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Video: ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’ is Coming to Blu-ray in 2012

2011-09-29T16:27:29Z

Star Trek: The Original Series has been available on Blu-ray for a couple of years now, but if you prefer Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) to Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), your moment will be coming next year. Star Trek: The Next Generation will finally begin hitting Blu-ray in 2012, in honor of the series’ 25th anniversary. Read more details and watch a teaser after the jump.

The official Star Trek site announces that TNG will first hit Blu-ray January 31, 2012 in the form of a “fan favorites” sampler titled titled Star Trek: The Next Generation — The Next Level, which will retail for $21.99. That single disc will contain a feature-length version of the pilot “Encounter at Far Point,” plus the popular episodes “Sins of the Father” from Season 3 and “The Inner Light” from Season 5. The Season 1 Blu-ray set will then drop at unspecified point later in the year, with the six subsequent seasons to follow after that.

In order to release the Blu-rays in high-definition, CBS dug up the original film negatives — over 25,000 reels — and edited them to match the original episodes precisely. Special effects were recreated, rather than upconverted from video tape. The end result will be all 178 episodes in high-definition 1080p, with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. Denise Okuda and Michael Okuda, who previously produced the remastered episodes of TOS for Blu-ray, will serve as consultants throughout the process. The high-def versions of the TNG episodes will eventually hit television and digital platforms in addition to Blu-ray.

Between the Blu-ray announcement, J.J. Abrams’ confirmation that he would be returning for the Star Trek sequel, and the possibility of a new Star Trek series, it’s a pretty good time to be a Trek fan. Watch the teaser video for the Blu-ray below. It doesn’t show too much in the way of newly converted footage, but the important thing is that we do get Picard delivering his classic line.

[via Engadget]

Depth Perception

2011-08-22T04:00:00Z

LEGO Serenity from Firefly series

2011-07-26T22:20:44Z

tbone_tbl just finished this rendition of the iconic ship “Serenity” from Firefly and it’s gorgeous! I love that show. Joss Whedon is my master.

The Home Depot to Begin Selling Wind Turbines

2011-07-11T07:12:36Z

The retailer has teamed up with Southwest Windpower, a leading manufacturer of personal wind generators.

Could Thorium solve the world's energy problems?

2011-07-14T19:41:23Z

Nuclear technologist Kirk Sorensen has spent much of his career researching the potential of thorium fission reactors. Sorensen has recently founded a company, Flibe energy, which is dedicated to developing small, portable thorium power plants. In an interview with Sander Olson (exclusively for Nextbigfuture.com), Sorensen discusses why he believes that thorium could be used to meet all of the earth's future energy needs, and how thorium reactors could eventually produce electricity for a penny per kilowatt hour.

Kirk Sorensen indicates that he is confident to have sufficient funding to have a prototype thorium reactor by 2016.

Kirk Sorensen

Question: How did you first find out about Thorium reactors?

I had just finished grad school, and was working with a group at NASA that does advanced technology work. I read a book on advanced nuclear reactors, and did some web research. I discovered that Thorium reactors have the potential to effectively solve the world's energy requirements.

Question: How does Thorium compare to fusion reactors?

I originally was a big proponent of fusion power. But I took a class on fusion power, and came to the conclusion that the concept was never going to be commercially viable. In fusion, the laws of physics are a serious problem - charged particles do not want to fuse. They want to scatter. I knew a physics professor who was an expert on both fission and fusion, and he noted that fusion requires hundreds of PhDs working for decades, and we still don't fully understand it. By contrast, fission is so simple that high school students can be trained to run the reactor. I follow the various proposed fusion schemes, and I don't think fusion will ever be economically advantageous.

Question: How would a thorium reactor stack up against a conventional fission reactor?

For thorium utilized in a LFTR, thorium has compelling benefits over conventional uranium light water reactors. LFTR has the benefit of operating at high temperature but low pressures. That obviates the need for 9 inch steel pressure vessels, and thick concrete containment structures. Everything gets smaller with Thorium and fluoride salts, and that provides a substantial economic benefit.

Question: What about safety, reliability, and simplicity of operation?

A properly designed LFTR approach would be inherently safer, simpler, and more reliable than conventional fission reactors. Thorium reactors will incorporate a "freeze plug" at the bottom made of the vessel, made from fluoride salt. So if a reactor loses all power, the plug melts, and the core drains out into a passively cooled drain tank. That is something that cannot be done with solid fuels. This passive approach is inherently safer than the active safety measures used in light water reactors.

Question: How extensive are thorium deposits?

Although I'm not a geologist, thorium is actually a surprisingly abundant substance. Thorium is found in the vicinity of rare earth elements, and rare-earth prospectors are practically willing to give thorium away for free. So we have enough thorium to last for centuries, if not longer.

