Will the X3 ion thruster propel us to Mars?

X3 is a powerful ion thruster that could one day propel humans beyond Earth. The thruster was successfully tested few months ago, and could be selected by NASA as a crucial component of propulsion system for future Mars missions.

Inverted polymer solar cell efficiency sets world record

(Phys.org)—For many years, researchers have strived to reach the goal of 10% efficiency for polymer-based organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells, a target widely considered to be the threshold for commercial applications. ...

Caltech engineers build electronic chips that repair themselves

Imagine that the chips in your smart phone or computer could repair and defend themselves on the fly, recovering in microseconds from problems ranging from less-than-ideal battery power to total transistor failure. It might ...

Solar storm to hit Earth's magnetic field on July 21

Something is happening to the sun. One of the regions of the solar atmosphere currently exhibiting sunspots caught the attention of observatories on July 11, when there was a sudden increase in ultraviolet and X-ray brightness. ...

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