Incredible discoveries from the fringes of the universe to the inner workings of our minds all from nothing

It turns out that almost nothing is as curious or as enlightening as, well, nothing. What is nothingness? Where can it be found? The writers of the world's top-selling science magazine investigate from the big bang, dark energy, and the void to superconductors, vestigial organs, hypnosis, and the placebo effect and discover that understanding nothing may be the key to understanding everything: What came before the big bang, and will our universe end?How might cooling matter down almost to absolute zero help solve our energy crisis?How can someone suffer from a false diagnosis as though it were true?Does nothingness even exist? Recent experiments suggest that squeezing a perfect vacuum somehow creates light.Why is it unfair to accuse sloths animals who do nothing of being lazy? And more Contributors Paul Davies, Jo Marchant, and Ian Stewart, along with two former editors of Nature and 16 other leading writers and scientists, marshal up-to-the-minute research to make one of the most perplexing realms in science dazzlingly clear. Prepare to be amazed at how much more there is to nothing than you ever realized."

Is your picosatellite ready for launch? Can it withstand rocket thrusts and the vacuum of space? This do-it-yourself guide helps you conduct a series of hands-on tests designed to check your satellite's readiness. Learn precisely what the craft and its electronic components must endure if they're to function properly in Low Earth Orbit.

The perfect follow-up to "DIY Satellite Platforms" (our primer for designing and building a picosatellite), this book also provides an overview of what space is like and how orbits work, enabling you to set up the launch and orbit support you'll need.Go deep into the numbers that describe conditions your satellite will faceLearn how to mitigate the risks of radiation in the ionospherePick up enough formal systems engineering to understand what the tests are all aboutBuild a thermal vacuum chamber for mimicking environment of spaceSimulate the rocket launch by building and running a vibration shake testUse a homebuilt centrifuge to conduct high G-force testsGet guidelines on scheduling tests and choosing an appropriate lab or clean room

This book presents fundmentals of orbit determination--from weighted least squares approaches (Gauss) to today's high-speed computer algorithms that provide accuracy within a few centimeters. Numerous examples and problems are provided to enhance readers' understanding of the material.
*Covers such topics as coordinate and time systems, square root filters, process noise techniques, and the use of fictitious parameters for absorbing un-modeled and incorrectly modeled forces acting on a satellite.
*Examples and exercises serve to illustrate the principles throughout each chapter.
*Detailed solutions to end-of-chapter exercises available to instructors.

Meteorite tells the fascinating story of the stones from outer space scattered across our planet. From the impact that finished off the dinosaurs to the dagger made of extraterrestrial iron found in Tutankhamun's tomb, this book is packed full of surprising information, unlikely pioneers and eye-opening science. Dr Tim Gregory explains how these rocky fragments offer clues not just to the earliest origins of everything, but also to humanity's survival into the future. 'A passionate communicator, Tim Gregory conjures colourful environments and events far outside the human' NATURE 'Meticulous and eminently readable, served with clarity, erudition and humour' WALL STREET JOURNAL 'Tim Gregory gets it. He has an uncanny ability to swiftly understand, to clearly explain, and to be joyful' CHRIS HADFIELD

In 1969, Princeton physicist Gerard O'Neill began looking outward to space colonies as the new frontier for humanity's expansion. A decade later, Eric Drexler, an MIT-trained engineer, turned his attention to the molecular world as the place where society's future needs could be met using self-replicating nanoscale machines. These modern utopians predicted that their technologies could transform society as humans mastered the ability to create new worlds, undertook atomic-scale engineering, and, if truly successful, overcame their own biological limits. The Visioneers tells the story of how these scientists and the communities they fostered imagined, designed, and popularized speculative technologies such as space colonies and nanotechnologies. Patrick McCray traces how these visioneers blended countercultural ideals with hard science, entrepreneurship, libertarianism, and unbridled optimism about the future. He shows how they built networks that communicated their ideas to writers, politicians, and corporate leaders. But the visioneers were not immune to failure--or to the lures of profit, celebrity, and hype. O'Neill and Drexler faced difficulty funding their work and overcoming colleagues' skepticism, and saw their ideas co-opted and transformed by Timothy Leary, the scriptwriters of Star Trek, and many others. Ultimately, both men struggled to overcome stigma and ostracism as they tried to unshackle their visioneering from pejorative labels like "fringe" and "pseudoscience." The Visioneers provides a balanced look at the successes and pitfalls they encountered. The book exposes the dangers of promotion--oversimplification, misuse, and misunderstanding--that can plague exploratory science. But above all, it highlights the importance of radical new ideas that inspire us to support cutting-edge research into tomorrow's technologies.

This book highlights the technological and managerial fundamentals and frontier questions of space science. Space science is a new interdisciplinary and comprehensive subject that takes spacecraft as the main tools to study the planet Earth, the solar-terrestrial space, the solar system, and even the whole universe, to answer significant questions covering the formation and evolution of the solar system and the universe, the origin and evolution of life and the structure of the material. The book introduces major scientific questions in various branches of space science and provides related technological and managerial knowledge. It also discusses the necessity of international cooperation and elaborates on the strategic planning of space science in China. The book can be used as a reference book or textbook for scientists, engineers, college students, and the public participating in space science programs.