Polysynthetic twinned TiAl single crystals for high-temperature applications

                                Prof. Chen Guang (in dark suit) at press conference on
                               China’s major breakthrough in aviation and aerospace materials

A report on June 22, Professor Chen Guang’s success in developing an aircraft engine material much better than US best alloy for aircraft engine.

It seems that the new alloy will allow an engine built with it to operate at 150-200 degrees celsius higher temperature.

Chen has achieved the success through long-term research with the funding from Nanjing Polytechnic University and the state’s Program 973.

Prof. Chen’s achievement, Polysynthetic twinned TiAl (PST TiAl) single crystals for high-temperature applications, was published on the Internet at Natural Materials on June 20.

Optical micrographs of directionally solidified Ti–45Al–8Nb PST single crystals at different withdrawal rate

General Electric development of the Titanium alloy Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb (Alloy 4822) as a critical technology for the GEnx engine used in the Boeing 787.
Alloy 4822 was hailed as a sensational success in the development of aircraft engine materials as it reduces the weight of an aircraft engine by 200 pounds, fuel consumption by 20% and discharge of NOx by 80% and significantly lowered engine noise.

GEnx engine

At room temperature, PST TiAl has high tensile ductility of 6.9%, yield strength of 708 MPa and tensile strength of 978 MPa, a wonderful combination of ductility and strength.

What is more important for aircraft engine alloy, at the high temperature of 900℃ its yield and tensile strength is still as high as 637MPa and it has wonderful creep resistance. Its minimum creep rate and lasting life are better than Alloy 4822 by one to two magnitudes.
It is hopeful that the allow may be used above 900℃ much higher that the 650~750℃ for Alloy 4822.

On the cover: Polysynthetic twinned TiAl single crystals for high-temperature applications, https://t.co/c1rJ72pPnG pic.twitter.com/rEyLcGJBnG

— Nature Materials (@NatureMaterials) July 26, 2016

Polysynthetic twinned TiAl single crystals for high-temperature applications https://t.co/iXRMkxBB88 pic.twitter.com/tNknZH3dkX

— Nature Materials (@NatureMaterials) June 21, 2016

Is the mystery of the 'impossible' fuel free EmDrive thruster about to be solved?

The technology has been dubbed the 'warp drive' for its similarity to the power plant from the fictional Star trek series.

It has been dubbed the  'impossible engine', that could take humans to Mars in just 10 weeks - but nobody knows how. 

The so-called EmDrive creates thrust by bouncing microwaves around in an enclosed chamber, and uses only solar power.

Many argue the concept is simply hype, suggesting the design goes against the laws of physics , and now a Nasa lab that has been studying the concept is set to publish its findings for the first time it has been claimed.

The EmDrive cavity chamber created by Shawyer's space company Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd. Roger Shawyer, Satellite Propulsion Research Ltd

 

 

WHAT IS AN EM DRIVE? 

The concept of an EmDrive engine is relatively simple.

It provides thrust to a spacecraft by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container.

Solar energy provides the electricity to power the microwaves, which means that no propellant is needed.

The implications for this could be huge. For instance, current satellites could be half the size they are today without the need to carry fuel.

Humans could also travel further into space, generating their own propulsion on the way.

But when the concept was first proposed it was considered implausible because it went against the laws of physics.

Its allegedly fuel-free nature also means that the drive may directly contradict the law of conservation of momentum.

It suggests it would produce a forward-facing force without an equal and opposite force acting in the other direction.

proxima-centauri-b-landscape

British scientist Roger Shawyer devised the EmDrive concept and first presented it in 1999, but spent years having his technology ridiculed by the international space science research community. According to Shawyer, if the technology is ever commercially realised, EmDrive could transform the aerospace industry and potentially solve the energy crisis, end climate change and speed up space travel by making it much cheaper to launch satellites and spacecraft into orbit.

The idea for an EmDrive was proposed in 1999 by a researcher named Roger Shawyer. 

Since then four independent labs, including one at Nasa, have recreated the drive.

But the mysterious engine had baffled scientists because it appeared to violate the law of conservation of momentum, which states for every action there has to be an equal and opposite reaction.

This means the rocket can only accelerate forward if a force of equal magnitude is sent in the other direction - the rocket's exhaust.

Nasa's Eagleworks team is now ready to reveal its findings, it has been claimed - sending the physic world into a tizzy.

'It is my understanding that Eaglework's new paper has been today accepted for publication in a peer-review journal, where it will be published,' claims one user on the Nasa Spaceflight forum. 

Is the mystery of the 'impossible' fuel free EmDrive thruster about to be solved? Claims secretive Nasa lab to publish paper on 'warp drive' that could take humans to Mars in 10 weeks

Earlier this year, an employee confirmed the team was working on the paper.

