Accidents can and do happen in Space.

From article, (In October 2014, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was hit by a tiny object – but lived to tell the tale.
The collision caused a strange glitch in the  LRO’s cameras (which you can see in the picture below), causing it to produce images showing “jagged patterns”.

Alien hunters spend hours poring over the footage produced by the probe’s footage of the lunar surface and even claimed it has recorded evidence of alien bases on the moon.

However, Nasa thinks “a small natural meteorite” was to blame for the collision.

Mark Robinson, a professor at Arizona State University’s school of earth and space exploration, said: “LROC was struck and survived to keep exploring the moon.”

He suggested a tiny meteorite hit the space probe, knocking its cameras so they produced a “wild and jittery” image of the moon’s surface.

“The meteoroid was travelling much faster than a speeding bullet,” Robinson added.

“In this case, LROC did not dodge a speeding bullet, but rather survived a speeding bullet!”)

Me, "Space can be a very dangerous place. You have to remember, things are flying around out there at great speeds. You put that together with another object, like a spacecraft or a space probe, that is also moving quite fast, and you can have a serious accident. The best thing to do in a situation like that is to either have more shielding between you and it, or have better radar, to see the object, and be able to avoid it in the first place."

Nasa admits a UFO smashed into one of its spaceships - but aliens were NOT to blame

Intel and AMD Jump on the Band Wagon with Multi-Multi-Core Microchips

From article, (Who wants an 18-core, 36-thread desktop processor? Well, this could be on the cards in the near future as the latest rumor points at Intel not stopping at just a measly 12-cores with its imminent launch of its X299 platform and Skylake-X processors. Instead, there could be 14-core, 16-core and even 18-core processors that sit above what we've already seen in unofficial data.
This summer was already heating up at the high end of the desktop processor market with AMD and Intel already doing battle with Ryzen versus Intel's X99 platform. Then we had the announcement of AMD's Threadripper processors - a range of 10,12, 14 and 16-core desktop processors and next month I expect Intel to release its anticipated X299 platform with up to 12-core processors. Now, it seems, Intel is planning a far more potent line-up of processors, and that 18-core part obviously pips AMD to the top spot in terms of cores and threads, with Threadripper slated to max-out at 16-cores.
It's a massive development if true as it means that Intel is nearly doubling the core count from its previous flagship, the Core i7-6950X, which has 10 cores, and that's just from one generation to the next. Previously, the core count only rose by two from the 8-core Core i7-5960X to the 10-core Core-i7-6950X. With AMD planning to go all-out with Ryzen and Threadripper - both desktop parts that use common PC components, and also with AMD's Zen architecture showing promise, this is perhaps not an entirely unexpected move from Intel.
Of course, the most important factor is missing - we still have no idea about Intel's X299 pricing and no clue about just how AMD will price-up its Threadripper processor range. However, many suspect AMD will continue to offer compelling performance for the price, although if this latest rumor is true, it will no longer enjoy an advantage in core count over Intel's next-gen high-end desktop platform.)

Me, "Just like getting on the band wagon and trying to make microprocessors work faster by increasing the clock speed on microchips in the 90's; Intel and AMD are now betting that more cores on a chip and more thread counts will make up for clock speed.  
It makes sense to make more cores on a chip because if the software can be fine tuned for these cores there is no reason that actual speed on a computer screen would not seem faster. The whole goal is to keep computer users happy with a decent amount of processing speed. Multi-core chips, which do not seem to have a Multi-core limit, is the new band wagon, and Intel And AMD have jumped on board."
Massive Leak Reveals Monster 18-core Intel Core i9-7980XE Processor: Should AMD Be Worried? 

Falcon Nine Rocket Passes Static Test. Now its time for the Launch.

SpaceX ran through countdown and fueling procedures with a Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Sunday, culminating in ignition of the booster’s nine first stage Merlin engines in a customary check of the launcher’s readiness before liftoff Thursday with a Dragon supply ship for the International Space Station.

The two-stage rocket was lifted vertical at pad 39A before dawn Sunday, and SpaceX’s launch team loaded the Falcon 9 with super-chilled kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants before the launcher’s nine Merlin 1D engines ignited for more than three seconds at 12 p.m. EDT (1600 GMT).

The static fire test is a customary milestone in SpaceX launch campaigns, used as a rehearsal for launch day and a check of the readiness of the Falcon 9 for liftoff.

