Impact Lab – Page 336 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Space Flight

Boeing, of Chicago, IL, announced on January 9 that it has completed production of the world’s first all-electric propulsion satellites as preparations continue to launch the satellites, as a vertically stacked pair, next month.

The Boeing 702SP (small platform) satellites are affordable and lightweight, and provide more options for movement to different orbital positions, the firm said. The 702SP is one of three new satellite designs Boeing has introduced in four years, the others being the 702MP and 502 Phoenix.

Electric Vehicles

Ford and Purdue University Created a Cable That Fully Charges an EV in 5 Minutes

November 23, 2021

The new cable would be able to output four times more current than today’s best option.

By BRYAN HOOD

Ford may have just figured out a way to get rid of range anxiety once and for all.

The Detroit auto giant has teamed up with Purdue University to build a prototype of a cable that could fully charge an EV’s battery in just five minutes. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but the cable could help overcome one of the last major obstacles standing in the way of battery-powered cars achieving mass acceptance.

EV driving ranges may finally be reaching acceptable levels, but slow charging times still make some drivers wary. The last couple years has seen charging times improve dramatically, but they’re still not great, especially when compared to the five minutes it takes to fill up a gas-powered car. Right now, the best you can hope for is around 20 minutes when connected to a DC fast charger. It’s even worse when you’re home. The Ford Mustang Mach-E is one of the more in-demand EVs on the market, but it takes 11 hours to charge to full capacity at home, even when connected to a Level 2 charging setup.

This is due in no small part to the fact that current charging cables just can’t handle the heat generated by the amount of power that would be needed to charge an EV as fast as gas can fill up a car. The cables connected to the Tesla Supercharger—currently the industry’s best charger—can handle a maximum of 520 amps of current. Ford and Purdue’s solution: Come up with a better method of cooling charging cables.

AI

Artificial Intelligence Can Predict New Designer Drugs With 90% Accuracy

November 21, 2021

It’s like precrime, for psychedelics.

By Brad Bergan

New drugs are created all the time.

And many are extremely dangerous.

This is why researchers trained computers to predict what designer drugs will emerge onto the scene before they hit the market, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature Machine Intelligence.

With highly-addictive drugs flooding regions throughout the U.S., this program could save countless lives. But it could also unlock an entire “dark matter” world of unknown psychoactive possibilities.

3D Printer

Raising the steaks: First 3D-printed rib-eye is unveiled

November 21, 2021

Chef Amir Ilan prepares a lab-grown steak during a presentation by Aleph Farms, in Jaffa, Israel, in 2019. The company unveiled the first 3D-printed rib-eye steak on Tuesday.

By LAURA REILEY The Washington Post

An Israeli company unveiled the first 3D-printed rib-eye steak on Tuesday, using a culture of live animal tissue, in what could be a leap forward for lab-grown meat once it receives regulatory approval.

During the coronavirus pandemic, alternative protein products have soared in popularity, prompting nearly every multinational food corporation to hasten to bring its own versions to market. Frequently plant-based products have been patties or processed nuggets — “everyday” foods easier for companies to produce — that aim to ease the climate effects of the worst offender: Americans eat nearly 50 billion burgers a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Aleph Farms’ new 3D bioprinting technology — which uses living animal cells as opposed to plant-based alternatives — allows for premium whole-muscle cuts to come to market, broadening the scope of alt-meat in what is expected to be a rich area of expansion for food companies. A survey of more than 1,000 U.S. adults, conducted by MRS research for agriculture company Proagrica, showed that 39% of American consumers have considered going vegetarian or vegan since the pandemic began. Health concerns, climate change and animal welfare are drivers.

Robots

America is hiring a record number of robots

November 21, 2021

Companies in North America added a record number of robots in the first nine months of this year as they rushed to speed up assembly lines and struggled to add human workers.

Factories and other industrial users ordered 29,000 robots, 37% more than during the same period last year, valued at $1.48 billion, according to data compiled by the industry group the Association for Advancing Automation. That surpassed the previous peak set in the same time period in 2017, before the global pandemic upended economies.

The rush to add robots is part of a larger upswing in investment as companies seek to keep up with strong demand, which in some cases has contributed to shortages of key goods. At the same time, many firms have struggled to lure back workers displaced by the pandemic and view robots as an alternative to adding human muscle on their assembly lines.

Alternative Transportation

South Korea Demonstrates System to Control Air Taxis, to be Used at Airports by 2025

November 20, 2021

South Korea demonstrated a system for controlling urban air mobility vehicles (UAM) on Thursday, which it hopes will serve as taxis between major airports and downtown Seoul as soon as 2025.

SEOUL: South Korea demonstrated a system for controlling urban air mobility vehicles (UAM) on Thursday, which it hopes will serve as taxis between major airports and downtown Seoul as soon as 2025, cutting travel time by two-thirds.

Last year, South Korea announced a roadmap to begin commercial urban air travel by 2025. The transport ministry estimates such services could cut travel time for distances between 30-50km (19-31 miles) from an hour by car to 20 minutes by air.

“As UAM is expected to become one of the common means of transportation that citizens use in daily life, it is absolutely imperative that we test and try out UAM services in various environments,” Transport Minister Noh Hyeong-ouk, who attended the demonstration on Thursday, said in a statement.

