Space Is Full of Crap [Trashtronauts]

The European Space Agency has just released images showing all the satellites and human-made debris now orbiting space as a result of 51 years of launching stuff since Sputnik. That’s about 6,000 satellites up there—of which only 800 remain operational—plus thousands of other objects from launches and accidents. According to their mindblowing simulations things are getting a lot worse:

About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).

Yes, we knew that there was a lot of crap out there, but not to this extent. According to the ESA, this is really bad news and urgent measures are needed. Explosions in space are not disastrous on their own, but because of the aftermath. One example: a geostationary satellite travels at 6,213 miles per hour. If it explodes, all the debris stays near the orbit, forming a cloud around the Earth within a few days, as this simulation shows:

The ESA is urging to introduce measures to mitigate this problem, like the complete depletion of fuel in rocket stages (like some Delta launchers already do following NASA’s Procedural Requirements for Limiting Orbital Debris) or returning objects to Earth once their mission is complete (perhaps to destroy them on re-entry,) just like SES Americom is going to do with their brand-new AMC-14. This satellite failed to reach its projected altitude and now has to be splashed into the sea because of a dispute with Boeing, which won’t let SES Americom use their patented recovery method to put the satellite into the right geostationary orbit.

The impact of these measures could be huge, as reflected by this simulation of how things could look by the year 2112, with and without taking action:

While the idea of bringing back used stages and satellites back to Earth may seem too expensive, in the long run it’s clear that leaving all this trash up there is going to have huge consequences to the development of space exploration and colonization. Those concepts may still seem science fiction for many, but as these simulations show, the current and future problem is very real, and could be extremely dangerous.

This is how it looks when orbital debris hits a spaceship, simulated in a laboratory.

[ESA Gallery, Space debris: assessing the risk, NASA, Wikipedia — via Space Travel and Slashdot]

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Filed under: Robots

Although other countries have deployed gun-toting robots and there’s no shortage of companies trying to develop weaponized bots for Uncle Sam, it looks like the first test of actual killer robots in battle has ended in a whimper: the Army’s TALON SWORD gunbots, are headed home, after being plagued with control issues. Yeah, that’s right — control issues. Apparently it was too hard to prevent the Army’s gun-equipped robot from moving its gun “when it was not intended to move.” Reassuring, no? The Army doesn’t sound too enthused about another go-round, saying, “once you’ve done something that’s really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again.” Ouch. On the plus side, at least that’s 20 more years before we’re all put to work in the mines, no?

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Via [Engadget]

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Microsoft Planning to Open Most Exciting Retail Stores Ever [Rumor]

It looks like Microsoft is planning to take a page from Apple’s playbook, with rumors of plans to open a number of retail stores dedicated exclusively to Microsoft products. It’s not clear what that will entail exactly, but I’m guessing there will be a big focus on Vista.

Like Apple’s Genius Bar, Microsoft will staff its stores with experts to help customers with questions and problems. Obviously, any Microsoft store would be much more software based than an Apple store, which gets so much foot traffic due to it being a showroom as well as a mini internet café. I’m not sure what Microsoft has got to draw that many people in, but who knows, maybe they have an ace up their sleeve. We’ll see. [Fudzilla]

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Paper E-Mail Revolutionizes Meatspace Communication [Gadgets]

Do you want to prove to your office mates that you’ve got an acerbic wit and great sense of irony? This Paper E-Mail isn’t the way to do it. Sure, it’s clever to write notes to Bob that look like emails (cc: your mom!), but is it really clever? Is it $3.99 clever? Perhaps. Is it $3.99 plus shipping clever? Perhaps not. Either way, you only get 50 chances per pack to impress. [ThinkGeek via Tech Digest]

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3G iPhone rumors building up steam

