NASA has been talking about launching more private and commercial space missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for a while now and they have recently announced that they will open it for such expeditions. The only catch is it will cost you a ton of money.

The first mission will take place as early as 2020, the agency said. “If supported by the market, the agency can accommodate up to two short-duration private astronaut missions per year,” NASA said. 

“These missions will be privately funded, dedicated commercial spaceflights.” CNBC reported that each private trip will likely cost $50 million, and NASA will receive $35,000 per night.

(Image credit: Wiki Images/Pixabay)

Usually it takes time and a lot of practice for us to learn something new or to improve on a skill, but is there a way of accelerating the progress of improvement, like say getting our brains zapped while in the process of learning? That's what some staff from NPR tried to find out.

What if we could master skills a lot faster — with less practice — simply by wearing a brain-boosting headset? I tried the technology behind this claim to improve my vertical jump. In Future You Episode 3, check out the technology and whether my vertical jump got higher — and hear from an Olympic athlete who has tried it as well as the founder of Halo Neuroscience, a company that makes brain-boosting headsets.

(Image credit: Juan Pablo Rodriguez/Unsplash)

When by some chance the superpowers of the world decide to launch their nuclear arsenal, there might not be a lot who would survive the impact. Apart from cockroaches, this aircraft designed during the Cold War might be able to withstand a nuclear blast.

With its giant fuel tanks and ability to refuel in the air from other aircraft, the doomsday plane can stay airborne for several days. It holds 67 satellite dishes and antennas, meaning its crew can communicate with anyone, anywhere in the world, even sending messages to the Navy's ballistic missile submarines, according to DefenseNews.

(Image credit: US Air Force/Wikimedia Commons)

Sometimes the best solutions might be the most ambitious ones. And if we're dealing with the global threat of climate change due to carbon emissions and other human activities that contaminate the Earth's atmosphere, we might need something beyond the ordinary. Something like big, floating islands made entirely of solar panels.

Imagine an open ocean, Sun beating down overhead, with 70 islands of solar panels, each 100 meters (328 feet) in diameter, bobbing silently out toward the horizon. The cluster of islands is churning out electricity and sending it to a hard-hulled ship that acts as an oceanic factory.

With the compounds extracted from these panels, we can then harness them to produce methanol, which would be a great alternative to burning fossil fuels. This could then help reduce the rate at which climate change takes its toll on the Earth.

This plan was outlined in a PNAS paper published this week, which suggests it's an option for addressing the global economy's over-reliance on liquid fossil fuels. Removing excess carbon dioxide from our environment is crucial to mitigating the effects of climate change.

(Image credit: Novaton/Ars Technica)

Photography is an art form which deals with manipulating light, angles, shades and hues, distance, perspective and other aspects to capture great moments both big and small alike that could tell a story or evoke a certain emotion from the people who view them.

It's a craft in which the artist continues to explore various techniques and avenues to frame a scene, landscape, emotion, or an experience in the best possible way. In this regard, Italian photographer Paolo Pettigiani has been trying out a technique utilizing the infrared spectrum to take photos.

His latest work explores two fascinating infrared contrasts: the imposing concrete jungle of Dubai and the amazing tropics of the Maldives. Pettigiani's work is primarily created using full-spectrum converted cameras. While the Dubai photographs used a converted Nikon D750, the Maldives shots were taken using a converted DJI Mavic Pro 2.

If you look at his photos, it might seem like filters have been applied on them but the sharpness and the intricacy of using the right tools and equipment make them a cut above normal photos with filters applied. Take a look here and see his collection of surreal and colorful infrared photos.

(Image credit: Paolo Pettigiani/Behance)

Some researchers say they have actually succeeded in creating a system that can do artificial photosynthesis. If this would be verified, then it would have the potential of providing us with another source of energy and hopefully, use the system to resolve issues like carbon emissions which create air pollution and contribute to global warming.

The French researchers claim to have a fully artificial system, creating ethylene and ethane, both potent fuels, from the common mineral perovskite. The French system, as all the others, is still a prototype in a lab and a long way from being a functional way to produce sustainable fuel at scale—but it’s a promising start.

(Image credit: Stefan Steinbauer/Unsplash)

Castles have a certain charm to them. Though a lot of them feel like relics of the past, just one look at the castles we have that are still standing could take your breath away. Atlas Obscura recently asked their readers what their favorite castles are and they collated some of the most majestic here.

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

These life-sized plywood cutouts of famous pop culture icons and characters from various animated shows were the works of Mike Bennett whose inspiration came from a thought about Calvin and Hobbes making a big snowman. From there, his project took off.

He headed to Home Depot, came back with a jigsaw, and went to town on wood from a nearby ReBuilding Center. Bennett, who was once active on the short-video app Vine, where he recreated scenes from movies and TV with little paper dolls, began to fill the yard with pop-culture characters.

He wasn't satisfied with filling his own front yard with these figures. So he decided to put his installation art around town without destroying any property or trespassing, of course.

“I’m a pretty big baby when it comes to trespassing,” he says, and he’s also careful to avoid damaging property or plants. He’ll sometimes fasten his wooden characters to light posts, trees, or telephone poles with a few hooks and twine. His information is printed on the back of the figures, so if someone gets in touch to say that they want one to come down, he can swing by and grab it.