A pilot flew a two-seat model made by Germany’s Volocopter at Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to test and demonstrate its control and coordination.

Robots

Space startup Gitai raises $17.1M to help build the robotic workforce of commercial space – TechCrunch

November 20, 2021

By Laurie Foti

Gitai will also be staffing up in the U.S., specifically, as it seeks to expand its stateside presence in a bid to attract more business from that market.

“We are proceeding well in the Japanese market, and we’ve already contracted missions from Japanese companies, but we haven’t expanded to the U.S. market yet,” explained Gitai founder and CEO Sho Nakanose in an interview. So we would like to get missions from U.S. commercial space companies, as a subcontractor first. We’re especially interested in on-orbit servicing, and we would like to provide general-purpose robotic solutions for an orbital service provider in the U.S.”

Nakanose told me that Gitai has plenty of experience under its belt developing robots which are specifically able to install hardware on satellites on-orbit, which could potentially be useful for upgrading existing satellites and constellations with new capabilities, for changing out batteries to keep satellites operational beyond their service life, or for repairing satellites if they should malfunction.

Robotics

Researcher develops artificial muscle in miniature devices

November 20, 2021

University of Wollongong (UOW) senior professor Geoff Spinks, has been awarded at the global Falling Walls Science Summit for a Science Breakthrough of the Year, for his research on artificial muscle material.

The research in question has led to the development of artificial muscles in miniature devices that could be applied in medicine and robotics, such as in miniature tweezers, prosthetic hands or dexterous robotic devices.

Spinks and an international research team have developed various types of artificial muscles that bend, rotate or contract in length, by twisting and coiling carbon nanotube or polymer yarns. The science has enabled them to make artificial muscles as thin fibres or films that are especially well suited to microscopic devices.

The most recent breakthrough happened as an unexpected outcome of their studies, thanks in part to the inspiration from nature and DNA supercoiling.

Virtual Reality

South Korean capital Seoul will become world’s first ‘metaverse’ city

November 19, 2021

‘Metaverse Seoul’ will let residents visit famous tourist attractions, attend festivals, and even file paperwork with the local council in a virtual reality city hall

By Ciaran Daly

The South Korean capital of Seoul has announced plans to build its own virtual city ‘metaverse’.

Residents will soon be able to attend gigs and famous tourist sites or complain to the council about potholes all through virtual reality.

The city’s government revealed its plans to build a Blade Runner-style ‘Metaverse Seoul’ by the end of next year.

The project will start with a virtual bell ringing event at the end of the year, and eventually build a virtual mayor’s office and even a metaverse city hall.

3D avatars will be able to handle complaints and applications at the ‘Metaverse 120 Center’, so citizens can finally queue to do paperwork in VR instead of in person.

3D Printer

New commercial vehicle powered by 3D-printed batteries

November 19, 2021

By Louis Regnier

Blackstone Resources AG have announced that their partner ORTEN Electric Trucks will soon present its first commercial vehicle, which will be powered by Blackstone’s new 3D-printed lithium batteries as early as the end of 2022.

“We are pleased about the strong partnership with ORTEN E-Trucks. This cooperation is very interesting for both sides,” says Serhat Yilmaz, Chief Marketing Officer of Blackstone Technology GmbH, a 100% subsidiary of Blackstone Resources AG. “In order to prove that our advanced batteries have reached market maturity and that there is a great demand for them. Their numerous technical advantages play a major role in practical application.”

At the Press Day (07.12.21) of Blackstone Technology in Döbeln, Saxony, Robert E. Orten the Managing Partner of ORTEN E-Trucks, will present a first, operational commercial vehicle. In the first quarter of 2022, a joint pilot project with Blackstone will start, in which the commercial vehicle will be powered by our world first: 3D-printed batteries according to the Blackstone Thick Layer Technology . “With 20% increased energy density, our load carriers also enable 20% more range,” says Ulrich Ernst, founder and CEO of Blackstone Resources AG. “At the same time, we can drastically reduce environmental impacts in production and avoid 50% of the industry’s usual waste materials.

Coronavirus

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER AN ANTIBODY THAT CAN PROTECT PEOPLE AGAINST SEVERAL CORONAVIRUSES

November 19, 2021

Researchers have discovered an antibody that is not only just effective against Covid, but against all types of coronaviruses that could have future outbreaks among humans. Pictured: A microscope image of a COVID-19 virus cell

By MANSUR SHAHEEN

Scientists have identified an antibody that can protect people from COVID-19, its variants and other types of coronaviruses.

The antibody, DH1047, works by binding to the virus’s cells and neutralizing them, preventing them from replicating.

It is effective at both preventing infection and at helping treat a person that has already contracted Covid.

The research team at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC) and Duke University, in Durham, says it believes it has found a key piece that can help combat the current pandemic and future virus outbreaks.

‘This antibody has the potential to be a therapeutic for the current epidemic,’ Dr Barton Haynes, director of Duke Human Vaccine Institute and co-author of the study, said in a statement.

Science & Technology News, Tom Frey

Futurati Podcast Ep.60 with Corey Hoffstein

November 18, 2021

Watch on Youtube

Listen on the Futurati Podcast website

Corey Hoffstein is the co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of Newfound Research as well as an enthusiast of cryptocurrencies and various crypto projects. Newfound is a quantitative asset management firm seeking to help investors proactively navigate the risks of investing through better diversification.