'The Eagleworks Lab is NOT dead and we continue down the path set by our NASA management. 

'Past that I can't say more other than to listen to Dr Rodal on this topic, and please have patience about when our next EW paper is going to be published. Peer reviews are glacially slow,' Eagleworks engineer Paul March wrote on the same forum. 

Earlier this year, a paper published in AIP Advances  suggests the EmDrive produces an exhaust like every other rocket.

The schematic view of a cavity where simulated transverse magnetic modes, (red high, blue low) at the wide and narrow ends of a metallic tapered cavity differ from each other. This uneven interference of microwaves implies uneven efflux of photon pairs, and hence uneven loss of momentum results in an equal and opposite reaction, i.e. thrust. Arto Annila

'EmDrive works just like any other engine,' Dr Arto Annila, physics professor at the University of Helsinki and lead author of the paper, told MailOnline.

'Its fuel is the input photons at microwave lengths.'

The researchers suggest the photons coming out of the machine interfere with each other, so that the overall effect seems as if nothing is there. 

'In the cavity the input photons will bounce back and forth, and invariably some of them will interfere completely destructively.'

'Then the two photons will be exactly 180 degrees out phase. 

'At the complete interference electromagnetic fields for the two photons will cancel exactly, but the photons themselves continue to propagate.'

The idea is the same as water waves travelling together, at the exact right time so that the crest of one wave is exactly at the trough of the other and cancelling each other out. 

The water does not go away, it's still there. In the same way the pairs of photons are still there and carrying momentum even though they cannot be seen as light.

The Nasa Eagleworks team is tasked with investigating radical propulsion methods

The idea is the same as water waves travelling
together, at the exact right time so that the crest
of one wave is exactly at the trough of the other

The EmDrive does work, but there's still a long way to go
 

'The paired photons without net electromagnetic field will escape from the cavity,' Dr Annila said. 'This efflux of paired photons is the exhaust of EmDrive.'

'When the cavity is asymmetric, like the tapered cone, the efflux of paired photons is also asymmetric. Therefore the loss of momentum carried by the paired photons is uneven. In other words, thrust is non-zero.'

Dr Annila came up with the idea along with Dr Erkki Kolehmainen, an organic chemistry professor at the University of Jyväskylä and Patrick Grahn, a multiphysicist at engineering software firm Comsol. 

'Thrust without exhaust is of course impossible,' the authors wrote in their. 'Yet, certain resonant cavities, when fueled with microwaves, deliver thrust without apparent exhaust.' 

Their theory suggest the exhaust produced by the EmDrive is there, but just cannot be seen. 

Dr Annila said the photons could theoretically be detected by an interferometer, the same instrument used to detect gravitational waves.

'My gut feeling is that it will be very difficult to detect such a small excess in energy density, especially when operating EmDrive steadily,' he said.

'Namely changes are more amenable to detection in any case. But still our idea about the exhaust can be useful to design the cavity for pairing photons better for an exit in a preferred direction, and hence to generate more thrust.' 

HOW THE EMDRIVE PRODUCES THRUST WITHOUT AN EXTERNAL FORCE

 

Dr Mike McCulloch of Plymouth University has

a new explanation about how the EmDrive works

The EmDrive creates thrust by bouncing microwaves around in an enclosed chamber, and uses only solar power.

According to classical physics, the EM Drive should be impossible because it seems to violate the law of conservation of momentum.

The law states that the momentum of a system is constant if there are no external forces acting on the system – which is why propellant is required in traditional rockets.

But Mike McCulloch of Plymouth University came up with a possible explanation based on a new theory of inertia.

McCulloch's suggests inertia arises from an effect predicted by Einstein's theory of general relativity called 'Unruh radiation'.

The Unruh radiation effect states that if you're accelerating in a vacuum, empty space will contain a gas of particles at a temperature proportional to the acceleration.

According to McCulloch, inertia is the pressure that the Unruh radiation exerts on an accelerating body.

When the accelerations involved are smaller, such as is the case with the EmDrive, the wavelength of Unruh radiation gets larger.

At extremely small accelerations, the wavelengths become too large to fit in the observable universe.

As a result, inertia may only take on whole-wavelength units over time, causing it to become 'quantized.' This means it can only in some multiple of a unit of measure, causing sudden jumps in acceleration. 

But because of the EmDrive's truncated cone, the Unruh radiation in tiny.

The cone allows Unruh radiation of a certain size at the large end but only a smaller wavelength at the other end, according to an in-depth report by MIT.

This means the inertia of photons inside the cavity change as they bounce back and forth. To conserve momentum, they are forced to generate thrust.