Question: Can Thorium reactors be scaled up to gigawatts?

Yes, the LFTR technology if very favorable to scaling. We could scale down to a megawatt, or up to gigawatts. The real challenge will be getting to the first unit.

Question: What is the anticipated cost per kilowatt-hour?

Although we don't have hard data on this yet, we anticipate that Thorium reactors will provide electricity for less cost than any other competing solution. I think that it is feasible to eventually get to 1 cent per kilowatt hour using this technology.

Question: When could the first prototype Thorium LFTR come online?

The first reactor could come online within five years. To do this, we would need several hundred million dollars for engineering R&D and military regulatory authority backed by a strong need. The first LFTR will probably only be designed to operate for perhaps a decade. The advantage of the salts we use is that the salts can be easily reused.

Question: Can any of the parts of the reactor besides the salts be recycled?

Our ultimate aim is to get reactors that are completely recycled. We plan on making mobile units which can be taken back to the factory and disassembled. The salts would be removed and recycled, as well as the graphite core. We believe that the goal of a nearly entirely recyclable thorium reactor is feasible.

Question: How does the burning of thorium in a LFTR compare with the burning of uranium in a light water reactor?

In a conventional light water reactor, only a tiny portion of uranium - less than 1% - is consumed. By contrast, we are shooting for 99% consumption of thorium. The small amount of actinide that remains will be an extremely valuable byproduct, since it be primarily plutonium 238. Plutonium 238 is used by NASA to power its deep space probes.

Question: Could Thorium be used to power spacecraft, or ships?

I have done research into that subject, and came to the conclusion that it is feasible. Although nuclear is unsuitable for getting into space from earth, thorium could be used for deep space missions. A thorium powered ship makes a lot of sense, and I can foresee future cruise ships and cargo vessels with thorium reactors.

Question: Are you confident that you will be able to find a source that will provide the necessary funding?

Although I am not at liberty to discuss specifics, I am confident that we will be able to garner sufficient funding to have a prototype thorium reactor in operation within five years.

Question: Could thorium reactors be used in population centers?

Yes, putting these LFTRs near populated areas is an excellent idea. By placing reactors near population centers, you minimize transmission losses and can utilize waste heat for district heating.

Question: How has the mainstream nuclear community reacted to the concept of thorium LFTRs?

Although technical objections have been raised in the engineering community regarding the viability of thorium reactors, the physics is well proven. There exist a plethora of engineering challenges, and these need to be addressed. The nuclear community is not particularly receptive to the concept, but I think this is due in large part to their solid-fueled paradigm.

Question: Are there any specific objections raised by the technical community?

The biggest objection I hear is that the problem is too hard and will take too long. I strongly disagree, and I have staked my career on the viability of thorium as an energy source.

Question: Can you envision any other energy source competing with thorium?

I have examined a number of energy proposals, and I cannot see any other technology effectively competing with thorium utilized in a LFTR. Thorium is vastly superior to any other approaches, including solar, wind, geothermal, and fusion.

Question: When could we see the first utility class thorium reactor?

Given sufficient funding, we could see a utility class gigawatt reactor up and running within ten years. It will probably be a prototype, verifying the concept and accumulating operational experience. Within twenty years, we could have multiple factories producing hundreds of thorium reactors each. If that happens, we could see new thorium reactors being produced on a daily basis. At that point, it wouldn't be long before thorium reactors provide all of the earth's energy needs.

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks

Graphite and water could be as good as lithium ion batteries but recharge in seconds

2011-07-16T15:01:19Z

A combination of two ordinary materials – graphite and water – could produce energy storage systems that perform on par with lithium ion batteries, but recharge in a matter of seconds and have an almost indefinite lifespan.

“The reason graphene isn’t being used everywhere is that these very thin sheets, when stacked into a usable macrostructure, immediately bond together, reforming graphite. When graphene restacks, most of the surface area is lost and it doesn’t behave like graphene anymore.”

Now, Dr Li and his team have discovered the key to maintaining the remarkable properties of separate graphene sheets: water. Keeping graphene moist – in gel form – provides repulsive forces between the sheets and prevents re-stacking, making it ready for real-world application.

“The technique is very simple and can easily be scaled up. When we discovered it, we thought it was unbelievable. We’re taking two basic, inexpensive materials – water and graphite – and making this new nanomaterial with amazing properties,” said Dr Li.

When used in energy devices, graphene gel significantly outperforms current carbon-based technology, both in terms of the amount of charge stored and how fast the charges can be delivered.

Dr Li said the benefits of developing this new nanotechnology extend beyond consumer electronics.

