Reproducible computational assets
Models and calculations that can be rerun from the project files, with stated assumptions and limits.
DMGB SYSTEMS · FIELD GUIDE
A growing map of useful science
47 subject pages are online across eight disciplines. That is the starting library; each chapter still needs evidence and accessibility closeout.
Published field guide47 / 47 planned pages
47 pages online8 disciplines272 ideas indexed47 detailed chapter reviews still open
Page coverage is complete. Scientific and accessibility review is still underway; publication does not mean every question is settled.
Documented research reviews
Evidence reviews already recorded across the wider research programme. They support an educational guide, not a claim of peer review.
Priority research topics
Hypersonic energy recovery, hot-gas MHD, electric space propulsion, hypersonic flight and the solar gravitational lens.
LATEST FIELD NOTES
What has recently moved forward
- Hypersonic energy recoveryCoupled energy ledger rerun across 81 cases; illustrative assumptions, not a tested engine.
- Hot-gas MHDComponent evidence and unproven whole-system loops are separated.
- Solar gravitational lensMission-distance, exposure and imaging limits are quantified as model estimates.
- Electric propulsionExisting spacecraft thrusters and mission trade-offs are compared.
THE FIELD GUIDE
Find a subject.
See what it can do.
Start with a discipline below. Each subject connects a scientific idea to a practical use and a possible next step.
47 independent topic pages · 8 disciplines. They are not a course to take in order: choose any question and start there. Each entry gives a short description, one current use and a possible next step.
All 47 pages are published, but their science and accessibility reviews are still under way. A page being available does not mean every claim has passed its final review. Future directions are questions to investigate, not proven inventions.
How to read the evidence behind a space technology — distinguish a concept, a tested device and a demonstrated mission.
Inside a Hall thruster: explore the editable CAD cutaway — see how electricity helps spacecraft use propellant, from a simple explanation to the scientific mechanism.
Browse ideas that need deeper checking, lack evidence or were set aside →
Physics
Softening a shock →
How can a package protect a delicate instrument when it is dropped? Explore how springs and damping spread a shock over time, and why softer is not always better.
Used today
Protect instruments and packages from shocks using characterized isolators.
Possible next step
Compare isolation designs under measured size, load and durability constraints.
What keeps a machine in the air? →
What keeps a machine hovering, and where does its energy go? Follow the forces and momentum exchanged with the surroundings to distinguish a working lifting principle from an unsupported claim.
Open the magnetic-force and closed-circuit lesson →
Used today
Estimate lift, momentum transfer and power for rotors and jets.
Possible next step
Assess quieter or more efficient lift concepts once losses and operating conditions are measured.
Falling around a planet →
Why does a satellite keep falling without hitting the ground? Explore how gravity, speed and rotation shape motion around a planet.
Used today
Plan satellite orbits and calculate rotational acceleration.
Possible next step
Study rotating habitats with explicit structural and human-factor limits.
Where the energy comes from →
When a device gives out heat, motion or a stronger signal, what supplies the energy? Trace every input and output before judging an efficiency or power claim.
Used today
For a loudspeaker amplifier, count the electrical power supply as an input: a stronger sound does not come from the small input signal alone.
Possible next step
For a proposed heating device, measure all energy entering and leaving over a full operating cycle before comparing it with an existing heater.
Following the heat →
Why does one object cool quickly while another stays warm? Follow heat through materials and moving fluids to understand insulation, cooling and the limits of simple models.
Used today
Design insulation, cooling and heat exchangers using validated thermal models.
Possible next step
Improve thermal management by measuring losses and spatial gradients under intended conditions.
How do we know the temperature? →
How does a sensor turn a physical change into a temperature reading? Explore calibration and uncertainty to see what a displayed number can actually tell us.
Used today
Use calibrated sensors and specified phase transitions as temperature indicators.
Possible next step
Compare new sensing materials after characterizing response, uncertainty and drift.
Turning sunlight into useful heat →
How much useful heat can sunlight provide, and how do surfaces lose energy as radiation? Compare incoming energy, absorption and emission without confusing brightness with efficiency.
Used today
Budget solar heat, lighting input and infrared radiation in specified systems.
Possible next step
Compare selective surfaces and receivers after measuring spectra and operating losses.
Bending light with a gradient →
Can light bend without meeting a sharply defined lens surface? Explore how a gradual change in a material's optical properties curves a light ray, and why heating alone does not guarantee a useful lens.
