That‘s Cool News | A weekly breakdown of positive Science & Tech news.: Recent Episodes

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Headlines:Cruise ‘just days away’ from approval to mass-produce Origin robotaxis without steering wheels |  The Verge (01:12)

Apple spending “millions of dollars a day” on developing conversational AI | Supercharged (10:35)

Mahle combines two innovative concepts to field the "perfect motor" | New Atlas (16:49)

Scientists grow whole model of human embryo, without sperm or egg | BBC News (22:42)

Can an Artificial Kidney Finally Free Patients from Dialysis? | UC San Francisco (27:45)

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Headlines:New pocket-sized device for clinicians could spot infected wounds faster | Frontiers (01:09)

New blood test could make preeclampsia easier to predict, early study suggests | Live Science (07:12)

Powered exoskeleton designed to take the strain out of senior care | New Atlas (15:42)

Tesla wins permit approval for Diner and Drive-in Movie Supercharger in LA | Teslarati (21:51) 

New robot searches for solar cell materials 14 times faster | Ars Technica (25:50)

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Headlines: Scientists finally uncover complete Y-chromosome sequence | Interesting Engineering (01:25)

Breakthrough creates stem cells without any “memories” | Free Think (07:33)

Meta’s “massively multilingual” AI model translates up to 100 languages, speech or text | Ars Technica (13:25)

Naked mole-rat's 'longevity' gene extends lifespan and health of mice | New Atlas (18:14)

How artificial intelligence gave a paralyzed woman her voice back | ScienceDaily (23:02)

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Headlines: Physicists achieve fusion with net energy gain for second time | Ars Technica (01:08)

Nvidia reveals new A.I. chip, says costs of running LLMs will 'drop significantly' | CNBC (04:39)

Liquid-Metal Battery Will Be on the Grid Next Year | IEEE Spectrum (07:44)

Could TENS pads replace CPAP masks for treating sleep apnea? | New Atlas (13:10)

Musk vs Zuckerberg fight to take place at Roman Colosseum | Interesting Engineering (16:27)

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Headlines: China Approves Six Nuclear Reactors at $17 Billion Investment | Bloomberg (01:70)

New pill targets “undruggable” protein to selectively kill cancer cells | New Atlas (07:15)

The Boring Company will dig a 68-mile tunnel network under Las Vegas | Ars Technica (13:33)

Meta, Microsoft and Amazon team up on maps project to crack Apple-Google duopoly | CNBC (18:05) 

Humans unable to detect over a quarter of deepfake speech samples, research shows | TechXPlore (22:03)

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Headlines Amazon is getting ready to launch a lot of broadband satellites | Ars Technica (00:58)

Transplant of fresh brain cells replaces diseased and aged ones | New Atlas (06:40)

Scientists Discover Bacteria That Can Break Down Certain “Forever Chemicals” | SciTechDaily (13:02)

New clinical trial is testing a ketamine skin cream for PTSD | Freethink (16:51)

Stanford startup TranscribeGlass seeks to bring ease and affordability to assistive technology | The Stanford Daily (23:40)

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Headlines: Tesla in discussion to license Full Self-Driving software to another automaker | The Verge (01:09)

Hearing aids may slow mental decline in those at higher risk of dementia, study finds | STATnews (10:32)

Apple has been working on its own ChatGPT AI tool for some time  | Apple Insider (16:32)

Rocket Lab successfully retrieves its reusable rocket after splashdown | The Verge (20:52)

New dual-resolution technique opens door for faster drone exploration | Interesting Engineering (25:29) 

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Headlines: In-space manufacturing startup aces pharma experiment in orbit | Ars Technica (01:17)

Disturbing New Finding Links Cognitive Decline to Dental Hygiene | Science Alert (08:09)

Google’s medical AI chatbot is already being tested in hospitals | The Verge (16:42)

Longshot Space wants to make space launch dumb — and really cheap | TechCrunch (26:37)

Musk announces new AI company that seeks to “understand the universe” | Ars Technica (32:02)

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Headlines: Revolutionary gel allows metal items to be 3D printed at room temperature | New Atlas (02:10)

At 281 miles an hour, China's new high-speed maglev train is the world's fastest | Interesting Engineering (07:24)

One shot of a kidney protein gave monkeys a brain boost | Ars Technica (13:36)

Giant stone artifacts found on rare Ice Age site in Kent, UK | ScienceDaily (20:47)

Volkswagen to start testing self-driving ID Buzz vans in Austin | TechCrunch (28:37)

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Headlines: An OpenAI alum is building a robot butler for your home | Sifted (01:03)

Joby Aviation receives permit to fly first eVTOL built on production line | TechCrunch (08:39)

The one-shot drug that keeps on dosing | Ars Technica (14:14)

Hydrogen-powered passenger train rides the rails in North America | New Atlas (21:18)

NASA aims to perform lunar mining trial within 10 years | Interesting Engineering (26:21)

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Headlines Flexible brain implants tested in people for the first time | Free Think (01:08)

Sol Reader is a VR headset exclusively for reading books | TechCrunch (06:24)

Hugely ambitious self-sufficient floating city to host 40,000 people | New Atlas (11:52)

Building Block for Life Discovered in Enceladus’ Ocean by NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft | SciTechDaily (18:12)

Robotic pill promises to be an alternative to painful osteoporosis injections | Interesting Engineering (21:39)

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Headlines: James Webb Space Telescope discovers 717 ancient galaxies that flooded the universe with 1st light | Space.com (01:14)

New high-tech helmets may protect American football players from debilitating concussions | Frontiers (04:50)

Stem cell therapy regenerates damaged heart cells & improves function | New Atlas (12:48)

Medicinal cannabis is a 'life-changing treatment' for people with Tourette syndrome | MedicalXpress (16:49)

Apple Vision Pro is Apple’s new $3,499 AR headset | The Verge (24:05)

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Headlines Discussed:Promising Phase 2 Trial Results for Pembrolizumab in Metastatic Brain Cancer | Neuroscience News (01:00)

Researchers discover the cause of severe inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) | BrighterSide News (08:34)

High-tech pen paints healing gel right into wounds | New Atlas (14:04)

Parkinson's disease drug ropinirole safely slowed the progression of ALS for over 6 months in a clinical trial | ScienceDaily (17:28)

Japan will put a wooden satellite into orbit next year | TechSpot (22:39)

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Headlines:Elon Musk's Neuralink wins FDA approval for human study of brain implants | Reuters (01:17)

Scientists Working to Generate Electricity From Thin Air Make Breakthrough | Vice (07:25)

Newly discovered microbes can digest plastic at room temperature | BrighterSide News (13:45)

Virgin Galactic aces final test spaceflight, eyes start of commercial service in June | Space.com (18:44)

AI discovers drug that destroys one of the world’s deadliest superbugs | StudyFinds (23:38)

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Headlines:First-ever spinal implant enables paralyzed people to walk again | Brighter Side News (01:08)

ChatGPT officially comes to iPhone with new app | Ars Technica (06:30)

Meet 'DarkBERT:' South Korea's Dark Web AI could combat cybercrime | Interesting Engineering (10:02)

Spacetop AR laptop puts the screen on your face | New Atlas (13:58)

Researchers treat depression by reversing brain signals traveling the wrong way | Stanford Medicine (20:11)

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Headlines:Microsoft just made a huge, far-from-certain bet on nuclear fusion |The Verge (01:04)

miLens contact lens could soon be keeping an eye on glaucoma patients | New Atlas (07:58)

Doctors perform 1st-of-its-kind brain surgery on a fetus in the womb | Live Science (12:20)

iPhone killer? New AI-wearable Humane hopes to make smartphones obsolete | Interesting Engineering (16:55)

Six-Legged Robot Electrode Can Be Gently Deployed Across the Brain’s Surface | Technology Networks (21:09)

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Headlines:Europe’s major satellite players line up to build Starlink competitor | Ars Technica (01:17)

New drug donanemab slows cognitive decline in early Alzheimer's | New Scientist (08:04)

Gene therapy reverses vision loss in primates — by making their eyes young again | Free Think (15:10)

Researchers develop tiny hydraulic haptics for touchscreen notifications you can physically feel | TechCrunch (22:48)

Researchers develop novel AI-based estimator for manufacturing medicine | Phys.org (27:49)

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Headlines:First discovery of genetic brain pathway a relief for anxiety sufferers | New Atlas (01:08)

Newfound 'brain signature' linked to multiple psychiatric disorders | Live Science (08:32)

Scientists May Have Figured Out How to Regenerate Lost Hearing | Futurism (14:57)

German giant Bosch to invest $1.5 billion in US chip manufacturing facilities | TechSpot (19:37)

Nano-robotic scalpel swarm shreds brain cancer cells from the inside | New Atlas (23:53)

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HeadlinesCholesterol-lowering drug fights cancer, major study finds | BrighterSide News (01:02)

Student discovers 3D printable ink that 'everyone was looking for,' says physics professor | Phys.org (07:08)

Technique reverses heart attack damage by reprogramming scar cells | New Atlas (13:02) 

Key Protein of Hippocampal Neurogenesis Discovered | Neuroscience News (19:34)

California researchers attempt ocean climate solution | NBC News (24:03)

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Headlines:Apple Plans to Use More Recycled Materials by 2025 | CNET (00:48)

Protocol predicts Alzheimer's 10 years in advance with 80% accuracy | New Atlas (07:25)

With Bedrock, Amazon enters the generative AI race | TechCrunch (12:20)

SpaceX Launch Begins Startup's Plan: 'Cell Towers in Space' | CNET (18:28)

“Remarkable” Brain Boosting Peptide: Reversing Alzheimer’s Disease | SciTechDaily (23:55)

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HeadlinesA passenger aircraft that flies around the world at Mach 9? Sure, why not | Ars Technica (00:58)

Millimeter Wave Radar System Keeps Drivers Safe on the Road | IEEE Spectrum  (06:24)

Microsoft plants seeds in the agriculture industry | Emerging Tech Brew (14:29)

Deep learning model estimates cancer risk from breast density | MedicalXPress (18:18)

Silicon Valley Private School Giving Kids "AI Tutors" Quietly Created by OpenAI | Futurism (23:16)

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Headlines:Bacterial Toxin May Trigger Multiple Sclerosis Onset and Relapse - Neuroscience News (00:57)

This iridescent coating could cool your house without air-conditioning | FastCompany (06:20)

This Toxic Fruit Could Hold an Anti-Aging Skincare Breakthrough | Inverse (12:28)

"Smart" bandage could one day monitor and medicate chronic wounds | New Atlas (16:55)

Light therapy could be the key to slowing down heart aging | Interesting Engineering (21:57)

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Headlines:Epic’s hyperrealistic MetaHumans can soon be animated using an iPhone | The Verge (01:04)Cheap, fast induction tech enables unlimited-size 3D metal printing | New Atlas (04:55)Scientists develop 'cosmic concrete' to construct habitats on Mars | Interesting Engineering (10:53)New “Biohybrid” Neural Implant Could Restore Function in Paralyzed Limbs | SciTechDaily (16:22)Mozilla launches a new startup focused on ‘trustworthy’ AI | TechCrunch (20:39)

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Headlines:Vision restored in mice thanks to refined CRISPR system | New Atlas (00:39)

Liver Regeneration: The Surprising Importance of Gut Bacteria | SciTechDaily (5:20)

Clean-up protein may turn the tide on brain hemorrhage survival | New Atlas (10:07)

This New Material Absorbs Three Times More CO2 Than Current Carbon Capture Tech | SingularityHub (14:52)

Free data-center heat is allegedly saving a struggling public pool $24K a year | Ars Technica (20:00)

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Headlines:Researchers Say They've Created Superconductors At Room Temperature | Futurism (00:52)New Sensor Can Diagnose Cancer Using Urine | SciTechDaily (08:01)Geothermal startup showed its wells can be used like a giant underground battery | MIT Tech Review (14:04)Safe, effective new procedure to surgically treat common arrhythmia | New Atlas (20:13)Florida Startup Moves Closer to Building Data Centers on the Moon | Gizmodo (26:56)

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Headlines:Novel robotic system can 3D print cells onto organs inside the body | New Atlas (01:01)Alzheimer’s Breakthrough As Scientists Link NAD+ Supplements to Reduced Brain Biomarkers | SciTechDaily (08:02)Taking Vitamin D Could Help Prevent Dementia | Neuroscience News (14:05)World's first-ever artificial energy island to be built in the North Sea | Interesting Engineering (18:24)First patient receives stem cell transplant to treat Parkinson’s | Study Finds (23:19)

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Headlines:Brain implant startup tests mind-controlled computing on humans | CNBC (00:47)Wilson debuts an airless 3D-printed basketball in the NBA dunk contest | New Atlas (08:24)A groundbreaking spider-like robot is ready to change robotics | Interesting Engineering (13:21)Smart streaming readout system analyzes raw data from nuclear physics experiments | Phys.org (18:20)Electrically charged hydrogel could help heal brain injuries | New Atlas (22:56)

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Headlines:Google scrambles to counter ChatGPT but ends up embarrassing itself | Ars Technica (01:05)

Nuclear fusion breakthrough with world-first ‘super’ magnet | Yahoo News (07:38)

Mushrooms Magnify Memory by Boosting Nerve Growth | Neuroscience News (11:08)

Sea-creature-inspired linked robots could explore alien oceans | New Atlas (14:24)

“Magic” Drug Restores Lost Memories and Unleashes Hidden Knowledge | The Debrief (17:05)

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Headlines:A 3D Printer Isn’t Cool. You Know What’s Cool? A 3D-Printing Factory | Bloomberg (01:12)A New ‘Glue’ Could Make Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling Cheaper—And Less Toxic | Forbes (09:25)Microsoft plans to update Bing with a faster version of ChatGPT in the coming weeks | TechCrunch (14:55)Liquid windows: Energy-saving inspiration from squid skin | TechXplore (20:16)Scientists develop new device to detect brain tumors using urine | Phys.org (24:32)

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HeadlinesAmazon Launches $5-a-Month Prescription Drug Plan in Further Healthcare Push | WSJ (01:01)

New spray fights infections and antibiotic resistance | MedicalXPress (08:27)

Spraying drugs up the nose may help heal the brain after a stroke | New Scientist (18:47)

Toroidal propellers: A noise-killing game changer in air and water | New Atlas (24:24)

Scientists Actually Did It: They Built a Real Working Tractor Beam | Popular Mechanics (31:31)

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Headlines:Google Research and DeepMind develop AI medical chatbot | Digital Health (01:25)

MIT researchers develop an AI model that can detect future lung cancer risk | MIT news (09:22)

Major breakthrough as scientists produce first-ever rheumatoid arthritis gene therapy | Brighter Side News (18:54)

New Nanoparticles Deliver Therapy Brain-Wide and Edit Alzheimer’s Gene | Neuroscience News (24:02)

NASA nuclear propulsion concept could reach Mars in just 45 days | Interesting Engineering (31:10)

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Notes:Anthropic’s Claude improves on ChatGPT but still suffers from limitations | TechCrunch (01:10)

• A startup co-founded by ex-OpenAI employees called Anthropic has raised over $700 million in funding to date, and has developed an AI system similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
  • System is called Claude and is accessible through a Slack integration as part of a closed beta
  • Developed with a technique call constitutional AI
• The company explains:
  • This learning is a principle based approach to aligning AI systems with human intentions, letting AI similar to ChatGPT respond to questions using a simple set of principles as a guide.
  • Anthropic started with a list of around ten private principles that formed the constitution in the AI.
  • The company says the principles are grounded in the concepts of beneficence (maximizing positive impact), nonmaleficence (avoiding giving harmful advice) and autonomy (respecting freedom of choice).
• Claude is fed an enormous number of examples of text from the web, and learns how likely words are to occur based on patterns such as the semantic context of surrounding text.
  • Therefore it can hold an open-ended conversation, tell jokes and be philosophical, etc.
• Yann Dubois, a Ph.D. student at Stanford’s AI Lab, also did a comparison of Claude and ChatGPT, writing that Claude “generally follows closer [to] what it’s asked for” but is “less concise,” as it tends to explain what it said and ask how it can further help.
• Claude isn’t perfect, however. It’s susceptible to some of the same flaws as ChatGPT, including giving answers that aren’t in keeping with its programmed constraints.
  • Flaw example: asking the system in Base64, an encoding scheme that represents binary data in ASCII format, bypasses its built-in filters for harmful content.
• Anthropic says that it plans to refine Claude and potentially open the beta to more people down the line.

The first CRISPR gene-edited meat is coming—and this is the CEO making sci-fi a reality | FastCompany (11:09)

• Joshua March is the CEO of SciFi Foods who are using CRISPR to hasten its advances.
  • The gene-editing technology
• According to the Good Food Institute, there are 152 cultivated meat companies as of the end of 2022, operating in 29 countries.
  • SciFi Foods is different because of the fact they are using CRISPR
• March got into the cultivated meats a reality because of these companies:
  • “​​I honestly became pretty disenchanted with the companies in the space and all the arm waving about how the costs would be solved.”
• For their meat creation they have a simple process that sounds like natural selection:
  • The key is engineering cycles that enable rapid prototyping.
  • The best cell lines will go on to create the next round of modifications.
• Cost parity with traditional meat is every lab grown meat founder’s goal, one that sets a seemingly unattainable target.
  • 2022 - the average price of ground beef was $4.81/lb
• SciFi is betting that the only way to economically scale cultivated meat is with CRISPR, and that by making iterative tweaks they can create dependable cell lines with rich, meat-y flavor.
  • CEO March stated, “We have an eventual target of $1 per burger at commercial scale.”
• Once harvested, beef cells will be formulated into a blended burger that is mostly like the plant-based burgers you may already know—soy protein and coconut oil.
  • Adding a small percentage of SciFi cells (5% to 20%, according to March) to give “beefy” notes.
• According to the Good Food Institute, $2.6 billion has been invested in these alternative proteins since 2010.

ISS astronauts are building objects not possible on Earth | Popular Science (20:49)

• Aboard the International Space Station (ISS) right now is a metal box, the size of a desktop PC tower.
  • Inside, a nozzle is helping build little test parts that aren’t possible to make on Earth.
  • Fail under Earth’s gravity.
  • The Box is scheduled to spend 45 days aboard the ISS
• The MIT group behind this process explains it’ll be the “first results for a really novel process in microgravity.”
  • It involves taking a flexible silicone skin, shaped like the part it will eventually create, and filling it with a liquid resin.
  • Like how you fill a balloon with air, this will just be resin
• The resin is sensitive to ultraviolet light.
  • Once UV light reaches the resin it’ll cure and stiffen, hardening into a solid structure.
  • Remove the skin and you have your part
• If everything is successful, the ISS will ship some experimental parts back to Earth for the MIT researchers to test.
  • Ensuring that the parts they’ve made are structurally sound.
• The benefit of building parts like this in orbit is that Earth’s single most fundamental stressor—the planet’s gravity—is no longer a limiting factor.
  • If the experiment is successful, you would be able to produce test parts that are too long to make on Earth.
• Long-term thinking, if astronauts can make very long parts in space, those pieces could speed up large construction projects, such as the structures of space habitats.
  • used to form the structural frames for solar panels or radiators
• Another benefit if you can make stuff in space means less things you need to pack into your rocket
  • Every pound of cargo can still cost over $1,000 to put into space.
• Ultimately the MIT group wants to “make this manufacturing process available and accessible to other researchers.”

3D printing reaches new heights with two-story home | Nasdaq (25:39)

• A 3D printer weighing more than 12 tons is creating what is believed to be the first 3D-printed, two-story home in the United States.
  • Producing layers of concrete to build the 4,000-square-foot home in Houston.
  • Construction will take a total of 330 hours of printing
• The project is a two-year collaboration by Hannah, Peri 3D Construction and Cive, a construction engineering company.
• Hikmat Zerbe, Cive's head of structural engineering, hopes the innovative technique can one day help more quickly and cheaply build multi-family homes.
• Zerbe talks on the newest for the construction industry:
  • “Traditional construction, you know the rules, you know the game, you know the material properties, the material behavior. In here, everything is new … The material is new, although concrete is an old material in general, but 3D printing concrete is something new.”
• Since the printer does all the heavy lifting, less workers are needed at the construction site.

Gut Bacteria Affect Brain Health | Neuroscience News (31:39)

• A growing pile of evidence indicates that the tens of trillions of microbes that normally live in our gut microbiome have far-reaching effects on how our bodies function.
  • Produce vitamins,
  • Help digest food,
  • Prevent the overgrowth of harmful bacteria
  • Regulate the immune system
• According to researchers from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, findings from a new study suggests that the gut microbiome also plays a key role in the health of our brains.
• To determine whether the gut microbiome may be playing a causal role, the researchers altered the gut microbiomes of mice.
  • Mice were genetically modified to more likely develop Alzheimer’s-like brain damage and cognitive impairment.
• The mice were given a course of antibiotics at 2 weeks of age, permanently changing the composition of bacteria in their microbiomes.
  • For male mice, it reduced the amount of brain damage evident at 40 weeks of age.
  • No significant effect on neurodegeneration in female mice.
• From other studies we know that male and female brains respond differently to different stimuli.
  • For instance visual stimuli.
  • The composition of our brains are different as well.
• Further experiments linked three specific short-chain fatty acids — compounds produced by certain types of gut bacteria as products of their metabolism — to neurodegeneration.
  • Were scarce in mice with gut microbiomes altered by antibiotic treatment
  • They appeared to trigger neurodegeneration by activating immune cells in the bloodstream, which in turn activated immune cells in the brain to damage brain tissue.
• The findings suggest a new approach to preventing and treating neurodegenerative diseases by modifying the gut microbiome with antibiotics, probiotics, specialized diets or other means.

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Notes:Death of the narrator? Apple unveils suite of AI-voiced audiobooks | The Guardian (01:14)

• Apple has quietly launched a catalog of books narrated by artificial intelligence in a move that may mark the beginning of the end for human narrators.
• The audiobook market has exploded in recent year
  • Sales last year jumped 25%, bringing in more than $1.5bn
  • Insiders believe the global market could be worth more than $35bn by 2030.
• In recent months, Apple approached independent publishers as potential partners, but not all agreed to participate.
  • Publishers involved in the project were required to sign non-disclosure agreements
• This comes directly from Apple’s site on digital narration:
  • “Apple Books digital narration brings together advanced speech synthesis technology with important work by teams of linguists, quality control specialists, and audio engineers to produce high-quality audiobooks from an ebook file.”
• More information that is of interest on their site:
  • Distribution solely via Apple Books and to public/academic libraries
  • Publisher/author retains audiobook rights, and there are no restrictions on producing and distributing other versions of the audiobook
• Some don’t see the point of AI narration, and that audiobooks are not all about rapidly producing the content, take Carly Watters statement for instance:
  • “Companies see the audiobooks market and that there’s money to be made. They want to make content. But that’s all it is. It’s not what customers want to listen to. There’s so much value in the narration and the storytelling.”
• Producing an audiobook with a human voice can take weeks and can cost publishers thousands of dollars.
  • The draw of AI promises to significantly cut the costs.
• Apple’s launch into AI audiobooks is rather interesting especially with the battle going on with Spotify in the recent months.
  • Spotify announced plans to bring 300,000 audiobook titles to customers, and has clashed with Apple over app store policies after its own app was rejected three times.

First "virovore" discovered: An organism that eats viruses | New Atlas (11:21)

• Researcher John DeLong at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln wanted to find out if there were any microbes which actively ate viruses.
  • Could a microbe exist on a diet of viruses?
  • They do contain stuff like nucleic acids, a lot of nitrogen and phosphorous
  • Virus exclusive diet termed “virovory.”
• DeLong and his team collected samples of pond water, isolated different microbes, and then added large amounts of chlorovirus, a freshwater inhabitant that infects green algae.
  • The team tracked the population size of the viruses and the other microbes
• And sure enough, one particular microbe seemed to be snacking on the viruses – a ciliate known as Halteria.
  • Ciliates are single-celled organisms that, at some stage in their life cycle, possess cilia, short hairlike organelles used for locomotion and food gathering.
  • Halteria populations grew by about 15 times within two days, while chlorovirus levels dropped 100-fold.
• These viruses play an important part in shaping freshwater environments in the way that they recycle carbon and other nutrients and this recycling can prevent the energy from reaching other, larger forms of life.
  • If something is consuming these viruses then that means those nutrients get passed up the food chain instead of being recycled
• The researchers plan to go back to the pond to see if virovory is occurring in the wild, not just a lab setting.

This startup makes high-tech protein from thin air by using solar energy | Interesting Engineering (15:21)

• A Finnish food tech company, Solar Foods, has created an alternative protein - made of microbes cultured with electricity and air.
  • Now in 2023, they plan to build its first commercial-scale factory near Helsinki, Finland, that can make food directly from carbon dioxide
• Alternative protein = Solein, tested in a pilot factory for two years.
  • It resembles yellow powder that can be added to food.
• Pasi Vainikka, CEO of Solar Foods, told New Scientist that the factory will be able to produce 100 tons per year, which will suffice for four or five million meals.
• Recently, Business Finland approved a €34 million grant funding to Solar Foods, making it the largest public grant funding for cellular agriculture in the world.
• Vainikka told Food Matters Live:
  • “We are here to replace animal-based nutrition, that’s the big mission I would say, for all plant-based and similar companies … The problem in the food system is, broadly speaking, [using] animals and industrialized animal keeping. Like it or not, it’s a fact. Growing and harvesting that kind of nourishment with significantly fewer resources [and without animals] is what we’re doing."
• Created by first selecting a soil sample that is examined for “best-quality organisms”.
  • The suitable microbes are then placed in a bioreactor where gas fermentation occurs.
  • It feeds on dissolved hydrogen, and carbon dioxide is split from water by electricity during the process.
  • Provided with mineral nutrients that permit it to make amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, and vitamins.

Effects of formerly incurable liver disease may be reversed with drug | Jpost (22:56)

• A drug may have been found to combat the effects of Alagille syndrome, which has been considered to be an incurable liver disease.
• Alagille syndrome is a genetic syndrome that can affect the liver and other parts of the body.
  • The liver problems result from having fewer small bile ducts than normal in the liver.
  • Leading to bile building-up inside the liver, which in turn causes liver scarring and damage.
  • Affects more than 4,000 babies that are born every year.
• A drug known as NoRA1 activates the Notch pathway that helps orchestrate fundamental biological processes.
  • In the liver, the Notch pathway plays a role in the development and maintenance of the liver during embryonic development and in the adult liver.
  • Dysregulation of the Notch pathway has been implicated in the development of liver cancer and other liver diseases.
• Animals with mutations in the same gene affected in Alagille see the NoRA1 drug increasing the Notch signaling and triggering duct cells to regenerate in the liver.
  • Important because it could reverse liver damage.

This New Shock-Absorbing Gel Can Withstand Supersonic Impacts | Smithsonian Magazine (26:33)

• Current problems with Body Armor:
  • Doesn’t absorb a projectile’s kinetic energy
  • Bulky
  • One time use once struck with a projectile
• Researchers at the University of Kent in England may have developed a promising new solution to these problems.
  • Using a protein called talin, scientists have created a material that can absorb the impact of projectiles—even those flying faster than the speed of sound.
  • Acts a natural shock absorber
• Talin molecules contain structures that, when put under tension, unfold and stretch out. Once the tension is released, they fold back up again.
  • Can do this shock-absorbing maneuver over and over without harming the cell.
• Testing the effectiveness:
  • Scientists placed the gel on an aluminum plate and fired tiny basalt (type of rock) particles and larger bits of aluminum at it.
  • Small projectiles traveled at speeds of more than 3,350 miles per hour (3x the speed of a handgun bullet)
  • It absorbed the projectile's shockwave, successfully protected the plate, and captured the particles without destroying them.
• Paper co-author Jennifer Hiscock stating:
  • “Our material perfectly caught and ‘cuddled’ with the projectile … keeping it beautifully preserved.”
• Plenty of expected uses and unexpected:
  • Stop a bullet without destroying it
  • Capturing space debris—without destroying it.
• Maybe one day reap the shock-absorbing benefits of talin in their running shoes, vehicle bumpers and cell phone cases.

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Porsche’s synthetic gasoline factory comes online today in Chile | Ars Technica (01:07)

• A Chilean startup called Highly Innovative Fuels officially opened its first synthetic gasoline production facility.
  • Result of a collaboration between the automaker Porsche, Siemens Energy, Exxon Mobil, Enel Green Power, the Chilean state energy company ENAP, and Empresas Gasco.
• What is synthetic fuel or synfuel?
  • A feedstock is a raw material that is used as a source of energy or as a starting material for the production of a product.
  • A type of fuel that is made from synthetic hydrocarbons
  • Typically produced from coal, natural gas, or biomass through a process known as the Fischer-Tropsch process.
  • Synthetic fuel is a direct drop-in for pump gasoline
• Initially, the site will produce around 34,000 gallons (130,000 L) a year,
  • Scaling up to 14.5 million gallons (55 million L) a year by 2024.
  • Plans to increase that tenfold to 145 million gallons (550 million L) a year by 2026.
• The site, located in Punta Arenas in Southern Chile, will use wind to power the process
  • The area sees high winds roughly 270 days a year, and a wind turbine can expect to produce up to four times as much energy as one in Europe.
• Conversion process of the plant:
  • The e-fuel plant will use wind power to electrolyze water into hydrogen and oxygen.
  • The hydrogen is then combined with carbon captured from the air or industrial sources to synthesize methanol.
  • The methanol in turn can then be converted into longer hydrocarbons to be used as fuel.
• HIF has long-term plans to build out 12 synthetic fuel plants worldwide, including locations in the US and Australia, with a goal of each site capturing 2 million metric tons of CO2 per year.
  • Could be an incentive for CO2 capture!
• It is NOT CHEAP
  • At current prices, it works out to around $8 per gallon ($2/L), although that obviously doesn't include any taxes or duties

NASA Discovers Pair of Super-Earths With 1,000-Mile-Deep Oceans | SciTechDaily (08:24)

• Astronomers have uncovered a pair of planets that are water worlds unlike any planet found in our solar system.
  • Slightly larger than Earth, they don’t have the density of rock, but they are denser than gas giants in our solar system
• What are they made of?
  • The best answer is that these exoplanets have global oceans at least 500 times deeper than the average depth of Earth’s oceans, which simply are a wet veneer on a rocky ball.
• They orbit the red dwarf star Kepler-138, located 218 light-years away in the constellation Lyra.
  • Called Kepler-138 c and Kepler-138 d
  • Planets were initially found in 2014 with NASA’s Kepler Space Observatory.
  • But with follow-up observations with the Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes they found that the planets must be composed largely of water.
• The discovery was made by a team of researchers at the University of Montreal lead by Caroline Piaulet.
  • By comparing the sizes and masses of the planets to models, the astronomers concluded that a significant fraction of their volume should be made of materials that are lighter than rock but heavier than hydrogen or helium.
  • Most common being water.
• The closest size comparison, say researchers, would be some of the icy moons in the outer solar system (i.e. Europa, Enceladus) that are also largely composed of water surrounding a rocky core.
• But don’t expect the water to be the same as the water you see here. According to Piaulet:
  • “The temperature in Kepler-138 d’s atmosphere is likely above the boiling point of water, and we expect a thick dense atmosphere made of steam on this planet. Only under that steam atmosphere there could potentially be liquid water at high pressure, or even water in another phase that occurs at high pressures, called a supercritical fluid.”
  • A supercritical fluid is a substance that is in a state between a gas and a liquid and exhibits unique properties that are intermediate between the two phases. (Not a pressure to be solid)

Gene therapy cures kids with rare “bubble-boy” disease in new trial | New Atlas (12:18)

• A rare genetic disease, called Severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), renders children without a functioning immune system from birth has been effectively cured by an experimental gene therapy.
  • SCID is a collection of genetic diseases that result in impaired immune functions.
  • Informally known as the "bubble-boy" disease
• The study is reporting on the first 10 children treated with the therapy, all of whom are now healthy and living normal lives.
• The two most common forms of SCID – X-SCID and ADA-SCID – have been successfully treated with an experimental gene therapy.
  • The patient's bone marrow stem cells are harvested, modified with a healthy copy of the targeted gene, and then infused back into their bodies.
• This form of gene therapy uses a modified virus to deliver its healthy gene payload.
  • Sometimes cancerous side effects.
  • Because those viruses can only enter a cell's nuclei when it's dividing they can potentially generate adverse side effects.
• Many researchers have shifted to using modified lentiviruses as the optimal viral vector for gene therapies.
  • Enter the nuclei of non-dividing cells meaning they should be safer and more effective.
  • In 2021, a more long-term study tracking 50 children with ADA-SCID treated with lentiviral gene therapy found every subject was alive and healthy three years later.
• The 10 children in this latest study were treated for ART-SCID, which is an extremely rare version of SCID and difficult to treat.
  • Over two years after the initial treatment all 10 children are reported as healthy and living normal lives.
• Jennifer Puck, co-lead investigator on the study, discusses the results:
  • “All of the results are better than those previously seen with Artemis-SCID patients who received donor bone marrow transplants … Having patients in the trial achieve full T-cell immunity is outstanding. B-cell recovery takes longer, but so far it looks as if the patients also have a far better chance for B-cell reconstitution than they would with a regular bone marrow transplant. Successfully using less chemotherapy is also a big win, minimizing the harmful side effects of full dose busulfan in small infants.”
• Larger studies are needed (as always), but the results are extraordinarily promising, pointing to a future where this genetic disease can be cured soon after birth.

Proof-of-concept drone flight delivers transplant lung to patient in Toronto | TechXplore (17:37)

• A team of researchers have demonstrated the feasibility of using drones to carry human organs for transplantation to nearby locales.
  • A drone carried a human lung donated by a deceased patient at one hospital in downtown Toronto, Canada, to another patient needing a new lung waiting in another hospital, also in downtown Toronto.
• This feasibility study was meant to test the use of drones for carrying donated organs on a regular basis.
  • Drone used was the Chinese-made M600 Pro
  • Added new electronics designed specifically for strong connectivity—the drone is steered on its path by a human pilot.
  • Added a parachute, lights, several cameras, GPS trackers and a recovery system.
  • Finally, they removed the landing gear and replaced it with a container box specifically designed to keep organs cool during transport.
• They had the drone carry objects from point to point, testing all of its features.
  • After 400 such test flights, they deemed their drone ready
• The proof-of-concept flight:
  • Took off from Toronto Western Hospital with the drone carrying a donated lung
  • Flew to Toronto General Hospital, just two kilometers away
  • The lung was delivered and safely implanted into the waiting patient.
• The researchers suggest their approach can be used for short-distance transfers in densely populated areas, such as across a city, greatly reducing delivery time.
  • Ground vehicles can take a lot of time due to congestion and unforeseen tie-ups.

Blood test detects 'toxic' protein years before Alzheimer's symptoms emerge | ScienceDaily (22:55)

• Seeds of Alzheimer's are planted years -- even decades – before the cognitive impairments surface that make a diagnosis possible.
  • Amyloid beta proteins that misfold and clump together, forming small aggregates called oligomers.
• Those oligomers through a process scientists still do not understand become “toxic,” which then are thought of to cause Alzheimer's.
• University of Washington researchers have developed a laboratory test that can measure levels of amyloid beta oligomers in blood samples.
  • Detected in the blood of patients with Alzheimer's disease
  • But did not detect them in most members of a control group who showed no signs of cognitive impairment
• Their test, known by the acronym SOBA, did detect oligomers in the blood of 11 individuals from the control group.
  • 10 of these individuals had follow-up examinations where all were diagnosed years later with mild cognitive impairment or brain pathology consistent with Alzheimer's disease.
• Senior author professor Valerie Daggett stated:
  • “What clinicians and researchers have wanted is a reliable diagnostic test for Alzheimer's disease -- and not just an assay that confirms a diagnosis of Alzheimer's, but one that can also detect signs of the disease before cognitive impairment happens. That's important for individuals' health and for all the research into how toxic oligomers of amyloid beta go on and cause the damage that they do … What we show here is that SOBA may be the basis of such a test."
• In the study, the team also showed that SOBA easily could be modified to detect toxic oligomers of another type of protein associated with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body dementia.
• Dagget stating:
  • "We are finding that many human diseases are associated with the accumulation of toxic oligomers that form these alpha sheet structures … Not just Alzheimer's, but also Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes and more. SOBA is picking up that unique alpha sheet structure, so we hope that this method can help in diagnosing and studying many other 'protein misfolding' diseases."

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Experimental compound shown to block effects of multiple harmful drugs | New Atlas (01:20)

• Naloxone is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids, which is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in an opioid overdose.
• A new chemical shows promise for serving a similar role, but it also works on non-opioid drugs.
  • Known as Pillar[6]MaxQ (P6AS)
• It was developed at the University of Maryland, and it was recently tested on lab animals for the first time.
• Once P6AS is injected into the bloodstream, it binds with the molecules of certain other compounds and sequesters them into its central cavity, where they're surrounded by an outer layer of water.
  • Altering the bound compound’s chemical, physical and biological qualities.
    • Resulting in blocking their effects on the body.
• In the mice model tests, P6AS proved to be highly effective at mitigating the effects of fentanyl – which is an opioid – but also on methamphetamine, which is not.
  • Additionally it showed to do well at neutralizing non-opioid drugs such as PCP, ecstasy and mephedrone.
  • Captured drug molecules were subsequently passed in the urine
• It should be noted that in the case of methamphetamine dosing, P6AS had to be injected within five minutes in order to be effective.
  • Would likely be too small of a window in the real world
• The scientists are now working on lengthening those times, for opioids and non-opioids alike.
  • It’ll be several years before P6AS is available for general use.

'Mars' interior is not behaving,' active mantle plume reveals | Live Science (06:30)

• NASA's InSight mission has detected quakes and even evidence of recent volcanism around one Martian region, known as Elysium Planitia.
  • Now, they think they know why this activity is occuring.
• This study appears to be the first active mantle plume discovered on the Martian surface.
  • Findings suggest that Mars may be cooling significantly more slowly than scientists had anticipated.
• Mars lacks separate tectonic plates; instead, its crust is a single continuous sheet sitting atop the mantle.
  • Therefore scientists think the volcanic activity on Mars must be the result of mantle plumes.
• Mantle plumes are columns of hot, rising material in the Earth's mantle that can cause volcanic activity and create hotspots on the Earth's surface.
  • Mantle lies between the crust and the core.
• In short this finding suggests that Mars is still cooling, just more gradually than scientists had assumed.
• The study concludes by stating:
  • “A plume beneath Elysium Planitia indicates that the surface volcanic flows and seismic activity are not isolated events, but part of a long-lived, actively sustained, regional system, with implications for the longevity and astrobiological potential of subsurface habitable environments.”
• In other words, the presence of this regional system suggests that there may be areas below the surface of Mars that have conditions that could be suitable for life to exist.

Haptic hydrogel "skin" simulates touch in VR and AR | New Atlas (10:36)

• Engineers at the City University of Hong Kong have developed a thin, wearable electronic "skin" that provides tactile feedback to users in VR and AR.
  • Called WeTac
• Most haptic feedback devices are big and bulky, and require complex setups and tangles of wires.
  • WeTac system looks like one of the neatest iterations
• The system is made of a rubbery hydrogel that sticks to the palm and front of the fingers, connected to a small battery and Bluetooth communication system located in a 5-cm2 (0.8-sq-in) patch on the forearm.
  • That battery can be recharged wirelessly.
• The hydrogel is dotted with 32 electrodes spread across the palm, thumb and fingers, and electrical currents are sent through these to produce tactile sensations.
  • Can simulate a range of experiences: catching a tennis ball, feeling a virtual mouse walk across your hand, or a negative feedback such as touching a digital cactus.
• Not interested in the video game applications, but this device could even help users remotely control robots, transmitting the tactile sensation of what the robot is grasping to its human operator.

Pill technology releases molecules by exposure to UV light | Brighter Side News (15:37)

• Researchers from Tel Aviv University developed a new technology that will allow controlled encapsulation and release of molecules by exposure to UV light.
• The researchers estimate that the technology will lead to further development of delivery systems for controlled release of biomolecules and drugs in the body by external stimuli, using light.
• Development was inspired by viral compartments formed by the measles virus.
  • The virus forms compartments that host all the reactions involved in the formation of new viral particles called viral factories.
    • Dynamic and liquid-like structures that are formed inside the host cell
• The researchers designed a peptide (short minimalistic protein) which forms compartments that resemble viral factories for encapsulation of biomolecules.
• Additionally, they incorporated a unique element to the peptide sequence that enables a control of the encapsulation and release of molecules by irradiating the compartments using UV light.
• Dr. Ayala Lampel, who supervised this study stated on the potential of this technology:
  • “This technology opens opportunities for biomedical and biotechnological applications including encapsulation, delivery and release of drugs, protein, antibodies or other therapeutic molecules.”

A new water-based switch is thousands of times faster than current semiconductors | Interesting Engineering (21:04)

• Researchers have developed a water-based switch that becomes conductive thousands of times faster than current state-of-art semiconductor-based switches.
  • Used in computers, smartphones, and wireless communications.
• Transistors are a crucial component in electronic devices because they can control the flow of electricity through a circuit, effectively acting as a switch.
  • The building block of modern electronics, allowing for the amplification and switching of electronic signals.
  • The faster a transistor can switch, the faster a computer system can perform tasks.
• To create this water-based switch:
  • The researchers used a highly concentrated sodium iodide dissolved water and sprayed this salty water from a custom-made nozzle as a thin sheet only a few microns (micrometers) thick.
  • Next, the water jet was excited with a short but powerful laser pulse at 400 nanometers (nm).
    • This bumps electrons out of the dissolved salts, increasing the conductivity of water.
  • Since the laser pulse is so fast, the water becomes conductive and behaves almost like a metal.
• All of this happens in less than one trillionth of a second, which translates to potential computer speeds in the terahertz (THz) range.
  • Making this water-based switch faster than the fastest semiconductor switching speed currently known.
• Terahertz devices could someday enable much faster computing, and water-based technology could offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to rare-earth metals.

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What is ChatGPT and why does it matter? | ZDNET (00:57)

• ChatGPT was created by OpenAI, an AI and research company.
  • Launched on November 30, 2022.
• ChatGPT is a natural language processing tool driven by AI technology that allows you to have human-like conversations and much more with a chatbot.
  • It answers questions and can assist you with tasks
  • Open to the public
• “ChatGPT is scary good. We are not far from dangerously strong AI," said nonother than Elon Musk
• Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, stated on twitter the success of their chatbot:
  • “ChatGPT launched on wednesday. Today it crossed 1 million users!”
  • Altman tweeted that just 5 days after ChatGPT went online
• One twitter thread that I’ve seen that shows the power of this sophisticated chatbot was posted by Ben Tossell (@bentossell)
  • One tweet in the thread was a quote tweeting @jdjkelly post stating: “Google is done. Compare the quality of these responses (ChatGPT)”
  • The tweet has pictures comparing the question asked in Google Search and ChatGPT.
    • GPT was straightforward, explained thoroughly, and had examples.
• It should be noted when comparing GPT to a search engine
  • ChatGPT does not have the ability to search the internet for information and rather, uses the information it learned from training data to generate a response, which leaves room for error.
• One issue I have encountered with GPT is that the responses it generates are not always of high quality.
  • Responses may sound plausible, but they lack practical sense or are overly verbose.

NASA’s TBIRD Mission Demonstrates 1.4TB Optical Downlink | Via Satellite (06:18)

• NASA’s TBIRD mission recently achieved a record for optical communications in space
  • The satellite downlinked 1.4 terabytes of data over laser communications links in a single pass that lasted about five minutes.
  • TBIRD = TeraByte InfraRed Delivery
• According to NASA, the goal of the TBIRD program was to “establish a communication link from a nanosatellite in low-Earth orbit to a ground station at burst rates up to 200 Gbps.”
  • Built by the MIT Lincoln Laboratory
  • Integrated into NASA’s Pathfinder Technology Demonstrator 3 Satellite (PTD-3)
• NASA confirmed this amazing data transfer milestone on Twitter:
  • “Our tiny TBIRD payload just achieved a major milestone! The @NASA_Technology mission downlinked a record-setting data volume of 1.4 terabytes over laser comm links in a single, ~5-minute pass. TBIRD is showing the benefits laser comm can have for missions.”

Paper-thin solar cell can turn any surface into a power source | TechXplore (09:34)

• MIT engineers have developed ultralight fabric solar cells that can quickly and easily turn any surface into a power source.
  • These durable, flexible solar cells are much thinner than a human hair.
  • Are glued to a strong, lightweight fabric, making them easy to install on a fixed surface.
• Because they are so thin and lightweight, these solar cells can be laminated onto many different surfaces.
  • Could be integrated onto the sails of a boat to provide power while at sea,
  • Adhered onto tents and tarps that are deployed in disaster recovery operations
  • Applied onto the wings of drones to extend their flying range.
• They are one-hundredth the weight of conventional solar panels, generate 18 times more power-per-kilogram, and are made from semiconducting inks.
  • Uses printing processes that can be scaled in the future to large-area manufacturing.
• When they tested the device, the MIT researchers found it could generate 730 watts of power per kilogram when freestanding and about 370 watts-per-kilogram if deployed on the high-strength fabric.
  • 18 times more power-per-kilogram than conventional solar cells.
• After rolling and unrolling a fabric solar panel more than 500 times, the researchers saw that the cells still retained more than 90 percent of their initial power generation.
• Jeremiah Mwaura, a co-author on the study, explains why the team is looking at the encasing method next:
  • “Encasing these solar cells in heavy glass, as is standard with the traditional silicon solar cells, would minimize the value of the present advancement, so the team is currently developing ultrathin packaging solutions that would only fractionally increase the weight of the present ultralight devices."

Cheap sodium-sulfur battery boasts 4x the capacity of lithium-ion | New Atlas (16:21)

• An international team of scientists eyeing next-generation energy storage solutions have demonstrated an eco-friendly and low-cost battery with some exciting potential.
  • Sodium-sulfur battery design offers a fourfold increase on energy capacity compared to a typical lithium-ion battery
• The creation falls into a category of batteries known as molten-salt batteries.
  • Energy storage system that uses a molten salt electrolyte to store electrical energy.
  • Molten salt: Is solid at standard temperature and pressure but enters the liquid phase due to elevated temperature.
    • Regular table salt has a melting point of 801 °C (1474°F).
• These batteries are theoretically attractive for use in grid-scale energy storage systems.
  • Capable of storing large amounts of energy for long periods of time
  • Also be discharged very quickly to meet sudden increases in demand.
• The research team set out to address a couple of shortcomings with current sodium-sulfur batteries:
  • Short life cycles and limited capacities
• The team’s design makes use of carbon-based electrodes and a thermal degradation process known as pyrolysis to alter the reactions between the sulfur and sodium.
  • Pyrolysis: The thermal decomposition of materials at elevated temperatures in an inert atmosphere.
• Result: a sodium-sulfur battery with a high capacity of 1,017 mAh/g at room temperature
  • The unit mAh/g stands for milliampere-hours per gram, and it is used to express the amount of electrical charge that a battery can store per unit of mass.
• Importantly, the battery demonstrated good stability and retained around half of this capacity after 1,000 cycles, described in the team’s paper as “unprecedented.”
• End on a quote from lead researcher Dr Shenlong Zhao:
  • “Our sodium battery has the potential to dramatically reduce costs while providing four times as much storage capacity … This is a significant breakthrough for renewable energy development which, although reduces costs in the long term, has had several financial barriers to entry.”

AlphaCode can solve complex problems and create code using AI | Interesting Engineering (22:33)

• A novel system called AlphaCode, created by DeepMind,uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create computer code.
  • Recently participated in programming competitions, using critical thinking, algorithms, and natural language comprehension.
  • The software generates code in Python or C++, while filtering out any bad coding.
  • Generates code at an exceptional rate
• The system was trained to solve problems and generate code solutions.
  • It filters out bad code through a process that involves keeping only 1% of the programs that pass the test cases.
• There are a few AI coding systems, with another well-known system for coders called Codex.
  • Codex was created by OpenAI, the makers of DALL-E and ChatGPT.
  • Proficient in a dozen programming languages and powers GitHub copilot
• AlphaCode was created to assist programmers by generating code, while also solving more complicated problems.
  • Trying to solve issues that arose in other AI coding systems, such as solving difficult problems that require analysis and logic on a deeper level.
• DeepMind discovered three key points that needed to be incorporated:
  • An extensive and clean competitive programming dataset for training and evaluation,
  • Large and efficient-to-sample transformer-based architectures, and large-scale model sampling to explore the search space,
  • Followed by filtering based on program behavior to a small set of submissions
• AlphaCode in the study, solved about 34.2% of the problems:
  • “With up to a million samples per problem, we can solve 34.2% of problems in our validation set; and with one hundred thousand samples, we solve 31.8% of problems in our validation set”
• DeepMind entered AlphaCode into online coding competitions.
  • In competitions with 5000 programmers or more, AlphaCode ranked in the top 54.3%.
• Yujia Li, a computer scientist at DeepMind and paper co-author stated:
  • “AI coding might have applications beyond winning competitions … It could do software grunt work, freeing up developers to work at a higher, or more abstract level, or it could help noncoders create simple programs.”

