First Ion drives, now magnetic shielding? At this rate, I’ll have my Millenium Falcon before the end of the year.

Researchers from the U.K. and Portugal are developing a portable miniature magnetosphere to protect spaceships from high speed particles traveling through space, such as plasma from solar flares or cosmic rays. The Earth’s magnetosphere protects our planet from many of these particles, deflecting them harmlessly into space; a miniature magnetic field surrounding a spaceship could serve exactly the same purpose.

Researchers from the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, the Universities of York, Strathclyde in the U.K., and the Institutio Superior Technico in Portugal have created a simulated solar wind inside their laboratory and successfully deflected it around a central spot using magnetic fields. The result is a hole in the middle of the solar wind free of all harmful particles. They managed this small-scale test – creating a one meter area devoid of particles – using a plasma jet and a simple $20 magnet. The experiment was successful on the first attempt and the generated hole was observed to adjust itself based on the strength of the solar wind. Stronger winds resulted in a smaller but more intense magnetic field, resembling their behavior in the real magnetosphere.

While wholly successful, these tests are just the first step to creating a successful magnetic shield for a spaceship. It’s unclear whether it’s best to simply include a magnetic generator inside the spaceship or to use secondary ships accompanying primary (manned) spaceships to allow finer tuning of the field strength and direction. It may also be possible to cycle the magnetic generators on and off in order to conserve power on a long journey where power may be at a premium. The project head, Dr. Ruth Bamford of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, believes they are 15 to 20 years away from practical implementation of these magnetic shields.

In addition to protecting astronauts from long-term effects of exposure to these particles, a magnetic shield would also protect the spaceship itself. There has already been one documented case of a solar flare damaging the electronic systems on a spaceship (the Japanese Nozomi Mars mission in 2002); protection against such damage may be the difference between successful future missions and expensive failures.

TFOT has previously reported on innovative space technologies currently under development or in their testing stages. Among others, you can find articles on the VASIMR plasma rocket, which is being developed by Ad Astra Rocket Company, the NanoSail-D solar sail developed by NASA, and the Lemur robots that were designed to aid astronauts in spaceship and space station maintenance tasks.

You can read more about the magnetic shield in the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) press release. You can also read the abstract of the paper written by Dr. Bamford and her colleagues here. The paper was published in the December 2008 issue of Plasma Physics and Controlled Fusion.

Image icon: Diagram showing the shielding effects of Earth’s magnetosphere (Credit: NASA)

article reprinted from thefutureofthings

Genre movie fans (or just adherents of the “Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred) can rejoice that Ron Howard is set to bring to the big screen The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft

Yet another indie graphic novel is headed to the big screen. Image Comics’ The Strange Adventures of H.P. Lovecraft, created by Mac Carter and Jeff Blitz, is being developed for Ron Howard to direct at Universal. The fictionalized tale borrows elements from Lovecraft’s life, such as his own bouts with writer’s block, and transforms his darkest nightmares into reality when he comes across a book that puts a curse on him and lets the evils he conjures up loose on the world. Universal picked this up because its take on classic horror fits in well with their monster movies like Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and the Wolf Man.

I watched a very cool special from National Geographic a few weeks ago that I thought was good enough to recommend to you guys. The premise is simple: Imagine if one minute from now, every single person on Earth disappeared. All 6.6 billion of us. Human history just stopped. What would happen to the world without us?

This extraordinary special details in each period of time what would happen to the earth, starting in this first five minute and slowly going through every era of time that would eventually pass after we vanish.

Check the link above for a video sample and your National Geographic channel listings for the next complete showing of this engrossing special.

OK, I am basically a hardcore addict of this Massive-Multiplayer Online (MMO) game. I’ve been playing it many hours each week for over a year now and I can attest to it’s addictive qualities.

Not only has EVE itself been going strong for over 5 years, but it’s about to be expanded and improved in March with a staggering new expansion that will even further open the possibilities of this exciting and engrossing game.

For a sneak peak at wormholes, Tech 3 ships and other sci-fi goodness, Click Here.

And join me online with a 14-day Free Trial (no credit card needed!).

I don’t watch too much TV, but I do have a few shows in the TiVO I enjoy. A new one I’ve added is from Joss Whedon, the creator of my favorite show of all time, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also was behind the spinoff series Angel (another all-time fave) as well the series (and movie) Firefly.

Dollhouse is about a group of individuals with no memory who are employed by a secret agency which programs them every week with different personalities and backgrounds to fulfill various roles for wealthy clientele. The premiere episode was pretty good, but didn’t give an indication that this was Joss’ next masterpiece. However, the second episode was excellent and it looks like the show is heading in a very good direction.

Check out the trailer for this week’s episode and be sure to watch Fox on Friday nights, after Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

From the AP Newswire:

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Robert Downey Jr. is strapping on his metal suit to join the superhero team effort “The Avengers” in addition to “Iron Man 2.”

Downey is reprising his role as billionaire genius Tony Stark from last summer’s blockbuster “Iron Man.” The sequel is due May 7, 2010, and “The Avengers” is scheduled for July 15, 2011, Marvel Studios announced Tuesday.

The movies are part of a four-picture deal between Downey and Marvel.

“Iron Man” director Jon Favreau is returning to direct “Iron Man 2″ and serve as executive producer on “The Avengers,” which will team the guy in the metal suit with Marvel Comics heroes the Hulk, Captain America, Thor and others.

Just saw the trailer for the latest Clint Eastwood film. Had not heard anything about it till now, but it looks interesting.

Clint plays a retired war veteran who confronts his prejudices in a changing neighborhood. The cool thing is that he confronts them with an M1 Garand rifle.

I was a big fan of last year’s 3:10 To Yuma, so getting another promising western this year is music to my ears. Here’s the trailer for Appaloosa starring Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Jeremy Irons, and Renee Zellweger… looks great. Appaloosa hits theatres October 3, 2008.

Article courtesy of Popoholic

For those who grew up in the 80s, one of the more camp genre classics of our youth was the Brigitte Nielsen movie Red Sonja. It came at a time when barbarian and sword-and-sorcery films ejoyed a bit of time in the sun. It even featured a guest appearance by Conan himself! (Not really, Arnold Schwarzenegger had a role, but it was as Kaledor, a very close approximation of his more famous Cimmerian counterpart.)

In any case, gifted director Robert Rodriguez has taken on the task of remaking this not-so-classic. With films like Sin City, Planet Terror and From Dusk Till Dawn in his repertoire, those no telling which direction this may go. But I think it looks like a possible stylistic successor to Zack Snyder’s 300.

We’ll see. I’m just learning about this and will keep my hear to the ground (or whatever else one keeps to the ground on the Internet) for future updates.

Although I will always think of Sonja as a gigantic Nordic chick, I do love me some McGowan.

The cycle of Life and Death was supposed to end with us.
We would be the start of a New Age, a destiny of Light; an Empyrean Age.
Yet these tombs call out to us…of old heroes and villains vanquished within, cry out at once, begging for justice.
We will fight for what we believe in, we will take a side, and our wrath will be furious.

Welcome to the Empyrean Age!

I am a big fan of EVE Online and have really enjoyed playing the game for the past nine months. I have built up three very cool characters and just now began a fourth with this month’s release of Empyrean Age, an expansion to the EVE universe which brings war to the four great factions of the galaxy.

Here’s hoping I see you online. Watch the trailer below to get a feel for what kind of game EVE is and follow my link in the sidebar to learn more about the game.

Enjoy this video in gorgeous High-Definition, along with many other great videos of the EVE universe, by visiting the media page here.