Used today
Trace light through a lens whose optical properties change gradually inside it, to see where the rays meet and whether an image could be focused.
Possible next step
Compare a proposed compact imaging lens with an ordinary lens, measuring image sharpness and light loss before claiming an advantage.
How much can a picture reveal? →
Why does enlarging a picture sometimes reveal no extra detail? Explore the separate limits imposed by optics, pixel sampling, exposure and noise before interpreting an image.
Used today
Assess camera resolution, sampling and exposure before interpreting images.
Possible next step
Improve reconstruction with independent ground truth and explicit uncertainty.
Seeing beyond visible light →
What can different wavelengths reveal that an ordinary photograph misses? Separate reflected light from thermal emission, and see why lighting and mixed materials can make an image ambiguous.
Used today
Compare reflected wavelengths to study vegetation or differences between surfaces, after accounting for lighting and sensor calibration.
Possible next step
Test ways to distinguish materials under different lighting and mixtures, using new observations excluded from development.
How two views create depth →
How can two pictures reveal distance? Compare the geometry used to estimate depth with the separate task of showing different views to our two eyes.
Used today
Estimate depth from calibrated camera pairs and provide stereoscopic displays.
Possible next step
Improve depth reconstruction after testing occlusions, calibration and display comfort.
Hearing through noise →
What makes speech easier to understand in a noisy place? Explore the roles of the source, room, listener and signal processing rather than treating loudness as the only solution.
Used today
Improve intelligibility through source placement, room acoustics and signal processing.
Possible next step
Evaluate adaptive listening systems with realistic noise and human evidence.
How radio signals travel →
Why can one radio signal travel far while another fades or takes a different path? Explore frequency, the surrounding medium and travel delay to understand what a received signal can reveal.
Used today
Plan communication links using frequency, propagation delay and noise budgets.
Possible next step
Refine propagation forecasts using calibrated observations of changing environments.
Radiation, shielding and evidence →
Why does a shield stop some radiation more effectively than others? Compare radiation types, materials and measurement conditions before interpreting a detector reading or a protection claim.
Used today
Understand why shielding reduces radiation reaching a detector, and why the material and radiation type matter.
Possible next step
Compare sensing or shielding concepts with defined spectra and qualified testing.
Engineering
Why structures stay standing →
How do supports share a load, and what might a sensor reveal about a changing structure? Separate simple force calculations from the inspections and evidence needed to assess a real structure.
Used today
Calculate support loads and use inspection to assess structural condition.
Possible next step
Combine monitoring channels with validated repair decisions after environmental testing.
From raw material to useful shape →
What does it take to turn a measured shape into a useful physical part? Follow the steps from measurement and raw material to manufacturing, tolerances and inspection.
Used today
Scan dimensions, process feedstocks and manufacture parts within tolerances.
Possible next step
Improve reconstruction workflows after testing resolution, material compatibility and resource use.
Turning signals into records →
How can sound become a visible track and then be heard again? Follow the conversion chain and compare an analog trace, a digital code and a printed record.
Used today
Convert sound and light into records using characterized sensors and storage chains.
Possible next step
Compare recording methods with specified bandwidth, noise and preservation requirements.
When sensors disagree →
Does combining two sensors always give a better answer? Explore shared errors, timing differences and unfamiliar inputs to understand when combining measurements helps and when it misleads.
Used today
Combine a robot’s camera and motion sensors to estimate movement, while accounting for timing differences and measurement errors.
Possible next step
Investigate systems that notice when sensors disagree, test for shared errors and admit when an observation is unfamiliar.
How a robot corrects its path →
How does a robot notice that it has drifted away from its route? Explore corrections based on measured error, and how delay or missing observations can affect the result.
Used today
Use feedback to correct robot motion relative to a measured target.
Possible next step
Evaluate resilient autonomy under delays, disturbances and sensor failures.
When should a machine act? →
Should a machine act just because it received a command? Examine checks for the intended action, current conditions and repeated requests in a clearly bounded control demonstration.
Used today
For a machine with a protective door, check that the door is closed before allowing motion. This kind of condition is called an interlock.
Possible next step
Test how a proposed robot responds when its door sensor fails or commands arrive twice, including when it must stop and ask for help.
How machines coordinate work →
Why do some tasks have to wait even when a machine is available? Explore dependencies, shared resources and timing, while separating a schedule from proof that a real process is safe or effective.
Used today
Schedule manufacturing, mixing and transport with explicit resources and queues.
