NASA successfully tests the world’s first inflatable heat shield
WHY THIS MATTERS IN SPACE An inflatable heat shield is lighter and easier to transport than a conventional one, but it also opens the door to new opportunities and use cases … Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about...
Researchers reverse engineered SpaceX’s satellite signals to create a new GPS service
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF GPS systems are expensive to create and launch, and they’re also often highly guarded by governments and militaries for good reason, but now some fancy reverse signal engineering just changed the game. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with...
NASA trials 3D printing electronics in low gravity in nod to future space colonies
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF When humans start inhabiting space they won’t be able to get everything shipped from Earth so things like food and electronics will have to somehow be made in space. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University,...
Unilevers first 3D printed metamaterial chocolates take eating to a whole new level
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF New technologies and materials are transforming all our foods and our eating experiences, and this is just another example of how. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, subscribe to the podcast, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential...
Architects unveil plans for Dubai’s Mars Science City and colonies on Mars
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The first Martians are going to need somewhere to live that can protect them from Mars’ environment and the designs are pouring in. Love the Exponential Future? Join our XPotential Community, future proof yourself with courses from XPotential University, read about exponential tech and trends, ...
Scientists think they’ve found evidence of a parallel universe
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Astrophysisists can’t explain a cold spot on at the edge of our universe using today’s standard models, and they think it could be evidence that a parallel universe is colliding with our own Scientists are a funny bunch. Actually, I could just end this...
SpaceX teases a photo of the Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful rocket
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If you want to build a colony on Mars you need a big rocket to move a lot of stuff – it’s as simple as that SpaceX’s massive new rocket, the Falcon Heavy, hasn’t taken flight yet, but when it does, it will be the...
New heat resistant material shatters records
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF As we push the boundaries and create new, more powerful nuclear reactors, and faster vehicles, protecting them from thermal harm becomes increasingly important, this breakthrough could mean more powerful reactors and faster hypersonic vehicles A team of researchers in the UK have discovered that...
New nanomaterial exploits radiation to create more powerful nuclear reactors
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Todays nuclear reactors are limited by their operating temperatures, this new nanoceramic material could dramatically increase the temperatures they can operate at and increase both their power production and efficiency An international team of researchers have created a nanoceramic material that not only can...
Scientists discovered a planet ravaged by storms of rubies and sapphires
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF This is the first time that we have observed weather on another planet, the fact that the clouds are made from rubies and sapphires just makes it alot cooler Elon Musk wants to travel to Mars, but I think he should seriously reconsider after...
Self healing nano spaceships travelling at a fifth the speed of light help NASA explore the heavens
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Many regions of space are still off limits to us because of the extreme distances involved but new self-healing, nano sized spacecraft that can travel at a fifth of the speed of light will help us unlock more mysteries of the universe. Working with...
Audi puts its new Quattro Lunar Rover through its paces
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The cost of space travel has fallen dramatically over the past decade and now Google wants to encourage private organisations and entrepreneurs to take the next bold step in humanity’s story. In 2015 Audi, the luxury car brand, announced it would be “taking off...
Accidental discovery pauses life and puts embryos into suspended animation
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Being able to put embryos, cells, organisms and people into suspended animation could have a significant impact on anti-ageing, cancer treatments, IVF and space travel. A new study by researchers at the University of California San Francisco published in Nature this week has shown, for...
NASA is funding an artificial gravity program
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Astronauts who are exposed to long periods of microgravity suffer health problems when they get back to Earth, an artificial gravity system would replicate the natural gravity of Earth and prevent the problems from occurring. Microgravity is bad for the bones and muscles. Just...
Leaked NASA documents show impossible EmDrive might work
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Scientists have demonstrated that an impossible space drive that doesn’t need fuel and that defies physics might actually work, if true then it opens up new possibilities for space exploration. An experimental propulsion system that seems to violate the laws of physics may actually...
New heat resistant material breakthrough gives hypersonic flight a boost
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Materials that don’t react to heat, or cold could make structures safer and solve one of the aerospace industry’s most troublesome issues. Researchers at the University of Southern California have been trying to make a material that doesn’t respond to heat, and it seems...
NASA’s new $8.7Bn space telescope can detect a bumble bee on the Moon
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF The James Webb’s impressive array of near field IR sensors and high grade optics will allow scientists to learn more about the formation of planets and galaxies as well discover more about the origin of life itself. The Hubble Space Telescope has given humanity...
Scientists may have identified the particles that make up Dark Matter
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF If it were not for the gravity of dark matter galaxies wouldn’t be able to hold themselves together and planets and stars would fly into oblivion. Understanding what Dark Matter is has proven to be amazingly difficult. Of course, one might expect this from a...
Take a glorious Hi Def tour of the International Space Station
WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF Have you ever wanted to float around the International Space Station? Now’s your chance. Since its launch in 1998 only 225 people have ever set foot upon the International Space Station (ISS). So that leaves only seven and a half billion or so of...
Scientists can now see molecules and objects clearer than ever before
Discovery paves the way for new breakthroughs in materials, molecular science, semiconductors and much more A team of scientists from Complutense University have managed to bypass a theoretical limit on optical resolution, allowing them to see more sharply than ever before. Their results are published in a paper in the journal...
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