Impact Lab – Page 335 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

DNA

An international, multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Translational Synthetic Biology Laboratory at Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain), led by Dr. Marc Güell, has published an article in the scientific journal Nature Communications showing the potential of Find Cut-and-Transfer (FiCAT) technology as a state-of-the-art tool for gene writing to develop advanced therapies that are safer and more effective in their future clinical application in patients with genetic and oncological diseases that have few treatment options.

The UPF Translational Synthetic Biology Laboratory has been working on gene editing and synthetic biology applied to gene therapies since 2017. FiCAT technology is an important scientific breakthrough to overcome the current limitations of the technology used today for genome editing and gene therapy.

“Human genome engineering has significantly progressed in the last decade with the development of new editing tools, but there was still a technology gap that would allow therapeutic genes to be transferred efficiently with few size limitations”, comments Dr. Marc Güell, supervisor of the study.

In this work, the researchers develop an efficient and precise programmable gene writing technology based on the combination of modified proteins CRISPR-cas and piggy Bac transposase (PB), succeeding in inserting small and large fragments. Dr. Maria Pallarès, co-first author of the study explains that: “CRISPR stands out for its precision when editing small fragments. However, transposases allow us to insert large fragments but in an uncontrolled manner. We have combined the best of each technology”.

Robots

Autonomous Two-Legged Robot Ascento Pro Has Motorized Wheels, Jumps Like a True Athlete

December 23, 2021

by Cristina Mircea

Wheeled robots are really starting to catch on, as this design makes them suitable for a variety of applications. The Ascento Pro is a good example of versatile mobile bots and it combines both the flexibility of the legs and the speed of wheels. 6 photos

Developed by Swiss company Ascento Robotics, the Ascento Pro is an upgraded version of the previous Ascento 2 machine, which was launched in 2020. That robot was already impressive in terms of motor skills, but the Pro version brings even more features to the table.

With a simple, compact, and modular design, the Ascento Pro is designed in a way that leaves enough space for custom sensors and various payloads. It has two legs, each with a motorized wheel, and a tensional spring in the knees, which compensates for the bot’s own weight. It can bend its knees to get even smaller, it can walk on any surface, climb stairs, jump up and forward, and hop over obstacles.

Augmented Reality

Oppo Air Glass assisted reality device is like nothing we’ve seen before

December 21, 2021

By Chris Smith

Augmented reality (AR) is the next big thing in tech, with Apple making no secret of its focus on AR features for its products. One of the most exciting AR rumors out there says that Apple is developing sleek pair of Apple Glasses that will project AR content to the user retina. But technology has not gotten to the point where it can offer these features, and Oppo’s newly announced Air Glass device proves it. The Air Glass is light and sleek, but the device doesn’t provide augmented reality features. Instead, we’re looking at features that Oppo calls assisted reality or AR.

Robots

Courier service Glovo to use robots for Madrid deliveries

December 21, 2021

MADRID – The decision of the Madrid City Council to allow self-driving vehicles on the street is an excellent opportunity for Glovo to start with robot deliveries. The courier service has now applied for approval for a trial in the chic Salamanca district.

If it is up to Glovo, the robots will take to the streets after approval in January. This represents a major challenge for the city council of the Spanish capital. On one hand, it wants to make Madrid an attractive location for innovative companies. However, on the other hand, it must continue to monitor safety on the street.

In addition to Glovo, the Madrid start-up Goggo Network has also requested approval for putting self-driving vehicles on the road. The intention is that these vehicles, like Glovo’s robots, will be deployed in the Salamanca district. It will then be the first time that automated vehicles will drive around the city.

Transportation

Airbus’ Maritime Partner Launches Revolutionary Kite Tech Controlled by a Digital Twin

December 21, 2021

Airseas, the maritime project of Airbus, used its aeronautical expertise to develop a state-of-the-art sailing system for commercial ships, which combines the traditional principles of sailing with the most advanced autonomous technology.

by Otilia Drăgan

Today’s shipping industry has the immense opportunity to leverage both the benefits of wind power as a source of clean energy and the benefits of the latest technology. In 2013, Vincent Bernatets from Airbus decided to implement the company’s expertise in the maritime sector. This is how Airseas was born, the company that created Seawing, a revolutionary system that combines automated flight control features from the aerospace industry with kite technology.

