The researchers stressed that they’ve already figured out how to affordably manufacture rolls of the film-like material, "making it a potentially viable large-scale technology for both residential and commercial applications,” according to a university publication.A radiative cooling technology could help cut energy consumption by nearly 70 per cent. The atmosphere itself, mainly in the form of water molecules, also radiates back a portion of the heat. Depending on the application and climate conditions, the technology could be able cut down energy used to cool structures by 10 to 70 per cent. Goldstein is the startup’s chief technology officer; Aaswath Raman, lead author of the original paper and one of MIT Technology Review’s "35 Innovators Under 35” in 2015, serves as chief executive; and Shanhui Fan, a Stanford professor of electrical engineering, acts as an advisor.Like the Stanford team, the CU Boulder researchers raised money from ARPA-E, applied for a patent, and formed a company, Radi-Cool.

Last week the researchers published a follow-up paper in Nature Energy, demonstrating that a scaled-up version of the technology can be used to cool flowing water.S. This natural phenomenon is what causes frost to form on surfaces under the open night sky, like car windows and blades of grass, even when temperatures don’t reach freezing. In February, a team of engineers at the University of Colorado, Boulder, published a paper in Science describing a glass-polymer hybrid material that achieved "noon-time radiative cooling power of 93 (watt per square meter) under direct sunshine. The point of jackets, mittens, and scarves is to retain as much of that radiant heat as possible, keeping us warm on winter days. About 14 percent of total U.The company is carrying out a field trial of its latest generation of panels in Davis, California, about two hours away from Burlingame in the Central Valley, evaluating the technology as a way to augment both air-conditioning and commercial refrigeration systems.1 watts per square meter. 

 But in research first published in Nature in late 2014, the scientists behind SkyCool Systems got around that problem by developing an advanced material tuned to radiate infrared light in the range that slips through the atmosphere while also reflecting away 97 percent of sunlight. Eli Goldstein, cofounder of SkyCool Systems, showed off his new invention at his workspace in Burlingame, California.SkyCool’s new panels being shown off were some sort of high-tech mirrors, designed to cool down buildings far more efficiently than traditional air-conditioning systems.A set of square silver panels placed into his parking lot were tilted toward the sun, and covered in aluminum foil attached to a metal frame holding an array of pipes, tubes, and thermometers.SkyCool&China vacuum compressed bag Manufacturers39;s researchers, who have secured a limited amount of additional federal and private funding, continue to improve the efficiency of the advanced materials. By setting up panels with thin water pipes running directly beneath them, the researchers lowered the temperature of water by 5 ËšC over three days of testing.9 ËšC below ambient air temperatures, a "cooling power of 40.” Materials emitting radiation in that range literally cast it into the cold expanses of space, or at least the cool upper atmosphere, allowing the surfaces themselves to dip below the temperature of the surrounding air. Talks with potential clients have already begun. 

If the system were coupled with a hydronic radiant cooling system—a rare but highly efficient way of cooling buildings that works by circulating water instead of blowing air—the energy savings for heating, cooling, and ventilation could reach nearly 70 percent in ideal climate conditions, according to a simulation analysis published in 2015, on which Fernandez was the lead author. The Department of Energy’s moonshot ARPA-E program, which provided $3 million to the SkyCool researchers in 2012, found that advanced radiative cooling panels could cut 10 to 20 percent of that use, and reduce peak load demands on the electricity grid.But far larger energy savings may be possible for developers who opt to incorporate radiative cooling systems directly into new buildings during the design phase, says Nick Fernandez, an energy analyst at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.—by James Temple, MIT Technology Review. The scientists are in talks with potential investors and manufacturers, says Ronggui Yang, a professor of mechanical engineering, who is a coauthor of the paper and acting CEO of the startup.A critical challenge for harnessing this mechanism in useful ways has been that during the day, the heat from the sun generally offsets any cooling effect. Placed on a roof under direct sunlight, the material remained 4.

