We have learned with great sadness and astonishment of the brutal terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka earlier today. The number of victims are exceeding that of many other attacks.
We want to express our sincere and deep condolences with the victims and those close to them.
We reject any kind of violence as a means to further one’s ends and we believe that any person should be able to express his or her personal believes freely and without fear.
Researchers at Tel Aviv university have managed to print a fully functional human heart. Though currently the size of a rabbit’s heart, 3D printing of (human) organs seems to be feasible in the near future. Continue reading Organs on demand
Previously we have discussed the effect of lead exposure on cognitive development as well its association with crime. ScienceDaily reports a new study that further confirms the negative effect of lead on neural development:
Higher lead in topsoil boosts the probability of cognitive difficulties in 5-year-old boys
Bottom line: any concentration of lead in the environment has a negative impact on the cognitive abilities of children. Since this damage is permanent, lead poisoning is a major social problem as reduced mental capacities will negatively affect performance at school and in later life.
Hence our position remains that the authorities in future space settlements should implement a zero tolerance policy when it comes to lead – any lead containing product should be banned from daily life.
Here some scientific news we believe might be relevant for a future space-based society. Continue reading Science round up
As regular readers of this site might already know, we believe that sewage and waste water treatment should be funded through the reclamation of valuable substances. For whom is not already convinced of this, we would recommend an article on GreenBiz by Yalin Li: Waste water is an asset.
Reclaiming nutrients and other valuables from waste water would constitute a durable source of non-tax revenue for governments and will hence structurally reduce the need to impose taxes on the people.
As I have previously mentioned I intend to replace this site with a new one – based on Django CMS. There are a couple of reasons why this plans keeps being postponed despite wordpress increasingly becoming an annoyance. But time is by far the most important one. Continue reading Service message
Science Daily reports yet another breakthrough in the development of artificial wombs. Researchers are now able to keep extremely premature lamb fetuses alive in an artificial uterus. If this development continues, it will be possible in the foreseeable future that the entire gestation could happen outside the body. Continue reading Artificial wombs progress
A recurrent theme on this site is the idea that the recycling of waste could be funded through the proceeds of the reclaimed materials and that consequently waste-disposal fees should be abolished. However, this raises the question if recycling is indeed a profitable venture? Continue reading Wast-to-value: an analysis
On ZDNET an interesting article about Markforged – a company that is working on a mass production 3D printer. As we have previously pointed out on this site, 3D printing is along side with in situ resource utilization one of the key technologies that will be of critical importance of making space settlements independent from terrestrial imports.
A Danish study indicated that children who were raised in a green environment have a 55 percent lower risk of developing mental disorders. For the designers of future space settlements this means that they need to ensure that there will be a substantial amount of public green.
For larger free space habitats such as O’Neill cylinders an interesting example is the Wonderwoods project in the Dutch city of Utrecht. This design by Italian architect Stefano Boeri Architetti combines high-rise buildings with forests, a concept he calls vertical forests.