Airseas has big plans for Seawing, set to become the most competitive shipping propulsion system based on renewable energy. The startup hopes to implement it on 10% of the global fleet over the next decade.

Robotics, Science & Technology News

Robot hand moves closer to human abilities

December 21, 2021

Fig. 1: Overview of the ILDA. a Configuration of the ILDA hand composed of five robotic fingers with fingertip sensors, the palm side integrating the actuators, and the controller and attachment. b ILDA hand with covers. c Ease of attachment of the ILDA hand to a developed robotic arm. d Actions performed using the ILDA hand such as grasping and manipulating everyday life tools, showing delicate and strong grasping.

by Bob Yirka

A team of researchers affiliated with multiple institutions in Korea has developed a robot hand that has abilities similar to human hands. In their paper published in the journal Nature Communications, the group describes how they achieved a high level of dexterity while keeping the hand’s size and weight low enough to attach to a robot arm.

Creating robot hands with the dexterity, strength and flexibility of human hands is a challenging task for engineers—typically, some attributes are discarded to allow for others. In this new effort, the researchers developed a new robot hand based on a linkage-driven mechanism that allows it to articulate similarly to the human hand. They began their work by conducting a survey of existing robot hands and assessing their strengths and weaknesses. They then drew up a list of features they believed their hand should have, such as fingertip force, a high degree of controllability, low cost and high dexterity.

The researchers call their new hand an integrated, linkage-driven dexterous anthropomorphic (IDLA) robotic hand, and just like its human counterpart, it has four fingers and a thumb, each with three joints. And also like the human hand, it has fingertip sensors. The hand is also just 22 centimeters long. Overall, it has 20 joints, which gives it 15 degrees of motion—it is also strong, able to exert a crushing force of 34 Newtons—and it weighs just 1.1.kg.

quantum computing, Science & Technology News

Rigetti Computing Announces Next-Generation 40Q and 80Q Quantum Systems

December 21, 2021

Rigetti’s 80-qubit Aspen-M: a commercial multi-chip quantum processor.

BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 15, 2021 — Rigetti Computing, a pioneer in hybrid quantum-classical computing, today introduced its next-generation “Aspen-M” 80-qubit quantum computer into private beta. Aspen-M is the world’s first commercial multi-chip quantum processor, solving a critical scaling challenge in the race toward fault-tolerant quantum computing. The Aspen-M processor leverages Rigetti’s proprietary multi-chip technology and is assembled from two 40-qubit chips.

Separately, a new Aspen system based on a single-chip 40-qubit processor will be released today for general availability on Rigetti Quantum Cloud Services, the Strangeworks Ecosystem, and Amazon Braket.In addition, Rigetti announced it is collaborating with Deloitte, a multinational professional services company, and Strangeworks, a leading managed quantum service provider, to explore quantum applications in material simulation, optimization, and machine learning using Rigetti’s new scalable processors.

These latest Rigetti Aspen superconducting processors incorporate improvements in scale, speed, and fidelity—three metrics critical to unlocking broad commercial value. In addition to more than doubling the processor size over its previous generation, the systems powered by these processors deliver a 2.5x speedup in quantum processing times and reduce readout errors by up to 50 percent, drastically improving the reliability of quantum program results.

“With these systems, we’ve reached a critical milestone in the emerging quantum advantage era,” said Chad Rigetti, founder and CEO of Rigetti Computing. “Our machines are now at a scale and speed where they can process the real-world data sets that underpin high-impact applications. We believe these systems give researchers and enterprises the best platform to pursue quantum advantage on real problems.”

Robots

Grocery Robot Specialist Simbe Robotics Patents System to Detect Produce Freshness

December 21, 2021

by Michael Wolf

Whether it’s to carry groceries around the store or to deliver them to our front door, it won’t be too much longer before everyday shoppers see robots both in and around the grocery store.

But one potential interesting new use-case for in-store robotics we haven’t heard much about is for detection of produce freshness. That may change soon, as Simbe Robotics, the maker of the Tally 3.0 robot, has just been issued a patent for spectral imaging of produce and meats and detect how fresh they are.