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So what was the haste all about?The uncharitable view would be that power abhors a vacuum. The external balance worsened due to the higher cost of oil imports.3 per cent in 2014-15 to 7.Other than achieving this year’s stretch fiscal deficit target, the finance minister needs to ponder on the target for 2018-19. He claimed recently that in trying to copy UPA-1 and chase high growth, both the banks and industry were destabilised through reckless lending and investment.A rationalisation of the rupee exchange rate in end July and August made exports and domestic products competitive.Burning his fingers once, while explicitly chasing growth, should not convert the finance minister into a growth wallflower.On growth — a sensitive issue for the BJP — Mr Jaitley has thrown a googly.This is a courageous move, very similar to his taking up Palaniappan Chidambaram’s implicit challenge in his interim and last budget in 2014-15 — a fiscal deficit target of 4. 

The GST snafu can be ascribed to the lack of expert skills or a tactical decision to trade off technical rigour against speed of implementation — a perfectly sensible trade-off in India’s fractious democracy. This is mere fire-fighting. The "twin balance sheet problem” is likely to take three to five years to resolve, considering that "legal blustering” is a time-honoured mechanism for delaying a decision.The Reserve Bank of India’s Financial Stability Report of June 2018 estimates that Gross Non-Performing Assets will worsen from 11. But the BJP also scored some self-goals, most specifically demonetisation and the less than meticulously-planned implementation of GST.7 per cent. Unless bank lending and corporate governance become more market-friendly and transparent, investment levels will hover around the 30 per cent of GDP level — not enough for eight-plus per cent growth.2 per cent by March 2019.Fiscal stability has improved over Mr Jaitley’s tenure. Politicians and filmstars — no wonder the two often overlap — are most vulnerable to the prolonged loss of public face-time.6 per cent in the previous year.3 per cent of GDP.

The pressures for fiscal expansion come from the urgency to recapitalise publicly-owned banks; financing infrastructure via public funds in the absence of any appetite for India risk among foreign developers; the narrow base of unimpaired domestic infra developers and finally the compulsions of electoral politics.4 per cent this year, and a 0. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (Photo: PTI) Arun Jaitley has returned to take charge as finance minister well before those who care for him would have really advised. And the fears of attracting American sanctions by buying oil from Iran have also receded. The associated structural reforms to make the banks autonomous of government control; effective oversight of bank lending by the RBI and seeding economic liberalisation into field-level government regulations — labour laws, freedom from "inspector raj”, land regulation and transparent natural resources allocation, were all kicked down the road for successive governments — including the BJP, to manage.The government has allocated Rs 2. What is most likely, though, is that he returned to his North Block corner office in order to cement his legacy as finance minister through the last and interim budget for 2019-20 of this government. 

Will he play the "Chidambaram card” and fix it at three per cent of GDP? China Travel Vacuum Space Bag Factory Mr Chidambaram was pretty sure that he would not have to live within his interim budget. Achieving this is crucially dependent on reduction in subsidies from two per cent of GDP in 2014-15 to 1.6 per cent of GDP increase in tax collection (7.Demonetisation was effective but cynical politics, which did not pass the "raj dharma” smell test.6 per cent of GDP this year.. This is a wise move.6 per cent in March 2018 to 12. But reducing the fiscal deficit by a full percentage point of GDP below what he inherited would be in line with Mr Jaitley’s flair for challenges. But India’s external debt is a moderate 20 per cent of GDP, so the debt servicing risks are manageable.1 per cent of GDP — steeply reduced from 4. The trick is to use the lens of sustainable equity while laying our economic foundations. The IMF (August 2018 report) expects GDP growth to pick up over the next two years to 7. Alternative schemes are being implemented like LIC, a publicly-owned insurance company, buying up the bankrupt IDBI Bank and infusing an additional `90 billion into it. Additional borrowing of 0.3 per cent by March 2019. The jury is out on whether Mr Jaitley could reasonably assume a similar privilege. Growth will follow.8 per cent of GDP. The IMF estimates that the net inflows of foreign investment and portfolio capital increased from $28 billion in 2014-15 to $48 billion last year and anticipate $70 billion this year. The ambitious target for the current year is 3.Mr Jaitley manfully accepted this unreal target and achieved it, noting in his budget speech: "One fails only when one stops trying”. The RBI has kept domestic base interest rates competitive in tandem with trends in "safe havens”.Mr Jaitley’s is a nuanced claim.It is unlikely that the growth record of UPA-1 (FY 2004-09) at an annual average of eight per cent would be achievable till after 2022

