The Blob! Article by Bibi Auclair

We scientists think we have seen it all, but, under our very noses, there, lying unseen, is: the Blob!

Scientists the world over are wracking their brains to solve the enigma of the Blob. It is not a plant, but it has some of the characteristics of a plant. It is not an animal, though it has some animal characteristics. Is it a mushroom? No, not entirely that either. It is like nothing else we know and that is why it is so fascinating... So, what is it  then?

The Blob, officially called Physarum polycephalum, is a strange, creeping, blob-like organism made up of one giant cell. But it is not an alien! It is an “unidentified crawling object” and part of the Protist family. Its nickname “comes from the film “The Blob” starring Steve McQueen (who is not the eponymous hero!).

It has no mouth, nor stomach, nor eyes. It is able to move (1 cm per hour) to find food, to see, to smell, to digest, to mate. Though it has no brain, it can learn from experience. When Physarum polycephalum temporarily fuses with another slime mould they transmit to each other what each “knows”.

The Blob’s natural habitat is forest debris, but scientists can grow it easily in the laboratory. It is in fact the biggest single-cell organism; it can grow to 10 m²! It can be divided to create two new living cells, healing in just two minutes. In fact, it is not possible to kill the Blob. It can resist extreme conditions; it only needs a little rain to start growing again.

Though it has no brain, The Blob has intelligence. Moreover, the personality of the Blob changes from continent to continent. Scientists have demonstrated that, for example, the Australian blob tends to be “altruistic”, whereas the American one is more selfish… How human!

The Blob challenges scientific categories. Because it is related to several types of bacteria, research on it may lead to finding cures for a number of diseases.

It has even been suggested that the Blob might be the original cell of all other life forms. This is simply mind-blowing!

Physarum polycephalum

See: TED talk (in French) by Dr Dussutour

The ISS: the International Space Station

The ISS

The French astronaut Thomas Pesquet returned recently from his six-month mission in low Earth orbit aboard the ISS, the International Space Station. Here is a quick overview of its history, features, and mission.

What is the ISS?

The ISS is the only international space station. The station moves around the Earth in low orbit at an altitude of between 360 and 400 kilometers and travels around our planet in ninety minutes.

Sixteen times a day, it spends 45 minutes in the dark and the following 45 minutes exposed to the sun.

The habitable volume of the station is 388 cubic meters. The station is 109 meters long, 73 meters wide, and weighs 419 tons. It’s the most complex and massive object assembled in space. It is also the most expensive ever manufactured by man. It is estimated that it cost $150 billion.

Thomas Pesquet

What is the ISS used for?

The ISS is mainly a large scientific laboratory where hundreds of experiments are carried out.

The Frenchman Thomas Pesquet, who is the tenth Frenchman to have spent time in space, carried out a hundred different experiments during the six months of his stay aboard the station.

His experiments were mainly to do with health and medicine.

Who pays for the ISS?

The station is co-managed by five space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), ESA (Europe), JAXA (Japan) and CSA (Canada) and financed by sixteen countries: the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Brazil and eleven European countries, including France.

These 16 countries signed an intergovernmental cooperation agreement on 29^th January 1998. Most of the costs are met by NASA.

How many people are permanently in the ISS?

The ISS permanently hosts 6 people.

Each group of three astronauts spends six months in the station.

How do I travel to the ISS?

Up to 2011, journeys to the ISS were by the US Space Shuttle, launched from Cape Canaveral in Florida, or by the Soyuz vessel from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Since 2011, the only way to reach the ISS is with the Russian Soyuz.

Is there a procedure to get the astronauts back in case something goes wrong?

In case of problems, two Russian Soyuz vessels are permanently attached to the International Space Station. One arrives with the astronauts, the other is used to return to Earth.

Both vessels can be used to evacuate the station in the event of a major malfunction.

What will become of the station?

The International Space Station will remain operational until at least 2024; the various partners have pledged to finance the program until this date.

With the advent of private partners such as SpaceX, NASA will be able to progressively reorient its budget to finance ambitious mid-term projects, such as returning to the Moon or manned missions to Mars.

To replace the current International Space Station, the agencies are considering the construction of a station in a cistern orbit, that is, an orbit around Earth-Moon.

