Today's Tech News: Notable or Not?

https://phys.org/news/2026-05-lithium-plasma-key-mars-propulsion.html "lithium has low ionization energy/ excellent plasma characteristics, up to 90% fuel savings... pairing with space nuclear reactor for continuous thrust, potentially shortening Mars journey from 9 months to only 1 to 3 months... instead of 1 big pop at start, low-thrust, high-efficiency stays on for entire trip, constantly accelerating enabling much straighter path... NASA testing engine for 23,000 hours to make sure survives far longer than actual mission duration to ensure won't fail in middle of deep-space void"

https://www.techradar.com/pro/1-000x-faster-internet-new-chinese-crystal-breakthrough-could-make-the-worlds-gps-obsolete-overnight "crystal achieves 145.2 nm wavelength (previous record 150), dropping below 148.3 needed to trigger thorium-229 nucleus, key element for nuclear clocks... GPS relies on external satellite signals easily jammed, spoofed, blocked (underwater or in deep space), replaced by measuring every micro-movement against an inertial navigating extremely precise nuclear clock without ever needing external signal... leap in internet speed isn't about cables themselves, but about reducing buffer time between signals" Related:   Physicists revive 1990s laser concept to propose a next-generation atomic clock https://phys.org/news/2026-04-physicists-revive-1990s-laser-concept.html Nuclear clocks tick for the first time https://phys.org/news/2026-06-nuclear-clocks.html

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1121992 "polymer adhesives in chip/ optical fiber connection cracks in extreme cold, degrades under radiation/ heat, fails in vacuum, overcome using hydroxide catalysis bonding creating glass-like molecular bond... quantum computing systems (ultracold + vacuum), space missions, nuclear reactors, industrial/ energy applications... limitation: bonding currently takes several days, but with engineering likely sped up for mass production... high-speed, energy-efficient photonic chip operation in extreme environments" Related: Highly filled liquid epoxy for smaller, more reliable chip packaging https://phys.org/news/2026-07-highly-liquid-epoxy-smaller-reliable.html

https://techxplore.com/news/2026-03-robotic-motors-shifting-actuator.html "battery powered, shape-shifting, liquid crystal/ thin-film hybrid, temperature or light induces: heating, electric current, phase transition, full contraction/ expansion in <0.4 seconds... power comparable to traditional industrial solenoids but at fraction of mass... programmable fingers individually bend, twist, stiffen by varying electrical pulse sent to different segments... OK in/ around MRI (no motor),  surveillance (completely silent), wearables, surgical, space (uses no lubricants which might freeze)"

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1091583 "no need for large projection data sets... reduces: required projection data 60X/ projection computation time 10X, total manufacturing process 10X... binary information sufficient for spatial representation, with high single-projection efficiency, less vibrations from frequent rotations... projection efficiency and reducing projection set calculation time are crucial for the rapid implementation of VAM... 8 projections minimal number to reconstruct structural contours... tissue engineering, medical implants, aerospace manufacturing" Related: Mixing metals, maximizing performance: recent advances on additive manufacturing of heterogeneous/gradient metallic materials https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1096827

https://techxplore.com/news/2025-04-smaller-efficient-space-tolerant-chips.html#google_vignette "challenging space environment: radiation alters data storage elements like flip-flops/ also extreme temperatures, debris... more compact rad-hard chips with equivalent or better radiation tolerance leads to lower manufacturing costs, higher performance/ energy efficiency... achieved in the way components/ transistors arranged... uses single basic flip-flops achieving same radiation tolerance without bulky triple modular redundancy... full system-on-a-chip prototypes to be tested/ deployed on a cubesat in 2026" Related: 3D-Printed Hydrogels: A Breakthrough in Radiation Shielding for Space Exploration https://i-hls.com/archives/128586 Giving small satellites a bigger impact with an advanced wireless chip https://techxplore.com/news/2025-05-small-satellites-bigger-impact-advanced.html Tiny receiver chip uses stacked capacitors to block interference in 5G IoT devices https://techxplor...

https://www.earth.com/news/spaceship-thruster-technology-fueled-by-any-type-of-metal-could-fly-indefinitely/ "silicate minerals like olivine and pyroxene also come in handy for spacecraft landing on a moon or comet rich in these burnable metals, where they extract what they need to refuel... ensures enough fuel for extended missions, for: (1) mining and returning to Earth with iron and nickel, precious metals like platinum, gold, silver, (2) future missions where deep-space travel isn’t restricted by the limited availability of fuel... titled: Super Magdrive system" Related: Toward practical laser-driven light sails using photonic crystals https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1118922