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Iran’s legendary military commander, Gen. It was Iran, which pushed its friendly Shia-dominated government in Iraq of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to reject any lingering presence of the US military on Iraqi soil. Iran was the reason why these wars were fought and also the main organised force of resistance to the IS’ savagery.The congratulation and self-vindication in Iran at the fall of IS’ Caliphate were second to none and deservingly so.Saudi Arabia’s recent bizarre attempt to take the Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri hostage and demand that future Lebanese governments heed more to Riyadh than to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah was a clear signal that phobia of Iran and its so-called "Shia Crescent” is now at its peak among Iran’s enemies. Parallelly, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced on December 9 that "we have won with our unity and determination” and that IS had been decimated in his country.

Israel’s insistence that it would not negotiate with any Palestinian government unless the Hamas faction severs its ties with Iran proves that the entire Israel-Palestine dispute is now predicated on the Iran threat perception.It is true that many Kurds and Sunni Arabs also gave their lives in order to evict IS from their lands. Russia did work in tandem with Iran but sought to steal Tehran’s thunder and project itself as the main saviour from the IS demon. But the reverse is happening and it would be no surprise if successors to IS arise soon to once again reprise the game of containing Iran. The notorious black banner of the hardline jihadists was spectacularly unfurled in Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul, in 2014.

Even the controversy around US President Donald Trump recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital has an unspoken Iran angle.But even more consequential than these two figures was the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who proudly proclaimed on November 21 that IS had been vanquished in both Syria and Iraq. You either love it to bits or hate its guts.Let us rewind to 2011, just before IS had emerged as a diabolical threat in West Asia. But had there been no decisive Iranian hand in the campaigns, we would not be marking the absolute end of the IS Caliphate today. Terming IS an "evil”, which had been "lifted from the head of the people”, he thanked "thousands of martyrs” mobilised by Iran to fight in Syria and Iraq to "destroy the foundation and roots” of the terrorist movement.. From there, IS embarked on a devilish mission of extermination and conquest across both sides of the Euphrates river which straddles Iraq and Syria.By dint of its anti-Western nationalism and fierce promotion of Shia causes, Iran evokes intense emotions in West Asia. 

Sections within the US Congress who seek re-imposition of sanctions on Iran to bury the 2015 nuclear deal are also driven by the same motive of stopping Iran in its tracks.The moment IS began grabbing control of vast stretches of land, Iran realised that it had to intervene rapidly or risk facing a Sunni jihadist monster state right on its western border.In hindsight, this was a mistake because the security vacuum created by the departing Americans could not be filled by the fledgling Iraqi military. By aiming to diplomatically and militarily strengthen Israel vis-à-vis the Palestinians, the Trump administration believes it can halt Iran’s winning streak. 

Western and Israeli intelligence agencies are agog with fears that Iran will cash in its victory by concretising a "land corridor” stretching from Tehran all the way up to Beirut, passing via the IS-disinfected Iraqi and Syrian deserts and linking up to the Mediterranean Sea. Mr Trump’s extreme pro-Israel bias against the Palestinians seeks to consolidate the informal but effective Israel-Saudi nexus Wholesale Vacuum space bags to wrestle Iran down. The full withdrawal of American troops from Iraq was Tehran’s goal as a necessary precondition for Iranian influence to be consolidated in Shia-majority Iraq. Only Israel has the strategic capabilities to push back the Iranian juggernaut. If Iran is able to dispatch its Revolutionary Guard units without hindrance as far as Lebanon, then it would become an even more existential threat for Israeli national security.The congratulation and self-vindication in Iran at the fall of IS’ Caliphate were second to none and deservingly so. Incidents such as Iran-associated Houthi rebels in Yemen firing missiles that reached as far as Riyadh airport reconfirm to the anti-Iran brigade that apocalypse is nearing. Ideally, it should be included rather than excluded from processes of peace, reconstruction and stability in the region.Recent leaks showing how Crown Prince Salman tried to browbeat the weakened Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas into accepting a peace deal, which would leave Jerusalem in Israeli hands, reveal that Israel and Saudi Arabia are coordinating closely to roll back Iran. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (Photo: File) On December 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared "complete victory” over the Islamic State (IS) in Syria and hailed the "total rout of the terrorists”. 

