Impact Lab – Page 259 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

In a 1st, scientists use designer immune cells to send an autoimmune disease into remission

October 9, 2022

In lupus, B cells release “autoantibodies” that latch onto the body’s cells, triggering a damaging immune response.

The therapy will now be tested in larger trials.

Five patients with hard-to-treat lupus entered remission after scientists tweaked their immune cells using a technique normally used to treat cancer. After the one-time therapy, all five patients with the autoimmune disease stopped their standard treatments and haven’t had a relapse.

This treatment, known as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy, needs to be tested in larger groups of lupus patients before it can be approved for widespread use. But if the results hold up in larger trials, the therapy could someday offer relief to people with moderate to severe lupus.

“For them, this is really a breakthrough,” said Dr. Georg Schett, director of rheumatology and immunology at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany. Schett is the senior author of a new report describing the small trial, which was published Thursday (Sept. 15) in the journal Nature Medicine.

“It’s a single shot of CAR T cells and patients stop all treatments,” Schett told Live Science. “We were really surprised [at] how good this effect is.”

Electric Vehicles

Uber Is Expanding EV Rides, Commits to an EV-Only Fleet by 2030

October 9, 2022

Uber’s Comfort Electric option is expanding to 25 cities throughout North America. The option allows users of the app to request electric vehicles specifically.

BY JACK FITZGERALD

Uber’s Comfort Electric service, which lets customers request EVs, is expanding from operating solely in California to 25 cities throughout North America.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi reaffirmed in an interview with CBS News that he wants all Uber fleet vehicles to be electric by 2030.
Drivers with gasoline-powered vehicles at that time will be forced to either switch to an electric vehicle or stop driving for the company.

Uber has expanded its Comfort Electric service from operating solely in California to 24 cities throughout the United States and in Vancouver, B.C., Canada. The Comfort Electric service within the app allows users to specifically request electric vehicles over traditional gasoline-powered vehicles.

The Comfort Electric service separates itself from Uber Green (another electrification effort) by requiring vehicles to be fully electric. Uber Green is less stringent, allowing both EVs and hybrids to qualify for the service. Uber specifically singles out Tesla, Polestar, and the Ford Mustang Mach-E as the “premium” electric vehicles available with Comfort Electric.

Space Flight

Shanghai rocket maker considering developing huge methane-fueled rockets

October 9, 2022

A Long March 5 launches the Chang’e-5 lunar sample return mission Nov. 23, 2020.

By Andrew Jones

PARIS — A major arm of China’s state-owned space contractor is looking at developing a series of partially and fully-reusable launch vehicles apparently in response to SpaceX’s Starship.

A paper published in the journal Aerospace Technology outlines plans under consideration by the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology (SAST) for a number of launch vehicles with varying diameters and clusters of methalox engines.

A first generation of three launch vehicles with reusable first stages would have diameters of 3.35, 4.0 and 7.0 meters, powered by clusters of five, seven-to-nine and 9-22 “Longyun” 70-ton-thrust engines. Second stages would use vacuum-optimized versions of the engine.

The 3.35m version is to be capable of lifting 2,500 kilograms to a 700-kilometer sun-synchronous orbit (SSO), while the 4.0m variant—a size chosen to meet the maximum which can be transported to China’s inland launch sites—could launch up to 6,500 kg of payload to a similar orbit.

The 7.0 meter version is planned to be able to launch more than 20,000 kg to 700 km SSO, while requiring new launch facilities and an offshore platform for recovering the first stage.

Space Flight

This Reusable Space Freighter Would ‘Open the Door’ to European Space Exploration

October 9, 2022

Artist’s conception of SUSIE performing a vertical landing

By Passant Rabie

CALLED SUSIE, THE REUSABLE SPACECRAFT WOULD BE CAPABLE OF DELIVERING CREWS AND CARGO TO SPACE, AND PERFORM VERTICAL LANDINGS WHEN RETURNING HOME.

French aerospace company ArianeGroup has revealed a concept for a reusable upper stage spacecraft that would be capable of delivering heavy payloads to space and carry out crewed missions before landing vertically back on Earth.