“High-speed, reliable and cost-effective energy storage systems are critical for the future viability of electricity from renewable resources. These systems are also the key to large-scale adoption of electrical vehicles.

“Graphene gel is also showing promise for use in water purification membranes, biomedical devices and sensors.”

If you liked this article, please give it a quick review on ycombinator or StumbleUpon. Thanks

Watch The 25 Minute Documentary ‘A Day in the Life of John Lasseter’

2011-07-13T13:00:23Z

Walt Disney Animation Studios has released a 25 minute documentary titled A Day in the Life of John Lasseter, which follows Pixar Animation Studios as Chief Creative Officer and director of Cars 2 from the moment he wakes up through the end of his work day. The documentary short was shot on March 23rd 2011, at the tail end of production on Cars 2. John is prepping a footage presentation which would be shown a month later at the movie theatre owner convention CinemaCon, approving shots on an iPad, and finding a creative solution which would allow the removal of the word “radiation” from the film due to the then recent incident in Japan. We also get to see John’s Emeryville office, and a glimpse inside his Sonoma Valley house (complete with hidden passageways). Watch the documentary now embedded after the jump.

Set-Top Boxes Are the #1 Household Energy Drain

2011-06-28T20:42:57Z

A recent study by the National Resources Defense Council finds that cable and digital recording devices are now "the single largest electricity drain in many American homes." The study found that "In 2010, set-top boxes in the United States consumed approximately 27 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is equivalent to the annual output of nine average (500 MW) coal-fired power plants."

This power consumption translates to roughly $3 billion in annual electricity costs paid by consumers, as well as being responsible for the release of 16 million metric tons of CO2 emissions each year. Furthermore, according to the NRDC report, an average HD set-top cable box and HD-DVR uses more energy (446 kWh/year) than an average 21 cubic foot Energy Star refrigerator (415 kWh/year).

Even worse than the "standby drain" of electricity used by equipment in a supposedly "off" position, many of these television set-top boxes - which include cable and satellite equipment, digital video recorders (DVR), and the like - are on 24 hours a day. Power strips can be useful for turning off these vampire loads, but consumers are reluctant to use those when they want their DVRs to be able to record programs.

NRDC points out that these devices could be designed to be more energy efficient, but that the service companies who provide these to consumers feel little incentive to do so, since it is the end users who pay for that power use.

image: CC-BY 2.0 by Scott Thomson

via: New York Times

U.S. Moving Forward on Bicycle Interstate Highway System

2011-06-24T18:11:26Z

A plan that originated in the 1980s to build a system of interstate bike paths has come back to life after lying dormant for 30 years. Only two stretches of bike interstate were established back then: U.S. Bicycle Route 1 from Virginia to North Carolina (initially planned to run from Florida to Maine) and U.S. Bicycle Route 76 from Virginia to Illinois (initially planned to run from Virginia to Oregon), but new routes may soon cover the whole country.

The Association of American State Highway and Transportation Officials has already approved six new routes. Four of these will be in Alaska, one will span Michigan's lower peninsula and one will go from New Hampshire to Maine. Another 15 have made it past the planning phase. The ultimate goal is to have a nationwide system of bicycle routes, and 42 states have expressed support for the plan.

If you're curious, the eight states that haven't jumped onboard yet are Alabama, Hawaii, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and South Carolina.

AASHTO has created a full map with prioritized routes marked. It's a sight to behold.

via GOOD

Infographic: Every 3D Movie Ever Made

2011-06-13T17:30:18Z

Although some filmmakers and studios are touting 3D as the future of filmmaking, 3D has also been the past of filmmaking. Several times over. While the fad seems like a new one, 3D as a trend has actually been coming and going since the first 3D movie was produced in the early 1900s. Hit the jump to see a painstakingly detailed infographic about the history of 3D cinema.

This chart was created by Sony, who makes 3D projectors, cameras and television sets — it’s worth noting that the company has an active interest in showing 3D in a positive light. That said, the infographic includes nearly every 3D movie ever made, so we can’t really accuse them of skewing the numbers. The chart goes into a fair amount of detail regarding not just the years and titles of 3D movies, but also the display methods used for each of the films, allowing you to see each new technology taking over the last one. Click on the image below to see an enlarged version.

[via Electricpig]

As you can see, the popularity of 3D cinema has been rising and falling for decades. What’s interesting is how regularly the trend seems to resurface — every 30 years, just about. The 1920s, 1950s, 1980s, and 2010s all mark periods of interest in 3D cinema, and with the exception of the current 3D bubble, each has been followed by sharp drop-offs in 3D filmmaking toward the end of each of those decades.