Qasem Soleimani, spearheaded the anti-IS ground operation and so did several Iran-allied Lebanese Hezbollah leaders. After all, it is not Saudi Arabia which has the military wherewithal to check Iran.However, no neutral historical account of how Syria and Iraq were liberated from the IS scourge can ignore Iran’s centrality. The Western military coalition led by the United States attempted to downgrade, render invisible or hinder Iran’s contributions in the anti-IS war effort. IS suddenly shot to prominence courtesy generous funding and logistical support of Iran’s regional rivals like the Gulf monarchies and Turkey.Alarm over Iran’s growing stature explains the brash Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s denunciation of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as "the new Hitler of West Asia” who must never be appeased but aggressively countered. Strategically, the combined Syria-Iraq war to uproot IS in the last three years can be understood as Iran’s great triumph against its bitter foes Saudi Arabia and Israel — both of which wished the wars had gone on indefinitely and sapped Iran

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The specially designed Edge-Sweeping brush focuses on dirt that accumulates around edges and corners. Well, not all bots are Amazon Alexa. The device has dual cleaning actions, namely single-pass cleaning and triple-pass cleaning (zig-zag motion), that achieve the desired cleaning as per individual needs.Microsoft Surface Pro 6Featuring a 12. You can bring home Alexa through Amazon Echo devices. Alexa is a smart home developed by global technology giant Amazon that helps you to vocally control your IoT devices and smart appliances installed at your home. It comes with "washable bins” which makes the appliance easy to clean and keep.Dyson absolute V 10Dyson introduced many new products this year, in which boats a powerful suction that is capable of removing even the hidden dust and dirt. The conversational virtual home assistant can also set reminders, read out news, book an appointment, and an even crack a joke if you want it to. Dyson absolute has a motor, bin and cyclone aligned in a row. Weighing just 1. The products aimed at keeping our home clean, easy to manage, with voice-controlled feature and many more.(Source). The year 2018 witnessed some high profile smart appliances that have made consumers life easy and smooth.3-inch touchscreen display, this Windows 10 hybrid, which just hit the market, is perfect for students or anyone on your list who is always on the go, making moves. It is able to process more than 60 decisions per second.iRobot Roomba e5

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The state opening of parliament by Queen Elizabeth II came after a string of tragedies which have shaken the nation, and the election on June 8 in which May's Conservatives saw their parliamentary majority wiped out.The queen, at an occasion shorn of its usual pageantry, read out the watered-down list of proposed legislation and lawmakers will then spend the next few days debating before bringing it to a vote.May could be forced to resign if she loses the vote, expected on June 29, just as the country embarks on highly sensitive negotiations for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.After four terror attacks and a deadly tower block blaze that have darkened the national mood, anti-government protesters are also planning a "Day of Rage" in the streets that will converge outside parliament with temperatures forecast to hit 34 degrees Celsius (93 degrees Fahrenheit) -- London's hottest June day since 1976.The enfeebled premier, who is still locked in difficult talks with a Northern Irish party to prop up her administration, says the programme is about seizing opportunities offered by Brexit.The queen said: "My government's priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union."She said her government would seek "to build the widest possible consensus on the country's future outside the European Union", amid divisions within May's own cabinet over the best strategy.The speech announced no fewer than eight bills to implement Brexit, and new legislation aimed at tackling extremist content online after the terror attacks.But the speech was notable also for what it did not contain. 