SUSIE, short for Smart Upper Stage for Innovative Exploration, was introducedto the world at the International Astronautical Congress held in Paris from September 18 to 22. The fully reusable upper stage could eventually serve as an automated freighter and payload transporter, as well as a spacecraft for crewed missions carrying a crew of up to five astronauts. SUSIE remains a concept for now, but if realized, the spacecraft would support various European space endeavours for years to come.

Reusability is fast becoming a necessity in modern spaceflight, as launch providers work to keep costs down. “It is our industrial duty to contribute to this ambition and offer European decision-makers smart and ambitious technological solutions capable of contributing to independent access to space, and also to open the door to European space exploration and address commercial and institutional needs for services in space over the coming decades,” Morena Bernardini, head of strategy and innovation at ArianeGroup, said in a statement.

Europe’s private space industry has fallen a bit behind its American counterparts in terms of developing reusable vehicles. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket is a reusable two-stage rocket that has flown to space nearly 200 times, while the company’s reusable Dragon capsules, whether for cargo or crews, are now in steady circulation. Boeing’s Starliner, a reusable crew capsule, recently completed its first uncrewed end-to-end test flight (although it was a less-than-perfect mission). Reusable launchers and vehicles aren’t so much the future as they are the present.

Space

Astrobotic announces plans for lunar power service

October 7, 2022

Astrobotic’s LunaGrid would use vertical solar arrays and rovers to deliver power to customers at the south pole of the moon.

By Jeff Foust

PARIS — Astrobotic unveiled plans Sept. 19 to develop a commercial power service for the moon that the company argues is essential for creating long-term infrastructure on the lunar surface.

At the International Astronautical Congress here, Astrobotic announced its LunaGrid project, which will combine solar arrays the company is developing with tethered rovers that will deliver uninterrupted power to customers on the lunar surface.

Such a power system, said John Thornton, chief executive of Astrobotic, is essential for systems that can survive for extended periods on the moon. “What we need is long-term infrastructure that can be there and last multiple years,” he said in an interview. “We see this as the grid for the surface of the moon, principally at the poles.”

The power would be generated by Vertical Solar Array Technology (VSAT) arrays, solar arrays that are deployed vertically and are optimized for operations at the lunar poles, where the sun is always low on the horizon. Astrobotic won a $6.2 million award from NASA Aug. 23 to develop and test prototypes of that solar array, one of three the agency made for similar technologies.

new technology

This environmentally friendly quantum sensor runs on sunlight

October 7, 2022

Light shines through a diamond sensor that is the heart of a sunlight-powered quantum device that measures magnetic fields.

By James R. Riordon

TRADING POWER-HUNGRY LASERS FOR SUNLIGHT IS A FIRST STEP TOWARD SUSTAINABLE QUANTUM TECH.

Quantum tech is going green.

A new take on highly sensitive magnetic field sensors ditches the power-hungry lasers that previous devices have relied on to make their measurements and replaces them with sunlight. Lasers can gobble 100 watts or so of power — like keeping a bright lightbulb burning. The innovation potentially untethers quantum sensors from that energy need. The result is an environmentally friendly prototype on the forefront of technology, researchers report in an upcoming issue of Physical Review X Energy.

Healthcare, Science & Technology News

Study: Medical debt threatens people’s health, housing

October 7, 2022

Soaring medical debt is setting U.S. adults up for higher risks of eviction, food insecurity and bad health outcomes regardless of insurance or income, a new study found.

By Sabrina Moreno

Why it matters: Uninsured or middle-to-low-income patients are more likely to get stuck with medical debt while the rich are largely spared. But even private insurance offers little protection against unaffordable bills, according to the study published in JAMA Open Network on Friday.

“Private insurance is a defective product. You pay for it and then when you get sick, there’s co-payments, there’s deductibles, there’s out-of-network fees, there’s things that aren’t covered at all,” said Steffie Woolhandler, a physician and public health professor at Hunter College who co-authored the study.

The big picture: More than 100 million Americans live with medical debt, per an investigation by Kaiser Health News and NPR.

Mounting costs coupled with stagnant wages can force people into delaying necessary care, taking on multiple jobs, sacrificing essentials like groceries and depleting savings to the point of financial ruin.

Yes, but: People in states that expanded Medicaid reported an average of $3,000 less in medical debt than those in states who hadn’t, signaling a link between comprehensive coverage and lower bills.

