Future Stories

The Carnival of Space 588 is up at Cosmoquest. We will look at the highlights of two featured articles and then list the other articles in the survey of the week in space news. Featured – SpaceX Starlink Satellite Network – Pushing Technology for Low Latency Universe Today – SpaceX Gives More Details on how their Starlink Internet Service Will Work. Less Satellites, Lower Orbit, Shorter Transmission times, Shorter Lifespans. Nextbigfuture had written about how low latency for Starlink is something financial companies in New York, London, Tokyo and other major cities will pay billions to get. Pushing the Limits The post SpaceX StarLink Pushes the Limits of Technology for Faster Communication – Carnival of Space 588 appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

Elon Musk has sent out an email to Tesla employees that states the current cost of a standard range Model 3 would be around $38,000. This seems to mean that with a 25% margin the car build cost is $30,400. In May, there was an Elon Musk tweet that building 10,000 units per week the cost could go to $28,000. The $28,000 build cost with 25% margin would hit the $35,000 sales price goal. Elon seems to be asking cost efficiency gains of $2,400 per car to enable selling a base model Model 3 at $35,000. Ten thousand parts and The post Tesla is $2,400 Per Car Away from Selling a $35,000 Model 3 appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

Welcome back to Toy Aisle, io9's regular roundup of all the weirdest and most wonderful toys around. This week: The Lego Movie 2 gets some Lego sets (duh), Hasbro finds a new way to sell you cutesy little Star Wars figurines, and...a toilet in disguise. Yes, really! Check it out! Read more...

Put one foot in front of the other, and soon you are walking out the door—because it’s Friday! We’re right on the cusp of December and you know what that means: a whole month of holiday cheer. So get your festive pajamas on and share your favorite gifs, because it’s Gif Party Time! Read more...

Tesla opened its first Gigafactory on July 29, 2016 with only 14 percent of the factory operating. They had three out of twenty-one sections operating. They will reach full capacity and factory completion by 2020. The first Gigafactory is getting maxed out with the production of about 500,000 Tesla cars and charging battery products in North America. Elon Musk has talked about the need for ten to twenty Gigafactories for Tesla to makes planned products and volume. He also said the world would need one hundred Gigafactories to make electric cars and batteries for the world. There are recent projections The post Tesla’s Twenty Gigafactory Plan for New Products and Global Domination appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

If and when we make contact with life from other planets, there are a number of different ways that things could play out. Everything could be perfectly peaceful, and maybe even kick-start a new age of scientific advancement. Or, we could be thrown into a cataclysmic war against beings we’re not at all equipped to… Read more...

And he knows a thing or two about good spy shows. Read more...

As the sun sets on the Netflix-bound portion of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, the new slate of shows premiering on the upcoming Disney+ streaming service are rising to seemingly take their place. Read more...

Buffy the Vampire Slayer , Angel , and the good looking criminals of Firefly are finally going to be available for free online for anyone to revisit or watch for the first time. This should be a cause for celebration. But they’re coming back courtesy of Facebook Watch, and as much as I’d love for friends to finally see… Read more...

To paraphrase liberally from Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that a Hollywood blockbuster in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a Funko Pop line. Captain Marvel is no such exception—and its Pop vinyl toys are giving an intriguing little hint about the movie. Read more...

We see a lot of deals around the web over on Kinja Deals , but these were our ten favorites today. Read more...

Star Wars is branching out more and more —not just with movies now, but with TV shows, too. One of the latest is a “Rise of the Empire”-era spy show starring Rogue One ’s Cassian Andor . But it’s also the perfect opportunity to bring one of Star Wars ’ most iconic, but so far unseen, aliens to life for the first time. Read more...

An unusually smooth and reflective Martian rock has caught the attention of NASA scientists, prompting an investigation by the Curiosity rover. Read more...

Following a lawsuit and allegations of domestic violence against Black Lightning showrunner and executive producer Salim Akil, Warner Bros. has reportedly launched an investigation of its own into his conduct. Read more...