Possible next step
Improve coordinated systems after testing blockages, delays and recovery policies.
Spaces that change with us →
What changes when a wall, support or platform moves? Explore clearance, loads and energy so a convenient final position is considered together with the movement needed to reach it.
Used today
Design movable partitions and adjustable supports for defined users and loads.
Possible next step
Assess responsive spaces after accessibility, reliability and lifecycle testing.
Can we close the resource loop? →
Can a greenhouse keep reusing its water and nutrients? Track what enters, leaves and is lost to see why recycling still needs energy, monitoring and replacement inputs.
Used today
Track water, nutrients, waste and energy in a greenhouse that collects and reuses water.
Possible next step
Investigate how to reuse more resources and keep working when components fail, while measuring leaks, quality and energy needs.
Chemistry and materials science
Materials that respond →
Can a material change its shape, colour or optical behaviour when conditions change? Compare different responses and the measurements needed to judge whether they would be useful.
Used today
A photochromic filter changes how much light it passes when illuminated. Compare its response and recovery instead of assuming every changing material behaves the same way.
Possible next step
Test whether a proposed light-responsive window repeatedly reduces glare and becomes clear again, measuring switching time, durability and energy needs.
What a surface can do →
How can a thin coating, a textured road or an electric field change what happens at a surface? Explore protection, grip and dust control while keeping their different mechanisms and limits clear.
Used today
Specify protective films, road textures and device-specific dust-control surfaces.
Possible next step
Develop coatings with balanced transport, wear and removal properties after comparative tests.
How materials bend and stretch →
Why can two pieces of the same material stretch differently under the same force? Connect load, shape and measured deformation to a fair comparison of material behaviour.
Used today
Compare tensile measurements using geometry, calibration and uncertainty.
Possible next step
Improve material screening with traceable measurements across specimens and conditions.
Mathematics
Finding a faint signal →
How do we decide whether a faint change is a real signal or just noise? Compare detection thresholds, missed signals and false alarms under clearly stated assumptions.
Used today
Set a threshold for noticing a faint change in a sensor reading, balancing missed changes against false alarms.
Possible next step
Test whether a detector still works when the background noise changes.
Finding your position from angles →
Can you find your position by looking towards known landmarks? Explore how intersecting directions locate a point and how small angle errors can produce large position errors.
Used today
Estimate position from calibrated directions and known landmarks.
Possible next step
Improve localization by testing geometry, bias and correlated measurement errors.
Counting is not measuring →
Do more digits make a measurement more reliable? Separate number notation, unit conversion and calibration, then explore how repeated observations reduce some kinds of random spread.
Used today
Check whether two thermometers disagree because of calibration or ordinary measurement variation.
Possible next step
Compare a sensor against a traceable reference before relying on extra decimal places.
What a model can tell us →
What does a successful calculation actually prove? Explore conflicting reports, permitted paths and geometric limits to see why a useful model needs explicit rules and suitable evidence.
Used today
If one report says a door was open and another says it was closed, check whether they describe the same door at the same time before treating them as contradictory.
Possible next step
For a proposed room-cooling design, state how much the temperature should fall under specified conditions, then compare that prediction with a separate measurement.
Doing more with limited resources →
Which tasks should come first when time, equipment or computing power is limited? Compare choices under explicit constraints and see how changing the objective changes the preferred solution.
Used today
Schedule several jobs on one shared computer: each job needs time, and fitting in one urgent job may delay another.
Possible next step
Compare scheduling rules for a shared research instrument when urgent tasks arrive unexpectedly, reporting both completed work and who has to wait.
Computer science and information
Sending information reliably →
How can a receiver notice that a message was damaged on its journey? Explore addressing, error checks and signal limits, including errors that a check can miss.
Used today
Use coding, checksums, addressing and power budgets to transmit information.
Possible next step
Compare robust links under realistic interference, energy and latency constraints.
When a signal becomes a message →
When does a pattern of pulses become a message? See how agreed symbols, timing and context make decoding possible, and why a pattern alone does not establish its meaning.
Used today
Define codebooks and timing conventions so signals can be decoded consistently.
Possible next step
Design clearer unfamiliar-reader interfaces and evaluate interpretation errors.
How physical systems compute →
How can a physical signal represent a number or store a value? Explore conversion, memory states and readout noise without assuming that a new representation creates better computing hardware.
Used today
Convert a microphone voltage into stored numbers, and see why nearby levels can be confused by noise.
Possible next step
Compare a proposed memory material with existing storage using measured read errors, energy and retention.
