Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Transportation
While there’s certainly no shortage of folks working on sending robots to
Mars, there’s also thankfully a few researchers focusing on making the trip a bit more bearable (and survivable) for us humans, and a group from a consortium of different institutions now say they’ve made some real progress on that front. Their idea is to use a portable “
mini-magnetosphere,” which would protect a spacecraft from harmful solar storms and cosmic rays in much the same way the Earth’s magnetosphere naturally protects the planet. That is actually an idea that has been around for decades, and was shown last year to be at least theoretically possible, but it has only now been taken beyond the realm of computer simulations. That was apparently possible thanks to the use of an unspecified “apparatus originally built to work on fusion,” which allowed researchers to recreate “a tiny piece of the Solar Wind” and confirm that a small “hole” in the wind would indeed be all that would d be necessary to keep astronauts safe. Of course, the leap from the lab to an actual spacecraft is another matter entirely, but the researchers seem to think that there’s quite a bit of promise in the idea.
[Via PhysOrg, image courtesy of NASA]
Spaceship “force field” could protect astronauts on trip to Mars originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: earth, entry, gadgets, image-courtesy, keep-astronauts, magnetosphere, mars, misc-gadgets, space travel, spaceship, transportation
Filed under: Cellphones
Well hell, that Blackberry Bold decision just got a lot easier if you’re, uh, bold enough to sign a two-year contract with AT&T — it’s now free after rebate at Walmart. Yep, it’s only been out for two days and Wally’s already handing ‘em for free — somehow we don’t think that’s gonna happen with the Storm. Still, this is the one you want if you double-heart keyboards with itty-bitty keys — just make sure you actually mail in the forms, okay?
Update: The deal is through LetsTalk, so if you and Sam aren’t getting along you can order direct from them.
[Thanks, Barry and Jedidiah]
Blackberry Bold shows up for free on contract at Walmart originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:11:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Filed under: Networking
So, you’ve been desperately searching and hoping for a way to connect your SlingCatcher into your wireless network router, right? Well back at CES in January, the company showed off a little accessory called the SlingLink Wireless — a device that would do just that. Unfortunately, details were scarce. Things may be changing, however, as the adapter just appeared on Sling’s UK site looking all fancy and official. There doesn’t seem to be any indication of a price (last we heard it was $49.99), release date, or regional availability, and when we contacted Sling, they didn’t seem to know much more than what the page conveys… and then pulled the info from the site. Oh well — thank goodness for Google’s cache.
[Thanks, Brian]
SlingLink Wireless adapter appears then disappears from the company’s UK site originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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