SpaceX will lower the Falcon 9 rocket horizontal and return it to a hangar a quarter-mile away at the southern edge of the historic launch complex, where ground crews will mate a Dragon supply ship to the launcher.

The unpiloted Dragon spacecraft is already filled with most of its cargo load, which includes nearly 6,000 pounds of supplies and equipment for the space station.

The Dragon spacecraft’s payload manifest includes a NASA experiment to study quick-spinning neutron stars, collapsed super-dense stellar remnants left behind by supernova explosions. Other items to be delivered by SpaceX include rodents that scientists will use to help study medical remedies for bone loss and osteoporosis, an experimental new solar array that could be employed on future satellites, and an Earth-observing camera platform

Thursday’s blastoff, set for 5:55 p.m. EDT (2155 GMT), will be the first time SpaceX has reused a Dragon spacecraft’s pressurized compartment. The rear trunk segment, designed to accommodate large external cargo modules, is new because it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere at the end of each mission.

Repairs to neighboring Complex 40 are on track to allow launches to resume there in a few months, giving SpaceX two operational launch pads in Florida. Pad 39A will be taken offline for a few months later this year to finish upgrades for launches of Falcon Heavy rockets, SpaceX’s huge triple-core launcher set to debut before the end of 2017.

Thursday’s launch will be the 100th space mission to blast off from pad 39A since Saturn 5 moon rockets began test flights there in November 1967.

SpaceX plans to attempt a landing of the Falcon 9 first stage at Landing Zone 1 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station following Thursday’s launch.

Falcon 9 rocket fires engines in hold-down test for station resupply launch

The Great Barrier Reef will soon not exist....

The 2,300-kilometre (1,400-mile) World Heritage-listed reef suffered its most severe bleaching on record last year due to warming sea temperatures during March and April.
Scientists said today the impact will accelerate unless global greenhouse gas emissions are cut.
WHY DOES CORAL BLEACHING HAPPEN?
Corals have a symbiotic relationship with a tiny marine algae called 'zooxanthellae' that live inside and nourish them.
When sea surface temperatures rise, corals expel the colourful algae. The loss of the algae causes them to bleach and turn white.
While mildly bleached corals can recover if the temperature drops and the algae return, severely bleached corals die.
Initial aerial and in-water surveys showed 22 per cent of shallow water corals were destroyed in 2016, but it has now been bumped up to 29 per cent and with the reef currently experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of bleaching, the outlook is grim.
'We're very concerned about what this means for the Great Barrier Reef itself and what it means for the communities and industries that depend on it,' Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) chairman Russell Reichelt said.
'The amount of coral that died from bleaching in 2016 is up from our original estimates and, at this stage, although reports are still being finalised, it's expected we'll also see an overall further coral cover decline by the end of 2017.'
Bleaching, which occurs when abnormal conditions such as warmer sea temperatures cause corals to expel tiny photosynthetic algae, draining them of their colour, also extended to deeper corals beyond depths divers can typically survey.
But mortality of those reefs could not be systematically assessed.)
 Great Barrier Reef can no longer be saved

The Next Step in Ground Breaking Telescopes Starts on a Mountain in Chile

From article, (Construction has begun on a 'super telescope' that could help astronomers find alien life.
The  European Extremely Large Telescope (E-ELT), being built in Chile, is designed to help astronomers peer back to the first galaxies 14 billion years ago.
When its completed, it will be the world's largest optical telescope, some five times larger than the top observing instruments in use today.
The size of the ELT has the potential to transform our understanding of the universe, say its backers.
Its main mirror will measure some 39 meters (127ft) across.
This will be housed in an huge rotating dome 85 metres in diameter - a similar size to a football pitch.
Located on a 3,000 meter-high mountain in the middle of the Atacama desert, it is due to begin operating in 2024.
Among other capabilities, it will add to and refine astronomers' burgeoning discoveries of planets orbiting other stars, with the ability to find more smaller planets, image larger ones, and possibly characterise their atmospheres, a key step in understanding if life is present.)

Construction begins on world's first 'super telescope'

A Monumental Endeavor...

From article, (Out there in the Solar System, there exists an asteroid with the designated name, 16 Psyche. It contains a rich deposit of nickel-iron minerals, which can be worth $10,000 Quadrillion. That’s worth more than the combined economy of the entire planet multiplied by a thousand. Despite the massive catastrophe that such a resource could bring to the planet, NASA is fast-tracking its plans to mine said asteroid anyway.