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Elon Musk says he's confident Neuralink will be ready to put chips into human brains in the next 6 months | Business Insider (00:51)

• Neuralink hosted an event in California this past Wednesday (Nov. 30th), and Musk expects the wireless brain chip developed by Neuralink to begin human clinical trials in six months.
• After the event on Twitter stating:
  • “We are now confident that the Neuralink device is ready for humans, so timing is a function of working through the FDA approval process”
• Neuralink has in recent years been conducting tests on animals as it seeks approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin clinical trials in people.
  • At the event, they demonstrated the brain-computer interface technology by showing a video of a monkey apparently fitted with a Neuralink brain chip, "telepathically typing."
• Neuralink's brain chip, which is around the size of a coin, has tiny wires embedded with electrodes that aim to monitor brain activity and electrically stimulate the brain.
  • Goal to help treat a variety of conditions, such as neurological disorders, paralysis, and other conditions that affect the nervous system.
• Little skeptical of the 6 months timeline:
  • Musk said in a 2019 presentation he was aiming to receive regulatory approval by the end of 2020.
  • Then said at a conference in late 2021 that he hoped to start human trials this year (2022).
• Elon does believe the progress will continue to more rapidly than before:
  • “The progress at first, particularly as it applies to humans, will seem perhaps agonizingly slow, but we are doing all of the things to bring it to scale in parallel … So, in theory, progress should be exponential."

GM’s Cruise pursuing permit to test its custom-built ‘Origin’ robotaxi in San Francisco | TechCrunch (08:01)

• Cruise, GM’s self-driving technology subsidiary, has started the regulatory process to test its next-generation “Origin” robotaxi on public roads in San Francisco.
• The company applied for a permit with the California Department of Motor Vehicles to test its custom-built driverless vehicle on public roads.
  • Already charging the public for rides in its autonomous Chevy Bolt EVs
• The driverless Origin, the product of a multiyear collaboration with parent company GM and investor Honda that is designed for a ridesharing service
  • Has no steering wheel or pedals and is designed to travel at highway speeds.
• The Origin doesn’t meet a handful of federal motor vehicle safety standards (known as FMVSS) because it lacks certain parts like a steering wheel that are currently required in human-driven vehicles.
  • Filed for temporary exemption
• Cruise has previously said it expects to begin production of the Origin in 2023, a date that gives some guidance on when the automaker expects to have an exemption and other permits that would allow it to ramp from testing to commercial operations.

Government Scientists ‘Approaching What is Required for Fusion’ in Breakthrough Energy Research | Vice (12:05)

• Researchers have confirmed that magnetic fields can enhance the energy output of their experiments, reports a new study.
  • Suggest that magnets may play a key role in the development of this futuristic form of power
• Sort of knew the importance of magnets already since they are used to contain and control the plasma in a nuclear fusion reactor, preventing it from touching the walls of the and cooling down.
• National Ignition Facility (NIF) scientists have reported that the magnetic fields can boost the temperature of the fusion “hot spot” in experiments by 40 percent and more than triple its energy output.
  • “temperature approaching what is required for fusion ignition”
• Remember, in a fusion reaction, hydrogen atoms are combined to form helium, releasing a large amount of energy.
  • Can only take place at extremely high temperatures, on the order of millions of degrees Celsius.
• The hot spots in the NIF’s fusion experiments are created by shooting nearly 200 lasers at a tiny pellet of fuel made of heavier isotopes of hydrogen, such as deuterium and tritium.
  • Isotope – variant of a chemical element that has the same number of protons in its nucleus, but a different number of neutrons
• The lasers generate X-rays that make the small capsule implode
  • Producing extreme pressures and temperatures that are necessary for the isotopes to fuse together and release their enormous stores of energy.
• NIF has already brought their experiments to the brink of ignition.
  • The point at which fusion reactions become self-sustaining in plasmas.
  • Achieving ignition is an important step toward creating a possible “breakeven” system that produces more energy output than input.
• The advances at NIF, and at other fusion experiments around the world, can at times seem painstakingly incremental, but this slow progress may have an incalculable payoff down the line.

SpaceX Is Preparing to Launch The World's First Private Lunar Lander | ScienceAlert (17:47)

• SpaceX is set to launch the first private – and Japanese – lander to the Moon.
  • Scheduled for this past Wednesday and Thursday but was postponed
• According to SpaceX account on Twitter:
  • “After further inspections of the launch vehicle and data review, we're standing down from [Thursday’s] launch of @ispace_inc's HAKUTO-R Mission 1; a new target launch date will be shared once confirmed."
• Until now, only the United States, Russia, and China have managed to put a robot on the lunar surface.
• The lander would touch down around April 2023 on the visible side of the Moon, in the Atlas crater.
  • The mission, by Japanese company ispace, is the first of a program called Hakuto-R.
  • Carries on board a 10-kilogram rover named Rashid, built by the United Arab Emirates.
• Ispace says it "aims to extend the sphere of human life into space and create a sustainable world by providing high-frequency, low-cost transportation services to the Moon".

World’s first test run of a hydrogen jet engine a success | The Verge (22:04)

• Rolls-Royce and European airline easyJet announced that they’ve successfully tested a hydrogen jet engine.
  • Hope to erase aviation’s greenhouse gas emissions
• Rolls-Royce said in a press release:
  • “[They] have set a new aviation milestone with the world’s first run of a modern aero engine on hydrogen.”
• The two companies used a converted Rolls-Royce AE 2100-A regional aircraft engine for the ground test conducted in the UK.
  • The hydrogen provided was made with wind and tidal power, it’s called green hydrogen.
• A major hurdle for hydrogen-fueled flight, according to the International Air Transport Association, will be to introduce and certify new aircraft designs.
  • Aircraft need to be redesigned to incorporate larger fuel tanks.
  • Need at least 4x larger tank, so shorter flights may be what green hydrogen will initially be most useful for.
  • Funny enough, easyJet, is primarily a short-haul airline
• Rolls-Royce and easyJet are planning more ground tests before moving on to a longer-term ambition of carrying out flight tests.

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Researchers are building robots that can build themselves | Tech Crunch (00:52)

• MIT researchers are working on a project to develop robots that effectively self-assemble.
  • Team admits this technology is “years away”
  • Work so far has shown positive results
• At the system’s center are voxels, which carry power and data that can be shared between pieces.
• The pieces form the foundation of the robot by grabbing and attaching additional voxels before moving across the grid for further assembly.
  • Currently working on building stronger connectors to keep the voxels together.
• States in their paper:
  • “Our approach challenges the convention that larger constructions need larger machines to build them, and could be applied in areas that today either require substantial capital investments for fixed infrastructure or are altogether unfeasible.”
• The team suggests that using the robots to determine the optimal build could save on a lot of time spent prototyping.
  • “While there has been increasing interest in 3-D-printed houses, today those require printing machinery as large or larger than the house being built. Again, the potential for such structures to instead be assembled by swarms of tiny robots could provide benefits. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is also interested in the work for the possibility of building structures for coastal protection against erosion and sea level rise.”

A game-changing new hybrid EV battery recharges in only 72 seconds | Interesting Engineering (06:03)

• Swiss startup Morand, has developed new battery technology that could see electric vehicle (EV) batteries charge in less time than it takes to fill an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle at a gas station.
  • Called eTechnology
• The new technology, which can charge electric cars in only 72 seconds, is a hybrid system that uses technology from traditional batteries and ultracapacitors.
  • ULTRACAPACITORS deliver quick bursts of energy during peak power demands, then quickly store energy and capture excess power that is otherwise lost.
• The startup says that, during testing, a prototype of its eTechnology solution was able to recharge at up to 900 A/360 kW:
  • 80 percent in just 72 seconds,
  • 98 percent in 120 seconds, and
  • 100 percent in 2.5 minutes.
  • The company also states that Geo Technology performed independent testing.
• Morand says it has tested its eTechnology prototype over more than 50,000 cycles and claims the technology shows potential for retaining power over far more charge/discharge cycles than a traditional lithium-ion battery.
• The company is looking to bring the technology to market, no word on the exact date.
  • It will likely be more expensive than lithium-ion battery technology, to begin with.
  • Morand aims to scale production to lower the cost of its potentially game-changing hybrid technology.

Amazon makes a new push into health care | The Economist (13:05)

• Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, highlighted a big opportunity for the company moving forwards.
  • Health care
• Many tech firms are already diving into this health market
  • Apple tracks wellbeing through the iPhone
  • Microsoft offers cloud-computing services to health firms
  • Alphabet sells wearable devices and is pumping money into biotech research
• Amazon is taking a different route with Amazon Clinic, an online service operating in 32 states that offers virtual health care for over 20 conditions from acne to allergies.
  • Described as a virtual storefront that connects users with third-party health providers.
• The launch follows the $3.9bn takeover, announced in July, of One Medical, a primary care provider that offers telehealth services online and runs bricks-and-mortar clinics
• Neil Linsday, formerly responsible for Prime, has said health care “is high on the list of experiences that need reinvention”.
• This is the latest move the complement previous moves Amazon has made into this space:
  • 2021: Amazon Web Services launched specific cloud services for health care
  • 2020: Launched Halo band, which is a wearable device that monitors the user’s health status.
  • 2018: Acquired PillPack, a digital pharmacy that is now part of Amazon Pharmacy
• Amazon Clinic will accept cash for its services, rather than relying on America’s insurance system to recoup costs.
  • The company is betting that primary care will become more digital.
• Amazon’s health push comes with several risks:
  • CVS reportedly outbid Amazon for Signify Health, a large primary-care provider
  • Walgreens increased its stake in Villagemd
  • JPMorgan recently opened primary-care centers of its own
  • Previous track record in healthcare not 100% success (Amazon Care & Haven)
  • Competition:
  • Worst of all regulators
• Amazon’s jump into this industry should have a positive effect.
  • Its experience at keeping customers happy while generating thin margins could improve primary care and force other providers to up their game.

MRI reveals never-seen-before spaces in brains of migraine sufferers | New Atlas (19:49)

• Though they are common and can have severely debilitating effects, the precise cause of migraines remains a mystery.
  • From the web MD, “Doctors aren’t totally sure what causes migraine headaches, but they think imbalances in certain brain chemicals may play a role.”
• A study by researchers at the University of Southern California has shed important new light migraines by leveraging cutting-edge imaging technology to gain a new perspective on structures in the brain.
  • Advanced imaging technology called 7T MRI
• The research centers on what are known as perivascular spaces, which are gaps around the blood vessels that help clear fluids from the brain.
  • The images of the brain revealed that those spaces were enlarged.
  • Inflammation and abnormalities in the blood-brain barrier can impact their shape and size.
• The team enlisted five healthy controls, 10 subjects with chronic migraines and 10 subjects with episodic migraines without aura.
  • Without aura means migraines without tingling and visual disturbances.
• The 7T MRI images compared tiny differences in the participants’ brains.
  • “Because 7T MRI is able to create images of the brain with much higher resolution and better quality than other MRI types, it can be used to demonstrate much smaller changes that happen in brain tissue after a migraine,” said study co-author Wilson Xu.
• Among these changes were cerebral microbleeds, along with enlarged perivascular spaces in the centrum semiovale region of the brain, in the migraine sufferers.
  • Centrum Semiovale – a mass consisting of white matter that is on top of the lateral ventricles or corpus collosum found in each of the cerebral hemispheres at the bottom of the cerebral cortex.
• According to the researchers these “significant changes” of the perivascular spaces have never been reported before.
• The team hypothesizes that the differences in the perivascular spaces may be indicative of disruption to the glymphatic system, which works with the perivascular spaces to clear waste from the brain.
  • Hope to resolve these mysteries through larger studies on more diverse cohorts, over longer time frames.
• Xu thinks this could “help us develop new, personalized ways to diagnose and treat migraines.”

Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta is now available to all owners in North America | Electrek (26:09)

• Tesla Full Self-Driving (FSD) Beta is now available to all owners who ordered the Full Self-Driving package in North America, according to Elon Musk’s Twitter announcement:
  • “Tesla Full Self-Driving Beta is now available to anyone in North America who requests it from the car screen, assuming you have bought this option. Congrats to [the] Tesla Autopilot/AI team on achieving a major milestone!”
• This enables Tesla vehicles to drive autonomously to a destination entered in the car’s navigation system.
• Since the responsibility rests with the driver and not Tesla’s system, it is still considered a level-two driver-assist system, despite its name.
• Twitter user @WholeMarsBlog posted about his experience with FSD:
  • “Guys. I drove all around LA today and yesterday. Used FSD 100% of the time. Had zero takeovers. Recorded all today’s drives to Petersen museum, LA auto show, and then back”
• Reminder the FSD package subscription price:
  • Basic Autopilot to FSD capability - $199.00 per month
  • Enhanced Autopilot to FSD capability - $99.00 per month

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"Polytherapeutic" tinnitus treatment app delivers impressive results | New Atlas (00:49)

• Tinnitus is when you experience ringing or other noises in one or both of your ears.

  • 5% of people experience tinnitus at some point in their lives
  • A team of researchers at the University of Auckland has found it's new smartphone app treatment is getting strong results

  • This polytherapeutic “combines goal-based counseling with personalized passive and active game-based sound therapy."

  • It has tailored the digital tools in the app to the user's own experience of tinnitus.

  • The primary measurement of effectiveness was the Tinnitus Functional Index, a standard scale used to quantify a person's experience of tinnitus

  • A 13 point change is regarded as a clinically meaningful difference.

  • It is a survey so take this with a grain of salt

  • The group using the polytherapeutic reported an average improvement of 16.36 points after six weeks, and 17.83 points after 12 weeks

  • 55% of participants experiencing a clinically meaningful improvement after six weeks

  • 65% at 12 weeks.
  • The Auckland team is working on obtaining regulatory approval for the polytherapeutic app, and hope to have it clinically available within six months or so.

Rare Elephant Twins are Born in 'Historic Moment’ at Syracuse Zoo | Today (05:54)

• Twin Asian elephant calves were born at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, New York, in what the zoo is calling a “miracle.”

  • Born on Oct. 24
  • Ten hours after Mali’s (Mama Elephant obviously) first male calf was born, weighing in at 220 pounds, a second male calf arrived, weighing 237 pounds.

  • The zoo commented on this improbability and rarity:

  • “To date, there has never been a recorded case of surviving elephant twins in the United States … The few successful twin births have only taken place in their range countries in Asia and Africa and nowhere else in the world.”

  • Additionally, less than 1% of elephant births worldwide are twins
  • When twins do occur, the calves are often stillborn or do not survive long after birth.

Engineers designed a new nanoscale 3D printing material that can be printed at a speed of 100 mm/s | Interesting Engineering (09:43)

• A new nanoscale 3D printing material developed by Stanford University engineers may provide superior structural protection for satellites, drones, and microelectronics

  • An improved lightweight, a protective lattice that can absorb twice as much energy as previous materials of a similar density

  • Nanoscale 3D printing material creates structures that are a fraction of the width of a human hair.

  • Enabling the printing at very small scales.

  • The engineers added metal nanoclusters (tiny groupings of atoms) to their printing medium to create a superior 3D printing material.

  • Effective in kicking off the reaction to harden the material

  • Produced a substance that was a mixture of the metal and the polymer printing medium.
  • The printing process was accelerated by the nanoclusters.

  • They were able to print at a speed of 100 millimeters per second using the nanoclusters and proteins.

  • Roughly 100 times faster than what had previously been possible with nanoscale protein printing.

  • The engineers are in some ways imitating what nature has already mastered.

  • For instance, the mix of a hard exterior, nanoscale porosity, and trace amounts of soft substance gives bone its durability.

  • Where to go from here? Wendy Gu, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering and a corresponding author on the paper stated:

  • “Since the nanoclusters are able to polymerize these different classes of chemicals, we may be able to use them to print multiple materials in one structure … That’s one thing we’d like to aim for.”

Researchers develop a new method for analyzing rock glaciers | Phys.org (15:20)

• Scientists at the University of Arizona developed a new method to determine rock glaciers' ice thickness and the ratio of ice to debris, allowing for more precise measurements of these glaciers than previously possible.

  • Lead by Tyler Meng who is pursuing a doctoral degree in planetary science
  • This new method will allow scientists to better understand water resources on both Earth and Mars, as well as how resilient this type of buried ice will be to the changing climate on both planets.

  • Both pure ice glaciers and rock glaciers can move across landscapes—very slowly.

  • The debris in rock glaciers causes them to flow even more slowly than ice glaciers, as the inclusion of rocks makes them much stiffer.

  • Using two different antenna configurations, the researchers used ground-penetrating radar to measure both the radar wave speed and the angle at which the wave was reflected from the subsurface.

  • The two antenna configurations allowed the researchers to better calculate the dimensions of the rock glacier.

  • According to Meng, understanding rock glaciers on Earth is important because they are essentially water reservoirs. To continue:

  • “Our research gives us a better idea of the total water budget in mountainous regions, where major rivers have headwaters … By having a map of the debris thickness and ice concentration, we can essentially characterize the ability of rock glaciers to withstand effects of a warming climate compared to clean ice glaciers"

  • The whole goal of the research is to use Earth rock glaciers as an analog to processing them on Mars.

  • Meng stated: "By mapping the patterns of debris thickness on Earth, we're trying to understand how that debris thickness may also vary on Mars. Also, by learning about the differences in flow parameters between clean ice and debris-rich ice, that will help simulations for the Martian case as well."

  • Moving forward, the research group will continue to make similar measurements using surface-based radar while also collecting new data using drones.

  • Drone-based data collection will help the group to gain a more complete understanding of rock glacier flow and subsurface characteristics

A Lab-Grown Meat Startup Gets the FDA’s Stamp of Approval | MIT Tech Review (20:00)

• A company called Upside Foods will soon be able to sell chicken made from real animal cells grown in bioreactors instead of requiring the slaughter of live animals.

  • Cultivated meat has been greenlit in the United States for the first time.

  • There are just two smaller regulatory steps remaining until cultivated meat can be made available to the public.

  • Require a grant of inspection from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)

  • The food itself will need a mark of inspection before it can enter the US market

  • Different startups are focusing on a range of cultivated meats, including:

  • beef, chicken, salmon, and tuna

  • It’s likely that tasting these meats will be limited to a very small number of exclusive restaurants.

  • With the CEO Uma Valeti wanting chefs to initially bring this to people’s attention with well made meals.

  • In December 2020, Singaporean regulators gave the green light to cultivated chicken from the San Francisco–based startup Eat Just.

  • The chicken nuggets were sold at a members-only restaurant called 1880 and later made available for delivery.

  • Cultivated meat is different from plant-based meats because it contains real animal cells and is—theoretically—indistinguishable from real meat itself.

  • The process:

  • Cell line: a single cell is stimulated to allow it to expand into multiple cells

  • Cells are initially isolated from an animal and developed into cell lines that are then frozen.
  • Small samples from these cell lines can then be transferred to bioreactors
  • Bioreactors are where cells are fed growth media containing the nutrients that cells need to divide.
  • Once grown, the cells are differentiated into the correct kind of tissue where they can be harvested and used in cultivated meat products.

  • Startups keep the exact cost of growing their cells tightly under wraps, but it’s likely that pure cultivated meat will still be several times the cost of conventional meat.

  • But this has dropped considerably from when this method was first used.

  • In August 2013, Dr Mark Post from the Netherlands created the world’s first hamburger made from the stem cells of a cow for $325,000 USD at a taste testing and cooking demonstration in London, United Kingdom.

  • Some projections for future facilities suggest that even large facilities will produce meat at a cost of $17 per pound.

  • Translation: higher prices in restaurants and grocery stores.

  • Current production facilities are very small, and many in the industry have serious reservations about lab-grown meat’s ability to eventually put a dent in global meat consumption.

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Show Notes: First human patients receive transfusions of lab-grown blood cells | New Atlas (01:01)

• For the first time ever, human patients have received transfusions of blood cells that were grown from stem cells in a lab

  • Revolutionize blood transfusions

  • Blood donations are life saving, but the demand outweighs the supply

  • But only 13.6 million units of whole blood and red blood cells are collected in the U.S. in a year.

  • According to the Red Cross, only about 3% of age-eligible people donate blood yearly.
  • Nearly 16 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S.
  • Approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the U. S.
  • An attractive alternative would be large-scale production of red blood cells in labs, which can be tuned to have whichever blood type is needed.

  • The new clinical trial, named RESTORE, is designed to test the safety of transfusions of these manufactured blood cells, as well as how long they last in the body.

  • Lab-grown blood is all made “fresh,” so it should all reliably last up to 120 days.

  • For people with conditions that require regular blood transfusions, such as sickle cell, the longer lifespan of the cells should help give them longer gaps between transfusions.

  • The RESTORE trial will involve at least 10 participants receiving “mini” transfusions of blood, containing just 5 to 10 ml (one to two teaspoons) of red blood cells.

  • So far, two participants have received transfusions of lab-grown blood cells as part of the trial, with the scientists reporting that they have shown no untoward side effects.

  • While this is a major milestone towards that goal, there’s still much more work to do before blood transfusions are regularly lab-grown

This clear window coating could cool buildings without using energy | Electrek (06:41)

• Scientists have used advanced computing tech and AI to design a clear window coating that could lower the temperature inside buildings.

  • Saving a whole lot of cooling energy.
  • Cooling accounts for about 15% of global energy consumption, and it’s only going to get hotter, especially in more tropical climates.

  • The sun’s ultraviolet and near-infrared light are the parts of the solar spectrum that pass through window glass to heat an enclosed room.

  • Why a car gets hot sitting in the sun.

  • If you block that light energy the amount of cooling needed would be reduced
  • According to their new paper, researchers from University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Kyung Hee University in Seoul, successfully designed a clear window coating, or “transparent radiative cooler” (TRC).

  • According to the report,

  • “[The team] optimized the type, order, and combination of layers using an iterative approach guided by machine learning and quantum computing, which stores data using subatomic particles”

  • Using this quantum method allowed the team to carry out the optimization process faster. Which eventually, “produced a coating design that, when fabricated, beat the performance of conventionally designed TRCs in addition to one of the best commercial heat-reduction glasses on the market.”

  • Through heat simulations of the TRC as a potential window material for a standard office with two windows they were able to figure out roughly the heat savings.

  • 31.1% of the cooling energy consumption when conventional windows are used.

  • The average annual energy saving over the surveyed U.S. cities is 50 MJ/m2
  • In cities with hot, dry weather the TRC can potentially save around 86.3 MJ/m2 per year.
  • There’s no indication of commercial scaling in the study, but the researchers write that the film “can be potentially scaled up for practical applications because their fabrication can be achieved using state-of-the-art deposition techniques.”

Experimental breast cancer vaccine passes first human trials | New Atlas (12:19)

• I don’t like using the term vaccine for these types of treatments. It is more of cell/protein therapy so I’ll put that out there before I get into this.

• Up to 30% of breast cancers involve the overproduction of a protein called human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2).

  • HER2-positive cancers are often more aggressive than other types of breast cancer

  • These treatments deliver DNA blueprints for the production of certain proteins into the nucleus of a cell.

  • The protein is then produced by the cell, triggering an immune response.

  • This treatment in question prompts cells to produce a specific fragment of the HER2 protein.

  • Note another reason I don’t call it a vaccine:

  • These are known as “therapeutic vaccines”, given to patients after they are diagnosed with a cancer in the hopes they help the immune system better seek and destroy certain tumors.

  • The trial was not geared to evaluate how effective the experimental treatment is at treating breast cancer.

  • But still in the trial there were promising signs of efficacy, with 80% of the treated trial participants surviving the full 10-year follow-up

  • Only around 50% of patients with advanced HER2 breast cancer would generally be expected to survive more than five year

  • Looking into the survival rate:

  • 95.8% of females survive breast cancer for at least one year, this falls to 85.0% surviving for five years or more, and continues to fall to roughly 75% for 10 years, as shown by age-standardized net survival for patients diagnosed with breast cancer during 2013-2017 in England.

  • A Phase 2 trial is currently underway, testing the treatment’s efficacy in a larger cohort of HER2-positive patients.

Scientists are working on an official 'alien contact protocol' for when ET phones Earth | Live Science (19:01)

• For the first time in 35 years, a team of policy experts and scientists have united to establish a set of alien-contact protocols for the entire world to follow in the event of a sudden encounter with E.T.

  • What better use of “policy experts” … unless they know something

  • Currently, the only alien contact protocol that humans have was established by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI) community in 1989.

  • vague when it comes to the international response to extraterrestrial communication

  • mainly focuses on the importance of sharing discoveries with the public and broader scientific community.
  • The new SETI Detection Hub will scan signals for potential messages sent from alien lifeforms and will develop a framework for attaching meaning to those signals.

  • End it with John Elliot, a computer scientist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, and coordinator of the SETI Detection Hub, talking on the preparedness effort:

  • “Will we ever get a message from E.T.? We don't know. We also don't know when this is going to happen … But we do know that we cannot afford to be ill-prepared — scientifically, socially, and politically rudderless — for an event that could turn into reality as early as tomorrow."

Open-source fish robot starts collecting microplastics from UK lakes | The Next Web (24:20)

• Microplastics in the water is a problem:

  • A new study from Stanford University found that blue whales, the biggest creatures on Earth, ingest about 10 million pieces of microplastics per day.
  • What could be the solution? Maybe a plastic eating robot fish?

  • A robot fish that collects microplastics from waterways has been turned from an idea into a working prototype.

  • The design was brought to life after it won the University of Surrey’s public competition, the Natural Robotics Contest.

  • Competition was to submit an idea for a bio-inspired robot that could help the world.

  • The robotics panelists and researchers, led by Dr. Robert Siddall, turned the design into a 3D-printed prototype about the size of a salmon.

  • consists of a flooded head unit and a watertight tail unit.

  • Set of gills on its sides and a fine mesh in between them that can sieve about two-millimeter particles
  • Filters the water and keeps the microplastics inside its container as it swims.
  • The robot fist has already been tested in the lab and local lakes

  • Going Forward, according to Siddall, the team is envisioning a range of improvements for the robot:

  • Making It faster and smarter

  • Operate autonomously, rather than being remote controlled.

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Show Notes: Honda aims for a solid-state-powered EV by the end of the decade | Ars Technica (00:53)

• Honda is working on what it believes will be the breakthrough that brings solid-state batteries to the market.

  • Working solo on this technology

  • Shinji Aoyama, Honda's global leader of electrification, told Ars Technica:

  • “In the springtime of 2024, we will start a pilot line (for manufacturing). Then if we can be successful, we believe we can launch a vehicle with a solid-state battery in the latter part of the 2020s. 2029, 2028."

  • CEO and president Toshihiro Mibe added that the automaker hasn't decided which vehicle will be the first to be outfitted with a solid-state battery.

  • Solid State batteries might be potentially cheaper, safer, charge quicker, and hold more energy per pound, but they also don't have much of a life span.

  • As we talked about last week

  • Dendrites are tiny crystal spikes that form in the lithium metal anodes of solid-state batteries over time.

  • Honda is trying to solve the issue where the dendrites bore through the electrolyte over time and cause a short circuit during charging, reducing the battery's life span.

  • Honda's solution is to sandwich the solid electrolyte with a polymer fabric keeping the dendrites from forming without sacrificing the battery's capabilities.

  • They will roll press the elements instead of stamping, which Honda believes should give the company greater control over the thickness of each battery.

  • The automaker is still in the early stages of testing these batteries at its facility.

  • They have to work quickly if they want to be ready for the pilot manufacturing of solid-state batteries in the spring of 2024.

Bruvi Launches Breakthrough Single-Serve Coffee System | Business Insider (06:19)

• Bruvi is a startup which recently launched its breakthrough brewing system today, just in time for the holiday season.

• U.S. coffee drinkers use more than 17 million single-serve pods annually, the vast majority of which end up in landfills, where they take around 500 years to decompose.

  • Only about 9% of plastic is recycled and small coffee pods are even more challenging to recycle.

  • Bruvi‘s B-pods is taking a novel approach to bio-degradable coffee pods by assuming they end up at the landfill.

  • And designing them to disintegrate when they do.

  • B-Pods are bio-enzyme infused capsules designed to substantially break down in a landfill more rapidly than untreated plastics through an organic process that leaves no microplastics behind.

  • Bruvi co-founder Mel Elias, in an interview with TechCrunch, talks on the pods:

  • “We are convinced here at Bruvi that we have found a very viable alternative, other than recycling, to address the problem of plastic waste by using bio enzyme technology … For consumers who are under the perception that single-serve pod coffee systems are bad for the environment, our aspiration at Bruvi is to ultimately turn this perception on its head and demonstrate that if you really care about the environment but still want to drink specialty coffee, Bruvi is your choice.”

  • He continues talking on the bio-enzyme portion of their product:

  • “This is the first time enzyme-infused plastic has been applied to a polypropylene coffee capsule, so this has already been an expensive endeavor for us as a startup … Adding the bio-enzyme admittedly does add a significant enough increase to the actual cost of our pods that would be a disincentive to most. Our social impact mission demands this course of action and so do the consumers we are trying to reach. Simply put, we couldn’t afford not to implement this solution.”

  • Elias ends off with what his hopes are for the company and their mission:

  • “Our immediate hope is that the large waste management companies that own or manage the majority of the active landfills in the U.S. today will be more incentivized, and supported by policy and regulation to increase the number of landfill gas to energy projects that are already in place today … We also hope that the use of infused plastics becomes more commonplace across other industries as an alternative solution to plastic waste — it’s a bio enzyme leading to organic fermentation in an anaerobic environment so no microplastics are created as a by-product and that’s another great benefit.”

Scientists Use Actual Lunar Soil Sample To Create Rocket Fuel | Futurism (15:16)

• A team of Chinese researchers say they managed to convert actual lunar regolith samples into a source of rocket fuel and oxygen

  • Allowing for use of in-situ resources to fuel up for their return journey.

  • The researchers found that the lunar soil samples can act as a catalyst to convert carbon dioxide and water from astronauts' bodies and environment into methane and oxygen.

  • Builds on previous research suggesting lunar soil can generate oxygen and fuel, this process can be completed using uncrewed systems, even in the absence of astronauts.

  • In an experiment, the team used samples from China's Chang'e-5 mission, which landed in Inner Mongolia back in December 2020 — the first lunar soil returned to Earth since 1976.

  • The Moon soil effectively acted as a catalyst, enabling the electrocatalytic conversion of carbon dioxide into methane and oxygen.

  • The research concludes, “No significant difference can be observed between the manned and unmanned systems, which further suggests the high possibility of imitating our proposed system in extraterrestrial sites and proves the feasibility of further optimizing catalyst recipes on the Moon."

  • But there's one big hurdle to still overcome: liquifying carbon dioxide

  • Difficult task, because condensing the gas requires a significant amount of heat,

  • Still, it's a tantalizing prospect: an autonomous machine chugging away, pumping out oxygen and fuel for future visitors.

Meta’s AI-powered audio codec promises 10x compression over MP3 | Ars Technica (19:57)

• Meta announced an AI-powered audio compression method called "EnCodec" that can reportedly compress audio 10 times smaller than the MP3 format at 64kbps with no loss in quality.

  • Could improve the sound quality of speech on low-bandwidth connections, such as phone calls in areas with spotty service.

  • Meta describes its method as a three-part system trained to compress audio to a desired target size.

  • First, the encoder transforms uncompressed data into a lower frame rate "latent space" representation.

  • Next, their "quantizer" compresses the representation to the target size while keeping track of the most important information that will later be used to rebuild the original signal.
  • Finally, the decoder turns the compressed data back into audio in real time using a neural network on a single CPU.
  • Meta says this AI-powered "hypercompression of audio" could support "faster, better-quality calls" in bad network conditions.
  • For now, Meta's new tech remains in the research phase, but it points toward a future where high-quality audio can use less bandwidth, which would be great news for mobile broadband providers with overburdened networks from streaming media.

The Sci-Fi Dream of a ‘Molecular Computer’ Is Getting More Real | MIT Tech Review (24:24)

• David Leigh, an organic chemist from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, believes that tiny molecular computers could assemble what we struggle to build in the organic realm.

  • Like new drugs and plastics with traits so enhanced and precise that they’re out of reach for current tools.

  • Leigh is confident it is possible:

  • “It's absolutely clear that it's possible because there already is this working example called biology.”

  • Ribosomes, cellular structures that slide down sequences of mRNA to churn out proteins one amino acid at a time.
  • A molecular machine would work like a ribosome, in that instructions would be encoded on one molecule, and another one would interpret them.

  • Researchers like Leigh are building this molecule piece by piece

  • Developed a “ratchet” molecule in 2007 which was powered by light and could move forward along a molecular track.

  • So five years ago, they discovered how to nudge these ratchet molecules

  • Now Leigh’s team combined these innovations to demonstrate that a molecule-sized machine can read as it moves.

  • Encoded blocks of information on one molecule (the tape)

  • Designed another to slide down its length (the head).

  • The head moved along the tape, it would contort into a predictable shape each time it scanned a specific block of information.

  • Interpreted the information on the tape based on the changes to the shape of the head

  • It took several hours to move between blocks of information.

  • The scientists were able to follow along with how the head was changing its shape by reading light shined at the molecular machine.

  • Found that you can use the fundamental processes of physics and chemistry to relay information at the molecular level.

  • Lee Cronin, a chemist at the University of Glasgow who was not involved in the study:

  • “If you could digitally control assembly at the molecular level, and make every single strand bespoke, then you can make amazing materials … But we're a little bit far away from that. And I'm anxious not to over-promise that.”

  • The next step forward will be getting his molecular machines to write.

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Show Notes: The future of solid-state batteries could be 3D-printed | The Verge (01:11)

• Lithium-ion batteries are everywhere: in your phone, car, camera, and more.

  • One major flaw: safety.
  • Lithium-ion batteries have a tendency to catch fire, especially when damaged or at high temperatures.

  • Solid-state batteries replace a flammable liquid electrolyte in lithium-ion batteries with a more stable solid one.

  • Potential solutions for many problems of liquid Li-ion batteries, such as flammability, limited voltage, unstable solid-electrolyte interphase formation, poor cycling performance and strength.

  • Additionally providing more power, faster charging, and a longer lifespan.

  • California-based startup Sakuú, and it’s taking on an even bigger task: 3D-printing these next-gen batteries.

  • Claims that 3D printing allows it to fit more battery layers in the same amount of space, boosting the capacity of its batteries compared to those made by traditional manufacturing.

  • Dave Pederson, vice president of marketing and business development at battery technology company Sakuu, explains that has validated its 3D printing processes and materials, and is currently formatting them for a production environment.

  • “We've proven all of the steps in the lab, and now we're in the process of connecting them in an automated fashion,”

  • In theory, 3D printed batteries could take on more customized shapes, which could change how batteries are integrated into product design.

  • Sakuu is bullish on this technology, this past August they opened a state-of-the-art multi-faceted engineering hub for its battery platform printing initiatives in Silicon Valley.

  • 79,000 square feet

A floating wind platform has been installed in Spain 50 meters into the water | Interesting Engineering (07:15)

• A floating wind platform has been successfully installed at the PLOCAN test site in the Canary Islands of Spain.

  • X1 Wind, the firm behind the platform.
  • Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN)
  • Connected the fully-functional floating wind prototype to the mooring system and dynamic cable pre-installed last June.

  • The benefit of offshore floating wind turbines is they can take advantage of the strong winds blowing in the deeper areas, which improves energy efficiency.

  • Can manufacture and then tow them out into deeper waters.

  • The new wind platform has been fitted with a Vestas V29 turbine and stationed at a 50 meter water depth in a downwind configuration.

  • 225 kW turbine

  • Enable the firm to provide platforms for the 15MW scale turbines and beyond and to deploy them at very deep sites.

  • X1 Wind CEO and Co-Founder Alex Raventos explains the importance of this milestone:

  • “This is a key milestone for our company and for the floating wind sector in general being able to install a floating wind platform using a TLP mooring system and requiring only small vessels. This reduces not only the costs but also the impact on the seabed. Data obtained from the X30 will contribute to de-risk the technology, improve the design, and obtain the certification of our commercial-scale platforms in preparation for upcoming tenders in Spain and other countries worldwide.”

  • After its installation is completed, the new project will be tested in fully operational conditions until March 2023 while continuing to feed the electricity it generates to PLOCAN’s smartgrid.

Scientists Astonished by Strange Material That Can Be Made Like Plastic but Conducts Like Metal | SciTechDaily (12:13)

• University of Chicago scientists have discovered a way to create a material that can be made like a plastic, but conducts electricity more like a metal.

  • goes against all of the rules we know about conductivity—to a scientist
  • According to John Anderson, an associate professor of chemistry, “this opens up the design of a whole new class of materials that conduct electricity, are easy to shape, and are very robust in everyday conditions.”

  • If you’re making any kind of electronic device, conductive materials are absolutely essential.

  • Metals, such as copper, gold, and aluminum, are by far the oldest and largest group of conductors.

  • 50 years ago, scientists were able to create conductors made out of organic materials, using a chemical treatment known as “doping,” which sprinkles in different atoms or “impurities” throughout the material.

  • Both organic and traditional metallic conductors share a common characteristic: They are made up of straight, closely packed rows of atoms or molecules.

  • Scientists thought a material had to have these straight, orderly rows in order to conduct electricity efficiently.

  • With this new way to create the material, the scientists saw that the molecular structure of the material was disordered.

  • Anderson said it should not be a metal and there is not a theory to explain this

  • After tests, simulations, and theoretical work, they think that the material forms layers, like sheets in a lasagna.

  • Even if the sheets rotate sideways, no longer forming a neat lasagna stack, electrons can still move horizontally or vertically—as long as the pieces touch.

  • The scientists are excited because the discovery suggests a fundamentally new design principle for electronics technology.

  • Explaining that conductors are so important that virtually any new development opens up new lines for technology.

  • The new material has no such restriction because it can be made at room temperature

  • Can also be used where the need for a device or pieces of the device to withstand heat, acid or alkalinity, or humidity has previously limited engineers’ options to develop new technology.

Stratolaunch's Roc, the world's largest plane, aces 1st flight carrying hypersonic prototype | Space.com (18:57)

• Stratolaunch, builder of the world's largest airplane, flew a prototype of its planned air-launched Talon hypersonic vehicle for the first time on Friday (Oct. 28).

  • wingspan longer than a football field

  • Stratolaunch's Roc took off from the Mojave Air and Space Port carrying the 28-foot-long (8.5 meters) Talon prototype vehicle attached to a pylon at the center of the giant plane's 385-foot-wide (117 m) wings.

  • flight lasted just over five hours

  • maximum altitude of 23,000 feet (7,000 m),
  • This test proves this huge plane can indeed carry an experimental hypersonic vehicle it's designed to launch from mid-air.

  • Stratolaunch CEO and President Zachary Krevor told reporters:

  • “I was ecstatic seeing those two vehicles combined as they lifted off the runway and into the sky … Seeing our flight products operating together represents a significant step towards regular and reusable hypersonic flight."

  • The company is developing a series of Talon vehicles as testbeds for hypersonic flights that can reach speeds of up to Mach 6, or six times the speed of sound.

  • First flight for the Roc with the vehicle attached

  • If December's drop test is successful, Stratolaunch aims to test its first hypersonic vehicle, the Talon-A TA-1, in 2023.

Utility Explores Converting Coal Plants into Nuclear Power | Scientific American (22:53)

• One of the largest utilities in the Western United States, PacifiCorp, announced Thursday they were launching a study to determine if up to five coal plants could be equipped with advanced nuclear reactors.

  • A move further cemented the relationship between TerraPower, a nuclear developer, and PacifiCorp

  • The pair agreed last year to build a 345-megawatt Natrium nuclear reactor at the site of a retiring coal plant in western Wyoming.

  • Signals a new energy transition strategy in the West

  • The first reactor at the Naughton Power Plant in Kemmerer, Wyo., where the two companies hope to demonstrate that a coal-to-nuclear conversion is viable.

  • Yet to have its design approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

  • Is projected to cost $4 billion.
  • The plan to convert the Kemmerer plant into a sodium-cooled Natrium reactor has been embraced by Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon.
  • A recent Department of Energy study found that siting advanced reactors at old coal sites can decrease costs by taking advantage of existing transmission and interconnection infrastructure.

  • Additionally, nuclear reactors have the added benefit of more jobs than other renewable energy plants.

  • TerraPower estimates its facility will require a workforce of 250 people.

  • Ryan McGraw, vice president of project development at Rocky Mountain Power, a PacifiCorp subsidiary talks on the challenges of this study:

  • “While there are a number of hurdles to overcome prior to commercialization of any new technology, this joint study with TerraPower will help us to understand those challenges and frame a path forward with the best interest of our customers in mind.”

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Show Notes Radioactive implant wipes tumors in unprecedented pre-clinical success | New Atlas (00:52)

• Pancreatic cancer is notoriously difficult to diagnose and treat, with tumor cells of this type highly evasive and loaded with mutations that make them resistant to many drugs.

  • 3.2 percent of all cancers, yet is the third leading cause of cancer-related death

  • Engineers at Duke University have developed a novel delivery system for cancer treatment and demonstrated its potential against one of the disease’s most troublesome forms

  • A radioactive implant completely eliminated tumors in the majority of the rodents

  • The team wanted to figure out a way to implant into the tumor without causing damage to the surrounding tissue.

  • Created one from more biocompatible materials (instead of titanium) that wouldn’t post the same risks to the human body.

  • Synthetic chains of amino acids known as elastin-like polypeptides (ELPs), which form a stable gel-like material in the warmer environment of the body.

  • This substance was injected into tumors in various mouse models of pancreatic cancer along with a radioactive element called iodine-131.

  • ELP entombs the iodine-131 and prevents it from leaking into the body.

  • Allows it to emit beta radiation that penetrates into the surrounding tumor.
  • Once the radiation is spent, the ELP biogel safely degrades into harmless amino acids.

  • The treatment was tested in combination with a common chemotherapy drug called paclitaxel.

  • Across all the models tested, the scientists report a 100% response rate to the treatment.

  • In three quarters of the models, the dual treatment completely eliminated the tumors 80% of the time.
  • The scientists deployed the novel treatment against pancreatic cancer because they wanted to explore its potential against one of the trickiest forms of the disease, but believe these results bode well for its wider application.

  • Study author Jeff Schaal, explains the significance of their finding:

  • “We did a deep dive through over 1,100 treatments across preclinical models and never found results where the tumors shrank away and disappeared like ours did … When the rest of the literature is saying that what we're seeing doesn't happen, that's when we knew we had something extremely interesting."

In a first, scientists grow fully mature hair follicles in cultures | Interesting Engineering (07:12)

• According to a press release, researchers from Japan generated hair follicles in cultures while working on the processes of hair follicle growth and hair pigmentation.

  • Could contribute to the development of different applications such as hair loss treatment, animal testing and drug screenings.

  • Scientists have been trying to understand the essential mechanisms of hair follicle development through animal models for a long while.

  • Hair follicle morphogenesis wasn’t something that could be reproduced in a culture dish until now.

  • Morphogenesis is the process when the outer layer of skin and the connective tissue interacts while the embryo develops.

  • Researchers built hair follicle organoids by controlling the structure generated from the two types of embryonic cells tapping into a low concentration of extracellular matrices.

  • Extracellular matrix is a network that supplies structure for cells and tissue in the body.

  • These matrices change the spacing between the two types of embryonic cells from a dumbbell-shape to core-shell configuration.

  • Fully mature hair follicles with approximately 3 millimeter (mm)-long hair shafts were produced by the hair follicle organoids on the 23rd day of being cultured.

  • Researchers included a melanocyte-stimulating drug that helps produce hair color pigmentation in the culture medium.

  • The findings could help understand how physiological and pathological processes develop in relation to other organ systems as well.

  • Junji Fukuda, a professor with the faculty of engineering at Yokohama National University, speaks on next steps:

  • “Our next step is to use cells from human origin, and apply for drug development and regenerative medicine.”

Team uses live plant cells in 3D printing | Futurity (11:35)

• Researchers have developed a reproducible way of studying cellular communication among varied types of plant cells by “bioprinting” those cells with a 3D printer.

  • Communication is key to understanding more about plant cell functions.
  • Could ultimately lead to creating better crop varieties and optimal growing environments.
  • They bioprinted cells from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and from soybeans to study not just whether plant cells would live after being bioprinted but also how they acquire and change their identity and function.

  • Lisa Van den Broeck, first author of a paper, describes the work:

  • “A plant root has a lot of different cell types with specialized functions … There are also different sets of genes being expressed; some are cell-specific. We wanted to know what happens after you bioprint live cells and place them into an environment that you design. Are they alive and doing what they should be doing?”

  • Live plant cells without cell walls, or protoplasts, were bioprinted along with nutrients, growth hormones, and a thickening agent called agarose.

  • Agarose helps provide cells strength and scaffolding

  • “When you print the bioink, you need it to be liquid, but when it comes out, it needs to be solid. Mimicking the natural environment helps keep cellular signals and cues occurring as they would in soil,” explained Professor Ross Sozzani, co-corresponding author of the paper.

  • The research showed that more than half of the 3D bioprinted cells were viable and divided over time to form microcalli, or small colonies of cells.

  • Also bioprinted individual cells to test whether they could regenerate, or divide and multiply, which showed that Arabidopsis root and shoot cells needed different combinations of nutrients and scaffolding for optimal viability.

  • More than 40% of individual soybean embryonic cells remained viable two weeks after bioprinting and also divided over time to form microcalli.

  • End off with Professor Sozzani:

  • “All told, this study shows the powerful potential of using 3D bioprinting to identify the optimal compounds needed to support plant cell viability and communication in a controlled environment,”

IKEA Is Using Driverless Trucks to Move Its Furniture in Texas | SIngularity Hub (18:49)

• Thanks to its mild climate, expansive highway network, and lax regulations, Texas has become the country’s proving ground for driverless trucks.

  • traveling the state’s highways partially driver-free for a couple of years already
  • autonomous mode on highways, but safety drivers take over to navigate city streets

  • This week Kodiak Robotics announced a partnership to transport IKEA products using a heavy-duty self-driving truck.

  • The route runs from an IKEA distribution center in Baytown, east of Houstin, to a store in Frisco, 290 miles away just north of Dallas.

  • Kodiak has been around since 2018, and is focused on building a technology stack specifically for long-haul trucks.

  • Use a modular hardware approach that includes easy-to-install “mirror pods” with lidar and cameras.

  • Seems like this company is on the rise with self driving trucks

  • partnerships in place with CEVA Logistics and U.S. Express

  • In August announced an agreement with Pilot Companies to develop services for self-driving trucks at Pilot and Flying J travel centers.
  • Kodiak’s founder and CEO Don Burnette hopes the IKEA pilot will lead to a long-term relationship between the two companies, and an expansion of delivery routes for the furniture store.

  • Burnette told Forbes:

  • “Up until now we’ve primarily been working with other carriers who work on behalf of shippers as their customers, and this is the first time we’re working with a shipper directly … It was a really good opportunity to build that relationship and understand their operational needs.”

New VR app lets you step inside your smartphone videos | Freethink (24:40)

• Startup Wist Labs is developing a VR app that converts your smartphone clips into 3D videos — giving you a chance to walk inside your memories using a VR headset.

• To create a memory with Wist, a user opens the app and records a video.

  • The app collects the information it needs to make the 2D clip look three-dimensional.

  • Co-founder Andrew McHugh explained to Freethink:

  • “During capture, we save color, depth, device pose, audio, and scene information … Depth is captured using the LiDAR sensors on the Pro model iPhones and iPads.”

  • Once the app processes the video, the user can play it back using mobile AR or a VR headset.

  • Video example of how it works

  • The next steps for Wist Labs are to close pre-seed funding, launch a beta, and then roll out features to fill in those gaps and improve the app.

  • McHugh plans to continue using it to capture and share memories of his first child

  • McHugh explaining how the experience has been using it:

  • “I loaded [an ultrasound video] into our VR app, shared it with my mom who lives halfway across the country, and we were able to both walk around that moment together … It’s better than a video because it feels like you’re actually there.”

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Show Notes: A bionic pancreas could solve one of the biggest challenges of diabetes | MIT Technology Review (01:02)

• In a recent trial, a bionic pancreas that automatically delivers insulin proved more effective than pumps or injections at lowering blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes.

  • Type 1 diabetes is a serious condition that causes a person’s level of glucose, or sugar, to become too high because the pancreas can’t produce enough insulin
  • Needs to be monitored and requires insulin intake every day.

  • But maybe this bionic pancreas, which is a credit card-sized device called an iLet, could alleviate that constant monitoring

  • It monitors a person’s levels around the clock and automatically delivers insulin when needed through a tiny cannula, a thin tube inserted into the body.

  • Worn constantly, generally on the abdomen.
  • Determines all insulin doses based on the user’s weight, and the user can’t adjust the doses.

  • A Harvard Medical School team has submitted its findings from the study to the FDA in the hopes of eventually bringing the product to market in the US.

  • Provided 219 people with type 1 diabetes who had used insulin for at least a year with a bionic pancreas device for 13 weeks.

  • Compared their blood sugar levels with those of 107 diabetic people who used other insulin delivery methods

  • The blood sugar levels of the bionic pancreas group fell from 7.9% to 7.3%, while the standard care group’s levels remained steady at 7.7%.

  • Goal according to the American Diabetes Association recommends a goal of less than 7.0%

  • Duane Mellor, the lead for nutrition and evidence-based medicine at Aston Medical School, in Birmingham, UK, who was not involved in the study, provided a pro and con for this device:

  • “Being able to take carbohydrate counting out of the equation is a really big advantage, because it’s a burden … On the flip side, they have to relinquish control [of determining the insulin dose], which could be difficult for people who’ve had diabetes for a long time.”

  • The aim of the project is to democratize good glucose control, says Steven Russell, an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, who led the study:

  • “There are plenty of people who are struggling right now because they don’t have the right tools, and I think the iLet could help a lot of them have much better glucose control.”

Positive Childhood Experiences of Blue Spaces Linked to Better Adult Well-Being | Neuroscience News (09:37)

• A new study on blue spaces from data pulled from the BlueHealth International Survey (BIS) including 18 countries, showcases the benefits

  • 15,000 people across 14 European Countries and 4 other non-European countries/regions
  • Adults with better mental health are more likely to report having spent time playing in and around coastal and inland waters, such as rivers and lakes.

  • Mounting evidence shows that spending time in and around green spaces such as parks and woodlands in adulthood is associated with stress reduction and better mental health.

