Quest to Send Nanocraft into Deep Space and Other Science Tech

Today is all about science and space, from the quest to send nanocraft to Alpha Centauri within 20 years, and scientists finding a way to make quantum measurements, to a scalpel that identifies tumors in half a second.

Quest to Send Nanocraft into Deep Space

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, Billionaire Entrepreneur Yuri Milner and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg have jointly launched an initiative to send tiny robotic nanocraft into deep space to search for extraterrestrial life (including planets that support life) using a powerful 100 gigawatt laser.

Called the Breakthrough Starshot, the $100 million project aims to send the nanocraft to Alpha Centauri (4.37 light years or 25 trillion km away) that will be at the speed of 215 million km per hour at 20% the speed of light within a span of 20 years. Think of it like this - if we take a spacecraft and send it to Alpha Centauri using current technology, it would take approximately 30,000 years to get there.

Each nanocraft is expected to cost as much as an iPhone, and contains cameras, a power supply, photon thrusters and navigation and communication instruments. It ‘electromagnetically’ accelerates using lightsails that use highly energized photons propelled by a powerful laser through a concept known as photonic propulsion.

"What makes us unique is transcending our limits. We can actually reach them", Stephen Hawking said.

Quantum Measurements Now Possible

We know the quantum world acts in mysterious ways. Without getting into the technicalities, a simple way to explain the concept of wave function collapse is the fact that once you measure a quantum particle, it changes its state. Now, physicists have found a way to measure quantum systems by analyzing outliers.

Headed by T. J. Elliott of the University of Oxford, physicists found that measuring the outlier’s behavior gave basic information of the main atom group like density and proximity did not disturb the quantum entanglement. This would greatly help in building better quantum systems like quantum computers.

Identifying Tumors in Half a Second Using a Smart Scalpel

Dealing with Cancer is dangerous business, especially during surgeries and other procedures. There will be 22 million cancer-related deaths worldwide within the next 20 years, with new cancer cases expected to rise to 70%. To combat this, an engineer has invented a smart scalpel that distinguishes between a cancerous cell and normal brain tissue.

"Although imaging techniques such as an MRI and an ultrasound locate a tumor accurately before the surgery, during the cranial opening and throughout the surgical procedure, there are many factors that can lead to the loss of this position, so the resection depends on the experience, as well as the senses of sight and touch of the surgeon," says David Oliva Uribe, the Mexican inventor behind the smart scalpel.

Although only tested on pigs and artificial tumors, it will take some time for this technology to reach the average surgeon.

Read more at www.bit.ly/q3newsblog. Q3 Technologies is a large diversified technology company which develops custom mobile applications and software products for the healthcare industry including cloud applications, enterprise applications across all platforms and Rich Internet Applications (RIA).