Filed under: Cellphones

Apple’s next big event is still over two months away, but the iPhone rumor mill is suddenly in full swing, and we’d say the buzz is back after that short-lived Mossberg “60 days” euphoria wore off. Tgdaily is the one making waves today, claiming that we’ll see next-gen 8GB and 16GB iPhones debut at WWDC this June for $399 and $499, and that the iPod touch will always offer twice the storage at any given price point. The new units are said to feature revised casings that eliminate the current model’s “plasticky” feel, which is interesting, because that supposedly-leaked image from the other day seems pretty ultra-plasticky to us, but we’re not exactly expecting any of these rumors to be true, let alone add up. Other than the re-design, tgdaily says there aren’t any OS or interface changes in store, and that Apple is really serious about building the Cocoa Touch platform in addition to OS X– hence the two bridges on those WWDC invites that went out. That’s about it — nothing too shocking, really, but we’d still take all this stuff with a huge grain of salt until Steve sets things straight.

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Fujitsu’s WoodShell laptop: go ahead hippie, hug it

Filed under: Laptops

That’s Fujitsu’s WoodShell concept PC. It joins an increasingly common trend of so called “natural” products already demonstrated by MSI, ASUS, Olympus, LG and others. No specs are provided on this feel-good piece. However, we presume it’s powered by the blood and tears wrung from the baby Gore’s heartbreak.

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There’s No Place Like Home, Even If It’s Upside-Down Or Suspended in Mid-Air [Houses]

PointClickHome took a look at 15 incredible houses that defy physics, conventional design, and every zoning law imaginable. We were most fond of this upside-down house from Poland—the builder’s statement against Communism, apparently—as well as a house that turns towards the sun in winter and away during the summer and the Ukrainian “Floating Castle” that looks like it’s supported by four toothpicks. See our most gadgetastic favorites in the gallery, then go to PCH for the full roundup. [PointClickHome via Curbly]

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Mossberg just kidding about that whole “3G iPhone in 60 days” thing

Filed under: Cellphones

Oh Unkie Walt, you toy with us so. Just a couple days after promising that the 3G iPhone would be out within 60 days, the Moss-man is saying that he was simply making a prediction based on the same data as the rest of us: price cuts, dried-up inventory, and all kinds of rumors. That’s not at all what it seems like on the tape, but sure. Walt also thinks that a little meta-media-analysis is due here, asking Silicon Alley Insider, “If I knew when this date was, why would I announce it in the middle of a sentence at the Finnish embassy, rather than report it in the Wall Street Journal?” Excellent point, but you might want to be a little more careful the next time you flatly declare “The iPhone will be 3G in 60 days” with no caveats and the cameras running, okay?

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Twinkle, the iPhone Twitter Client, Adds Location Features [IPhone]

Twitter Fans: an iPhone client called Twinkle was just released on Installer.app. What’s the difference between Twinkle and other apps? It’s true that you can let the world know that you’re getting a haircut or some taxi zoomed past you without stopping on any client, but Twinkle lets you use the iPhone’s location feature to add location data to your tweets. Not only that, there’s a “near me” feature that can show you tweets from people within X miles of you, which is good for organizing a meetup or party. Location information is only visible from Twinkle and not on the Twitter website, unfortunately. Hit the link to see how you install it on your jailbroken iPhone, then follow me (diskopo) for some good times. [Just Another iPhone Blog via Tech Digest]

Note: It looks like Twinkle automatically adds “Twinkleking” (their official user) to your followed list, which isn’t cool. Remember to remove this if you don’t want to follow them.

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Filed under: Robots

Although other countries have deployed gun-toting robots and there’s no shortage of companies trying to develop weaponized bots for Uncle Sam, it looks like the first test of actual killer robots in battle has ended in a whimper: the Army’s TALON SWORD gunbots, are headed home, after being plagued with control issues. Yeah, that’s right — control issues. Apparently it was too hard to prevent the Army’s gun-equipped robot from moving its gun “when it was not intended to move.” Reassuring, no? The Army doesn’t sound too enthused about another go-round, saying, “once you’ve done something that’s really bad, it can take 10 or 20 years to try it again.” Ouch. On the plus side, at least that’s 20 more years before we’re all put to work in the mines, no?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Via [Engadget]

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