There was no mention of May's hugely controversial invitation to US President Donald Trump to come on a state visit.Also absent were key pledges the Conservatives had given in their manifesto for the recent election which analysts said had bombed with the electorate -- such as reform of social care for the elderly and more shake-ups in schools.There was also no mention of May's controversial promise to allow a parliamentary vote to repeal a ban on fox hunting, which angered left-wingers.The Times branded May's administration the "stumbling husk of a zombie government" and said she was now "so weak that she cannot arbitrate between squabbling cabinet ministers"."Downing Street is a vacuum," the newspaper said, two days after Britain and the EU formally started their Brexit negotiations.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was ready to step in and build a rival government -- although he and other opposition parties lack the collective numbers to bring down May."This is an unstable coalition, it's not even a coalition, they haven't even got an agreement with the DUP (Democratic Unionist Party)," he said."We're ready to form, obviously, a minority government if this government collapses and it may well," Corbyn said, while raising the possibility of a fresh election if parliamentary deadlock continues.May called the snap general election in a bid to strengthen her mandate heading into the Brexit talks.But the plan spectacularly backfired, leaving her with a minority government that is now trying to form a majority with Northern Ireland's ultra-conservative DUP.May has resisted calls to resign and is hoping for the support of the DUP's 10 MPs to boost her tally of 317 seats in the 650-seat parliament, but a deal has proved elusive so far.A DUP source said a deal was "certainly not imminent" as the talks "haven't proceeded in a way that the DUP would have expected" and cautioned that the party "can't be taken for granted".But even with DUP backing, the government would command only a tiny majority, and just a few rebel MPs could be enough to undermine it fatally.

The Queen's Speech, normally a chance for a new government to show off an ambitious programme, is usually a high point of British pomp, but this year there was no horse-drawn carriage procession, crown or ceremonial robes.The snap election plus the closeness to the monarch's official birthday parade last weekend meant it was deemed infeasible to prepare a second major event at short notice.The speech was initially planned for Monday but was postponed because of the turmoil following the election.The government has said this session of parliament will last two years -- meaning there would be no Queen's Speech next year -- in order to be able to pass the vast amount of Brexit-related legislation.But opposition parties have said it is a way for the government to avoid being voted down in a Queen's Speech next year, when talks in Brussels are expected to get tougher ahead of Britain's expected EU exit in March 2019.

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Crammed into a dome with one bathroom, six scientists will spend eight months munching on mostly freeze-dried foods. The participants will not be confined but will wear spacesuits whenever they step outside for geological expeditions, mapping studies or other tasks. Honolulu: Crammed into a dome with one bathroom, six scientists will spend eight months munching on mostly freeze-dried foods — with a rare treat of Spam — and have only their small sleeping quarters to retreat to for solace.

The simulated stay on Mars with a carefully selected crew of researchers embarked on a mission Thursday to gain insight into the psychological toll a similar real-life voyage would have on astronauts. It’s part of a NASA-funded human-behaviour experiment that could help the space agency send humans to the red planet in the next 20 years.

The man-made dome that the four men and two women call home is outfitted with futuristic white walls and an elevated sleeping platform on the world&Wholesale Vacuum space bags39;s largest active volcano in Hawaii. The vinyl-covered shelter spans 1,200 square feet, or about the size of a small, two-bedroom house.A video released by the group shows the six scientists in matching red polo shirts arriving and entering the dome to farewell handshakes from program associates. Except for the presence of the white van that brought the group, the scene was reminiscent of the red planet — the dome set in a barren, rock-strewn and reddish landscape with distant hills giving the feel of a wind-swept and forbidding environment."

I’m looking forward to building relationships with my crew," said mission commander James Bevington, a space scientist. "I fully anticipate coming out with five new best friends." They will have no physical contact with people in the outside world and will work with a 20-minute delay in communications with their support crew - the time it would take for an email to reach Earth from Mars.The project will study the psychological difficulties with living in isolated, confined conditions for an extended period. NASA hopes to send humans to an asteroid in the 2020s and Mars by the 2030s.

We're hoping to figure out how best to select individual astronauts, how to compose a crew and how to support that crew on long-duration space missions," said principal investigator Kim Binsted, a University of Hawaii science professor.The team members include engineers, a computer scientist, a doctoral candidate and a biomedical expert. They were selected from 700 applicants # subjected to personality tests, background checks and extensive interviews. "When I started, my biggest fear was that we were going to be that crew that turned out like Biosphere 2, which wasn't a very pretty picture," Bevington said.The experimental greenhouse-like habitat in Arizona became a debacle in the 1990s.

It housed different ecosystems and a crew of eight to try to understand what would be needed for humans to live on other planets. The participants were supposed to grow their own food and recycle their air inside the sealed glass space. But the experiment soon spiralled out of control, with the carbon dioxide level rising dangerously and plants and animals dying. The crew members grew hungry and squabbled so badly that by the time they emerged two years later, some of them weren't speaking to each other.