https://phys.org/news/2024-01-esa-tiny-pinhole-thruster-ready.html "palm-sized, maneuvering and propelling cubesats, small satellites and probes of up to 50 (goal: 300) kg mass, once they are in space... each of 6 thrusters fit on face of 10-cm cubesat has 7 emitter arrays etched onto silicon wafers, each housing 500 pinholes emitting electrically charged particles from conductive salt (electrospray) producing 20 km/s thrust... highly adjustable and reconfigurable in flight... eco-friendly non-toxic liquid propellant, no pressurized storage tanks" Related: A 3D-printed aluminum mirror could enhance CubeSat observations https://phys.org/news/2025-08-3d-aluminum-mirror-cubesat.html For satellites as small as a briefcase, getting around in space just got a whole lot easier https://news.mit.edu/news-clip/gizmodo-134

https://thespacebucket.com/relativity-space-just-tested-the-first-full-scale-aeon-r-engine/ "268,000 pounds of maximum thrust... liquid oxygen plus liquid natural gas eventually easily made on Mars... ilaunching over 20,000kg to low Earth orbit... launch from Cape Canaveral 2024... from raw material to rockets within 60 days... 3D printed 7X faster... horizontal printers print objects up to 120' long and 24' wide, resulting in increased volume capacity of 55X... Reduced print start time and cost... five signed customers for Terran R, including multiple launches and totaling more than $1.2B in backlog" Related: Plasma thrusters used on satellites could be much more powerful than previously believed https://phys.org/news/2023-01-plasma-thrusters-satellites-powerful-previously.html

https://newatlas.com/space/nuclear-pulsar-fusion-test-green-hybrid-rocket/ "fuel consisting of high density polyethylene (HDPE)... used in a range of plastic products including bottles, piping and cutting boards... and nitrous oxide oxidizer... also involves the development of nuclear fusion technology for high-speed propulsion, which could cut travel times to Mars in half... aiming to demonstrate a nuclear fusion propulsion engine for static fire testing in 2025, and then launch and test one in orbit in 2027"

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2021/laser-communications-relay-demonstration-6-things-you-need-to-know "will transform how NASA gets info to and from space... more data in a single downlink... payload has two optical modules, or telescopes, for receiving and transmitting laser signals... depends on two ground stations in California and Hawaii... allows government, academia, and commercial partners to test laser capabilities from geosynchronous orbit... one of many exciting and upcoming laser missions" Includes video.

https://news.rpi.edu//content/2021/10/21/need-massive-space-telescope-inspires-lightweight-flexible-holographic-lens Very big development for the future of space telescopes... "lightweight flexible lens, many meters in diameter, that could be rolled for launch and unfurled in space... We use two spherical waves of light to produce the hologram, which gives us fine control over the diffractive grating recorded on the film, and the effect it has on light — either separating light with super sensitivity, or focusing light with high resolution" Related: Researchers devise new membrane mirrors for large space-based telescopes https://www.optica.org/en-us/about/newsroom/news_releases/2023/april/researchers_devise_new_membrane_mirrors_for_large/ Condor telescope reveals a new world for astrophysicists https://phys.org/news/2024-03-condor-telescope-reveals-world-astrophysicists.html Ultrablack thin-film coating could make next-gen telescopes even better https://phys.org/news/2024-03-...

https://futurism.com/nasa-employee-spacex-starship/amp "NASA Jet Propulsion Lab system architect Casey Handmer is impressed with SpaceX’s progress... Two years ago Starship was a design concept and a mock up... Today it’s a 95 percent complete prototype that will soon fly to space... It’s a continuing and dedicated attempt to achieve the ‘Holy Grail’ of rocketry, a fully and rapidly reusable orbital class rocket that can be mass manufactured... is going to render many of the agency’s grand ambitions moot" Related: Proposing a new idea for spacecraft propulsion that involves dynamic soaring https://phys.org/news/2022-12-idea-spacecraft-propulsion-involves-dynamic.html Collaborating to build a more efficient rocket https://phys.org/news/2024-01-collaborating-efficient-rocket.html

https://interestingengineering.com/a-123000-mph-nuclear-rocket-could-reach-mars-in-only-one-month Plasma is superheated. Strong magnetic fields then channel the hot gas out of the back of the engine... 197,950 km/h. top speed. Conventional rockets expend their entire fuel supply in a single controlled explosion during launch. By contrast, this sustains propulsion throughout journey. Accelerates gradually until reaches max speed of 54 km/s by twenty-third day, 4X faster than existing chemical rockets. Delicate course changes are easy since plasma engine can activate whenever.

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/A-150-Year-Old-Idea-Could-Lead-To-A-Breakthrough-In-Space-Travel.html See also: What Is the Mach Effect Gravity Assist or Mega Drive? https://owlcation.com/stem/What-is-the-Mass-Effect-Gravity-Assist-or-MEGA-Drive "Woodward and Fearn have sent their design to 4 different labs which have tested the drive and confirm that there is something happening here. NASA has even contributed 2 grants to further study the drive. Results show that the mass is changing in conjunction with the piezoelectric activity, and so the thrust generated, while small, is present. Very, very promising" Related: Dynamic soaring as a means to exceed the solar wind speed https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frspt.2022.1017442/full