Impact Lab – Page 374 – A Laboratory of the Future Human Experience

China launches secretive suborbital vehicle for reusable space transportation system

July 23, 2021

The Chinese suborbital vehicle for a reusable space transportation system launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert, northwest China.

by Andrew Jones

HELSINKI — China conducted a clandestine first test flight of a reusable suborbital vehicle Friday as a part of development of a reusable space transportation system.

The vehicle launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center Friday and later landed at an airport just over 800 kilometers away at Alxa League in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp. (CASC) announced.

No images nor footage nor further information, such as altitude, flight duration or propulsion systems, were provided. The CASC release stated however that the vehicle uses integrated aviation and space technologies and indicates a vertical takeoff and horizontal landing (VTHL) profile.

The test follows a September 2020 test flight of a “reusable experimental spacecraft”. The spacecraft orbited for days, releasing a small transmitting payload and later deorbited and landed horizontally. The spacecraft is widely believed to be a reusable spaceplane concept, though no images have emerged.

Automobiles, Science & Technology News

Self-healing materials to shape the cars of the future

July 23, 2021

Self-healing materials could revolutionise both vehicles and road surfaces

Ben Smye explores the current trends in self-healing materials research, and where they might take the automotive industry in the coming years

It sounds like something out of a science fiction film, but the idea of a self-healing car might not be as wild and futuristic as it seems. Though machines that can fix themselves remain a long way off, materials engineers have been developing technology that could soon make this fiction a reality.

Driverless vehicles, Science & Technology News

The measure of: Trombia Free autonomous electric street sweeper

July 23, 2021

The world’s first autonomous electric street sweeper promises efficient and silent operation in all weathers.

Developed by Finnish road maintenance equipment manufacturer Trombia Technologies, Trombia Free is an autonomous electric street-cleaner that uses less than 15 per cent of the power needed by current sweeping technologies and 95 per cent less water, while still being capable of heavy-duty operation, effectively removing both debris and fine PM2.5 dust.

Built to operate in all weather conditions, the Trombia Free has the look of an oversized robotic vacuum cleaner or lawnmower. It makes use of lidar and machine vision technology to trundle around cleaning up city streets and pathways. The company equipped the sweeper with a safety margin zone so it can register obstacles in front and stop if needed.

DNA, Science & Technology News

Hollow nano-objects made of DNA could trap viruses and render them harmless

July 23, 2021

Lined on the inside with virus-binding molecules, nano-shells made of DNA material bind viruses tightly and thus render them harmless.

by Technical University Munich

To date, there are no effective antidotes against most viral infections. An interdisciplinary research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed a new approach: they engulf and neutralize viruses with nano-capsules tailored from genetic material using the DNA origami method. The strategy has already been tested against hepatitis and adeno-associated viruses in cell cultures. It may also prove successful against corona viruses.

There are antibiotics against dangerous bacteria, but few antidotes to treat acute viral infections. Some infections can be prevented by vaccination, but developing new vaccines is a long and laborious process.

Now an interdisciplinary research team from the Technical University of Munich, the Helmholtz Zentrum München and the Brandeis University (USA) is proposing a novel strategy for the treatment of acute viral infections: The team has developed nanostructures made of DNA, the substance that makes up our genetic material, that can trap viruses and render them harmless.

Medical Breakthrough, Science & Technology News

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

July 22, 2021

By Ayra Charania

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.