How close is space travel for us, the public?

This week, we have been introduced to the possibilities of extraterrestrial life forms and ways to communicate with them via Richard Clar’s Dolphin. In greater detail, I would like to discuss the idea of public space travel. Yes, we humans have been launched onto the sapphire sky and into the boundless realm of space, within whose vast presence we do not possess much knowledge of her residence. Yes, the astronauts have been stepping onto the dusts of moon and making footprints. Yes, some of them safely returned, only some. The safety issues in such traveling needs to be taken with heavy attention, not only how the travel can be done, but also how to transform it into a public event. With the current technology advancement, the errors can be much minimized, but the question is: can it be as safe as airplane travel, whose fatal accidents were seven in the year 2007. Money is also a big concern. The cost of millions for space travel is hardly affordable to most people. To undercut the cost to perhaps thousands would seem impossible for now, considering the cost of resource and availability. In spite of these obvious improbabilities, the case for public space travel is certainly plausible in a future not so far away.

What exactly is nanotechnology?

As professor Vesna introduced us the concept of nanotechnology and its concept that can be applied into science, I finally decided to find out once and for all what the heck it is – Nanotechnology refers broadly to a field of applied science and technology whose unifying theme is the control of matter on the atomic and molecular scale, normally 1 to 100 nanometers, and the fabrication of devices within that size range. It is a highly multidisciplinary field, drawing from fields such as applied physics, materials science, interface and colloid science, device physics, supramolecular chemistry, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering.

 As conceptual as it is, many studies have shown promising future— nanotechnology will transform the current electronic world and open a new page for science.

Link:

http://www.airsafe.com/events/last_15.htm

http://www.jnanobiotechnology.com/content/2/1/12

http://www.ehponline.org/members/2005/7339/7339.html

http://www.particleandfibretoxicology.com/content/2/1/8/

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/311/5761/622

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/311/5761/622

http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/88/1/12

http://www.particleandfibretoxicology.com/content/2/1/8/

http://www.jnanobiotechnology.com/content/2/1/12

http://toxsci.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/91/1/159

http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2003/5999/abstract.html