It’s clear from even a quick glance that the last couple of years have been the biggest in the history of cinema. But with no information on 2012 and beyond, it’s tough to say whether we’ll be seeing another steep decline in the coming years, or whether 3D really will become an integral part of the cinema experience. If 3D is indeed dying out, though, it’s safe to say it won’t be happening this year — roughly 50 3D titles are listed for 2011.

Discuss: Do you think the new 3D will stick around? Or will it crash as it has so many times before, only to be rediscovered by the next generation in the 2040s?

No Related Post

Homeownership

2011-05-30T04:00:00Z

Honest Logos by Viktor Hertz

2011-05-03T15:00:26Z

Come on, let’s be real. That’s what Viktor Hertz is saying with his redesigned “Honest Logos.”

See the rest in Viktor’s portfolio on Behance.

Share This: Twitter | Facebook | Discover more great design by following Design Milk on Twitter and Facebook.

Future Timeline

2011-04-18T04:00:00Z

Waste Chicken Feathers Make Durable, Biodegradable Plastic

2011-04-05T18:31:21Z

Chicken feathers, as unlikely as it seems, have turned out to be a wonderfully useful material. Among other things, researchers have found they make for great circuit boards and cheap, efficient storage tanks for hydrogen. Now it turns out they could also be used to create biodegradable, petroleum-free plastics.

Researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln say that the protein keratin in chicken feathers, which is strong and durable, as well as the fact that so many of them end up as unused waste, is what makes them such an appealing material. When making the plastic, the scientists heat-treated the feathers to clean them and then pulverized them into a fine powder. They then added chemicals that made the keratin molecules join together into long chains and create a polymer.

The resulting plastic was stronger than other bioplastics made of soy beans or starch and it stood up to water. The material is a thermoplastic which means that heat can be used to mold it into various products and can be melted and remolded many times. It could be used for plastic plates and cups or even furniture and when those things are no longer usable, the plastic is biodegradable.

via Physorg

Model Rail

2011-03-28T04:00:00Z

dear blank, please blank + sapling press

2011-03-22T17:29:46Z

dear blank, please blank | sapling press | via designworklife

Microsoft shuts down spam behemoth Rustock, reduces worldwide spam by 39%

2011-03-18T12:05:00Z

Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, working with federal law enforcement agents, has brought down the world's largest spam network, Rustock.

Rustock, at its peak, was a botnet of around 2 million spam-sending zombies capable of sending out 30 billion spam email per day. Microsoft's wholesale slaughter of Rustock could reduce worldwide spam output by up to 39%.

Rustock was taken down, piece by piece, in a similar way to the Mega-D botnet. First the master controllers, the machines that send out commands to enslaved zombies, were identified. Microsoft quickly seized some of these machines located in the U.S. for further analysis, and worked with police in the Netherlands to disable some of the command structure outside of the U.S.

Continue reading Microsoft shuts down spam behemoth Rustock, reduces worldwide spam by 39%

Microsoft shuts down spam behemoth Rustock, reduces worldwide spam by 39% originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 07:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Wife says no, Apple says yes to iPad 2

2011-03-21T22:00:00Z

The folks over at MacRumors heard a story that's unsourced and most likely apocryphal, but it's just too good to not share. According to "an individual close to Apple," the company in Cupertino has been going over iPad 2 returns in order to keep track of various problems with the new tablet, and among the returns was one affixed with just a little Post-it note saying something every would-be early tech adopter husband will probably understand: "Wife says no."

Supposedly, the return was sent up the corporate lines as something funny, and as MacRumors says, "two of the VPs got wind of it." They decided to do something nice for the guy and reportedly sent him out a free iPad 2, along with their own note: "Apple says yes."

Very cute. We've contacted Apple to see if there's any truth to this one, and we'll let you know if we hear back. Urban legend or not, it's a great story.

Report: Wife says no, Apple says yes to iPad 2 originally appeared on TUAW on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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News - "Spider-Man" Gets A Title, New Photo

2011-02-15T06:02:00Z

Sony Pictures announced today that their upcoming reboot of the "Spider-Man" film franchise has finally scored a name - "The Amazing Spider-Man". At the same time they've also released a new shot of Andrew Garfield in costume, the first official shot of him donning both the famous mask and suit.

Solar Wind Bridge Powers 15000 Homes.

2011-02-09T12:38:32Z

Obviously a bridge could do more things than we would ever think of. According to Italian designers Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino and Luisa Saracino, a bridge is expected to offer electricity energy while still ensuring a convenient transportation.

It was said that the new bridge will generate 40 million kWh per year, by harnessing solar energy and wind energy. And all the generated energy is believed sufficient to power 15,000 homes. Isn’t that amazing?

Designer: Francesco Colarossi, Giovanna Saracino & Luisa Saracino