Impact Lab – Page 243 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Robots

A perfect mix of chemistry and engineering has produced microscopic robots that function like specialized immune cells—capable of pursuing pathogenic culprits with a specific mugshot.

The pathogen in question is Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), which can impact dairy cows’ milk production. These bacteria also make toxins that cause food poisoning and gastrointestinal illnesses in humans (that includes the usual trifecta of diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and nausea).

Removing the toxins from dairy products is not easy to do. The toxins tend to be stable and can’t be eradicated by common hygienic practices in food production, like pasteurization and heat sterilization. However, an international group of researchers led by a team from the University of Chemistry and Technology Prague may have come up with another way to get rid of these pesky pathogens: with a tiny army of magnetic microrobots. Plus, each “MagRobot” is equipped with an antibody that specifically targets a protein on the S. aureus bacteria, like a lock-and-key mechanism.

In a small proof-of-concept study published in the journal Small, the team detailed how these MagRobots could bind and isolate S. aureus from milk without affecting other microbes that may naturally occur.

Food

A meat company is building the world’s largest facility in the US

December 15, 2022

“We are on the path to creating the change we seek.”

By Nergis Firtina

The company’s first U.S. commercial-scale production facility is planned at 200,000 square feet, with possible expansion in the future.

Israeli-based company Believer Meats is commencing its first U.S. commercial facility in North Carolina. Located in Wilson, the company’s new spurt will be the biggest and largest cultivated production facility established so far, covering a site of 200,000-square-foot (18580,608 m²).

Believer Meats is one of the largest companies producing lab-grown meat with non-GMO animal cells. The company is cruelty-free and very respectful of the ecological environment. With the 10,000 metric tons of cultivated meat capacity, Believer Meats seems to be about to change the industry.

“Our facility propels Belieber forward as a leader in the cultivated meat industry,” says Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, CEO of Believer Meats, in the press release.

“Our brand has continually proven our commitment to scale production technology and capacity, and with our new U.S. production center, we are one step closer to commercialization. Believer Meats is setting the standard globally to make it possible for future generations to eat and enjoy meat.”

Space

The new space race will drive innovation. Here’s where it goes next

December 15, 2022

Sixty years after JFK declared the US would go to the moon, America’s bold ambitions for space are back.

By Stephanie Condon

By 1962, the first space race was already underway. The Soviet Union had sent the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into outer space. America’s Alan Shepard followed soon after into suborbital space.

Then, with instantly iconic remarks, President John F. Kennedy upped the ante: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard”.

Batteries

European scientists are developing nuclear waste batteries for use in space

December 13, 2022

The ESA’s found a way to get around using Russian fuel to power its ambitions in space

BY Tristan Greene

Ministers at the European Space Agency (ESA) recently approved funding for a special project to build nuclear waste-powered batteries for use in space exploration. If successful, the new tech would make it possible to conduct operations in areas where access to solar energy is degraded or absent, such as on the dark side of the moon.

Researchers working with the ESA believe they can use americium, a radioactive element derived from plutonium decay, to generate sufficient heat to both warm equipment and generate electricity to power functionality. This would represent the first time americium has been used in this manner, but the innovation comes at a necessary time for the European space program.

Current batteries rely on plutonium-238, an element that’s challenging and expensive to produce. The US and Russia house the lion’s share of the world’s supply and, unfortunately, NASA barely has enough to power its own ambitions. The only option, at this point, is for the ESA to find an alternative.

Robotics

The Smallest Robotic Arm You Can Imagine Is Controlled By Artificial Intelligence

December 13, 2022

By Amelia Podder

Researchers used deep reinforcement learning to steer atoms into a lattice shape, with a view to building new materials or nanodevices.

In a very cold vacuum chamber, single atoms of silver form a star-like lattice. The precise formation is not accidental, and it wasn’t constructed directly by human hands either. Researchers used a kind of artificial intelligence called deep reinforcement learning to steer the atoms, each a fraction of a nanometer in size, into the lattice shape. The process is similar to moving marbles around a Chinese checkers board, but with very tiny tweezers grabbing and dragging each atom into place.