The concept of an EM Drive engine is relatively simple. It provides thrust to a spacecraft by bouncing microwaves around in a closed container. Dr Mike McCulloch, a scientist at Plymouth University, says something known as 'Unruh radiation' may be behind the bizarre performance of drive. dailymai

Incredible footage shows rare waterspouts appear on Qinghai Lake

Rare waterspouts appear on Qinghai Lake

Tourists in north-west China were treated to a rare phenomenon this week when multiple waterspouts swirled over a lake.

These giant columns appeared to have descended on waters at the same time. At one point, as many as three could be seen rotating in close proximity.

The incredible scenes lasted for five minutes on Qinghai Lake in Qinghai Province on Wednesday, reported People's Daily Online. 

Spectacular: Three giant water columns appeared on China's Qinghai Lake on Wednesday

The 26-second-long footage was taken by one of the onlookers and was released by China Central Television Station yesterday.

According to eyewitnesses, the spectacle occurred at around 10:30am when clouds suddenly appeared in the skies. 

Onlookers quickly took out their mobile phones to capture the incredible sight.

The meteorological phenomenon is known as 'dragon sucking water' in Chinese.

One unnamed spectator told a reporter from local Xining Evening News: 'The phenomenon suddenly occurred above the calm Qinghai Lake. This is so exciting.

'I have heard of "dragon sucking water" before. I'm so happy to witness the stunning scenes with my own eyes.' 

The waterspouts rotated for around five minutes.

One excited eyewitness said the phenomenon suddenly occurred above the calm Lake. dailymail

Incredible: Tourists were stunned by the multiple waterspouts that occurred at the same time.

A local meteorological expert said it is not uncommon to see waterspouts above Qinghai Lake

A spokesman from the Hainan Region Meteorological Observatory said that waterspout is a common sight on Qinghai Lake. 

The spokesman said: 'The temperatures above Qinghai Lake have been high recently. When a cold front comes, it's quite normal to see the phenomenon.'

According to the National Ocean Service of the United States of America, waterspouts fall into two categories: the tornadic ones and the fair-weather ones.

Tornadic waterspout are usually accompanied by high winds and seas, large hail, and frequent dangerous lightning. They develop downwards from thunderstorms.

On the other hand, fair-weather waterspouts form along the dark flat base of a line of developing cumulus clouds. They develop on the surface of waters and work their way upwards.

As fair-weather waterspouts form in light wind conditions, they normally move very little. dailymail

Read more:    What is a waterspout?

Russian successfully test a pulse-detonation rocket engine

Pulse-detonation rocket engine (PDRE)

In a breakthrough move, Russian scientists have become the first ever to successfully test a pulse-detonation rocket engine (PDRE) on clean fuel, claiming this will be the future of space travel.

The tests were run in July and August, but the announcement was only made on Friday on the homepage of the Russian Advanced Research Foundation (FPI), which is in charge of the project.

The scientists say they have built and tested “the world’s first full-size pulse-detonation rocket engine demonstrator” that uses clean fuel, namely an oxygen-kerosene pairing.
The current liquid fuel engines used by rockets to get to space have reached their maximum capabilities, according to the FPI. Instead, a pulse-detonation engine that uses high thermodynamic efficiency will allow spacecraft to reach previously unattainable performance.
It would also result in additional workload for rockets and the reduction of cost for orbital deliveries.

 

Rt.
 
“We took up the challenge – to prove the possibility to create a detonation in oxygen-kerosene rocket engines. And now we can firmly say that this is possible, and we know how to do it,” Igor Denisov, the FPI’s deputy director, said in comments on the successful tests.

Russia is a leader in developing PDRE technology, and the current project was launched back in 2014 under the auspices of Energomash, one of Russia’s key companies in space research.

“The experimental studies have clearly confirmed the theoretical possibility of creating a national PDRE for a new generation of missile technology,” said Boris Satovsky, the chief of the project.
“Many leading countries are involved in the development of detonation engines, but no one has so far yielded any serious results,” he added.
The initial idea for the principles of the PDRE was thought up by Soviet scientists in the middle of the last century.

Apart from Russia, the US is also involved in developing the technologies of pulse-detonation engines (PDE).
Back in January 2008, it reportedly became the first to have tested a pulse-detonation engine, though powering a plane and not a rocket. The project was run through the US Air Force Research Laboratory, and the aircraft was then moved to the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

North Korea Nuclear-Capable Submarine Launched Ballistic Missile Testing [480p]

Scientists explore sunken aircraft carrier USS Independence Research vessel Nautilus dispatched two of its ROVs to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean this week to explore the wreck of former light aircraft carrier USS Independence (CVL-22).






Pakistan Navy's 17,000-tonne Warship fleet tanker at Karachi Shipyard launched

Watch AI ROBOTS react to horror movies

Robots have been illustrated as humans’ mechanical servants, but experts are determined to turn these cyborgs into emotional synthetic beings.

