Impact Lab – Page 239 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Faction Debuts Driverless Delivery Cars in San Francisco

January 4, 2023

The company’s vehicle fleet combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation to carry out its deliveries.

Faction Technology, a driverless-technology company, announced it is bringing driverless delivery to portions of the San Francisco Bay Area. Faction’s first partner is Cocola Bakery, which is using Faction to deliver to its customers around the metro region. Deliveries will be made in lightweight, electric vehicles based on three wheel EV platforms from Arcimoto and from ElectraMeccanica. Since July, Faction has made regular deliveries to the bakery’s customers and it’s now looking to add additional delivery partners in the coming months.

Equipped with Faction’s DriveLink and TeleAssist technologies, the company’s vehicle fleet combines autonomy with remote human teleoperation to carry out its deliveries. These technologies allow Faction to provide businesses like Cocola Bakery with a delivery service that seamlessly delivers goods via a driverless fleet in an affordable, safe, and predictable way.

“Cocola Bakery and our customers have been ecstatic with the services Faction has provided us so far,” said Amir Aliabadi, CEO of Cocola Bakery. “We are now able to quickly, affordably, and reliably deliver our products to customers around the Bay Area, something we couldn’t easily accomplish before due to inconsistent gig-worker services.”

Solar Energy

Scientists Explore Using Paper-thin Solar Cells to Generate Renewable Energy

January 2, 2023

Scientists in the US have developed thin-film materials with photovoltaic cells capable of producing energy. Much lighter than regular solar panels, they can be added to any type of surface, including clothing!. magine ultra-thin photovoltaic films that could be added to your windowsill, the back of your smartphone or even your clothes!

That’s the idea of a research team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), who have developed thin layers of photovoltaic cells. Made from semiconducting printable electronic inks, these devices are capable of generating about 370 watts of power per kilogram, about 18 times more than conventional solar panels, all while weighing one hundredth of their weight, say the researchers.

Although ultra-thin, these films are robust, as they are protected by a lightweight (13 grams per square meter), but very resistant composite fabric substrate. According to the researchers — whose project is outlined in an article published on the website of the scientific journal, Small Methods — these mini textile solar panels managed to maintain 90% of their power-producing capacity even after being rolled and unrolled more than 500 times!

It’s a project that’s as innovative as it is promising, since these devices could be adapted for use on numerous surfaces, the scope of which could greatly exceed those found in our homes. “For instance, they 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, or applied onto the wings of drones to extend their flying range,” the researchers explain in a blog post.

NASA

Construction Begins on NASA’s Next-Generation Asteroid Hunter

January 2, 2023

A space telescope designed to search for the hardest-to-find asteroids and comets that stray into Earth’s orbital neighborhood, NASA’s Near-Earth Object Surveyor (NEO Surveyor) recently passed a rigorous technical and programmatic review. Now the mission is transitioning into the final design-and-fabrication phase and establishing its technical, cost, and schedule baseline.

The mission supports the objectives of NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office (PDCO) at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 directed NASA to discover and characterize at least 90% of the near-Earth objects more than 140 meters (460 feet) across that come within 30 million miles (48 million kilometers) of our planet’s orbit. Objects of this size are capable of causing significant regional damage, or worse, should they impact the Earth.

“NEO Surveyor represents the next generation for NASA’s ability to quickly detect, track, and characterize potentially hazardous near-Earth objects,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s Planetary Defense Officer at PDCO. “Ground-based telescopes remain essential for us to continually watch the skies, but a space-based infrared observatory is the ultimate high ground that will enable NASA’s planetary defense strategy.”

Medical Breakthrough

Regenerative Medicine Breakthrough: Cellular “Glue” To Regenerate Tissues, Heal Wounds, Regrow Nerves

January 2, 2023

SYNTHETIC MOLECULES THAT ADHERE CELLS COULD GALVANIZE REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

Molecules that act like “cellular glue” have been developed by researchers, enabling them to control exactly how cells bond with each other. This represents a significant advancement towards the construction of tissues and organs, which has been a key objective in the field of regenerative medicine for a long time.

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) have engineered molecules that act like “cellular glue,” allowing them to direct in precise fashion how cells bond with each other. The discovery represents a major step toward building tissues and organs, a long-sought goal of regenerative medicine.