  • But not much info about blue spaces

  • Respondents between the ages of 0-16 were asked to recall their blue space experiences

  • how local they were,

  • how often they visited them,
  • how comfortable their parents/guardians were with them playing in these settings,

  • They found that individuals who recalled more childhood blue space experiences tended to place greater intrinsic value on natural settings in general, and to visit them more often as adults.

  • Associated to better mental wellbeing in adulthood

  • Valeria Vitale, Lead author and PhD Candidate at Sapienza University of Rome, talks on the findings:

  • “In the context of an increasingly technological and industrialized world, it’s important to understand how childhood nature experiences relate to wellbeing in later life… Our findings suggest that building familiarity and confidence in and around blue spaces during childhood may stimulate an inherent joy of nature and encourage people to seek out recreational nature experiences, with beneficial consequences for adult mental health.”

Scientists detect dementia signs as early as nine years ahead of diagnosis | MedicalXpress (15:14)

• Researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown that it is possible to spot signs of brain impairment in patients as early as nine years before they receive a dementia-related diagnosis.

  • Found impairment in several areas, such as problem solving and number recall

  • The findings raise the possibility that in the future, at-risk patients could be screened to help select those who would benefit from interventions.

  • Maybe reduce their risk of developing one of the conditions,

  • Or could help identify patients suitable for recruitment to clinical trials for new treatments.

  • The issue with treatment for neurological disease is because these conditions are often only diagnosed once symptoms appear, whereas the underlying neurodegeneration may have begun years—even decades—earlier.

  • May be too late in the disease process to alter its course.

  • UK Biobank collected data from a battery of tests including problem solving, memory, reaction times and grip strength, as well as data on weight loss and gain and on the number of falls.

  • UK Biobank is a biomedical database and research resource containing anonymized genetic, lifestyle and health information from half a million UK participants aged 40-69.

  • Allows for the ability to go back at previous medical history to see if there were signs of neurodegeneration

  • First author Nol Swaddiwudhipong, a junior doctor at the University of Cambridge, said,

  • "When we looked back at patients' histories, it became clear that they were showing some cognitive impairment several years before their symptoms became obvious enough to prompt a diagnosis. The impairments were often subtle, but across a number of aspects of cognition … This is a step towards us being able to screen people who are at greatest risk—for example, people over 50 or those who have high blood pressure or do not do enough exercise—and intervene at an earlier stage to help them reduce their risk."

Offshore wind turbine prototype breaks world record; 359 megawatt-hours within 24 hours | Interesting Engineering (20:10)

• One of the world's biggest wind turbines has recorded a remarkable renewable energy production total, reining in a massive 359 megawatt-hours within 24 hours.

  • Enough energy to power around 18,000 households yearly
  • Siemens Gamesa, a Spanish-German wind engineering company that manufactures wind turbines for onshore and offshore services, noted that their SG 14-222 DD has broken the record for most power produced by a single turbine in one day.
  • SG 14-222 DD now equals the 14-MW nominal capacity of GE's biggest Haliade-X turbines and only just trailing behind the giant 15-MW Vestas rigs and the world's outright offshore champion, the "monstrous" MingYang 16 MW.
  • The turbine achieved the milestone just ten months after it produced its first electricity and delivered it to the grid at the test center in Østerild, Denmark.

  • Turbine Specs:

  • 14 megawatt (MW) offshore wind turbine with a capacity of up to 15 MW with the "Power Boost"

  • 728 feet (222-meter) diameter rotor
  • 354-feet-long (108-meter-long) B108 blades which can be recycled,
  • A swept area of 419,792 square feet (39,000 square meters).

  • The company wrote the following on the turbine:

  • “With every new generation of our offshore direct drive turbine technology – which uses fewer moving parts than geared turbines – component improvements have enabled greater performance while maintaining reliability. We are able to reduce the time to market of the SG 14-222 DD thanks to standardized processes and a fully developed supply chain. Enabling high-volume production at low risk. The serial production is planned for 2024.”

Stanford exoskeleton breaks out of the lab to offer 30-lb walking boost | New Atlas (29:32)

• Scientists at Stanford University have been working on an ankle exoskeleton designed to make walking easier.

  • View to one day helping people with impaired mobility
  • first untethered version for use beyond the lab
  • Their ankle exoskeleton prototype is adjustable in the level of assistance with the max offering a boost akin to taking off a 30-lb (13-kg) backpack.

  • In research published last year, the team demonstrated a version of the device that could increase a wearer’s walking speed by around 40%.

  • Previous iterations of the ankle exoskeletons involved complicated laboratory setups with wires, treadmills and external motors.

  • Important for gathering motion data and rapidly testing and fine-tuning the systems to offer the optimal level of assistance

  • The new exoskeleton is a motorized boot that applies torque at the ankle, in doing so performing some of the function of the calf muscle, helping the user push off with each step.

  • Sensors are built into the boot to monitor movement

  • Uses machine learning algorithms to adapt the level of assistance based on the way the person walks.
  • Takes about an hour of walking for the exoskeleton to become accustomed to the user

  • Team leader Steve Collins, discusses the speed boost they saw:

  • “Optimized assistance allowed people to walk 9% faster with 17% less energy expended per distance traveled, compared to walking in normal shoes … These are the largest improvements in the speed and energy of economy walking of any exoskeleton to date. In direct comparisons on a treadmill, our exoskeleton provides about twice the reduction in effort of previous devices.”

  • The team is now looking to test it out on older adults and disabled subjects, and are also working on versions that improve balance and joint pain.

  • Team member Patrick Slade, on this point said:

  • “I believe that over the next decade we’ll see these ideas of personalizing assistance and effective portable exoskeletons help many people overcome mobility challenges or maintain their ability to live active, independent, and meaningful lives.”

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Show Notes:

Scientists Have Discovered a New Set of Blood Groups | Wired (00:52)

• After performing an emergency C-section for a pregnant woman, researchers were curious why there were these strange antibodies in the blood.

• They made a startling discovery:

  • The woman’s blood was of an ultra rare type, which may have made her baby’s blood incompatible with her own.
  • Prompting her immune system to produce antibodies against her baby’s blood

  • Scientists were able to unpick exactly what made her blood different, and in the process confirmed a new set of blood grouping—the “Er” system, the 44th to be described.

  • A, B, O, and AB isn’t the only classification system

  • There are many ways of grouping red blood cells based on differences in the sugars or proteins that coat their surface, known as antigens.

  • Differences in antigens results in the following situation:

  • Someone receives incompatible blood from a donor, for example, the recipient’s immune system may detect those antigens as foreign and react against them.

  • One new blood classification system has been described by researchers each year during the past decade.

  • tend to involve blood types that are extremely rare

  • “Discovering a new blood group system is like discovering a new planet. It enlarges the landscape of our reality,” says Daniela Hermelin at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

  • Due to those genetic differences, a small number of people have alternative amino acids, or building blocks, in their Piezo1 protein.

  • Causing the different ER blood type

  • There are five Er antigens in total—five possible variations of Piezo1 on the surface of red blood cells that can lead to incompatibility.

  • Benefit of this finding:

  • It adds to our knowledge of how blood incompatibility can affect pregnant mothers and their babies

Boston Dynamics, Agility and others pen letter condemning weaponized ‘general purpose’ robots | TechCrunch (05:38)

• A group of prominent robotics firms (Boston Dynamics, Agility, ANYbotics, Clearpath Robotics and Open Robotics) issued an open letter condemning the weaponization of “general purpose” robots.

• The piece comes amid mounting concern around the proliferation of advanced robotics systems.

  • With fictional depictions and real-world efforts like the Ghost Robotics dog that has been outfitted with a sniper rifle, raising significant red flags for many.

  • Part of the letter states:

  • “We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public, and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues. Weaponized applications of these newly-capable robots will also harm public trust in the technology in ways that damage the tremendous benefits they will bring to society.”

  • Ghost Robotics, which has its own take on the topic, told TechCrunch at the time:

  • “We don’t make the payloads. Are we going to promote and advertise any of these weapon systems? Probably not. That’s a tough one to answer. Because we’re selling to the military, we don’t know what they do with them. We’re not going to dictate to our government customers how they use the robots.”

  • Today’s open letter finds the signees pledging not to weaponize their systems, while calling on lawmakers to do more to prohibit this use for robotics.

  • They end off their letter saying:

  • “We also call on every organization, developer, researcher, and user in the robotics community to make similar pledges not to build, authorize, support, or enable the attachment of weaponry to such robots. We are convinced that the benefits for humanity of these technologies strongly outweigh the risk of misuse, and we are excited about a bright future in which humans and robots work side by side to tackle some of the world’s challenges.”

World-first stem cell therapy trial treats spina bifida before birth | New Atlas (13:14)

• Spina bifida is a birth defect in which the spine fails to develop properly, which can lead to weakness or paralysis of the lower limbs, cognitive issues, and urinary and bowel dysfunction.

  • Currently no cure, post-birth surgery can improve the symptoms in some cases.

  • But a new clinical trial aims to intervene earlier.

  • Signs of spina bifida can appear very early on in the pregnancy.

  • Allowing for time to treat it while the baby is still developing, potentially improving the outcomes.
  • The treatment involves administering a stem cell patch to the baby’s spine while still developing in the womb, and early results are promising one year on.

  • Three babies have been born out of the eventual 35 that will be enrolled in the CuRe trial.

  • The Cellular Therapy for In Utero Repair of Myelomeningocele (CuRe) trial, conducted at UC Davis Health.

  • One baby girl was expected to be born with leg paralysis – and yet, she was seen to be kicking and wiggling her toes right away.
  • The scientists will monitor the babies until they’re six years old, and there’s a particular milestone at 30 months of age to check how well they’re walking and toilet training.

A new AI tool could predict the risk of heart disease and death through retinal images | Interesting Engineering (17:10)

• A new study has found that an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that images the retina's network of veins and arteries can accurately predict a person's risk of cardiovascular disease and death in less than a minute.

  • Non-invasive screening method that doesn't have to be done in a clinic

  • The new study demonstrates that the width of veins and arteries in the retina could indicate circulatory disease early and accurately.

  • Circulatory diseases include cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, heart failure, and stroke

  • The fully automated AI-enabled tool called Quartz evaluates the potential of retinal vasculature imaging plus known risk factors to predict vascular health and death.

  • Scanned the retinal images of 88,052 people between the ages of 40 and 69

  • Later scanned an additional 7,411 participants who were aged between 48 and 92.

  • The results showed:

  • In men, the width, curviness, and width variation of veins and arteries in the retinas are important predictors of death from circulatory disease.

  • In women, artery area and width and vein curviness and width variation contributed to risk prediction.

  • From the study:

  • Below 0.5 indicates a very poor model.

  • 0.5 means that the model is no better than predicting an outcome than random chance.
  • Values over 0.7 indicate a good model.
  • Values over 0.8 indicate a strong model.
  • “Prediction models for circulatory mortality in men and women had optimism adjusted C-statistics and R2 statistics between 0.75–0.77 and 0.33–0.44, respectively.”
  • The C-statistic is a measure of goodness of fit
  • R2, coefficient of determination, is used to analyze how differences in one variable can be explained by a difference in a second variable.

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Show Notes: Google Fiber Revs Up Its Multi-Gig Speeds to 20Gbps in Newest Field Test | CNET (01:29)

• Google Fiber CEO Dinni Jain announced Tuesday via blog post that 20 gigs is coming,

  • The company achieved a 20.2Gbps download speed in a field test in Kansas City

  • Google Fiber currently offers two plan options: 1-gigabit download speeds for $70 per month and a 2-gig plan for $100 monthly.

  • cheapest 2Gbps plan among major internet providers

  • CNET reached out to a Google Fiber spokesperson, and was told that more information will be on the way in the coming weeks.

  • No word yet on pricing or when to expect the plan to be available to customers.

  • A 25Gbps speed tier from EPB costs around $1,500 per month

  • According to Google Fiber's CEO this is just the beginning:

  • “In the coming months, we'll have announcements to dramatically expand our multi-gigabit tiers. These will be critical milestones on our journey to 100 Gig symmetrical internet."

NASA crashes DART spacecraft into asteroid in world's 1st planetary defense test | Space.com (06:45)

• For the first time in history, a spacecraft from Earth has crashed into an asteroid to test a way to save our planet from extinction.

  • Spacecraft: NASA's Double Asteroid Rendezvous Test (DART) probe
  • Asteroid: Dimorphos, 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth

  • The goal of the mission was to change the orbit of the space rock around its larger asteroid parent Didymos .

  • Trying to test if humanity could deflect a dangerous asteroid if one was headed for Earth.

  • Elena Adams, DART's mission systems engineer, said that “our first planetary defense test was a success”

  • The golf cart-sized DART (1,320 pounds) spacecraft slammed into the asteroid at 14,000 mph.

  • Would be enough to move the 534-foot-wide (163 meters) Dimorphos a bit faster (10 minutes faster) in its orbit around its parent.

  • Poses no risk of changing the binary system's orbit to come anywhere near Earth.

  • The DART mission is the first demonstration of what NASA calls a "kinetic impactor" for planetary defense: crashing a spacecraft into an asteroid to change its orbit.

  • Basic method to protect the Earth if a potentially dangerous asteroid were spotted five or 10 years before a prospective impact.

  • Angela Stickle, the leader of DART's impact working group, said the team's simulations and models suggest the spacecraft would likely create a crater up to 65 feet (20 m) wide.

  • Images Show Huge Plume of Debris as NASA Probe Smashes Asteroid

  • A vast network of ground-based telescopes were trained on the event and will be following the binary Didymos-Dimorphos system over time to see how much faster Dimorphos is now moving in its orbit.

The Era of Fast, Cheap Genome Sequencing Is Here | WIRED (13:35)

• At an industry event in San Diego today, genomics behemoth Illumina unveiled what it calls its fastest, most cost-efficient sequencing machines yet, the NovaSeq X series.

  • Illumina controls around 80 percent of the DNA sequencing market globally

  • The company believes its new technology will slash the cost to just $200 per human genome while providing a readout at twice the speed.

  • Currently costs $600 for scientists to perform sequencing

  • Sequence 20,000 genomes per year; its current machines can do about 7,500

  • Francis deSouza, Illumina’s CEO, states:

  • “As we look to the next decade, we believe we’re entering the era of genomic medicine going mainstream. To do that requires the next generation of sequencers … We need price points to keep coming down to make genomic medicine and genomic tests available much more broadly.”

  • Stacey Gabriel, chief genomics officer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, states they have been “waiting for this for a long time.” She continues to talk about the benefits of the new tech:

  • “With greatly reduced costs and greatly increased speed of sequencing, we can sequence way more samples.”

  • A major benefit of cheaper and more efficiency sequencing is increasing the diversity of genomic datasets.

  • Different populations might have different disease-causing genetic variations that are more or less prevalent.

  • Additionally, by sequencing more genes you can compare and contrast the genetic sequences of a healthy individual and a disordered individual.

  • Allows researchers to see the nuances in their genetic makeup.

  • Illumina's new system will cost around $1 million, about the same as its existing machines.

  • The high price tag is a key reason they’re not yet common in smaller labs and hospitals, or in rural regions.

Startup Says It Can Store 100TB in Nintendo-Like Cartridges | Futurism (20:24)

• A startup called Folio Photonics is attempting to take over the archival storage market, one Nintendo-ish cartridge at a time.

  • Storage types like tapes, and hard disks are favored by enterprise-scale archiving purposes.

  • Folio claims to offer a cost-effective, incredibly high-performing optical alternative to tapes, hard disks, and DNA storage

  • Just one of their oddly-shaped, multi-layered cartridges can allegedly fit 100 terabytes of data.

  • 100,000 gigabytes, which is nearly three times the storage of the densest Blu-Ray disk

  • CEO Steven Santamaria explains how their tech can hold this much data:

  • “Traditional Blu-ray discs are three or four layers and have been for 20 years (the Archival disc achieves 6 layers by having 3-layers on both sides) ... Our first product will be 8 layers per side, meaning we will have a 16 layer double sided disc."

  • Additionally, the company claims their storage device, unlike hard drive and tape storage, is "impervious" to electromagnetic disruption, damage from radiation or saltwater, and extreme temperatures

  • We will end off with more of the CEO talking about the tech:

  • “Our talented engineering team has pioneered a fresh approach to optical storage that overcomes historical constraints and puts unheard of cost, cybersecurity and sustainability benefits within reach … With these advantages, Folio Photonics is poised to reshape the trajectory of archive storage."

Why United Airlines is betting $1 billion on flying cars | Emerging Tech Brew (25:12)

• Investors, startups, and aviation bigwigs have all put billions of dollars toward making that vision a reality with electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) ventures.

  • United Airlines being one of them

  • The company has been an investor in California-based Archer Aviation since the startup was preparing to go public via SPAC in 2021 and also reached a $1 billion deal to buy Archer’s eVTOLs last February.

  • An option to purchase an additional $500 million of aircraft.

  • Archer is building a four-passenger electric aircraft and aims to get it certified by the FAA for use in the US by the end of 2024.
  • This past September, United agreed to buy 200 eVTOL aircraft from Eve Air Mobility.

  • Why are they doing this? Mike Leskinen, president of United Airlines Ventures, told Emerging Tech Brew:

  • “It’s about making our airline the airline that customers choose to fly … A) We want to innovate. And we want to provide that to our customers first B) We have the footprint—the geographic footprint—that makes us the right player C) It decarbonizes that trip to the airport. This is not taking regional aircraft out of the skies, but it is taking cars off the road, many of which will be burning gasoline”

  • eVTOLs could change the way we travel in the long term, with the nearer-term use case of replacing helicopters and serving as a way to get from an urban center to an airport faster.

  • CEO Leskinen talks on the pricing of these eVTOL rides:

  • “They’re going to be expensive at first … As you build this product, as you certify this product, there are going to be massive economies of scale. And the cost is going to come down rapidly, to the point where I see a world where—because you get so much more utility out of the aircraft—the cost is no more than using an Uber X. But initially it’s going to look like an Uber Black.”

  • The challenging part will be building the infrastructure for air taxis, the “vertiports, ” which could resemble helipads with charging stations.

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Show Notes: InSight hears meteoroid impacts on Mars | EarthSky (01:15)

• Since 2018, NASA’s InSight lander has been busy studying the interior of Mars detecting over 1,300 marsquakes

• NASA announced on September 19, 2022, that, for the first time, InSight has heard the impacts of four meteoroids as they crashed into the Martian surface.

  • Detected the vibrations from the impacts in 2020 and 2021.
  • The impacts produced small marsquakes, up to a magnitude of 2.0.
  • This is the first time that InSight – or any Mars lander or rover – has ever detected the seismic waves from a meteoroid impact.

  • The four impacts occurred between 53 and 180 miles from InSight’s location in Elysium Planitia.

  • Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator making it a great location to study the Martian interior.

  • NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took images of the impact sites from orbit.

  • Appeared as dark spots in the orbiter’s black-and-white Context Camera.

  • The seismic waves generated by the impacts can give scientists clues about both the impacting rocks and the Martian subsurface.

  • Additionally, scientists can use impact craters to determine the age of the surface.

  • More craters = Older the surface is

  • By using both InSight’s data and orbital images of the impact craters, researchers can determine the meteoroid’s trajectory and size of its shock wave (seismic wave).

7,000-year-old structure near Prague is older than Stonehenge, Egyptian pyramids | Live Science (05:27)

• Archaeologists digging near Prague have discovered the remains of a Stone Age structure that's older than Stonehenge and even the Egyptian pyramids: an enigmatic complex known as a roundel.

  • 7,000 years ago during the late Neolithic, or New Stone Age
  • Viewed from above, roundels consist of one or more wide, circular ditches with several gaps that functioned as entrances.
  • "Roundels are the oldest evidence of architecture in the whole of Europe," according to Jaroslav Řídký, a spokesperson for the Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IAP).

  • Radio Prague International reported, the excavated roundel is large — about 180 feet (55 meters) in diameter, or about as long as the Leaning Tower of Pisa is tall

  • Clear that this was part of the Stroked Pottery culture, which flourished between 4900 B.C. and 4400 B.C.

  • Located in the Bohemian region of the Czech Republic

  • Many farming villages found near the intersection of contemporary Poland, eastern Germany and the northern Czech Republic

  • Carbon-dating organic remains from this roundel excavation could help the team pinpoint the date of the structure's construction and possibly link it with a Neolithic settlement discovered nearby.

Watch this team of drones 3D-print a tower | MIT Technology Review (09:03)

• A mini-swarm’s worth of drones have been trained to work together to 3D-print some simple towers.

  • Could, one day, help with challenging projects such as post-disaster construction or even repairs on buildings that are too high to access safely.

  • The process has multiple drones work together to build from a single blueprint, with one essentially checking the others’ work as it goes.

  • Inspired by the way bees or wasps construct large nests

  • To demonstrate the drones’ capabilities, the researchers got them to use foam and a special lightweight form of cement to build structures with heights ranging from 0.18 meters to 2.05 meters.
  • The technique is limited for now because drones struggle to carry heavy loads, need regular charging, and still require human supervision.
  • The researchers are hoping to alleviate some of these issues by automating the charging of drones during projects

World's largest geothermal lagoon planned for Canada | New Atlas (14:12)

• A project, called geoLagon, is underway in Canada for a magnificent new open air lagoon in Canada that will be kept at balmy temperatures year round through a “huge Thermos” heating system underneath.

  • Designed to be the largest of its type in the world

  • Modeled on the famous geothermal lagoons of Iceland, the geoLagon is designed as an open-air attraction for visitors to relax and soak up the surroundings.

  • To be built in Charlevoix, Quebec,

  • span some 12,000 square meters (130,000 sq ft)
  • warmed to a pleasant 39 °C (102 °F) all year
  • It will be heated through an energy ecosystem consisting of geothermal, biomass, photovoltaics and solar heating systems, along with a thermal reservoir beneath the lagoon’s base to store heat.
  • Clusters of chalets will surround the lagoon once the project is completed, capturing solar energy with photovoltaic cladding to help run the heat pumps for the water.
  • CEO Louis Massicotte says that further optimizations and technologies like sewer heat recovery could see the geoLagon village even become an energy provider, but is positive that the project will at the very least be able to sustain itself without drawing power from the grid.

  • The project is planned in three stages, beginning with the construction of 150 solar-powered cottages, followed by the lagoon as the second stage and then the remaining 150 chalets thereafter.

  • Expected to get underway in March and should take around 18 months.

Israeli researchers managed to produce 3D printer ink to make wooden objects | Interesting Engineering (18:29)

• This Wood Ink is made from a mixture of wood flour and plant extracts.

  • Doron Kam, a Ph.D. student working on the project, and colleagues developed this technology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
  • The technology converts organic "wood derivatives" into a paste that is then used as ink by a 3D printer.

  • The scientists have so far used 3D printing to construct saddle, dome, and helix-shaped models out of their wood-infused ink.

  • They think it might be used to make more sophisticated self-assembling products like furniture.

  • What is the plan for this material, according to Doron Kam:

  • “We are trying to make a material that won’t last forever, that’s what plastic is for. We are not looking for that … Three or four years of use, and then you can grind it down and print it again. This is sustainability in our product, this is our principle.”

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Show Notes: SpaceX’s Starlink internet reaches Antarctica, touching all 7 continents | New Atlas (01:16)

• Scientists with the United States Antarctic Program at the McMurdo Station are tapping into the space-based internet service, Starlink.

  • Boosting the bandwidth for scientific research at the end of the Earth.
  • Location of the Antarctic Program? You guess it Antartica
  • The researchers have received a Starlink terminal of their own where it is said to be improving connectivity as they carry out their research.
  • All of this was ,adding possible through laser links between the satellites in orbit that eliminate the need for ground stations at the poles
  • Ultimately this makes Antarctica the seventh and final continent to receive Starlink internet coverage.

Google spins out secret hi-speed telecom project called Aalyria | CNBC (04:52)

• Codenamed “Minkowski” within Google, the secret project is being unveiled to the public on Monday, Sept. 12th, as a new spinout called Aalyria.

  • No clue how long it’s been working on the technology or how many employees are joining the startup
  • Not too many details about the project.
  • Aalyria said in a news release that its mission is to manage “hyper fast, ultra-secure, and highly complex communications networks that span land, sea, air, near space, and deep space.”
  • The company continues by claiming they have laser communications technology “ on an exponentially greater scale and speed than anything that exists today.”

  • It will be led by CEO Chris Taylor, a national security expert who has led other companies that have worked with the government.

  • Have an $8.7 million commercial contract with the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit.

  • The Light laser tech is named, “Tightbeam”

  • The claim is that it keeps data “intact through the atmosphere and weather and offers connectivity where no supporting infrastructure exists.”

  • “Radically [improving] satellite communications, Wi-Fi on planes and ships, and cellular connectivity everywhere.”

A blood test that could detect cancers early will undergo trials in the U.S. | Interesting Engineering (11:04)

• According to a report by MIT Tech Review, The U.S. is preparing to launch trials of blood tests that can improve the detection of multiple kinds of cancer.

• The test will be conducted by the National Cancer Institute

  • Testing efficacy of various blood tests in detecting cancer in 24,000 healthy participants over four years.

  • The only test that is currently used in the U.S. is the Galleri, which claims to detect more than 50 cancer types.

  • Not approved by the FDA

  • Therefore, it's not covered by most insurance and costs $949.

  • To give a brief explanation on how the majority of these multi-cancer early detection tests (MCEDs) work:

  • Searching for tumor cell remnants that explode after being attacked by the immune system in the bloodstream.

  • A cancer warning before symptoms appear.

  • Only some blood tests can identify the organ where the cancer is in.

  • To confirm a diagnosis a biopsy has to be performed but if you can’t tell the location that is an issue

  • The whole body of a person cannot be biopsied.
  • The NCI trial should provide a standard approach to launching cancer screening research.

  • Timothy Rebbeck, a professor of cancer prevention at Harvard thinks these tests will be critically helpful in cases of pancreatic, liver, and ovarian cancer, which are fatal and do not have any other screening options.

  • Concluding, “It seems very realistic to me to think that we could reduce death by half."

This modular off-grid solar EV charger can be installed in just four hours | Electrek (18:34)

• Paired Power, a California company, has debuted a modular, off-grid electric vehicle charger that is powered by a solar canopy.

• The new modular charger called PairTree

  • There is Level 1 (household charging, very slow), Level 2 (adds around twenty or so miles of range to the batteries of your car for every hour), and Fast Charging (Tesla Supercharging stations)
  • A transportable solar canopy with built-in EV charging capabilities
  • Can be used off grid, but it can also be hooked into the grid if desired.
  • Comes in 5 kW units using 10 bifacial solar panels each
  • Level 2 Charging
  • PairTree is designed to optimize EV charging loads to deliver up to 75 miles of daily range.
  • PairTree can be installed in only four hours by two people.

  • Tom McCalmont, CEO and cofounder of Paired Power, said:

  • “EV charging is no longer a fringe benefit for any location where a car might park; it’s quickly becoming a service that both average citizens and employees expect. There are various reasons why site owners don’t want to wait or might have restrictions on grid-connected EV charging or conventional solar canopies, and PairTree is the solution to bring any location quickly into the EV future.”

  • Paired Power is taking orders for PairTree now, and the company is expecting general delivery to take place in the second quarter of 2023.

  • PairTree’s starting price is $26,900, and that covers the canopy and solar only (no charging or other electronics).

  • Fully configured units will sell for mid-$60k depending on options.

Scientists Just Made Hydrogen Fuel With Nothing But Air and Solar Power | Singularity Hub (23:55)

• Researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia have developed a new technique that makes hydrogen fuel out of thin air in even the driest climates.

  • Hydrogen could also be an important part of the energy mix.
  • Burned just like conventional fuels, but the only byproduct it releases is water

  • For hydrogen to contribute to decarbonization, “green hydrogen” is needed.

  • Produced by electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy.

  • Gang Kevin Li, co-author on the study, told Newsweek:

  • “The ability to use moisture from air makes this DAE [direct air electrolyzer] module applicable in remote, arid, and semi-arid environments where the accessibility to fresh water is a big problem … Most areas on earth with high solar and wind potentials lack fresh water.”

  • Even in the driest climates, though, there is a considerable amount of moisture in the air.

  • Sahel desert, relative humidity is still around 20 percent on average

  • The researchers device to do all of this hydrogen harvesting consists of

  • a water harvesting unit that houses a sponge soaked in a water-absorbing liquid that can pull moisture from the air.

  • Electrodes that can be powered by any renewable energy source.
  • When current runs through those electrodes water is split via electrolysis into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen atoms, which can then be collected as gas.

  • The team showed the device could run efficiently for 12 consecutive days

  • Produced hydrogen with 99 percent purity.

  • In a test for real world potential:

  • rigged up five electrolyzers in parallel and placed them outside

  • powered by a solar panel
  • Produced an average of 745 liters (197 gallons) of hydrogen per square meter per day.
  • Half of conventional electrolyzer methods, but this is running just on humidity
  • Until electrolyzer technology comes down in price and becomes more efficient, hydrogen is unlikely to compete with traditional fuels, whether it’s pulled from thin air or not.

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Shows Notes: Neck-worn "bandage" sensors could better warn of concussions | New Atlas (01:09)

• One of the dangerous things about sports-related concussions is the fact that athletes may not realize they have one.
  • A new sensor could let them (or their coaches) know.
  • It would go on their neck, not their head.
• Helmet-integrated sensors, which have been developed, detect the type of impacts associated with concussions; such devices aren't necessarily 100-percent reliable.
• Because a lot of concussions are associated with their head rapidly moving whiplash-style to one side, researchers at Michigan State University developed a thin-film adhesive-patch sensor that could detect the telltale neck movements.
  • Size of a small bandage
  • prototype device is only about 0.1 mm thick
  • Piezoelectric material that produces an electrical charge when stretched or compressed.
• Once the material is charged due to the movement of the material, the data is sent to a computer, which will analyze it to determine if a concussion-grade impact occurred.
• While executing tests with this prototype, they found it performed as well as the helmet-integrated accelerometers at detecting concussion causing impacts, BUT they found the neck-bandage wouldn't produce false readings.
• The researchers are looking into ways of streamlining the design of the patch, such as equipping it with a transmitter that would wirelessly relay data to a nearby computer or mobile device.

Cancer trial amazingly results in 100% remission in every patient | Brighter Side News (07:41)

• Immunotherapy harnesses the body’s own immune system as an ally against cancer.
  • The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center was investigating — for the first time ever — if immunotherapy alone could beat rectal cancer that had not spread to other tissues
• Sascha Roth, a 6-month participant in the clinical trial, found out, “a team of doctors examined my tests … And since they couldn’t find any signs of cancer, Dr. Cercek said there was no reason to make me endure radiation therapy.”
• These same remarkable results would be repeated for all 14 people — and counting — in the MSK clinical trial for rectal cancer with a particular mutation.
  • The rectal cancer disappeared after immunotherapy — without the need for the standard treatments of radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy
  • the cancer has not returned in any of the patients
• Dr. Cercek talks on this rewarding experience:
  • “It’s incredibly rewarding … to get these happy tears and happy emails from the patients in this study who finish treatment and realize, ‘Oh my God, I get to keep all my normal body functions that I feared I might lose to radiation or surgery.’ ”
• The research team went out to figure out precisely which patients benefit most from immunotherapy, so they can receive it right away.
  • Patients who have tumors with a specific genetic makeup known as mismatch repair-deficient (MMRd) or microsatellite instability (MSI).
  • Between 5% and 10% of all rectal cancer patients are thought to have MMRd tumors.
  • 45,000 Americans are diagnosed a year with rectal cancer.
• Dr. Diaz talks on the mutation and treatment:
  • “An MMRd tumor develops a defect in its ability to repair certain types of mutations that occur in cells. When those mutations accumulate in the tumor, they stimulate the immune system, which attacks the mutation-ridden cancer cells.”
• An immunotherapy agent called a checkpoint inhibitor releases the brakes on an immune cell, freeing it to recognize and attack cancer cells.
  • The patients were given the checkpoint inhibitor dostarlimab (Jemperli) intravenously every three weeks, for six months.
• Another amazing thing is removing the toxicity of chemotherapy, which Dr. Cercek mentions:
  • “The most exciting part of this is that every single one of our patients has only needed immunotherapy. We haven’t radiated anybody, and we haven’t put anybody through surgery … They have preserved normal bowel function, bladder function, sexual function, fertility. Women have their uterus and ovaries. It’s remarkable.”

A memory prosthesis could restore memory in people with damaged brains | MIT Technology Review (15:09)

• A unique form of brain stimulation appears to boost people’s ability to remember new information—by mimicking the way our brains create memories.
  • Given the term: memory prosthesis
• It involves inserting an electrode deep into the brain, and it seems to work in people with memory disorders.
  • Copies what happens in the hippocampus
  • Effective in people who had poor memory to begin with
• The researchers, at University of Southern California, think future devices like this one could help people with memory loss due to brain injuries or as a result of aging or degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.
• The hippocampus that it is mimicking helps us form short-term memories but also appears to direct memories to other regions for long-term storage.
• The researchers’ overall idea is to use brain electrodes to understand the electrical patterns of activity that occur when memories are encoded.
  • Then use those same electrodes to fire similar patterns of activity.
• The team has tested versions of this prosthesis in animals and in some human volunteers with epilepsy who already had electrodes implanted in their brains.
• Two versions:
  • Memory decoding model (MDM), mimics patterns of electrical activity across the hippocampus that occur naturally when each volunteer successfully forms memories.
  • Multi-input, multi-output (or MIMO), more closely mimics how the hippocampus works by learning the patterns of electrical inputs and outputs that correspond with memory encoding, and then mimicking them.
• The research team saw memory test improvements ranging from 11% to 54% for the MDM prosthetics.
• The MIMO model had even better results, on average.
  • The biggest improvements were seen in people who had the worst memory performance at the start of the experiment.
• The researchers hope that their memory prosthesis could one day be widely used to restore memory in people with memory disorders.

Team Says It Assembled the Most Complex Synthetic Microbiome | GenEngNews (20:15)

• Scientists at Stanford University report that they have built the most complex and well-defined synthetic microbiome, creating a community of over 100 bacterial species that was successfully transplanted into mice.
• The ability to add, remove, and edit individual species will allow scientists to better understand the links between the microbiome and health.
  • Additionally, this could lead to developing first-in-class microbiome therapies.
• Each cell in the microbiome occupies a specific functional niche, performing reactions that break down and build up molecules.
• To build a microbiome:
  • Was remarkably stable, with 98% of the constituent species colonizing the gut of these germ-free mice.
  • Ensure that the final mixture is stable, meaning maintains a balance without any single species overpowering the rest.
  • Needs to be functional, performing all the actions of a complete, natural microbiome.
  • They selected over 100 bacterial strains that were present in at least 20% of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) individuals.
  • They grew in individual stocks and then mixed into one combined culture to make what they call human community one, or hCom1.
• They found over 20 new bacterial species that inserted themselves in at least two of their three fecal transplant studies.
  • Adding those to their initial community and removing those that failed to take root in mouse guts gave them a new community of 119 strains, dubbed hCom2.
• Why is this important?
  • The researchers believe that hCom2, or future versions of it, will enable similar reductionist studies that reveal the bacterial agents involved in other areas, like immunotherapy responses.

New AI Algorithm Could Lead to an Epilepsy Cure | SciTechDaily (26:00)

• Researchers working under the direction of University College London have created an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that can identify subtle brain abnormalities that cause epileptic seizures.
  • Multicentre Epilepsy Lesion Detection (MELD)
  • Analyzed more than 1,000 patient MRI images from 22 international epilepsy centers.
• Focal cortical dysplasia are brain regions that have developed abnormally and often cause drug-resistant epilepsy.
  • Finding the lesions on an MRI is an ongoing problem for physicians since MRI scans for FCDs can appear normal.
• The scientists utilized about 300,000 locations throughout the brain to develop the algorithm, which measured cortical features using MRI scans.
  • How thick or folded the cortex/brain surface was.
• Then professional radiologists classified MRI examples as either having FCD or having a healthy brain, which served as the algorithm’s training data.
• According to the results, the algorithm was successful in identifying the FCD in 67% of cases in the cohort (538 participants).
• The MELD algorithm was able to detect FCD in 63% of instances where professional radiologists did not detect the existing abnormality.
• Co-senior author, Dr. Konrad Wagstyl stated:
  • “This algorithm could help to find more of these hidden lesions in children and adults with epilepsy, and enable more patients with epilepsy to be considered for brain surgery that could cure epilepsy and improve their cognitive development. Roughly 440 children per year could benefit from epilepsy surgery in England.”
• The MELD FCD classifier tool can be run on any patient with a suspicion of having an FCD who is over the age of 3 years and has an MRI scan.

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Show Notes:

Researchers discover new way fat cells talk directly with the brain | New Atlas (01:36)

• Researchers at the Scripps Research Institute have discovered a novel communication pathway between fat cells and the brain.

  • Brain doesn’t regulate fat burning by just slowly responding to hormonal signals in the blood. (traditional view)
  • But can directly send messages to fat tissue and influence metabolic processes.

  • The researchers use 2 new ways of looking at the fat tissue:

  • 1. HYBRiD - This method renders fat tissue transparent, allowing researchers a unique window into the paths of neurons.
  • 1. ROOT, and it lets the researchers study exactly how certain neurons localized in fat tissue communicate with other parts of the body.

  • The big finding from the study was the discovery of sensory neurons that branch out from the spine into fat tissue.

  • Directly communicate with a part of the brain called the dorsal root ganglia.

  • Co-senior author Li Ye, stated on this finding:

  • “The discovery of these neurons suggests for the first time that your brain is actively surveying your fat, rather than just passively receiving messages about it … The implications of this finding are profound.”

  • Researchers found by blocking communication from these sensory neurons the sympathetic nervous system kicked into gear and began converting the white fat cells into brown fat.

  • Stepping up the body’s fat-burning processes.

  • All this finding can clearly establish at this stage is that the newly discovered sensory neuron communication pathway is crucial for keeping fat tissue healthy.

Two-Seater eVTOL Will Be Used to Train Pilots for Flying Taxis | Singularity Hub (07:38)

• London-based SkyFly has recently started taking pre-orders on a personal eVTOL called the Axe.

  • It seats two, different the others trying to hit the market (seat one)

  • Unlike its peers, the Axe has a fixed-wing design, so it’s able to take off and land both vertically and in the conventional way.

  • Vertical takeoff: Four propellers (4 ft diameter) lifts it off the ground, and once airborne, the body tilts forward to gain speed.

  • Eight 35-kilowatt electric engines power the plane

  • Mounted at a 45-degree angle and don’t rotate.

  • Wingspan is 16.4 feet

  • Larger than any of the other personal aircraft

  • Weighs 944 pounds (lithium battery pack accounts for a good portion of that total)
  • Lift a maximum weight of 379 pounds.
  • Its top speed is 100 miles per hour, and its range is 100 miles (200 if you add an optional range extender).
  • Skyfly is aiming for its customer base to be made up of people who are already licensed pilots and/or own their own aircraft, and those who want to become pilots.

  • Right now there’s not only a shortage of pilots for commercial aircraft, there’s not a cost-effective way to train new pilots either.

  • And Skyfly CEO Michael Thompson wants the Axe to serve as a general aviation platform for pilots in training.

  • SkyFly is taking pre-orders at a base price of US$175k.

  • The company is planning to start production in 2024.

A Simple Way to Produce Hydrogen From Water at Room Temperature | ScienceAlert (15:52)

• A new study out of University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), provides us with another promising step in Hydrogen clean fuel, provided you can make use of existing supplies of post-consumer aluminum and gallium.

• Discovered a simple method involving aluminum nanoparticles that are able to strip the oxygen from water molecules and leave hydrogen gas.

  • yields large amounts of hydrogen, and it all works at room temperature.

  • This discovery removes one of the big barriers to hydrogen fuel production: the large amounts of power required to produce it using existing methods.

  • Works with any kind of water, too, including wastewater and ocean water.

  • Materials scientist Scott Oliver from UCSC seemed surprised by this process:

  • "We don't need any energy input, and it bubbles hydrogen like crazy … I've never seen anything like it.”

  • With the help of scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction techniques, the researchers were able to find the best mix of aluminum and gallium for producing hydrogen with the greatest efficiency.

  • a 3:1 gallium-aluminum composite.

  • Gallium is an expensive and less abundant material, but at least in this process it can be recovered and reused many times over without losing its effectiveness.

  • Bakthan Singaram, a professor of organic chemistry at UCSC, stated:

  • “The gallium separates the nanoparticles and keeps them from aggregating into larger particles … People have struggled to make aluminum nanoparticles, and here we are producing them under normal atmospheric pressure and room temperature conditions."

  • There is still work to do, not least in making sure this can be scaled up from a lab set-up to something that can be used on an industrial scale.

  • Promising sign for hydrogen fuel

This Type of Supplement Can Reduce Depression and Anxiety | SciTechDaily (21:50)

• Researchers from the University of Reading studied the effects of high doses of Vitamin B6 on young adults.

  • Felt less anxious and depressed after taking the supplements every day for a month.
  • Adds to the body of evidence supporting the use of supplements believed to alter brain activity levels for the prevention or treatment of mood disorders.

  • Dr. David Field, the lead author of the study explains:

  • “The functioning of the brain relies on a delicate balance between the excitatory neurons that carry information around and inhibitory ones, which prevent runaway activity. Recent theories have connected mood disorders and some other neuropsychiatric conditions with a disturbance of this balance, often in the direction of raised levels of brain activity. Vitamin B6 helps the body produce a specific chemical messenger that inhibits impulses in the brain, and our study links this calming effect with reduced anxiety among the participants.”

  • Vitamin B6 promotes the body’s production of GABA (Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid), a molecule that blocks nerve cell impulses in the brain.

  • Vitamin B12 was also looked at.

  • Had little effect compared to placebo over the trial period.

  • Vitamin B6 made a statistically reliable difference.

  • Dr. Field talks on foods to consume, and more research that needs to be done:

  • “Many foods, including tuna, chickpeas, and many fruits and vegetables, contain Vitamin B6. However, the high doses used in this trial suggest that supplements would be necessary to have a positive effect on mood. It is important to acknowledge that this research is at an early stage and the effect of Vitamin B6 on anxiety in our study was quite small compared to what you would expect from medication. However, nutrition-based interventions produce far fewer unpleasant side effects than drugs, and so in the future people might prefer them as an intervention.”

James Webb Telescope captures its first images of an exoplanet | Interesting Engineering (28:30)

• In a first for the James Webb Telescope, astronomers from the joint NASA/ESA/CSA cooperative used the space-based telescope to bring back images of an exoplanet.

  • Images of the exoplanet are seen through four different light filters
  • These images lead the way toward future observations that can reveal a broad range of information never before seen on exoplanets.

  • Exoplanet looked at was a gas giant, named HIP 65426 b, which is about six to eight times the size of Jupiter.

  • Only about 15 to 20 million years old, which in planet years is very young

  • Earth: is about four to five billion years old.
  • These detailed images captured an exoplanet so well it is already leading to future possibilities for studying distant worlds.

  • ​​The Webb instrument captures light differently, and so the images have different presentations.

  • Purple shows the NIRCam instruments view at 3.00 micrometers

  • Blue shows the NIRCam instruments view at 4.44 micrometers
  • Yellow images show the mid-infrared instrument's view at 11.4 micrometers.
  • Red shows the mid-infrared instrument's view at 15.5 micrometers

  • The difficulty in getting images of exoplanets is that the stars are so much brighter than planets.

  • For instance, HIP 65426 b is more than 10,000 times fainter than its host star in the near-infrared, possibly 3,000 times fainter in the mid-infrared.

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Show Notes: Eye tests can screen children for autism | Brighter Side News (01:11)

• According to a study from Washington State University researchers, measuring how the eyes’ pupils change in response to light could potentially be used to screen for autism in young children.

  • Known as the pupillary light reflex
  • Adjustments via the muscles connected to the lens, ciliary bodies, and muscles that make up the iris are stimulated by several nerves.

  • The study builds on earlier work to support the continued development of a portable technology that could provide a quick and easy way to screen children for autism.

  • Hope to catch children earlier in their development when interventions are more likely to benefit them.

  • First author on the study, Georgina Lynch, stated:

  • “We know that when we intervene as early as ages 18 to 24 months it has a long-term impact on their outcomes … Intervening during that critical window could be the difference between a child acquiring verbal speech and staying nonverbal. Yet, after 20 years of trying we still have not changed the average age of diagnosis here in the U.S., which is four years old.”

  • Process of the study:

  • Tested 36 children aged 6 to 17 who had been previously diagnosed with autism

  • Tested a group of 24 typically developing children who served as controls.
  • Pupillary light reflexes were tested using a handheld monocular pupillometer device, which measures one eye at a time.

  • Children with autism showed significant differences in the time it took for their pupils to constrict in response to light.

  • Pupils also took longer to return to their original size after light was removed.

  • Supported by funding from the Washington Research Foundation, Georgina Lynch is now working to expand testing to a group of 300 or more 2- to 4-year-olds across a larger number of clinical sites.

  • Preparing to file for FDA premarket approval for the screening device

SpaceX's 'Mechazilla' lifts 33-engine Super Heavy onto the launch pad for the first time | Interesting Engineering (05:51)

• SpaceX's Starship Super Heavy booster prototype, Booster 7, is back on the launch pad.

  • 33 next-gen Raptor engines attached at the launch pad

  • It's all part of SpaceX's pre-launch preparations as the private space firm gears up toward the orbital maiden flight of Starship.

  • eventually lift astronauts to the moon and Mars

  • Musk posted a photo of Booster 7 being held by Mechazilla's arms, with the caption "Mechazilla loads Starship on launchpad."

  • SpaceX is preparing for static fire tests, with one of them set to fire up all 33 Raptor engines on Booster 7 at the same time.

  • Last time only fired 20

  • SpaceX will be a step closer to performing its first-ever orbital flight of Starship — the massive milestone could take place as soon as next month.

  • Several customers have also penned agreements with SpaceX for Starship flights, including NASA and Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.

  • Last year, NASA awarded SpaceX a $2.9 billion contract to send astronauts back to the surface of the moon.

NASA's launch countdown for Artemis 1 moon mission begins today | Space.com (11:14)

• At 10:23 a.m. EDT (1423 GMT) Aug. 27th, the countdown clock began ticking down to the planned launch of NASA's Artemis 1 mission, an ambitious first flight to the moon by the agency's most powerful rocket ever

  • The Space Launch System (SLS)
  • Orion spacecraft onboard
  • Artemis 1 is the vanguard mission of NASA's Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the moon by 2025.
  • The mission flight will send an uncrewed Orion capsule on a 42-day trip to orbit the moon and return to Earth to test if the spacecraft is ready to carry astronauts.

  • If this mission succeeds,

  • NASA will follow it up with Artemis 2, a crewed trip around the moon in 2024.

  • Lead to the Artemis 3 crewed lunar landing a year later (2025).
  • The ultimate goal, NASA has said, is to fly yearly missions to the moon after Artemis 3, stage crewed landings from a Gateway space station in lunar orbit and then aim for crewed flights to Mars.

  • There is a 70% chance of good weather for the Artemis 1 launch

  • Two-hour window in which to launch Artemis 1 to allow for some wiggle room

Recently Discovered Molecule Kills Hard-To-Treat Cancers | SciTechDaily (17:09)

• University of Texas at Dallas researchers created a molecule (ERX-41) that kills a variety of difficult-to-treat cancers, including triple-negative breast cancer, by taking advantage of a weakness in cells that was not previously targeted by existing drugs.

• There are few treatment options for patients with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)

  • Generally affects women under 40 and has poorer outcomes than other types of breast cancer.
  • Dr. Jung-Mo Ahn, a co-corresponding author of the study, has dedicated more than ten years of his career to developing small molecules that target protein-protein interactions in cells.

  • Ahn talked on the compound:

  • “The ERX-41 compound did not kill healthy cells, but it wiped out tumor cells regardless of whether the cancer cells had estrogen receptors .. In fact, it killed the triple-negative breast cancer cells better than it killed the ER-positive cells.”

  • ERX-41 binds to a cellular protein called lysosomal acid lipase A (LIPA)

  • LIPA is found in a cell structure called the endoplasmic reticulum, an organelle that processes and folds proteins.

  • Cancer cells significantly overproduce LIPA, and according to Ahn, “By binding to LIPA, ERX-41 jams the protein processing in the endoplasmic reticulum, which becomes bloated, leading to cell death.”

  • The researchers fed the compound to mice with human forms of cancerous tumors, and the tumors got smaller.

  • Observed no adverse effects.

  • Also proved effective at killing cancer cells in human tissue gathered from patients who had their tumors removed.

  • ERX-41 is effective against other cancer types with elevated endoplasmic reticulum stress, including:

  • hard-to-treat pancreatic and ovarian cancers and glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal primary brain cancer.

  • End it with a humble quote from Ahn:

  • “As a chemist, I am somewhat isolated from patients, so this success is an opportunity for me to feel like what I do can be useful to society.”

Researchers allegedly create a new 'controllable, reversible' gene-editing method in China | Interesting Engineering (23:07)

• Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have allegedly developed a new "controllable, reversible and safer" gene-editing approach using CRISPR technology.

  • The system, named Cas13d-N2V8 (rolls off the tongue)
  • The system showed a significant reduction in the number of off-target genes and no detectable collateral damage in cell lines and somatic cells, which indicated its future potential, according to a South China Morning Post newspaper report.

  • The new approach, the researchers claim, uses the Cas13 enzyme, targeting RNA, which is safer because RNAs are transient molecules that only exist in the cell for a short period of time and are not integrated into the genome.

  • The technique involves CRISPR, one of the most commonly used gene-editing techniques in recent years.