Now, researchers brought the two of the world's most advanced robots together to test their reactions by showing them the trailer for the horror flick ‘Morgan’.

Edi vocalizes its fear with phrases such as ‘Oh no, I can’t watch’ and although FACE is silent, it offers its ‘thoughts' by eerily moving its eyes, mouth and head.

TWO OF THE MOST ADVANCED ROBOTS IN THE WORLD 

Edi (Electronic Deceptive Intelligence) is the brainchild of magicLab.ny, which looks at how illusion can be used when combined with technology.

Edi is a fitted with a range sensors, has long robotic arms and a screen that displays a cartoon face.

As this machine watches the trailer, it makes its reaction clear with expressive facial features on a screen.

FACE (Facial Automaton for Conveying Emotions) was developed by researchers at the University of Pisa. 

This cyborg, although quiet, has a human-like appearance. 

The artificial skull is covered by a skin made of Frubber, a silicone-based material that is flexible enough to allow subtle human-like movements.

While watching the trailer, FACE used its eyes, mouth and jaw to express its 'thoughts'. 

‘Morgan’, directed by Luke Scott, is a 20th Century Fox film that is set to be released on September 2.

This horror flick tells the story of a corporate risk-management consultant (Kate Mara) who is sent to investigate a bioengineered child (Anya Taylor-Joy), and determine whether or not the artificial being should be terminated.

Interestingly, this film seems to coincide with the two robots designed by magicLab and the University of Pisa, as the inventors behind these technologies are also focused on developing synthetic beings.

‘If robots would have the ability to experience emotion, that would start a completely new chapter in who we are and how we interact with these kind of machines,’ Marco Tempest with magicLab.ny.said in a video.

‘That is an equally frightening and exciting outlook.’

Edi, which is short for Electronic Deceptive Intelligence, is the brain child of magicLab.nyc.

This robot is fitted with a range sensors, has long robotic arms and a screen that displays a cartoon face.

‘He has a lot of sensors and cameras in his wrists which gauge how close I am to Edi,’ shared Daniele Mazzei, a researcher at the University of Pisa.

‘There is a camera in the face with sonar range that creates a point cloud of distance between moving objects around him.’

Researchers brought two robots together to test their reactions by showing them the trailer for the horror flick ‘Morgan’. Edi (left) vocalizes its fear with phrases such as ‘Oh no, I can’t watch’ and although FACE (right) is silent, it offers its ‘thoughts' by eerily moving its eyes, mouth and head

Ex Machina 2015 

 

AI THAT WILL THINK LIKE HUMANS SET TO BE UNVIELD WITHIN A YEAR 

Researchers in Russia are expected to reveal an emotional computer within a year and a half, which will be able to think like a person and build up trust, its creators say.

The system, called 'Virtual Actor', is being created by the National Research Nuclear University in Moscow.

The researchers say it will understand the context of what is going on, as well as keeping up with unfolding events.

The machine needs the ability to study not through programming or reinforcement learning, but as a thinking person, the researchers said.

'Any action has an emotional connotation, as a result of which certain relations develop, such as trust, subordination, leadership,' the lead researcher said. 

In the reaction clip, Edi can be seen changing facial expressions on its front screen and even covers its ‘eyes’ during an intense scene of the trailer.

‘That music is scary’, it says in the beginning of the trailer.

‘That’s scary, that is definitely scary.’

‘If I had nails, I would have bitten them,’ it says after the showing had ended.

In the reaction clip, Edi (left) can be seen changing facial expressions on its front screen and even covers its ‘eyes’ during an intense scene of the trailer. FACE (right) may be the silent type, but this cyborg is designed with a more human-like appearance. dailymail

‘Morgan’, directed by Luke Scott, is a 20th Century 

Fox film that is set to be released on September 2

FACE may be the silent type, but this cyborg is designed with a more human-like appearance.

The artificial skull is covered by a skin made of Frubber, a silicone-based material that is flexible enough to allow subtle human-like movements.

Created by the University of Pissa, this life-like android is designed to present emotional information through facial expressions.

‘Our research is directed to make FACE social and attractive providing it of aesthetic refinements and human-like behaviors to be able to emotionally engage people in social interactions,’ explains the researchers.

During the showing of the trailer, FACE made facial expressions during specific scenes.

When Morgan finds a way out of her prison, FACE turns its head towards the camera, eyes wide open and jaw dropped.

However, when the bioengineered child escapes from the facility, FACE eerily smiles and its eyes squint with satisfaction.

'On the other side there is a problem known as uncanny valley,' said Mazzei.

'As far as I know, as a robot becomes more expressive, more human like it elicits fear in human beings.'

'And this is natural because this is part of our cognitive process.'