Adhesive molecules are found naturally throughout the body, holding its tens of trillions of cells together in highly organized patterns. They form structures, create neuronal circuits, and guide immune cells to their targets. Adhesion also facilitates communication between cells to keep the body functioning as a self-regulating whole.

In a new study, published in the December 12, 2022, issue of Nature, researchers engineered cells containing customized adhesion molecules that bound with specific partner cells in predictable ways to form complex multicellular ensembles.

“We were able to engineer cells in a manner that allows us to control which cells they interact with, and also to control the nature of that interaction,“ said senior author Wendell Lim, PhD, the Byers Distinguished Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and director of UCSF’s Cell Design Institute. “This opens the door to building novel structures like tissues and organs.”

Cancer

Using artificial DNA to kill cancer

December 31, 2022

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have used artificial DNA to target and kill cancer cells in a completely new way.

The method was effective in lab tests against human cervical cancer- and breast cancer-derived cells, and against malignant melanoma cells from mice.

The team created a pair of chemically synthesized, hairpin-shaped, cancer-killing DNA. When the DNA pairs were injected into cancer cells, they connected to microRNA (miRNA) molecules that are overproduced in certain cancers. Once connected to the miRNA, they unraveled and joined together, forming longer chains of DNA which triggered an immune response. This response not only killed the cancer cells but prevented further growth of cancerous tissue. This method is different from conventional anticancer drug treatments and is hoped to bring about a new era of drug development.

The paper is published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. This research still has many steps to go before a treatment can be made available, but the team is confident in the benefits of nucleic acids for new drug discovery.

Space

Scientists plan to hit an asteroid with more than 9.6 million radio waves from HAARP

December 31, 2022

Low-frequency radio waves can reveal the intent and interiors of an asteroid.

By Rupendra Brahambhatt

A 500-foot-wide asteroid called 2010 XC15 will pass by Earth on December 27. While it has no intention of hitting us, it’s us who will hit the asteroid with a radio pulse.

Scientists at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and NASA want to examine the 2010 XC15 space rock to test their preparation against Apophis. This dangerous asteroid might hit our planet in 2029. It is believed that on April 13, 2029, Apophis will be 10 times closer to Earth than the moon.

The researchers will use the HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) array to shoot 9.6 megahertz radio waves at the 2010 XC15 asteroid. HAARP is a government-funded research program that generally studies the ionosphere (part of Earth’s atmosphere at 50 to 400 miles above the surface).

However, this will be the first time it will be employed to examine an asteroid.

3D Printer

US explores application of 3D bioprinting to create eye tissue

December 31, 2022

Efforts have resulted in very relevant retina tissue models of degenerative eye diseases

Scientists are now using patient stem cells and 3D bioprinting to produce eye tissue that will advance understanding of the mechanisms of blinding diseases. The research team from the National Eye Institute (NEI), part of the National Institutes of Health in the US, printed a combination of cells that form the outer blood-retina barrier—eye tissue that supports the retina’s light-sensing photoreceptors.

The technique provides a theoretically unlimited supply of patient-derived tissue to study degenerative retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

“We know that AMD starts in the outer blood-retina barrier,” said Kapil Bharti, Ph.D., who heads the NEI Section on Ocular and Stem Cell Translational Research. “However, mechanisms of AMD initiation and progression to advanced dry and wet stages remain poorly understood due to the lack of physiologically relevant human models.”

Cancer

Cancer-Fighting Nanoparticles: A New Weapon in the Fight Against Disease

December 31, 2022

The study has two innovative aspects: the discovery of a new therapeutic target and the development of an effective nanocarrier for the selective delivery of immunotherapy and chemotherapy drugs.

Researchers have developed cancer-fighting nanoparticles that can deliver innovative chemoimmunotherapy.

According to a new study published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh have developed cancer-fighting nanoparticles that simultaneously deliver chemotherapy and a novel immunotherapy.

The new immunotherapy, which silences a gene involved in immunosuppression, has been shown to be effective in shrinking tumors in mouse models of colon and pancreatic cancer when combined with chemotherapy and packaged into nanoparticles.

