Impact Lab – Page 356 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

SCIENTISTS CREATE HOLOGRAMS THAT YOU CAN TOUCH

October 1, 2021

THEY CREATED A BASKETBALL PROJECT THAT CAN BE “TOUCHED, ROLLED AND BOUNCED.”

Aerohaptic Holograms

Researchers have developed a hologram that allows you to reach out and “feel” it — not unlike the holodecks of “Star Trek.”

University of Glasgow scientists have created hologram system that uses jets of air known as “aerohaptics” to replicate the sensation of touch, according to Ravinder Daahiya, a researcher who worked on the project. He said that the air jets can allow you to feel “people’s fingers, hands and wrists.” The team published a paper of their findings in Advanced Intelligent Systems.

“In time, this could be developed to allow you to meet a virtual avatar of a colleague on the other side of the world and really feel their handshake,” he said in his piece for The Conversation. “It could even be the first steps towards building something like a holodeck.”

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

The future of personalized medicine: Technion team built blood tree from scratch

September 30, 2021

Currently, transplanted grafts need to be implanted into a healthy part of the body so that the patient can generate new blood vessels to support it.

By HADAS LABRISCH

Engineered blood vessels in Technion study. Vascular structures in the scaffold lumen (brown) communicate with vessels located in the surrounding hydrogel (green).(photo credit: Courtesy)AdvertisementSkin flaps, bone grafts, implanted tissue – recent advancements in medicine have changed the face of surgery in terms of autologous – meaning self – transplantations.While extensive damage to organs once meant a nearly sure amputation or need for an external transplant, today’s science focuses on harvesting cells and tissue from a person’s own body to complete the injured pieces of the puzzle, using grafts and flaps to repair skin, vessels, tubes and bones.Yet, ask any surgeon attempting to insert a flap and they would tell you that the most important – and restrictive – component of a graft’s success is ample blood supply.

AI

The Unlimited Potential Of AI In Genomic Diagnostics

September 30, 2021

By NAVEEN JOSHI

Genomic diagnostic is an area that can benefit hugely from the capabilities of AI. The involvement of AI in healthcare can potentially be beneficial in genetic diagnostics.

Ironically, rare diseases are fairly common in the world, with nearly half a billion people suffering from some or the other kind of lesser-known ailments. Such diseases can be notoriously tricky to diagnose as standard clinical tests may not uncover several underlying details regarding them. Additionally, almost all rare diseases are caused due to genetic issues in individuals. So, fast and accurate gene-based ailment diagnostics is the need of the hour in healthcare today. However, according to a study, such diseases can take nearly five years on average to be diagnosed accurately, meaning that almost a third of the children suffering from one or the other type of rare genetic disorder will pass away before they even turn five.

Employment

Dying Careers You May Want to Steer Clear Of

September 30, 2021

It’s tough to change, but your job could depend on it. Be flexible in your career goals – and talk with your kids about their own aspirations, because if you want to be employed for the long haul, you need to think about how industries are changing.

by: Neale Godfrey

No one has a crystal ball, but we are in a time of great change, and we want our skills to be relevant and needed moving forward. And just as important, we want our kids and grandkids to have happy and fulfilling jobs. Which brings us to an important question: What jobs are likely to disappear or become obsolete over the next decade or so?

drones

Hammerhead eV20 Cargo Drone Can Carry Spot the Robot Dog in Its Luggage Compartment

September 29, 2021

by Cristina Mircea

The Commercial UAV Expo Americas is one of the most important events in the drone industry, having first dibs on all the breakthroughs and releases in the field. This year’s edition brought some really cool UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) in the spotlight and the Hammerhead eV20 is one of them. 6 photos

The eV20 is a delivery drone developed by Airlogix, a company headquartered in Delaware, which also has a research and development center in Ukraine. Its new VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) is an electric drone propelled by four tilt electric motors with a maximum thrust of 104 lb (47 kg) each.

Electric Vehicles

The World’s First Battery-Electric Freight Train Has the Power of 100 Tesla Cars

September 29, 2021

And it’s powered by 18,000 lithium-ion battery cells.

By Chris Young

Freight train manufacturer Wabtec, in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University, unveiled the world’s first battery-electric locomotive, a report in Digital Journal reveals.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based firm claimed its new machine is “dramatically more powerful” than a Tesla electric car and that it can help to significantly reduce carbon emissions for the already relatively green freight train transportation sector.

3D Printer

THESE MODULAR PREFAB HOMES COULD BE THE WORLD’S FIRST TO USE A STEEL 3D-PRINTED “EXOSKELETON” CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM!

September 29, 2021

BY SHAWN MCNULTY-KOWAL

Located in Orani, Sardinia, Exosteel comprises the world’s first housing development to use a steel 3D-printed “exoskeleton” construction system that supports and distributes all the functional elements of the building, inspired by the sculpture work of Costantino Nivola.

Museums are social hubs for travelers. They’re cultural and artistic landmarks first, yes. But they’re also guaranteed spots where tourists can take some respite from long hours spent wandering the city. Near the Nivola Museum in Sardinia, Italy, international design studio Mask Architects visualized a cluster of homes to function as a housing development for the surrounding community. Conceptualized as a small village of modular prefabricated steel houses, Mask Architects is the world’s first architecture and design firm to use a steel 3D-printed “exoskeleton” construction system to build the small village, calling it Exosteel.