How to trust a record →
Who created a measurement record, has it changed, and is its claim supported? These are different questions: a file can be authentic and unchanged while the measurement inside it is wrong.
Used today
Keep an original laboratory measurement file and check whether a later copy has changed. An unchanged file can still contain a mistaken measurement.
Possible next step
Test a shared research notebook that records who changed a result, preserves earlier versions and limits access, while checking the measurements independently.
Earth and space science
Finding direction from the stars →
How can a camera looking at stars tell a spacecraft which way it points? Follow star matching and calibration, while distinguishing orientation from position.
Used today
Estimate which way a spacecraft points by matching camera images of stars to a reference catalogue.
Possible next step
Compare navigation strategies under missing stars, sensor errors and limited resources.
Measuring a planet →
How can observations tell us the size or mass of a planet? Connect measurable quantities to simple physical relationships, with attention to uncertainty and assumptions.
Used today
Infer planetary size, mass and bulk properties from calibrated observations.
Possible next step
Refine interior constraints with additional independent measurements and uncertainty analysis.
Reading a distant world →
What can light from a distant world tell us about its surface or atmosphere? Compare possible explanations and the additional observations needed to distinguish them.
Used today
Interpret spectra and atmospheric observations while comparing alternative explanations.
Possible next step
Assess potential biosignatures using contamination controls and multiple independent evidence lines.
Reading our changing environment →
How can instruments help us understand changes in our environment? Explore how measurements of terrain, air and natural signals become evidence, and where interpretation remains uncertain.
Used today
Monitor atmospheric conditions, terrain and natural emissions with calibrated instruments.
Possible next step
Improve hazard observation and forecasts with validation; observation alone does not enable hazard control.
Getting water to the roots →
How much irrigation water reaches the roots rather than draining away or evaporating? Follow water through soil and compare the assumptions behind a useful water budget.
Used today
Estimate irrigation flow and soil-water balances under specified conditions.
Possible next step
Compare efficient irrigation designs with measured soil variability and crop requirements.
Life sciences
Keeping food and spaces clean →
Do cooling, packaging and cleaning solve the same problem? Compare their different purposes and the evidence needed before claiming that a process protects food or makes a surface hygienic.
Used today
Compare what refrigeration, food packaging and surface cleaning each do, and why they are not interchangeable.
Possible next step
Evaluate new processes only with appropriate material, microbial and use-condition evidence.
How do we test a biological idea? →
How could we tell whether a treatment really changes a living system? Explore fair comparisons, measurable outcomes and alternative explanations before drawing a biological conclusion.
Used today
Assess a claim such as “this nutrient improves plant growth” by comparing treated and untreated groups under the same conditions.
Possible next step
Improve study designs through controls, replication and independent outcome assessment.
What a biological measurement means →
What does a recorded body signal measure, and what does it leave uncertain? Separate the sensor reading from its interpretation and the evidence needed for a medical use.
Used today
Record an electrical heart signal and distinguish the recorded waveform from the clinical interpretation.
Possible next step
Evaluate new measurements with appropriate validation; no diagnostic efficacy follows from a toy model.
What living systems pass on →
Why do some traits pass between generations while others depend on growing conditions? Explore inheritance, variation and the observations needed to distinguish competing explanations.
Used today
Explain how plant breeders track inherited traits across generations, and distinguish inheritance from changes caused by growing conditions.
Possible next step
Compare predicted and observed trait counts across new plant crosses while recording growing conditions.
Different ways to sense the world →
Is noticing a faint sound the same as knowing what made it? Separate detection, identification and perception to understand how sensory abilities can be measured fairly.
Used today
Test whether a person can detect a faint tone or a dim light, separately from whether they can identify what produced it.
Possible next step
Compare sensing systems with controlled evidence rather than assuming behavioral control.
Learning and social science
How learning changes with feedback →
When does practice or feedback help someone learn? Compare timing, attention and clearly defined learning outcomes rather than assuming every teaching method works equally well.
Used today
Compare remembering vocabulary after spaced practice with remembering it after one long session.
Possible next step
Test whether an adaptive practice tool improves later recall in a fair comparison.
How groups make decisions →
Why can the same group reach different decisions under different rules? Explore how preferences, voting procedures and connections between people influence a collective result.
Used today
Compare voting rules, preferences and network effects with transparent assumptions.
Possible next step
Compare whether a group scheduling rule changes its result when a few preferences change, and report whose preferences are left unmet.