2020 – Page 30 – Impact Lab

Aviation, Science & Technology News, Transportation, Travel

New ‘bullet’ plane could make private air travel more affordable

September 4, 2020

Bullet-shaped plane that can travel at 460mph for more than 4,500 miles, costs just $328 per hour to operate and is set to revolutionize private air travel is unveiled

The first official information and images of the Celera 500L were revealed by Otto Aviation Wednesday.

The ‘bullet’ aircraft is predicted to revolutionize private air travel
It can travel at a cruising speed of 460mph for more than 4,500 miles
Yet it uses eight times less fuel bringing hourly operating costs down to at $328
It is hoped the the lower costs will make it a competitor for commercial travel
The plan is powered by a RED A03 engine
Otto Aviation plans for first commercial deliveries by 2025 but a price for the aircraft is not yet known

The much-anticipated Celera 500L ‘bullet’ plane which is set to revolutionize private air travel has been revealed.

Continue reading… “New ‘bullet’ plane could make private air travel more affordable”

Biotech, brain hacking, brain-computer interfaces, Elon Musk, Science & Technology News

Elon Musk is one step closer to connecting a computer to your brain

September 4, 2020

Neuralink has demonstrated a prototype of its brain-machine interface that currently works in pigs.

At a Friday event, Elon Musk revealed more details about his mysterious neuroscience company Neuralink and its plans to connect computers to human brains. While the development of this futuristic-sounding tech is still in its early stages, the presentation was expected to demonstrate the second version of a small, robotic device that inserts tiny electrode threads through the skull and into the brain. Musk said ahead of the event he would “show neurons firing in real-time. The matrix in the matrix.”

And he did just that. At the event, Musk showed off several pigs that had prototypes of the neural links implanted in their head, and machinery that was tracking those pigs’ brain activity in real time. The billionaire also announced the Food and Drug Administration had awarded the company a breakthrough device authorization, which can help expedite research on a medical device.

Like building underground car tunnels and sending private rockets to Mars, this Musk-backed endeavor is incredibly ambitious, but Neuralink builds on years of research into brain-machine interfaces. A brain-machine interface is technology that allows for a device, like a computer, to interact and communicate with a brain. Neuralink, in particular, aims to build an incredibly powerful brain-machine interface, a device with the power to handle lots of data, that can be inserted in a relatively simple surgery. Its short-term goal is to build a device that can help people with specific health conditions.

Continue reading… “Elon Musk is one step closer to connecting a computer to your brain”

Analysis, Big Problems, Coronavirus, Healthcare, Science & Technology News

CDC: 94% of Covid-19 deaths had underlying medical conditions

September 4, 2020

This image depicts the exterior of the CDC’s “Tom Harkin Global Communications Center” located on the organization’s Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia.

ATLANTA, Ga. (WEYI) – The Centers for Disease Control released information showing how many people who died from COVID-19 had comorbidities or underlying conditions as they are sometimes referred to by doctors.

According to the CDC, comorbidity is defined as: ” more than one disease or condition is present in the same person at the same time. Conditions described as comorbidities are often chronic or long-term conditions. Other names to describe comorbid conditions are coexisting or co-occurring conditions and sometimes also “multimorbidity” or “multiple chronic conditions.”

Comorbidity and underlying conditions can both be used to describe conditions that exist in one person at the same time. These can also contribute to a persons death who has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Continue reading… “CDC: 94% of Covid-19 deaths had underlying medical conditions”

Alternative Transportation, Automobiles, Aviation, Electric Vehicles, Science & Technology News

Japan’s Sky Drive ‘flying car’ successfully carries out test flight with a person aboard

September 4, 2020

A contraption that looked like a slick motorcycle with propellers lifted several feet off the ground

The vehicle hovered in the air, over a netted area, for four minutes.

The decades-old dream of zipping around in the sky as simply as driving on highways may be becoming less illusory.

Japan’s SkyDrive, among the myriads of “flying car” projects around the world, has carried out a successful though modest test flight with one person aboard.