  • Researchers explained on the CAS website about the new technique:

  • “Cas13 can degrade both target and non-target RNAs at random … [But] the CRISPR-based gene editing tool does not permanently change the genome, and the effects of editing are controllable, reversible, and safer”

  • The researchers have a system to detect the collateral effects of Cas13 in mammalian cells, which they then used to create a large number of variants.

  • No detectable collateral damage in transgenic mice

  • The study’s abstract ends off with, “High-fidelity Cas13 variants with minimal collateral effects are now available for targeted degradation of RNAs in basic research and therapeutic applications.”

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Show Notes: Elon Musk's 'AI-Powered Tesla Bots' Will Replace 'Boring' Household Activities by 2022! | Tech Times (01:14)

• Information was recently reported on the AI robots being developed by Tesla giving us a clearer picture of what life will be like on Earth in the following decades.

• The Tesla Bot, about 172 cm tall (5’ 7”), seeks to gradually free up regular people brave enough to adopt a robot from "boring" duties. .

  • This comes from what Musk stated in an essay published in China Cyberspace magazine :
  • "Tesla Bots are initially positioned to replace people in repetitive, boring, and dangerous tasks. But the vision is for them to serve millions of households, such as cooking, mowing lawns, and caring for the elderly."

  • Musk stated that the robot, code-named "Optimus," will utilize the same chips and sensors as Tesla's so-called Autopilot software in 2021.

  • The robot will be able to lift 150 pounds (68 kg) and carry 45 pounds (20.4 kg), and it will be able to run 5 miles (8 km) per hour.

  • Additionally, he claimed that if his company can manage mass manufacturing, the Tesla Bot prototype should be available by the year's end.

  • But you should take this with a grain of salt since he has not always been the best with time predictions.

  • Life Wire previously reported the EV manufacturer plans to introduce the new Tesla Optimus machine in September.

  • According to “certain sources”, the prototype will arrive specifically on September 30.

  • Musk is optimistic about the power of robots:

  • “It is foreseeable that with the power of robots, we will create an era of extreme abundance of goods and services, where everyone can live a life of abundance. Perhaps the only scarcity that will exist in the future is for us to create ourselves as humans.”

World's first liquid-nitrogen outdoor cooling system set for trials | New Atlas (07:43)

• Israeli company Green Kinoko is preparing for the first public tests of a remarkable clean outdoor cooling system.

  • The inverse of an outdoor cafe heater, cooling several tables per unit without using any electricity.
  • The secret: liquid nitrogen.

  • Standard tanks hold liquid nitrogen at -196 °C (-321 °F), which are loaded into the coolers, and when they're switched on, the liquid is slowly released.

  • Expands rapidly to nearly 700 times its liquid volume as it becomes a gas

  • The coolers then harness the energy of the expansion through a mechanical engine, using it to blow nitrogen gas out at a much more palatable -10 °C (14 °F).

  • The device is more environmentally friendly than an air conditioner since it uses no mains power and doesn't blow hot air out somewhere else.

  • Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the ambient air, it's completely safe to breathe.

  • The tanks will need replacing every 7-10 days, depending on how hot it is outside and how hard you're running them.

  • Green Kinoko's Moran Goldberg told New Atlas:

  • “Usually, the cost of the nitrogen is about €50-60 (US$50-60) per tank … Today, it's mostly produced as a byproduct when hospitals and medical services make pure oxygen. Of course, there's a logistics part of the equation we have to take into account in each country as well, but it's not going to cost more than the existing solutions. As far as a restaurant or venue is concerned, the cost of owning and running an outdoor heater is what we're benchmarking."

  • The company plans on running a pilot trial in the first weeks of September
  • With enquiries already pouring in from at least 40 different countries, Green Kinoko is preparing to gear up for serious volume production.

  • One thing of concern:

  • The safety and materials handling portion

  • Liquid nitrogen can cause extreme cold burns, explosions and even asphyxiation if improperly handled, so these units will need to be treated with care.

Rocket Lab will self-fund a mission to search for life in the clouds of Venus | Ars Technica (13:24)

• Rocket Lab founder Peter Beck has made no secret of his love for humanity's next-closest world, Venus.

  • You know the hell-planet, which is all consumed by carbon dioxide, crushing pressures, and fiery temperatures.

  • Scientists believe that high above that terrible surface, in the clouds of Venus, there are air pressures not dissimilar to those found on Earth, where conditions might be conducive for some forms of life.

  • Peter Beck wants to use his small Electron rocket to find out

  • Recently Rocket Lab announced that it will self-fund the development of a small spacecraft, and its launch, that will send a tiny probe flying through the clouds of Venus for about 5 minutes, at an altitude of 48 to 60 km.

  • Electron will deliver the spacecraft into a 165 km orbit above Earth,

  • The rocket's high-energy Photon upper stage will perform a number of burns to raise the spacecraft's orbit and reach escape velocity.
  • Assuming a May 2023 launch—there is a backup opportunity in January 2025—the spacecraft would reach Venus in October 2023.
  • The spacecraft will be tiny, as deep-space probes go, containing a 1 kg scientific payload consisting of an autofluorescing nephelometer, which is an instrument to detect suspended particles in the clouds.
  • If Rocket Lab succeeds with a Venus mission, they’ll certainly catch the attention of scientists, NASA, and others interested in what would be a promising new era of low-cost, more rapid exploration of the Solar System.

A new breakthrough method is changing kidney's blood type to make transplants easier | Interesting Engineering (17:11)

• Researchers from the University of Cambridge achieved altering the blood type of donor kidneys.

  • A development that will be life-saving for patients waiting for a suitable kidney.

  • The project, funded by charity Kidney Research UK, could increase the supply of kidneys available for transplant, particularly within ethnic minority groups who are less likely to be a match for the majority of donated kidneys.

  • A kidney from someone with blood type A cannot be given to someone with another blood type

  • changing the blood type of a kidney to the universal O-type, the kidney can now be transplanted into any patient.
  • Talked about something like this on Episode 96

  • Professor Mike Nicholson and Ph.D. student Serena MacMillan used a normothermic perfusion machine to flush blood infused with an enzyme through the deceased kidney.

  • Normothermic perfusion machine: a device that connects with a human kidney to pass oxygenated blood through the organ to better preserve it for future use

  • By taking B-type human kidneys and pumping the enzyme through the organ using our normothermic prefusion machine, we saw in a matter of just a few hours that we had converted a B-type kidney into an O-type,” stated Serena MacMillan

  • Professor Nicholson also talked on the importance of this:

  • “Blood group classification is also determined via ethnicity and ethnic minority groups are more likely to have the rarer B type. After successfully shifting blood group to the universal O type, we now need to look at whether our methods can be successful in a clinical setting and ultimately carried through to transplantation.”

These Bioengineered Corneas Gave 14 Blind People Their Sight Back | Singularity Hub (21:46)

• Corneal blindness is one of the leading causes of blindness globally, accounting for over five percent of cases where people lose their sight.

  • Corneal transplants are one solution, but in addition to a shortage of donors, recipients must take immunosuppressants to keep their bodies from rejecting the transplanted cornea.

  • A research team at Linköping University and LinkoCare Life Sciences in Sweden have come up with what appears to be a highly viable alternative.

  • Using collagen protein extracted from pig skin as the base for an artificial cornea.

  • Besides having a structure similar to that of human skin, pig skin is a byproduct from the food industry (that means it’s abundant and cheap) and is already used for medical applications, including glaucoma surgery and as a wound dressing.

  • What did the researchers do with the skin?

  • Chemical crosslinking refers to intermolecular or intramolecular joining of two or more molecules by a covalent bond.

  • Purified the extracted collagen
  • Placed it in a cornea-shaped hydrogel scaffold, using chemical crosslinking to reinforce the collagen

  • Surgeons in India and Iran implanted the engineered corneas into 20 patients, 14 of whom were completely blind and 6 of whom had impaired vision.

  • Used a minimally-invasive surgical technique, making a laser incision in the existing cornea and inserting the implant

  • The team monitored the recipients for 24 months, noting no complications or adverse events.

  • The implant caused their corneas to return to normal thickness and curvature.

  • More importantly the 14 participants who were blind before the operation had their vision restored.
  • Those who weren’t blind moved from severe visual impairment to low or moderate vision.
  • Three patients even ended up with 20/20 vision
  • The team notes that its results are comparable to those of standard corneal transplants, but with a simpler surgical technique and no need for human donors.
  • Even though two years is a sufficient time frame to know that the transplants restored patients’ sight, the artificial tissue’s integration and stability will need to be monitored over a longer term.
  • The team’s next aim is to do a larger clinical trial involving 100 or more participants in Europe and the US, and to get the ball rolling on regulatory approval from the FDA.

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Show Notes: Startup's new stunning kite can pull energy from the sky | Interesting Engineering (01:07)

• Several kite power companies are attempting to pull energy out of the sky, and they are succeeding.
• Kitekraft, a Munich-based company developing a kite power system is one of those companies working on this technology

• Their co-CEO and chief technology officer, Florian Bauer, commented on the tech:

  • “It’s cheaper to manufacture, cheaper to transport, and also has higher efficiency … If you have all those advantages, why would anyone build a conventional wind turbine?”

  • How does the technology called airborne wind actually work? Three-step approach:

  • Rigid enough to withstand high winds

  • Has the form of a sailplane, and 4 propellers are only needed for taking off and landing.
  • Designed to move quickly and effortlessly
  • Connects the kite to the ground

  • Transforms the pull force from the kite to the ground-station generator.

    • A kite flies across the wind it pulls against the tether and unwinds the winch, driving a generator that produces electricity.
      • Durable and can be exposed to varying environmental conditions such as moisture and UV light.
      • Converts the tractive force from the tether to electricity.
      • A control system is found in the ground station and makes sure all flights are conducted safely and efficiently.
      • 1. The kite is a specially designed aircraft composed of composite materials.
      • 1. The Tether
      • 1. The ground station
    • So far, Kitemill, another kite power company, claims that their system can produce an average power of >1 hour of operation with continuous cycles at 5.5 kW.

  • The airborne wind is currently in its infancy.

  • The industry will have to overcome many hurdles, such as proving that it is safe and reliable and does not cause any noise pollution.

  • Right now, none of the kite companies have produced energy in the megawatt scales required to compete with other renewable energy sources.

How balloons could one day detect quakes on Venus | Science News (07:32)

• Back on December 14, 2021, a tiny device dangling beneath the large, transparent balloon recorded sudden, jerky fluctuations in air pressure: echoes of an earthquake more than 2,800 kilometers away.

  • Became the first network of devices to monitor an earthquake from the air.

  • The finding could help scientists track earthquakes in remote areas on Earth.

  • Opens the door to one day sending specially equipped balloons to study the geology of other worlds, including our closest planetary neighbor, Venus.

  • When the ground shakes, it releases low-frequency sound waves that can travel long distances in the atmosphere.

  • The military, who first tried this back in the 1940s, planned on using the microphones to pick up on the sound of the ground shaking from a nuclear explosion.

  • Project was eventually deemed too expensive and dropped

  • Now back to Venus, the reason the idea of balloons to take measurements on the planet is due to the extreme heat and pressure on the surface.

  • The dense atmosphere means that the planet’s surface has about the same pressure as Earth’s deep ocean.

  • No current lander/rover could withstand

  • For the project to even go forward, scientists have to show that they could design devices small enough to be carried by balloons but sensitive enough to pick up earthquakes far below.

  • In 2021, that is what they did

  • They attached micro-barometers to 16 balloons launched from the Seychelles Islands, off the coast of East Africa
  • The researchers were able to use the changes in air pressure to pinpoint the epicenter of the earthquake and calculate its 7.3 magnitude.
  • Although the surface of Venus is an extremely hostile environment, at about 50 kilometers above the surface the atmosphere of Venus is the most earth-like environment (other than Earth itself) in the solar system.
  • Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University in St. Louis believes, even if they can’t detect Venus quakes, the balloons, if designed to survive in the Venusian atmosphere, might be able to detect changes in air pressure that reveal clues about the planet’s volcanic eruptions and mysterious highlands.

  • The researchers are hoping that earthquake-detecting balloons will feature in the next major mission

  • Believing their data could help researchers understand why Earth and Venus — alike in size and distance from the sun, relative to the other planets — have gone down such different paths.

TAE's planned billion-degree, hydrogen-boron nuclear fusion reactor | Interesting Engineering & New Atlas (13:02)

• TAE Technologies today announced recently that it has secured strategic and institutional investments to fund the construction of its next research reactor, 'Copernicus.’

  • ​​This is after achieving temperatures greater than 135 million degrees Fahrenheit (75 million degrees Celsius)
  • While also demonstrating unmatched real-time control of plasma with its cutting-edge fusion research reactor, dubbed 'Norman.'

  • The non-radioactive method used by TAE, hydrogen-boron fusion, is the quickest, most feasible, and most cost-effective way to supply the grid with large amounts of carbon-free electricity.

  • Reminder fusion is banging the nuclei of two atoms together hard enough, they can fuse together to create a different element.

  • Resulting fused atom will weigh less than the two banged together

  • Why does fusion release a lot of energy?

  • The difference in mass from the fusion will be released as energy, as predicted by Einstein's famous E=MC2 equation. C2 – the square of the speed of light – is a rather large number, so a small mass of fuel can produce a large release of energy.

  • The goal of the 'Copernicus' reactor is to show that the company's advanced beam-driven field-reversed configuration (FRC) can generate net energy.

  • Will be built in a 100,000-square-foot (1,076,391 m2) facility in Irvine, California.

  • The last step on the road to commercializing clean fusion power.

  • The 'Norman' reactor, which was developed by TAE to maintain plasma at 54 million degrees Fahrenheit (30 million degrees Celsius), was unveiled in 2017.

  • Has demonstrated the ability to retain stable plasma at a temperature of more than 135 million degrees Fahrenheit (75 million degrees Celsius),

  • 250% greater than its initial aim

  • Why does TAE want to achieve hydrogen-boron fusion? CEO of TAE Technology, Michl Binderbauer, explains to New Atlas:

  • "There's no radioactivity involved in the input or the output. The output is helium, chemically inert, about as benign as you can get. Boron's made by the metric ton today. It's used in detergents, it's a commodity product. So there's no scarcity, it's found everywhere; there's no sort of Saudi Arabia of boron."

  • He continues to explain:

  • “People have shied away from boron historically because fusion is already darn hard … But it turns out that if you design your fusion reactor around tritium, you get some serious defects, along with a big disconnect from the commercial world where cost is important."

  • TAE has raised a total of $1.2 billion for its commercial fusion development.

  • The company recently closed its Series G-2 financing round, in which it secured $250 million from investors in the energy, technology, and engineering sectors.

  • The company's most recent investors include Chevron, Google, Reimagined Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, and TIFF Investment Management, as well as a sizable mutual fund manager with headquarters on the West Coast of the United States and a sizable U.S. pension fund.

  • Sandro Hasegawa, General Manager, Energy Innovation Initiative Americas at SCOA, explains:

  • “We look forward to being a partner in bringing TAE’s clean energy solutions to the APAC market, which will be paramount to sustaining local economies without impacting our planet … We are pleased to support TAE’s groundbreaking fusion technology to create safe, sustainable energy sources across multiple industries and applications.”

Treating Chronic Pain With Sound Plus Electrical Body Stimulation | SciTechDaily (21:01)

• Researchers have found that electrical stimulation of the body combined with sound activates the brain’s somatosensory or “tactile” cortex.

  • This increases the potential for using the technique to treat chronic pain and other sensory disorders.
  • The non-invasive technique was tested on animals and the team is planning clinical trials on humans in the near future.

  • During the experiments, the scientists played broadband sound while electrically stimulating different parts of the body in guinea pigs.

  • They discovered the combination of the two activated neurons in the brain’s somatosensory cortex.

  • This is the area that is responsible for touch and pain sensations throughout the body.
  • The scientists hope that their results will lead to a therapy for chronic pain that’s safer and more accessible than drug treatments.

  • Cory Gloeckner Ph.D, lead author on the paper, explains:

  • “Chronic pain is a huge issue for a lot of people, and for most, it’s not sufficiently treatable … Right now, one of the ways that we try to treat pain is opioids, and we all know that doesn’t work out well for many people. This, on the other hand, is a non-invasive, simple application. It’s not some expensive medical device that you have to buy in order to treat your pain. It’s something that we think would be available to pretty much anyone because of its low cost and simplicity.”

How Scientists Revived Organs in Pigs an Hour After They Died | Singularity Hub (23:59)

• Oxygen is the elixir of life. Stop its flow—during a stroke, heart attack, or death—and the body’s tissues respond in a biological storm that eventually leads to their death.

  • Not great for organ transplants. They are deprived of oxygen, they rapidly lose their function.

  • Upon death, the heart stops pumping, meaning all tissues are starved of oxygen and nutrients, and even after reperfusion with blood, they wither away.

  • Their protective membranes break down.

  • Organs lose their structural integrity.

  • In a new study, using an external circulation system, a team of scientists partially revived organs in pigs hours after their deaths.

  • The system, dubbed OrganEx, works like an alternative circulatory system.

  • Pumps a synthetic substitute to trick the body into thinking it’s still somewhat alive.

  • The trick to keeping tissue healthy is a special fluid called cryoprotective perfusate.

  • Think of it as an incredibly nutritious smoothie that goes straight into your blood circulation.

  • The cells in the pig’s heart, liver, and kidneys repaired themselves while on the system.

  • Based on multiple molecular analyses.

  • Dr. Robert Porte at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, who was not involved in the study, wrote, “The achievement poi nts to ways to improve transplants and the treatment of strokes and heart attacks.”
  • Another Doctor not involved in the study, Dr. Sam Parnia at New York University wrote, “This is a truly remarkable and incredibly significant study. It demonstrates that after death, cells in mammalian organs (including humans) such as the brain do not die for many hours.”

  • For now, the study suggests that tissues and organs have a surprising ability to regenerate after being deprived of blood.

  • The researchers stated, “Overall, further optimization and expansion of our technology will be needed to fully understand its broader effects on ischemic tissues and recovery.”

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Show Notes: Groundbreaking heart disease treatment uses ultrasound-assisted lasers | Brighter Side News (01:21)

• Atherosclerosis, a buildup of plaque, can lead to heart disease, artery disease, and chronic kidney disease and is traditionally treated by inserting and inflating a balloon to expand the artery.
• Rohit Singh, of the University of Kansas, and other researchers developed a method that combines a low-power laser with ultrasound to remove arterial plaque safely and efficiently.

• High-power laser treatments direct thermal energy to vaporize water in the artery and create a vapor bubble, which expands and collapses to break the plaque.

  • The addition of irradiation from ultrasound causes the microbubbles to expand, collapse, and disrupt the plaque.

  • Singh talks about the combo of laser treatment with ultrasounds:

  • “In conventional laser angioplasty, a high laser power is required for the entire cavitation process, whereas in our technology, a lower laser power is only required for initiating the cavitation process … Overall, the combination of ultrasound and laser reduces the need for laser power and improves the efficiency of atherosclerotic plaque removal."

  • Because it destroys rather than compresses the plaque, the combination technique will have a lower restenosis rate, or re-narrowing of the artery, compared to balloon angioplasty or stenting.

  • Restenosis occurs when an artery that was opened with a stent or angioplasty becomes narrowed again.

  • Singh and collaborators are also using the methodology for photo-mediated ultrasound therapy and ultrasound-assisted endovascular laser thrombolysis.

  • Former can be used to remove abnormal microvessels in the eye to prevent blindness

  • The latter can dissolve blood clots in veins.

Locusts can 'smell' human cancer cells | Futurity (05:54)

• Researchers, at Michigan State University, have shown that locusts can not only “smell” the difference between cancer cells and healthy cells, but they can also distinguish between different cancer cell lines.

  • This work could provide the basis for devices that use insect sensory neurons to enable the early detection of cancer using only a patient’s breath.

  • The success of engineered devices can make it easy to overlook the performance of our natural tools, especially the sense organ right in front of our eyes.

  • Why we trust dogs and their super-sniffers to detect telltale smells of drugs, and explosives

  • Scientists are working on technology that can mimic the sense of smell, but nothing they’ve engineered can yet compete with the speed, sensitivity and specificity of old-fashioned biological olfaction.

  • Olfaction: The sense of smell.

  • Why not start with the solutions biology has already built after eons of evolution, and engineer from there?

  • The research team is essentially “hacking” the insect brain to use it for disease diagnosis.

  • Easily attach electrodes to locust brains
  • The scientists then recorded the insects’ responses to gas samples produced by healthy cells and cancer cells, and then used those signals to create chemical profiles of the different cells.

  • How well could the locusts differentiate healthy cells from cancer cells using three different oral cancer cell lines?

  • According to Christopher Contag, the director of IQ, “We expected that the cancer cells would appear different than the normal cells … But when the bugs could distinguish three different cancers from each other, that was amazing.”

  • Although the team’s results focused on cancers of the mouth, the researchers believe their system would work with any cancer that introduces volatile metabolites into breath, which is likely most cancer types.

  • In biochemistry, a metabolite is an intermediate or end product of metabolism. The term metabolite is usually used for small molecules.

  • Let’s end it off with a quote from Contag about early detection:

  • “Early detection is so important, and we should use every possible tool to get there, whether it’s engineered or provided to us by millions of years of natural selection … If we’re successful, cancer will be a treatable disease.”

Scientists create first full map of human immune system connectivity | New Atlas (11:15)

• By using advanced screening methods to tune into the communications taking place between individual cells, scientists have produced the first full connectivity map of the human immune system.

  • Will help researchers better understand the way different disease such as cancer progress, and work towards next-generation treatments
  • Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute and ETH Zurich have been working to establish a more comprehensive diagram of the immune system throughout the body.

  • The breakthrough stems from new understanding of the signaling that takes place between different immune cells.

  • Some of these patrol the body looking for signs of injury or disease, and then send messages to other immune cells to join the fight.

  • Communication takes place through proteins on the surface of immune cells, which bind to receptor proteins on the surfaces of other cells.
  • Mapping involved a technique called high-throughput surface receptor screening, which allowed them to map immune cell protein interactions on an unprecedented scale.

  • This wiring diagram details how immune cells connect and communicate throughout the body and includes previously unknown interactions.

  • Valuable insights into the way the body organizes its immune defenses,

  • May help efforts to develop treatments that increase their ability to fight disease, with immunotherapy for cancer a prime example.
  • Additionally, it could offer a blueprint for the prevention and treatment of autoimmune diseases

  • Let’s end it off with a quote from Professor Gavin Wright, senior author, discussing the research:

  • “Immunotherapies work with the body’s immune system to combat diseases such as cancer and autoimmunity… They can be incredibly effective in certain groups of people, but not all, leaving some people without treatment. Our research, a culmination of over two decades of work, could hold the key to understanding why these treatments are more effective in some groups, and how they could be adapted to ensure that as many people as possible can benefit from them.”

Flying car 'Switchblade' with foldable wings and a retractable tail gets FAA approval | Interesting Engineering (15:46)

• A flying sports car named Switchblade recently passed the safety tests of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and now it is ready for market launch.

  • Oregon-based company Samson Sky claims it took 14 years to develop this innovative vehicle.
  • Can be easily parked inside a residential garage, and it is suitable for both roadside driving and flying.

  • Not the first to receive approval from the FAA, but it might become the first flying car available to the public in the US.

  • Already started taking online reservations for Switchblade, and over 1,600 people have already shown interest in buying the car.

  • The estimated starting price for Switchblade would be $150,000.

  • The features of the Switchblade:

  • Three-wheeler sports car that comes with foldable wings and a retractable tail

  • Within three minutes, these flexible components can turn this roadside vehicle into a small aircraft
  • Capable of flying at 16,000 feet (4.8 km)
  • The top speed of this two-seater flying machine ranges between 125 mph (201 km/h) (on-road) and 200 mph (321 km/h) (during flight).
  • Runs on 91 octane gasoline
  • The official website of Samson Sky mentions that the car comes equipped with a hybrid electric drive and fly system, a climate-controlled cabin, front and rear crumple zones, and a parachute that covers the whole vehicle to ensure complete comfort and safety of its users.

  • For instance, the vehicle has been approved by the FAA, but that only means that Samson Sky can sell this vehicle.

  • Buyers might still need to get permission from local authorities before they drive or fly Switchblade for the first time since it is not an ordinary vehicle.

  • Another difficulty, the Switchblade is a flying vehicle, and there is no company in the US that offers flying car insurance.

  • Insurance laws in most American states require drivers to carry active vehicle insurance with them.

  • Switchblade buyers might need to buy both car and aircraft insurance.

  • What’s interesting about this is that Switchblade isn’t the only flying car that is ready to launch.

  • There are companies working on this, and it would be fascinating to see which of them we see first on the road.

  • List by Interesting Engineering of 14 other flying cars being developed:

    • Real Flying Cars That Will Soon Take Flight

Czinger’s 3D-Printed 21C Hypercar Could Spark an Automaking Revolution | Robb Report (22:00)

• The $2 million, carbon-fiber-bodied, tandem-seat Czinger 21C astounds with specs—1,250 hp, zero to 62 mph in 1.9 seconds, a claimed top speed of 253 mph

  • Recently blew away the McLaren P1’s production-car track record at Circuit of the Americas by six seconds.

  • However, more impressive is the hybrid’s build process: The main structural components are designed by Czinger’s proprietary AI software and then 3-D-printed.

  • Co-founder Kevin Czinger, stated: “These structures cannot be made more perfect for the requirements inputted … You could have 1,000 engineers and they would never get to this solution.”

  • Figuring out how to put these “perfect Lego blocks” together was tasked to Lukas Czinger, Kevin’s son, who invented a fixtureless assembly system

  • No part-specific fixture or tooling required to hold pieces in place during the robotic build.

  • Additionally, the polymer team created an adhesive that bonded in under two seconds.

  • The result is a 22-robot cell that doesn’t have to be retooled from one application to another, meaning the same hardware can transition from creating a rear frame to a full chassis with only a software change—a potentially revolutionary new approach to manufacturing.

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News: Bedside AI warning system for sepsis reduces mortality by nearly 20% | New Atlas (01:23)

• Infections can trigger all kinds of reactions in the human body, and one of the most extreme is sepsis.
  • Occurs as a result of an infection that triggers a severe immune response in the body.
  • Begins with widespread inflammation and can end in blood clots, leaky blood vessels, organ failure or death.
  • Diagnosing the condition is difficult in its early stages.
• This life-threatening complication causes more than 250,000 deaths in the US each year, but a new artificial intelligence system developed at Johns Hopkins University promises to make a real difference in this area, by catching key symptoms early on.
  • Early diagnosis is critical because a patient experiencing sepsis can deteriorate quickly, with the condition killing around 30% of those who develop it.
• The Johns Hopkins team is looking to leverage advanced artificial intelligence to identify patients at risk.
  • Does this by analyzing a patient's medical history and combining that with current symptoms, clinical notes and lab results.
  • The AI tracks patients from the moment they are admitted to hospital until the moment they are discharged.
  • Called the Targeted Real-Time Early Warning System
• By monitoring them throughout the time at the hospital, the system is designed to ensure no important, or potentially dangerous, medical details fall through the cracks.
• Developed and deployed in collaboration with Johns Hopkins spinoff Bayesian Health, the tool was put to use across five hospitals as part of a two-year trial, involving more than 700,000 patients.
• According to the researchers, the system proved very effective, leading to the detection of sepsis on average almost six hours earlier than traditional methods, with a sensitivity rate of 82%.
  • It also fostered a high rate of adoption among healthcare providers of 89%.
  • The result was significant reductions in morbidity, the length of hospital stay and, most importantly, a reduction in mortality of 18.2%.
• Neri Cohen, MD, PhD, who collaborated on the study explains the significance of this:
  • “There aren't many things left in medicine that have a 30% mortality rate like sepsis … What makes it so vexing, is that it is relatively common and we still have made very little progress in recognizing it early enough to materially reduce the morbidity and mortality. To reduce mortality by nearly 20% is remarkable and translates to many lives saved."

Artificial Muscles Woven Into Smart Textiles Could Make Clothing Hyperfunctional | IEEE Spectrum (07:44)

• Engineers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia, have developed a new class of fluid-driven smart textiles that can “shape-shift” into 3D structures.
• According to Thanh Nho Do, senior lecturer at the UNSW’s Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering, who led the study, development of active textiles is “either limited with slow response times due to the requirement of heating and cooling, or difficult to knit, braid, or weave in the case of fluid-driven textiles.”
• The researchers used a simple, low-cost fabrication technique, in which a long, thin silicone tube is directly inserted into a hollow micro coil to produce the artificial muscles, with a diameter ranging from a few hundred micrometers to several millimeters.
  • Allowing them to mass-produce these soft artificial muscles at any scale and size
• The combination of hydraulic pressure, fast response times, light weight, small size, and high flexibility makes the UNSW’s smart textiles versatile and programmable.
• This versatility opens up potential applications in soft robotics, including shape-shifting structures, biomimicking soft robots, locomotion robots, and smart garments.
  • Possibilities for use as medical/therapeutic wearables, as assistive devices for those needing help with movement, and as soft robots to aid the rescue and recovery of people trapped in confined spaces.
• These artificial muscles are still a proof of concept, Do is optimistic about commercialization in the near future, stating:
  • “We have a Patent Cooperation Treaty application around these technologies … We are also working on clinical validation of our technology in collaborations with local clinicians, including smart compression garments, wearable assistive devices, and soft haptic interfaces.”

Brain stimulation improves motor skill learning at older age | MedicalXPress (11:53)

• Studies involving older individuals show that the older we get, the harder it is and the longer it takes to learn new motor skills, suggesting an age-related decrease in learning ability.
• A new study by researchers at EPFL has found that non-invasive electrical brain stimulation can help older adults learn new motor skills much faster.
• The study used a common way of evaluating how well a person learns new motor skills called the "finger-tapping task."
  • key feature of learning
  • involves typing a sequence of numbers as fast and as accurately as possible.
  • The task simulates activities that require high dexterity, while providing an objective measure of "improvement," defined as a person increasing their speed without losing accuracy (shift in the speed-accuracy tradeoff)
• One of the ways the brain achieves this shift for learning is by grouping individual motor actions into so called "motor chunks":
  • spontaneously emerging brain structures that reduce a person's mental load, while optimizing the mechanical execution of the motor sequence.
• Ph.D. student Pablo Maceira-Elvira, who worked on the study talks about the differences of young and old trying to learn this task:
  • “Older adults showed decreased fast online learning and absent offline learning … In other words, while young adults show sharp performance increases early in training and improve overnight, older adults improve at a more moderate pace and even worsen overnight."
• The researchers applied atDCS to the participants and found that it helped older adults to improve their accuracy sharply earlier on in training and in a pattern similar to that seen in young adults.
  • atDCS: Anodal Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
• Maceira-Elvira relays the results:
  • “Stimulation accelerated the shift in the speed-accuracy tradeoff and enabled an earlier emergence of efficient motor chunks, with 50% of older adults generating these structures during the first training session.”
• What does that suggest? Maceira-Elvira explains that it “suggests that atDCS can at least partially restore motor skill acquisition in individuals with diminished learning mechanisms, by facilitating the storage of task-relevant information, quickly reducing mental load and allowing the optimization of the mechanical execution of the sequence."
• This could open up atDCS as a non-invasive way to help improve mental function that’s declining due to aging or disorders like stroke.

Small molecule prevents tumor cells from spreading | Phys.org (17:35)

• Leiden chemists, together with colleagues at the University of York (UK) and Technion (Israel) have discovered a small, sugar-like molecule that maintains the integrity of tissue around a tumor during cancer.
  • prevents tumor cells from spreading from the primary cancer site
• What makes cancer so lethal?
  • It’s ability to metastasize
  • Metastasis, the spread of cancer cells to distant sites in the body.
  • It depends on the ability of cancer cells to detach from the primary tumor site, and invade through blood vessel walls and tissue barriers to reach secondary sites of growth.
  • Enzymes enable cancer cells to pass through the gaps created through the digestion of proteins and sugars in the space around cells
• Metastatic cancer cells produce large amounts of heparanase enzyme, which helps them to spread around the body.
  • Inhibiting the heparanase is a major target for anti-cancer therapy.
• Researchers developed and tested a new sugar-like molecule that reacts with the enzyme heparanase.
  • Once attached, the heparanase enzyme is unable to bind or cut heparin sulfate sugar chains around cells.
  • The tissue around the cells remains firm and inaccessible to dislodged cells.
• They already studied the new molecule in mouse models of lung cancer, breast cancer and blood cancer.
  • The results are promising and the institutes involved have already applied for a patent on the molecule.
• Leiden chemist Hermen Overkleeft believes that this molecule deserves a chance to find out its effect in the human body:
  • “Now we have to find out whether the compound is stable, safe for the human body, ends up in the right place in sufficient quantities, and so on. That takes a couple of years, it may come to nothing and someone has to be willing to take that financial risk…. Our molecule is one of the few agents that can inhibit heparanase tightly and specifically. Small, well-defined molecules like this one may be easier to develop into a clinical drug than the large, heterogeneous polysaccharides that have been tried up to now."

DeepMind found the structure of nearly every protein known to science | The Verge (22:22)

• Deepmind, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet, announced this past Thursday (July 28th) they will be releasing a free expanded database with its predictions of the structure of nearly every protein known to science.
  • over 200 million structures
• We’ve discussed DeepMind’s AlphaFold AI system in past episodes, but in short, this system produces highly accurate predictions of the structures of proteins.
  • This predicted information can help scientists understand how they work, which can help treat diseases and develop medications.
• Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind, said during a press briefing:
  • “You can think of it as covering the entire protein universe … We’re at the beginning of a new era now in digital biology.”
• Protein structures from AlphaFold are already widely used by research teams around the world.
  • Cited in research on things like a malaria vaccine candidate and honey bee health.
• Having easy access to predicted protein structures gives scientists a boost in research efforts across the scientific landscape.
  • Those trying to understand how complex processes work in the body or which molecules can be used to target things like pollution.
• We’ll end it off with a statement from Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute:
  • “With this new addition of structures illuminating nearly the entire protein universe, we can expect more biological mysteries to be solved each day.”

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News: Serum from hibernating black bears boosts muscle mass in human cells | New Atlas (01:16)

• The incredible ability of bears to hibernate for months at a time has inspired some interesting lines of research around how their secrets might benefit human health, and among them is a focus on muscle wasting.
• First let’s talk about bear hibernation:
  • The main difference between hibernation and torpor is during torpor, the animal is able to wake up quickly to avoid danger, or if the opportunity exists, exit the den to feed.
  • Hibernation is a voluntary state an animal enters to conserve energy, when food is scarce, and minimize exposure to the winter elements.
  • During hibernation an animal lowers its body temperature, slows its breathing rate, heart rate, and metabolic rate-the rate its body uses energy.
  • Bears technically do not hibernate, they enter a state similar to it called topor.
  • Fun fact: Bears can sleep more than 100 days without eating, drinking, or passing waste! Bears can actually turn their pee into protein.
• Scientists in Japan have made a fascinating discovery in this space:
  • Demonstrating how human muscle cells can be infused with serum from hibernating black bears to prevent atrophy and increase muscle mass.
• This new study focused on skeletal muscle, which is susceptible to wasting caused by immobility.
  • Led by scientists at Hiroshima University and Hokkaido University
• The research team took cultured human skeletal muscle cells and infused them with serum drawn from the blood of hibernating black bears, which led to significant protein growth after 24 hours.
  • Interestingly, serum collected during the bears' active summer season did not induce these same effects.
  • Believe this is due to a factor in the hibernating bear serum that suppresses a "destruction mechanism" behind muscle degradation
• Study first-author Mitsunori Miyazaki, stated:
  • “We have indicated that ‘some factor’ present in hibernating bear serum may regulate protein metabolism in cultured human skeletal muscle cells and contribute to the maintenance of muscle mass … However, the identification of this 'factor' has not yet been achieved."
• Doing so could open up some exciting possibilities around protecting humans during deep space travel, or preventing muscle wastage in people who are immobile due to aging or disease.

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough: Genetic Link to Gut Disorders Confirmed | Neuroscience News (08:18)

• A world-first Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has confirmed the link between the two, which could lead to earlier detection and new potential treatments.
  • The findings add to the evidence the gut-brain axis may play a role in the development of neurodegenerative disorders.
• Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), has no known curative treatments and is expected to affect more than 82 million people and is estimated to cost US$2 trillion by 2030.
• The study analyzed large sets of genetic data from AD and several gut-disorder studies – each of about 400,000 people.
  • The first comprehensive assessment of the genetic relationship between AD and multiple gut disorders.
  • They discovered people with AD and gut disorders have genes in common – which is important for many reasons.
• Research lead Dr Emmanuel Adewuyi explains:
  • “The study provides a novel insight into the genetics behind the observed co-occurrence of AD and gut disorders … This improves our understanding of the causes of these conditions and identifies new targets to investigate to potentially detect the disease earlier and develop new treatments for both types of conditions.”
• When researchers conducted further analysis into the shared genetics, they found other important links between AD and gut disorders – such as the role cholesterol may play.
• Dr Adewuyi provides context:
  • “Whilst further study is needed into the shared mechanisms between the conditions, there is evidence high cholesterol can transfer into the central nervous system, resulting in abnormal cholesterol metabolism in the brain… For example, elevated cholesterol in the brain has been linked to brain degeneration and subsequent cognitive impairment.”
• The research also indicated diet could play a part in treating and preventing AD and gut disorders.
• There is a need for more studies and patients need to be assessed individually to judge whether they would benefit from cholesterol lower medication use.

This solar tower makes jet fuel from sunbeams, water, and gas | PopSci (14:43)

• For the past several years, researchers from several different institutions in Switzerland and Germany have been using it to test a method to create propellant
  • normally a carbon-intensive process involving fossil fuels
  • They use little more than sunlight and greenhouse gasses captured from the atmosphere.
• What happens inside their tower is a bit of chemistry known as the Fischer-Tropsch process.
  • A collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen or water gas into liquid hydrocarbons.
  • These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts
  • Typically at temperatures of 150–300 °C (302–572 °F)
  • Pressures of one to several tens of atmospheres.
• So what does this structure tucked away in a Madrid suburb actually do?
  • 169 solar reflectors concentrate blinding sunlight —on average, 2,500 times brighter than the sun— to the top of a tower.
  • It hits a porous ceramic box made from cerium, the rare-earth element number 58
  • That draws water and carbon dioxide from the air and splits their atoms into hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide.
  • The newly created gasses sink to the bottom of the tower, where they enter a shipping container that carries out the Fischer-Tropsch reactions.
  • The end result is fossil-fuel-free kerosene, produced by pulling carbon dioxide from the air.
  • The researchers say it can be pumped into fuel tanks, today, without issue.
• According to Aldo Steinfeld, an engineer at ETH Zürich in Switzerland, meeting the entire aviation’s sector would require solar kerosene plants to cover an area of around 17,500 square miles, roughly the size of Estonia.
  • That’s large!!!
  • Steinfeld looks at it differently: A relatively small parcel of a sparsely inhabited hot desert could supply all the world’s planes.
• The next steps are to make the process more efficient.
  • Right now, a meager 4.1 percent of the solar energy striking the ceramic box actually goes into making gas.
  • The researchers think they could considerably boost that number.

Prime Air: Amazon officially rolls out drone delivery to customers | ZDNet (21:06)

• After years of development announcements, Amazon will be rolling out delivery by drone for Prime customers in areas of California and Texas.
  • Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas.
• Amazon will join Walmart in offering limited drone delivery to a subset of customers, signaling a vote of confidence in the technology and a shifting regulatory environment from the two behemoth retailers.
• The service, called Prime Air, will deliver packages up to five pounds in less than an hour using drones.
  • Fly up to 50 miles per hour (80km/hour), up to an altitude of 400ft, and can carry packages of up to 5lbs.
  • Created a proprietary sense-and-avoid system that enables Amazon drones to operate at greater distances while safely and reliably avoiding other aircraft, people, pets, and obstacles.
• Amazon is reaching out to customers in both locations to give them an option to receive free and fast drone delivery on what's billed as the largest selection of items ever to be available for drone delivery.
  • Once onboarded, customers will see Prime Air-eligible items on Amazon
  • Place an order as they normally would and receive an estimated arrival time
  • The service will start later this year.
• Despite the limited rollout, the company's long-term vision is to create a drone delivery service that will scale and integrate into its vast fulfillment network.
• Naturally, there's a lot more riding on these drones.
  • A crash or injury involving an Amazon drone will receive heavy scrutiny.
• End it off with the end of Amazon’s press release:
  • “We’re bringing more than drone delivery to Lockeford and College Station. Through these Prime Air drone deliveries, we will create new jobs, build partnerships with local organizations, and help to reduce the impact of climate change on future generations.”

A brain-computer startup beat Elon Musk's Neuralink to implanting its first device in a US patient | Yahoo (26:02)

• Synchron, a brain-computer interface startup, reportedly implanted its first device in a US patient earlier this month — overtaking Elon Musk's Neuralink for the third time.
  • The startup implanted a 1.5-inch device into the brain of an ALS patient at Mount Sinai West medical center in New York on July 6
• The purpose of the device is to allow the patient to communicate — even after they have lost the ability to move — by using their thoughts to send emails and texts.
• Should mention this company has already implanted the device in four patients in Australia who have been able to use the brain implant to send messages on WhatsApp and shop online.
• Last year, the Australia-based startup received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials on six US patients who have been severely paralyzed.
  • Neuralink has yet to receive FDA approval
• Synchon and Neuralink's implants have similar immediate applications.
  • translate human thoughts into computer commands
  • could help patients with neurological diseases like Parkinson's or ALS.
• Neuralink and Synchron's products have several key differences: namely, size and installation.
  • Synchron’s device can be inserted into a human skull without cutting into it using a catheter, and the process requires two separate surgeries
  • In contrast, Neuralink plans to make a much smaller and more powerful device that would require a portion of the individual's skull to be removed and would be performed using a robot

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News: New prehistoric human unknown to science discovered in Israel | The Jerusalem Post (01:20)

• A new type of early human previously not known to scientists has been discovered in Israel, Tel Aviv University and Hebrew University researchers announced Thursday, July 14th.
  • They believe this new “Homo” species intermarried with Homo sapiens and was an ancestor of the Neanderthals.
• The dig site, Nesher Ramla, a few kilometers from the modern-day city, was probably close to a water reservoir where early humans could hunt animals.
  • Filled with many animal bones, stone tools for making fire and butchering
• Prof. Israel Hershkovitz talked on the dig site:
  • “We know that modern humans – or Homo sapiens – arrived in this area some 200,000 years ago … When we started excavating and examining the different archaeological layers, we found that they dated back between 140,000 and 120,000 years ago, so we expected to find remains of Homo sapiens. We did not realize that another form of human was living alongside them.”
• The researchers believe that the newly discovered human type, which they named after the site, lived in the region hundreds of thousands of years ago and at least until 130,000 years ago.
• The findings may radically change what researchers have so far believed about how ancient populations evolved and interacted.
  • Especially how sapiens and Neanderthal, other ancient human types, related to each other.
• Researchers believe the Nesher Ramla was an ancestor of the Neanderthals and other archaic Asian populations.
  • Thought Neanderthals arrived in what is now Israel 70,000 to 50,000 years ago from Europe, but here they found a human species 130,000 years old.
• Some features of the remains, like the teeth and the jaws, were more similar to Neanderthal species, while the skulls resembled the Homo type.
• According to Hershkovitz, Nesher Ramla Homo and Homo sapiens not only coexisted peacefully and exchanged technology, but also produced offspring.
  • “In Europe, the story was very different because when modern humans arrived there around 45,000 years ago, they completely eliminated the local Neanderthals. This did not happen here”
• In the past, geneticists had already suggested that an unknown population represented the missing link between sapiens and Neanderthal.
  • The Nesher Ramla population could represent the answer.

Prunes can restore bone loss, research finds | Brighter Side News (06:58)

• New research provides evidence that prunes are a prebiotic food that reverses bone loss in mice.
  • Findings show the ​​carbohydrates and polyphenols in prunes act as prebiotics and help restore bone health.
• Principal Investigator, Brenda Smith, PhD explains:
  • “Both the carbohydrate component and the polyphenols within the prunes altered the gut microbiota and were associated with positive effects on bone, namely restoring bone. By definition, prebiotics are substrates that alter the composition or activity of the microbiota and confer benefits to the health of the individual”
• Researchers isolated the polyphenol (PP) compounds as well as the carbohydrates (CHO) from prunes and fed them to two separate groups of estrogen-deficient, female mice with substantial bone loss for 5- and 10-week durations.
• In the study they had 4 groups of mice with different diets:
  • Receiving the polyphenol (PP) compounds and carbohydrates directly
  • Whole prunes
  • Prune crude extract with both PP and CHO prune components
  • Control (i.e. no prunes or extract)
• Compared to the mice who did not consume any prune or prune component, those who consumed isolated CHO, isolated PP, prune crude extract, or whole prunes experienced restored bone previously lost.
  • Showed a significant increase in short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production in their guts
  • Favorable changes to their gut microbiota.
• Researchers saw increases in SCFAs n-butyrate and propionate, which are thought to be most effective at preventing bone loss by suppressing biomarkers associated with bone breakdown.
• Smith suggests the findings make a strong case for consuming whole prunes “because you’re getting some of the benefit from the carbohydrate in the short term, and the long-term benefit from the polyphenols.”
  • Smith also noted that the vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds in prunes may contribute to the bone and the gut benefits.
• This research gets us closer to understanding the unique attributes of prunes while underscoring the importance of eating the fruit in its entirety.

Scientists create a nearly invisible solar cell with up to 79% transparency | Interesting Engineering (11:07)

• A team of scientists from the Tohoku University in Japan has created a near-invisible solar cell using indium tin oxide (ITO) as a transparent electrode and tungsten disulfide (WS2) as a photoactive layer.
  • Potential to achieve a transparency of 79 percent
• This type of PV device is known as the Schottky junction solar cell.
  • An interface put between a metal and a semiconductor provides the band required for charge separation.
  • The suggested device and ideal band structure separate the photogenerated electron-hole pairs by a difference in the work function between one of the electrodes and the semiconductor.
• WS2 is a member of the transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) family of materials, which the scientists claim are perfect for near-invisible solar cells due to their acceptable band gaps in the visible light range and greatest absorption coefficient per thickness.
• The contact barrier between WS2 and ITO was adjusted by coating various thin metals on top of ITO material and introducing a thin layer of WO3 (Tungsten trioxide) between ITO and the monolayer WS2.
  • Result: the Schottky barrier height increased dramatically.
  • Potential for increasing the efficiency of charge carrier separation in this Schottky-type solar cell.
• The power conversion efficiency of the solar cell with the optimized electrode (WO3/Mx/ITO) was more than 1,000 times greater than that of a device employing a regular ITO electrode.
• With the aid of studies like this one, we may eventually develop transparent solar panels, which would have far-reaching ramifications.
  • There are reportedly five to seven billion square meters of glass surfaces in the United States, from phone screens to skyscrapers.

Drug Treatment for Cataracts Might Soon Become a Reality | SciTechDaily (16:11)

• According to the World Health Organization, cataracts are one of the leading causes of blindness throughout the world.
  • Cataracts account for more than 51 percent of blindness throughout the world.
  • In the United States alone, over 24.4 million people over the age of 40 have been affected by cataracts.
• A cataract is a clouding of the eye lens that develops over time and compromises the quality of vision.
  • Caused by a disorder of the proteins in the lens that leads to clumps of protein accumulating that scatter light and substantially limit transmission to the retina.
• Currently, cataracts can only be cured with surgery.
  • However, a groundbreaking new treatment for cataracts has had incredibly positive laboratory test results suggesting that the affliction might soon be able to be treated with drugs.
• A team of international scientists at Anglia Ruskin University, have been carrying out advanced optical tests on an oxysterol compound that had been proposed as an anti-cataract drug.
• In laboratory trials, treatment with the oxysterol compound VP1-001 showed an improvement in refractive index profiles – a key optical parameter that is needed to maintain high focusing capacity – in 61% of lenses.
  • Meaning that the protein organization of the lens is being restored, resulting in the lens being better able to focus.
• Professor Barbara Pierscionek, lead researcher, stated:
  • “This study has shown the positive effects of a compound that had been proposed as an anti-cataract drug but never before tested on the optics of the lens. It is the first research of this kind in the world.”
• She continues mentioning this compound could only affect a certain kind of cataracts:
  • “Improvements occurred in some types of cataracts but not in all indicating that this may be a treatment for specific cataracts. This suggests distinctions may need to be made between cataract types when developing anti-cataract medications. It is a significant step forward towards treating this extremely common condition with drugs rather than surgery.”

Cancer drug triggers remarkable recovery from spinal cord injury in mice | New Atlas (21:08)

• A drug under investigation as a cancer treatment has shown exciting promise in a rather different branch of medical research, with scientists demonstrating how it can promote nerve repair following spinal injury.
  • The drug acts on a DNA damage response mechanism and triggers a "remarkable" recovery in mice with injured spinal cords.
  • The DNA Damage Response system, which swings into action in response to DNA damage caused by several common cancers, and also in response to spinal cord injury.
• Led by scientists at the University of Birmingham, the research focused on an experimental drug called AZD1390.
  • Under investigation as a cancer therapy due its potential to make tumor cells more sensitive to radiation treatment.
• The authors of the new study hypothesize that the activation of this DNA Damage Response system may slow or prevent recovery from spinal cord injury, by hampering nerve repair.
  • The thinking was that by using AZD1390 to inhibit the ATM signaling pathway, they could clear the way for the growth of new nerve cells.
• In mice with spinal cord injuries, oral administration of AZD1390 was also shown to significantly suppress the pathway.
  • Further, it promoted nerve regeneration beyond the site of the injury, and enhanced the capacity of these nerves to relay electrical signals
• Study author Professor Zubair Ahmed, stated:
  • “This is an exciting time in spinal cord injury research with several different investigational drugs being identified as potential therapies for spinal cord injury … We are particularly excited about AZD1390 which can be taken orally and reaches the site of injury in sufficient quantities to promote nerve regeneration and restore lost function. Our findings show a remarkable recovery of sensory and motor functions, and AZD1390-treated animals being indistinguishable from uninjured animals within four weeks of injury."
• Such a rapid and effective recovery, making injured mice appear much like uninjured mice in 4 weeks, positions AZD1390 as an exciting potential treatment for a condition that has no cure.
• Though just an initial study, the fact that it centers on a drug already under investigation may also shorten its path to clinical use.