Alternative Transportation

A Star Wars-like hoverbike is set to launch in the US next year

October 6, 2022

It can fly for 40 minutes and go up to 100 km per hour (Picture: Masatoshi Okauchi/REX)

By Anugraha Sundaravelu

Flying motorbikes are not something that exist in science fiction anymore.

On Thursday, a hoverbike built by Japanese manufacturers made its debut at the Detroit Auto Show.

Drawing inevitable comparisons to the speeder bikes of ‘Star Wars’, the futuristic bikes are scheduled to launch in the United States next year.

The XTURISMO hoverbike is made by Japanese startup AERWINS Technologies and can fly for 40 minutes, reaching speeds of up to 100 km per hour.

‘I feel like I’m literally 15 years old and I just got out of “Star Wars” and jumped on their bike,’ said Thad Szott, co-chair of the auto show after taking a test drive – or, perhaps, a test hover.

‘I mean, it’s awesome! Of course, you have a little apprehension, but I was just so amped. I literally had goosebumps and feel like a little kid,’

Electric Vehicles

Air Canada-Backed Startup Launches New Electric Airplanes! Here’s the New Heart Aerospace ES-30

October 6, 2022

Air Canada is ordering 30 units of the new zero-emission aircraft.

By Griffin Davis

The Air Canada-backed startup, Heart Aerospace, launched a new electric airplane. The giant airline company announced that it had already ordered 30 units of the new zero-emission aircraft.

Now, it seems like they are getting the attention of major airlines across the globe. This can be seen in the latest investment made by Air Canada in Heart Aerospace.

Air Canada-Backed Startup Launches New Electric Airplanes!

According to Electrek’s latest report, Heart Aerospace unveiled the new ES-30, the successor of the recent ES-19 model.

3D Printer

First 3D printed multi-storey home in North America completes

October 6, 2022

After 80 hours of printing concrete, Ontario-based Nidus3D has finished a two-storey 3D printed home in a test of how technology could speed up construction and ease a shortage in trade skills.

The home, Nidus3D’s second, is a 2,300 sq ft space with a studio on the ground floor and residence above.

Using a COBOD BOD2 printer, the company cut construction time by more than half from its first 3D printed home, which took 200 hours to build.

Another innovation, it said, was 3D printing a horizontal beam on site and lifting into place by a crane.

Although there are other 3D printed homes in the US and Canada, these have either been one-storey houses or included a second non-3D printed storey.

In Europe, a company called Kamp C built the continent’s first two-storey 3D printed house in July 2020. Created entirely on site, the building in Westerlo, Belgium also used a BOD2 printer.

Space

Space Diamonds From Dwarf Planets May Be Future Of Mining & Manufacturing

October 5, 2022

Tiny folded diamonds that fell to Earth from an ancient dwarf star may sound like something from an intergalactic feature film, but researchers from Australia and the United Kingdom have proven the existence of the rare gems after examining a stony meteorite.

BY TYLER DURDEN

Scientists from Australia and the UK have established the existence of lonsdaleite, a rare hexagonal diamond, no bigger than a human hair, that researchers note is layered into a distinctive folded pattern, unlike the earth-formed diamonds that have a cubic structure.

The existence of Lonsdaleite—named after the pioneering British crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale—has previously been the subject of debate because its very existence could not be proven.

The lead scientist on the research team Prof. Andy Tomkins, from Monash University’s School of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment, said the mysteries of the rare diamond were what drove him continue researching ureilite meteorites in his lab.

Tomkins said it was a case of curiosity-driven science.

“This is exactly the sort of curiosity-piquing observation that sends scientists diving down rabbit holes for months on end,” he said.

Space Flight

Vast Space To Build an Artificial-Gravity Space Station in Orbit

October 5, 2022

By Tiffany Winfrey

Jed McCaleb, a cryptocurrency entrepreneur and founder of Vast Space, wants to build an artificial-gravity space station in low Earth orbit.

According to McCaleb (via Space News), there will be a lot of humans living all around the solar system in the future.

Since other businesses are assisting in lowering launch costs, McCaleb believes that building substantial buildings for people to live and work in space will be the next crucial step.