January 2009
5 posts
Strange Asteroid Stalks the Earth →
The Universe Today gives word that a 10m diameter asteroid has been discovered following the earth in a nearly identical orbit. It never strays by more than 0.1au, although it poses no danger to us (closest approach will be 644,000 km from the Earth - outside of the Moon’s orbit). For the moment, at least, the earth has a mini-Moon!
Teleporting a Quantum State to Distant Matter →
This month’s issue of Science carries news that physicists have succeeded in ‘teleporting’ matter over the distance of 1 meter through quantum entanglement. Although researchers were able to entangle photons successfully about 10 years ago, no one had succeeded in entangling full atoms before. In this experiment, two ytterbium ions were entangled such that the exact quantum...
Mars Rovers Roll On To Five Years →
As of today, the Mars Rovers Spirit and Opportunity are entering the sixth year of their 3 month mission. It’s amazing what good engineering can do.
Peak Lithium →
In all the hubbub over Peak Oil, other potential shortages are being ignored. An interesting one that the Next 100 blog covers is Peak Lithium. Lithium is the critical ingredient in our best battery technologies, and society is becoming more and more reliant on its availability. Seeing as batteries are the major limiting factor in many of the newest, coolest technologies this poses a real...