Japan and JAXA, the country’s space administration, have spent decades trying to make it possible to beam solar energy from space. In 2015, the nation made a breakthrough when JAXA scientists successfully beamed 1.8 kilowatts of power, enough energy to power an electric kettle, more than 50 meters to a wireless receiver. Now, Japan is poised to bring the technology one step closer to reality.Nikkei reports a Japanese public-private partnership will attempt to beam solar energy from space as early as 2025. The project, led by Naoki Shinohara, a Kyoto University professor who has been working on space-based solar energy since 2009, will attempt to deploy a series of small satellites in orbit. Those will then try to beam the solar energy the arrays collect to ground-based receiving stations hundreds of miles away.Using orbital solar panels and microwaves to send energy to Earth was first proposed in 1968. Since then, a few countries, including China and the US, have spent time and money pursuing the idea. The technology is appealing because orbital solar arrays represent a potentially unlimited renewable energy supply. In space, solar panels can collect energy no matter the time of day, and by using microwaves to beam the power they produce, clouds aren’t a concern either. However, even if Japan successfully deploys a set of orbital solar arrays, the tech would still be closer to science fiction than fact. That’s because producing an array that can generate 1 gigawatt of... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2023-05-28 21:43:38 UTC ]
Writings by Brenda Peynado, Elizabeth Hand, Izumi Suzuki, Bruce Sterling and more. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-04-06 13:00:00 UTC ]
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If you need a little optimism about the future (and who doesn't?), pick up these hopeful science fiction and fantasy books, including LaGuardia by Nnedi Okorafor and Tana Ford. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-04-02 10:32:00 UTC ]
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Jaeger’s 1920s novels, ‘The Question Mark’ and ‘The Man With Six Senses,’ are H.G. Wellsian works of love and science. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-24 16:24:26 UTC ]
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As China’s science fiction authors are elevated to the status of oracles, Qiufan’s career—and his genre’s place in society—have gone through the looking glass. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2021-03-09 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The parasites, hybrids, and vampires of her science fiction make the price of persisting viscerally real. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-03-08 11:00:00 UTC ]
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The legacy of science fiction author Octavia Butler is to be explored at the Barbican's New Suns feminist literary festival this month. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-03-04 07:24:31 UTC ]
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The awards recognize outstanding literary achievements in 12 categories, including the Ray Bradbury Prize for Science Fiction, with winners to be announced April 16. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-02 15:00:14 UTC ]
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This new form of mobility will be very different from our current reality, which provides some unique design opportunities. The future of urban air mobility is often represented in utopian images. A wealth of fanciful renderings show flying vehicles taking off and landing vertically from... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2021-02-24 08:00:33 UTC ]
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Many of our favorite books are better as films. Other times, it’s better to stick with the book. Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-23 17:17:00 UTC ]
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MANY HISTORIES OF CYBERPUNK emphasize its literary precursors — its borrowings from hard-boiled detective fiction, for example, or the proto-cyberpunk elements in the science fiction of writers such as Alfred Bester, John Brunner, Samuel R. Delany, Philip K. Dick, James Tiptree Jr., and others.... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-02-20 16:00:16 UTC ]
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Science fiction has often had an inspirational and positive relationship with space endeavors. But the new US Space Force is struggling with a pop culture public relations problem. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2021-02-19 13:20:06 UTC ]
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In short stories like “The Immortals” and novels like “The Listeners,” Mr. Gunn helped prepare readers for the future. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-02-11 17:10:44 UTC ]
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Tevis wrote science fiction greats like “The Man Who Fell to Earth” and the overlooked “Mockingbird.” Also, “The Hustler.” Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2021-02-03 17:15:28 UTC ]
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Find some immersive, out-of-this-world stories featuring LGBTQ+ characters in these excellent queer science fiction books. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-02-02 11:32:00 UTC ]
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“The Absolute Book,” by Elizabeth Knox, takes on a number of genres, while “Winter’s Orbit,” by Everina Maxwell, stays true to one. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-29 10:00:04 UTC ]
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Do you love your science fiction with a heaping side of humor? You’ve come to the right place! Pick up these funny sci-fi books, including Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-01-28 11:38:00 UTC ]
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If you’re on the hunt for new literary rabbit holes, today is your lucky day. The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, created by lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower (a former editor of both the OED and Random House Dictionaries) is “a comprehensive quotation-based dictionary of the language of... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-27 16:14:09 UTC ]
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The Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction turns a century of neologisms (and neosemes!) into a redefintion of the genre. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2021-01-27 12:00:00 UTC ]
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The new online Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction probes the speculative corners of the lexicographic universe. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2021-01-26 12:01:06 UTC ]
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At the London Review of Books, Colin Burrow reflects on how Ursula K. Le Guin‘s narrative prowess flourished within the constraints of science fiction and children’s literature. “Fiction needs the unruly energies of indeterminacy,” Burrow writes, “of being partly inside the mind of the reader,... Continue reading at The Millions
[ The Millions | 2021-01-20 21:30:12 UTC ]
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