NASA Completes early tests of mini nuclear fission Reactor which could Power human Settlements on Ma
Source: Newsweek
NASA has successfully completed tests of a miniature nuclear reactor which could one day power long-term human settlements on the Moon, Mars and beyond.
Kilopower, as the system is known, is a small, lightweight fission reactor which will be capable of producing up to 10 kilowatts of electrical power—enough to run several households continuously for 10 years. Just four of these reactors would be sufficient to power a Martian outpost, according to NASA.
A reliable and efficient power system will be an essential part of future space missions as humans begin to settle other worlds, enabling outposts to be self-sufficient. The new reactor will provide the power for lighting, water and oxygen, as well as for running experiments and producing fuel. This capability will mean astronauts won't have to take all the resources they need with them, opening up new possibilities for exploration.
The reactor will be especially useful in the challenging environments of places such as the Moon and Mars where generating power using solar panels can be difficult. On Mars, for example, sunlight is limited by seasonal variation and periodic dust storms which can last for months. Meanwhile, night time on the Moon lasts around 14 days.
Read more: http://www.newsweek.com/nasa-completes-early-tests-mini-nuclear-fission-reactor-which-could-power-909237
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offer an option to preserving our human/animal DNA gene pool, hopefully, all of humanity as reside on this little spinning ball of dirt. Maybe.
with the research? 
Last fall I read two books by Charles Mann, "1491" and "1493", that covered the state of the world before Columbus and his ilk arrived in the Americas. Then I read Gavin Menzies books, "1421" and "1434" in which he posits that the Chinese got to the Americas and mapped nearly the entire world seventy years before Columbus (in "1421"
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Today I pulled out a book my grandfather was given in 1904, Mabie's Popular History of the United States 1897 and in the first chapter they talk about how the Vikings discovered America.
Mann had problems with the Columbus discovery but he does claim that Columbus ushered in a huge economic shift in the world which he mostly covered in "1493" ("1491" mostly covers the state of the Americas prior to Columbus' arrival). Menzies seems to be sinocentric rather than eurocentric and discounts what earlier occupants of the Americas had done. In "1434" Menzies even gives the Chinese credit for the European Reformation crediting the Chinese with every single advance of that period. While there may have been influences
Humans found the "New World" over and over and over. Even "Native Americans" arrived in various waves. No one person or culture can claim it as their discovery!
We’ll always have to deal with that portion of the user base who find science threatening or boring. Luckily they are easily ignored and can’t mount a cogent argument to save their lives.
