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ToughSF

@toughsf.bsky.social

Matterbeam. Author of the ToughSF blog. Original SuperNerd. Ex-Kurzgesagt Duck. Freelance writer. Discord https://discord.gg/nXvRPcE7uU

6,113 Followers  |  144 Following  |  3,367 Posts  |  Joined: 11.05.2023
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Posts by ToughSF (@toughsf.bsky.social)

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Gundam 00 features a world where burning fossil fuels has been supplanted by orbital rings beaming down solar power, supported by three elevators topped with huge habitats.
This has a destabilizing effect on Earth, leading to many wars.
Here's their first episode appearance:

08.03.2026 01:57 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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MDA/DoD test of a ballistic missile interception over Guam:
youtu.be/OlIogEAesU4
An SM-3 Block IIA got a direct hit with its exo-atmospheric KKV on a Medium Range Ballistic Missile launched mid-air by a C-17, under end-to-end guidance of an AN/TPY-6 radar for the first time.

08.03.2026 01:56 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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More concept art from Season 5 of the Expanse, detailing a Belter torpedo, a rescue drone with vacuum tent, a transprter and a UNN Watchtower satellite.
#space #art by Lee Fitzgerald.
www.artstation.com/artwork/Qn9vVd

08.03.2026 01:39 β€” πŸ‘ 51    πŸ” 15    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Review and optimization of the many film cooling and internal circulation techniques for permitting turbine blades to operate far above their own melting points:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

08.03.2026 01:18 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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π˜™π˜¦π˜«π˜°π˜ͺ𝘀𝘦 π˜ͺ𝘯 𝘡𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘒𝘳𝘡𝘩
Peter Elson’s stunning paintings for Kim Stanley Robinson’s π˜”π˜’π˜³π˜΄ trilogy depict a planet transformed by terraforming. But in the march issue of π˜–π˜₯𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘺, we ask whether it is planet Earth that is now most in need of terraforming.

07.03.2026 09:05 β€” πŸ‘ 54    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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Orion nuclear pulse drives are powerful *despite* their design. The energy efficiency of the 10m diameter USAF design was just 0.78%, as the 1 kT pulse yield converted into 2 MN thrust at 3350s Isp.
www.projectrho.com/public_html/...

Animation @brianmcmanus.bsky.social: youtu.be/EVwlTsa9oMM

06.03.2026 23:48 β€” πŸ‘ 52    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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DLR's Reusability Flight Experiment is a 400 kg, 2.7 m long flying testbed for hypersonic reentry and autonomous flight, launched to 130 km altitude by a VSB-30 Brazilian sounding rocket:
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
No parachute or landing gear, so it aims for crash ending.

06.03.2026 02:29 β€” πŸ‘ 21    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Porsche 917 LH (Long Tail) was a lengthened version of the 917 that aimed for lower drag at high speeds.
It would achieve 386 km/h on the 6 km long Mulsanne Straight in 1971, using a 600 horsepower flat-12 engine.

06.03.2026 02:22 β€” πŸ‘ 12    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Orion I, a transporter ship inspired by Syd Mead's work, done in Blender 3.6
#space #art by Isaiah.
www.artstation.com/artwork/x3nb5R

06.03.2026 02:11 β€” πŸ‘ 46    πŸ” 7    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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DART's impactor shifted asteroid Dimorphos' velocity by 2.7 mm/s.
Based on an asteroid density of 1500 to 3300 kg/m^3, that means the momentum enhancement factor is 2.2-4.9x thanks to kinetic energy ejecting additional debris upon impact:
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

06.03.2026 02:05 β€” πŸ‘ 16    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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France and the US are working on certifying the Rafale for refueling F/A-18s:
theaviationist.com/2025/05/17/r...
Testing is being done by the Flight Test Division of the Direction GΓ©nΓ©rale de l’Armement and U.S. Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron VX-23.

06.03.2026 01:57 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Watch the smoke trail from the flares reveal the massive vortices and turbulent wake of the F-22 Raptor as it shows off its post-stall maneuverability:
youtu.be/xvQUwmP0eXE

06.03.2026 01:41 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Concept art for a MU/TH/UR computer room, meant for Predator: Badlands.
#art by Sean Hargreaves
www.artstation.com/artwork/YG92o6

06.03.2026 00:37 β€” πŸ‘ 26    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Combining the output of many single fiber lasers into a single large beam is a reliable path towards high efficiency, high-quality easy to cool lasers scaling beyond 100 kW:
www.mdpi.com/2304-6732/8/...
Pulsed lasers can be combined too, but you also need to get the timing right.