 

Edi (pictured), which is short for Electronic Deceptive Intelligence, is the brain child of magicLab.nyc. This robot is fitted with a range sensors, has long robotic arms and a screen that displays a cartoonish face

FACE (pictured) has an artificial skull that is covered by a skin made of Frubber, a silicone-based material that is flexible enough to allow subtle human-like movements. Created by the University of Pissa, this life-like android is designed to present emotional information through facial expressions   

FEARS ROBOTS COULD WIPE OUT HUMANS BY ACCIDENT 

Dr Stuart Armstrong, from Oxford University's Future of Humanity Institute claims intelligent robots will be smarter and faster than humans, with the ability to take over the running of countries and have the ability to wipe us out altogether.

He believes it’s a race against time to develop safeguards around artificial intelligence research, before robots outwit us.

_{Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the Terminator in Terminator Genisys}.
Oxford academic Dr Stuart Armstrong warns humanity runs the risk of creating super intelligent computers that eventually destroy us all

Speaking at a debate on artificial intelligence in London last month, he warned that humans could be wiped out even if robots are instructed to protect people.

Dr Armstrong predicted that robots will be increasingly integral to our everyday lives, doing menial tasks, but will eventually make humans redundant and take over, The Telegraph reported.

The robots will have what’s known as artificial general intelligence (AGI), enabling them to do much more than carry out specific and limited tasks.

‘Anything you can imagine the human race doing over the next 100 years there's the possibility AGI will do very, very fast,’ he said.

Dr Armstrong is concerned that a simple instruction to an AGI to ‘prevent human suffering’ could be interpreted by a super computer as ‘kill all humans’ or that ‘keep humans safe’ could lead to machines locking people up.

‘There is a risk of this kind of pernicious behaviour by an AI,' he said, adding that human language is subtle and can be easily misinterpreted.

‘You can give AI controls, and it will be under the controls it was given. But these may not be the controls that were meant.’

He predicts that it will be difficult to tell whether a machine has deadly ‘intentions’ or not and could act as if it is a benefit to humanity right until the point it takes control of all functions.

Professor Stephen Hawking has previously told the BBC: 'The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.'

And in Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind Space-X and Tesla, warned that the risk of 'something seriously dangerous happening' as a result of machines with artificial intelligence, could be in as few as five years. dailymail

A robot that's a real softie: 'Squishy' Octobot

The octobot is an entirely soft, autonomous robot. A pneumatic network, pink, is embedded within the octobot's body and hyperelastic actuator arms, light blue. It's squishy like Silly Putty, wireless, battery-less and made for pennies by a 3-D printer

The latest revolutionary robot isn't the metallic, costly machine you'd expect: It's squishy like Silly Putty, wireless, battery-less and made for pennies by a 3-D printer.

Meet Octobot. It looks like a tiny octopus and is designed to mimic that slithery creature to get through cracks and tight places, making it ideal as a rescue robot.

A team at Harvard University has created a robot — actually about 300 of them, since they are so cheap to make — that is opposite of the common view of a robot. 

Octobot is soft, not hard. Flexible not rigid. It's not mechanical, nor electrical. It's powered by fluids. 

The discovery is described, photographed and on video in the scientific journal Nature on Wednesday.

'It's sort of a hybrid between octopus and robot,' said study author Jennifer Lewis, a Harvard professor of biologically inspired engineering. 

'We've done something that nobody's been able to do.'

Soft robotics are important because 'you've got these hard mechanical objects and soft humans' and when they interact — or collide — it can be a problem, Lewis said. 

It looks like a tiny octopus and is designed to mimic that slithery creature to get through cracks and tight places, making it ideal as a rescue robot. It can be printed cheaply by the 3-D printer with the most costly part a really small bit of platinum

That's not the painful case with Octobot, which fits in the palm of a hand. It's softer and more adaptive, she said.

Here's a reality check: So far, all Octobot can do is wiggle a bit. It can't really even move along a table yet, so this is an 'extremely simple first step,' Lewis said. 

Initially it was supposed to be a spider, but the team wanted both swimming and crawling and it looked more like an octopus, Lewis said.

The idea is to make this something that is powered by a chemical reaction in fluids; fluid movement moves the arms and directs the robot's actions. 

It can be printed cheaply by the 3-D printer with the most costly part a really small bit of platinum. 

Aside from that it is essentially like bathroom caulk, 'a rubbery-type object,' Lewis said.

Outside robotic experts raved about the new squishy machine.

In an email, Tufts University professor Barry Trimmer called it 'an ingenious approach to building and controlling a completely soft robot.'

Daniela Rus at MIT said the discovery was what the soft robotics community has been looking for: 'The octopus robot is a first self-contained soft robot system whose components are all soft — it is a very beautiful machine.' dailymail

ENGINEERS CREATE TINY MUTANT ROBOTIC STINGRAY 

Researchers at the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have shown off a new method for building bio-inspired robots using tissue engineering.