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News: This new neural sleeve helps people overcome mobility challenges | ZDNet (01:08)

• A new mobility sleeve under development and out of stealth promises a compelling solution for those suffering a variety of mobility issues.
  • Monitor and stimulate the neuromuscular system
  • Lightweight next-gen mobility devices
• The technology was invented by Jeremiah Robison, a Silicon Valley serial entrepreneur, following his daughter's cerebral palsy diagnosis.
  • Inspired by two of his daughter's clinical experiences.
• The first inspiration was a complex data capture session at a gait lab using optical and EMG sensors, which recorded precise information about her walk.
  • Electromyography sensors, also known as EMG sensors, measure small electromyographic signals generated by your muscles as you move them.
• The second inspiration was functional electrical stimulation as part of her physical therapy.
  • Electrode pads were placed on individual muscle groups, which a therapist stimulated during walking sessions to stimulate and strengthen the muscles.
• The device & company that was created is called CIONIC
  • The device is a wearable for people with mobility issues that doesn't just monitor leg movements but actually helps activate the person's muscles.
  • CIONIC partnered with the Laboratory for Engineering of the Neuromuscular System (LISiN) at The Polytechnic University of Turin.
• Robison talked on the device:
  • “We set out to create a product that combined the diagnostic power of a multi-million dollar gait lab with the therapeutic power of Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) … We were confident we could leverage the recent technological advances enabling innovative products like self-driving cars and apply it to the human body to solve an enormous problem: 14% of adults in the US experience mobility impairment, a number expected to balloon to 20% by 2050."
• The resulting sensor array successfully combines electromyography (EMG) and functional electrical stimulation (FES).
  • LISiN Lab helped develop a comprehensive risk assessment strategy to ensure that the product was effective and safe

Meta open sources early-stage AI translation tool that works across 200 languages | The Verge (08:37)

• Social media conglomerate Meta has created a single AI model capable of translating across 200 different languages
  • The company is open-sourcing the project in the hopes that others will build on its work.
• The AI model is part of an ambitious R&D project by Meta to create a so-called “universal speech translator,” which the company sees as important for growth across its many platforms
• Machine translation allows Meta to better understand its users (and so improve the advertising systems that generate 97 percent of its revenue)
  • Could also be the foundation of a killer app for future projects like its augmented reality glasses.
• While most machine translation models handle only a handful of languages, Meta’s model is all-encapsulating: it’s a single system able to translate in more than 40,000 different directions between 200 different languages.
• Meta AI research scientist Angela Fan, who worked on the project, says the model, described in a research paper here, is already being tested to support a project that helps Wikipedia editors translate articles into other languages.
• Additionally, Fan stated that an important decision was to open-source as many elements of the project as possible — from the model to the evaluation dataset and training code.
  • Meta also offers grants to researchers who want to contribute to such translation projects but are unable to finance their own projects
• We are going to end off with a quote from Fan:
  • “I think that’s really, really important, because it’s not like one company will be able to holistically solve the problem of machine translation … It’s everyone — globally — and so we’re really interested in supporting these types of community efforts.”

Tiny shapeshifting robots brush and floss your teeth, kill bacteria | New Atlas (14:53)

• Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a system of microrobots that can change shape to form bristles or floss.
  • They don’t just brush plaque away, but release antimicrobials to kill bad bacteria.
  • If you want to outsource brushing your teeth to robots.
• Part of the problem with teeth brushing is that toothbrushes don’t account for differences in the shape or spacing of different people’s teeth.
  • The new system solves that issue by effectively shapeshifting.
• It’s made up of iron oxide nanoparticles, which can be assembled into different formations and controlled using magnetic fields.
  • The particles can be arranged into the shape of bristles to brush plaque from tooth surfaces, or thinner floss-like strands to scrub between teeth.
  • Iron oxide is known to activate hydrogen peroxide, triggering a reaction that produces free radicals that kill bacteria and the sticky biofilms they form on teeth.
• The system was tested on a flat slab of artificial tooth-like material, then a 3D-printed tooth model, and finally on real human teeth.
• The tests showed that these microrobots could efficiently remove plaque and biofilms, reducing pathogenic bacteria below detectable levels.
• Also showed they could precisely control the bristle stiffness and length by adjusting the magnetic field.
  • This allowed the tips to be made firm enough to clean the teeth but still soft enough to be gentle on gums.
• The researchers say that the customizability of this microrobot system could clean people’s teeth better, while its hands-free potential could allow people with reduced fine motor skills to still take care of their oral health.

New drug increases human life span by 30%, according to Mayo Clinic | Brighter Side News (19:47)

• Scientists may never find the elixir of life, but they are finding new ways to extend our life spans.
  • Mayo Clinic researchers say senolytic drugs can boost a key protein in the body that may protect older people against aspects of aging and a range of diseases.
• Senolytics developed at Mayo Clinic and given once clear the bloodstream of senescent or "zombie" cells.
  • These cells contribute to multiple diseases and negative aspects of aging. Diseases including atherosclerosis (a form of heart disease), diabetes, and lung disease.
  • As you age, these zombies build up in the body. They can make it difficult for your body to repair tissue, and they can release chemicals that harm normal cells nearby.
• This study shows that the removal of senescent cells significantly boosts the production of a protective protein called a-klotho.
  • The protein a-klotho is important to maintaining good health, as it tends to decrease with age, and especially decreases in multiple diseases, including Alzheimer's, diabetes and kidney disease.
• James Kirkland, M.D., Ph.D., a Mayo Clinic internist and senior author of the study., talked on these Senolytics drugs:
  • “We show that there is an avenue for an orally active, small-molecule approach to increase this beneficial protein and also to amplify the action of senolytic drugs."
• Animal studies have shown that decreasing a-klotho in mice shortens life span and increasing a-klotho in mice by inserting a gene that causes its production increases life span by 30%.
• This study shows that senolytics increased a-klotho in humans with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a senescence-associated disease that leads to frailty, serious breathing difficulties and death.

Tesla will open up Superchargers to non-Tesla electric vehicles in the US later this year - The Verge (24:23)

• Tesla plans to open up its Supercharger network to non-Tesla electric vehicles in the US in late 2022, according to a White House memo.
• The company has been allowing non-Tesla EVs to use its Supercharger plugs in several cities in Europe as part of a limited pilot program but has been quiet about when US charging stations would be available to non-Tesla EV owners.
• The memo stated: “Later this year, Tesla will begin production of new Supercharger equipment that will enable non-Tesla EV drivers in North America to use Tesla Superchargers.”
• Tesla did not respond to an email seeking confirmation of these plans (Elon Musk disbanded the company’s PR office in 2019).
  • It’s not clear whether the White House purposefully scooped Tesla’s own announcement on this project.
• Tesla’s Supercharger network is often held up as the best possible example of an EV charging network: fast, reliable, and plentiful.
• This news is in line with what Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has, for years, about opening up his Superchargers to other companies’ electric vehicles.
• If the US version of the pilot program works the same as it does in Europe, non-Tesla EV owners will need to download the most recent version of Tesla’s smartphone app in order to access the stations.
  • They will be prompted to select “Charge Your Non-Tesla” in order to find the closest participating Supercharger site.
  • Tesla owners can still use the stations just as normal.

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News: Cabless autonomous electric truck approved for US public roads | New Atlas (01:35)

• Freight technology company Einride first introduced its cabless autonomous electric T-pod truck back in 2017.
  • Couple years later in 2020, it started rolling along Swedish Roads
  • Now the company has been given the green light for operation on public roads in the US.
• In what Einride claims is a first, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has approved its purpose-built autonomous electric vehicle to operate on public roads in the US, and there'll be no driver in the cab as the Einride Pod doesn't have a cab.
• The T-pod Truck makes use of an onboard sensor suite:
  • cameras, radars and LiDARs
  • will be monitored remotely by a human operator
• If you are curious about the sizing:
  • Each vehicle should measure about 7 meters (23 ft) in length, and be capable of carrying 15 standard pallets worth of cargo.
  • It will weigh 20 tons with a full load, covering a distance of approximately 200 km (124 miles) on one charge of its 200-kWh battery pack.
• The public road pilot is due to start in Q3 of this year, where the vehicle will merge with existing fleet operations at a GE Appliances manufacturing facility.
  • Expected to move goods between warehouses and operate on public roads in mixed traffic.

Enzyme reverses muscle loss due to aging and cancer | The Bright Side News (05:25)

• An international team led by uOttawa Faculty of Medicine researchers have published findings that could contribute to future therapeutics for muscle degeneration due to old age, and diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy.
• Their work demonstrates the importance of the enzyme GCN5 in maintaining the expression of key structural proteins in skeletal muscle.
  • Those are the muscles attached to bone that breathing, posture and locomotion all rely on.
  • GCN5: a well-studied enzyme which regulates multiple cellular processes such as metabolism and inflammation.
• Over the span of roughly five years, the uOttawa-led international collaboration painstakingly experimented with a muscle-specific mouse “knockout” of GCN5.
• In this case, multiple experiments were done to examine the role the GCN5 enzyme plays in muscle fiber.
• What they found:
  • A notable decline in muscle health during physical stress, such as downhill treadmill running, a type of exercise known by athletes to cause micro-tears in muscle fibers to stimulate muscle growth.
  • The affected mice became dramatically weaker as they scurried downhill, like those of old mice, while wild-type mice were not similarly impacted.
• Dr. Menzies, the senior author of the study, says the findings are akin to what is observed in advanced aging, or myopathies and muscular dystrophy, a group of genetic diseases that result in progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass.
• Ultimately, the team’s research found that GCN5 boosts the expression of key structural muscle proteins, notably dystrophin, and a lack of it will reduce them.
  • This is significant because dystrophin is the body’s most important protein for maintaining the membrane of muscle cells, serving as a kind of anchor and cushioning shock absorber in cells of muscles.
• Dr. Menzies suggests the research could help to create a foundation for developing therapeutics down the line:
  • “These findings may therefore be useful for the discovery of new therapeutics that regulate GCN5 activity, or its downstream targets, for maintaining healthy muscle during cancer, myopathies, muscular dystrophy or aging,”

Scientists develop first-of-its-kind implant that relieves pain without drugs | Interesting Engineering (11:13)

• Researchers at Northwestern University have developed a device that sounds straight out of science fiction: a small, soft, flexible first-of-its-kind implant that relieves pain on demand, without the use of drugs and dissolves.
  • Could provide a much-needed alternative to opioids and other highly addictive medications.
• As per the researchers, the device could be highly valuable for patients who undergo routine surgeries or amputations that most often need post-operative medications.
• Northwestern’s John A. Rogers, who led the device’s development, in a press release stated:
  • “As engineers, we are motivated by the idea of treating pain without drugs — in ways that can be turned on and off instantly, with user control over the intensity of relief. The technology reported here exploits mechanisms that have some similarities to those that cause your fingers to feel numb when cold. Our implant allows that effect to be produced in a programmable way, directly and locally to targeted nerves, even those deep within surrounding soft tissues.”
• The device works by wrapping around nerves softly, to deliver precise and targeted cooling.
  • This in turn numbs nerves and blocks pain signals to the brain.
  • An external pump helps the user to remotely activate the device and control its intensity.
• Once the device is no longer required, it is naturally absorbed into the body — "bypassing the need for surgical extraction".
• Why does coolness help with pain?
  • Study co-author Dr. Matthew MacEwan of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis said that as nerves become cooler, the signals that travel through them become slower - eventually stopping completely.
  • “By delivering a cooling effect to just one or two targeted nerves, we can effectively modulate pain signals in one specific region of the body,"
• The device contains tiny microfluidic channels to induce the cooling effect, while concurrently, a tiny integrated sensor monitors the temperature of the nerve to ensure that it doesn't get too cold, which could damage the tissue.
• Rodgers talks on the monitoring:
  • "By monitoring the temperature at the nerve, the flow rates can be adjusted automatically to set a point that blocks pain in a reversible, safe manner. On-going work seeks to define the full set of time and temperature thresholds below which the process remains fully reversible."
• At the thickness of a sheet of paper, the soft, elastic nerve cooling device is ideal for treating highly sensitive nerves.

Scientists Say New James Webb Images Are So Powerful That It Was Emotional Just Looking at Them | Futurism (18:25)

• While we await the ceremonial release of the first official images taken by NASA's uber-expensive James Webb Space Telescope, early reactions to the long-awaited shots are already sounding pretty promising.
• NASA's scientific missions lead Thomas Zurbuchen told reporters on Wednesday:
  • “The images are being taken right now… There is already some amazing science in the can, and some others are yet to be taken as we go forward. We are in the middle of getting the history-making data down."
• NASA plans to release several images on July 12, the inaugural "first light" observations from the space telescope and a potentially groundbreaking moment for the field of astronomy.
• Zurbuchen admitted he was in his feelings over the new images:
  • “It's really hard to not look at the universe in a new light and not just have a moment that is deeply personal … It's an emotional moment when you see nature suddenly releasing some of its secrets. and I would like you to imagine and look forward to that."
• The images are expected to include unprecedented views of the depths of the universe and the atmosphere surrounding a distant exoplanet, potentially giving us glimpses of a habitable world other than our own.
• It's the culmination of over a decade of research, and a $10 billion investment that could soon pay off in a big way.

Elon Musk's Starlink gets FCC green light to beam broadband into moving cars, planes, boats | Business Insider (21:56)

• SpaceX won approval from the Federal Communications Commission to let its Starlink satellites send broadband internet to moving vehicles on Thursday.
  • Cleared a major hurdle as it has already signed deals with airline carriers including Hawaiian Airlines and exclusive jet firm JSX to provide in-flight WiFi to passengers.
• "Authorizing a new class of terminals for SpaceX's satellite system will expand the range of broadband capabilities to meet the growing user demands that now require connectivity while on the move, whether driving an RV across the country, moving a freighter from Europe to a US port, or while on a domestic or international flight," the FCC said in its authorization order published Thursday.
• The FCC's authorization will allow Starlink to pursue deals with transport companies more vigorously.
  • Royal Caribbean became the first cruise line to request Starlink on its ships in June.
• Starlink also launched a $135 monthly subscription for RVs in May. At launch the company said the internet service could not be used while the RV was in motion.

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NEWS: Sugar-studded protein is key to an Alzheimer's cure | The Brighter Side (01:38)

• In a bit of “reverse engineering” research using brain tissues from five people who died with Alzheimer’s disease, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers say they discovered that a special sugar molecule could play a key role in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.
  • This could indicate the molecule, known as a glycan, to be used as an early diagnostic test.
  • And opens a way to perhaps prevention of the disease
• Cleaning up the disease-causing forms of amyloid and tau is the job of the brain’s immune cells, called microglia.
  • Earlier studies found that when cleanup is impaired, Alzheimer’s disease is more likely to occur.
  • Thought to be caused by an overabundance of a receptor on the microglia cells, called CD33.
• Past studies by the researchers showed that for CD33, these “connector” molecules are special sugars.
  • These molecules are ferried around the cell by specialized proteins that help them find their appropriate receptors.
  • The protein-glycan combination is called a glycoprotein.
• The researchers, to find out more about the glycoproteins, obtained brain tissue from five people who died of Alzheimer’s disease and from five people.
  • Among the many thousands of glycoproteins they gathered from the brain tissues, only one connected to CD33.
• What was this mysterious glycoprotein?
  • The researchers determined the protein component’s identity by taking its “fingerprint” using mass spectroscopy, which identifies protein building blocks.
  • Then they compared the molecular makeup of the protein with a database of known protein structures.
  • The research team was able to conclude the protein portion of the glycoprotein was receptor tyrosine phosphatase (RPTP) zeta.
• Further experiments showed that the brain tissue of the five people who died with Alzheimer’s disease had more than twice as much RPTP zeta S3L as the donors who did not have the disease.
  • Implying that this glycoprotein may be connecting with more CD33 receptors than a healthy brain, limiting the brain’s ability to clean up harmful proteins.
• Gonzalez-Gil Alvarenga, Ph.D., first author on the study stated:
  • “Identifying this unique glycoprotein provides a step toward finding new drug targets and potentially early diagnostics for Alzheimer’s disease.”

A Surprising Link Between Immune System and Hair Growth | Neuroscience News (07:36)

• Salk scientists have uncovered an unexpected molecular target of a common treatment for alopecia, a condition in which a person’s immune system attacks their own hair follicles, causing hair loss.
• Corresponding author of the study, Ye Zheng, associate professor in Salk’s NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, stated:
  • “For the longest time, regulatory T cells have been studied for how they decrease excessive immune reactions in autoimmune diseases … Now we’ve identified the upstream hormonal signal and downstream growth factor that actually promote hair growth and regeneration completely separate from suppressing immune response.”
• Initially the researchers were interested in researching the roles of regulatory T cells and glucocorticoid hormones in autoimmune diseases.
  • They did not function together to play a significant role in any of these conditions.
  • Thought they’d have more luck looking at environments where regulatory T cells expressed particularly high levels of glucocorticoid receptors
• The glucocorticoid receptor (GR, or GCR) also known as NR3C1 (nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 1) is the receptor to which cortisol and other glucocorticoids bind.
• The scientists induced hair loss in normal mice and mice lacking glucocorticoid receptors in their regulatory T cells.
  • After two weeks, the researchers saw the normal mice grew their hair back, while the ones lacking the receptors struggled to grow it back
• The findings suggested that some sort of communication must be occurring between regulatory T cells and hair follicle stem cells to allow for hair regeneration.
  • They continued to investigate how the regulatory T cells and glucocorticoid receptors behaved in skin tissue samples.
• They found that glucocorticoids instruct the regulatory T cells to activate hair follicle stem cells, which leads to hair growth.
  • Depends on a mechanism whereby glucocorticoid receptors induce production of the protein TGF-beta3, all within the regulatory T cells.
  • TGF-beta3 then activates the hair follicle stem cells to differentiate into new hair follicles, promoting hair growth.
• This study revealed that regulatory T cells and glucocorticoid hormones are not just immunosuppressants but also have a regenerative function.
  • Next, the scientists will look at other injury models and isolate regulatory T cells from injured tissues to monitor increased levels of TGF-beta3 and other growth factors.

Engineers devise clever system for EVs to share charge—while driving | Anthropocene (13:34)

• The charging station expansion isn’t keeping up with the growing number of EVs on the road.
  • The number of EVs on the road per public charging point globally rose to 9.2 at the end of last year, from 7.4 at the end of 2020, according to a study by BloombergNEF analyst Ryan Fisher on the state of public charging infrastructure.
• In a new study, engineers propose a way around this conundrum: EVs that share charge with each other while driving.
  • In their vision, cars with low batteries could buy some charge from others with extra to spare, all without stopping.
  • Could be orchestrated via a cloud-based control system
• Electrical and computer engineer Prabuddha Chakraborty the University of Florida and his colleagues propose a two-battery system for EVs.
  • A large, slow-charging lithium-ion battery would drive the car,
  • A smaller, fast-charging battery would be used for on-the-go charging.
  • Once powered up, the small battery would transfer its charge to the car’s main battery.
• “Just like in your computer you have fast cache memory—but it’s expensive—so you have other type of high-capacity memories that are slower,” said Tamzidul Hoque, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Kansas
• The cloud-based system idea:
  • Monitor charge levels of electric cars.
  • If a car’s power is starting to run low, the network would alert it to other cars nearby with enough charge to sell.
  • Once two cars are matched with owner consent, cables would connect them for charging and they would be locked at the same speed until the power transfer is complete.
• Yet even in a well-planned, dynamic peer charging network, the researchers found in simulations that the total charge of the network will slowly deplete.
  • To try to get around this idea, they propose the concept of mobile charging stations: large battery-loaded trucks that would recharge multiple vehicles at once.
  • Like military jets being refueled in-flight by tanker aircraft.
• Using popular traffic modeling software they were able to simulate their idea somewhat.
  • They found that it would eliminate range anxiety and re-charging wait time, and reduce EV cost by eliminating the need to have big batteries.

Scientists Use Vegetable Oil Byproduct to Remove Heavy Metals From Contaminated Water | EcoWatch (20:27)

• Scientists from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, collaborating with ETH Zurich, Switzerland (ETHZ), have discovered a way to turn byproduct from vegetable oil production into a membrane that filters out heavy metals from water.
• Ali Miserez, study author and professor at Nanyang Technological University, stated:
  • “Water pollution remains a major global issue in many parts of the world…Heavy metals represent a large group of water pollutants that can accumulate in the human body, causing cancer and mutagenic diseases. Current technologies to remove them are energy-intensive, requiring power to operate, or are highly selective in what they filter.”
• The researchers noticed that proteins in peanut and sunflower oil waste byproducts, called oilseed meals, were useful in attracting heavy metal ions.
  • Turned the oilseed meals’ proteins into nano-sized protein amyloid fibrils, which strongly attract heavy metal ions.
  • Combined these amyloid fibrils with activated carbon and tested the filters on three types of metal: platinum, chromium and lead.
  • The membranes were 99.89% effective at filtering out all of the heavy metals from water, with the best results for platinum and lead.
• The membrane made from waste byproduct proteins is a low-cost option that requires little energy for decontamination, and the researchers say this innovation could work all over the world for water purification.
• “Recovering precious platinum, which costs US$33,000/kg, only requires 32 kg of protein, while recovering gold, which is worth almost US$60,000/kg, only requires 16 kg of protein. Considering that these proteins are obtained from industrial waste that is worth less than US$1/kg, there are large cost benefits,” Miserez explained.
• Because of the simple technology, this filtration membrane is readily scalable, according to the researchers.

Tesla launches new virtual power plant that pays Powerwall owners to help end brownouts | Electrek (25:30)

• Tesla has launched a new virtual power plant in partnership with PG&E in California that will pay Powerwalls owners to help stabilize the electric grid and end brownouts in California.
• What is a virtual power plant?
  • Consists of distributed energy storage systems, like Tesla Powerwalls, used in concert to provide grid services and avoid the use of polluting and expensive peaker power plants.
• Tesla has partnered with PG&E to launch a new version of its virtual power plant that will actually compensate people participating:
  • The company’s statement:
  • “Become a part of the largest distributed battery in the world and help keep California’s energy clean and reliable. Opt-in to the Tesla Virtual Power Plant (VPP) with PG&E and your Powerwall will be dispatched when the grid needs emergency support. Through the Emergency Load Reduction Program (ELRP) pilot, you will receive $2 for every additional kWh your Powerwall delivers during an event. Adjust your Backup Reserve to set your contribution, while maintaining backup energy for outages.”
• Depending on the events and the number of Powerwalls homeowners have, they could earn anywhere from $10 to $60 per event or even more for bigger systems.
• The extra capacity your Powerwall provides could help avoid or reduce blackouts in a severe emergency. This way, Powerwall can keep the lights on for both you and your community.
• Tesla said that it has about 50,000 Powerwalls that could be eligible for this VPP, which add up to a significant 500 MWh of energy capacity than can be distributed in any event.

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SHOW NOTES

01:50 The first perovskite solar cell with a commercially viable lifetime is here | Interesting Engineering

• A team of researchers from Princeton University has built the first perovskite solar cells that last long enough to be commercially viable.
  • Silicon-based cells, which many regard as an expensive and suboptimal component, have dominated the renewable energy market since their introduction in 1954.
  • This new technology, which is not only incredibly durable but also meets common efficiency standards, has the potential to change that.
  • Expected to outperform industry norms for roughly 30 years, well beyond the 20-year criterion for solar cell viability
• Perovskite solar cells are regarded as high-efficiency, low-cost modular technology for implementation in the renewable power industry.
  • Less Energy = Less $$$
  • Would become more fragile in that case
  • The name “perovskite” comes from the nickname for their crystal structure.
  • Can be manufactured at room temperature, which means they need less energy than manufacturing silicon.
  • Can be modified to be flexible and transparent
• The new device created by these researchers estimated lifetime is a five-fold increase over the previous record, which was established by a lower efficiency perovskite solar cell in 2017.
• Additionally they created a new testing method allowing them to test the longevity of these particular types of solar cells.
  • Ranging from a regular summer day's baseline temperature to an extreme of 230 degrees Fahrenheit (110 degrees Celsius).
  • “accelerated aging technique”
  • Chose four aging temperatures and measured outcomes over four independent data streams.
• Overall, they found that the device will run at or above 80 percent of its peak efficiency under continuous illumination for at least five years.
  • According to the researchers, that is the equivalent of 30 years of outdoor operation in a city like Princeton, New Jersey.
• Joseph Berry, a senior fellow at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory who was not involved in the study, said:
  • “This paper is likely going to be a prototype for anyone looking to analyze performance at the intersection of efficiency and stability … By producing a prototype to study stability, and showing what can be extrapolated [through accelerated testing], it’s doing the work everyone wants to see before we start field testing at scale. It allows you to project in a way that’s really impressive."

07:36 Immunotherapy booster produces 10,000 times more cancer-fighting cells | New Atlas

• Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have found that adding a booster protein can significantly improve the outcome of cancer immunotherapy.
  • The research showed the protein produced 10,000 times more immune cells in mice, and all mice survived the entire experiment.
• We are talking about CAR T cell immunotherapy, which is a promising new treatment where doctors extract T cells from a patient, genetically engineer them to target specific cancer cells, and return them to the body to hunt those cells down.
  • The effectiveness can start to drop over time.
• In the new study, the scientists investigated ways to combat this problem by boosting the number of T cells.
  • Doesn’t naturally stick around very long, so the researchers modified it to circulate in the body for weeks.
  • They turned to a protein called interleukin-7 (IL-7), which the body naturally expresses to ramp up T cell production in the event of illness.
• The team tested this longer-lasting IL-7 in mouse models of lymphoma, administering the protein on various days after the initial CAR T cell injection.
  • 3 groups: 1.) Control (no immunotherapy), 2.) Received CAR T cell therapy without IL-7, and 3.) with IL-7
• John DiPersio, senior author of the study, talks on the findings:
  • “When we give a long-acting type of IL-7 to tumor-bearing immunodeficient mice soon after CAR T cell treatment, we see a dramatic expansion of these CAR-T cells greater than ten-thousandfold compared to mice not receiving IL-7 … These CAR T cells also persist longer and show dramatically increased anti-tumor activity.”
• Every mouse that received CAR T cell therapy and IL-7 survived the entire 175 days of the experiment, with their tumors shrinking to the point of being undetectable by day 35.
  • In contrast, mice that received immunotherapy alone survived just 30 days on average.
• Human clinical trials of IL-7-boosted CAR T cell therapy are set to begin soon in patients with a type of lymphoma.

12:29 Study identifies receptor that could alleviate need for chemo, radiation pre-T cell therapy | ScienceDaily

• Before a patient can undergo T cell therapy designed to target cancerous tumors, the patient's entire immune system must be destroyed with chemotherapy or radiation.
  • Reducing your immune cells helps the transferred T cells to be more effective.
  • Toxic Side Effects: nausea, extreme fatigue and hair loss.
• Now a research team ,a collaboration between scientists from UCLA, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania, has shown that a synthetic IL-9 receptor allows those cancer-fighting T cells to do their work without the need for chemo or radiation.
• Christopher Garcia, PhD, at Stanford, talks on these T cells:
  • “When T cells are signaling through the synthetic IL-9 receptor, they gain new functions that help them not only outcompete the existing immune system but also kill cancer cells more efficiently … I have a patient right now struggling through toxic chemotherapy just to wipe out his existing immune system so T cell therapy can have a fighting chance. But with this technology you might give T cell therapy without having to wipe out the immune system beforehand."
• Imagine being able to receive this treatment without destroying your whole body. The body would be in a much better position to fight off any other outside problem.
• Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, a senior investigator on the study, believes this finding, “opens a door for us to be able to give T cells a lot like we give a blood transfusion."
• Back in 2018 a set of researchers found that a synthetic cell growth cytokine could be used to stimulate T cells engineered with a matching synthetic receptor.
  • With this system, T cells can be manipulated even after they have been given to a patient.
  • But they were looking at IL-2 back then, but now they started investigating IL-9.
• The synthetic IL-9 signal made T cells take on a unique mix of both stem-cell and killer-like qualities that made them more robust in fighting tumors.
• According to the researchers, "In one of our cancer models, we cured over half the mice that were treated with the synthetic IL-9 receptor T cells."
  • Proved to be effective in multiple systems
  • The process worked whether they gave the cytokine to the whole mouse or directly to the tumor

17:34 Astronomers Unveil The Most Detailed Map of The Metal Asteroid Psyche Yet | ScienceAlert

• The asteroid Psyche is especially interesting, and NASA is sending a mission to investigate the unusual chunk of rock.
  • In advance of that mission, a team of researchers combined observations of Psyche from an array of telescopes and constructed a map of the asteroid's surface.
• Psyche (16 Psyche) is an M-type asteroid, which is the rarest type of asteroid and makes up about 8 percent of known asteroids.
  • Contain more metal than the other asteroid types, and scientists think they're the source of iron meteorites that fall to Earth.
  • Called a dwarf planet because it's about 220 kilometers (140 mi) in diameter.
• Psyche is sometimes called the 'Gold-mine asteroid' because of the wealth of iron and nickel it contains
• NASA wants to take a closer look at the asteroid.
  • The mission is called Psyche and is scheduled for launch sometime in fall 2022.
  • The spacecraft will rely on solar-electric propulsion and a gravity-assist maneuver with Mars to arrive at Psyche in 2026.
  • It'll spend 21 months studying the asteroid and will follow four separate orbital paths, each successive one closer than the previous.
• A team of researchers constructed a new map of Psyche's surface to help prepare for the mission.
• Saverio Cambioni from MIT's Department of Earth said in a press release:
  • “Psyche's surface is very heterogeneous … It's an evolved surface, and these maps confirm that metal-rich asteroids are interesting enigmatic worlds. It's another reason to look forward to the Psyche mission going to the asteroid."
• The new map is based on two types of measurements.
  • Pure iron has an infinite dielectric constant.
  • One is thermal inertia, which is how long a material takes to reach the temperature of its environment. Higher thermal inertia means it takes longer.
  • The second is the dielectric constant. The dielectric constant describes how well a material conducts heat, electricity, or sound. A material with a low dielectric constant conducts poorly and is a good insulator and vice versa.
• Combining thermal inertia and dielectric constant measurements gives a good idea of which surface regions on Psyche are rich in iron and other metals.
• Overall, the study shows that 16 Psyche's surface is covered in a large variety of materials. It also adds to other evidence showing that the asteroid is metal-rich, though the abundance of metals and silicates varies significantly in different regions.

22:39 World's most efficient passenger plane gets hydrogen powertrain | New Atlas

• The Celera 500L is a remarkable design, and according to the company behind it, Otto Aviation, its odd shape delivers an astonishing 59 percent reduction in drag, and a massive leap in efficiency and range compared to traditional plane geometries.
• Otto claims the Celera 500L in standard fossil fuel-propelled form is "the most fuel-efficient, commercially viable business aircraft in the world."
  • The whole thing is designed to maximize laminar flow – smooth layers of airflow with little to no mixing of adjacent layers moving at different speeds.
  • Trying to avoid the swirls and eddies that lead to air turbulence at speed, causing aerodynamic drag and wasted energy.
  • The company states that it uses 80 percent less fuel than a traditional design.
• Running on an efficient 550-horsepower combustion engine, Otto claims this thing will fly six passengers up to 4,500 nautical miles (8,334 km) at cruise speeds over 460 mph (740 km/h), challenging small business jets for top speed while more than doubling their range.
  • A glide ratio of 22:1 allows pilots to switch off the engine altogether and glide for up to 120 miles (200 km) completely unpowered.
  • Now the rich people who fly around in their CO2 producing private jets can make a change…will they?
• Otto has built a full-scale prototype, and by November last year the company announced it had completed some 55 successful test flights, reaching speeds over 250 mph (400 km/h) and altitudes up to 15,000 ft, and that "all test flights have validated the aircraft's operating performance goals."
• Otto has now announced a collaboration with hydrogen aviation pioneers ZeroAvia to develop a fuel cell-electric powertrain specific to the Celera's requirements.
  • The shape works well with a hydrogen concept – hydrogen powertrains can weigh much less than battery-electric ones, but they tend to take up a bit of space.
• ZeroAvia is being relatively humble with its ambitions to begin with, aiming for a range of just 1,000 nautical miles (1,852 km) of zero-emissions range for a hydrogen-fueled Celera.
• Founder and CEO of ZeroAvia, Val Miftakhov, said in a press release:
  • “The majority of our commercial deals to date have focused on retrofit and line-fit for existing airframes, which is essential to deliver zero-emission flight to market as quickly as possible. However, efficiency gains from new airframe design can expand the impact of zero-emission aviation. We are pleased to collaborate with innovators, like Otto Aviation, bringing cutting-edge clean sheet designs to market as we can optimize the hydrogen-electric propulsion system for those designs.”
• Otto has already shown it can complete successful flights of their fossil fuel plane, but we will wait and see how this partnership pans out.

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News: Researchers run a gas turbine on pure hydrogen in world first | New Atlas (01:51)

• Gas turbines are found in aircraft, trains, ships, generators, pumps, compressors and all sorts of other places.
  • 90% currently run on natural gas, which produces carbon dioxide when you burn it
• In the race to zero emissions by 2050, several organizations, including General Electric, have been looking into transitioning gas turbines to burn green hydrogen as a clean fuel source.
  • As of now, GE has more than 100 turbines running on at least 5 percent hydrogen fuel by volume, and they say they are on the path to 100 percent.
• Researchers at the University of Stavinger in Norway say they've beaten everyone to the punch, claiming that they've had a 100 percent hydrogen-burning gas turbine running since mid-May this year.
  • Runs its own micro gas power plant, and its gas turbine produces heat, electricity and hot water for hydronic heating.
• Professor Mohsen Assadi, leader of the research team, states:
  • “We have set a world record in hydrogen combustion in micro gas turbines. No one has been able to produce at this level before … The efficiency of running the gas turbine with hydrogen will be somewhat less. The big gain though, is to be able to utilize the infrastructure that already exists.”
• Eventually, these kinds of projects will lead to conversion kits that can keep old turbine equipment alive while moving it to zero-emissions fuel sources.
  • But this process needs to become economically viable, which means the price of green hydrogen needs to come down substantially.

First successful treatment of severe pulmonary hypertension with umbilical cord stem cells | MedicalXPress (05:27)

• Clinical researchers at Hannover Medical School (MHH) have succeeded for the first time in stopping the usually fatal course of pulmonary hypertension thanks to a novel therapeutic approach.
  • Pulmonary hypertension is a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart.
  • Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), blood vessels in the lungs are narrowed, blocked or destroyed.
  • In some people, pulmonary hypertension slowly gets worse and can be life-threatening.
• A three-year-old girl suffering from so-called pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) was treated a total of five times with mesenchymal stem cell products obtained from a human umbilical cord.
• The researchers' analysis showed that the products of the stem cells from the umbilical cord were able to improve regeneration in the damaged blood vessels, inhibit inflammation of the blood vessels and curb damage to certain parts of the cells.
• Professor Dr. Georg Hansmann, head of the Translational Cardiopulmonary Biomedicine research group, talked on the treatment’s success:
  • “The treatment led to a significant improvement in growth, exercise tolerance and clinical cardiovascular variables and reduced the number of plasma markers in the blood that can be detected in vascular constriction and inflammation."
• After six months, not only was there a clear improvement in health, but there were also no undesirable side effects.
  • First time there is a therapy for people suffering from pronounced forms of pulmonary hypertension
• The team assumes that such a therapy must be repeated at regular intervals in order to be successful long term, in the case of chronically progressive, often therapy-resistant pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH).

Japan Is Dropping a Gargantuan Turbine Into The Ocean to Harness 'Limitless' Energy | ScienceAlert (08:53)

• Japanese engineers have constructed a true leviathan, a beast capable of withstanding the strongest of ocean currents to transform its flow into a virtually limitless supply of electricity.
  • IHI Corporation – has been tinkering with the technology for over a decade now, partnering with New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) in 2017 to put their designs to the test.
• In February, the project passed a major milestone with the completion of a successful three-and-a-half year field test in the waters off Japan's southwestern coast.
• Prototype called Kairyu
  • 330 tons
  • 20 meter (66 foot) long fuselage flanked by a pair of similar-sized cylinders
  • Housing a power generation system attached to an 11 meter long turbine blade.
• The device can orient itself to find the most efficient position to generate power from the push of a deep-water current, and channel it into a grid.
• IHI estimates that if the energy present in the current could be harnessed, it could feasibly generate around 205 gigawatts of electricity, an amount it claims is in the same ballpark as the country's current power generation.
  • Enormous amount of potential in the ocean's tumultuous movements
• Kairyu was designed to hover roughly 50 meters below the waves – as it floats towards the surface, the drag created provides the necessary torque on the turbines.
  • The turbine blades rotate in an opposing direction keeping the device relatively stable.
  • Churning out a total of 100 kilowatts of power.
• With demonstrated success at withstanding what nature can throw at it, Kairyu could soon have a monster sibling swinging 20-meter-long turbines to generate a more respectable 2 megawatts.
  • I covered another tidal turbine The Orbital 02 developed a Scottish Engineering Company back in episode 55 that was able to generate 2 MW of power.

Woman receives 3D-printed ear made from her own cells | The Verge (12:23)

• Around 1,500 babies born in the United States each year have microtia, a condition where one or both ears are underdeveloped or missing entirely.
• A regenerative medicine company, 3DBio Therapeutic, announced in a press release doctors successfully transplanted a 3D-printed ear made from human cells onto a woman born with the rare ear deformity microtia.
  • Part of the first clinical trial of the technology,
  • Marks a major step forward for tissue engineering.
• 3DBio Therapeutics has an ongoing clinical trial with 11 participants testing its AuriNovo ear, a personalized tissue implant to replace the missing ear in these patients.
  • This experimental process involves taking a biopsy from the patient’s existing ear and pulling out cartilage cells.
  • Those cells are then grown and 3D printed into the shape of the patient’s ear.
  • The ear keeps regenerating cartilage over patients’ lifetimes, and because it is made from their own cells, it’s less likely to be rejected.
• Executives from 3DBio Therapeutics told The New York Times they thought their technology could potentially print other body parts like noses and rotator cuffs and, eventually, complex organs like livers and kidneys.
  • Ears are simpler than organs and, unlike livers, aren’t necessary to keep people alive, so it’ll be a long road toward that potential future.

NASA assembles a UFO research team to study ‘unidentified aerial phenomena’ | TechCrunch (16:22)

• NASA has announced the formation of a study team dedicated to UFOs — or unidentified aerial phenomena (UAPs)
• Starting this fall, the study will have researchers identify what UAP data already exists, determine how best to collect UAP data moving forward and develop methods to study the nature of UAPs, for both scientific and aerospace defense reasons.
• Part of the team will be Daniel Evans, the assistant deputy associate administrator for research at NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, who stated:
  • “Over the decades, NASA has answered the call to tackle some of the most perplexing mysteries we know of, and this is no different … I do want to underscore that NASA is uniquely positioned to address UAPs, because who other than us can use the power of data and science to look at what’s happening in our skies? And quite frankly, this is why we do what we do.”
• This isn’t the first program dedicated to UAP research:
  • 1952 and 1969, the United States Air Force (USAF) studied UAPs under Project Blue Book.
  • In 2017, The New York Times revealed a Pentagon UAP research program called the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), which ended in 2012 due to lack of funding.
• NASA will not be seeking to develop explanations for UAPs, extraterrestrial or otherwise
  • This is more of an information-gathering mission — one whose results will be shared publicly, unlike many findings of the DoD — that may open the door for further UAP research and analysis.

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Scientists just broke the record for the highest efficiency solar cell | Interesting Engineering (01:46)

• A team of researchers at the US Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has created a solar cell with a record efficiency of 39.5 percent.
  • This is the highest efficiency solar cell of any type, measured using standard 1-sun conditions.
  • Under lighting conditions equivalent to that of the sun
• The solar cell was also tested for its potential in space, especially for powering communications satellites, which are powered by solar cells and require high cell efficiency.
  • Under such conditions, it has a 34.2 percent efficiency.
• Principal investigator Myles Steiner, talks on the new solar cell:
  • “The new cell is more efficient and has a simpler design that may be useful for a variety of new applications, such as highly area-constrained applications or low-radiation space applications."
• The novel solar cell is built on an architecture known as inverted metamorphic multijunction (IMM) cells.
  • gallium indium phosphide on top,
  • gallium arsenide in the center,
  • gallium indium arsenide on the bottom.
  • Has three components that generate electric current in response to light.
  • Each component is built with a different material:
• These materials specialize in various light wavelengths, this allows the cell to capture more energy from the whole light spectrum.
• The researchers created these “quantum wells” with the middle layer.
  • Represents the minimum energy that is required to excite an electron up to a state in the conduction band where it can participate in conduction
  • By sandwiching a conductive layer between two other materials with a wider band gap, they were able to get the electrons confined to two dimensions, which allowed the material to capture more light in return.
  • A band gap is the distance between the valence band of electrons and the conduction band.
• This solar cell's middle layer comprised up to 300 quantum wells, which greatly increased the total efficiency
• Before the novel cell can become widespread, the researchers will need to reduce the expenses and find potential new uses.

First Patient Injected With Experimental Cancer-Killing Virus in New Clinical Trial | Science Alert (07:18)

• An experimental cancer-killing virus has been administered to a human patient for the first time, with hopes the testing will ultimately reveal evidence of a new means of successfully fighting cancer tumors in people's bodies.
  • The drug candidate, called CF33-hNIS (aka Vaxinia)
• The drug is an oncolytic virus, which is a genetically modified virus designed to selectively infect and kill cancer cells while sparing healthy ones.
  • A modified smallpox virus
• Works by entering cells and duplicating itself.
  • Eventually, the infected cell bursts, releasing thousands of new virus particles that act as antigens, stimulating the immune system to attack nearby cancer cells.
• Previous research in animal models has shown the drug can harness the immune system in this way to hunt and destroy cancer cells, but up until now no testing has been done in humans.
  • The first phase of the trial focuses on the safety and tolerability of the drug.
• The intervention is expected to enroll 100 participants in total, each being an adult patient with metastatic or advanced solid tumors who has previously tried at least two prior lines of standard treatment.
  • These individuals will receive low doses of the experimental treatment via direct injection or intravenously.
• If early results are successful and CF33-hNIS is deemed safe and well tolerated, additional tests will investigate how the drug pairs with pembrolizumab, an existing antibody treatment already used in cancer immunotherapy.
• If the drug does turn out to be safe and well-tolerated, we could be looking at a powerful new tool for fighting tumors, and a game-changer.
• According to surgical oncologist Susanne Warner, said back in 2020 “Our oncolytic virus trains the immune system to target a specific cancer cell … Meaning if a similar cancer cell ever tries to regrow, the immune system will be ready and waiting to shut it down."

Scientists can now grow wood in a lab without cutting a single tree | Interesting Engineering (11:46)

• The market for wood-derived products stood at $631 billion in 2021, and despite all the efforts that environmentalists have been putting in to prevent deforestation activities, it is expected to cross the mark of $900 billion by 2026, according to the Wood Products Global Market 2022 Report.
• That’s a lot of trees being cut down, but what would happen if we could grow wood without cutting trees? Interesting question, that we may have to answer soon.
• A team of researchers at MIT claims that lab-grown timber can replace deforestation driving products made from real wood.
  • They have developed a technique using which timber can be produced in any shape and size, so you can create it in a lab without cutting a single tree.
• The researchers at MIT performed an experiment that gave stem cell-like properties to normal plant cells
  • Extracted cells from the leaves of a flowering plant called Common zinnia (Zinnia elegans)
  • Then they stored the cells in a liquid medium for a couple of days.
  • The researchers treated the plant cells with a gel-based medium enriched with nutrients and hormones.
  • After some time, the cells gave rise to new plant cells.
• The researchers during this process noticed that by changing the hormonal concentration in the gel medium, they could control the physical and mechanical properties of the newly grown cells.
• Lead researcher Ashley Beckwith explains the role of hormones in plant cell growth:
  • “In the human body, you have hormones that determine how your cells develop and how certain traits emerge. In the same way, by changing the hormone concentrations in the nutrient broth, the plant cells respond differently. Just by manipulating these tiny chemical quantities, we can elicit pretty dramatic changes in terms of the physical outcomes.”
• Beckwith and her team were also able to 3D print custom-designed structures out of the cells cultured in the gel using a 3D bioprinting method.
  • Does not generate any waste, unlike the current furniture-making process, which leads to the loss of about 30% of the total wood as waste
• For three months, the lab-printed plant material was incubated in the dark. Not only did the lab wood manage to survive, but also grow at a rate twice that of a regular tree.
• Senior author and scientist Luis Fernando Velásquez-García talks on the techniques future:
  • “Though still in its early days, this research demonstrates that lab-grown plant materials can be tuned to have specific characteristics, which could someday enable researchers to grow wood products with the exact features needed for a particular application.”

Dissolving pacemaker links up with wearables to better control the heart | New Atlas (17:42)

• Last year, scientists at Northwestern University announced a transient pacemaker that dissolves when no longer needed.
  • Now, they improved the device, and incorporated it into a linked suite of wearable sensors.
• The original implant:
  • The original implant was designed for people recovering from an injury or heart surgery, or who otherwise only require a pacemaker for a short amount of time.
  • Once they've recovered from their condition – within five to seven weeks – the pacemaker will have biodegraded and been harmlessly absorbed by their body.
  • Doesn't have to be wired to a separate battery, and is just 250 microns thick, and weighs less than half a gram.
  • Only one surgery is required
• Among the improvements in the new version:
  • Its ability to stretch as well as flex – thus allowing it to better conform to the surface of a beating heart.
  • Now releases an anti-inflammatory drug as it dissolves, in order to prevent foreign-body immune reactions.
  • Wirelessly communicates with four other soft-electronic devices, temporarily adhered to the skin on various parts of the patient's upper body.
• All of the collected data is wirelessly transmitted to a nearby internet-connected smartphone or tablet, allowing the patient's doctor to remotely monitor their condition.
  • Monitors blood oxygen levels,
  • Tissue oxygenation and blood vessel tone;
  • A respiratory module at the base of the throat, that monitors coughing and other respiratory activity;
  • A haptic feedback module worn anywhere on the body, which vibrates to alert the patient of malfunctions or other problems;
  • A cardiac module, located on the chest.
• Prof. John Rogers, who is leading the research, talks on the device:
  • “For temporary cardiac pacing, the system untethers patients from monitoring and stimulation apparatuses that keep them confined to a hospital setting … Instead, patients could recover in the comfort of their own homes while maintaining the peace of mind that comes with being remotely monitored by their physicians. This also would reduce the cost of health care and free up hospital beds for other patients."

New Research Shows ADHD Medication Doesn't Help Kids Learn | SciTechDaily (22:03)

• For decades, most doctors, parents, and teachers have believed that stimulant medications help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) learn.
  • Approximately 10 percent of children in the U.S. are diagnosed with ADHD.
  • Of those, more than 90 percent are prescribed stimulant medication as the main form of treatment in school settings.
• However, in the first study of its kind, scientists at the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University (FIU) found medication has no detectable impact on how much children with ADHD learn in the school classroom.
• William E. Pelham, Jr., senior author of the study, stated:
  • “Physicians and educators have held the belief that medication helps children with ADHD learn because they complete more seatwork and spend more time on-task when medicated … Unfortunately, we found that medication had no impact on learning of actual curriculum content.”
• Researchers evaluated 173 children between the ages of 7 and 12 with ADHD participating in the center’s Summer Treatment Program, a comprehensive eight-week summer camp program.
  • Children completed two consecutive phases of daily, 25-minute instruction in vocabulary and subject-area content in science and social studies.
  • Each child was randomized to be medicated with a sustained-release stimulant medication during either the first or second of the instructional phases, receiving a placebo during the other.
• Contrary to expectations, researchers found that children learned the same amount of science, social studies, and vocabulary content whether they were taking the medication or the placebo.
• While medication did not improve learning, the study showed that medication helped children complete more seatwork and improve their classroom behavior, as expected.
• In more detail, while taking medication, children completed 37 percent more arithmetic problems per minute and committed 53 percent fewer classroom rule violations per hour.
• Additionally, consistent with previous studies, researchers found that medication slightly helped to improve test scores when medication is taken on the day of a test, but not enough to boost most children’s grades.
  • Helped children increase on average 1.7 percentage points out of 100 on science and social studies tests.
• Pelham talks on this jump in society to medicate:
  • “Our research has found time and time again that behavioral intervention is best for children with ADHD because they, their teachers, and their parents learn skills and strategies that will help them succeed at school, at home and in relationships long-term … Medicating our children doesn’t solve the problem—it only takes away the symptoms temporarily. Instead, families should focus on behavioral interventions first and add medication only if needed.”
• Researchers note that the study was conducted in a controlled summer school-like environment and results may be different in a regular classroom setting.
  • They would like to replicate this study in a natural classroom environment using academic curricula over the duration of a school year to further evaluate the impact of medication on learning.