06.03.2026 00:32 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1
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There's a nucleus at the center of atoms then a cloud of electrons all around.

But reality isn't so neat.

For example, the 'halo nucleus' with protons/neutrons sitting just a few femtometers outside the nucleus. It's usually a neutron halo that lasts for a few milliseconds.

06.03.2026 00:24 β€” πŸ‘ 10    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The "botanipunk" worldbuilding and tool concepts make for a very unique aesthetic here!
#art by @chromamoma.bsky.social for a personal project.
www.artstation.com/artwork/nJ9bZr

06.03.2026 00:11 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Reducing the convergence ratio in hotspot ignition inertial confinement ratio by replacing the solid DT ice layer at the capsule wall with liquid DT:
firefusionpower.org/IAEA_2018_Li...
Lower ratios decrease intensity and implosion velocity requirements, but comes with complications.

06.03.2026 00:08 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The HC-130P/N "King" extended-range variant of the C-130 Hercules is dedicated to assisting Search And Rescue efforts, seen here refueling HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters.
www.af.mil/About-Us/Fac...
It even got to serve as space flight support for NASA.

05.03.2026 23:57 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Plasmonic metasurfaces with ~100 nm features for converting light into electricity:
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
99% absorption from IR to UV is possible with multilayered W/SiC/SiO2, boosting traditional PV or building solar-thermoPV with 85% efficiency potential.

05.03.2026 23:47 β€” πŸ‘ 11    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The Titanic had hidden mounts for guns so it could be converted into an armed merchant ship, as required by British law.

Her sister ship HMS Olympic did get to serve as an armed troopship, got painted in dazzle camo, and sunk German submarine SM U-103 by ramming it.

05.03.2026 23:36 β€” πŸ‘ 25    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1
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The 'Nexus Ship' created for Reikon Games. Perhaps that's a debris shield in front.
#space #art by Tim Zanconato.
www.artstation.com/artwork/mAeL1Z

05.03.2026 23:25 β€” πŸ‘ 30    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Out of the 63 countries with positive organic population growth in the world, 42 are in Africa.

Many of its cities have seen incredible expansion in the past decades, multiplying 10x, 30x or 90x over their size in 1950.

05.03.2026 20:40 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Returning 100 kB of data from Proxima Centauri, when you have only a 1 gram probe with 10 mW of power, is about a BILLION times more difficult than communicating with New Horizons past Pluto.

05.03.2026 15:01 β€” πŸ‘ 31    πŸ” 5    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Here is how the nuclear rocket engine will work:
youtu.be/eDNX65d-FBY
A NASA/AEC animation for a regeneratively cooled nuclear-thermal rocket with graphite-uranium core, from 1958.

05.03.2026 14:14 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Under the overpass, in the glow of neon lights.
#art by Matvey Radkov.
www.artstation.com/artwork/4Nn1nW

05.03.2026 14:00 β€” πŸ‘ 13    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Well, they lived several levels underground in the previous season, which is more than enough protection if they spend a good % of their time there.

05.03.2026 02:12 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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According to the For All Mankind official 2004-2012 timeline, 'Iridium' has become the unobtanium that justifies the space economy, Mars habs above ground are protected by magnetic shielding and there's an interplanetary illegal immigration problem with stowaways:
youtu.be/sjQmbeoiMOM

05.03.2026 02:05 β€” πŸ‘ 20    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
Post image Post image 04.03.2026 15:32 β€” πŸ‘ 6    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Quaia is an all-sky quasar map showing over 1.2 million active supermassive black holes detected by the Gaia mission:
iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3...
It's the catalog with the "largest total volume of the universe mapped".

04.03.2026 15:32 β€” πŸ‘ 14    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Carbon has a metastable BC8 form that's tougher than diamond. Its compressive strength may be 30% higher!

However, it would have to be grown as nanocrystals condensing out of liquid carbon at insane 5000K and >1500 GPa conditions.
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

04.03.2026 14:35 β€” πŸ‘ 17    πŸ” 4    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0