So far, he hasn't received any complaints from people. He has more plans to put up other characters in different places around Portland.

(Image credit: Mike Bennett)

Geysers are usually surrounded by land and they spout hot water from underneath which happens as a result of the surface water touching hot rocks very deep underground. However, there are cases when geysers form due to particular hydrogeological conditions such as the one in Reykholt, Iceland. The geyser is surrounded by a river.

Iceland has many geysers but none is stranger than Vellir, also known as Árhver, because it is located smack in the middle of a flowing river. Vellir consists of a cone of cemented clay and gravel which can be clearly seen when the water level in the Reykjadalsá river is low, but at high water levels, the cone usually remains submerged.

(Image credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Often, we see photos of objects and regions through artists' depictions based on information and data which scientists have gathered or theories from the available data. With more advanced equipment and more frequent space missions being launched, we can now have a glimpse of our universe in its actual form.

However, several centuries ago, astronomers of the time didn't have the luxury of computerized equipment or all the other technology with which we try to view the stars. So it was a necessity for them to draw their observations in order to make records.

In 1610, Galileo published his seminal work, “Sidereus Nuncius”— often translated as “Starry Messenger” — which contained numerous drawings he sketched over long nights in front of his telescope. They included the cragged terrain of the moon, stars invisible to the naked eye, and what would come to be known as the Galilean moons circling Jupiter.

Galileo drew on art techniques like perspective and chiaroscuro — a manner of depicting light and shadows that was relatively new at the time — to show the lofty mountains and craters on the moon’s imperfect surface. Using geometry and his drawings as a measuring stick, he was even able to measure their heights with astonishing precision.

In relation to this, the Hubble Telescope was supposed to be retired in 2004 after completing all of its objectives. But through the initiative of a group of astronomers, they convinced NASA to keep the telescope going. And even today, the Hubble has produced many astounding images of outer space and NASA continues to document them.

(Image credit: NASA/ESA/Wikimedia Commons)

The Swiss love their cats much like other countries but they have gone to such measures for their beloved feline friends to the point that they build cat ladders on the side of their houses leading to their windows and apartments. It's a sight to see as there aren't a lot of places in the world with such an abundance of cat ladders.

Despite their whimsical photogeneity, cat ladders haven’t yet been thoroughly documented. The graphic designer and writer Brigitte Schuster aims to change that. She had spotted the occasional cat ladder in her native Germany, but it wasn’t until she moved to Bern, Switzerland, six years ago that she realized how popular they were. 

She’s since taken hundreds of photographs of cat ladders around the Swiss capital, compiling them in a book analyzing the structures from sociological, architectural, and aesthetic perspectives. Swiss Cat Ladders will be published by Schuster’s book imprint, Brigitte Schuster Éditeur, in German and English in fall 2019.

(Image credit: Brigitte Schuster/Creative Commons)

Looking at this photo showing vintage signs of Chinese ophthalmology clinics feels creepy and eerily cultish. They are very different from the signs we have today which usually show brand logos instead of creepy drawings of eyes staring at you. -via Ridiculously Interesting

(Image credit: Wang Shuangquan)

Artisanal cafe Mellower Coffee has tried out a cute new concept of having your coffee infused with sweetness by letting some cotton candy hang over the cup like a cloud and as the steam evaporates, drops fall from the cotton candy onto the coffee like rain falling down.

While Mellower Coffee is no stranger to specialty coffees, Sweet Little Rain is their most creative concoction yet. To try this fantastic drink for yourself, stop by one of the cafe’s locations. 

As it’s unclear if every one of Mellower Coffee’s 50+ sites serves this stormy brew, we suggest scoping out the #sweetlittlerain hashtag on Instagram to see if you can find your local shop—and to get lost in nearly 1,000 photos of the fanciful creation!

Mellower Coffee shops can be found in several cities in China, Singapore, and South Korea.

-via Moss and Fog

(Image credit: trip.ayu_visor/Instagram)

There are no limits or boundaries to art. Whether big or small, it's all about expressing oneself through creativity and imagination. And an artist known as Slinkachu finds inspiration in "abandoning" his miniature creations and worlds wherever he sees fit.

His work embodies elements of street art, sculpture, installation art and photography and has been exhibited in galleries and museums globally. His images have been collected in three best-selling art books; Little People in the City (Boxtree, 2009), Big Bad City (Lebowski, 2010) and Global Model Village (Boxtree, 2012) that have collectively sold over 300,000 copies worldwide.

Check out some of his stunning works of art on his website.

-via Moss and Fog

(Image credit: "Shelter", "Unnatural Wonder", Slinkachu)

Healthcare in America is a complicated business. There are too many steps that people need to take before they can get whatever tests done and determine the proper treatment for their disease. Not to mention, it's also very expensive and not everybody gets covered with health insurance.

In comparison, other countries put healthcare in such high priority that getting checked about a breast lump you just discovered would only take less than an hour. Acclaimed sci-fi author Mary Robinette Kowal shares her experience when she lived in Iceland and found a lump.

It was a different experience from the get-go. She asked a coworker for advice, and he told her to go to the cancer center. When she asked him if she’d need a referral, he didn’t know what that was. She called the cancer center and asked when she could have an appointment. They replied, “You found a lump!” and told her to come in right away.

(Images credit: Mary Robinette Kowal/Twitter)