A New Plasma Thruster for Spacecraft...
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The European Space Agency has confirmed the findings of Australian scientists who developed a new plasma thruster for future spacecraft. Now, admittedly this seems a little trivial in light of the potential faster-than-light engine now under study, but it could still be an important incremental step towards opening up the solar system to further exploration, settlement and/or economic development. Plenty of concepts for tapping immense extraterrestrial resources only require a conventional long-range propulsion system -- though actually, the main barrier to such enterprises is really Earth's gravity well. And the development of better launch systems is an area attracting great interest these days, particularly with the success of the "X-Prize."
This alternative piece of technology illustrates a point well taken by AI researchers -- though artificial intelligence has not emerged in the last several decades, despite decades of predictions and promises, information technology has been anything but stagnant in the meantime. Many programs providing elements of what we would expect in an AI -- voice-recognition, expert systems, data-mining software -- have been developed, and have expanded the productivity of many workers. Researching a broad range of likely winners, as well as some "blue sky" projects, seems like an ideal strategy.
Though admittedly, the "eggs in one basket" method does occasionally produce an impressive omelette. =)
Future Imperative
The European Space Agency has confirmed the findings of Australian scientists who developed a new plasma thruster for future spacecraft. Now, admittedly this seems a little trivial in light of the potential faster-than-light engine now under study, but it could still be an important incremental step towards opening up the solar system to further exploration, settlement and/or economic development. Plenty of concepts for tapping immense extraterrestrial resources only require a conventional long-range propulsion system -- though actually, the main barrier to such enterprises is really Earth's gravity well. And the development of better launch systems is an area attracting great interest these days, particularly with the success of the "X-Prize."
This alternative piece of technology illustrates a point well taken by AI researchers -- though artificial intelligence has not emerged in the last several decades, despite decades of predictions and promises, information technology has been anything but stagnant in the meantime. Many programs providing elements of what we would expect in an AI -- voice-recognition, expert systems, data-mining software -- have been developed, and have expanded the productivity of many workers. Researching a broad range of likely winners, as well as some "blue sky" projects, seems like an ideal strategy.
Though admittedly, the "eggs in one basket" method does occasionally produce an impressive omelette. =)
Future Imperative
posted by Ralph Cerchione | Thursday, January 12, 2006
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