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The That's Cool New Podcast will be back next week :) 

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Brilliant Planet plans cheap, gigaton-scale carbon capture using algae | New Atlas (01:08)

• Direct air carbon capture is currently far too costly – but this London company, Brilliant Planet, says it can do it at enormous scale for a tenth the price, using engineered algal blooms in ponds located near desert coastlines
  • Goals to de-acidify the ocean as well.
• Direct air capture will need to be part of the decarbonizing equation, and it'll need to be massively scalable, energy efficient and much, much cheaper than today's technology.
• The idea is to corral and harness the carbon-gobbling power of algae, replicating and maintaining the conditions that cause algal blooms in large, low-density outdoor ponds full of seawater.
  • Algae is an inherently more efficient biological machine for carbon capture than trees or plants
  • Its entire surface area is dedicated to photosynthesis and it doesn't waste resources creating trunks, roots or branches
  • Another bonus is that it grows and proliferates extremely fast under the right conditions.
• Simplified process:
  • Account for most of the energy this system requires
  • A location is chosen, on flat desert land near a coast,
  • A team of bio-prospectors starts filtering through samples of thousands of local strains of algae, selecting the ones that best fits the location.
  • Thus, there are no introduced species, and the algae is already well adapted to the local climate and conditions.
  • They set up a series of pumps, with which to bring seawater into a series of containers and ponds.
  • In these right conditions they would monitor, they can grow a lot of algae. It also can deacidify the seawater.
• CEO Adam Taylorm said:
  • “For every unit of water that passes through the system we de-acidify the equivalent of 5.1 units back to pre-industrial pH levels."
• Taylor says the company's already identified a "short list" of about half a million square kilometers of suitably flat coastal desert land.
  • Potential for about two gigatons – two billion tons – of carbon capture
  • In other words, it could cancel out more than 5.5 percent of humanity's annual global CO2 emissions, offsetting about half the total emissions of today's road transport sector.
• The company has tested its approach successfully in Oman, South Africa. Now they plan on moving to a large area, roughly 74 acres, in 2023.

Musk's Starlink Internet Is Now Available in 32 Countries | CNET (07:14)

• SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service has now rolled out to 32 countries, the company said Thursday.
  • The hardware can ship "immediately" to areas where the service is available.
• Starlink is available in much of the US, Europe and New Zealand, in addition to chunks of Canada, Australia and South America.
  • Many of the remaining countries and areas show availability coming in 2023.
• After a few years of launches, the company has amassed a constellation of more than 2,000 low Earth orbit satellites to provide satellite internet around the globe.

Plants Have Been Grown in Lunar Soil For The First Time Ever | Good News Network (09:29)

• Food has been grown in soil collected from the moon for the first time, paving the way for human migration across the solar system.
  • It is a first step towards producing food and oxygen on the moon, or during space missions.
• This all relates to NASA’s Artemis program which will lay the foundation for a sustained colony on the lunar surface.
  • Using the moon to validate deep space systems and operations—before embarking on a manned voyage to Mars.
• Co-author Professor Rob Ferl, talked about the future missions and growing food in the lunar soil:
  • “For future, longer space missions, we may use the moon as a hub or launching pad. It makes sense that we would want to use the soil that’s already there to grow plants … So, what happens when you grow plants in lunar soil, something that is totally outside of a plant’s evolutionary experience? What would plants do in a lunar greenhouse? Could we have lunar farmers?”
• This University of Florida team planted thale cress seeds in lunar soil picked up by the Apollo 11, 12, and 17 crews between 1969 and 1972.
  • Added water, a cocktail of nutrients, and light, and watched the edible spring salad green flourish.
  • A tiny ‘lunar garden’ was created from just a few teaspoons of the prized dirt specially loaned from NASA.
  • The horticulturalists weren’t sure if they would sprout, but nearly all of them did.
• This discovery opens the door to “resource independence” from Earth.
  • Makes missions more sustainable on the lunar surface knowing you can start the growing process and feel that into more growth.
• Co-author Prof Anna-Lisa Paul talks on what the plants had to go through to grow:
  • “At the genetic level, the plants were pulling out the tools typically used to cope with stressors, such as salt and metals or oxidative stress. So we can infer the plants perceive the lunar soil environment as stressful … Ultimately, we would like to use the gene expression data to help address how we can ameliorate the stress responses to the level where plants – particularly crops – are able to grow in lunar soil with very little impact to their health.”
• Follow-up studies will build on these questions and more. For now, the researchers are celebrating..

Denmark is launching a huge trio of 15-MW offshore wind turbines | Interesting Engineering (15:03)

• European Energy and Vestas, a wind turbine manufacturer, have greenlit the installation of the latter's flagship V236-15 MW offshore wind turbines in Denmark.
  • Danish city of Frederikshavn "a focal point in the future of offshore wind technology", per a press release.
• The offshore wind turbines are planned to be built and operational by 2024, with further plans involving turning green power into green fuels that can help the maritime industry run on sustainable energy.
• Offshore wind energy is acquired by using the wind force produced on the high seas, where it reaches a greater and more consistent speed than on land due to the lack of obstructions.
  • Erected on the seafloor
  • Outfitted with cutting-edge technological advancements
• Vestas will design and build three of its newest offshore wind turbines at three of the five test spots presently being developed by European Energy
  • Roughly four kilometers off the coast
  • Enabling Vestas to demonstrate the wind turbines' viability in an offshore environment
  • Provide early know-how with installation methods and technician training
• Christian Gjerløv, Head of Offshore Wind Technology at Vestas, talked on the venture:
  • “We are working on getting our flagship offshore wind turbine constructed here in Denmark and look forward to the joint efforts with European Energy to achieve the construction of the offshore wind turbines at the test site outside the city of Frederikshavn … The position will provide us with a unique opportunity to test the offshore wind turbines close to our factories and research facilities in Denmark prior to the serial production and export to the global market."

SkySpecs watches wind turbines from above, lands $80M led by Goldman Sachs | TechCrunch (19:20)

• The company, SkySpecs, is using drones and AI to detect future equipment failures before they grind those giant turbine blades to a halt.
  • Works with wind farms to monitor the health of turbine blades from above.
  • Just locked down a fresh $80 million Series D funding round led by Goldman Sachs to expand its “geographic footprint” and software tools.
• SkySpecs builds its hardware and software in house, and already claims to monitor the health of close to half of all turbine blades in North America.
  • 71,666 turbines in the U.S. alone
• Since it launched in 2012, the firm says its drones have inspected more than 300,000 blades across dozens of countries.
• SkySpecs’ larger goal is to “help displace fossil fuel generation” by making renewables more efficient, per a statement from the firm.
• Danny Ellis, CEO, SkySpecs, talks on renewables and his company:
  • “Renewable energy is becoming a viable, attractive, and profitable energy source. In order to scale fast enough to meet the demand, the market needs experts and solutions to help them navigate the complexities of managing their assets. We help customers get the most out of the life of their assets by identifying solutions to their most complex problems … That’s why we’ve developed a solution set that enables companies to manage and optimize their assets from the planning phase right through the full asset lifecycle, including predicting future failures, and prioritizing repairs in order to optimize their maintenance budgets.”
• SkySpecs is one among many drone businesses to focus on monitoring critical infrastructure.

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Starlink's new Portability feature brings internet to vanlifers - The Verge (01:02)

• Starlink’s internet-from-SpaceX service has gone mobile with a new Portability feature.
  • It costs an additional $25 each month, on top of monthly subscriptions that already start at $110 after a one-time hit of $599 to purchase the Starlink kit.
• Starlink subscribers can now take their “dishy” anywhere on their home continent that provides active internet coverage. That opens up connectivity to remote places that will likely never be covered by 5G
• Starlink doesn’t support use while driving yet, but the company says it’s actively working on a solution for moving vehicles.
  • Musk has previously tweeted about working on a power-efficient solution that can plug into a car’s 12V cigarette lighter and still maintain connectivity.
• Starlink reportedly draws between 60-70W, an improvement on the 80-100W draw from just a year ago.
• Starlink is offering Portability on a “best effort basis,” the company says, with users at their registered service addresses receiving priority for network resources.

Rocket Lab launched and recovered a rocket mid-air in a world first | Interesting Engineering (05:31)

• Rocket Lab, a private aerospace firm, launched a Rocket Lab Electron rocket from Launch Complex 1A on Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand, at roughly 6:48 PM EDT
  • Payload of 34 picosatellites and cubesats into orbit
• Less than 30 minutes after launch, the rocket's first stage was actually caught mid-air by a flying helicopter.
  • They captured the rocket's drogue chute line.
  • A few seconds after recovering the rocket, the helicopter pilot opted to release the rocket — which plummeted into the deep blue ocean, where it was picked up by a ship
• From a tweet from Reuters' Joey Roulette:
  • “Rocket Lab's Murielle Baker says the helicopter pilots [decided] to drop the rocket booster in the ocean after noticing "different load characteristics" than what they experienced during previous testing”
  • Murielle Baker is Rocket Labs' Senior Communications Adviser
• This is real, it's happening. A flying helicopter successfully caught a first-stage booster rocket, in mid-air.
• This may not have been a full recovery and reuse of the rocket, but Rocket Lab has just taken us a major step closer to comparatively cheap ways of recycling used booster engines.

Lithium-ion recycler Li-Cycle lands $200 million to power future EVs | TechCrunch (09:54)

• Metals and fossil fuels behemoth Glencore is pumping $200 million into battery recycler Li-Cycle as part of a larger, symbiotic supply deal inked by the two firms.
• The Swiss materials giant, Glencore, will ship burnt-out batteries and scraps to Li-Cycle, which will recover the high-demand metals so they can be reused in electric vehicle batteries and other applications.
• Li-Cycle’s Process:
  • Shred spent batteries and use a water-based system, known as hydrometallurgical processing, to begin to break down the batteries.
• Hydrometallurgy involve the use of aqueous solutions for the recovery of metals from ores, concentrates, and recycled or residual materials
• In Li-Cycle’s own hubs, they separate black mass into a variety of materials, including those that can be used to make new lithium-ion batteries.
• In this partnership, Glencore will be providing Li-Cycle with black mass for processing as well as manufacturing scrap. Securing a supply of scrap could be advantageous for the startup since it is easier to recycle than whole batteries.
• Why is Glencore doing this?
  • Glencore has been advancing efforts to boost recycling of the batteries that power electric vehicles, including its plans to build a U.K. plant as part of a deal to help Britishvolt Ltd. develop Britain’s first large-scale EV battery plant.
• Electric automakers, mining companies and chemical suppliers are racing to control more supplies of materials that are key to transitioning the world to cleaner energy sources.
  • Car manufacturers and industry analysts expect recycled batteries to play a vital role in addressing supply constraints over the long term.
• Why is battery recycling important?
  • An estimated 62,000 tons of used EV and stationary storage packs reached their end of life last year, and that will rise to 4 million tons by 2035, according to BloombergNEF, Bloomberg’s energy and data analysis unit.

Lunar Soil Can Be Used To Generate Oxygen and Fuel for Moon Astronauts | SciTechDaily (14:17)

• Soil on the moon contains active compounds that can convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and fuels, according to a new study by scientists in China.
• Nanjing University material scientists Yingfang Yao and Zhigang Zou hope to design a system that takes advantage of lunar soil and solar radiation, the two most abundant resources on the moon.
• After analyzing the lunar soil brought back by China’s Chang’e 5 spacecraft, their research team found the sample contains compounds—including iron-rich and titanium-rich substances—that could work as a catalyst to make desired products such as oxygen using sunlight and carbon dioxide.
• How would this work?
  • Mainly, the system uses lunar soil to electrolyze water extracted from the moon and in astronauts’ breathing exhaust into oxygen and hydrogen powered by sunlight.
  • Carbon dioxide exhaled by moon inhabitants is also collected and combined with hydrogen from water electrolysis during a hydrogenation process catalyzed by lunar soil.
  • While the catalytic efficiency of lunar soil is less than catalysts available on Earth, The researchers are testing different approaches to improve the design, such as melting the lunar soil into a nanostructured high-entropy material, which is a better catalyst.
  • In the end, the process yields hydrocarbons such as methane, which could be used as fuel.
• The strategy uses no external energy but sunlight to produce a variety of desirable products such as water, oxygen, and fuel that could support life on a moonbase, the researchers say.
• The team is looking for an opportunity to test the system in space, likely with China’s future crewed lunar missions.

New imaging tech promises cheap, handheld skin cancer scanner | New Atlas (19:09)

• A team of researchers from the Stevens Institute of Technology has demonstrated the effectiveness of a new kind of non-invasive skin cancer detection tool.
  • Leverages a technology called high-resolution millimeter-wave imaging.
• Initial testing shows that it is 97 percent effective at detecting cancerous tissue and the researchers are now working to miniaturize the system into a low-cost handheld device.
  • The device returns results in about 20 seconds!
  • I should mention that this system was not tested on tissue in a lab, but on human subjects!
• The researchers recruited 71 patients with 136 suspicious skin lesions. Following assessment with the new high-resolution millimeter-wave imaging device the lesions were biopsied.
  • This preliminary test showed the system had 98 percent specificity (meaning two percent of its results were false positives) and 97 percent sensitivity (meaning it accurately detected all but three percent of malignant cancers).
• Negar Tavassolian, a researcher working on the project, said their new system is not the first to use sophisticated imaging technology to automatically flag dangerous skin cancers.
  • Those are big, expensive, and require trained operators.
• This new technology is proposed to be engineered into a small, handheld device that can be used by doctors as part of a straightforward clinical checkup.
• Tavassolian states:
  • “We're creating a low-cost device that's as small and as easy to use as a cellphone, so we can bring advanced diagnostics within reach for everyone… That means doctors can integrate accurate diagnostics into routine checkups, and ultimately treat more patients.”
• The current iteration of the device is far from portable but the researchers are confident handheld millimeter-wave diagnostic devices are possible.
  • Tavassolian predicts within a few years a handheld skin cancer detection device could be manufactured for under US$100.

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News From seawater to drinking water, with the push of a button | TechXPlore (01:04)

• MIT researchers have developed a portable desalination unit, weighing less than 10 kilograms, that can remove particles and salts to generate drinking water.
  • Suitcase-sized device
  • Requires less power to operate than a cell phone charger
  • Can be powered by a small, portable solar panel, which can be purchased online for around $50.
  • Generates drinking water that exceeds World Health Organization quality standards.
  • Runs with the push of one button.
• Unlike other portable desalination units that require water to pass through filters, this device utilizes electrical power to remove particles from drinking water.
  • Eliminating the need for replacement filters
  • Relies on a technique called ion concentration polarization (ICP)
• Rather than filtering water, the ICP process applies an electrical field to membranes placed above and below a channel of water.
  • The membranes repel positively or negatively charged particles—including salt molecules, bacteria, and viruses—as they flow past.
  • The process removes both dissolved and suspended solids, allowing clean water to pass through the channel.
  • Once the salinity level and the number of particles decrease to specific thresholds, the device notifies the user that the water is drinkable.
• This filterless process enables the unit to be deployed in remote and severely resource-limited areas, such as communities on small islands or aboard seafaring cargo ships.
  • Their prototype generates drinking water at a rate of 0.3 liters per hour, and requires only 20 watts of power per liter.

Researchers develop a paper-thin loudspeaker | MIT News (06:21)

• MIT engineers have developed a paper-thin loudspeaker that can turn any surface into an active audio source.
  • Produces sound with minimal distortion while using a fraction of the energy required by a traditional loudspeaker.
  • Weighing about as much as a dime and can generate high-quality sound no matter what surface the film is bonded to.
• The new loudspeaker simplifies the speaker design by using a thin film of a shaped piezoelectric material that moves when voltage is applied over it, which moves the air above it and generates sound.
• Most thin-film loudspeakers are designed to be freestanding because the film must bend freely to produce sound.
  • If the thin speaker needs to be bound to a surface that would impede the sound generation process.
  • To overcome this problem , their design relies on tiny domes on a thin layer of piezoelectric material which each vibrate individually.
• The researchers pioneered a deceptively simple fabrication technique, which requires only three basic steps and can be scaled up to produce ultrathin loudspeakers.
• Lead author Jinchi Han talks on the process:
  • “This is a very simple, straightforward process. It would allow us to produce these loudspeakers in a high-throughput fashion if we integrate it with a roll-to-roll process in the future. That means it could be fabricated in large amounts, like wallpaper to cover walls, cars, or aircraft interiors”
• They tested their thin-film loudspeaker by mounting it to a wall 30 centimeters from a microphone to measure the sound pressure level, recorded in decibels.
  • When 25 volts of electricity were passed through the device at 1 kilohertz, the speaker produced high-quality sound at conversational levels of 66 decibels.
  • At 10 kilohertz, the sound pressure level increased to 86 decibels, about the same volume level as city traffic.
• Another cool feature of this thin speaker is it can be used effectively for ultrasound applications, like imaging.
  • Because the tiny domes are vibrating, rather than the entire film, the loudspeaker has a high enough resonance frequency for ultrasound imaging
  • Could use it to detect where a human is standing in a room, just like bats do using echolocation, and then shape the sound waves to follow the person as they move.
• This device has many possible applications:
  • Provide active noise cancellation in clamorous environments
  • Used for immersive entertainment, 3D audio
  • Well-suited for applications on smart devices where battery life is limited.

Electronic skin uses tiny magnetic hairs to sense touch | New Atlas (13:04)

• The body’s largest organ, the skin, plays a key role in facilitating our sense of touch, but its sensitivity is hard to replicate in artificial versions. Until Now!
• Researchers from Chemnitz University of Technology and Leibniz IFW Dresden have developed a new type of electronic skin (e-skin) containing tiny embedded hairs that can precisely perceive touch and the direction it moves.
  • E-Skin: thin films of material with electronic properties that allow them to perform some of the functions of natural human skin, such as registering touch, pressure, temperature or even pain.
• These artificial skins could be useful for patients needing grafts after major injury, or to give a more advanced sense of touch to prosthetic limbs and robots.
• The breakthrough comes from mimicking an important but overlooked factor in the human sensation of touch – tiny hairs lining the skin.
  • It contains a new type of sensor that makes it extra sensitive to touch.
• The scientists embedded tiny, magnetic hairs into an elastomeric material to make their e-skin.
  • The artificial hair has bulbous roots, like natural hair, that sit below the surface of the e-skin and move around when the hair above is touched.
  • Each of these roots is surrounded by a 3D magnetic sensor, allowing the exact position of the root to be tracked in real-time.
• The team says these magnetic sensors can be fabricated in bulk sheets fairly easily.
  • Can self-fold into 3D boxes to house the hair roots, through a process known as micro-origami.
• Christian Becker, first author of the study, talks on this approach:
  • “Our approach allows a precise spatial arrangement of functional sensor elements in 3D that can be mass-produced in a parallel manufacturing process … Such sensor systems are extremely difficult to generate by established microelectronic fabrication methods.”

The world's first airport for flying cars opens in the UK | Interesting Engineering (18:17)

• The world's first urban airport that will allow 'flying taxis' to take off and land in the busy areas of cities has opened up in the city of Coventry in the U.K.
  • Dubbed Air One, was completed in 15 months, including the planning and building of the airport.
• Developed by the U.K.-based startup Urban-Air Port Ltd (UAP) who is working to demonstrate that the infrastructure needed to make these urban aerial transport centers an operational reality is not as complicated as it may seem.
• Powered by hydrogen fuel cells, Air One is designed to be fully autonomous and integrates with electric vehicles to deliver a zero-emission urban public transport system.
• The airport can handle electric drones and air taxis and has collaborated with Hyundai's air mobility arm, Supernal, to use a full-sized model of their SA-1 air taxi as a demonstrator.
• According to Air One’s website, at the airport, one can witness all the elements of urban mobility such as passenger taxi processing, command and control center, logistics, charging infrastructure as well as disaster management and security services.
• Air One has an address in Coventry but only till the 15th of May. After that, the company plans to wrap up the airport and then set it up again at other sites in the U.K. to take the experience closer to people.

Noninvasive Sound Technology Breaks Down Tumors | SciTechDaily (21:40)

• Liver cancer ranks among the top 10 causes of cancer related deaths worldwide and in the U.S. Even with multiple treatment options, the prognosis remains poor with five-year survival rates less than 18% in the U.S.
  • Figuring out a way to fight it is on the mind of many researchers.
  • That’s where researchers at the University of Michigan come into play.
• These researchers developed a noninvasive sound technology, which breaks down liver tumors in rats, kills cancer cells, and spurs the immune system to prevent further spread—an advance that could lead to improved cancer outcomes in humans.
  • The treatment, called histotripsy, noninvasively focuses ultrasound waves to mechanically destroy target tissue with millimeter precision.
• They provide microsecond long pulses from UM’s transducer to generate microbubbles within the targeted tissues—bubbles that rapidly expand and collapse.
  • These violent but extremely localized mechanical stresses kill cancer cells and break up the tumor’s structure.
• Important to point out that this treatment technique works without the harmful side effects of current approaches such as radiation and chemotherapy.
• It was able to deastory roughly 50% to 75% of liver tumor volume in rats, which then allowed their immune systems to clear away the rest, with no evidence of recurrence or metastases in more than 80% of the animals.
• Results showed the treatment stimulated the rats’ immune responses, possibly contributing to the eventual regression of the untargeted portion of the tumor and preventing further spread of the cancer.
• Tejaswi Worlikar, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering, talks on the treatment:
  • “Histotripsy is a promising option that can overcome the limitations of currently available ablation modalities and provide safe and effective noninvasive liver tumor ablation … We hope that our learnings from this study will motivate future preclinical and clinical histotripsy investigations toward the ultimate goal of clinical adoption of histotripsy treatment for liver cancer patients.”

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News: US Navy wirelessly beamed 1.6kW of power using microwaves | Interesting Engineering (01:22)

New miniature heart could help speed heart disease cures | MedicalXPress (10:08)

Ultra-light liquid hydrogen tanks promise to make jet fuel obsolete | New Atlas (16:20)

Old skins cells reprogrammed to regain youthful function  | Science Daily (23:15)

Tesla is testing in-car Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity with several major internet providers | Electrek (27:01) 

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News Reversing hearing loss with regenerative therapy | MIT News (01:28)

• Approximately 15% of American adults (37.5 million) aged 18 and over report some trouble hearing.
• The biotechnology company Frequency Therapeutics is seeking to reverse hearing loss — not with hearing aids or implants, but with a new kind of regenerative therapy.
  • Using small molecules to program progenitor cells – a descendant of stem cells in the inner ear — to create the tiny hair cells that allow us to hear.
• In more detail, progenitor cells reside in the inner ear and generate hair cells when humans are in utero, but they become dormant before birth and never again turn into more specialized cells such as the hair cells of the cochlea.
• Frequency’s drug candidate is designed to be injected into the ear to regenerate these cells within the cochlea.
  • already improved people’s hearing as measured by tests of speech perception
  • The company has dosed more than 200 patients to date and has seen clinically meaningful improvements in speech perception in three separate clinical studies.
• MIT Institute Professor Robert Langer talked on the study results:
  • “Some of these people [in the trials] couldn’t hear for 30 years, and for the first time they said they could go into a crowded restaurant and hear what their children were saying … It’s so meaningful to them. Obviously more needs to be done, but just the fact that you can help a small group of people is really impressive to me.”
• One company founder, Jeff Karp believes Frequency’s work will advance researchers’ ability to manipulate progenitor cells and lead to new treatments down the line.
  • “I wouldn't be surprised if in 10 or 15 years, because of the resources being put into this space and the incredible science being done, we can get to the point where [reversing hearing loss] would be similar to Lasik surgery, where you're in and out in an hour or two and you can completely restore your vision … I think we'll see the same thing for hearing loss.”

Engineered bacteria could help protect “good” gut microbes from antibiotics | Big Think (07:01)

• Following antibiotic treatment, some patients are at risk of developing inflammation or opportunistic infections.
  • Antibiotics are indiscriminate with their attacks on bacteria, so they end up harming the beneficial microbes that live in the human gut.
• In an effort to reduce those risks, MIT engineers have developed a new way to help protect the natural flora of the human digestive tract.
  • Beta-lactams make up about 60 percent of the antibiotics prescribed in the United States.
  • Took a bacteria (Lactococcus lactis) safe for humans, and engineered it to produce enzymes that break down a class of antibiotics called beta-lactams (i.e. ampicillin, amoxicillin, etc.)
  • It protects the microbiota in the gut but allows the levels of antibiotics circulating in the bloodstream to remain high.
  • After the bacteria’s job is finished, the engineered bacteria are excreted through the digestive tract.
• Andres Cubillos-Ruiz PhD talks on the effects of medication and diet can have on the gut microbiome:
  • “Throughout your life, these gut microbes assemble into a highly diverse community that accomplishes important functions in your body … The problem comes when interventions such as medications or particular kinds of diets affect the composition of the microbiota and create an altered state, called dysbiosis. Some microbial groups disappear, and the metabolic activity of others increases. This unbalance can lead to various health issues.”
• To test their approach, the researchers gave the mice two oral doses of the engineered bacteria for every injection of ampicillin.
  • In those mice, the researchers found that the amount of ampicillin circulating the bloodstream was as high as that in mice who did not receive the engineered bacteria.
  • In the gut, mice that received engineered bacteria maintained a much higher level of microbial diversity compared to mice that received only antibiotics.
• The researchers now plan to begin developing a version of the treatment that could be tested in people at high risk of developing acute diseases that stem from antibiotic-induced gut dysbiosis.

Wireless camera tool could make intubation safer and easier | Futurity (12:40)

• Intubation is the process of inserting a tube into the mouth or nose and then into the airway to help move air in and out of the lungs.
  • used to support breathing during surgery or an emergency
• A team of Rice University bioengineering students designed a new handheld, 3D-printed device with a miniature wireless camera, which could make intubation easier and safer.
• Kenneth Hiller, an anesthesiologist in private practice, who initiated the project, discusses the current practice:
  • “Current state-of-the-art devices have limitations … Placing an endotracheal tube can be challenging in a significant number of patients’ airways. For years, I’ve mulled over what I’d like in a device that can simplify the process and improve patient safety.”
• Hiller, who approached the team of engineers at the university, knew what he wanted to build but didn’t know how to build it himself.
  • Had a model with popsicle sticks and metal.
• One of the engineering students, Victoria Kong, explains the two different scope types:
  • “There are two main types of laryngoscopes: with straight blades and with curved blades, and all of the video laryngoscopes on the market are in the curved blade format. While that’s great for compressing the tongue to get it out of the way, it has a very high displacement volume. It takes up a lot of room in the mouth …

The straight blade gives you a more direct line of sight. We wanted to combine the stabilization afforded by curved blades and a straight-blade profile, and we did that by tapering our blade.”

• The project is looking at a wireless camera, since current market scopes have wired cameras that makes it bulky and reduces the amount of people in the room at one time.
  • A wireless camera will allow doctors to view it on a smaller screen (i.e. tablet) while not being in the room during the process.
  • “Having the video accessible on a tablet means a doctor in another room can watch and give feedback about technique to the airway manager performing the actual procedure,” according to Rebecca Franklin, who was a part of the design team.
• The students say they anticipate future refinements to include stainless steel construction for durability. They also see uses for the device beyond the clinic.

A massive "space cannon" can shoot payloads into space at hypersonic speeds | Interesting Engineering (16:31)

• An alternative rocket launch firm called Green Launch is developing a system to send small launch vehicles into space using a massive gas cannon.
• With a 54-foot (16.5-meter) launch tube, the company was able to fire a payload into the stratosphere at a velocity exceeding Mach 3.
  • A little taller than the length of a Semi-Truck trailer.
• If the company is able to scale the system, the explosive method has the potential to massively reduce the cost and carbon footprint of small satellite launches.
  • BIG IF!
• The concept of an artillery gun used as a low-cost method for sending payloads into space dates back to the U.S. Army's High Altitude Research Project (HARP) of the 1960s.
  • HARP set a record in 1966 by firing a projectile above the 100-kilometer Kármán Line — considered by many to be the line between Earth and space.
• Then HARP transitioned to the SHARP program (S = super) developed the hydrogen impulse launcher, which features a long thin barrel filled with hydrogen mixed with helium and oxygen. Sounds familiar!
  • The SHARP program's 400-foot (122-m) impulse launcher broke records in the 90s by launching payloads at speeds of up to Mach 9.
• Now, Green Launch wants to leverage that technology to disrupt the booming small satellite launch sector.
  • Green Launch says its "proof of concept" impulse launch will allow it to attempt to send a projectile past the Kármán Line later this year.
  • The company believes its method could also eventually be scaled to reach hypersonic speeds as high as Mach 20.
• Green Launch CTO Dr. John Hunter talks about the process:
  • “The trick is using a light gas like hydrogen, which has a very low molecular weight … You can get very high velocities that aren't possible with railguns or other systems. This has zero carbon emission and will allow us to revolutionize access to space and open the solar system to manned exploration."
• Green Launch will eventually have to build a launch vehicle that fires a small amount of propellant for course correction and placement once in orbit.
• If its upcoming launch tests prove successful, Green Launch says it first aims to deploy its system to send atmospheric sampling devices to space to collect data for climatologists.

A new heat engine with no moving parts is as efficient as a steam turbine | MIT News (22:54)

• Engineers at MIT and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have designed a heat engine with no moving parts.
  • Converts heat to electricity with over 40 percent efficiency — a performance better than that of traditional steam turbines.
  • On average, steam turbines reliably convert about 35 percent of a heat source into electricity, with about 60 percent representing the highest efficiency of any heat engine to date.
• The heat engine is a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell, similar to a solar panel’s photovoltaic cells, that passively captures high-energy photons from a white-hot heat source and converts them into electricity.
  • Generates electricity from a heat source of between 1,900 to 2,400 degrees Celsius, or up to about 4,300 degrees Fahrenheit.
• The researchers plan to incorporate the TPV cell into a grid-scale thermal battery.
  • Would absorb excess energy from renewable sources such as the sun and store that energy in heavily insulated banks of hot graphite.
  • When the energy is needed, such as on overcast days, TPV cells would convert the heat into electricity, and dispatch the energy to a power grid.
• As of right now, the new TPV cell, the team has now successfully demonstrated the main parts of the system in separate, small-scale experiments.
  • They are working to integrate the parts to demonstrate a fully operational system.
  • They have hopes to scale up the system to replace fossil-fuel-driven power plants and enable a fully decarbonized power grid, supplied entirely by renewable energy.
• For a grid-scale thermal battery system,
  • The TPV cells would have to scale up to about 10,000 square feet (about a quarter of a football field).
  • Operate in climate-controlled warehouses to draw power from huge banks of stored solar energy.
• Robert N. Noyce Career, professor at MIT, states: “Thermophotovoltaic cells were the last key step toward demonstrating that thermal batteries are a viable concept … This is an absolutely critical step on the path to proliferate renewable energy and get to a fully decarbonized grid.”

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NEWS  

Stanford engineers invent a solar panel that generates electricity at night | Interesting Engineer (01:08)

Rocket Lab prepares its chopper to catch a returning booster in midair | New Atlas (07:28)

Looking Through Mojo Vision's Newest AR Contact Lens |  IEEE Spectrum (12:17)

Simple delivery method enhances a promising cancer treatment | MedicalXPress (20:11) 

Israeli bee tech startup Beewise pulls in $80m investment for robotic beehives | Times of Israel (27:19)

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News: Scientists Say New Treatment Lets Alopecia Patients Regrow Hair | Futurism (01:14)

• Scientists at Yale announced this week that a common arthritis medication (baricitinib) appears to help alopecia patients regrow their hair.
  • a potential treatment for a widespread autoimmune condition.
• Baricitinib is used to reduce pain, stiffness, and swelling in adults with rheumatoid arthritis after other treatments have failed.
  • Helps slow the progression of bone and joint damage.
  • It is a Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor
• Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors are a group of medications that inhibit activity and response of one or more of the Janus kinase enzymes (JAK1, JAK2, JAK3, and TYK2).
  • These enzymes normally promote inflammation and autoimmunity.
• Alopecia is a common autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss
  • Affects people of all ages, although it most commonly appears in adolescence or early adulthood.
  • Affects 1 in every 500 to 1,000 people in the United States.
  • There is currently no FDA-approved treatment for the disease.
• Dr. Brett King, lead author on the study told Yale news:
  • “This is so exciting, because the data clearly show how effective baricitinib is … These large, controlled trials tell us that we can alleviate some of the suffering from this awful disease.”
• For the study, the researchers conducted two large, randomized trials involving a total of 1,200 people.
  • For 36 weeks, participants were given a daily dose of either 4 milligrams of baricitinib, 2 milligrams of baricitinib, or a placebo.
  • One-third of the patients who received the larger dose grew hair back.
• The researchers stated that baricitinib thwarts the disease by disrupting the communication of immune cells involved in harming hair follicles.
• Hopefully this medication will be proven to be safe & effective and approved by regulators.

Waymo says fully driverless rides are coming to San Francisco | The Verge (06:47)

• Waymo plans to start offering rides in its fully autonomous vehicles — without human safety drivers behind the wheel — in San Francisco.
  • They join a waitlist and, once approved, sign non-disclosure agreements to get access to the company’s early technology.
  • As of right now it is only available to employees but will soon grow to include members of the company’s “Trusted Tester” program.
  • The Trusted Tester program is for customers interested in using Waymo’s robotaxis.
• The vehicles will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Waymo says.
• Additionally, Waymo is making moves in Arizona.
  • Growing to include downtown Phoenix after operating exclusively in the exurban towns of Chandler, Gilbert, Mesa, and Tempe for nearly five years.
• Waymo has been running fully driverless rides without a safety driver in those towns outside of Phoenix for more than a year now.
• They must be confident they have enough data to move forward with autonomous taxis.
  • Last year, the company logged the most miles driven autonomously of all the companies permitted to test in the state: 2.3 million miles, a huge increase over 2020, when it had about 629,000 miles driven, and even the pre-pandemic year of 2019, with 1.45 million.
• The expansion of Waymo’s service area in Phoenix and the imminent launch of driverless rides in San Francisco signal the company’s sense of confidence that its vehicles can operate safely and efficiently in more dense, urban environments.

Quantum technology could make charging electric cars as fast as pumping gas | Phys.org (12:10)

• For a long time, batteries had far lower energy density than those offered by hydrocarbons, which resulted in very low ranges of early electric vehicles.
  • Improvements in battery technologies eventually allowed the drive ranges of electric cars to be within acceptable levels
• However, despite the vast improvements in battery technology, today's consumers of electric vehicles face another difficulty: slow battery charging speed.
  • Takes about 10 hours to fully recharge at home
  • Even the fastest superchargers require up to 20 to 40 minutes to fully recharge
  • This creates additional costs and inconvenience to the customers.
• To address this problem, scientists looked for answers in the field of quantum physics.
  • Which led to a discovery that quantum technologies may promise new mechanisms to charge batteries at a faster rate.
  • It was theorized that quantum resources, such as entanglement, can be used to vastly speed up the battery charging process by charging all cells within the battery simultaneously in a collective manner.
• Conventional batteries collective charging is not possible, where the cells are charged in parallel independently of one another.
• In this most recent study, researchers were able to precisely quantify how much charging speed can be achieved with this collective charging scheme vs parallel.
  • The charging speed increases linearly with the number of cells in classical batteries.
  • The study showed, however, that quantum batteries employing global operation can achieve quadratic scaling in charging speed.
• To illustrate this, consider a typical electric vehicle with a battery that contains about 200 cells.
  • Charging time at home would be cut from 10 hours to about 3 minutes.
  • Quantum charging would lead to a 200 times speedup over classical batteries,
  • High-speed charging stations, the charge time would be cut from 30 minutes to mere seconds.
• Of course, quantum technologies are still in their infancy and there is a long way to go before these methods can be implemented in practice.
• However, this study creates a promising direction and can incentivize the funding agencies and businesses to further invest in these technologies.

HB11's hydrogen-boron laser fusion test yields groundbreaking results | New Atlas (18:24)

• Australian company HB11 is approaching nuclear fusion from an entirely new angle, using high power, high precision lasers instead of hundred-million-degree temperatures to start the reaction.
  • The 1st demo ​​produced 10 times more fusion reactions than expected
• The company started tooting their own horn: “the only commercial entity to achieve fusion so far [making it] the global frontrunner in the race to commercialize the holy grail of clean energy."
• Just to summarize quickly what is required for fusion:
  • Like throwing powerful magnets at each other in space
  • Most companies try to replicate this by magnetically confining hydrogen atoms in a plasma
  • In order to smash atoms together hard enough to make them fuse together and form a new element, you need to overcome the incredibly strong repulsive forces that push two positively-charged nuclei apart.
  • The Sun accomplishes this by having a huge amount of hydrogen atoms packed into a plasma that's superheated to tens of millions of degrees at its core.
• HB11 is using a different approach that doesn't require huge amounts of heat, or tricky, radioactive fuels like tritium.
  • Takes advantage of recent advances in ultra-high powered "chirped pulse amplification" lasers that can produce monstrous, unprecedented power levels over 10 petawatts.
• An HB11 reactor would be a mostly empty metal sphere, with a "modestly sized" boron fuel pellet held in the middle, and apertures in two spots on the sphere for a pair of lasers.
  • One laser, in combination with a capacitive coil, is used to establish a powerful kilotesla magnetic containment field for the plasma.
  • The second is used to massively accelerate hydrogen atoms through the boron sample.
• The reactor is not heating things up in the hope that they'll smack together at speed.
  • It is aiming the hydrogen right at the boron and using these bleeding-edge lasers to make it go so fast that it'll fuse if it hits a nucleus.
  • Hydrogen-boron fusion doesn't create heat, it merely creates "naked" positively charged helium atoms, or alpha particles
  • They collect that charge to create energy, rather than needing to superheat steam and drive turbines.
• Initial experiments on laser-triggered chain reactions returned reaction rates a billion times higher than anticipated, and then seem pretty happy about it and a little cocky:
  • “This is many orders of magnitude higher than those reported by any other fusion company, most of which have not generated any reaction despite billions of dollars invested in the field. The results show great potential for clean energy generation: hydrogen-boron reactions use fuels that are safe and abundant, don’t create neutrons in the primary reaction so cause insignificant amounts of short-lived waste, and can provide large-scale power for base-load grid electricity or hydrogen generation."

Mitochondrial transplants between living cells could save dying organs | ETH News (23:53)

• In a technological breakthrough, researchers at ETH Zurich have announced the development of a new technique that can transplant mitochondria.
  • Mitochondria are the tiny powerhouses of the cell where the processes of cellular respiration take place
• In their research, recently published in the journal PLOS Biology, the group successfully used a ‘nanosyringe’ they had previously developed to transplant mitochondria from one living cell to another.
• In more detail:
  • These cylindrical nanosyringes were specially developed for this study, the researchers pierced the cell membrane and sucked up the spherical mitochondria.
  • They then pierced the membrane of a different cell and pumped the mitochondria back out of the nanosyringe into the recipient cell.
  • The position of the nanosyringe is controlled by laser light from a converted atomic force microscope.
  • A pressure regulator adjusts the flow, allowing scientists to transfer incredibly small volumes of fluid in the femtoliter range (millionths of a millionth of a milliliter) during organelle transplants
• The transplanted mitochondria have a high survival rate – more than 80 percent.
  • The injected mitochondria begin to fuse with the filamentous network of the new cell 20 minutes after transplantation.
• The technique could be deployed as a way of treating diseased organs, but may also find use in the realm of anti-aging, rejuvenating stem cells that deteriorate in metabolic activity as we grow older.

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News Elon Musk floats idea for new social media platform | Twitchy (01:45)

• Elon Musk, you know the dude by now, posted a Twitter poll this past Friday (March 25th) asking the question: “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
  • With the caveat that “The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.”
• With over 2 million votes 70% of people responded with “No.”
• After the poll concluded the next day he responded with, “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done? … Is a new platform needed?”
• This has led to plenty of speculation that Elon could be contemplating building his own platform, while others just want him to purchase Twitter and fix it.
  • What is the best route? Not sure, Twitter has the user base already there, but there is a lot of built in “rot” so to speak.
• Then to further cement the idea he is considering building a new platform, a twitter user @PPathole asked:
  • “Would you consider building a new social media platform? … One that would consist of an open source algorithm, one where free speech and adhering to free speech is given top priority, one where propaganda is very minimal. I think that kind of a platform is needed.”
• Elon simply responded with: “Am giving serious thought to this”
• Just to throw it out there that some people were thinking of name ideas for Elon’s new social media platform and here is my favorite from @RealSteveAyer:
  • MySpaceX

AI algorithm accurately predicts risk of heart attack within 5 years | New Atlas (08:47)

• A new AI tool developed by researchers from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center can accurately measure plaque deposits in coronary arteries and predict a patient’s risk of suffering a heart attack within five years.
• A scan known as computed tomography angiography (CTA) is one of the best tools doctors currently have at their disposal to evaluate heart disease patients.
  • By imaging plaque deposits within coronary arteries
• Damini Dey, senior author on the study, talks on the speed improvement with utilizing this new automated AI tool:
  • “Coronary plaque is often not measured because there is not a fully automated way to do it … When it is measured, it takes an expert at least 25 to 30 minutes, but now we can use this program to quantify plaque from CTA images in five to six seconds."
• Creating the tool:
  • Two Categories: high and low risk.
  • First, trained the algorithm to recognize plaque deposits using a dataset of CTA images from 921 patients.
  • Validated the results with the “human expert readers.”
  • Utilizing a plaque amount threshold, they trained the algorithm to place separate images based on risk of having a heart attack within five years of CTA imaging:
• The new study is an exciting demonstration of the possible future of medicine. A future where AI tools can swiftly analyze diagnostic imaging to deliver immediate risk reports to patients.
  • It is early days for the technology. Larger studies will be required to better train the algorithms on diverse patient populations and figure out how they could make the tech accessible & cheap.

Exxon Mobil has a pilot project for using excess gas to mine Bitcoin | Interesting Engineering (14:50)

• What do you do with excess natural gas if you are one of the world's biggest providers of energy sources?
  • Exxon Mobil has come up with an inventive solution.
• It's taking the excess natural gas that would otherwise be burned off from North Dakota oil wells and using it to power cryptocurrency mining operations.
  • Bitcoin Mining: the process of creating new bitcoin by solving puzzles.
  • The first bitcoin miner to solve the puzzle is rewarded with bitcoin.
  • The mining process also confirms transactions on the cryptocurrency's network and makes them trustworthy.
• According to anonymous sources, the oil giant has started a pilot project in cooperation with Crusoe Energy Systems Inc. to take gas from an oil well pad in the Bakken shale basin to power Bitcoin mining servers.
  • The initiative began back in January 2021.
• It is estimated that the project makes use of up to 18 million cubic feet of gas per month that would have otherwise been wasted due to a lack of pipelines.
• This process does not reduce the emissions of Exxon Mobil's activities but it does ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are not simply created as waste.
  • Methane emissions from natural gas range from 1 to 9 percent of total life cycle emissions
  • Just to point out since I feel like people lump them all together but shouldn’t, a natural gas plant emits 50 to 60 percent less carbon dioxide (CO2) compared with emissions from a typical new coal plant.

Leap Forward in Genetic Sequencing Will Lead to Improved Personalized Medicine and Understanding of Evolution | SciTechDaily (19:28)

• Researchers at the University of California, Irvine revealed new details about a key enzyme that makes DNA sequencing possible.
  • A leap forward into the era of personalized medicine when doctors will be able to design treatments based on the genomes of individual patients.
• The molecule the UCI-led team studied is an enzyme called Taq, a name derived from the microorganism it was first discovered in, Thermos aquaticus.
  • Taq helps make new copies of DNA in an unexpected way
• According to UCI professor, Greg Weiss, “Instead of carefully selecting each piece to add to the DNA chain, [Taq] grabs dozens of misfits for each piece added successfully … Like a shopper checking items off a shopping list, the enzyme tests each part against the DNA sequence it’s trying to replicate.”
  • Taq rejects any wrong items that land into its proverbial shopping cart in a very inefficient way as well
• But understanding this enzyme is an important step because if scientists understand how Taq functions, then they can better understand just how accurate a person’s sequenced genome truly is.
• Philip Collins, a UCI professor, touches on the variety of genome out there:
  • “Every single person has a slightly different genome … with different mutations in different places. Some of those are responsible for diseases, and others are responsible for absolutely nothing. To really get at whether these differences are important for healthcare – for properly prescribing medicines – you need to know the differences accurately.”

How Geothermal Plants Could Unlock Vast Supplies of Lithium in the American West | SingularityHub (23:28)

• Geothermal technologies are on the verge of unlocking vast quantities of lithium from naturally-occurring hot brines beneath places like California’s Salton Sea, a two-hour drive from San Diego.
• Lithium is essential for lithium-ion batteries, which power electric vehicles and energy storage.
  • Demand for these batteries is quickly rising, but the US is currently heavily reliant on lithium imports from other countries.
  • Most of the nation’s lithium supply comes from Argentina, Chile, Russia, and China.
• According to the article, this technology can bolster the nation’s critical minerals supply chain at a time when concerns about the supply chain’s security are rising.
• So how would we get it?
  • Let’s start with what a Geothermal power plant does: it uses heat from the Earth to generate a constant supply of steam to run turbines that produce electricity.
  • The plants operate by bringing up a complex saline solution (the brine) located far underground, where it absorbs heat and is enriched with minerals such as lithium, manganese, zinc, potassium, and boron.
  • These brines are the concentrated liquid left over after heat and steam are extracted at a geothermal plant. It contains high concentrations (about 30 percent) of dissolved solids.
• Test Projects are now underway to see how much lithium and other minerals could be extracted from this brine. The 11 existing geothermal plants along the Salton Sea alone could have the potential to produce enough lithium metal to provide about 10 times the current US demand.
  • About 20,000 metric tons of lithium metal per year, which equates to a market value of $5 billion at current prices.
• Adding the production of critical metals like lithium, manganese, and zinc from geothermal brines could provide geothermal electrical power operators a new competitive advantage and help geothermal technology boom.

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News Disney's "Holobricks" could stack up for larger holograms | New Atlas (01:03)

• Scientists at Cambridge and Disney Research may be closer to making holograms “less disappointing.”
  • They’ve created new “holobricks” that can stack and tile together to produce large 3D images that can be viewed from multiple angles.
• Holograms are three-dimensional virtual images that appear to exist within the real world instead of on a screen. Produced in multiple ways:
  • Reflective Screens
  • Projections onto fog
  • Then you have the classic “Pepper’s Ghost” illusion. Started in the 1860s
    • A brightly lit figure out of the audience's sight below the stage is reflected in a pane of glass placed between the performer and the audience. To the audience, it appears as if the ghost is on stage.
• Old ways are low in resolution, while the new system, from Cambridge and Disney, is designed to boost the picture quality with scalable, modular holographic blocks, or holobricks as the team calls them.
  • Each holobrick is made up of a spatial light modulator, a scanner, and coarse integrated optics.
• The system combines three images of the same object from slightly different angles, which creates a sense of depth.
  • Then light is then sent through a series of lenses that separates the images, so that when it appears on the 2D display on the surface of the holobrick, but from different angles.
  • Has a resolution of 1024 x 768, a 40-degree field of view and at a cinematic frame rate of 24 frames per second.
• Essentially, that means that as you walk around the screen, your view of the virtual object or scene changes with you.
  • Additionally it is modular, allowing the size of the holograms to be increased.
• There is still more work to do, but the researchers say that the holobricks could open up possibilities like holographic video walls or interactive kiosks.

Obesity alters molecular architecture of liver cells; repairing structure reverses metabolic disease | Harvard News (06:23)

• According to Harvard researchers, cells use their molecular architecture to regulate their metabolic functions, and repairing diseased cells’ architecture to a healthier state can also repair metabolism.
  • This could have implications on reversing obesity, and reversing the damage it causes to the body.
• Gökhan Hotamışlıgi, a Harvard public health professor, mentions the regulatory mechanism they discovered:
  • “The fundamental regulatory mechanism that we discovered can be used to evaluate the susceptibility—or resistance—of individuals to a disease state like obesity, and determine what steps, such as diet, nutrients, or fasting, will reduce, eliminate, or exacerbate these states. We can imagine a whole new array of therapeutic strategies targeting molecular architecture, similar to the restoration of an ailing building or preventing its deterioration.”
• The study compared liver samples from healthy, lean mice with samples from obese mice with fatty liver disease.
• Using machine learning & AI, along with high-resolution imaging the researchers generated three-dimensional reconstructions of specialized structures, called organelles, inside cells.
  • Organelles are the components of the cell.
  • Then compared the architecture/structure of the organelles between the lean & obese mice.
  • ​​The images produced from this research are the most detailed visualization to date of subcellular structures while the cells are still intact in their tissue environment.
• Through these analyses, the team determined that obesity leads to dramatic alterations in subcellular molecular architecture, particularly in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), an organelle involved in the creation and shaping of proteins and lipids.
• The team then partially restored the ER’s structure using technologies that can repair molecules and proteins that can reshape cellular membranes to see what would happen.
• “The outcome was really striking—when structure is repaired, so is the cell’s metabolism,” said Ana Paula Arruda, co-lead on the research. “What we are describing here is a whole new way of controlling metabolism by regulating molecular architecture, which is critical for health and disease.”

Researchers Make 'Giant Leap' to Produce Affordable Renewable Hydrogen | Good News Network (11:53)

• An Australian company, Hysata, has invented a totally new electrolyzer to expand use of hydrogen fuel, which they say represents the first real revolution in the technology in 200 years.
  • Electrolyzer is the device that would separate water into hydrogen gas and oxygen with electrical current
• In more detail, an electrolyzer consists of an anode and a cathode separated by a sponge-like membrane.
  • H2O is sent into the anode, where its electrons are stripped and turned into electricity, powering whatever it’s connected to.
  • Positively charged protons cross through the membrane into the cathode, where oxygen is pulled into.
  • There, the protons, reunited with their electrons post-electricity harvest, combine with the oxygen to form water and heat.
• The company changed the design of the electrolyzer to make the cost of pure hydrogen fuel competitive with fossil fuels.
  • Decreasing the heat and resistance generated through separating hydrogen.
• In a typical electrolyzer, gas bubbles form, reducing the efficiency of the process, but with this new design, Hysata was able to eliminate the problem.
  • Resulting in 95% efficiency, or 41.5 kWh per kilogram of hydrogen
  • Typical electrolyzer produce 39.4 kWh of energy from 1 kg of hydrogen.
• Hysata aren’t just scientists however, and the economics of their electrolyzer make sense. The membranes are easy to manufacture and the process can be automated at scale.

