Soviet Space Shuttle

Out of all the illusive, weird topics in history the Soviet space shuttle, the Buran, has always been something that has caught my attention, but I have never had the time to research it to any extent. At first glance the Buran looks like the American space shuttle, but closer inspection reveals the words 'CCCP' and the distinct hammer and sickle flag. The russians developed the Buran in the late '80's as a direct response to the american orbiter because they perceived it as a significant military threat. The russians borrowed heavily from the american design in shaper and even the three stage booster design. In 1988 the Soviets conducted the one and only unmanned flight test. Three hours after launch and two orbits later the Buran glided back to Earth just a few miles from were its journey started.

Years after the program was canceled, mainly due to the collapse of the soviet union, the shuttle was left abandoned in a hanger in Kazakhstan. The hanger was left unmaintained for decades, which caused its collapsed, crushing the Buran and the remanding parts of its booster assembly. I find it said that the crowing achievement of the soviet space program has been lost.

Fungus That Makes Diesel Fuel...?

A recently discovered fungus has demonstrated the ability to convert cellulose directly in to diesel fuel. This fungus was discovered growing on the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian Rainforest, which is located in southern Argentina. The scientific name for this fungus is Clonostachys rosea. Here is a quote from on of the scientists that discovered this amazing

“Gliocladium roseum lives inside the Ulmo tree in the Patagonian rainforest. We were trying to discover totally novel fungi in this tree by exposing its tissues to the volatile antibiotics of the fungus Muscodor albus. Quite unexpectedly, G. roseum grew in the presence of these gases when almost all other fungi were killed. It was also making volatile antibiotics. Then when we examined the gas composition of G. roseum, we were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. The results were totally unexpected and very exciting and almost every hair on my arms stood on end!

”

The next step is to find out how this fungus can be genetically engineered to produce more hydrocarbons and how the process of capturing can be made more efficient so that this process will be economically feasible. But if you think of the implications of this kind of process its mind boggling to imagine that agricultural waste could one day all be converted into diesle fuel.

Personally I find this very interesting. If there is an organism that defends its self by producing hydrocarbons, what other creatures or plants have yet to be discovered that can do other amazing things. However, this organism was discovered in the rain forest while this is not a bad thing, it shows us that amazing things exist in the rain forest and they need to be protected. It is unknown how many other organisms that have equally amazing talents have yet to be discovered or have already been lost.

http://cleantechnica.com/2008/11/06/fungus-discovered-that-makes-diesel-from-cellulose/