Important Innovations

  Is It China's Version of the USAF X-37B Spaceplane? Source:  USAF X-37B Spaceplane  New Reusable Space Vehicle Shrouded in Mystery China has successfully launched an experimental reusable spacecraft.  It was deployed into orbit Friday onboard a Long March 2F rocket.  The mystery space vehicle successfully landed at a designated location, presumably in China, today.  The Chinese news agency Xinhua calls the space vehicle a breakthrough that will lead to more frequent round trips to space at a greatly reduced cost.  The big question:  is it China's version of the top secret, US Air Force X-37B spaceplane? Low Key Mission with No Photos The Chinese government has kept the mission very low key.  No photos of the spacecraft have been distributed and no details provided on the technology involved.  But there is a great deal of speculation that the vehicle may be the Chinese version of the USAF's top secret X-37B spaceplane.  The X-37B i...

China is in the Reusable Rocket Race Chinese Startup LinkSpace Successfully Tests Reusable Rocket A global race to get a big piece of what's expected to be a highly lucrative boom in satellite launches is on.  China is pushing for a big part of the business by developing reusable rockets that enable cheaper satellite launches.  Chinese startup LinkSpace successfully tested a reusable rocket today and expects to launch in 2020.  Elon Musk's SpaceX has been leading the way in recoverable, reusable rockets since 2017 and companies in China, the US, Russia and Europe are trying to follow suit.  For a great news blog on this, go to Important Innovations Collection: China's In the Reusable Rocket Race : Future of Cheap Satellite Launches Source:  LinkSpace Chinese Startup LinkSpace For the third time in five months, Chinese startup L...

New Hydrogel Invention from Singapore to Harvest Fresh Water from Ocean Air Source:  Stock Ocean Image Huge Water Resource Scientists from the National University of Singapore have invented a system to pull fresh water out of ocean air.  They've developed a hydrogel using a zinc based material that is able to absorb more than four time its weight in water.  Huge amounts of water evaporate every day from the ocean, lakes, rivers and reservoirs.  The team in Singapore has found an innovative way to harvest the water in the humid surface air above the water surface. Secret Ingredient - Sunlight The system has been successfully tested.  The team put the gel in devices floating on the ocean surface where it collected water vapor created during evaporation.  By placing the gel in a glass container in sunlight, fresh water was created and harvested.  The salt content in the water was negligible. Renewable, Reusable Energy Rather than relying o...