Show Notes 31 May 2024
Story 1: Edible gel promises hangover-free mornings.
Source: Gizmodo.com Story by Ed Cara
Link: https://gizmodo.com/edible-gel-hangover-cure-alcohol-toxins-drinking-1851478604
See also: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/new-gel-breaks-down-alcohol-in-the-body/ar-BB1mjCGk
- Researchers in Switzerland have developed an oral gel meant to prevent booze from breaking down into the toxic compounds most responsible for a hangover. In mice, it appeared to work as intended.
- The gel was created by scientists from ETH Zurich (Federal Institute of Technology Zurich). It’s primarily made from whey protein and is further infused with individual iron atoms and gold nanoparticles.
- Side note: ETH Zurich, officially known as the Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (Federal Institute of Technology Zurich), is a prestigious public research university located in Zürich, Switzerland. Established in 1854, its primary mission is to educate engineers and scientists, with a strong focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) discipline.
- Once ingested, the iron in the gel is designed to react with alcohol that reaches the stomach or intestines, causing it to break down into acetic acid, the main component of vinegar.
- This also should mean that the alcohol is prevented from turning into acetaldehyde in the liver (usually when we drink alcohol, it’s first converted into acetaldehyde, then later converted to acetic acid).
- Acetaldehyde is a well-known toxic byproduct of alcohol, and research has suggested that its lingering presence in our bloodstream following alcohol consumption plays a big role in causing hangovers.
- The research team tested the gel on boozed-up mice under two different scenarios.
- In the first, the mice were fed the gel just before a single dose of alcohol.
- In the second, the mice were given alcohol and the gel for ten days straight.
- Within 30 minutes of the single shot, the gel seemed to reduce the mice’s blood alcohol level by 40% compared to a control group, while also reducing levels of acetaldehyde.
- In the 10-day test, the gel appeared to not only lower acetaldehyde production but also reduce alcohol-induced weight loss and damage to the liver and other organs.
- The team’s initial results, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, are intended as a proof-of-concept. See: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41565-024-01657-7
Story 2: NASA is making a jet engine core for the 1st hybrid-electric airliner engine.
Source: Interesting Engineering Story by Chris Young
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/jet-engine-cut-carbon-emissions
See also: https://www.nasa.gov/aeronautics/more-sustainable-jet-engine-prepared/
- First, what is a jet engine “core” – A jet engine core is the central part of a gas turbine engine or a jet engine where combustion occurs. It consists of three main sections:
- Compressor Section: In this part, air is compressed before it enters the combustion chamber. The compressor increases the pressure of the incoming air, preparing it for combustion.
- Combustion Chamber: Also known as the burner, this is where the compressed air is mixed with fuel (usually aviation kerosene) and ignited. The resulting high-temperature, high-pressure gases expand rapidly, creating thrust.
- Turbine Section: After combustion, the hot gases flow through the turbine section. The turbines extract energy from the gases to drive the compressor and other accessories (such as generators or hydraulic pumps). The remaining energy accelerates the exhaust gases, providing additional thrust.
- Now the news – NASA is designing a new jet engine concept for the ultra-efficient, sustainable airliners of the future.
- The US space agency is working with private sector partners to make the aviation industry more sustainable.
- One of the key technologies NASA is working on is called Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core (HyTEC). It will be the smallest core ever for a hybrid-electric turbofan jet engine. The reduced size would lead to a fuel burn reduction of 10 percent compared to existing engines.
- Side note: Aviation accounts for 2.5% of global CO₂ emissions from fossil sources.
- The Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core is being developed as part of NASA’s Sustainable Flight National Partnership.
- The engine may also go down in history as the “first production engine for airliners that is hybrid-electric, according to a NASA post.
- The aim of the Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project is to demonstrate a compact core. Ultimately, NASA and its private industry partners aim to have the technology ready for use in next-generation airliner engines in the 2030s.
- The Hybrid Thermally Efficient Core project has passed Phase 1 of development, which saw a NASA team select the component technologies to use in the core demonstrator.
- Now, in Phase 2, the team will design, build, and test a compact core in collaboration with GE Aerospace. According to NASA, this phase will end with a core engine demonstration test.
Story 3: Intel’s Aurora achieves exascale to become the fastest AI system.