The US patent, which is number 11,200,537 and titled “Method for tracking and characterizing perishable goods in a store,” uses computer vision to record images across a period of time and derive a set of characteristics specific to the type of food. For produce, it can assign a percentage of ripeness, determine whether it is under, over, or at peak ripeness, and determine if there is other biological matter such as a contaminant on the food. It can also determine whether a fruit or vegetable is rotten, damaged, or bruised.

New Discoveries

Physicists Discover a Remarkable New Type of Sound Wave

December 19, 2021

By City University of Hong Kong on Dec 10, 2021

Sound vortex generation enabled by the spin-orbit interaction in real space.

Can you imagine sound travels in the same way as light does? A research team at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) discovered a new type of sound wave: the airborne sound wave vibrates transversely and carries both spin and orbital angular momentum like light does. The findings shattered scientists’ previous beliefs about the sound wave, opening an avenue to the development of novel applications in acoustic communications, acoustic sensing, and imaging.

The research was initiated and co-led by Dr. Wang Shubo, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at CityU, and conducted in collaboration with scientists from Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). It was published in Nature Communications, titled “Spin-orbit interactions of transverse sound.”

Crazy Stuff

A computer made of floppy rubber

December 19, 2021

by Leiden University

A piece of corrugated rubber can function as a simple computer, displaying memory and displaying the ability to count to two. Physicists at Leiden University and the AMOLF research institute in Amsterdam researching mechanical metamaterials publish about the computing rubber in the journal PNAS. “Simple materials can process information, and we want to find the principles behind that.”

Where other physicists use telescopes, microscopes or particle accelerators to study their subjects, Martin van Hecke and Hadrien Bense just use pieces of rubber, which they fold and film. This way, they have proven that even an extremely simple material is able to perform some sort of information processing.

A video by the researchers (both at Leiden University and AMOLF research institute in Amsterdam) shows a piece of corrugated rubber, slowly squashed from above using a press. First, the corrugations slowly bend along, but at a certain point, they snap, which means that they suddenly pop into another shape. Bense and Van Hecke decided to view these snapping points as “bits,” which shift from 0 to 1 as they buckle, and back to 0 when they unsnap

Using camera’s and a lot of Bense’s patience, they charted all the states. Things get complicated fast: one piece of rubber showing three bits can theoretically exist in eight states. Each bit flip means a transition to another state.

Robotics

THIS MODERN HOMEBUILDING SYSTEM RELIES ON ROBOTICS AND CUSTOM AUTOMATION TO BUILD PREFABRICATED DWELLINGS!

December 19, 2021

Automated Architecture Ltd. showcased its robotic assembly system for home building and prefabricated home dwellings during 2021’s Global Investment Summit (GIS).

BY SHAWN MCNULTY-KOWAL

On October 19, 2021, the Global Investment Summit (GIS) saw 12 of the UK’s leading “green innovators,” selected by the UK government to emphasize the importance of implementing green technology into our day-to-day. Just in time for the COP26 (UN Climate Change Conference UK), GIS shows how the UK can shape the future of green investment. Weaving green technology into architectural building methods, Bristol and London-based design and technology company Automated Architecture Ltd., (AUAR) showcased a new robotic assembly system for prefabricated dwellings.

Robotics

GERMAN BIONIC DEBUTS A NEW EXOSKELETON WITH UPPER- AND LOWER-BODY ASSISTANCE

December 18, 2021

By Brian Heater

Late last year, German Bionic announced a $20 million Series A round led — in part — by Samsung Catalyst Fund. It was a curious alliance, given that Samsung has shown off its own robotic exoskeleton technology. I took Samsung’s Gait Enhancing and Motivation System out for a spin a few CESes ago — and while it was limited in functionality, it worked well for walking assistance.

Of course, it’s never entirely clear just how seriously we’re meant to take Samsung’s robotic ambitions. Thus far, the company’s offerings seem largely for show. German Bionic, on the other hand, has been at this for a while. In fact, the company just announced the fifth generation of its robotics exoskeleton, Cray X — which, fittingly, will be on display at next year’s CES in a few short weeks (shudder).

The system is set to debut early next year, available as a hardware-as-a-service subscription model, with a starting price of $499 a month Put simply, you’re probably not going to rent one of these things to move furniture around the house.