Microbes in Your Gut May Affect Personality – Could Be Associated With Mental and Physical Fatigue | SciTechDaily (16:25)

• Clarkson University researchers are performing research to determine if gut microbiome and metabolomic pathways in the gut could be associated with the personality traits mental energy, mental fatigue, physical energy, and physical fatigue.
  • Gut metabolomes are small molecules, such as amino acids, enzymes, and co-factors, that are produced in the gut.
• There are thousands of different types of bacteria living in the gut determined by many factors, such as health status, dietary habits, and even physical activity levels.
• The researchers performed initial research on a small sample of young physically active adults.
  • The preliminary findings found that there are distinct bacteria and metabolomes that are associated with each personality trait.
  • One bacterium was associated with three of the four personality traits, but none between all four traits.
  • Bacteria associated with metabolism were associated with either mental or physical energy,
  • Bacteria associated with inflammation were associated with mental or physical fatigue.
• The results build on previous work that reports that mental energy, mental fatigue, physical energy and physical fatigue are four distinct biological moods.
• Lead researcher, Ali Boolani, talks on the findings:
  • “These new findings support my previous work where we report that feelings of energy are associated with metabolic processes, while feelings of fatigue are associated with inflammatory processes … Since we are still learning about the gut microbiome, we don’t know whether if we try to change our personality trait, we might see a change in gut microbiome; or if we try to change our gut microbiome, we might also change our personality trait. Additionally, these findings may help explain some of the interpersonal differences that we see in response to the anti-fatiguing effects of nutritional interventions.”
• Next, Boolani and his team plan to duplicate the current study with samples from a much larger number of participants.

SpaceX is hosting a new fellowship on space-based surgery. It could save lives | Interesting Engineering (20:39)

• Performing simple tasks in space becomes difficult, so you can imagine performing surgery would be even more difficult.
• In a bid to start tackling that issue head on, SpaceX has partnered with the University of Arizona and Banner Health to host the first-ever Aerospace Surgery Fellowship starting this July.
  • All according to a press release by Banner health.
  • The APEX fellowship will last for a year
• It will be the first-ever fellowship training program in the U.S. to go beyond medical oversight for astronauts, delving into the field of aerospace surgery.
  • Aims to train future astronaut surgeons, who will travel to space with the express goal of keeping their fellow space explorers alive.
• The APEX Aerospace Surgery Fellowship will bring expert surgeons and physicians together in the U.S., helping them prepare to work in the commercial aerospace medical field.
  • They will form a part of the medical teams serving upcoming missions launched by SpaceX, NASA, and other space programs.
  • Fellows will have the opportunity to spend six months conducting research with SpaceX, the world's leading launch provider.
• Nathanial Soper, executive director for general surgery at Banner, talked on the fellowship:
  • "Individuals who train in this program will not only be qualified to support the space program personally … they will also be on the leading edge of developing the necessary tools and procedures to facilitate this exciting next phase in space exploration. I am truly excited and enthusiastic about our institution being involved in this novel undertaking."
• With the backing of SpaceX, which aims to reach the red planet in the 2030s, we may soon breach a new frontier with the world's first space surgery.

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Cool News A new type of killer T-cell can stop attacks on healthy tissue | Interesting Engineering (01:14)

• A team of scientists has discovered a brand new form of human T cell that suppresses attacks on healthy tissues, which could lead to treatments for illnesses ranging from lupus to cancer.
  • T cells are significant white blood cells in the immune system, playing a crucial role in adaptive immune response by killing diseased or malignant cells
• Studies in mice have shown that some of these cells may also kill T cells responsible for orchestrating autoimmune responses.
  • Believed that humans share the same cells but not able to prove it
• The newly discovered class of T cells in the human immune system may be capable of killing other T cells,
  • Aid in the healing of infections and reducing autoimmune disorders.
• Stanford researchers evaluated the number of these human cells in patients with autoimmune illnesses like multiple sclerosis, lupus, and celiac disease to see if they are immunological inhibitors.
  • Saw that the specific T cells (CD8) were more abundant in patients' blood than in healthy people's blood.
  • Gathered in regions of the body that had been injured by the autoimmune response like the joints in people with rheumatoid arthritis
• The researchers looked at genetically altered mice that had 50 percent to 75 percent fewer suppressive CD8 cells than normal mice to see how much protection the cells provide against autoimmunity.
  • Experienced kidney inflammation after being exposed to viruses that can cause autoimmune illness. (Control did not)
• The paper provides data that these CD8 cells exist in humans, and could indicate that techniques that enhance the number of cells in the body may aid in the treatment of autoimmune diseases.

Tiny 'skyscrapers' help bacteria convert sunlight into electricity | TechXplore (05:24)

• The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, used 3D printing to create grids of high-rise 'nano-housing' where sun-loving bacteria can grow quickly.
  • 3D-printed custom electrodes out of metal oxide nanoparticles that are tailored to work with the cyanobacteria as they perform photosynthesis.
  • Developed a printing technique that allows control over multiple length scales, making the structures highly customisable
• They extracted the bacteria's waste electrons, left over from photosynthesis, which could be used to power small electronics.
• These researchers have found that providing the bacteria with the right kind of home increases the amount of energy they can extract by over an order of magnitude.
• For several years, researchers have been attempting to 're-wire' the photosynthesis mechanisms of cyanobacteria in order to extract energy from them.
• Lead researcher, Dr. Jenny Zhang, stated:
  • “There's been a bottleneck in terms of how much energy you can actually extract from photosynthetic systems, but no one understood where the bottleneck was … Most scientists assumed that the bottleneck was on the biological side, in the bacteria, but we've found that a substantial bottleneck is actually on the material side."
• Dr. Zhang ends it off by talking on cyanobacteria:
  • “Cyanobacteria are versatile chemical factories. Our approach allows us to tap into their energy conversion pathway at an early point, which helps us understand how they carry out energy conversion so we can use their natural pathways for renewable fuel or chemical generation."

Concept Touchscreen Uses Temperature to Create Feel of Friction | Gizmodo (10:34)

• Researchers at Texas A&M have come up with a novel way for touchscreens to feel more than just perfectly smooth by fooling a user’s sense of touch through temperature changes.
• Some theorize a full touchscreen future, but the article argues that being able to feel physical keys with our fingers is an important part of the muscle memory that allows many of us to type at impressive speeds without having to look down and hunt-and-peck on a keyboard.
• The researchers in a recent study, found that by regulating the temperature of the surface of a touchscreen, they can increase or decrease the amount of friction a finger feels like it’s experiencing.
• The sensation of friction can be increased by as much as 50% by increasing a touchscreen’s surface temperature from 23 degrees Celsius to 42 degrees Celsius.
  • The actual temperature changes are imperceptible to the user if doing quick motions
• The current prototypes don’t facilitate temperature adjustments in fine detail, but the eventual goal is to be able to manipulate and quickly change the temperature on any region of a touchscreen.
  • Changes in friction can fool the brain into thinking it’s feeling physical buttons like keyboards, playback controls, even joysticks and action buttons for gaming.
• There’s a long way to go before this approach becomes a viable way to make virtual touchscreen keyboards easier to interact with.
  • Being able to rapidly heat and cool a precise area would be very difficult, but it is a cool first step and idea.

Israeli scientists reverse aging process in human eggs | The Jerusalem Post (14:11)

• A team of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, managed to successfully identify one of the aging mechanisms that prevent egg cells from successfully maturing.
  • Stating they found the aging mechanism, it is reversible and they can “treat it.”
• This is significant with women putting off having kids until later on in life.
  • After the age of 35, women’s eggs begin to rapidly deteriorate and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments become less effective.
  • By the time a woman reaches her late 30s, her eggs have accrued enough cellular damage to prevent them from properly maturing or being fertilized.
• Wasserzug-Pash, who conducted the research, discussed this:
  • “This research allows us to understand how human eggs age, which is important also for understanding how aging occurs in other areas … We can affect this aging mechanism with drugs and with [medical] intervention. We’ve gone one step forward in being able to help women suffering from age-related infertility. They will suffer less, have to go through fewer difficult procedures, and run into fewer disappointments when it comes to trying to conceive and start a family.”
• The team found that there is a way to prevent this damage from happening, thereby reversing the aging processes at work in egg cells.
• Led on the research, Dr. Michael Klutstein, touches on how they can treat the virus-like sequences that occurs in our genome that affects our DNA & ultimately eggs:
  • “If we use drugs that prevent these viruses from operating, and these are just antiviral drugs, then we stop this mechanism from happening and slow down the aging process,”
• Researchers in the lab examined both mice and human egg cells that were taken from several different age groups.
  • Along with a control group and a group taking an antiviral drug
• They found, in all cases, the older oocytes, or eggs, that had received the antiviral drug appeared to be younger than the ones that had not been treated.
  • The older, 35 to 40 year old eggs, “behaved more like eggs in their 20s.”
• The next step will be to establish the correct protocol for treating human eggs in an IVF setting, as well as ensure that the treatment does not negatively affect the embryo.

Anti-aging molecules safely reset mouse cells to youthful states | New Atlas (19:33)

• The Yamanaka factors at the center of this study are a set of four reprogramming molecules that can reset the molecular clock found in the cells of the body.
  • Returning unique patterns of chemicals known as epigenetic markers, which evolve through aging, to their original states.
• New research at the Salk Institute has sought to build on previous research on these factors by demonstrating how these molecules can reverse signs of aging in middle-aged and elderly mice, with no evidence of health problems following the extended treatment.
  • Previously used the approach to reverse signs of aging in mice with a premature aging disease, and improve the function of tissues found in the heart and brain.
  • The purpose of the new study was to investigate the effects on healthy animals as they approached the latter stages of life
• The mice groups treated with the Yamanaka factors:
  • Middle-aged mice from 15 through to 22 months old, equivalent to 50 to 70 years old in humans
  • Another group was treated from 12 to 22 months, equal to 35 to 70 years of age.
  • Another group received the molecules for just one month, at the age of 25 months, or 80 years old in human terms.
• Not only did the mice exhibit no neurological or blood cell changes, nor signs of cancers, they in many ways resembled more youthful animals.
• ​​Epigenetic patterns typical of younger mice were observed in the kidneys and skin, while the skin cells were able to proliferate and minimize scarring following injury, a capability that typically declines with age.
• Co-corresponding author on the study Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte provides the thoughts on the study’s results:
  • “We are elated that we can use this approach across the life span to slow down aging in normal animals … The technique is both safe and effective in mice. In addition to tackling age-related diseases, this approach may provide the biomedical community with a new tool to restore tissue and organismal health by improving cell function and resilience in different disease situations, such as neurodegenerative diseases.”
• From here, the scientists plan to investigate the influence the Yamanaka factors might have on specific molecules and genes, and develop new ways to deliver them.

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News Sound Waves Convert Stem Cells Into Bone in Regenerative Breakthrough | Good News Network (01:30)

• Researchers, from RMIT, have used sound waves to turn stem cells into bone cells through the precision power of high-frequency sound waves.
  • Tissue engineering advance
  • Help patients regrow bone lost to cancer or degenerative disease.
• A key challenge in regrowing bone is the need for large amounts of bone cells that will thrive and flourish once implanted in the target area.
  • Process right now of converting stem cells is complicated and expensive.
  • Let’s not forget that most of the previous research used stem cells extracted from bone marrow, a highly painful process.
• The research team showed stem cells treated with high-frequency sound waves turned into bone cells quickly and efficiently.
  • Effective on multiple types of cells including fat-derived stem cells, which are far less painful to extract from a patient.
• The high-frequency sound waves used in the stem cell treatment were generated on a low-cost microchip device developed by RMIT.
  • Can be used to precisely manipulate cells, fluids or materials.
• Co-lead researcher Dr Amy Gelmi said the new approach was faster and simpler than other methods:
  • “The sound waves cut the treatment time usually required to get stem cells to begin to turn into bone cells by several days … This method also doesn’t require any special ‘bone-inducing’ drugs and it’s very easy to apply to the stem cells. Our study found this new approach has strong potential to be used for treating the stem cells, before we either coat them onto an implant or inject them directly into the body for tissue engineering.”
• The next stage in the research is investigating methods to upscale the platform, working towards the development of practical bioreactors to drive efficient stem cell differentiation.

Artificial neurons connect to biological ones to control living plants | New Atlas (06:48)

• Researchers at Linköping University have created artificial organic neurons and synapses that can integrate with natural biological systems, and demonstrated this by making a Venus flytrap close on demand.
  • They're made out of polymers that can conduct either positive or negative ions.
• The team optimized these transistors and used them to build artificial neurons and synapses, and connect them to biological systems.
  • Transistors detect concentrations of ions with certain charges, they switch, producing a signal that can then be picked up by other neurons.
• Importantly, biological neurons operate on these same ion signals, meaning artificial and natural nerve cells can be connected.
• To demonstrate the new system, the researchers hooked their artificial neurons up to a live Venus flytrap. And sure enough, electrical pulses from the artificial neurons were strong enough to trigger the flytrap to close its jaws, but at under 0.6 volts, gentle enough to not harm the plant.
• The researchers believe they could find themselves bridging the gap between artificial and natural neurons for more responsive prosthetic limbs, implants, and robotics.

Meta announces plans to build an AI-powered 'universal speech translator' | The Verge (10:05)

• Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has announced an ambitious new AI research project to create translation software that works for “everyone in the world.”
  • Part of an event focusing on the broad range of benefits Meta believes AI can offer
• The company says that although commonly spoken languages like English, Mandarin, and Spanish are well catered to by current translation tools, roughly 20 percent of the world’s population do not speak languages covered by these systems.
• Meta says it wants to overcome these challenges by deploying new machine learning techniques in two specific areas.
• First Focus, dubbed No Language Left Behind
  • Concentrate on building AI models that can learn to translate language using fewer training examples.
• The second, Universal Speech Translator
  • aim to build systems that directly translate speech in real-time from one language to another without the need for a written component to serve as an intermediary
• In a blog post, Meta researchers did not offer a timeframe for completing these projects or even a roadmap for major milestones in reaching their goal.
• They also wrote, “Eliminating language barriers would be profound, making it possible for billions of people to access information online in their native or preferred language … Advances in [machine translation] won’t just help those people who don’t speak one of the languages that dominates the internet today; they’ll also fundamentally change the way people in the world connect and share ideas.”

Gel-like sieve in blood vessels a new target for repairing damaged hearts | MedicalXpress (14:02)

• Drugs that repair damage to a gel-like layer in the tiny blood vessels of the heart could present a much-needed treatment for heart failure in people with diabetes.
• The gel-like layer—called the glycocalyx—lines the inside of blood vessels and acts like a sieve to regulate how nutrients move from the blood to the heart and other tissues in the body.
• Researchers saw in this study that mice with type 1 and type 2 diabetes have damaged glycocalyx in the small blood vessels of the heart.
  • Damage was associated with increased fluid movement into the walls of the heart, leading to swelling and increased stiffness of the heart muscle.
• To see if repairing the glycocalyx improved the function of the heart, diabetic mice were given a substance known to restore the glycocalyx, called angiopoietin 1.
  • At three hours after treatment the researchers found that glycocalyx coverage and thickness had increased in the blood vessels.
  • Ultrasound scans of the heart showed their ability to relax between beats also improved.
• Scientists are now one step closer to better understanding why some people with diabetes develop heart failure, for which there is no cure.
• These findings have far-reaching implications in protecting against other types of organ failure, since the glycocalyx is present in all blood vessels.
• Further research is needed to determine whether protecting the glycocalyx from breaking down can lessen heart problems seen in diabetics.

Elon Musk activates Starlink satellite service in Ukraine after Vice PM calls upon him | Interesting Engineering (18:10)

• Mykhailo Fedorov, the Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, tweeted at SpaceX founder Elon Musk early on Saturday asking the billionaire to connect his struggling nation to the internet.
• Within hours (10), Musk replied that the company's Starlink satellite internet service "is now active in Ukraine" with "more terminals en route."

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News: Scientists create universal blood type organs for transplant | Interesting Engineering (01:34)

• There are 106,435 people in the United States waiting for an organ transplant.
• Someone in need of a heart or lung spends an average of four months on the recipient list before a suitable organ becomes available.
  • Waiting for a kidney typically lasts five years.
  • These averages don't reflect the patient's blood type
• Marcelo Cypel, a thoracic surgeon, tells IE that people with type O blood are 20 percent more likely to die while waiting for a lung than patients with type A blood.
  • 45 percent of people in the U.S. having type O blood
• The reason for that disparity lies in the immune system
  • Someone with type O blood has an immune system that will attack a transplanted organ that comes from a donor of any other blood type.
  • The differences in blood type can be fatal: A blood transfusion of just 50 milliliters of incompatible blood can kill a person.
• The separation by blood type also leads to missed opportunities for a new lease on life if someone has the wrong blood type.
  • Cypel expands on that stating, “There are situations where we may get a B donor, but we don't have a B recipient … In that case, today, we just don't use that organ; that organ gets buried.”
• In a recent study, researchers provide a potential solution: They used a combination of technologies to convert eight type-A lungs into type-O lungs, which are far less likely to be attacked by a patient's immune system, regardless of their blood type.
• People with type O blood are highly desirable organ donors because their antigens are not adorned with the type-A triangles or type-B squares that would provoke the other's immune systems.
  • The researchers figured out how to use enzymes to remove billions of type-B squares or type-A triangles while leaving the circles intact.
  • Convert lungs to type O by cutting off the extra sugars.
• By showing that the enzymes can dramatically lower the number of antigens on lungs that weren't suitable for transplantation into human patients, the researchers have taken a big step toward proving to stakeholders that the research could be transformative.

Scientists boost the mosquito-killing effect of natural clove oil | New Atlas (07:16)

• The best method of limiting the transmission of mosquito-borne diseases is to kill the mosquito larvae
  • Involves the use of synthetic insecticides, which accumulate in soil, water and food potentially causing health problems in both people and wildlife
  • Mosquitoes typically build up a resistance to insecticides over time.
• A new study now suggests a method of improving the effectiveness of a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative – clove oil.
• A substance called Eugenol, which is found in clove (Syzygium aromaticum), can kill the larva of the dengue mosquito in 24 hours.
  • Can be prepared at home by blending 60 clove buds and a cup of water.
• The oil is safe for the environment, and the cloves from which it's made are inexpensive and readily available in regions where mosquito-transmitted diseases such as malaria, Zika and dengue fever are widespread.
• Scientists from India's Gauhati University set out to boost the oil’s larvae-killing capabilities.
  • They found that a liquid organic compound by the name of piperonyl butoxide (PBO) had a particularly pronounced lethal effect on Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae.
• Assoc. Prof. Bulbuli Khanikor stated, “The use of synergists, either synthetic or natural, along with insecticides like eugenol helps to prevent resistance development … In the present study, combining synergists like piperonyl butoxide with eugenol was found to enhance the effectiveness of eugenol significantly."
• It should be noted that while PBO is considered to be only minimally toxic to humans, it is highly toxic to aquatic invertebrates and tadpoles
  • Ideally be limited to the puddles where mosquitos frequently breed, as opposed to larger marshes or ponds.

Easy aluminum nanoparticles for rapid, efficient hydrogen generation from water | Science Daily (12:28)

• For years, researchers have tried to find efficient and cost-effective ways to use aluminum's reactivity to generate clean hydrogen fuel
• A new study shows that an easily produced composite of gallium and aluminum creates aluminum nanoparticles that react rapidly with water at room temperature to yield large amounts of hydrogen.
  • Even though gallium is not abundant and is relatively expensive, the gallium was easily recovered for reuse after the reaction
• "We don't need any energy input, and it bubbles hydrogen like crazy. I've never seen anything like it," said UCSC Chemistry Professor Scott Oliver.
• Previous studies had mostly used aluminum-rich mixtures of aluminum and gallium, or in some cases more complex alloys.
  • But in this study they found that hydrogen production increased with a gallium-rich composite.
  • In fact, the rate of hydrogen production was so unexpectedly high the researchers thought there must be something fundamentally different about this gallium-rich alloy.
• In this gallium-rich composite, the gallium serves both to dissolve the aluminum oxide coating and to separate the aluminum into nanoparticles.
  • Making the composite required nothing more than simple manual mixing.
• The composite can be made with readily available sources of aluminum, including used foil or cans, and the composite can be stored for long periods by covering it with cyclohexane to protect it from moisture.
• It remains to be seen, however, if this process can be scaled up to be practical for commercial hydrogen production.

Gut bacteriophages associated with improved executive function and memory in flies, mice and humans | MedicalXpress (16:05)

• A team of researchers in Spain have found evidence of the presence of certain bacteriophages in the gut promoting better executive function and memory in flies, mice and humans.
  • Prior research has shown that certain types of bacteria in the gut can promote or hinder mental functioning
• In this new effort, the researchers wondered if the same might be true of bacteriophages, which are viruses that parasitize bacteria and reproduce inside of them.
• They first tested fecal samples from 114 volunteers and then again from another 942 volunteers, both times measuring levels of either bacteriophage (Microviridae and Caudovirales).
  • Gave each volunteer several memory and cognitive tests.
  • Volunteers with higher levels of Caudovirales tended to do better on the tests
  • To contrast, volunteers with high levels of Microviridae tended to do worse on the tests.
• The researchers then conducted a study of various types of foods to find out how the two kinds of bacteriophage might make their way into the human gut.
  • a common route appeared to be through dairy products.
• The researchers continued their work by transplanting fecal samples from the human volunteers into the guts of fruit flies and mice.
  • Then tested their cognitive and memory abilities against control groups.
• As with the human test subjects, the researchers found that those given samples with high levels of Caudovirales tended to do better on the tests, while those given doses of Microviridae did worse.
  • The work does not prove that bacteriophages in the gut can have an impact on cognitive abilities but suggests it does seem likely.

Startup Will Drill 12 Miles Into Earth's Crust to Tap the Boundless Energy Below | SingularityHub (21:02)

• What if there was a nearly limitless source of energy available anywhere on the planet?
• What if the only thing preventing us from tapping said energy source was technology?
• And what if that tech drew on the expertise of a century-old, trillion-dollar industry, and could readily slot into much of the infrastructure already built for that industry?
  • Geothermal
• The core of our planet is hotter than the surface of the sun—all we have to do is drill deep enough to liberate some of its heat.
  • The dream of the startup Quaise Energy, which spun out of MIT in 2018, and they recently secured $40 million in new funding to go after it.
• The big idea? Swap out traditional drill bits for millimeter-wave beams of light to vaporize rock instead of crushing it.
  • Millimeter-wave energy—an electromagnetic frequency in the territory of microwaves
  • Shoots down the drill hole alongside a gas—nitrogen, air, or argon—and evaporates layers of rock deep in the Earth.
• Contactless drills could bore holes as deep as 12 miles into the Earth’s crust where the rock reaches temperatures upwards of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Water goes down the hole, is converted to supercritical steam, and shoots back to the surface to drive standard turbines and produce electricity to feed the grid
  • Supercritical steam, a fourth phase of water that’s neither liquid nor gas
  • Holds 4 to 10 times as much energy per unit mass and doubles its conversion to electricity.
• According to the company, they are targeting the temperature of the rocks below the surface, not depth. The CEO Carlos Araque stated:
  • “We want geothermal to be viable no matter where you are in the world, and for that you need to go deeper … 20 kilometers, 12 miles, will pretty much get you 95 percent of the population of the world.”
• Earth’s geological engine isn’t scheduled to die for a billion years, and its energy is available from any point on the surface—as long as we can dig deep enough.
• As the technology advances, geothermal could become an abundant and reliable addition to the energy mix.

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News: Next-generation spinal implants help people with severe paralysis walk, cycle, and swim | Science.Org (01:40)

New Synthetic Tooth Enamel Is Harder and Stronger Than the Real Thing | SciTechDaily (09:05)

We Just Got Closer to Finding a Link Between Alzheimer's And Circadian Rhythms | Science Alert (14:16)

Microsoft Mitigates 3.47Tbps DDoS Attack, a New Record | PCMag (21:29)

Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy | BBC News (25:24)

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NEWS: "Impossible" 2D material is light as plastic and stronger than steel | New Atlas (01:53)

Team develops new therapy using magnetic seeds to heat and kill cancer | MedicalXPress (9:09)

Michigan wants to develop a wireless EV-charging road by next year | Teslarati (15:33)

Tesla Model S Goes 752 Miles on Startup's Battery Swap | The Drive (19:44)

New 'game-changing' technology removes 99% of carbon dioxide from the air | Interesting Engineering (25:36)

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News: Robot successfully performs keyhole surgery on pigs without human help | Unexpectech (01:24)

Frog regrows amputated leg after drug treatment | The Guardian (08:47)

Anti-aging vaccine clears out dysfunctional cells that cause disease | New Atlas (15:01)

Using 3D printing for alloy materials innovation | TechXPlore (19:46)

A Shipping Group Has Launched the World's First Offshore Charging Station | Interesting Engineering (24:40)

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News: NASA Solar Sail Spacecraft to Chase Tiny Asteroid After Artemis I Launch | SciTechDaily (01:25)

Altos bursts out of stealth with $3B, a dream team C-suite and a wildly ambitious plan to reverse disease | FierceBiotech (08:11)

Patient-specific spinal model may predict the effect of disc implants | New Atlas (16:28)

Intel Is Investing $20 Billion Towards a Massive New Semiconductor Plant | Interesting Engineering (21:10)

Elon Musk's brain chip firm Neuralink lines up clinical trials in humans | The Guardian (27:10)

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NEWS: 'Ocean battery' targets renewable energy dilemma | TechXplore (00:57)

• A wind turbine sitting idle on a calm day or spinning swiftly when power demand is already met poses a problem for renewables, and is one researchers think can be tackled under the sea.
• The company, Dutch startup Ocean Grazer, has come up with the concept of a “ocean battery”
  • relies on massive flexible bladders on the seabed, which are filled up with seawater by the wind farm.
• When the power is needed, the pressure of the ocean squeezes the water through the system on the seafloor that includes turbines—and the result is electricity.
• Systems that rely on pressure are already used in hydroelectric dams that pump water into the reservoir behind the dam when electricity demand falls, effectively storing it to come back through the facility's turbines.
• Bliek, the Ocean Grazer CEO, said undersea systems take advantage of the pressure below the ocean that is free, while creating a system that he said is about 80 percent efficient in storing energy.
• Bliek said his company aims to have an offshore system in place by 2025, though one will be deployed onshore in the northern Netherlands by 2023.
• Though various aspects of energy storage via pressure are not new, the pairing of it with green energy sources carries significant potential.

Compelling Evidence That Multiple Sclerosis Is Caused by Epstein-Barr Virus | SciTechDaily (06:37)

• Multiple sclerosis (MS), a progressive disease that affects 2.8 million people worldwide and for which there is no definitive cure, is likely caused by infection with the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), according to a study led by Harvard researchers.
• Establishing a causal relationship between the virus and the disease has been difficult because EBV infects approximately 95% of adults, MS is a relatively rare disease, and the onset of MS symptoms begins about ten years after EBV infection.
• A study was conducted on more than 10 million young adults on active duty in the U.S. military and identified 955 who were diagnosed with MS during their period of service.
• The team analyzed serum samples taken biennially by the military and determined the soldiers’ EBV status at time of first sample and the relationship between EBV infection and MS onset
  • the risk of MS increased 32-fold after infection with EBV
  • Serum levels of neurofilament light chain, a biomarker of the nerve degeneration typical in MS, increased
• The delay between EBV infection and the onset of MS may be partially due the disease’s symptoms being undetected during the earliest stages and partially due to the evolving relationship between EBV and the host’s immune system.
• Alberto Ascherio, senior author of the study stated, “This is a big step because it suggests that most MS cases could be prevented by stopping EBV infection, and that targeting EBV could lead to the discovery of a cure for MS.”

Regrowing knee cartilage with an electric kick | MedicalXPress (12:57)

• Arthritis is a common and painful disease caused by damage to our joints. Normally pads of cartilage cushion those spots. But injuries or age can wear it away.
  • As cartilage deteriorates, bone begins to hit bone
• The best treatments available try to replace the damaged cartilage with a healthy piece taken from elsewhere in the body or a donor
  • healthy cartilage is in limited supply
• The best possible treatment would be to regrow healthy cartilage in the damaged joint itself.
  • "The regrown cartilage doesn't behave like native cartilage. It breaks, under the normal stresses of the joint", says UConn bioengineer Thanh Nguyen.
• Nguyen's lab has also been working on cartilage regeneration, and they've discovered that electrical signals are key to normal growth.
  • A steady electrical field encourages cells to colonize and grow into cartilage.
• They designed a tissue scaffold made out of nanofibers of poly-L lactic acid (PLLA), a biodegradable polymer often used to stitch up surgical wounds.
  • has a neat property called piezo-electricity.
  • When it is squeezed, it produces a little burst of electrical current.
  • a person walking, can cause the PLLA scaffold to generate a weak but steady electrical field
• The team recently tested the scaffold in the knee of an injured rabbit. The rabbit was allowed to hop on a treadmill to exercise after the scaffold was implanted, and just as predicted, the cartilage grew back normally.
• The results are exciting, but Nguyen is cautious.
  • "This is a fascinating result, but we need to test this in a larger animal.”
  • His lab would want to observe the animals treated for at least a year, probably two, to make sure the cartilage is durable.

Cancer-targeting treatment "steps on the gas" to kill tumors | SlashGear & MIT News (18:33)

• Immunostimulatory drugs stimulate the body’s immune system, and have potential for treating cancerous tumors, as the drugs trigger the immune system to attack the mutated cells.
  • Problem: immune system becomes overstimulated, attacking healthy cells with serious consequences.
• That’s a problem the MIT researchers behind a new cancer immunotherapy study have addressed.
  • Developed a new delivery method designed to target cancerous tumors specifically.
• The method involves introducing IL-12, a type of stimulatory molecule, directly where the tumor is located
  • Avoiding the toxic effects that can occur when immunostimulatory drugs are given throughout the body.
• In a study of mice, this new treatment eliminated many tumors when delivered along with an FDA-approved drug that takes the brakes off the immune system.
  • “Takes the brakes off” references cancerous cells, which produce their own molecules that suppress the immune system’s ability to attack them.
• The researchers wanted to find a way to make cytokines bind strongly to tumors, and that is where aluminum hydroxide, also called alum.
• In mouse models of three types of cancer, the researchers found that the tumors were eliminated in 50 to 90 percent of the mice.
• The researchers also found that the treated mice did not show any of the side effects that are seen when IL-12 is given systemically.
• The new approach of attaching molecules to alum could also be used to deliver other types of immunostimulatory drugs, the researchers say.

BMW's Fifth-Generation Electric Motor Is a Magnet-Free Masterpiece | Interesting Engineering (23:25)

• BMW's fifth-generation electric motor provides a solution that combines an old-school sensibility with high-tech EV technology to improve efficiency without the use of rare earth minerals.
• BMW developed its magnet-free fifth-gen motor, which operates as a three-phase AC synchronous motor and, in a retro twist, utilizes brushes and a commutator to power its rotor windings.
• Typically, brushes and commutators generate dust and cause wear that requires them to be replaced periodically.
  • Why most electric vehicle makers have opted not to use them.
  • Opting towards magnet motors, Rare-earth metals used in permanent magnet motors are increasingly difficult to source in an ethical fashion and China controls over 90 percent of the world's reserves of the materials.
• According to MotorTrend, a BMW representative told them that the new motor's brush modules are placed "in an enclosed and sealed compartment, eliminating dust contamination inside the stator/rotor wiring."
• According to the automaker, its fifth-gen motor has more energy density, better heat management, and faster switching frequency.
  • Which translates to higher RPM, more torque, and even more power.
• BMW is helping the electric vehicle industry to address one of the issues spurring detractors to claim it's not as good for the planet as advertised.

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MIT Engineers Test An Idea For A New Hovering Rover | Brighter Side News (01:28)

• Due to the lack of atmosphere, the moon and other airless bodies such as asteroids can build up an electric field.
  • Because of direct exposure to the sun and surrounding plasma.
• Moon’s electric charge is strong enough to levitate dust more than 1 meter above the ground.
• Engineers at NASA and elsewhere have recently proposed harnessing this natural surface charge to levitate a glider
  • Mylar wings, which is a material that holds the same charge as surfaces on airless bodies.
  • Thinking of magnets, the same charged sides would repel causing a levitation effect
• A design would likely be limited to small asteroids, as larger planetary bodies would have a stronger, counteracting gravitational pull. Or would it?
  • MIT’s rover could get around this
• The concept resembles a retro-style, disc-shaped flying saucer, and uses tiny ion beams to both charge up the vehicle and boost the surface’s natural charge.
  • Generates a relatively large repulsive force between the vehicle and the ground with a small amount of power
• In an initial feasibility study, the researchers show that such an ion boost should be strong enough to levitate a small, 2-pound vehicle on the moon and large asteroids.
  • Large asteroid using a 10-kilovolt ion source
  • The Moon the same rover would need a 50-kilovolt source
  • Design relies on the use of miniature ion thrusters, called ionic-liquid ion sources
  • Using a basic disc model with ion thrusters
  • Could achieve levitation of about one centimeter off the ground
• Co-author Paulo Lozano explains why levitation on a rover would be good:
  • “With a levitating rover, you don’t have to worry about wheels or moving parts … An asteroid’s terrain could be totally uneven, and as long as you had a controlled mechanism to keep your rover floating, then you could go over very rough, unexplored terrain, without having to dodge the asteroid physically.”

MIT unveils the world's longest flexible fiber battery. You can weave and wash it in fabrics | ZME Science (08:01)

• Engineers at MIT have created a rechargeable lithium-ion battery in the form of very long fiber.
  • Could be used to 3D print batteries in any shape.
• The proof of concept is 140 meters long, making it the longest flexible fiber battery thus far.
  • Length is arbitrary according to the engineers since they could do much longer lengths.
• Fiber batteries are not new, however previously they have all the lithium and other key materials outside the fiber, which would leave them unprotected.
  • This Fiber is the opposite with the new system embedding the battery inside the fiber
  • This provides a protective outside coating, which gives the fiber both stability and waterproofing.
• The thickness of the fiber device is only a few hundred microns, much thinner than any previous attempts at a fiber battery.
• To demonstrate the functionality of this proof of concept, the researchers used the fiber battery to power a “Li-Fi” communications system, the kind that uses pulses of light to transmit data rather than radio waves.
  • Includes a microphone, pre-amp, transistor, and diodes
• The 140-meter-long battery fiber has a rated energy storage capacity of 123 milliamp-hours
  • Enough to power a smartwatch or phone.
• Battery fibers could be woven to produce two-dimensional fabrics like those used for clothing, but could also be used in 3-D printing to create solid objects, such as casings.
  • Because the system creates it all without having to add anything else it would be one-step printing.

Scientists Can Now Print Metal Objects That Are Only 25 Nanometers Long | Interesting Engineering (13:08)

• A group of scientists has set a new benchmark in 3D printing by succeeding in fabricating ultrasmall metal objects using a new technique.
• According to the team, their system can be used to make objects out of copper just 25 billionths of a meter in diameter (equivalent to 25 nanometres).
  • Equivalent to 195 copper atoms in a row.
• Their electrochemical 3D printing technique fabricates complex conductive structures with nanometer resolution, and it could have potential applications in battery technology, microelectronics, and sensor technology.
• The new electrochemical technique could be used to print far smaller metal objects that have never been printed before.
• Dr. Dmitry Momotenko of a chemist at the University of Oldenburg talked on the printing method with Phys.org:
  • “The technology we are working on combines both worlds — metal printing and nanoscale precision … 3D-printed catalysts with high surface area and special geometry to allow particular reactivity could be prepared for the production of complex chemicals.”
• Momotenko and his team are currently working towards improving the efficiency of electrical energy storage through three-dimensional electrodes.

Smart sutures to monitor deep surgical wounds | MedicalXPress (17:24)

• Monitoring surgical wounds after an operation is an important step to prevent infection, wound separation and other complications.
• However, when the surgical site is deep in the body, monitoring is normally limited to clinical observations or costly radiological investigations that often fail to detect complications before they become life-threatening.
• To detect wound complications as soon as they happen, a team of researchers from National University of Singapore (NUS) have invented a smart suture that is battery-free and can wirelessly sense and transmit information from deep surgical sites.
• The NUS team's invention has three key components: a medical-grade silk suture that is coated with a conductive polymer to allow it to respond to wireless signals; a battery-free electronic sensor; and a wireless reader used to operate the suture from outside the body.
• These smart small sensors can monitor multiple problems (i.e. Wound integrity, gastric leakage and tissue micromotions), while also providing healing outcomes which are equivalent to medical-grade sutures.
  • For example, if the suture is broken, an external reader picks up a reduced signal due to a reduction in the length of the smart suture’s antenna, alerting the attending doctor to take action.
• One advantage of these smart sutures is that their use involves minimal modification of the standard surgical procedure.
• Similar to existing sutures, clips and staples, the smart sutures may be post-operatively removed by a minimally invasive surgical or endoscopic procedure when the risk of complications has passed.
• Assistant Professor John Ho, who lead the team, commented on the smart sutures capability & the effect it would have:
  • "Currently, post-operative complications are often not detected until the patient experiences systemic symptoms like pain, fever, or a high heart rate. These smart sutures can be used as an early alert tool to enable doctors to intervene before the complication becomes life-threatening, which can lead to lower rates of re-operation, faster recovery, and improved patient outcomes."
• In future, the team is looking to develop a portable wireless reader to replace the setup currently used, enabling surveillance of complications even outside of clinical settings.
• Additionally they want to increase the detection capabilities for detecting wound bleeding and leakage after gastrointestinal surgery.

Researchers uncover protein that reverses muscle aging | Brighter Side News (23:13)

• A University at Buffalo-led research team has shown that a protein, NANOG, is effective at reversing aging in skeletal muscle cells.
• Skeletal muscles are organs of the vertebrate muscular system that are mostly attached by tendons to bones of the skeleton.
  • Longer than in the other types of muscle tissue, and are often known as muscle fibers.
• In a series of experiments with mice, researchers overexpressed NANOG in myoblasts, which are the embryonic precursors to muscle tissue.
  • The myoblasts were senescent, meaning they were no longer able to divide and grow.
• The overexpression improved some of the primary characteristics associated with age-related deterioration of cells, including autophagy, energy homeostasis, genomic stability, nuclear integrity and mitochondrial function.
  • Autophagy - Bodies’ way of clearing out damaged cells
• Additionally there was an increase in the number of muscle stem cells in the muscle of prematurely aging mice.
  • Demonstrating the feasibility of reversing cellular aging in the body
• The study’s corresponding author Stelios T. Andreadis, PhD stated:
  • “Our work focuses on understanding the mechanisms of NANOG’s actions in hopes of discovering druggable targets in signaling or metabolic networks that mimic the anti-aging effects of NANOG. Ultimately, the work could help lead to new treatments or therapies that help reverse cellular senescence, and aid the many people suffering from age-related disorders.”

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Launch Day From Nasa.gov:

• NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launched at 7:20 a.m. EST Saturday (Dec. 25th) on an Ariane 5 rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana, South America.
  • A joint effort with ESA (European Space Agency) and the Canadian Space Agency,
• The Webb observatory is NASA’s revolutionary flagship mission to seek the light from the first galaxies in the early universe and to explore our own solar system, as well as planets orbiting other stars, called exoplanets.
• Ground teams began receiving telemetry data from Webb about five minutes after launch.`
• Approximately 30 minutes after launch, Webb unfolded its solar array, and mission managers confirmed that the solar array was providing power to the observatory.
• Engineers and ground controllers will conduct the first of three mid-course correction burns about 12.5 hours after launch
  • Firing thrusters to maneuver the spacecraft on an optimal trajectory toward its destination in orbit about 1 million miles from Earth.
  • Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2)
• The world’s largest and most complex space science observatory will now begin six months of commissioning in space. At the end of commissioning, Webb will deliver its first images.
• Webb’s program director at NASA Headquarters, Gregory L. Robinson, talks about the launch:
  • “The launch of the Webb Space Telescope is a pivotal moment – this is just the beginning for the Webb mission … Now we will watch Webb’s highly anticipated and critical 29 days on the edge. When the spacecraft unfurls in space, Webb will undergo the most difficult and complex deployment sequence ever attempted in space. Once commissioning is complete, we will see awe-inspiring images that will capture our imagination.”

The Time Machine from The Conversation:

• Benefit of the James Webb Telescope, and most space telescopes, is that they are time machines.
  • Any light that hits a telescope (i.e. image) you will be looking at old light. For instance looking at an object 10,000 light years away if you have an image you will be looking at 10,000 years in the past.
    • Light would take 10,000 years to reach Earth.
  • The further out in space astronomers look, the further back in time we are looking.
    • JWST is trying to look FAR back.
• JWST is specifically designed to try to look at light from the end of the Dark Ages by detecting the faint infrared light of the earliest stars or galaxies.
  • Dark Ages:
    • Around 400,000 years after the Big Bang, the universe was 10 million light years across and the temperature had cooled to 5,500 F (3,000 C).
    • The universe would have been glowing dull red like a giant heat lamp.
    • As the expanding universe became bigger and colder, the high energy particles thinned out and everything faded to black.
  • The Dark Ages ended when gravity formed the first stars and galaxies that eventually began to emit the first light.
• Compared to massive, bright galaxies of today, the first objects (i.e stars & galaxies) were very small.
  • Additionally, due to the constant expansion of the universe, they’re now tens of billions of light years away from Earth.
• This leads to the why infrared is important:
  • As the universe expands, it continuously stretches the wavelength of light traveling through it. That leads to a “redshift.”
  • Light shifts from shorter wavelengths – like blue or white light – to longer wavelengths like red or infrared light when stretched.
  • Therefore, by the time light emitted by an early star or galaxy 13 billion years ago reaches any telescope on Earth, it has been stretched by a factor of 10.
    • It arrives as infrared light!

• Comparing it to Hubble, JWST has a 15 times wider field of view on its camera, collecting six times more light and its sensors are tuned to be most sensitive to infrared light.

• How will Data be collected?

• The strategy will be to stare deeply at one patch of sky for a long time, collecting as much light and information from the most distant and oldest galaxies as possible.

What to look for in the next 6 months?

