Great news from the space development front. Independent Rocket company SpaceX have announced the development of the Falcon Heavy, their entry into the ‘heavy lifter’ category of launch vehicles.
The Falcon heavy will provide double the delivery capacity (a whopping 53 tonnes!) of all existing systems, dwarfing both the Delta IV and the Space Shuttle. This means that the cost of delivering payload to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) will drop significantly – in fact the company estimates that the launcher would save the US $1 billion in launch services per year.
The impact of this system when it comes on stream will be huge, providing access to space at a fraction of the current cost (something that the badly flawed shuttle was supposed to do and never achieved) and allowing the delivery of systems (Imagine a space telescope 5 times as big as the Hubble!) of previously unachievable size.
The engineering of the SpaceX fleet shows real imagination and a determination to push back the boundaries of what is possible in rocketry. We should all feel proud of the achievements that they have made and undoubtedly will achieve in the future.
No doubt they will have their share of issues in the future; as their rival Scaled Composites unfortunately showed, the path to Space is not an easy one. Nevertheless, let us hope that they (and Scaled Composites) continue the push to take us truly into space.
Nothing of any value is achieved without a cost.
News yesterday showed that China is the leading investor in environmental technology. The US Pew Environment Group published a table showing that the Chinese invested $54.4bn (£34.1bn) in 2010, up from $39.1bn in 2009 an increase of almost 40%.
Other news discussed the UK’s Royal Society study showing that, at the current rate, China’s scientific output (measured in published scientific articles) will surpass the US within a scant two years! Previous estimates placed this milestone as possibly occurring after 2020.
At the same time as we see this news we also see western cultures increasingly cutting back on basic science research, access to higher education and in many cases completely ignoring any concept of environmental responsibility.
China seems to understand two very fundamental issues that others miss.
Firstly, that education (and especially in areas of science) is paramount in determining a culture’s future role in the world. Without investment in education, a country is destined only to slowly go backwards until it collectively devolves back into the mud and slime from whence it came. This wouldn’t happen overnight of course, and would be undoubtedly accompanied by lots of blustering about how it isn’t really so.
But it’s inevitable. A country or society that declines scientifically is destined to become increasingly dependent on others for any kind of progress. When that dependency becomes total, the end is there.
The second issue that China seems to understand is that ‘environmental issues’ are really just about efficiency. It really is that simple. All the vested interests and their collected bang-drumming buffoons trying to confuse everyone into thinking that environmental is the equivalent of poison. “We have the right to continue to waste precious limited resources in just the same irresponsible manner we have always done” is their cry.
Vested interests are always very good at spreading FUD. That’s the card they always play when threatened. “If we do that the economy will be ruined. Thousands will lose their jobs. Industry will be crippled.” etc. Completely ignoring (and deliberately hiding) the fact that, as with all changes, what really happens is simply a displacement of jobs from older technologies to newer ones.
Acting in an environmentally responsible way and researching technologies to support that position is about looking for efficiencies – being frugal with resources rather than lavishly squandering them like a drunken gambler in Las Vegas. China seems to understand that, where the likes of the US want only to maintain the precious status quo.
As for all the fear for the economy, jobs and industry? Well, take a good look around! Propping up that status quo hasn’t done us much good has it?
That isn’t to say that China is in some way flawless – they have their share of problems and issues certainly. I would like to think that our western civilisations will continue to lead us in to the future. If we collectively have the will and are willing to make the sacrifices necessary, we certainly could. If we can’t do that and cultures like China can - then they deserve to take the lead and humanity will survive.
Looking around I fear that our western cultures have become too soft, too unwilling to take risks and too greedy to take and implement the kind of hard decisions necessary to ensure our cultural survival. Apathy is a way of life heralded by cries of “it’s all good” – when it quite obviously isn’t to anyone who has the eyes to see and the independence of thought to sidestep the brainwashing.
Better bio-fuels?
“A new study in the Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy shows that the addition of alumina nanoparticles can improve the performance and combustion of biodiesel, while producing fewer emissions.” [ScienceDaily]
This looks like good news until you realise that if this took place we would be dumping tonnes of nano-particles into the environment, something that has already proved toxic to both the environment and humans. This hardly seems like an improvement.
Indeed the article later quotes R. B. Anand, one of the report authors, as saying that nano-particles ”should be used judiciously” because they ”entrain into human bodies”.
Let’s clarify that ‘entrain’ bit. The chemistry definition of ‘entrain’ is “To carry (suspended particles, for example) along in a current.” [FreeDictionary.com]. In other words, these particles get inside us and essentially poison us.
This might be seen as a reasonable risk to take given that we’re helping the environment by improving bio-fuels.
Except we aren’t.
Bio-fuels do nothing to improve the cleanliness of vehicles or power plants of any type. They burn the same type of fuel as petroleum-based products and while petroleum products release most of their pollution when burned, bio-fuels release large quantities during their actual production too.
The push to market bio-fuels, whether in the form of diesel or ethanol, is a smoke and mirrors act aimed at deflecting the necessity to change our way of thinking. It protects vehicle manufacturers’ interests by lifting the requirement to invest in development of truly clean vehicles and also nicely lines the pockets of that other big industrial group – the farmers.
Oil is not about to run out overnight, despite the high prices caused by the supposed current ‘shortages’. What we need is a concerted investment into research aimed at developing truly efficient and environmentally-friendly power-plants. Electric or hybrid cars don’t help either – they just displace where the emissions are generated.
Hydrogen fuel-cell technology seems to be the best answer, but there is limited investment in this because of the politicised focus on so-called ‘alternatives’ that serve only to protect the status-quo of current big money concerns.