Cancer

New nano particles suppress resistance to cancer immunotherapy

September 28, 2021

Combination therapy against anti-PD-1-resistant lung cancer. A combination of anti-PD-1 antibodies and stimulator of an interferon gene (STING)-loaded lipid nanoparticles (STING-LNP) had the maximum effect in reducing metastases (black regions) on lungs (pink tissue; far right). STING-lipid nanoparticles alone had a better effect (center right) than anti-PD-1 antibodies (center left), which were as effective as the control saline solution.

A specially designed lipid nanoparticle could deliver immune-signaling molecules into liver macrophage cells to overcome resistance to anti-tumor immunotherapy.

After intravenous injection into mice, STING-lipid nanoparticles (red) transported through blood vessels(green) accumulate in the liver (Takashi Nakamura, et al. Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer. July 2, 2021).

Hokkaido University scientists and colleagues in Japan have found a way that could help some patients overcome resistance to an immunotherapy treatment for cancer. The approach, proven in mice experiments, was reported in the Journal for Immunotherapy of Cancer.

Robots

Hyundai and Boston Dynamics Developed a Robot to Keep Factories Secured After Hours

September 28, 2021

by Tudor Serban

Since the lack of personnel is a hard truth for most employers worldwide, Hyundai found a way to reduce its security staff, especially during after hours. 8 photos

While most guards that are working the night shifts are taking a nap every now and then, a robot won’t do that. It also won’t drink, or eat, or watch games when on duty. Boston Dynamics already had a quadruped robot named Spot, which proved to be very creative thanks to its AI functions.

Built with an integrated thermal camera and 3D LiDAR, the robot can detect high-temperature areas and alert the fire department for potentially hazardous situations. In addition, its integrated 3D map allows it to roam around the factory and check for opened doors or detect uninvited guests. Of course, it won’t fire at them (yet), but at least it can spread the image thanks to its live stream images sent to a secured webpage.

Cancer

New Gene Therapy Pathway Could Protect Us From Cancer and Dementia

September 28, 2021

Summary: A newly identified gene therapy pathway has the potential to protect us against dementia and cancer, researchers report.

Source: University of Sheffield

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have discovered a new gene therapy pathway that has uncovered an important regulatory mechanism to keep our genome healthy. This pathway has the potential to protect us against serious life-limiting diseases such as cancer and dementia.

Cancer and neurodegeneration are two major health challenges currently affecting the population, and they constitute two sides of the same coin – one is caused by uncontrolled cell proliferation due to genome damage, and the other is caused by excessive genome damage that causes cell death. This new pathway impacts both and offers new therapeutic opportunities to help the fight against disease.

Published in Nature Communications, the research found that when cells in our body read DNA to build proteins, they often make mistakes that can damage our genome, causing disease such as cancer and dementia.

However, by investigating how cells fix damage in the DNA to keep us healthy, scientists have discovered the benefits of three proteins working together as a team. The three proteins, called USP11, KEAP1 and SETX, receive instructions from their coach to direct their function in space and time with remarkable harmony, to keep our DNA healthy.

3D Printer

3D-printed rocket engines: the technology driving the private sector space race

September 27, 2021

The volatile nature of space rocket engines means that many early prototypes end up embedded in dirt banks or decorating the tops of any trees that are unfortunate enough to neighbour testing sites. Unintended explosions are in fact so common that rocket scientists have come up with a euphemism for when it happens: rapid unscheduled disassembly, or RUD for short.

Every time a rocket engine blows up, the source of the failure needs to be found so that it can be fixed. A new and improved engine is then designed, manufactured, shipped to the test site and fired, and the cycle begins again – until the only disassembly taking place is of the slow, scheduled kind. Perfecting rocket engines in this way is one of the main sources of developmental delays in what is a rapidly expanding space industry.

Today, 3D printing technology, using heat-resistant metal alloys, is revolutionising trial-and-error rocket development. Whole structures that would have previously required hundreds of distinct components can now be printed in a matter of days. This means you can expect to see many more rockets blowing into tiny pieces in the coming years, but the parts they’re actually made of are set to become larger and fewer as the private sector space race intensifies.

Driverless vehicles

WeRide Launches China’s First Level 4 Self-Driving Cargo Van

September 27, 2021

WeRide’s Robovan, China’s first L4 self-driving cargo van.

By Charles Choi

Autonomous driving startup WeRide unveiled China’s first self-driving cargo van capable of level 4 autonomy — that is, the ability to act without any human intervention in the vast majority of situations — on September 9.

WeRide is developing the new vehicle, dubbed the Robovan, in partnership with Chinese automaker Jiangling Motors and Chinese delivery company ZTO Express. WeRide and Jiangling Motors will help develop the vehicle for mass production on JMC’s customized assembly lines, which ZTO Express aims to use in urban logistics applications.

“WeRide has always emphasized that autonomous driving technologies should be used effectively in reality to serve the society. With the introduction of Robovan, the very first level 4 self-driving cargo van in China, we have heralded a new era of autonomous driving for urban logistics in the country,” Tony Han, the founder and CEO of WeRide, said in a statement. “We are aiming to deliver both smart mobility and smart logistics for cities in the future.”