The University of Hawaii operates the dome, called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, and NASA has dedicated more than $2 million to this stage of the project. Scientists previously lived in the dome for two other long-term NASA-funded stays - one of them lasting a year, the other eight months — to study food requirements and crew cohesion.A number of other Mars simulation projects exist around the world, but one of the chief advantages of the Hawaii experiment is the rugged, Mars-like landscape, on a rocky, red plain below the summit of the world's largest active volcano, the Big Island's Mauna Loa.The dome has a kitchen, laboratory and bathroom, plus small sleeping quarters for each member. Unlike Biosphere 2, it won't be airtight.

To maintain the crew's sense of isolation, bundles of food, including some canned goods and snacks, will be dropped off a distance from the dome, and the team members will send a robot to retrieve them.The participants will not be confined but will wear spacesuits whenever they step outside for geological expeditions, mapping studies or other tasks. They will wear instruments measuring their moods and proximity to other team members and use virtual reality devices to simulate familiar and comforting surroundings.Crammed into a dome with one bathroom, six scientists will spend eight months munching on mostly freeze-dried foods. The participants will not be confined but will wear spacesuits whenever they step outside for geological expeditions, mapping studies or other tasks. Honolulu: Crammed into a dome with one bathroom, six scientists will spend eight months munching on mostly freeze-dried foods — with a rare treat of Spam — and have only their small sleeping quarters to retreat to for solace. The simulated stay on Mars with a carefully selected crew of researchers embarked on a mission Thursday to gain insight into the psychological toll a similar real-life voyage would have on astronauts. It’s part of a NASA-funded human-behaviour experiment that could help the space agency send humans to the red planet in the next 20 years.The man-made dome that the four men and two women call home is outfitted with futuristic white walls and an elevated sleeping platform on the world&Wholesale Vacuum space bags39;s largest active volcano in Hawaii. The vinyl-covered shelter spans 1,200 square feet, or about the size of a small, two-bedroom house.A video released by the group shows the six scientists in matching red polo shirts arriving and entering the dome to farewell handshakes from program associates. Except for the presence of the white van that brought the group, the scene was reminiscent of the red planet — the dome set in a barren, rock-strewn and reddish landscape with distant hills giving the feel of a wind-swept and forbidding environment."I’m looking forward to building relationships with my crew," said mission commander James Bevington, a space scientist. "I fully anticipate coming out with five new best friends." They will have no physical contact with people in the outside world and will work with a 20-minute delay in communications with their support crew - the time it would take for an email to reach Earth from Mars.The project will study the psychological difficulties with living in isolated, confined conditions for an extended period. NASA hopes to send humans to an asteroid in the 2020s and Mars by the 2030s. "We're hoping to figure out how best to select individual astronauts, how to compose a crew and how to support that crew on long-duration space missions," said principal investigator Kim Binsted, a University of Hawaii science professor.The team members include engineers, a computer scientist, a doctoral candidate and a biomedical expert. They were selected from 700 applicants # subjected to personality tests, background checks and extensive interviews. "When I started, my biggest fear was that we were going to be that crew that turned out like Biosphere 2, which wasn't a very pretty picture," Bevington said.The experimental greenhouse-like habitat in Arizona became a debacle in the 1990s. It housed different ecosystems and a crew of eight to try to understand what would be needed for humans to live on other planets. The participants were supposed to grow their own food and recycle their air inside the sealed glass space. But the experiment soon spiralled out of control, with the carbon dioxide level rising dangerously and plants and animals dying. The crew members grew hungry and squabbled so badly that by the time they emerged two years later, some of them weren't speaking to each other.The University of Hawaii operates the dome, called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, and NASA has dedicated more than $2 million to this stage of the project. Scientists previously lived in the dome for two other long-term NASA-funded stays - one of them lasting a year, the other eight months — to study food requirements and crew cohesion.A number of other Mars simulation projects exist around the world, but one of the chief advantages of the Hawaii experiment is the rugged, Mars-like landscape, on a rocky, red plain below the summit of the world's largest active volcano, the Big Island's Mauna Loa.The dome has a kitchen, laboratory and bathroom, plus small sleeping quarters for each member. Unlike Biosphere 2, it won't be airtight. To maintain the crew's sense of isolation, bundles of food, including some canned goods and snacks, will be dropped off a distance from the dome, and the team members will send a robot to retrieve them.The participants will not be confined but will wear spacesuits whenever they step outside for geological expeditions, mapping studies or other tasks. They will wear instruments measuring their moods and proximity to other team members and use virtual reality devices to simulate familiar and comforting surroundings.Crammed into a dome with one bathroom, six scientists will spend eight months munching on mostly freeze-dried foods. The participants will not be confined but will wear spacesuits whenever they step outside for geological expeditions, mapping studies or other tasks. Honolulu: Crammed into a dome with one bathroom, six scientists will spend eight months munching on mostly freeze-dried foods — with a rare treat of Spam — and have only their small sleeping quarters to retreat to for solace. The simulated stay on Mars with a carefully selected crew of researchers embarked on a mission Thursday to gain insight into the psychological toll a similar real-life voyage would have on astronauts. It’s part of a NASA-funded human-behaviour experiment that could help the space agency send humans to the red planet in the next 20 years.The man-made dome that the four men and two women call home is outfitted with futuristic white walls and an elevated sleeping platform on the world&Wholesale Vacuum space bags39;s largest active volcano in Hawaii. The vinyl-covered shelter spans 1,200 square feet, or about the size of a small, two-bedroom house.A video released by the group shows the six scientists in matching red polo shirts arriving and entering the dome to farewell handshakes from program associates. Except for the presence of the white van that brought the group, the scene was reminiscent of the red planet — the dome set in a barren, rock-strewn and reddish landscape with distant hills giving the feel of a wind-swept and forbidding environment."I’m looking forward to building relationships with my crew," said mission commander James Bevington, a space scientist. "I fully anticipate coming out with five new best friends." They will have no physical contact with people in the outside world and will work with a 20-minute delay in communications with their support crew - the time it would take for an email to reach Earth from Mars.