The main application for deep reinforcement learning is in robotics, says postdoctoral researcher I-Ju Chen. “We’re also building robotic arms with deep learning, but for moving atoms,” she explains. “Reinforcement learning is successful in things like playing chess or video games, but we’ve applied it to solve technical problems at the nanoscale.”

So why are scientists interested in precisely moving atoms? Making very small devices based on single atoms is important for nanodevices like transistors or memory. Testing how and whether these devices work at their absolute limits is one application for this kind of atomic manipulation, says Chen. Building new materials atom-by-atom, rather than through traditional chemical techniques, may also reveal interesting properties related to superconductivity or quantum states.

Driverless vehicles

Einride announces $500M for autonomous, electric vehicle development

December 13, 2022

Einride has raised $500 million through a combination of equity and debt financing, giving it more funding to accelerate deployment of its autonomous and electric vehicles.

By Brian Straight

FreightTech startup Einride announced Wednesday it had raised $500 million in financing through a combination of a Series C equity raise and a debt facility.

The Sweden-based company raised $200 million in the Series C with the Swedish pension fund AMF, EQT Ventures, Northzone, Polar Structure, Norrsken VC and Temasek, among others participating in the round. In addition, Einride said it secured a $300 million debt facility led by Barclays Europe.

“The time is now to act on not only developing but accelerating the implementation of technology that will create a cleaner, safer and more efficient way to move goods,” said Robert Falck, founder and CEO at Einride. “We’ve created the Einride ecosystem to provide the most resilient and future-proof approach to electrifying freight today. With the support from our investors and shared belief in this mission, we’ll continue to drive disruptive change to global freight at scale.”

The debt facility includes an initial rollout of $150 million in January, the company said, and will be used to support the growing Einride fleet in the U.S. and Europe and for future planned expansions. Einride is currently operational in the U.S., Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg and Norway.

“This landmark debt facility represents a key milestone in the financing of heavy-duty electric vehicles,” said Gordon Beck, director of securitized products solutions at Barclays. “The innovative asset-backed structure complements Einride’s unique ecosystem offering and is a continued demonstration of how Barclays is using our financial and capital markets expertise to support clients in driving the transition to net-zero.”

Aviation

Dubai to house world’s first advanced air mobility integrator centre for flying cars

December 13, 2022

Facility will allow companies to test and operate vertical take-off and landing

Dubai will house an advanced air mobility (AAM) integrator centre, the first of its kind in the world, which would allow companies to test and operate electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

To be set up by VPorts, which specialises in the design, construction and operation of AAM infrastructure, in Dubai South with an investment of $40 million over three years, the project itself will create 1,500 high-quality direct jobs in the UAE.

‘‘We are excited to build the first vertiport network connecting major UAE industrial areas. Similar to heliports, the vertiports will be designed for take-off and landing by eVTOLs,” said Dr Fethi Chebil, CEO and founder of VPorts.

Stem cells

Creating Mini Brains from Stem Cells Gets Automated

December 13, 2022

Scientists innovate on growing brain organoids from pluripotent stem cells.

By Lybi Ma

Scientists published a new study published in Scientific Reports that showcases a new platform that automates the growth of brain organoids, offering neuroscientists research improved flexibility and quality control.

“The increasing demands for long-term experiments, reproducibility, parallelization, and longitudinal analysis drive cell culture toward automation,” the researchers at the University of California at Santa Cruz wrote. “This study showcases an automated, microfluidic solution for the growth and maintenance of organoids capable of existing in conjunction with other control and sensing devices over the Internet of Things, magnifying the ability to capitalize on precision robotics for automated experimentation.”

One of the greatest challenges in neuroscience is having living human brains in which to conduct research. Neuroscientists study the human brain, the central nervous system, as well as neurological and psychiatric disorders to discover potential treatments and cures. Brain organoids, 3D brain-like structures consisting of human stem cells, offer a way to study brain diseases and disorders and test potential medication and treatments.