Oh no, not again! College student Tree (Jessica Rothe) thought she’d broken the time-loop at the end of last year’s horror comedy Happy Death Day , but the movie was a hit, so the slashin’ and repeatin’ (and baby-mask wearin’) begins anew—with higher, sequel-appropriate stakes this time. Read more...

Little by little—in the tiniest increments possible—we’re learning a little more about the first Star Wars streaming show on Disney+. Read more...

In terms of glitchy behavior, we’re not quite at HAL 9000 levels just quite yet—but during the debut demonstration of the International Space Station’s new AI-powered robot, CIMON, the free-floating device displayed some rather questionable behavior. Read more...

The Lunar Gateway that NASA plans to build will end up costing about $40+ billion. It is being built to justify $60+ billion for the Space Launch System and the Orion capsule. The two together will be well over $100 billion. We have already spent about $30 billion on Space Launch System and the Orion manned vehicle. Its the Logistics Stupid Going to the Lunar Gateway adds 17% to the fuel cost for the trip to the moon. Here is the analogy to explain the insanity of Space Launch System-Orion and the Lunar Gateway. Let us equate the exploration of The post Insane Waste of the Lunar Gateway appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

The title of this week’s episode of DC Universe’s Titans is a dead giveaway of what it’s all about, but there’s there’s much more to “Donna Troy” than the mere introduction of a classic comics heroine. Read more...

They’re heeere! The first six Galaxy of Adventures shorts —which use original dialogue and sound effects to help transform Star Wars films into kid-friendly animated shorts—are now available on the brand-new Star Wars Kids YouTube channel. And you can watch them all here! Read more...

Good news everyone! For a limited time, Amazon’s marking down digital downloads of every Futurama season, except Season 6, to just $5 each. The early seasons are only available in standard def, but it makes the switch to HD in season 7, for no additional charge. Read more...

If you haven’t seen the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes, you can probably picture the iconic line of dancers kicking in unison, like a salute to American entertainment from a century ago. Well, this year the show got a surprising update: drones. Read more...

Processing Water into Fuel After water is extracted from the Permanently Shadowed Regions (PSR) of the Moon, it is processed to purify and electrolyze the water into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2). Paragon Space Development Corporation (Paragon) and its partner Giner, Inc. (Giner) are developing the ISRU-derived water purification and Hydrogen Oxygen Production (IHOP) subsystem through a recently awarded NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships-2 (NextSTEP)-2 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) contract. Paragon’s Ionomer-membrane Water Processing (IWP) technology is optimized to perform primary water purification for this ISRU application. The purified water receives final polishing and is then electrolyzed using The post Equipment for Moon Mining Operations are Being Developed appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

The season of holiday cheer is upon us, even in Duckburg. But a certain someone is desperately trying not to get caught up in a festive duck-blur in our exclusive look at DuckTales ’ delightful holiday special! Read more...

Nintendo’s fun Labo Variety Kit , a reader-exclusive discount on Samsung’s best TV , and Kano Harry Potter Coding Kit lead off Friday’s best deals. Read more...

Late last night , Netflix continued its culling of the popular Marvel lineup. But the bell tolled for a surprising series out of the shows it has left: Daredevil , the hero that kicked off the streaming giant’s bold plans for a shared Marvel universe of Defenders just three years ago. Now, cast and crew alike are… Read more...

Capturing a rhino is no easy task. In fact, capturing one female Sumatran rhino on the Indonesian section of the island of Borneo took seven months. Read more...

The director behind Bao is working on a new feature at Pixar. King of the Monsters is sneakily tying itself into Godzilla’s movie past. The Russos shoot down yet another Avengers 4 theory. Plus, Katherine McNamara makes her Arrow debut, and more pictures from the Elseworlds crossover. To me, my Spoilers! Read more...

Labo is Nintendo at its weird best. The cardboard Variety Kit can turn your Nintendo Switch into a fishing pole, a motorcycle, a piano, and more fun toys. Again, this is cardboard! Read more...

