Tunnel on the Moon

Following the discovery that the Moon's surface may hide a network of underground tunnels, a veteran Russian cosmonaut has plans to set up a colony of in this labyrinth of lava caves.

In 2008, Japan's Kaguya spacecraft unveiled a mysterious, metres-deep cave in the Sea of Tranquility. Nasa went back with its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) and snapped high resolution images of the enticing pit.

"They could be entrances to a geologic wonderland," Mark Robinson of Arizona State University, principal investigator for the LRO camera, said in 2010. "We believe the giant holes are skylights that formed when the ceilings of underground lava tubes collapsed."

Those long-dead lava tubes -- a vestigial signature of the Moon's explosive volcanic past -- could still remain as a labyrinth of underground tunnels. These, Russian space pioneers reckon, would be a perfect, natural shelter from hazardous outer-space conditions.

"If it turns out that the Moon has a number of caves that can provide some protection from radiation and meteor showers, it could be an even more interesting destination than previously thought," cosmonaut Sergei Krikalyov was quoted as saying by Reuters, at a forum on the future of manned spaceflight. Krikalyov now heads Russia's Star City cosmonaut training centre outside Moscow.

Instead of building walls and ceilings, or digging into the lunar soil, Krikalyov's plan is to send lunar explorers into the tunnels with inflatable tents. Once there, the blow-up module expands until its hard outer shell seals the tunnel.

Boris Kryuchkov, the deputy science head at the training centre, estimates that the first lunar colony could be built by 2030.

North America, on the other hand, isn't that interested in returning to the Moon. President Obama cancelled the lunar project in 2010 saying, "We've been there before. There's a lot more of space to explore." Instead, he wants Nasa to focus on landing on an asteroid by 2025, and eventually send a manned mission to Mars.

by "environment clean generations"

Fake Plastic Trees and Algae Tanks on Every Roof

                                   Fake Plastic Trees It looks like the real thing ... well, not really.

Geoengineering is a popular idea, for Bill Gates and just about everyone else these days. Now the Institute of Mechanical Engineers proposes that the UK adopt technologies such as carbon-capturing artificial trees, biofuel algae tanks on rooftops, and coating surfaces in reflective materials to cut down on heating from the sun's rays.

Those technologies may sound familiar, because PopSci has examined similar concepts in the past. Reflective rooftops represent perhaps one of the less expensive geoengineering proposals for controlling climate change, but researchers have also pressed forward with prototypes for artificial trees that capture carbon dioxide through plastic leaves and store it for carbon sequestration.

Researchers similarly continue to puzzle out how to grow more algae as a possible biofuel solution for today's energy-hungry world. One company has even resorted to feeding algae to fish, and then squeezing our unfortunate finned friends for the oil. Maybe building owners would feel compelled to adopt rooftop algae tanks en masse and spare fish such a fate ... or maybe not.

The Register casts a critical eye over the recent IMechE report, and offers a tongue-in-cheek comment on why there's no comparison between putting solar panels on the roof versus reflective materials or the algae tanks. It also points out that an artificial tree resembling a giant fly swatter and based on today's technology would capture just over one ton of carbon dioxide per day -- one million such trees would be required to offset the UK's current emissions, at a cost of $20 billion.

Plenty of experts also still want to tread lightly when it comes to geoengineering, for fear of unintended consequences on a global scale. The White House science advisor and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences gingerly examined the topic this summer and concluded that caution is warranted.

Perhaps some of these quick fixes could stand a bit more scrutiny and development, at least before laying out the grand deployment plans.

by "environment clean generations"