The history of brain organoids is fairly recent. In 2006 scientists Shinya Yamanaka, a recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and Kazutoshi Takahashi were the first to create induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). The duo created stem cells in a lab by applying four transcription factors to the mature skin cells of mice. Transcription factors are the molecules that play a role in regulating gene expression. Transcription factors are typically proteins, but they can be made up of non-coding RNA as well. Yamanaka and others demonstrated that this technique worked for human skin cells in 2007.

AI

DeepMind debuts new AI system capable of playing ‘Stratego’

December 13, 2022

BY MARIA DEUTSCHER

Alphabet Inc.’s DeepMind unit has developed a new artificial intelligence system capable of playing “Stratego,” a board game considered more complex than chess and Go.

DeepMind detailed the AI system, which it dubs DeepNash, on Thursday. The Alphabet unit says that DeepNash achieved a win rate of more than 84% in matches against expert human players.

“Stratego” is a two-player board game that is similar to chess in certain respects. Players receive a collection of game pieces that, like chess pieces, are maneuvered around the board until one of the players wins. But there are a number of differences between the two games that make “Stratego” more complicated than chess.

In “Stratego,” each player has only limited information about the other player’s game pieces. A player might know that the other player has placed a game piece on a certain section of the board, but not which specific game piece was placed there. This dynamic makes playing the game difficult for AI systems.

Another source of complexity is that there are more possibilities to consider than in chess. The number of potential tactics that players can use in a board game is measured with a metric known as the game tree complexity number. Chess has a game tree complexity number of 10 to the power of 123, while in “Stratego,” that number increases to 10 to the power of 535.

According to DeepMind, traditional methods of teaching AI systems to play board games can’t be applied well to “Stratego” because of its complexity. To address that limitation, DeepMind’s researchers developed a new AI method dubbed R-NaD that draws on the mathematical field of game theory. That method forms the basis of the DeepNash system DeepMind detailed this week.

Elon Musk

Are You A Robot? Elon Musk’s Twitter To Perform These Checks Before Unlocking All Features For Users

December 11, 2022

by Ananya Gairola

Twitter is planning first to verify if there’s a human behind an account before unlocking all features.

What Happened: Twitter is working to ensure there’s a human behind an account before unlocking features like sending Direct Messages to people without getting filtered, said developer Alessandro Paluzzi sharing a screenshot on the platform.

Paluzzi further stated that this new development will be “tested sooner or later.”

Twitter did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comments.

Why It’s Important: Last week, Twitter chief Elon Musk said that the platform is currently “purging a lot of spam/scam accounts.” According to Musk, the step could result in users losing some followers.

Space

NASA Wants to Build Landing Pads on the Moon

December 11, 2022

BY ANDY TOMASWICK

NASA has started engaging with commercial partners are some out-there projects. One of the most recent is a six year, $57.2 million deal with ICON, a company based in Austin, Texas that specializes in in-situ resource utilization 3D printing technologies.

With its recent step forward with the Artemis program, NASA hopes to return to the Moon in this decade and stay there. If astronauts do that, they will need infrastructure, including places to land, drive, and live.

One of the best ways to create those places will be by utilizing resources that are already on the Moon, rather than shipping them directly, and expensively, from Earth. And ICON has proven itself to be one of the world’s most capable organizations at doing just that. Their 3D printing infrastructure system, known as Olympus, is useful for more than just making things out of regolith.

Space

Exciting new 3D invention can target and remove space junk

December 11, 2022

Norwegian company SINTEF is developing a new 3D robot that explores the surface of planets and identifies space junk.

Originally, the camera was designed to roam the surface of Mars through a collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russia. However, following the war in Ukraine, this project has been abandoned and SINTEF is looking to target regions closer to Earth.

“Mars is still an interesting target for us,” said SINTEF’s Jostein Thorstensen. “But right now, it all seems a little far away, so we’re looking at other opportunities. Servicing satellites and the removal of space junk have emerged as very interesting areas.”

There are thousands of satellites and many of them require servicing and repairs in order to extend their lifetimes. Increasing amounts of space junk are also becoming a major problem, with thousands of decommissioned satellites still in orbit around Earth.