Based on the movement of batoid fish, which includes stingrays, the team has built a robo-ray measuring just 0.6 inches (16 millimetres) long and weighing just 0.4 ounces (10 grams).

They crafted neutrally-charged gold skeletons that mimic the stingray's shape, which were overlaid with a thin layer of stretchy polymer to give it flexibility and shrug off the water.

The robot, created by Harvard University, is based on the movement of batoid fish, which include stingrays. It is guided by light. Powered by rat heart solar cells the light guides it gracefully along the water.

Along the top of the robotic ray, the researchers strategically aligned rat muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes. They used around 200,000 cardiomyocytes in total.

When stimulated, the cardiomyocytes contract the fins downward to begin the wave movement.

Because stimulating the fins to turn in an upward motion would require a second layer of cardiomyocytes, the researchers instead designed the gold skeleton in a shape that stores some downward energy, which is later released as the cells relax, allowing the fins to rise.

The muscle cells were genetically engineered to respond to light cues, enabling the researchers to control the robot's movement using pulses of light. dailymail

Eurofighter Typhoon P3E Weapons + Radar Enhancements

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АНТОНОВ АН - 158/ ANTONOV AN - 158

Unveils Mars 2020 probe and science goals

Martian probe, set for a 2020 launch date, is open to public naming suggestions


 

China has released images of its orbiter, lander and rover for its ambitious 2020 Mars mission, along with details of the scientific instruments to be sent to the Red Planet.

Chief architect of the mission, Zhang Rongqiao, told a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday that the mission will be complex and ambitious, including an orbiter, lander and rover.

The lander will carry a gasbag, a parachute and reverse thrust engines in order to achieve a safe landing, while factors such as the long-distance data transmission delay means that the rover will have a high autonomy.

The science goals include studying the Martian topography, soil, environment, atmosphere and water ice, as well as the planet's internal structure and search for possible signs of life.

The mission will launch on a Long March 5 rocket from the new Wenchang spaceport on the island province of Hainan in summer 2020.


Above: China's Mars 2020 lander using thrusters for landing (Xinhua).

After around seven months and 400m kilometres, the mission will attempt to enter Mars orbit and achieve the orbiting, landing and roving aspects of the mission.

Dr Wu Ji, director of the National Space Science Centre in Beijing which develops space science payloads, revealed to gbtimes in February that the orbiter will have on board space particle detectors and cameras capable of detecting methane – the presence of which may indicate biological processes occurring on Mars.

The rover will carry a ground penetrating radar that could reveal a much about the past and present of Mars.

The same instrument allowed China’s Yutu rover to image around 400m below the lunar surface, making intriguing discoveries about the composition and history of the Moon, such as evidence of volcanic floods. 




2020 Mars rover.


From the Moon to Mars
China has already successfully put a lander and rover on the Moon in late 2013, but a landing on the Red Planet poses greater challenges, as it involves great speeds than a lunar mission, a thin but significant atmosphere, different gravity and an active planetary surface.



Ye Peijian, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says the probe is being developed by the team that completed the 2013 Chang'e-3 lunar lander mission.

While this will be China's first attempt at an independent mission to Mars, China first attempted to reach the Red Planet with Yinghuo-1 on the back of Russia’s exciting Phobos-Grunt mission to return samples from one of the moons of Mars in 2011, but the spacecraft failed to leave Earth orbit.

The country was then stung by the success of neighbours and fellow emergent Asian space power India, when it successfully inserted its ‘Mangalyaan’ probe into orbit around Mars in 2014.

China’s 2020 mission will share the optimal launch window for Mars missions, which occurs roughly every two years, with Nasa’s 2020 Mars mission, a Japan-launched mission for the United Arab Emirates and perhaps also the second European-Russian ExoMars mission.

South Korea Defence Network - K-2 Black Panther MBT

Fully autonomous robot in Tesla Gigafactory

Sensitive Data of Navy’s Scorpene Class Submarines Leaked

The Indian Navy’s first Scorpene submarine in Mumbai last year.


Malaysia's first submarine, "KD Tunku Abdul Rahman", a Scorpene-class diesel-electric submarine. © Bazuki Muhammad / Reuters

The Indian Navy’s new $3 billion fleet of submarines – said to be the quietest in their class – may have been compromised after 22,400 pages of top-secret files detailing the vessels’ stealth capabilities were reportedly leaked from a French shipbuilder.

The leak describes in detail vital features of six Scorpene-class submarines that the French state-owned shipbuilding company DCNS designed for the Indian Navy, according to the Australian – which published  number of redacted documents on its website.
It could become an intelligence gold mine for India’s rivals such as Pakistan or China, given the potential use of the data to detect, identify and destroy the French-built submarines in wartime.