In a video shown to reporters on Friday, a contraption that looked like a slick motorcycle with propellers lifted several feet off the ground, and hovered in a netted area for four minutes.

Continue reading… “Japan’s Sky Drive ‘flying car’ successfully carries out test flight with a person aboard”

3D Printer, Biotech, Healthcare, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Robot skin 3D printer close to first-in-human clinical trials

September 4, 2020

In just two years a robotic device that prints a patient’s own skin cells directly onto a burn or wound could have its first-in-human clinical trials. The 3D bioprinting system for intraoperative skin regeneration developed by Australian biotech start-up Inventia Life Science has gained new momentum thanks to major investments from the Australian government and two powerful new partners, world-renowned burns expert Fiona Wood and leading bioprinting researcher Gordon Wallace.

Codenamed Ligō from the Latin “to bind”, the system is expected to revolutionize wound repairs by delivering multiple cell types and biomaterials rapidly and precisely, creating a new layer of skin where it has been damaged. The novel system is slated to replace current wound healing methods that simply attempt to repair the skin, and is being developed by Inventia Skin, a subsidiary of Inventia Life Science.

“When we started Inventia Life Science, our vision was to create a technology platform with the potential to bring enormous benefit to human health. We are pleased to see how fast that vision is progressing alongside our fantastic collaborators. This Federal Government support will definitely help us accelerate even faster,” said Dr. Julio Ribeiro, CEO, and co-founder of Inventia.

Continue reading… “Robot skin 3D printer close to first-in-human clinical trials”

AI, brain hacking, Energy, Engineering, Science & Technology News

Brain-inspired electronic system could vastly reduce AI’s carbon footprint

September 4, 2020

A wafer filled with memristors.

Extremely energy-efficient artificial intelligence is now closer to reality after a study by UCL researchers found a way to improve the accuracy of a brain-inspired computing system.

The system, which uses memristors to create artificial neural networks, is at least 1,000 times more energy efficient than conventional transistor-based AI hardware, but has until now been more prone to error.

Existing AI is extremely energy-intensive—training one AI model can generate 284 tons of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the lifetime emissions of five cars. Replacing the transistors that make up all digital devices with memristors, a novel electronic device first built in 2008, could reduce this to a fraction of a ton of carbon dioxide—equivalent to emissions generated in an afternoon’s drive.

Since memristors are so much more energy-efficient than existing computing systems, they can potentially pack huge amounts of computing power into hand-held devices, removing the need to be connected to the Internet.

Continue reading… “Brain-inspired electronic system could vastly reduce AI’s carbon footprint”

AI, Automation, Employment, Robots, Science & Technology News

Are robots eating our jobs? Not according to AI

September 4, 2020

Automation has been gradually transforming the workplace for years (think Excel spreadsheets or chatbots). As artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and deep learning systems that can learn from each other become more prevalent and smarter (think Alexa or IBM Watson), they continue to replace more manual, repetitive job tasks. Consequently, automation and robots are changing more jobs globally at breakneck speed.

A McKinsey Global Institute report suggests that between 400 million to 800 million jobs worldwide will be lost due to automation by 2030. The report claims that the U.S. could lose between 16 to 54 million jobs by 2030. The pace at which robots are entering our workforce is staggering. Oxford Economics expects robots and automation to replace 20 million (8.5%) global manufacturing jobs by 2030.

Keep in mind that these predictions came before anyone predicted the Covid-19 pandemic or its impact on our workforce. The pandemic has made the need for digital transformation and automation more urgent as the critical need to work from home, physical distancing and contactless become the new normal.

Continue reading… “Are robots eating our jobs? Not according to AI”

Analysis, brains, Health & Fitness, New Viewpoints, Science & Technology News

The surprising upsides of worrying

September 3, 2020

Anxiety can be exhausting, but there is often a reason for it – and there are some surprising benefits to certain kinds of worrying.

“I’m a near-professional worrier,” admits Kate Sweeny ruefully. She’s struggled for much of her life with anxiety over things she can’t entirely control – including, these days, whether her parents are following social-distancing guidance during the Covid-19 pandemic.

