Cutting-Edge News Online

Researchers are developing a real-life tractor beam, with the goal of pulling defunct satellites out of orbit to alleviate the space junk problem.

In science fiction films, nothing raises tension quite like the good guys’ spaceship getting caught in an invisible tractor beam that allows the baddies to slowly reel them in. But what was once only a sci-fi staple could soon become a reality.

This real-life tractor beam wouldn’t suck in helpless starship pilots, however. Instead, it would use electrostatic attraction to nudge hazardous space junk into a safer Earth orbit where it cannot smash into working spacecraft.

Sci-Fi Inspired Tractor Beams Are Real, and Could Solve a Major Space Junk Problem

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In the vast majority of space-based science fiction, ships that can travel faster than the speed of light are pretty much a given. Most credit Gene Rodenberry for creating the first warp drive spacecraft for his TV show Star Trek, but before too long, other space dramas like Star Wars were using their own “hyperdrives” to power ships from planet to planet in a matter of hours, or even minutes.

Then in 1994, Mexican mathematician Miguel Alcubierre laid out the mathematical foundation for a real-world warp drive spacecraft. Critics immediately pointed out the shortcomings of Alcubierre’s work. Nonetheless, his mathematics were sound, moving at least the idea of a warp-capable spaceship from science fiction closer to science fact. Since Alcubierre’s breakthrough, a number of physicists and engineers have laid out their own formulas for theoretical warp drives. See the following article for more information:

Star Trek Is Motivating This Team of Scientists to Build a Working Warp Drive Spacecraft

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Imagine gliding smoothly beyond Earth’s atmosphere, not in a thundering rocket, but in the gentle embrace of a space balloon. This dream could soon be a reality as the American start-up Space Perspective floats closer toward its goal of redefining space tourism and offering thrill-seekers a serene journey to the edge of space in its state-of-the-art balloon.

The space balloon will take roughly two hours to reach its apogee of 100,000 feet above the Earth’s surface and will then spend another two hours at the very edge of the Earth’s atmosphere, where the passengers can take in the Earth’s curvature and total blackness of space and have the “quintessential astronaut experience.”

Experience the Universe Like Never Before: Space Balloons Looking To Elevate Luxury Adventure Tourism

Since Captain Kirk first ordered the Starship Enterprise to engage the warp drive back in 1967, fans of science fiction have dreamed of traveling to the stars at warp speed. That idea remained in the realm of science fiction until 1994, when Mexican mathematician Miguel Alcubierre proposed a mathematically viable solution for building a real-world faster-than-light warp drive. Since then, numerous scientists and engineers have taken a swing at their own version of a viable, real-world warp drive, including an attempt to patent one of these “out there” ideas.

These Are the Top Four Theories That Could Bring Us Closer to Faster-Than-Light Travel

There are very few people who think to help mankind without considering any profit in return. After the great inventor Nikola Tesla, Baltimore engineer Otis T. Carr was the only person who believed in Tesla’s free energy concept. He wanted to create a spacecraft that would run on free energy and take humans to the Moon and other planets. His friendship with Tesla lasted until his death in 1943. He was a protégé of Tesla who constructed a number of fully functional flying saucers in the late 1950s.

Otis Carr Invented Anti-Gravity UFO Shaped Spacecraft That Could Fly To The Moon & Go Beyond

The unexpected new data coming back from the telescope are inspiring panic among astronomers and cosmologists as their theories collapse.

Read Article at Mind Matters

With a fortuitous lineup of a massive cluster of galaxies, astronomers have discovered a single star across most of the entire observable universe. This is the farthest detection of a single star ever. The star may be up to 500 times more massive than our Sun. Using a natural phenomenon known as “gravitational lensing,” astronomers were able to detect a single star at a distance where even detecting entire galaxies is challenging. This phenomenon was predicted by Einstein’s theory of relativity. It arises from the ability of mass to “curve” space itself.

Astronomers Spot the Most Distant Single Star Ever Seen Using a Cosmic Telescope Predicted by Einstein