A DCNS spokesperson said the company is unsure if the information is correct, adding: “the competition is more and more hard and all means can be used in this context.”
The leaked DCNS files detail frequencies on which the Indian Scorpene submarines gather intelligence, the levels of noise they make at various speeds, as well as their diving depth, range and endurance. Furthermore, the documents describe where on the boat the crew can speak safely to avoid detection by the enemy.

The news of the Edward Snowden-sized leak also discloses the specifications of the Scorpene’s torpedo launch system and weapons control electronics, which would allow an adversary to uncover the strengths and weaknesses of the Indian Navy’s submarine forces.

The data seen by the Australian lists 4,457 pages on the submarines’ underwater sensors, 4,209 pages on their above-water sensors, 4,301 pages on their combat control system, 493 pages on their torpedo launch system, 6,841 pages on the subs’ communications, and 2,138 on their navigation systems.

The $3-billion project – which the Indian government hopes will significantly improve India’s naval power in the region – is already four years behind schedule. The DCNS-designed Scorpene was chosen ahead of its German and Japanese rivals because of its superior stealth capabilities.

Twelve submarines of the same type are currently being built by the French for the Australian Navy, a major US ally in the region. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the leak was “worrying” and could have a potential impact for the country’s security.

DCNS Australia this month signed a deed of agreement with the Defence Department, ­paving the way for talks over the contract which will guide the design phase of the new ­submarines. The government plans to build 12 submarines in Adelaide to replace the six-boat Collins-class fleet from the early 2030s. The Shortfin Barracuda will be a slightly shorter, conventionally powered version of France’s new fleet of Barracuda-class nuclear submarines.

On Tuesday, DCNS implied the leak might have originated in India, where the six Scorpenes are being assembled, insisting that the company does not control the handling of technical data used by a local builder.

However, according to the Australian’s sources, the leaked files had been written in France in 2011, removed from the country by a former French Navy officer and DCNS subcontractor, and later passed to a Southeast Asian company.

The data was then reportedly sent on a data disk by regular mail to a company in Australia. It is unclear how widely it was shared or whether it was obtained by foreign intelligence agencies.
Other files in the leak seen by the newspaper include separate top-secret DCNS documents on plans to sell French frigates to the Chilean Navy, as well as the canceled deal to deliver Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Russia. Those documents have no link to India, which adds to the possibility that the data was leaked from France.

"I understand there has been a case of hacking," Indian Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar told reporters on Wednesday, commenting on the scandal. "We will find out what has happened."
Later on Wednesday, DCNS said it will determine whether the leak has affected other company clients. "We're going to determine ... if harm was caused to our clients and establish action plans," a company spokesman said, as cited by Reuters.

An anonymous source close to the matter has also claimed the leak “seems to be sensitive information but appears neither critical nor confidential."
Except India, Scorpene-class submarines are operated by the Malaysian, Spanish and Chilean Navies.

Restricted data
The secret information the leaked documents reveal:
• The stealth capabilities of the six new Indian Scorpene submarines
• The frequencies at which the subs gather intelligence
• The levels of noise the subs make at various speeds
• Diving depths, range and endurance
• Magnetic, electromagnetic and infra-red data
• Specifications of the submarine’s torpedo launch system and the combat system
• Speed and conditions needed for using the periscope
• Propeller’s noise specifications
• Radiated noise levels when the submarine surfaces

Secret submarine document one
Secret submarine document two
Secret submarine document three

Huge 22.4K-page data leak shows tech details of the French-built DCNS #Scorpene #submarine https://t.co/nMaYYl3pfL pic.twitter.com/ppLXzu3usy

— Chris Cavas (@CavasShips) August 23, 2016

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Airlander 10: World's largest aircraft finally takes to the skies

Airlander 10

The world's largest aircraft branded 'the flying bum' has taken to the skies in a successful maiden voyage - the first since a revamp in Britain.

The 302ft-long Airlander 10 - part plane, part helicopter, part airship - loomed overhead at Cardington airfield in Bedfordshire as the sun started to set on this evening.

Photographers and plane spotters baked in the sun as they waited to see the aircraft, whose bulbous exterior has earned it the less-than-glamorous nickname 'the flying bum', take off.

The world's largest aircraft has taken to the skies in a successful maiden voyage - the first since a revamp in Britain

The aircraft (pictured) has been nicknamed 'the flying bum' by enthusiasts because of its unusual shape 

 Photographers and plane spotters baked in the sun as they waited to see the aircraft, whose bulbous exterior has earned it the less-than-glamorous nickname 'the flying bum', take off

 One lone man sets up a deckchair earlier in the day to secure a good spot for the maiden voyage of the Airlander (pictured)

The £25million Airlander 10, the largest aircraft in the world, during its maiden flight at Cardington airfield in Bedfordshire

The developers called the ship a 'great British innovation' after the flight, which was a modern milestone in airships, which was all but abandoned after the famous Hindenburg disaster in 1937.