I noticed a couple of days ago a video by Peter Zeihan that made predictions about the US withdrawing as the global cop which would trigger World disorder, wars of the frequency seen between 1800-1945 and collapse in global trade. It also predicted that from this disorder than Japan would emerge as the dominant power in Asia and that China would either break apart or remain unified but poor. I will review older Zeihan predictions. I will review what is happening with Japan and China. Zeihan has been predicting China’s meltdown since 2005. He repeats the call for China meltdown The post Zeihan, Japan and China appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

Daily Galaxy and Physics-Astronomy are talking again about a September 2017 video that has an english title that says China is testing the controversial EMDrive in space. The video talks about China putting up a communication satellite. The English language title talks about EMdrive being tested and propellentless propulsion. EMdrive is a claimed propellentless propulsion system. One of the researchers in the video is Dr. Yue Chen who did make a claim about a successful lab test of an EMdrive system in 2016. EMDrive is a cone shaped copper structure which reflects microwaves many times. The cone shape could also The post Renewed Confusion But Still No EMDrive appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that are exploring a trade deal in which Washington would hold off on further tariffs through the spring in exchange for new talks looking at big changes in Chinese economic policy, said officials from the USA and China. It is possible this could be announced shortly after President Trump and President Xi meet on Saturday at the end of the G20 Summit. Nextbigfuture believes there will be a temporary deal and a longer-term deal in 2019. The reason is that both Trump and Xi want there stock markets to recover and for their economies The post US and China Close to a Stop Gap Trade Deal appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

The show that kicked off Marvel and Netflix’s ambitious series of interconnected superhero shows has come to an untimely end. Read more...

There was a prediction from Peter Zeihan that Japan, Argentina and Turkey would emerge as regionally dominant powers. Japan would dominate Asia, Argentina would dominate South America and Turkey would dominate the area of Europe and the Middle East near it. I will first look at Argentina versus Brazil and Argentina by itself. I will have follow up articles looking at Japan and Asia and Turkey and its region. This prediction was predicated a Zeihan prediction that the US would withdraw as the global cop and the collapse of world trade and world order. The World would return to the The post Argentina Compared to Brazil appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

I’m going to let you all in on a little secret. Sometimes, when I need an idea for an article, I just look around my apartment. I have so many posters , DVDs, toys , books, and more laying around that if we’re looking for something to talk about, usually I can find it. Read more...

Without the internet instantly dispersing images to millions of people, it was probably a lot easier to keep video game prototypes under wraps in the ‘80s. Just a handful of photos backed up rumors about the possible existence of a miniature version of the ill-fated Vectrex console, but it’s a rumor no more now that… Read more...

There’s so much excess on Netflix these days, it’s near impossible to find a diamond in the rough . Cam is one of them. It’s a unique, tense, surprising, genre-blender that doesn’t quite stick the landing but makes the trip worth it nonetheless. Read more...

Picking out big, pricey gifts is easy. Finding inexpensive, smaller stuff for stockings, office gift exchanges, and third cousins twice removed is where gift-buying season gets tricky. That’s why we compiled this list of 150 Inventory-recommended (and actually useful) stocking stuffer ideas, all for $20 or less.* Read more...

Say you’re Disney. You’re making a new, live-action Pinocchio , so you made a list of stars to possibly play Geppetto. That list 100 percent starts with one name, right? Tom Hanks. So it’s almost no surprise to hear Hanks is reportedly being eyed to do just that. Read more...

This may be controversial, especially considering that very startling Chidi reveal, but Tahani Al-Jamil is the best human character on The Good Place . In fact, she’s the second-best character overall (second, because nobody beats Janet), and the reasons why have become very clear in season three. Read more...

NASA announced the names of companies who’d be able to bid on contracts for lunar exploration projects as part of its Commercial Lunar Payload Services at a press conference today. Read more...

NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine says the U.S. is within 10 years of having a continuous manned presence on the moon, which will lay the groundwork for expanding space exploration to Mars. A Moon Direct plan could get continuously manned moon bases in two years. This is all better than nothing, but the NASA approach is a waste of money. However, this is part of promoting the wasteful Lunar Gateway program. Lunar Gateway is going to cost $100+ billion. It is using the International Space Station (ISS) style technology to build a space station orbiting the moon. It is better to The post Moon Direct SpaceX Falcon Heavy Plan is 6 Years Faster and 50 times Cheaper than NASA appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

Back in October everyone ( ourselves included ) made a big deal of Chris Evans’ remarks that he was done with Captain America. Well, that may have been premature. Read more...

DC’s moving full-steam ahead with its ever-growing slate of superhero movies that no one expected to see so soon in the studio’s most recent push to create an expansive cinematic universe (see: Shazam! , New Gods ). The latest hero coming to the screen? Jaime Reyes, the Blue Beetle. Read more...

The characters on Netflix’s She-Ra and the Princesses of Power are like an onion: They’ve got layers. The villains are sympathetic, the heroes make awful choices. And then there’s Entrapta, who might well be one of the most Chaotic Neutral characters we’ve ever seen on modern television. Read more...

Between Mozambique and Madagascar lies the island of Mayotte. Since May 10, the French Geological Survey has been keeping an eye on a collection of earthquakes taking place just off the island’s eastern shores, which peaked with a magnitude 5.8 shake. This swarm was curious enough all by itself—and then, on November… Read more...

The world of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a dystopia that just won’t go away. On the heels of the Titan’s recently-announced Blade Runner comics series , Adult Swim has just revealed its plans for a new animated series set before the events of the recent sequel film, Blade Runner 2049 . Read more...

Following the dramatic climax of Runaways ’ first season , the team of superpowered kids are on the run and realizing that their friendship might be the only thing that can keep them alive . The latest trailer for the show’s second season doubles down on the importance of the kids learning how to wield their powers to… Read more...

Infinity War already requires a boatload (or six) of characters. Something had to give—and that give mainly came in the convenient form of anyone attached to a Marvel TV show. Read more...

In 2017, the number of children immunized – 116.2 million – was the highest ever reported. The Region of the Americas achieved maternal and neonatal tetanus elimination, leaving only 15 countries yet to achieve elimination. Since 2010, 113 countries have introduced new vaccines, and more than 20 million additional children have been vaccinated. Nevertheless, this year starkly illustrates how easily hard-won gains are lost. Because of low coverage nationally, or pockets of low coverage, multiple WHO regions have been hit with large measles and diphtheria outbreaks causing many deaths. The continued detection of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus is further evidence that The post Universal Vaccination Would Save 1.5 Million Children Each Year appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

USC researchers have developed freeze-dried polio vaccine. It was freeze-dried into a powder, kept at room temperature for four weeks and then rehydrated, offered full protection against the polio virus when tested in mice. Polio is nearing complete eradication and had just 22 reported cases worldwide in 2017. The highly infectious disease, which causes lifelong paralysis and disability mostly in young children, is a fading memory in many places. Yet in countries where vaccination rates are spotty, young children are at risk. The biggest hitch to complete eradication has been creating a temperature-stable vaccine for use in developing countries where The post Freeze-dried Polio Vaccine appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

A reader-exclusive Samsung TV , refurbished iPads and a terrific coffee maker lead off Thursday’s best deals. Read more...

The 2019 Sundance Film Festival is still a few weeks away but it just revealed the 112 feature films that’ll be playing the festival next year. They originate from 33 countries and were chosen out of over 15,000 submissions. Read more...

Star Wars: Battlefront II ’s early days were defined by controversy after controversy , among them complaints that the initial handful of maps ignored some pretty major battles. What fans really wanted was the massive Battle of Geonosis from the Clone Wars. Well, it’s here… and it’s fantastic. Read more...

There’s always that one person in your life that has nothing on their walls. Add some awesome to someone’s life, or upgrade your own bare walls with rad prints during this 30% off sitewide at Pop Chart with promo code KINJAMBOREE . Read more...

Spider-Ham ? No. Spider- Bear . Read more...