The project will study the psychological difficulties with living in isolated, confined conditions for an extended period. NASA hopes to send humans to an asteroid in the 2020s and Mars by the 2030s. "We're hoping to figure out how best to select individual astronauts, how to compose a crew and how to support that crew on long-duration space missions," said principal investigator Kim Binsted, a University of Hawaii science professor.The team members include engineers, a computer scientist, a doctoral candidate and a biomedical expert. They were selected from 700 applicants # subjected to personality tests, background checks and extensive interviews. "When I started, my biggest fear was that we were going to be that crew that turned out like Biosphere 2, which wasn't a very pretty picture," Bevington said.The experimental greenhouse-like habitat in Arizona became a debacle in the 1990s. It housed different ecosystems and a crew of eight to try to understand what would be needed for humans to live on other planets.

The participants were supposed to grow their own food and recycle their air inside the sealed glass space. But the experiment soon spiralled out of control, with the carbon dioxide level rising dangerously and plants and animals dying. The crew members grew hungry and squabbled so badly that by the time they emerged two years later, some of them weren't speaking to each other.The University of Hawaii operates the dome, called Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, and NASA has dedicated more than $2 million to this stage of the project. Scientists previously lived in the dome for two other long-term NASA-funded stays - one of them lasting a year, the other eight months — to study food requirements and crew cohesion.

A number of other Mars simulation projects exist around the world, but one of the chief advantages of the Hawaii experiment is the rugged, Mars-like landscape, on a rocky, red plain below the summit of the world's largest active volcano, the Big Island's Mauna Loa.The dome has a kitchen, laboratory and bathroom, plus small sleeping quarters for each member. Unlike Biosphere 2, it won't be airtight. To maintain the crew's sense of isolation, bundles of food, including some canned goods and snacks, will be dropped off a distance from the dome, and the team members will send a robot to retrieve them.The participants will not be confined but will wear spacesuits whenever they step outside for geological expeditions, mapping studies or other tasks. They will wear instruments measuring their moods and proximity to other team members and use virtual reality devices to simulate familiar and comforting surroundings.

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