“There are two innovative aspects of our study: the discovery of a new therapeutic target and a new nanocarrier that is very effective in selective delivery of immunotherapy and chemotherapeutic drugs,” said senior author Song Li, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences in the Pitt School of Pharmacy and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center investigator. “I’m excited about this research because it’s highly translational. We don’t know yet whether our approach works in patients, but our findings suggest that there is a lot of potential.”

drones, Science & Technology News

A European planemaker built a pilotless aircraft to power the world’s first ‘cargo drone airline’ — meet Black Swan

December 31, 2022

Black Swan.

By Taylor Rains

Bulgarian manufacturer Dronamics will soon debut a pilotless cargo aircraft the size of a delivery van, named Black Swan.

The plane boasts 50% lower costs than competing aircraft, a 770-pound payload, and a 1550-mile range.

The company will operate the aircraft as the world’s first “cargo drone airline” starting in 2023.

A new cargo aircraft is getting ready to hit the market.

European manufacturing company Dronamics will soon debut the Black Swan — a pilotless drone certified to carry freight in the European Union starting in 2023.

The concept is the brainchild of Bulgarian brothers Konstantin and Svilen Rangelov. Speaking with Insider, the latter said the pair started looking into the market in 2013 when Amazon began dabbling in drone deliveries.

AI

ISRAELI COMPANY USES AI TO FIND MISTAKES DURING BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

December 31, 2022

Big construction projects are notorious for delays and running over budget. An Israeli company says it has a high tech solution to get everything back on track.

At a hospital construction project in England, project manager Bruce Preston says he is juggling millions of pieces to help the nearly $200 million project take shape. “We have 2,300 rooms and spaces that we need to keep track of to know exactly what’s going on in everyone one of those spaces.”

Tracking progress is usually done by hand. But on this job, a 360-degree camera attached to a hard hat is capturing every inch of the site using artificial intelligence to compare the images to the building’s blueprints. Preston points to a computer screen to show how it works, saying, “it’ll tell you green if it’s all done and orange where there’s work still to do.”

Tech firm Buildots says their AI system catches mistakes before they become a costly problem. “How many times does the industry lose money because it finds out way down the line that we missed something?” asks Buildots Co-founder Aviv Leibovici.

Construction is estimated to be a $10 trillion industry worldwide, and a report from McKinsey Global Institute, a management consulting company, says about $1.6 trillion are wasted every year by productivity problems.

Driverless vehicles

Outrider equips autonomous trucks with deep-learning driven robotic arms

December 29, 2022

Outrider, the startup developing autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, has releaseed TrailerConnect – a patented technology that robotically attaches the needed brake and electric lines from yard trucks to any of the over 10 million trailers and chassis circulating globally.

BY MARK ALLINSON

A deep-learning based technology, TrailerConnect is now available as part of the Outrider System, which automates distribution yards for large, logistics-dependent enterprises.

In distribution yards around the globe, yard trucks transition semi-trailers from dock doors to parking spots to public roads. To move these trailers, truck drivers connect pressurized brake lines to semi-trailers to release the parking brake and move the trailers around the yard – a hazardous manual task that requires the driver to get in and out of the cab constantly.

Andrew Smith, CEO and founder of Outrider, says: “Outrider is reinventing the modern distribution yard to be more efficient, safer, and sustainable, and we are delivering the breakthrough technology like TrailerConnect to do it.

“TrailerConnect automates a dangerous task traditionally performed over 6 billion times annually worldwide. Four years of development and close partnerships with our priority customers has resulted in a technology integral to autonomously moving freight.”

Space

Wind Energy Could Power Human Colonies On Mars, Finds Study

December 29, 2022

By Monit Khanna

Researchers made use of a global climate model originally designed for Earth, to look at wind movement on the red planet. They used detailed info about Mars such as precise landscape, heat, energy, dust levels, solar radiation levels etc. which were taken from maps generated by Mars Global Surveyor and Viking missions. Based on this info, they created a simulation to show the kind of wind speeds seen across the planet during the day, night and its seasons

A new study conducted by NASA researchers reveals that if humans were to colonise Mars, they could generate energy using wind power, reveals a report by NewScientist.