Impact Lab – Page 372 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

Healing wounds and regrowing bones: Duke faculty develop futuristic biomaterial implants

July 22, 2021

Imagine a metal, scaffold-shaped implant that could support the regrowth of a shattered bone. All that would be needed would be an initial CT scan, a virtual construction of the implant and a metal printer to produce the final product. Devastating outcomes like amputation or loss of the ability to walk could be prevented.

While this type of innovation may seem outside the realm of modern technology, several Duke professors have made such futuristic biomaterial implants a reality, including Ken Gall, professor in the department of mechanical engineering and materials science; Shyni Varghese, professor of orthopaedic surgery and Matthew Becker, Hugo L. Blomquist distinguished professor of chemistry.

Gall’s research focuses on the use of 3D printed metals and polymers, including the aforementioned metal scaffold, using synthetic hydrogels for cartilage replacement and other related explorations. He also has initiated a new project investigating the types of structures that can be printed and is looking into utilizing machine learning or other algorithms to predict how these structures will behave.

While Gall’s research spans a large breadth of biomaterials, the common link among these implants is their ability to perform some structural function, he said.

“We try to figure out how [to] make these materials integrate with the body so they survive there,” Gall said. “Our approach has always been [to] put something in that is actually better than what you started with.”

drones, Science & Technology News

Dubai police will use citywide network of drones to respond to crime

July 22, 2021

An Airobotics drone and its base station

By David Hambling

Dubai police will be able to respond to an incident anywhere in the United Arab Emirates city within a minute, thanks to a network of pre-positioned drone bases.

The quadcopters, supplied by Israeli company Airobotics, will operate from base stations during the Expo 2020 event starting in October this year, an exhibition said to be the third largest event in the world after the Olympics and the World Cup. The drones will reduce police response time from 4.4 minutes to 1 minute according to a tweet from Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

Each base has a sliding roof that allows the drones to enter and exit. The drones can fly pre-programmed patrols, or be dispatched to a specific location, allowing an operator at police headquarters to inspect the scene, or follow a suspicious individual or vehicle and pass data to other police units.

drones, Science & Technology News

Nebo Recharge Infrastructure Will Use Drones to Keep Your EVs Rolling Forever

July 22, 2021

By Cristian Curmei

The future of EVs looks more and more promising. With technology advancing at an alarming rate, it won’t be long until everyone has an EV. However, all this raises on very important question; where is everyone going to charge their vehicles?

This question, ladies and gentlemen, is a very valid one that an array of manufacturers are working on solving. In the meantime, a group of designers from South Korea have gotten together and have created an idea so out there, that it just might work.

The drone you see here is known as Nebo. However, it’s not just a drone, it’s an entire EV charging network. The way it works is something like refueling an airplane while in flight. These drones are simple fuel (electric charge) carriers that come in and recharge you EV while you’re on the go. No joke.

Even though this system isn’t one you can utilize today, as it’s still just a project with a paper model and a few renderings, it’s so ingenious and so in line with how things seem to be moving in the EV world, that this or a similar system will most likely exist, at some point.

Science & Technology News, Virtual Reality

How Virtual Reality Unveiled a Unique Brain Wave That Could Boost Learning

July 22, 2021

By Shelly Fan

As the rats ran down a short balance beam, stopping occasionally to poke their noses at a water fountain, their brains knew something was off.

Inside the hippocampus, a brain region that documents the stories of your life, neurons sparked a strange type of electrical wave that washed over the region, altering its normal rhythm.

You see, the rats were running in virtual reality (VR), one so rich and lifelike that the rats “love to jump in and happily play games,” said Dr. Mayank R. Mehta at the University of California, Los Angeles, and senior author on a new paper in Nature Neuroscience. And shockingly, their brains responded to VR with unique activity that could impact how we learn, remember, and even treat memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s.

“This is a new technology that has tremendous potential,” said Mehta. “We have entered a new territory.”

Entertainment, Science & Technology News

Looking Glass launches second-gen holographic displays

July 22, 2021

By Brian Heater

Brooklyn-based Looking Glass Factory today announced the release of a pair of second-gen holographic displays. Following up on late-last year’s release of the entry-level Portrait, the startup is offering new versions of the Looking Glass 4K and 8K systems, which sport 15.6- and 32-inch displays, respectively.

In addition to sizes, there’s a pretty massive gulf in pricing here. Joining the $299 Portrait is the $3,000 4K and $17,500 8K. The pricing difference is all the more pronounced given that the tech essentially offers the same underlying technologies for producing and consuming 3D content.

“Volume is a part of it,” CEO Shawn Frayne tells TechCrunch. “There are actually very few 8K displays out in the world at this size that folks are driving. While we expect the sale of that to be quite profound over the next few years, in the early phases we’re just not making the same scale as the Portrait.”

DNA, Science & Technology News

Gene editing ‘blocks virus transmission’ in human cells

July 21, 2021

Researchers in Australia said the tool was effective against viral transmissions in lab tests, adding that they hope soon to begin animal trials on the method

Scientists have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to successfully block the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in infected human cells, according to research released Tuesday that could pave the way for Covid-19 treatments.

Writing in the journal Nature Communications, researchers in Australia said the tool was effective against viral transmissions in lab tests, adding that they hoped to begin animal trials soon.

CRISPR, which allows scientists to alter DNA sequences and modify gene function, has already shown promise in eliminating the genetic coding that drives the development of children’s cancer.

