbs at 3.9 meters/second (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 06:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Japan planning its own damn space ladder

Tim Stevens — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:53:00 EST

If the third time is the charm, yet you botch that attempt just like the earlier two, then what? That's the problem facing NASA and its Space Elevator Challenge, which has for three successive years failed to live up to the vision of Arthur C. Clarke. Japan isn't waiting for a fourth, announcing plans to spend $7.3 billion on its own lift to whisk passengers (and cargo) 22,000 miles aloft on composite cables. It's the cables that are the problem, as they need to be 180 times stronger than steel and obviously much, much lighter. The Japanese are focusing on carbon nanotubes, and while they will need to be engineered four times stronger than current stock before they're up to the task, their highly conductive nature means they can not only support the lift vehicle but also power it. Useful, that, because the ride up could take a couple of days or even weeks, and astronauts will need some way to recharge their PMPs.

Filed under: Transportation

Japan planning its own damn space ladder originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA's third Space Elevator challenge falls short

Paul Miller — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:23:00 EST

The third time 'round hasn't brought any luck to the space elevator crowd. The NASA-sponsored challenge is in its third year of running, and while technology is improving at a rapid rate, it's still not quite ready to meet the Space Elevator challenge's demands. Speed requirements have been boosted to 2 meters per second, and this year's contest seems have gone off without the geeky rule disputes of last year. The University of Saskatchewan came closest to claiming the prize with its ground laser-powered bot, and only fell a few seconds short of the required speed. Hopefully next year will see a winner, and we'll all get our shot at being fried by ionizing radiation before the century is up.

Filed under: Robots, Transportation

NASA's third Space Elevator challenge falls short originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Inspector Gadget tackles 'The Case of the Experimental Space Tether'

Evan Blass — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:08:00 EST

One thing we love about scientist-types is their nerdy humor, so when researchers launch a trio of satellites next month to test the feasibility of space tether propulsion, the 'gadget' tasked with 'inspecting' the line will obviously be referred to as bumbling cartoon detective Inspector Gadget. The mission -- called MAST (for Multi-Application Survivable Tether) -- is scheduled to begin April 17th with a payload launch on a Dnepr rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, after which the Washington state-based Tethers Unlimited's two anchor sats (less-cleverly dubbed Ted and Ralph -- um, hello, Penny and Brain...) will gradually separate until they've pulled the kilometer-long line taut. That's when Inspector Gadget goes into action, traveling back and forth across the triple-braided tether at a snail-like .006 mph, all the while using its built-in camera to search for damage caused by radiation, micrometeoroids, and other nasty space stuff. Eventually the company is hoping to use its research to create orbiting systems that can fling other satellites into deep space, but seeing how the last Dnepr rocket crashed and burned on liftoff in 2006, Team Tether is probably best off taking this endeavor one step at a time.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Inspector Gadget tackles 'The Case of the Experimental Space Tether' originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Mar 2007 10:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Space elevator ride may kill humans due to ionizing radiation

Cyrus Farivar — Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:31:00 EST

While Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Arthur C. Clarke have popularized the idea of a space elevator, there are still a few kinks that need to be worked out before we start having folks hit the "door close" button for a 100,000 kilometer (62,000 miles) ride. The latest problem, according to a new article in Acta Astronautica (we've really been meaning to renew our subscription), is that a space elevator would be so slow-moving (200 kph, or 124 mph) that the half-week spent in the Van Allen radiation belt would kill any living thing without proper shielding. The radiation belt, which contains "two concentric rings of charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic fields" doesn't affect current astronauts going to and from space because they are moving too fast to be hit by the radiation. Still, Anders Jorgensen, one of the authors of the study, doesn't think that this 62,000 mile-high problem is insurmountable: "I'm confident that we can solve it, but it's going to make things a little more complicated and a little more expensive." We appreciate your reach-for-the-skies attitude Mr. Jorgensen, but isn't protecting people from dying more than just a "little" complicated?

[Via Slashdot]

Filed under: Transportation

Space elevator ride may kill humans due to ionizing radiation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Nov 2006 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NASA's second annual Tether Challenge beset by controversy, yields no winner

Darren Murph — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 06:47:00 EST

Apparently building space elevators in one's spare time is becoming a common hobby for ~~jobless~~ entrepreneurial engineers, as a bevy of eager teams set out to best NASA's "house tether" in order to get their rendition approved for intergalactic use. The contest requires that teams create cabling that weighs under two grams, sports a fiber loop with a circumference of at least two meters, and can withstand more weight (upwards of 1,662 pounds) than NASA's three-gram edition. While last year's shindig ended sans a winning party, NASA quadrupled the prize to $200,000 in order to attract more serious competition, but failed to crown a champion yet again. Three teams were immediately disqualified due to loop circumferences being less than the compulsory two meters, which sparked a "heated debate with contest organizers" about the supposed clarity of the rules. While a plethora of geeky expletives were presumably hurled, NASA only allowed the rule-abiding Astroaraneae team to officially compete -- but the Aerojet employees fell a bit short as their line snapped after withstanding 1,336 pounds of force. While we aren't sure if next year's challenge will offer an even larger purse (or yield an actual winner), we're fairly certain that the rulebook will be exorbitantly straightforward if nothing else.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Robots, Transportation

NASA's second annual Tether Challenge beset by controversy, yields no winner originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Oct 2006 06:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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