Stephen McGlennan, chief executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV), added: 'It's a combination of an aircraft that has parts of normal fixed-wing aircraft, it's got helicopter, it's got airship.'

The Airlander is designed to use less fuel than a plane, but carry heavier loads than conventional airships.

HAV say it can reach 16,000 feet, travel at up to 90 mph and stay aloft for up to two weeks.

The aircraft was initially developed for the U.S. military, which planned to use it for surveillance in Afghanistan. 

But the US blimp program was scrapped in 2013 and since then, HAV, a small British aviation firm that dreams of ushering in a new era for airships, has sought funding from government agencies and individual donors.

The vast aircraft is based at Cardington, where the first British airships were built during and after World War I. That program was abandoned after a 1930 crash that killed almost 50 people, including Britain's air minister.

That accident and others — including the fiery 1937 crash in New Jersey of the Hindenburg, which killed 35 — dashed the dream of the airship as a mode of transportation for decades.

First developed for the US government as a long-endurance surveillance aircraft, the British firm launched a campaign to return the craft to the sky after it fell foul of defence cutbacks

After a successful first flight on Wednesday, the aircraft can be seen preparing to land back at the airfield in Bedford

Unlike hydrogen, the gas used in the Hindenburg, helium is not flammable.

The flight on Wednesday came days after a test flight planned for Sunday was scrapped at the last minute because of an unspecified technical issue.

Mr McGlennan said the team had been waiting for low winds for the launch on Wednesday but added the airship could 'operate very happily' in 80 knots of wind.

He said: 'Think of a big helicopter, a really giant helicopter. This can do the same thing that a helicopter can do - that's to say, provide air transportation for people and goods without the need for a runway - but this thing can take more over longer distances, it's cheaper and it's greener. 

McGlennan is confident there will be plenty of customers for Airlander — both civilian and military — because of its potential to gather data and conduct surveillance for days on end.

It can also carry up to 10 metric tons (22,050 pounds) of passengers or cargo. The company hopes to have an even bigger aircraft, capable of carrying 50 metric tons (110,000 pounds), in service by the early 2020s.

Preparations are made for the maiden flight of the Airlander 10, the largest aircraft in the world at the airfield

 

Crowds clapped and cheered as the craft soared above them during its first outing from the First World War hangar where it was revealed in March after undergoing 'hundreds' of changes by Hybrid Air Vehicles (HAV) over two years

The flight on Wednesday came days after a test flight planned for Sunday was scrapped at the last minute because of an unspecified technical issue.

Mr McGlennan said the team had been waiting for low winds for the launch on Wednesday but added the airship could 'operate very happily' in 80 knots of wind. dailymail

McGlennan said Airlander has many of the assets of a helicopter.

It can 'provide air transportation for people and goods without the need for a runway. But this thing can take more over longer distances, it's cheaper and it's greener,' he said.

Chris Pocock, defense editor of aviation magazine AIN, said the jury is still out on whether the craft is commercially viable.

'Airships and hybrids have still got a credibility gap to cover,' he said. 'Technically I think they are there now, but economically I'm not so sure.'

Crowds clapped and cheered as the craft soared above them during its first outing from the First World War hangar where it was revealed in March after undergoing 'hundreds' of changes by HAV over two years.

The Airlander took off at approximately 7.40pm and performed one lap of the airfield before landing about half an hour later, with light fast fading and the moon visible in the sky.

It is about 50ft longer than the biggest passenger jets but its four engines appeared noticeably quieter than a plane or helicopter as it took to the skies.

Mr McGlennan, who is not a pilot but has practised flying the craft on a simulator, said it was 'very simple' to manoeuvre.

He said: 'It's a very stable, benign aircraft that responds very gently in flight, we expect it to be an unusually calm flight experience.'

People have been practising to fly it for at least five years, he added.

 

People could be seen by the side of the airfield getting pictures and footage of the momentous flight 

HAV chief executive officer Stephen McGlennan said the team had been waiting for low winds for the launch but added the airship could 'operate very happily' in 80 knots of wind

The ship is about 50ft (15 metres) longer than the biggest passenger jets but its four engines appeared noticeably quieter than a plane or helicopter as it took to the skies. dailymail

Mr McGlennan, who is not a pilot but has practised flying the craft on a simulator, said it was 'very simple' to manoeuvre

It took off to a large crowd of people who wanted to witness the inaugural flight of the massive aircraft. dailymail.co.uk