The Daily Nerd (May 22nd, 2014)

Table of Contents

The Daily Nerd (May 22nd, 2014) #

“Thorium-Fueled Automobile Engine Needs Refueling Once a Century,” reads the headline of an October 2013 story in an online trade publication. This fantastic promise is just one part of a modern boomlet in enthusiasm about the energy potential of thorium, a radioactive element that is far more abundant than uranium. Thorium promoters consistently extol its supposed advantages over uranium. News outlets periodically foresee the possibility of “a cheaper, more efficient, and safer form of nuclear power that produces less nuclear waste than today’s uranium-based technology.”

Guest Post: No turning back, NASA ISEE-3 Spacecraft Returning to Earth after a 36 Year Journey

The International Sun-Earth Explorer spacecraft (ISEE-3) is phoning home and will be returning whether we are ready or not. Launched in 1978 to study Earth’s magnetosphere, the spacecraft was later repurposed to study two comets. Now, on its final leg of a 30-plus year journey to return to Earth, there’s a crowdfunding effort called ISEE-3 Reboot aimed at reactivating the hibernating spacecraft since NASA is not offering any funding to do so.

Quantum Random Number Generator Created Using A Smartphone Camera

One of the hidden foundations of modern life are random numbers. If you make credit card payments over the internet, for example, you’re a serial user of random numbers which are necessary to guarantee the security of your personal details.

And with the advent of techniques such as quantum cryptography, which guarantees perfect secrecy and requires vast quantities of random numbers, the demand for these mathematical objects is set to increase dramatically.