Article by Hugo Abelard

Is 3D printing a revolution?

A 3D home...

Everyone has heard of 3D printing. But are 3D printers just a trend or are they really a technological revolution? How does 3D printing work, and will 3D printers be available in our everyday lives?

The most common 3D printers are of simple design, made up of very few components. The most important part of the machine is called the extruder head. It is a kind of nozzle which warms up the filament of plastic that you want to print with, and drop it by tiny layers (0,1 to 0,4 mm) on the printing bed, which is also warm to prevent the plastic from cooling down too fast and crinkling. The extruder head moves on the x and y axis (the horizontal axis) and the bed moves on the y axis (the vertical axis). This allows the happy owner of a 3D printer to print any small object with a special plastic and lot of patience because it is really hard to have accurate printing for beginners. It sometimes takes a few hours to print even small stuff but patience is the first quality of a good handyman.

Nowadays it is quite easy to get a 3D printer. The ready-to-print models sell for as low as $1000, but you can buy a kit for $300 even though they are quite hard to build and really tough to calibrate, so that option is only for advanced DIY enthusiasts.

3D printers are one of the most amazing revolutions of the 21st century but we haven’t seen anything yet. Some of these 3D printers are being developed to build buildings and houses on a huge scale… Amazing isn’t it? If building construction by 3D printing has long been a fantasy, the high-speed development of this technology will make this dream a reality. Many companies are looking into this project and a Russian firm has even managed to print a 37 m² house! There will be legal constraints however; respecting building regulations will be a much greater challenge than the technical aspect itself. Also, many jobs will disappear in the building sector… Meanwhile, 3D construction companies are looking for partners to support them in their projects; so, engineers, investors and developers, if you want to be part of the revolution, contact them without further delay!

Article by Jean Plassart, Nicolas Barbarin & Nicolas Moyne from Massillon (Clermont-Fd)

A visionary project: the Hyperloop!

Click HERE to watch a TED talk by Elon Musk!

It is faster and cheaper than taking the plane and you do not have to leave Earth… Embark on Hyperloop, the train of the future straight out of the mind of Elon Musk, the American billionaire!

Elon Musk, born in South Africa in 1971, studied at Queen's University in Canada and at Stanford University in the United States. This wacky character is the real-life Iron Man since he is a jack-of-all-trades scientific genius. Judge for yourself: at twelve, he created his first video game program, and, before the age of thirty, he had created the Zip2 computer software which allows content to published online, as well as bank X and the PayPal online secure payment system. He is also the inventor of the electric cars of his Tesla Motors company and the founder of SpaceX, the space rocket company. He masters every technological domain, and his fortune is estimated at about $ 12.7 billion.

Hyperloop is a revolutionary means of transport: a train that will run at 1220 km per hour, i.e. just under the speed of sound, through a steel tube in which there is no air resistance (i.e. in a vacuum). Imagine a rollercoaster ride of carriages rushing unrestrained in a tube in which the air pressure is the same as in the stratosphere (45 km up in the sky). It is almost like being in space and so energy consumption will be very low. However, it will be necessary to ensure the safety of the passengers; they risk suffocating if the train breaks down inside the tube...

How does Hyperloop run? The train leaves the station on an electric engine. Then, once inside the tube, the train takes in air, compresses it and then pumps it out from behind in order to propel itself forward. It accelerates thanks to a magnetic system powered by solar panels fixed on the tube.

The 750 km separating Paris from Marseille would be swallowed up in only 45 minutes. The TGV takes 3 hours and 20 minutes and a car 7 hours. One could live on the coast, and go to work in the capital! The Hyperloop is ecologically friendly, silent and safe, and its construction cost would be much lower than the cost of the TGV.

Elon Musk is too busy with Tesla and SpaceX and so has called on companies to take up the challenge of building the Hyperloop. For the while, two companies are vying for the project: Hyperloop technologies and Hyperloop transportation technologies. A prototype is planned for this year and the first trains should be running within five years. Maybe you will be among the first passengers!

Article by Jean Plassart, Nicolas Barbarin & Nicolas Moyne from Massillon (Clermont-Fd)