A constant hum of low-grade worry affects many people, but what’s distinct about Sweeny is that it partly motivated her career choices. As a health psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, she specialises in understanding worry and stress.

“Not everybody uses their own life as fodder for research,” she laughs, but she’s found inspiration in her own experiences. One of her surprising findings has been that worrying can be beneficial in a variety of situations, from waiting for exam results to safeguarding health.

Continue reading… “The surprising upsides of worrying”

Agriculture, Farming, Legalized marijuana, Science & Technology News

Groundbreaking for a one-of-a-kind hemp processing plant in Fort Benton

September 3, 2020

FORT BENTON — Thursday was a big day in Fort Benton as the mayor, a U.S. senator, and hemp farmers broke ground on a new facility – the first of its kind in the nation.

Employees of the industrial hemp company IND HEMP were joined by Fort Benton Mayor Rick Morris and Democratic U.S. Senator Jon Tester for the ceremony, which marked the opening of the nation’s first scaled hemp decortication and fiber processing plant. The Chouteau County town, with around 1,500 residents, gained national attention for the opening event.

“Stuff like this just doesn’t come along for rural Montana,” said Morris. “It’s a big deal for Fort Benton.”

Continue reading… “Groundbreaking for a one-of-a-kind hemp processing plant in Fort Benton”

Battery, Coronavirus, Health & Fitness, Science & Technology News

LG unveils a battery-powered air purifier you strap to your face

September 3, 2020

LG is releasing a face-mounted, battery-powered air purifier

Korean electronics giant LG has adapted its home air purifying technology into a battery-powered, air purifying face mask with twin H13 HEPA filters, multi-speed fans and a UV-LED sterilizing case. But there’s still a lot we don’t know.

The PuriCare Wearable Air Purifier, as LG is calling it, appears quite a remarkable device. It straps to the face with straps behind the ears like a regular face mask, but carries an 820-mAh battery to run an active air filtration and purification system for up to eight hours on low mode and two hours on high.

Continue reading… “LG unveils a battery-powered air purifier you strap to your face”

Healthcare, Medical Breakthrough, Medicine, Science & Technology News

Rejuvenating old organs could increase donor pool

September 3, 2020

Despite the limited supply of organs available for patients on waitlists for transplantation, organs from older, deceased donors are frequently discarded or not utilized.

Available older organs have the potential to close the gap between demand and supply that is responsible for the very long wait-times that lead to many patients not surviving the time it takes for an organ to become available.

Older organs can also often provoke a stronger immune response and may put patients at greater risk of adverse outcomes and transplant rejection. But, as the world population ages, organs from older, deceased donors represent an untapped and growing resource for patients in need. Investigators from Brigham and Women’s Hospital are leading efforts to breathe new life into older organs by leveraging a new class of drugs known as senolytics, which target and eliminate old cells.

Using clinical and experimental studies, the team presents evidence that senolytic drugs may help rejuvenate older organs, which could lead to better outcomes and a wider pool of organs eligible for donation. Results are published in Nature Communications.

“Older organs are available and have the potential to contribute to mitigating the current demand for organ transplantation,” said corresponding author Stefan G. Tullius, MD, Ph.D., chief of the Division of Transplant Surgery at the Brigham. “If we can utilize older organs in a safe way with outcomes that are comparable, we will take a substantial step forward for helping patients.”

Continue reading… “Rejuvenating old organs could increase donor pool”

Automation, Automobiles, Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

Sometime soon, your car will park itself in urban garages

September 2, 2020

A Ford Escape automatically stops as a pedestrian crosses in front during a self park demonstration, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020 in Detroit.

Ford, Bosch and real estate company Bedrock are teaming up to test technology that will let vehicles park by themselves in parking decks. The companies are testing the technology using floor-mounted sensors and computers that can control mainly existing features in the Ford Escape.

They say the technology is likely to arrive before widespread use of fully autonomous vehicles because sensors and computers inside parking decks can be used.

Continue reading… “Sometime soon, your car will park itself in urban garages”