• JWST needs to get to the orbiting point
• Needs to unroll the sunshield system
  • Has 140 release mechanisms, 70 hinge assemblies, 400 pulleys, 90 cables and eight deployment motors, all of which need to perform correctly to get the five thin membranes extended
• Deploying the 18 mirror segments
  • According to Project Scientist Jonathan Gardner, "One of our scientists calculated that we move those mirrors literally slower than grass grows as we're lining them up so incredibly precisely,"
• Regular science operations are expected to begin in the summer of 2022

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News Self-Driving Microscopes to Navigate the Nanoscale | IEEE Spectrum (02:11)

3D IMAGING ENHANCES CHECKS FOR AGGRESSIVE PROSTATE CANCER | Futurity (07:34)

Scientists Discover 'Significant' Water Hidden In Martian Grand Canyon | Vice (14:45)

AI Predicts Which Individuals Will Develop Dementia Within Two Years | GenEngNews (20:40)

FDA Approves New Eye Drops that Could Replace Glasses for Millions | ExtremeTech (29:01)

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News Timestamps: WhatsApp Launches Instant Cryptocurrency Payments in the US | MacRumors (01:42)

Two-year follow up shows delaying umbilical cord clamping saves babies' lives | MedicalXpress (10:11)

Body-sucking sleeping bag may help protect astronauts' vision | New Atlas (19:19)

Blue Origin's Third Space Tourism Flight Takes Off | Interesting Engineering (26:11)

MIT and Google Brain Create Tool To Speed Development of New Solar Cells | SciTechDaily (30:10)

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News Timestamps South Korea plans to host world's first floating city by 2025 | Global Construction Review (01:50)

Safely delivering radiation to cancer patients in a 'FLASH' | Phys.org (09:26)

Bionic Eye Study Paves the Way Toward Human Trials | Neuroscience News (13:21)

Synthetic tissue can repair hearts, muscles, and vocal cords | McGill Newsroom (20:01)

Rocket Lab moves to challenge SpaceX and Starship head-on with Neutron | CNET (25:45)

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News Timestamps: Scientists use seismic noise to image first hundred meters of Mars | Ars Technica (01:44)

Ultrashort laser pulses shred superbugs without harming human cells | New Atlas (08:47)

The World's First 3D-Printed Prosthetic Eye Will Be Received by a British Patient | Interesting Engineering (16:48)

White Matter Brain Lesions on MRI Linked to Years of Playing Football | SciTechDaily (23:30)

Morning exposure to deep red light improves declining eyesight | MedicalXPress (30:29)

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News Timestamps: Meta’s sci-fi haptic glove prototype lets you feel VR objects using air pockets | The Verge (01:35)

A New Membrane Can Substantially Upgrade Wearable Energy Generators | Interesting Engineering (10:23)

Research reveals how to design a better next-generation lithium-ion battery | TechXplore (15:23)

Psychedelics show promise in treating mental illness | MedicalXPress (20:52)

Weird quantum effect that can turn matter invisible finally demonstrated | LiveScience (26:48)

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News Timestamps: A New Origami Lunar Habitat Can Unfold Into 750 Times Its Own Size | Interesting Engineering (00:52)

SpinLaunch completes first test flight of alternative rocket | CNBC (06:44)

Chemotherapy-free stem cell transplant promises safer leukemia treatment | New Atlas (15:25)

A New Cable Prototype Fully Charges an EV in 5 Minutes – Robb Report | Robb Report (21:42)

Paralysis Cure? Paralyzed Mice Start Walking Again After Revolutionary Gel Treatment | Tech Times (27:33)

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News Timestamps: Thiel-Backed Helion Targets 2024 Breakthrough for Nuclear Fusion | Bloomberg (01:08)

Humans could 'live forever' as firm offers 'immortality' freezing for about $660-a-year | The Brighter Side (08:52)

Magnetic brain stimulation nearly cures depression | Free Think (15:08)

5D data storage technology offers 10,000 times the density of Blu-ray | New Atlas (19:55)

Bryden Wood reveals plan to convert coal-fired power stations to nuclear | Architects Journal (25:41)

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New Timestamps: Blue Origin announces plans for a commercial space station | Engadget (01:06)

Amazon’s broadband satellite venture Kuiper teams up with Verizon to expand 5G coverage | The Verge (07:52)

Essential Amino Acid Supplements Could Prevent Dementia | SciTechDaily (13:17)

Detector advance could lead to cheaper, easier medical scans | Phys.org (20:24)

ICON and Lennar reveal the world's largest 3D-printed community, designed by BIG | ArchPaper (24:21)

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News Timestamps: This ingenious wall could harness enough wind power to cover your electric bill | Fast Company (01:22)

Researchers develop a new way to find cancer at the nanometer scale | MedicalXPress (07:45)

Elon Musk’s Boring Company gets green light for Las Vegas tunnel system | The Verge (13:39)

Lockheed Martin plans to build Starlab commercial space station by 2027 | New Atlas (19:01)

Walmart Has Quietly Begun Hosting Bitcoin ATMs | Coindesk (24:30)

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News Covered: Hubble Finds Evidence of Persistent Water Vapour Atmosphere on Europa | ESAHubble.org (01:13)

Ex-SpaceX Engineers Are Building a Cheap, Portable Nuclear Reactor | Interesting Engineering (06:42)

Energy-efficient AI detects heart defects | MedicalXpress (15:28)

German Scientists Harness the Power of Photosynthesis for New Way To “Breathe” | ScitechDaily (21:02)

Growing Crops Under Solar Panels Could Substantially Boost Energy Production | Interesting Engineering (27:26)

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News: GM reveals Ultra Cruise "hands-free" system that covers "95 percent" of driving scenarios | The Verge (01:40)

SpaceX Is Doubling Its Number of Astronaut-Carrying Spacecraft | Futurism & Teslarati (10:27)

Facebook Connectivity unveils robot that can speed fiber deployment | Venturebeat (16:28)

New Sustainable Material Combines C02 With Recycled Concrete | Interesting Engineering (23:01)

Making surgical instruments from medical waste | Phys.org (27:25)

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News Timestamps: Supercooling advances human tissue preservation | MedicalXPress (01:44)

DeepMind develops AI that can forecast the weather | Silicon Angle (08:12)

The Kidney Project successfully tests a prototype bioartificial kidney | UCSF (13:57)

World's Fastest Electric Car Charger Offers a Full Charge in 15 Minutes | PCMag (21:23)

Scientists May Have Discovered The First Planet Orbiting Three Stars At Once | Interesting Engineering (25:29)

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News Timestamps: China Aims for a Permanent Moon Base in the 2030s | IEEE Spectrum (01:33)

‘Jumping gene’ may have erased tails in humans and other apes—and boosted our risk of birth defects | Science.Org (08:32)

Winged microchip is smallest-ever human-made flying structure | TechXplore (12:47)

In a First, Scientists Track 1 Million Neurons Near-Simultaneously in a Mouse Brain | Science Alert (19:25)

Indian Scientists Discover Bacteria That Eats Toxic Metals From Water, Making It Safe | India Times (23:55)

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News Timestamps: SpaceX Launched Its First Crew of Private Citizens to Space | Interesting Engineering (01:25)

Lucid shares EPA range for Air models including 520 miles on the Dream Edition Range | Electrek (6:28)

A 'Gene Silencing' Injection Was Approved for Use in Humans | Interesting Engineering (12:29)

AugLimb: A compact robotic limb to support humans during everyday activities TechXPlore (18:18)

Research reveals drug targets for memory enhancement MedicalXPress (23:56)

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News Timestamps: Electric Footsteps? Novel Wooden Floors Generate Power From Walking | Interesting Engineering (01:16)

New Way to Pull Lithium from Water Could Increase Supply, Efficiency | UT News (07:52)

The World's Largest Carbon-Sucking Plant Just Became Operational | Science Alert (13:39)

Baby Birds Start Learning Songs From Inside Their Snug Eggs, Study Reveals | Science Alert (20:03)

Antioxidant drug reverses process responsible for heart attacks and strokes | MedicalXPress (24:17)

Scientists Find a Way To Transform Toxic Sewer Gas Into Clean Hydrogen Fuel | SciTechDaily (29:21)

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News Timestamps: Luminate aims to make hair loss from chemotherapy a thing of the past | TechCrunch (01:16)

Perseverance Just Drilled a 'Perfect' Rock Sample After The First One Crumbled | Science Alert (09:26)

Motional reveals its Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric robotaxi | TechCrunch (14:04)

Making methane from carbon dioxide: Carbon capture grows more affordable | TechXPlore (20:35)

Serendipity opens new path toward osteoporosis treatment | MedicalXPress (28:36)

Tesla Could Open Up Its Superchargers to Other EVs Next Month | Teslarati (35:20)

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Timestamps: World's first mobile MRI machine detects strokes that require surgery | New Atlas (01:18)

Neuroscientists Detect Remarkable 'Brain Waves' in Lab-Grown Mini Brains | Science Alert (08:20)

Reducing sugar in packaged foods can prevent disease in millions | MedicalXPress (13:02)

Millennium Space in an experiment de-orbited a satellite in eight months | SpaceNews (19:07)

Scientists Reveal World's First 3D-Printed, Marbled Wagyu Beef | Interesting Engineering (23:08)

Thailand to explore injecting coronavirus vaccines under skin | Reuters (27:52)

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Cool News Timestamps: Major nuclear fusion milestone reached as 'ignition' triggered in a lab | Phys.org (01:11)

3 grizzly bears groups are linked to 3 human languages | Big Think (08:36)

A Deadly Brain Tumor Has Been 3D-Printed in The Lab For The First Time | Science Alert (13:52)

New Island Appears off the Coast of Japan After Underwater Volcano Erupts | Interesting Engineering (23:01)

NANOPARTICLES COULD ACT AS HEART ATTACK ‘WARNING SIGNAL’ | Futurity (26:38)

Facebook launches VR remote work app, calling it a step to the 'metaverse' | CNBC (31:57)

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Cool News Timestamps: NASA to Study a $700 Quintillion 'Goldmine' Asteroid | Yahoo (01:36)

Soft robot chameleon changes color in real-time to match background | TechXplore (08:07)

Newly Designed 'Smart' Insulin Could Majorly Improve Type 1 Diabetes Treatment | Science Alert (12:59)

Singapore’s High-Tech Plants Can Treat Up to 237M Gallons of Wastewater a Day | Interesting Engineering (18:48)

New blood test improves prostate cancer screening | MedicalXPress (26:00)

Scientists' 'holy grail' battery discovery could make future computers faster and longer-lasting | Independent (30:06)

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Cool News Timestamps: These Foldable Houses Cost $50k and Go Up in a Day | Singularity Hub (01:19)

3D Concrete Printing Robots Cut Rail Construction Carbon Emissions by 50% | Interesting Engineering (10:55)

Simple RNA tweak boosts potato and rice yields by 50 percent | New Atlas (16:53)

Gene therapy could treat eye disease without surgery | Futurity (24:03)

Now open: this Tokyo café has robot waiters controlled remotely by disabled workers | Timeout (31:13)

Miami Launches 'MiamiCoin' to Make Millions and Fund the Police | Vice (36:08)

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Cool News Timestamps: Single drop of dried blood can reveal athlete doping | Futurity (01:39)

Acoustic Tweezers Can Pick Objects Up With Sound Waves – Without Any Physical Contact | SciTechDaily (07:50)

Masten Space Systems to develop a GPS-like network for the moon | TechCrunch (12:32)

Hubble Finds First Evidence of Water Vapor on Jupiter's Largest Moon | Interesting Engineering (18:51)

Scientists Bred Healthy Mice Using Artificial Eggs and Ovaries Made From Stem Cells | Singularity Hub (25:03)

A magnetic helmet shrunk a deadly tumor in world-first test | Engadget (31:04)

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Cool News Timestamps: Scientists Created the World’s Toughest Self-Healing Material | Interesting Engineering (01:38)

Tesla's “Self-Driving” Tech Available for $99/Month | MotorTrend (07:30)

Microsoft-powered autonomous beach-cleaning robot | CNET (14:46)

Jeff Bezos launches into space on Blue Origin's 1st astronaut flight | Space.com (19:26)

First Total Artificial Heart Successfully Transplanted In the US | Interesting Engineering (22:41)

China unveils 600 kph superfast maglev train | Nikki Asia (28:54)

Dubai creates fake rain using drones to beat 50-degree heat | LiveMint (33:29)

DeepMind puts the entire human proteome online, changing research forever | ScienceAlert & TechCrunch (37:00)

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Cool News Timestamps Northrop to build homes on moon orbit under $935 mln NASA contract | Reuters (01:07)

Tesla launches initiative to build first solar neighborhood in Austin | Fox7Austin (06:38)

US Special Operations Command to Test Anti-Aging Pill | GenEngNews & Popular Mechanics (12:10)

New Spring-Loaded 'Sound Screw' Makes Drywall Noise-Dampening | Gizmodo (18:57)

Netflix will start publishing video games, has hired former EA exec | Arcs Technica (23:30)

Brain Implant Transforms Thoughts Into Words On Computer Screen | NPR (28:24)

World's First 3D-Printed Steel Bridge Unveiled in Amsterdam | Interesting Engineering (37:17)

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News Timestamps: Stumble-proof robot adapts to challenging terrain in real time | TechCrunch (01:33)

Rare 'hypernova' explosion detected on fringes of the Milky Way for the first time | Space.com (07:35)

New fabric passively cools whatever it’s covering—including you | Ars Technica (11:37)

A Sunscreen for Pavement Could Help Keep Cities Cool | Gizmodo (16:17)

MRI can cut overdiagnosis in prostate-cancer screening by half | MedicalXPress (22:30)

Square is going to make a hardware wallet for bitcoin | The Verge (26:13)

Musk's Boring Company bids to build transit tunnel in Florida | Reuters & Interesting Engineering (30:47)

How Virtual Reality Unveiled a Unique Brain Wave That Could Boost Learning | SingularityHub (34:52)

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Cool News Timestamps: This ancient beetle is the first new species discovered in fossilized poop | Science Mag (01:53)

A Laser Breakthrough: First Commercially Scalable Integrated Laser and Microcomb on a Single Chip | SciTechDaily (05:15)

Tougher Than Kevlar and Steel: Ultralight Material Withstands Supersonic Microparticle Impacts | SciTechDaily (12:11)

CRISPR Breakthrough Could Help Protect Astronauts From Radiation in Space | Interesting Engineering & Science Daily (17:43)

Scientists create mouse embryo with a beating heart from stem cells | New Atlas (22:56)

Astronauts successfully roll out and power up new solar arrays on ISS | New Atlas (29:39)

Alaska Airlines Optimizes Traffic Flow Using Artificial Intelligence | Flying Mag (32:28)

Eviation's 'Tesla of aircraft' production version unveiled with over 400 miles of range | Electrek (37:40)

Flying Car Completes Its First-Ever Inter-City Flight | Interesting Engineering (42:03)

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Cool News Timestamps: Dengue Mosquitoes Can Be Tamed by a Common Microbe | The Atlantic (01:24)

Intelligent carpet gives insight into human poses | CSAIL News (13:03)

Virgin Galactic Was Just Cleared by the FAA to Launch Commercial Flights to Space | Interesting Engineering (22:11)

Adaptable AdhFix patches could replace metal plates on broken bones | New Atlas (27:30)

Miniature organs to heal damaged livers | Nature (34:16)

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Cool News Timestamps:

World's most powerful magnet being shipped to ITER fusion reactor | New Scientist (01:45)

Next-generation implants will be biodegradable and non-invasive | MedicalXpress (11:26)

Bio-Inspired Hydrogel Protects the Heart From Adhering to Surrounding Tissue After Surgery | SciTechDaily (19:31)

Mass-produced floating nuclear reactors use super-safe molten salt fuel | New Atlas (28:04)

This Weird Straw Claims to Cure Hiccups Better Than Any Remedy You Know | Science Alert (41:46)

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Cool News Timestamps: Researchers Create Soil Catalyst to Make Farming on Mars a Reality | Vice (1:35)

Samsung shows off stretchable OLED screen in prototype heart rate monitor | The Verge (10:11)

BYD's electric school bus will feed electricity back to classrooms | The Next Web (17:19)

Breakthrough Understanding of Limb and Organ Regeneration – Closer to the Development of Regenerative Medicine Therapies | SciTechDaily (24:27)

El Salvador Becomes First Country to Recognize Bitcoin as a Legal Currency | Interesting Engineering (34:17)

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Cool News Timestamps: Google's speedier internet standard is now an actual standard | Engadget (01:29)

New tool activates deep brain neurons by combining ultrasound, genetics | ScienceDaily (07:31)

A Self-Driving Truck Got a Shipment Cross-Country 10 Hours Faster Than a Human Driver | SingularityHub (16:07)

Ordinary Microscope Sees in Super-Resolution With Specially Engineered Light-Shrinking Material | SciTechDaily (26:15)

Elon Musk: SpaceX Ocean Spaceport Deimos Under Construction for Starship Launch Next Year | TechTimes (38:21)

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Cool STEM News: Scientists Added a Sense of Touch to a Mind-Controlled Robotic Arm | SingularityHub (01:43)

Fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria has a glowing new weapon | ScienceDaily (13:06)

Colombian Coffee Is Now Used to Build Houses | Interesting Engineering (20:29)

World's first graphene-enhanced concrete slab poured in England | New Atlas (28:45)

Good Bacteria Can Reduce Chemotherapy Side Effects – Clean Up Toxins in the Body | SciTechDaily (36:59)

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Cool STEM News: Sidewalk Labs launches Pebble, a sensor that uses real-time data to manage city parking | Tech Crunch (01:22)

How Much Daily Movement Do You Need to Counteract Sitting? New Research Explains | The Conversation (12:02)

China unveils 1st Mars photos from Zhurong rover | Space.com (19:02)

This Tri-Wing Jumbo Jet Could Reduce Fuel Consumption by 70% | Interesting Engineering (22:45)

Decades after a tragic failure, gene therapy successfully treats a rare liver disease | Science Mag (31:23)

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Cool STEM News: Team links gut bacteria to neurodegenerative diseases | Futurity (01:09)

Australia's First Working Solar Panel Recycling Plant Is Up and Running | Interesting Engineering (07:30)

This tech can see inside fruit so we know exactly when it will be ripe | Fast Company (13:24)

Researchers Have Developed Road Chargers For EVs | Jalopnik (18:49)

Neural implant lets paralyzed person type by imagining writing | ArsTechnica (29:14)

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1. Starship Has Finally Landed, Identifying Cognitive Issues with Driving, Toyota’s Hydrogen Combustion Engine

Cool STEM News: SpaceX successfully landed a Starship prototype for the first time | The Verge (01:32)

AI can reveal older drivers' cognitive issues | Big Think (09:05)

Will clothes of the future be made from algae? | Futurity (15:08)

Toyota built an internal combustion engine that sips hydrogen, and it sounds awesome | Slash Gear (24:30)

Brainboxes find new way to revive dead lithium-ion batteries | The Next Web (30:29)

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Cool STEM News Scientists develop a truly recyclable plastic. | Fast company (01:13)

High-tech contact lenses are straight out of science fiction | The Conversation (08:43)

Lobster Underbelly Inspires Nanofibrous Hydrogel Tech for Tissue Engineering | GenEngNews (15:29)

Jetoptera VTOL aircraft design features "bladeless fans on steroids" | New Atlas (21:33)

Meet the World's Most Powerful Tidal Turbine: The O2 | Interesting Engineering (28:26)

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Cool STEM News: NASA’s Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity’s 1st & 2nd Flight | Space (01:41)

NASA has produced oxygen on the surface of Mars for the first time | New Scientist (07:23)

Whitest paint ever made is also the coolest | Futurity (14:24)

Electrifying cement with nanocarbon black | Phys.org (22:00)

Europe lays out plan for risk-based AI rules to boost trust and uptake | TechCrunch (31:57)

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Cool STEM News: A robotic spacecraft just latched onto an active satellite in orbit | The Verge (01:47)

The 'Iron Man' body armour many of us may soon be wearing | BBC (08:30)

Gov. Gordon Offers Up Wyoming To Host Elon Musk-Funded XPRIZE | WyomingPublicMedia (18:13)

Uganda Startup Makes Carpets, Hair Extensions Out of Banana Waste | Interesting Engineering (29:41)

Cool or Not Cool? Scientists created embryos with human and monkey cells, stoking ethical concerns | Fast Company (34:15)

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Cool STEM News: Cancer discovery could revive failed treatments for solid tumors | MedicalXPress (01:32)

A BB-8 Style Robot For Exploring Lava Caves on the Moon | Digital Trends (09:42)

HIV vaccine stimulates 'rare immune cells' in early human trials | LiveScience (17:58)

New Robodog Guides the Visually Impaired With Lasers | Interesting Engineering (24:39)

Swyft raises $17.5 million to bring same-day delivery to all the retailers that aren't Amazon | TechCrunch (32:44)

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Cool STEM News: Physicists Just Crushed a New Record For Slowing Down Antimatter | Science Alert (01:33)

Dumping Coffee Pulp To Forests Could Boost Recovery | Interesting Engineering (08:20)

A single injection reverses blindness in patient with rare genetic disorder | MedicalXPress (15:36)

App Store now rejecting apps using third-party SDKs that collect user data without consent | 9to5mac (22:41)

Swiss robots use UV light to zap viruses aboard passenger planes | Reuters (28:05)

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Cool STEM News: Exercise ‘could be better than medication for dementia patients with depression’ | News Chain (01:46)

This Structural Battery Could Lead to Massless Energy Storage | Popular Mechanics (08:56)

Researchers Found a Way to Send Tiny Robots Into Mouse Brains | Gizmodo (18:47)

Scientists will test the world's first nuclear fusion reactor this summer | The Next Web (26:53)

It Takes Guts to Fend Off Loneliness and Achieve Wisdom | Neuroscience News (36:38)

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Cool STEM News: Scientists developed a clever way to detect Deepfakes by analyzing light reflections in the eyes | The Next Web (01:45)

New Clues Uncovered about Toxic Protein Structures in Neurodegenerative Diseases | GenEngNews (10:16)

Genetic Scalpel Invented for Microalgae to Efficiently Turn CO2 Into Biofuel | SciTechDaily (16:21)

METL Tires Using NASA Tech Are Coming to Bikes | Gizmodo & New Atlas (24:21)

Quest for prosthetic retinas progresses toward human trials, with a VR assist | TechCrunch (32:31)

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Cool Stem News: How Google's New Career Certificates Could Disrupt the College Degree | Inc.com (02:01)

Scientists Find a Natural Protein That Stops Allergies And Autoimmune Conditions | Science Alert (14:46)

Elon Musk Says Cybertruck Will Power Off-Grid Tiny Houses and Campers | Interesting Engineering (22:20)

Painless skin swabs used to detect Parkinson's with high accuracy | New Atlas (30:40)

Digital twins could lead to more proactive, personalized medicine, researchers say | MedicalXPress (38:31)

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Cool STEM News: Google-Free Android Smartphones Are Now Available in the US | PCMag (01:29)

Engineers Have Proposed The First Model For a Physically Possible Warp Drive | Science Alert (10:16)

SpaceX Successfully Landed Starship For The First Time - Before It Exploded | Science Alert (22:01)

A submersible soft robot survived the pressure in the Mariana trench | New Scientist (27:06)

This study just uncovered a surprising predictor of dementia | The Ladders (32:44)

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Cool STEM News: New Study Reveals Why Whales Don't Get Cancer | Interesting Engineering & Inverse (02:11)

These six patents may shed light on the possible key features of Apple's car| Business Insider (11:07)

Graphene 'nano-origami' creates tiniest microchips | Phys.org (23:56)

Touchdown! NASA's Perseverance rover lands on Mars to begin hunt for signs of ancient life | Space.com (29:55)

NASA's Mars helicopter reports in Feb 21, 2021 | Phys.org (35:06)

Plastic Waste turned into Bricks more Solid than Concrete | Fubiz.net (40:32)

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Hey, Cool Listeners, we are back with another interview episode that I know you will enjoy. I sit down and chat with Dr. Marcel Reese the brains behind the creation of the Holotron. The VR Exosuit allows your legs to feel force & balance feedback from the virtual world.

We discuss many things but I'll name a few things here:

• Dr. Reese’s Background

• How he came up with this idea, what was his inspiration for it?

• Holotron: Force feedback & balance feedback

• Why Holotron makes economical sense

• Latency & Benefits of Telework (VR cities, Climate impact, etc.)

• Next Steps for Holotron.

• Funding & the Safety of the exosuit

• Theorizing the effects this could have in the future

Dr. Reese's Links: - Website: www.holotron.com

• Company LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/holotron/

• 1:40 minute demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3G7U91w8tM

• 9:03 minute demo video w/ narration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdEXlImlP2s

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Cool STEM News: Researchers have used light to decode brain signals and identify what image a person sees. | Futurity (2:41)

Antibiotic Game-Changer: Phages Can Anticipate Bacteria's Location and Destroy Them Before They Cause an Infection | SciTechDaily (12:53)

Powerpaste packs clean hydrogen energy in a safe, convenient gray goop | New Atlas (20:22)

Musical Training Gives the Brain a Crucial Advantage—Especially at an Early Age, Says New Study | Good News Network (32:25)

Welcome to Mars! UAE's Hope probe enters orbit around the Red Planet. | Space.com (37:27)

China's first Mars mission, Tianwen-1, successfully enters orbit around Red Planet | Space.com (43:05)

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I am joined by Ethan Hansen, the creator of the podcast Quantum Computing Now, where he talks about the basics, the news, and shares interviews with quantum computing professionals. This was a great interview and I learned so much about Quantum Computing.

Timestamps: How his Interest in Quantum Computing Started and Why He Started the Podcast Quantum Computing now (01:23)

His Background (05:21)

How does a high school kid get into Quantum Computing!? (09:04)

Went from wanting to be an Engineer to wanting to be a Programmer of sorts, Why? (11:01)

Basic Understanding of Quantum Computing (14:25)

What a Quantum Computer is (19:51)

Explaining Grover’s algorithm (24:42)

Why Quantum Computers? What’s the hype about? (28:55)

Future of Quantum Computers (34:07)

What would people even use a “Home” Quantum Computer for? (36:06)

How does Quantum Computers benefit Programmers? (39:04)

Machine Learning and Quantum Computing (41:11)

• Anisha Musti & Quantum Machine Learning - Episode 15 [Hybrid] by Quantum Computing Now
• Amira Abbas - Episode 6 [Interview] by Quantum Computing Now

Does Moore’s Law Relate to the Quantum Computing realm? (46:03)

Where to learn more about Quantum Computing and where you can find his podcast. (51:26)

• https://anchor.fm/quantumcomputingnow
• https://www.minds.com/1ethanhansen/

What makes you optimistic about our future? (52:18)

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Cool STEM News: Apple's new privacy tool lets you choose which apps can see and share your data. Here's what you need to know | Zdnet (01:56)

Myopia correcting 'smart glasses' from Japan to be sold in Asia | Nikkei Asia (13:20)

No more needles? The Source, Washington University in St. Louis (19:27)

Ingenious 'Wrinkled' Graphene Could Be The Most Promising Water Filter Yet | Science Alert (28:50)

German City Tests Wind and Waterproof Sleep Pods for the Homeless | Interesting Engineering (38:22)

• Images of the Sleeping Pods

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Cool STEM News: Machine learning could cut delays from traffic lights | Futurity (01:15)

SpaceX Offshore Oil Rig Launch Pad Conversion Info | Hypebeast (08:37)

Electric car batteries with five-minute charging times produced | The Guardian (11:39)

Humans could move to this floating asteroid belt colony in the next 15 years, astrophysicist says | LiveScience (18:21)

Brain Implant Successfully Fights Off Depression, Scientists Say | Futurism (30:20)

Researchers turned fat cells into stem cells to repair injuries | The Burn-In (37:27)

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Recorded on Jan. 15th 2020

Cool STEM News: The dire wolf was a distinct species, different from the gray wolf, biologists discover (01:22)

The UK Is Developing Nuclear-Powered Space Exploration for Faster Mars Trips | Vice (8:44)

The realization of a single-quantum-dot heat valve | Phys.Org (15:58)

Lenovo launches AR glasses for enterprise | Tech Crunch (24:23)

Vuzix's new microLED-powered smart glasses will arrive this summer | Tech Crunch (26:59)

Not Cool: Calculations Show It'll Be Impossible to Control a Super-Intelligent AI | Science Alert (32:48)

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Recorded on Jan. 10th 2021

Cool STEM News: New Discovery Could Lead to Cheaper And More Efficient Water Desalination | Science Alert (01:37)

Holotron: A Robotic Exosuit for Virtual Reality | Digital Trends (06:39)

AI Microscope Confirms Tumor Removal - In Minutes? | Interesting Engineering (16:37)

New Mercedes Screen Will Span Nearly Entire Width of Car, Regulates With AI| Interesting Engineering (21:32)

Study explores the effects of immune responses on the aging brain | MedicalXpress (28:10)

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Recorded on Jan. 3rd 2021

Cool STEM News: Augmented reality in surgery: World's first “real” holographically navigated spine surgery at Balgrist University Hospital | News.Microsoft (01:29)

The Air Force's Solar-Beaming Spacecraft | Solar Power From Space | Popular Mechanics (08:01)

Large transporter protein linked to schizophrenia | MedicalXpress (17:45)

Quadriplegic patient uses brain signals to feed himself with two advanced prosthetic arms | MedicalXpress (24:46)

Not Cool: A man spent 10 days in jail based on a facial recognition error | Input Mag (30:55)

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Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast. I should note, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Audio Interface: Scarlett 2i2

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Recorded on Dec. 27th 2020

Cool News: Alien Hunters Discover Mysterious Signal from Proxima Centauri | Scientific American (02:38)

Airbus reveals hydrogen 'plane pods' concept | Euractive (10:16)

Amazon Zoox unveils self-driving robotaxi | CNBC (17:05)

Exclusive: Apple targets car production by 2024 and eyes 'next level' battery technology - sources | Reuters (22:03)

KFC has created a console that's more powerful than the PS5 and has a built-in 'chicken chamber' to keep your meal warm | Business Insider (26:55)

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Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast. I should note, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Microphone: RE320

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Hey Cool Listeners! This is a quicker episode providing you with my thoughts on the podcast, what my goals are for the podcast in the next year, and just letting you know how much I appreciate you all.

Just FYI, had to rush the production of this to get it out since I went on Vacation and forgot my charger! Just want to be honest and forthright with you :)

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Listen to the news episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/news And check out Interview episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/interviews Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast. I should note, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Microphone: RE320

Audio Interface: Scarlett 2i2

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Shock Mount: Koolertron Universal Shock Mount

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Recorded Dec. 11th 2020

Cool STEM News: B.C. medical group launches program to prescribe nature as medication | The Globe and Mail (01:48)

NASA Releases Detailed Plan for 2024 Moon Base Camp | The Independent (07:30)

Tesla co-founder on QuantumScape's new battery: it's a breakthrough | Electrek (13:34)

This vertical farm in Denmark will grow 1,000 tons of local greens a year | FastCompany (21:44)

SpaceX Starship SN8 explodes after successful high-altitude test flight | CNET (26:31)

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Listen to the news episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/news And check out Interview episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/interviews Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast. I should note, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Recorded on Dec. 4th 2020

Cool STEM News: Scientists Invent a Microscope That Can Safely Look Straight Through Your Skull | Science Alert (02:01)

Making mechanical skin | Phys.org (06:53)

Lab-Grown Chicken Meat Is Finally Going on Sale in a World First | Science Alert (11:36)

Molecule found to promote muscle health in response to magnetic fields | New Atlas (16:45)

Scientists reverse age-related vision loss, eye damage from glaucoma in mice | MedicalXPress (21:41)

Space startup Aevum debuts world’s first fully autonomous orbital rocket launching drone | Techcrunch (28:03)

Warner Bros. will release all of its new 2021 movies simultaneously on HBO Max | The Verge (35:38)

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Listen to the news episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/news And check out Interview episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/interviews Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast. I should note, as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Recorded on Nov. 29th 2020

Cool STEM News Nanobots Will Be Flowing Through Your Body by 2030 | Interesting Engineering (01:33)

This 2-Acre Vertical Farm Out-Produces 720 Acre 'Flat Farms' | Forbes' (06:53)

New breast cancer therapy promises to destroy tumours inside the body | Euronews (13:58)

Scientists develop earth-friendly process to recycle lithium-ion batteries | cfact.org (20:45)

Human ageing process biologically reversed in world first | Yahoo News (29:29)

Who set up this mysterious metal monolith in Utah desert? | Live Science (36:10)

Not Cool: Tesla Model X hacked with $195 Raspberry Pi based board | Embedded (39:38)

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Recorded on Nov. 20, 2020

Cool STEM News: Terraform Mars: Elon Musk says a Mars city of 'glass domes' comes first | Inverse (02:04)

Apple's move to M1 chips will save $2.5B this year – IBM exec | 9to5 mac (09:29)

The Mass Extinction That Ended The Triassic May Have Happened Later Than We Thought | Science Alert (13:28)

The Plan to Turn Scrapped Rockets Into Space Stations | Wired (17:05)

Meet the BL6, Bud Light’s Game Console | PCMag (22:11)

Not Cool News: AI is wrestling with a replication crisis | MIT Tech Review (26:03)

Cool Product: Electrical engineer creates GPS-powered smart sunglasses | MobileSyrup (32:37)

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Hey cool listeners! We are back with another interview, and this time I am joined by Stephanie Ryan, the author of Let’s Learn about Chemistry. This book "makes it easy to introduce children to the basic fundamentals that form the foundation of chemistry — no science degree required. If you’ve ever wanted to start young readers off on a lifelong love of STEM, Let’s Learn About Chemistry is a great first step."

Stephanie and I discuss a variety of things in this episode of the podcast. First, what does writing a children's book even entail? I learned that there is something called a developmental editor who is crucial to this process. Stephaine will explain in this episode what the role is for this specific editor.

Second, how important it is for parents to be involved in their child's learning process and how her book may get not just get the kid interested in science. We discuss how science class is taught as a subject that just lists off facts but never talks about the process of figuring out the "how" and "why". Stephanie thinks that that way of teaching science is changing, and more kids are learning the importance behind what they are learning.

Finally, we discuss what Stephanie does on a day to day basis as an education consultant. She explains the critical thinking required to develop "phenomenons" that teachers/schools can utilize to better teach their students about science.

Find out more about Stephanie and her book from her website: www.letslearnaboutscience.com/

Interested in purchasing Let's Learn About Chemistry: ITASCA books (Use to support a small business)

Amazon (FYI, This link is Stephanie's Amazon affiliate link)

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Recorded on Nov. 6th 2020

Cool STEM News: Scientists Say This New Rice-Cooking Hack Removes Arsenic But Keeps The Nutrients | Science Alert (02:05)

Apple added a secret button to your iPhone, and you may not have even noticed | The Verge (06:30)

Daycares in Finland Built a 'Forest Floor', And It Changed Children's Immune Systems | Science Alert (09:52)

NASA confirms there is water on the moon that astronauts could use | New Scientist (13:42)

GPS and water don't mix. So scientists have found a new way to navigate under the sea | ZDNet (19:43)

'This is revolutionary’: new online bookshop unites indies to rival Amazon | The Guardian (23:59)

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Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast, I should note, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Hey cool listeners! We are back with another interview, and this time I am joined by Niba from Notes By Niba. She is building a brand (YouTube & Instagram) that centers around creating & sharing notes related to plant science in cosmetics and skincare.

We talk about her background, and what led her down the road of Science Communications. What exactly is Science Communications? Niba answers that with the basic understanding that it is at its core good storytelling. This leads her into discussing her start with Instagram and YouTube video, which transitions to an insightful message about creating things that give you energy and not follow what other people are doing just because it seems like the thing to do.

We get into what led her to Plant Biology, why she loves it and did she always have this love towards plants or did it grow with time. Niba dropped plenty of plant knowledge on me that blew my mind. You'll have to listen to the episode to find out what that was.

I enjoyed this conversation, and there is so much more that we get into The important role of mentors, new perspectives in science, genetic engineering just to name a few. I think you will enjoy this episode!

Notes By Niba Links: Website: https://www.notesbyniba.org

Instagram: @NotesByNiba

YouTube: NotesByNiba

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Recorded on Oct. 23rd 2020

That's Cool: Augmented Reality Is Coming -- to Your Car's Windshield | Digital Trends (1:53)

Multiple sclerosis and the microbiome: Study suggests complex relationship | New Atlas (7:57)

Excess lipids in nerve cells may trigger Parkinson's disease | Medical News Today (12:55)

Forget 5G: MagSafe could be the biggest reason to buy an iPhone 12 | The Verge (16:37)

First NASA Osiris-Rex images show incredible touchdown on asteroid Bennu | CNET (19:52)

Scientists investigate what percentage of math ability is genetic | Inverse (23:24)

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Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast, I should note, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Recorded on Oct. 16th 2020

That's Cool News: Apple imagines a foldable iPhone with a ‘self-healing’ display - The Verge (2:15)

2 CHEMICALS MAY SHAPE HUMAN PERCEPTION MORE THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT — STUDY - Inverse (5:40)

NASA Just Sent a New $23 Million Space Toilet to the International Space Station - Smithsonian (11:20)

Scientists make an astonishing discovery about how men develop - Inverse (14:41)

NASA Shows Off Transforming Rover for Exploring Steep Cliffs on Mars - Futurism (18:42)

New evidence links age-related cognitive decline & the gut microbiome - New Atlas (21:52)

Not Cool News: Twitter & Facebook censorship Thoughts (28:10)

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Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast, I should note, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Hey to all you cool listeners! In this episode, I bring to you Rebecca Fitch, aka Bexy, a YouTuber who is using her channel to educate viewers about the world of Physics. Her whole goal is to take Physics and STEM learning topics that some would find daunting and explain them in a way that is easy to digest and understand.

This hour-long conversation started with getting to know Bexy and understanding how she ended up majoring in physics. She has an incredible story explaining how she switched from a business track to physics. She put in a lot of hard work to make that switch even work, and I think most people would have given up if put in that position.

This transitions into more learning/teaching topics: the teaching environment nowadays, the daunting nature of majoring in STEM, learning about the schooling system across the pond, etc.

We then discuss what Bexy does in the industry. She is a System Engineer Consultant, and she explains what is system engineering, and what does it entail for someone with a Physics degree. Additionally, because I can't help it, I asked about what type of projects she has consulted on, and what were her favorites. That lead to us discussing her over year-long work on a Nuclear Fusion Reactor! Wow!

We discussed so much more during this chat, and I am looking forward to everyone listening to the episode because you'll get a lot of value out of it.

Find Bexy here: Instagram: @ScienceWithBexy

YouTube Channel: Science With Bexy

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Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast, I should note, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Microphone: RE320

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Recorded on October 3rd 2020

That’s Cool: Metal wires of carbon complete toolbox for carbon-based computers - News Berkley (1:38)

NASA lays out $28 billion plan to return astronauts to the moon in 2024 - SpaceFlight Now (7:38)

Water on Mars: discovery of three buried lakes intrigues scientists - Nature.com (14:38)

ZeroAvia Completes Test Flight Of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered Passenger Airplane - cleantechnica.com (19:01)

CHEOPS mission discovers one of the most extreme planets ever - Inverse (23:57)

Two molecular handshakes for hearing - News OSU (30:42)

Not Cool: Irish Court Says Subway Bread Is Too Sugary to Be Called 'Bread' - FoodandWine.com (38:21)

Cool Product: New Exosuit Against Muscle Fatigue is Set to Change Work Habits - Interesting Engineering (41:04)

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Listen to the news episodes (Every Monday) by going to thatscoolnews.com/news And check out Interview episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/interviews Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast, I should note, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Microphone: RE320

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Mic Stand: NEEWER Adjustable Microphone Stand

Shock Mount: Koolertron Universal Shock Mount

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Recorded on September 27, 2020

That’s Cool: Air Force New Fighter Jet: Secret 6th Generation Fighter Details (1:39)

Pandemic accelerated cord cutting, making 2020 the worst-ever year for pay TV (5:52)

Microsoft purchases Bethesda Softworks in industry-changing acquisition (8:14)

NASA Makes Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough: State of Nuclear Fusion (10:33)

3-D Printing inside the Body Could Patch Stomach Ulcers (15:28)

Scientists devise 'Trojan horse' approach to kill cancer cells without using drugs (19:50)

That’s Not Cool: Feds charge 6 people with bribing Amazon employees to gain edge on marketplace (26:02)

Cool Product: Tesla announces "tabless" battery cells that will improve range of its electric cars (28:38)

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Listen to the news episodes (Every Monday) by going to thatscoolnews.com/news And check out Interview episodes by going to thatscoolnews.com/interviews Recording Equipment: Below is the equipment I use to record the podcast, I should note, as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Recorded on Sept 20th 2020

That’s Cool: Life on Venus? Breakthrough Initiatives funds study of possible biosignature detection

Boston Dynamics CEO talks profitability and the company’s next robots

Gene-edited "super dad" animals could help solve world hunger — study

Researchers ready world-first vision restoration device for human clinical trials

These 120,000-year-old footprints offer early evidence for humans in Arabia

That’s Not Cool Teen 'Blasts Away' Parts of Retina by Staring Into a Pet's Laser Pointer

Cool Product: A Flat Fisheye Camera Lens - Engineering Development | IE

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Recorded Sept. 13th 2020

That’s Cool: First 'plug and play' brain prosthesis demoed in paralyzed person

Researchers develop molecule to store solar energy

NASA's New “Metallic Glass” Gears Can Withstand Impact, Freezing Temperatures During Lunar Missions

To survive frigid nights, hummingbirds cool themselves to record-low temperatures

Genetically Engineered Beefcake Mice Retain Their Muscle Mass in Space

That’s Not Cool: High Blood Pressure And Diabetes Could Alter Brain Structure, Slowing Down Cognition

Cool Product: Engineers Have Figured Out How to Make Interactive Paper

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This episode I sit down with one of the engineers behind the development of Osprey a "A mmWave Approach to Tire Wear Sensing", Akarsh Prabhakara. He is a Ph.D. student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. His research interests broadly lie in wireless systems.

What is Osprey? Here is a brief description from Akarsh's website (linked below), "Tire wear affects safety and performance of automobiles. Past solutions are either inaccurate, requires sensors embedded in tires or are prone to road debris. Osprey proposes a sensor system design based on automotive mmWave radars and designs algorithms to measure tire wear while overcoming challenges related to road debris. In addition, the principles used also open up solutions for detecting and localizing harmful metallic foreign objects in the tire."

What can you expect from the Interview? Sit back and learn from Akarsh. He is filled with knowledge about mmWave sensing and I felt like I was taking a master class in it. He will provide you with the design & practical reasons why he & his team went with mmWave Sensing. Additionally, what is next in the mmWave sensing field. Finally, we touch on a more personal note, as to what he likes to do in his free time when he is not researching and developing. It was a great interview and I'm sure everyone will get value out of this episode.

Akarsh Recommended Links: His web page: https://akarsh-prabhakara.github.io/projects/osprey/ Wireless Sensing and Embedded Systems Lab: https://wise.ece.cmu.edu/ Laboratory for Emerging Wireless Technologies: https://www.witechlab.com/ --more--

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That’s Cool: Elon Musk: SpaceX starting on 'Super Heavy' booster for Starship rocket bound for Mars

Amazon wins FAA approval for Prime Air drone delivery fleet

NuScale’s small nuclear reactor is first to get US safety approval

Venom from honeybees found to kill aggressive breast cancer cells

Industrial waste can turn planet-warming carbon dioxide into stone

That’s Not Cool: Researchers discover a specific brain circuit damaged by social isolation during childhood: Study in mice shows long-lasting effects and points the way to potential treatments

Cool Product: New Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit Uses Augmented Reality to Race Inside Your Home

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Recorded on Aug. 30th 2020

That’s Cool:

Artificial Photosynthesis Advance: Standalone Device Converts Sunlight, CO2 and Water Into Clean Fuel -

How a designer used AI and Photoshop to bring ancient Roman emperors back to life

It's Official: Africa Has Just Been Declared Free of Wild Poliovirus

Self-powered wildfire detector could help prevent deadly blazes

Researchers at University College London Set a New World Record for Fastest Internet

Japan's 'flying car' gets off ground, with a person aboard

A Ball of Bacteria Survived for 3 Years ... in Space!

Updates:

• Created a Facebook Group account that I would love people to join. Want to build community, and I want people to provide me with cool Science & Tech news that is going on in your world that I could have missed. Join community by going to: ThatsCoolNews.com/community
• New Email to reach me for any cool news I missed or feedback on the show: adam@thatscoolnews.com

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Recorded on Aug 23, 2020

That’s Cool:

• Google Maps is getting a lot more detail
• NASA Is Tracking a Vast, Growing Anomaly in Earth's Magnetic Field
• Pentagon announces UFO task force
• This 'Anti-Solar Panel' Could One Day Produce Energy Even at Night
• Transparent solar panels for windows hit record 8% efficiency
• Scientists slow and steer light with resonant nanoantennas

That’s Not Cool:

• AI Claims "Flawless Victory" Going Undefeated In Digital Dogfight With Human Fighter Pilot

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Recorded on Aug. 16, 2020

That’s Cool

• Europe's largest 3D-printer just made its first two-story house
• Michigan Seeking to Develop a 40-Mile Autonomous Roadway of the Future
• Nanotechnology Turns House Bricks Into Batteries Paving Way to Becoming Literal Powerhouses in the Future
• Your hair can crack steel when it hits the right spot
• Astronomers spy a Milky Way–like galaxy in very early universe
• SpaceX Starlink speeds revealed as beta users get downloads of 11 to 60Mbps

Cool Product

• This odor eliminator uses NASA-inspired technology

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Recorded on Aug. 12, 2020

That’s Cool:

• Experimental DragRacer satellites will test 'Terminator Tape' for space junk cleanup this fall
• SpaceX reveals plans for a Texas spaceport resort in new job ad
• Mars map with water: incredible terraforming image shows Elon Musk's dream
• Painted Eyes on Cattle Butts Protect Them From Lions, Per Study
• Google is turning Android Phones into seismometers
• Kids Need to Spend Time Alone Outdoors to Really Bond With Nature, Study Finds

That’s Not cool:

• ‘Its body looked like a warzone.’ Air pollution could kill off critical honey bees in India

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Recorded on Aug. 9th 2020

That’s Cool:

• SpaceX's Starship SN5 prototype soars on 1st test flight! 'Mars is looking real,' Elon Musk says
• Some spiders may spin poisonous webs laced with neurotoxins
• We Carry DNA From a Mysterious Species, Science Finds
• Radar Can Be Used to Detect Tire Wear and Tear, Nail Punctures
• Humans Have Been Making Poison Arrows For Over 70,000 Years, Study Finds
• John Wick 5 confirmed by Lionsgate - CNET

That’s Not Cool:

• US Government Contractor Embedded Software in Apps to Track Phones

Cool Product:

• UV light and the coronavirus: Big A** Fans might have a solution

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Soon to be Dr. Lee Agostini, who is obtaining a doctorate in Oncology, joins the podcast to discuss the complex issue that is solving cancer, why he is excited about the future of immunotherapy, how he was able to transition to an Industry role as a Life Science Consultant, how he is teaching other students his ways of networking, in the industry, utilizing LinkedIn and even more!

Connect with Lee:

• LinkedIn: Lee Agostini

• Instagram: @lee_the_scientist

Lee's Blog/Instagram Recommendations:

• @rickyrick.phd

• @silli_scientist

• sciencebasedmedicine.org

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Recorded: Aug. 2nd 2020

That’s Cool:

1. Fusion Has an Efficiency Problem. This Science May Solve It.
2. Scientists Start Assembling The World's Largest Nuclear Fusion Experiment
3. Airbus' self-flying plane just completed successful taxi, take-off, and landing tests, opening the door for fully autonomous flight
4. Self-replicating Chernobyl mold could protect the ISS from space radiation
5. Spotify Premium users can now host a listening party with up to five friends — even if they live far away
6. Microsoft used hydrogen fuel cells to power a data center for two days straight
7. Research Brief: ‘Fool’s gold’ may be valuable after all

That’s Not Cool:

• MIT Dream Research Interacts Directly With an Individual’s Dreaming Brain and Manipulates the Content

Cool Product:

• Buildots raises $16M to bring computer vision to construction management

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Danielle and Karima from Kadani Health Science Blog join the podcast today to talk about how they started getting into science, why they started their blog, why genome therapy and nanotechnology are of major interest to them, and much more!

Learn more about them and their blog:

"Hi everyone! We are Karima and Danielle from kadani. Our website is a colorful and evidence-based science platform for scientists to share their thoughts, ideas and expertise, and for curious minds to find evidence-based explanations of health-related topics. Our goal is to promote critical thinking and open-mindedness in science and to encourage all of us to learn new things everyday."

Links to Find them:

Website: Kadani.net

Instagram: @kadani_health_sciences

Twitter: @kadanihealthsc1

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That’s Cool:

• Scientists unveil largest 3D map of the universe ever
• Watch Engineers Take Their 60-Foot-Tall Gundam for a Walk
• Trump moves to limit greenhouse emissions from planes, but critics skeptical
• Elon Musk reveals Boring tunnels as he aims to eliminate city traffic
• Renewable power surpasses fossil fuels for first time in Europe
• NBA is using Microsoft Teams to brings virtual fans into its real-world games

That’s Not Cool:

• How Fox Sports will use virtual fans created in Unreal Engine to fill empty stadiums in MLB broadcasts

Cool Product:

• KAT Walk C: "Ready Player One" VR Treadmill at Your Home!

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That’s Cool:

• Dogs may use Earth’s magnetic field to take shortcuts
• Mars Mission From United Arab Emirates Embarks on 7-Month Journey
• Solar+battery in one device sets new efficiency standard
• Experimental Blood Test Detects Cancer up to Four Years before Symptoms Appear
• Historic Moon Landing Footage Has Been Enhanced by AI, And The Results Are Incredible
• Ramps for disabled people trace back to ancient Greece

That’s Not Cool:

• An internet outage caused by DQE and apparently Verizon shows how fragile the web is.

Cool Product:

• Former Israeli Spy’s Startup Gets Funding to Upend Asia Farming

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That’s Cool:

• New research of oldest light confirms age of the universe
• Wireless Tiny Cameras Can Be Mounted On Insects
• Microsoft to launch xCloud streaming free with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in September
• Solar Orbiter’s first images reveal ‘campfires’ on the Sun
• New Hybrid Solar Converter Uses Heat and Sunlight to Amass Energy

That’s Not Cool:

• Google faces lawsuit over tracking in apps even when users opted out

Cool Product:

• Fabelab Build Series: An engaging new series of playful construction sets for all ages.

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Rate The Podcast: ratethispodcast.com/thatscoolnews

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That’s Cool

• Nissan Pioneer Touts Resin Battery That's 90% Cheaper to Make
• The human skin replacement that got experts buzzing
• This self-driving startup built a “car without wheels” for remote driving
• Noise Cancelling Window Gadget Can “Mute” Street Sounds
• Porsche Found a Way to 3D-Print Lightweight Pistons That Add Even More Horsepower
• Seawater could provide nearly unlimited amounts of critical battery material

That’s Not Cool

• Apple could launch iPhone 12 without headphones or a charger, expert says

Cool Product:

• The hyper-compact Microlino 2.0 EV

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That’s Cool:

• Japanese Convenience Stores Test Robot Shelf-Stackers
• US Secret Service creates new Cyber Fraud Task Force
• Scientists Engineer Air Filter that Can Kill SARS-CoV-2 Instantly
• 12-Year-Old Wins $20,000 for Invention That Prevents Hot Car Deaths
• Printed solar panels a shining light for saving energy

That’s Not Cool

• CBP says it's 'unrealistic' for Americans to avoid its license plate surveillance

That’s A Cool Project:

• EyeRide HUD : Make Your Helmet Smart.

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Rate The Podcast: ratethispodcast.com/thatscoolnews

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That’s Cool:

• Walmart is converting its parking lots into pop-up drive-in theaters for the summer
• There's Now an Artificial Cartilage Gel Strong Enough to Work in Knees
• Some exoplanets may be covered in weird water that’s between liquid and gas
• Scientists in Japan Build Harder Diamond Using New Method
• Sony Selling Wearable Air Conditioner for Roughly $130
• Giant flywheel project in Scotland could prevent UK blackouts

That’s Not Cool:

• Looted skulls and human remains are being sold in black markets on Facebook

That’s A Cool Project:

• Refillable Mini Scuba Tank - Refills With a Hand Pump

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That’s Cool:

• Facebook’s newest proof-of-concept VR headset looks like a pair of sunglasses
• A high-tech glove can translate sign language with 99-percent accuracy
• Nuclear ‘Power Balls’ May Make Meltdowns a Thing of the Past
• Core of a gas planet seen for the first time
• 3D-printed plant-based steaks could arrive in 2021
• Declining eyesight can be improved by looking at red light, pilot study says

That’s Not Cool:

• Microsoft is forcing Edge on Windows users with a spyware-like install

That’s A Cool Project:

• GoGoLeash: All-in-One Dog Leash and Collar System

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Twitter: @Thats_Cool_News

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June 28th - July 1st

That’s Cool

• Honeywell claims it has built the most powerful quantum computer ever
• Amazon Prime Video introduces 'Watch Party,' a social coviewing experience included with Prime
• Fish eggs can hatch after being eaten and pooped out by ducks
• Voyager 2 reveals the dynamic, complex nature of the solar system’s edge
• Google now lets you see dinosaurs in the real world through augmented reality
• Could this South Korean ecommerce giant take on Amazon?
• The US’s flagship fighter jet simulator is now multiplayer

That’s Not Cool

• YouTube TV sharply increases monthly subscription to $64.99

That’s A Cool Project:

• Luerpci: Smart & Interactive Ball That Plays With Your Pet

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June 25th - 28th

That’s Cool:

• Massive prehistoric circle near Stonehenge
• A massive volcanic eruption may have contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire
• iOS 14 lets deaf users set alerts for important sounds, among other clever accessibility perks
• This One-Time Treatment Reversed Parkinson's Disease in Mice
• The oceans of Jupiter's moon Europa may be habitable, according to NASA
• Monkeys may share a key grammar-related skill with humans
• Scientists discover spider wearing 'Joker' makeup, name it after Batman villain

That’s Not Cool:

• Facebook will show users a pop-up warning before they share an outdated story

That’s A Cool Project:

• Firekorf a portable lightweight / all-in-one firepit

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Twitter: @Thats_Cool_News

Instagram: @ThatsCoolNews

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June 18th - 24th

That’s Cool:

• Astronomers have found a planet like Earth orbiting a star like the sun
• Acura has invented an airbag that works like a catcher’s mitt
• Lasers can help us detect viruses faster than typical medical tests
• NBA restart plan includes using Oura rings to catch COVID-19 symptoms
• Treating a rare type of malignant lung cancer could improve, thanks to near-infrared irradiation and a cancer-targeting compound.
• One-fifth of Earth's ocean floor is now mapped
• Memory impairment in mice reduced by soy derivate that can enter the brain intact
• The US military is getting serious about nuclear thermal propulsion
• Flying cars set to take to the skies in outback South Australia

That’s Not So Cool:

• Microsoft is shutting down Mixer and partnering with Facebook Gaming

That’s A Cool Project:

• Trekking Pole is the Multi-tools Aluminum stick.

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Articles between: June 11th - June 17th

Cool:

• Three people with inherited diseases successfully treated with CRISPR
• CO2 sucked out of the atmosphere can be reused for new chemical processes
• Quantum 'fifth state of matter' observed in space for first time
• CMU demonstrates nanoscale technology that causes plants to absorb nutrients with nearly 100% efficiency
• Startup Seeks Approval for Inhaler That Would Help Smokers Quit
• This new Lego set brings classic Super Mario games into the real world
• Ancient crocodile walked on two legs

Not Cool:

• Rumor: Apple working on foldable iPhone with separate but ‘seamless’ screens

That’s a Cool Project:

• Lumos Ultra - The New Standard In Bike Helmets

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Wanted to take a few minutes of your time to explain what the That's Cool News Podcast is. I essentially want to introduce myself to everyone listening, my name is Adam Buckingham, and what this podcast is going to be in the near future, and what it will hopefully grow into.

Who Am I?

• Adam Buckingham, an Engineer by day and an avid podcast listener

What is this Podcast?

• Podcast that basically breaks down articles where I say “That’s Cool”
• Could be anything really, but knowing my own interests it will be Science & Technology focused

What to Expect?

• Podcast every Monday with the Following Segments:
  • That’s Cool
  • That’s Not So Cool
  • That’s a Cool Project

Goals for the podcast moving forward

• Build up a consistency and an audience that loves to interact with the show
• Start doing interviews with “Cool People” that I think will bring value to the listeners

Follow/Support The Podcast:

Twitter: @Thats_Cool_News

Instagram: @ThatsCoolNews

Website: thatscoolnews.com/