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Elon Musk wants to get to Mars before we nuke ourselves
Elon Musk is bullish on humanity's chances getting to Mars and even building a city, but he's not super confident about our odds here on Earth. During a wide-ranging interview with GQ, the SpaceX CEO described planetary colonization as a coldly practical endeavor. "You back up your hard drive... maybe we should back up life, too?" As for how he plans to do it, he said that SpaceX will announce more concrete plans as soon as it's ready. "Before we announce it, I want to make sure that we're not gonna make really big changes ... I think it's gonna seem pretty crazy, no matter what."
GPS stations trace nuclear explosions, summon end to underground mushroom clouds?
A team of researchers recently revealed findings that could turn GPS stations into tools for detecting illegal nuclear explosions. According to a report, being presented to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) this week, the group found that nearby GPS stations showed a change in ionospheric electron density, following a 2009 nuclear test performed by North Korea. That discovery led to the realization that the same technology we use to track everything from dogs to children can more accurately detect nuclear explosions -- even when they take place underground. By measuring the time it takes for a resulting shockwave to reach and affect surrounding stations, researchers can accurately determine the origin of the blast. The team is currently seeking funding to further its explosive (sorry, we had to) research.
