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Scientists learn to build better metals by freezing alloys in space
Metals are full of microscopic structures that define properties like strength, but it's hard to figure out how those structures work on Earth, where gravity skews their effects. An experiment aboard the International Space Station may have solved that dilemma, however. By freezing alloys in the station's extra-low gravity, scientists tracked the growth of microstructures in a pure environment and revealed a wealth of data about how metal forms. For example, the structures sometimes "breathe" (really, ripple) as they grow -- if you're not careful when producing metal, those tiny shapes will either break or disappear altogether.
Project Loon works with France's space agency to develop next-gen balloons
Project Loon has come a long way since Google X started working on it in 2011: its balloons can now stay afloat for 100 days, for one, and it has recently gained a partner carrier in Australia's Telstra. Now, France's space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES), has revealed that it's been collaborating with the semi-secret lab for a year now to take this moonshot to the next level. Apparently, the agency is helping Mountain View analyze data from ongoing tests, as well as design its next-gen floating hotspots. Google, on the other hand, will help CNES conduct long-haul balloon flights to the stratosphere.
French space agency to launch UFO archive
With the responsibility for training their astronauts turned over to Europe and cat launchings no longer in vogue, what's a French space agency to do? Become the official Internet source for UFO sightings, naturally. See, according to Jacques Arnould of France's Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales space agency, CNES will publish their archive of some 1,600 UFO sightings and other foo fightin' phenomena before mid-February. The on-line archives will consist of about 6,000 reports (many relating to the same incident) filed by pilots and the public alike over the last 30 years. That gives you about two months to hone your conspiracy theories and brush up on your high-school French. What, you didn't expect these to be published in English did you?[Thanks, Mike]