The team in Tuesday’s study used an enzyme, CRISPR-Cas13b, that binds to relevant RNA sequences on the novel coronavirus and degrades the genome it needs to replicate inside human cells.

Food, Science & Technology News

Raising the steaks: Nestlé plans to sell lab-grown meat

July 21, 2021

Nestlé is exploring technologies that could lead to animal-friendly alternatives that are close to meat in terms of taste, flavour, and texture.

By Agnieszka de Sousa

Nestlé has been working on alternative meat products that will blend cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients.
The company has also been expanding its range of milk alternatives, most recently adding a pea-based drink in Europe.
To complement efforts in plant-based alternatives, the company is exploring technologies that could lead to animal-friendly alternatives that are close to meat in terms of taste, flavour, and texture.

Nestlé is planning to enter the cultured-meat market in a move that could see the world’s largest food company help deliver the nascent technology faster to the mass market.

The Swiss giant has been working on alternative meat products that will blend cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients, according to people familiar with the deliberations, who asked not to be named because the information hasn’t been made public. The meat is being developed with Israeli cell-based startup Future Meat Technologies, the people said.

Driverless cars, Science & Technology News

Hyundai Motor to pilot autonomous demand-responsive ‘RoboShuttle’ service

July 21, 2021

Hyundai Motor to introduce an autonomous, demand-responsive shuttle service in South Korea, starting August 9

Hyundai Motor Company announced that it will begin a test operation of its RoboShuttle (named after ‘Robot’ and ‘Shuttle’) service on August 9. The demand-responsive, high-occupancy vehicle service, powered by autonomous driving and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, will operate along a 6.1-km route in Sejong Smart City, South Korea.

The pilot operation will be conducted using Hyundai H350, a light commercial, four-door van (known as Solati in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam), equipped with autonomous driving technology, which applies a range of Level 4-comparable core technologies and is developed in-house by the Autonomous Driving Center at Hyundai Motor. The vehicle has also obtained a temporary operation permit of ‘autonomous driving Level 3’ from the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Based on its self-driving capabilities, the vehicle is designed to perceive its surroundings, make decisions, and control itself while driving on the road, requiring minimal intervention from a safety driver. The vehicle will operate on the 6.1-km route from Sejong Government Complex to Sejong National Arboretum, with 20 stops for passengers along the way.

Current Events, Science & Technology News

How and When the Chip Shortage Will End, in 4 Charts

July 21, 2021

By Samuel K. Moore

Historians will probably spend decades picking apart the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic. But the shortage of chips that it’s caused will be long over by then. A variety of analysts agree that the most problematic shortages will begin to ease in the third or fourth quarter of 2021, though it could take much of 2022 for the resulting chips to work their way through the supply chain to products. The supply relief will not be coming from the big, national investments in the works right now by South Korea, the United States, and Europe but from older chip fabs and foundries running processes far from the cutting edge and on comparatively small silicon wafers.

Before we get into how the shortage will end, it’s worth summing up how it began. With panic, lockdowns, and general uncertainty rolling across the globe, automakers cancelled orders. However, those conditions meant a big fraction of the workforce recreated the office at home, purchasing computers, monitors, and other equipment. At the same time entire school systems switched to virtual learning via laptops and tablets. And more time at home also meant more spending on home entertainment, such as TVs and game consoles. These, the 5G rollout, and continued growth in cloud computing quickly hoovered up the capacity automakers had unceremoniously freed. By the time car makers realized people still wanted to buy their goods they found themselves at the back of the line for the chips they needed.

quantum computing, Science & Technology News

Phasecraft makes quantum computing breakthrough

July 19, 2021

Quantum computing start-up Phasecraft has developed a novel technique for modelling electrons that is said to significantly reduce quantum hardware resources needed to perform simulations.

Published in the Physical Review B journal from the American Physical Society, the study’s method for modelling fermionic particles could hold potential to advance global R&D efforts toward better energy technologies through more efficient and accurate material simulation.

“Many important fields such as chemistry and materials science are concerned with the dynamics of fermion particles in physical systems — in the form of electrons,” said co-leader of the study Charles Derby, a PhD candidate at UCL and Phasecraft team member.

Children, Science & Technology News

South Korea’s population paradox

July 17, 2021

By Miriam Quick

With a rapidly ageing population, low birth rates and young people who are increasingly shunning marriage, South Korea is in a population conundrum.

When countries undergo economic change, the effects of the transition aren’t only financial – they have major population implications, too.

This is very much the case in South Korea where, over the last three generations, the country has evolved like few others due to rapid industrialisation. Today, South Korea has a $1.6 trillion economy – the fourth largest in Asia after China, Japan and India.

As South Korea has transformed so too has its population, and very quickly at that, leaving the country in a true population paradox.

Robots, Science & Technology News

Robots have started to share the bike lane in Austin to deliver pizza

July 17, 2021

By Nathan Bernier

Riley Pakes, with Refraction AI robotics company, monitors a REV-1 delivery robot on South Congress Avenue in Austin, TX on June 16, 2021. Gabriel C. Pérez/KUT News

Austin, Texas, is one of the latest American cities where robots are now making deliveries — and competing with people for space on the road.

A fleet of 10 such robot vehicles, which look like futuristic ice cream carts, has started deliveries for the Austin chain Southside Flying Pizza.

The company behind the robots is Michigan-based Refraction AI, which has been operating in Ann Arbor since 2019. The company’s REV-1 robot can go up to 15 miles an hour with somebody monitoring journeys over the internet. For now, an attendant follows the robot on an electric scooter while the AI learns Austin’s streets.