ToughSF (@ToughSf) / X

ToughSF

35.7K posts

ToughSF

@ToughSf

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

Luxembourg

Joined March 2016

ToughSF
@ToughSf
Sep 22, 2024
LHS 1140b is a super-Earth tidally locked to its small, quiet red dwarf star, and thanks to recent JWST observations, we think it is a cold eyeball planet: frozen all over except for a liquid ocean directly facing the dim star. sci.news/astronomy/habi…
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ToughSF
@ToughSf
Nov 1, 2025
A chart of US fighter jets, from the Bell P-59 to the Lockheed Martin F-35: reddit.com/r/aviation/com…
1M
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Mar 19, 2025
The Mitsubishi Air Lubrication System (MALS) that lets ships ride on a low-friction 'air carpet': youtu.be/1RZ0UOIITMk It was already demonstrated to reduce fuel consumption by 13% in its first trials.
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1.4M
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Aug 4, 2023
Nuclear breakthrough beyond theory: a Japanese cyclotron has managed to create Sodium-39. This isotope has 2.5x more neutrons than protons. It was thought impossible but here it is: physics.aps.org/articles/v15/1…
1.3M
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Dec 29, 2024
Shipbreaking of LNG tankers leaves otherworldly remains.
293K
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Oct 18, 2025
More and more industries are realizing the value of spending 0.01% of their budget on filming the work they do
Tokamak Energy
@TokamakEnergy
Oct 15, 2025
Plasma is better in colour! Watch one of our latest #plasma pulses in our ST40 tokamak, filmed using our new high-speed colour camera at an incredible 16,000 frames per second. Each pulse lasts around a fifth of a second. What you’re seeing is mostly visible light from the
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ToughSF
@ToughSf
Apr 26, 2025
An orbital... B-2? This is a cross between a stealth bomber and the Space Shuttle, in NASA colours. #space #art by Javi. artstation.com/artwork/98zk1y
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ToughSF
@ToughSf
Mar 19, 2024
Rocket engineers have long had to choose between performance and toxicity. The TOXMAX rocket concept resolves the problem decisively. Lithium kept molten by radioactive Cesium-137, reacting with fluorine, provides superlative performance with maximum environmental impact.
532K
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Jul 15, 2025
At this frame-rate, we can clearly see the many micro-corrections the onboard flight computer does through the fly-by-wire system:
Dustin Farrell
@Dustin_Farrell
Jul 14, 2025
The F-35B filmed at 600 FPS with a 1000mm lens.
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ToughSF
@ToughSf
Jun 22, 2024
The bacterial flagellar motor can spin at 100,000 RPM in one direction, then switch gears and flip to spinning in the other direction. How does this work? Cryo-electron microscopy reveals some of the nanoscale mechanics involved: nature.com/articles/s4156… youtu.be/MsPPyNWhqPo
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1.1M
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Feb 5, 2024
A method to unilaterally disable all nuclear bombs on Earth, remotely and without countermeasure: arxiv.org/pdf/hep-ph/030… It uses a 1000 TeV muon->neutrino beam to penetrate right through the Earth and decay near fissile material, forcing it to 'fizzle' and become useless.
1.2M
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Apr 27, 2024
Why were aircraft manufacturers so eager to switch from high-performance piston engines to jet engines, despite all their early drawbacks? The insane level of complexity piston engine design had reached is one reason. Compare cross-sections and number of moving parts here:
440K
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Nov 1, 2025
100 kW laser... in a container. 5 MWe reactor... in a container. Cruise missile launcher... in a container. Reverse osmosis plant... in a container.
192K
ToughSF
@ToughSf
Sep 10, 2023
A 2000 ton spaceship that's 900 tons antihydrogen, 900 tons hydrogen and 200 tons engines, structure and payload would have a deltaV of 1.59 C. It can accelerate to 0.92C with 2.55x time dilation, enough to reach the closest star in 21.4 months subjective time.
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