China's new space nuclear reactor might be 100 times more powerful than NASA's

BioNTech asks for 2 weeks to tell if its vaccine works against the new COVID variant, 'ghost particles' were detected at the Large Hadron Collider for the first time. Nov 27, 2021 Good morning! Recently, in an experiment that saw the Large Hadron Collider get equipped with new instruments, scientists have managed to detect the "ghost particles" called neutrinos. While there were only 6 detections so far, they want to take that number up to four figures. In a gut-wrenching development, a new COVID-19 variant is on the loose. However, BioNTech announced that, in two weeks' time, they'll figure out if the existing vaccine is still effective against it. If not, well, they plan to modify it so it's effective again. A new space race is on! China's CNSA wants to power future Moon and Mars missions with nuclear power. Reportedly, it will generate 1 MW of electric power, making it 100 times more powerful than NASA's proposed device for the Moon. This is The Blueprint. Happy reading. HEALTH [BioNTech Asks for 2 Weeks to Tell If Its Vaccine Works Against the New COVID Variant]( [Vaccine ]( As nations and governments panic in the light of the new strain of COVID-19, dubbed Omicron, BioNTech emerged with a potential solution. What they ask for in return is just two weeks. The company recently came forward and announced that it can figure out if the vaccine works against the new variant that popped out in southern Africa, all in two weeks. The new variant, officially called B.1.1.529, was so far detected in South Africa, Botswana, Hong Kong, and Israel. Already a step ahead. The firm added that both Pfizer and BioNTech have begun work months ago to be able to adapt the mRNA vaccine to a new variant within six weeks. They claim they could ship the first batches of a new vaccine within 100 days in the event of an escape variant. "To that end, the companies have begun clinical trials with variant-specific vaccines (alpha and delta) to collect safety and tolerability data that can be provided to regulators," the company added. Double the mutations, double the worry. The new variant reportedly has 32 mutations in its spike protein — which is essentially the thing the vaccine targets — whereas the infamous [Delta variant had 11 to 15](. Hopefully soon, the firm will figure out the answer and start taking action. [Read More]( SCIENCE ['Ghost Particles' Were Detected at the Large Hadron Collider For the First Time]( [The FASER equipment at the LHC]( Physicists have recently [found never-before-seen "ghost particles"]( or neutrinos in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) during an experiment called FASER. What are neutrinos? Neutrinos are electrically neutral elementary particles with a mass nearing zero. The reason they're called ghost particles is that, though incredibly common, they have no electric charge. This, in turn, makes them difficult to detect because they rarely interact with matter. Apart from LHC's FASER, there are [different neutrino observatories in development](. These observatories have the potential to reveal many of the universe's mysteries. Despite their name, ghost particles might actually provide a wealth of information due to the fact that they don't interact with other matter as they travel through the universe — unlike light particles, photons, which are distorted by interactions as they traverse space. The problem, so far, has been our ability to detect these ghost particles or neutrinos. Quasars, supernovae, and stars — along with certain human-made endeavors — produce neutrinos. It was previously believed LHC could produce them, but the lack of proper instruments to detect them made it easy for them to go undetected. As part of the FASER experiment, LHC was equipped with an instrument to detect neutrinos. It comprises of plates of lead and tungsten set apart by layers of emulsion. When neutrinos collide with the nuclei of metals, they produce particles that travel thru the aforementioned emulsion. In a processing procedure that somewhat resembles film photography, we can image these marks created by these secondary particles. During the experiments, six of these marks were spotted after processing. The team is currently "preparing a new series of experiments with a full instrument that's much larger and significantly more sensitive," so as to collect more data. [Read More]( INNOVATION [China’s New Space Nuclear Reactor Might Be 100 Times More Powerful Than NASA’s]( [a launch vehicle taking off]( China's space program [has completed a prototype design]( for a powerful nuclear reactor in order to keep up with other space agencies that have also drawn plans to go nuclear, such as NASA. The U.S. space agency recently made a call for private firms to develop a nuclear fission system [to power missions on the Moon]( within 10 years. A new space race. China's space program, which has already built some of the components for its full reactor, wants to power future missions to the Moon and Mars with nuclear energy. China's reactor will be able to generate one megawatt of electric power, making it 100 times more powerful than the device NASA wants to send to the Moon by 2030. [NASA's nuclear fission system]( will be capable of providing roughly 40 kilowatts of power, which the U.S. space agency says would be enough to power 30 households for a decade. Now NASA says it must go nuclear to compete with China. Though little is known in the way of specifications when it comes to the secretive nuclear reactor project, the South China Morning Post states that two scientists who took part in the project confirmed to them this week that the prototype for the reactor was completed, as well as some critical components of the finished reactor. Who will win this space race? [Read More]( AND ANOTHER THING... - Grayscale suggests that the Metaverse could [bring in $1 trillion annually](. - Bill Gates’ rank on the Forbes 400 is the [lowest it’s been in 30 years](. (Forbes) - [Watch the planned implosion]( of power plant cooling towers in the UK. - Why trying to clean up all [the ocean plastic is pointless](. (Gizmodo) - Could luxury submarine trips thrive as [an alternative to space tourism]( - A British fintech has decided to make work weeks four days [without cutting wages](. (Forbes) - Kalashnikov wants to [corner the electric vehicle market](. MAIL & MUSINGS Agencies from around the world are making advancements, plans, and announcements about aerospace one after the other. While we don't see anything explicit, it's not farfetched to deduce that there's a certain degree of rivalry among them. Who will prevail in the next generation of the space race? Be sure you check back tomorrow for the results! [NASA (The U.S.)]( [CNSA (China)]( [Roscosmos (Russia)]( [We'll end up with more cooperation than expected. Space is hard.]( Yesterday’s Results Yesterday, we asked: "Which disease do you think researchers should concentrate on next to develop a vaccine?" 48% said cancer, 26% think it should be Alzheimer's, 19% want a world without diabetes, and finally, 6% think HIV is the way to go. The results are pretty understandable as, while all of these ailments are pretty damaging, management therapies for diabetes and HIV have come a long way — still, the stigmatisation of HIV is still there. Also, cancer is expected to affect more than 1/3rd of people in their lifetime. Cancer 48% Alzheimer’s 26% Diabetes 19% HIV 6% [Video]VIDEO OF THE DAY [Modify Your Stock Motorbike Exhaust with This Simple Guide]( Turns out modifying your existing motorbike exhaust is a fairly easy task. [Modify Your Stock Motorbike Exhaust with This Simple Guide]( [Share to Win]SHARE TO WIN [All products]( Share The Blueprint! Give your friends deeper insights into engineering and tech, and win exclusive IE swag for free. [Read Details]( Share your link Copy & share your referral link with others. [ [Referral Program Terms and Conditions]( Prepared by Loukia Papadopoulos and Utku Kucukduner Enjoy reading? Don't forget to forward to a friend! Was this email forwarded to you? [Subscribe]( [About Us]( | [Advertise]( | [Contact Us]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Youtube]( [Linkedin]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you have subscribed to our newsletter. 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