Godzilla marches into action in a new still from King of the Monsters . Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ Dracula adaptation has found its Count. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina adds some intriguing guests for its holiday special . Plus, a new Toy Story 4 poster, and details on the CW’s big DC Elseworlds crossover. Spoilers… Read more...

The three planned Zumwalt-class ships each have eighty Mk 54 Vertical Launch System cells capable of firing a variety of long-range anti-ship missiles. They will fire * the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, which is being modified to hit ships at sea; * the anti-air Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM); * the Standard Missile family — including the SM-3 for ballistic missile defense and the multi-purpose SM-6, capable of hitting aircraft, both cruise and ballistic missiles, or even ships; * Future upgrades might add the new Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile as well. The ship has enough space, weight, power and communications ability The post US Zumwalt Destroyers Getting Anti-ship Missiles Now and Railguns and Lasers Later appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh estimates that North and South Korea have already fully implemented nine out of 25 agreement reached in a pair of summits between Korea’s leaders in April and September. 36% of the two statements implemented, 52% being deliberated There were also two agreements (8%) that failed (holding an inter-Korean event on June 15 and a performance by a Pyongyang art troupe in Seoul in October), while there is one agreement whose implementation is contingent on other factors (deliberating the questions of the Kaesong Industrial Complex, resuming tourism to Mt. Kumgang and creating a joint economic zone on The post Progress to Peace Between North and South Korea appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist who specializes in global energy, demographics and security. He has been quoted in national and international media on a variety of geopolitical topics. He makes a prediction in the video below about the breakup China and collapse of Germany. He bases this prediction on the assertion that the world has only been ordered from the start of Bretton Woods to today. This is from 1944 to today. On 15 August 1971, Bretton Woods ended when the US pulled out of the gold system. Zeihan is referring to the Pax Americana period. Pax Americana (Latin The post Peter Zeihan Makes Bad Predictions With Bad Premises appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

As regular commenters are aware, there was a recent switch from Vuukle to Spot.IM. If at all possible this will be the last comment system switch. Apologies for not providing enough specific callouts about the comment switch before the move. There was a mention I made in Vuukle comments but I should have provided more notice. There was a lot of work to get all of the historical Solidopinion comments back and to also move the Vuukle comments. There is the ability to put images, links, bold and italics in comments. There is also a special type of Conversation feature The post Tomorrow There Will Be Live Forum Interaction appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

There have been some who have complained about the seeming lack of acceleration or slower than some have expected development of societal technology. Richard Jones talks about lack of specific progress to diamondoid molecular nanotechnology or the appearance that we might not be on track to a technological singularity. Addressing this criticism of rate of technological progress. There is a need to understand the s-curve concepts in innovation and barriers to exploration of technology. There is a need to review history when technology was held back and how breakthroughs did occur. The 2016 talk with Richard Jones disparages lack of The post Breaking Through to Next Levels of Technology appeared first on NextBigFuture.com .

Just a few weeks after it originally aired, Goodbye Kansas Studios has shared a behind-the-scenes video of its work on The Walking Dead episode “ What Comes After ,” where Rick, with some help from a pile of dynamite, blows up a bridge full of approaching zombies. Creating one of the series’ most complicated shots… Read more...

Coral reefs are facing a crisis thanks to an ever-growing list of threats, from climate change to ocean acidification to pollution. In an effort to stem the rising tide of damage, the National Academy of Sciences released a major report on Wednesday chronicling the high-tech interventions we might have to use to save… Read more...

One could be forgiven for having forgotten about the long-rumored plans for a live-action, cinematic adaptation of Eion Colfer’s 2001 novel Artemis Fowl , considering that studios have been debating whether to move forward with it for almost 20 years at this point. But  Artemis is finally making his… Read more...

Look, when a decidedly Dad-ish Peter Parker becomes your Spider-Mentor, there are going to be certain things that you learn as you go along. Like, say, how to avoid death from calamitous falls/angry scientists with laser guns through the power of webs . Read more...

Physicists have created atomic clocks so precise that they can measure deformations in spacetime itself, according to new research. Read more...