Now, it’s not really that big of a jump since the mission to send a probe over to Psyche was originally scheduled for 2023 and it was only moved to 2022, Science Alert reports. Then again, the team behind the project did find a way to make the journey to the asteroid a lot more efficient, which slashes four years from the original travel time.

It’s worth noting that there are a few economic and scientific challenges that need to be addressed when going to Psyche. For starters, there’s the matter of the planet’s total economic value being at only $78 trillion. That’s basically all of the money found in all of the Earth’s nations, a lot of which are not even based on physical goods.

Should NASA or any other space agency succeed in mining the giant asteroid, it could easily collapse the world’s economy a billion-fold. This is not just an issue of oversaturation either.

Then there’s the challenge of getting the machines that will be drilling into the rocket all the way to the asteroid belt without getting squished by all the other space rocks floating around in the area. Companies like SpaceX are making great strides in space travel technologies, but even then, it would take decades or centuries before Psyche is in danger of getting mined.

Regardless of the dangers and challenges that it presents, however, NASA’s decision to up the timeline to get to Psyche is expected to have a profound effect on space mining. As Futurism points out, such a monumental endeavor might actually have a uniting influence on the human race as a whole.)

Me, "Let's first get out there. Mine the asteroid, and worry about the results later. Just getting to the asteroid, mining it, and bringing it all the way back to the surface of Earth, is going to take a lot of great space minds coming up with equipment to do it. The people who believe it would collapse the world's economy are the same sort of people who said, 'There is no way humans can fly, or go to the Moon. That space travel is pointless and too expensive.' I think they will be proven wrong." NASA Wants To Mine That $10,000 Quadrillion Asteroid Right Now - EconoTimes

NASA is initiating calls for a Landing on Europa

From article, (In advance of issuing a call for formal proposals, NASA is priming the scientific community to begin thinking about what set of scientific instruments should be included on a lander. Ultimately, ten proposals will be selected to proceed to a competitive concept study, which carries funding of $1.5 million for each selected group, who will have a year to submit their technical proposals.
How would you design a robot to probe Europa’s deep dark waters from a landing site on the icy surface above? That’s the primary framing question for any competitive design concept. NASA will only select proposals that address specific scientific goals—namely, to look for evidence of life and a habitable environment in Europa’s ocean.

What instruments would you include? Ground-penetrating radar to survey structures in the moon’s crust? Chemical detectors to sniff for water vapor and other volatiles that may seep up from the ocean? Motion sensors to measure the movements of floating ice? Sensitive microphones to listen for any sounds penetrating the ice from below? NASA has issued just the right challenge to get imaginations churning….)

NASA eyes a possible landing on Jupiter's Europa

Russia is starting to produce its own Commercial Jet Planes again, but will flying cars, eat into this global market, in the near future?

From article, (By Gleb Stolyarov and Jack Stubbs MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia completed the maiden flight of its new MS-21 medium-range passenger plane on Sunday, its first foray into mainline commercial aircraft since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia has fought hard to shake its Soviet reputation for old and creaking aircraft flown by inexperienced crews. Flag carrier Aeroflot last year earned its fourth star from independent ratings website Skytrax, ranking it alongside major European and Middle Eastern competitors and ahead of big U.S. carriers such as Delta and United.

President Vladimir Putin called Irkut General Director Oleg Demchenko to congratulate him and his employees with what the Kremlin called "a significant event".

The twin-engine plane will be built in two variants: the Ms-21-300 which will have 160-211 seats, and the MS-21-200 which will have 130-165 seats. Production is expected to start in the next two years and state media have said numerous contracts with domestic and foreign carriers have already been agreed.

Irkut said it so far had "firm orders" for 175 planes, all of which had been prepaid. State defense conglomerate Rostec, which is headed by close Putin ally Sergei Chemezov, said it had agreed to purchase 85 aircraft and 50 of them would be leased to Aeroflot.

UAC President Yury Slyusar said he estimated global demand for the new MS-21 models at around 15,000 aircraft over the next 20 years. "I'm sure the airlines will appreciate our new aircraft," he said.)

Me, "What this shows is that the Global Commercial Passenger Jet Industry still finds more and more demand from passengers. needing to go some place, and as a result keeps on buying planes. 

Will this continue if Flying cars come into the market in the near future? It's definitely something to think about. Remember, people take different modes of travel because of convenience, and price. Would just hopping into the family flying car as opposed to going through security at airports and dealing with all the rules and fees involved with flying, make the commercial passenger Jet extinct?"

Unannounced, new Russian passenger plane completes maiden flight