Source: AI News Story by Ryan Daws
- First, before the news, what is Exascale? Exascale computing refers to a measure of supercomputer performance where these systems achieve a quintillion calculations per second.
- Intel, in collaboration with Argonne National Laboratory and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, has revealed that its Aurora supercomputer has exceeded the exascale computing threshold reaching speeds of 1.012 exaflops to become the fastest AI-focused system [to date].
- Side Note – An exaflop is a measure of performance for a supercomputer that can calculate at least one quintillion floating-point operations per second (FLOPS). To put this into perspective: The exa- prefix signifies a quintillion, which is a billion billion or 1 followed by 18 zeros.
- Intel’s VP and GM of Data Center AI Solutions, noted, “The Aurora supercomputer surpassing exascale will allow it to pave the road to tomorrow’s discoveries. From understanding climate patterns to unravelling the mysteries of the universe, supercomputers serve as a compass guiding us toward solving truly difficult scientific challenges that may improve humanity.”
- Aurora has not only excelled in speed but also in innovation and utility. Designed from the outset as an AI-centric supercomputer, Aurora enables researchers to leverage generative AI models, significantly accelerating scientific discovery.
- Side note – Generative artificial intelligence (generative AI) refers to artificial intelligence capable of creating original content in various forms, including text, images, videos, or other data.
- Groundbreaking work has already been achieved using Aurora, including mapping the 80 billion neurons of the human brain, enhancing high-energy particle physics with deep learning, and accelerating drug design and discovery through machine learning.
- At the core of Aurora lies the Intel Data Center GPU Max Series, built on the innovative Intel Xe GPU architecture, optimized for both AI and high-performance computing tasks. This technological foundation enables parallel processing capabilities, crucial for handling complex neural network AI computations.
- Details shared about the supercomputer highlight its grand scale, consisting of 166 racks, 10,624 compute blades, 21,248 Intel Xeon CPU Max Series processors, and 63,744 Intel Data Center GPU Max Series units, making it the largest GPU cluster worldwide.
- Side note – Compute Blades are specialized hardware components designed for high-density computing environments.
Story 4: Surgery robot conducts precise operation on corn kernel.
Source: ScienceTimes.com Story by Conelisa N. Hubilla
Link: https://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/50356/20240524/surgery-robot-corn-kernel-microsurgery.htm
See also: https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/News/Press/202405/24-020E/
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgRAkBNFMHk
- Sony R&D has introduced their microsurgery assistance robot, a new tool which features tiny arms with ultra-small, low-friction joints. The robotic system was designed to be used in different facilities and surgical scenarios, with the robot and console made as compact as possible. This enables surgeons to work at 1/10th of the scale possible using only human hands.
- The prototype was demonstrated for the public at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Yokohama, Japan [May 13th to 17th, 2024], where it performed surgery on an ear of corn. [In specific, on the skin of an ear of corn].
- In the demonstration video, the robot is shown using tiny surgical scissors to slice open a small corn kernel and stitch it back together with high precision. It used tiny suture needles.
- The robot is operated by a human surgeon who uses controllers to guide the robot and achieve smooth and jerk-free movements.
- To guide the movement of the robot, a surgeon peered through the robot’s 4K OLED micro display goggles. This allows the doctor to have a live feed from the device’s 3D stereo-camera placed above the operating table.
- According to Sony, they have already executed successful tests of the robot with surgeons at Aichi Medical University.
Honorable Mentions:
Story: Meet Emma, Amarillo’s AI assistant and ‘digital human’
Source: RouteFifty.com Story by Frank Konkel
- Tucked alongside Route 66 in the thick of the Texas panhandle, the city of Amarillo is known by most for its windy and wildly erratic weather, agricultural élan and its historic status as one of America’s true Western cow towns of yore.
- Yet the city once famous for cowboys and cattle drives is quickly developing a reputation as an artificial intelligence innovator behind an ambitious plan to develop what city officials anthropomorphically describe as a “digital human” named Emma.
- In technical terms, Emma is an online digital assistant that uses generative artificial intelligence technology to audibly communicate with the city’s 200,000-plus residents. When Emma becomes fully operational later this year, city officials expect the digital assistant to converse multilingually across more than 60 languages, adroitly answering questions, retrieving information and, when necessary, connecting them to the proper, real-life human to speak with.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Story: Researchers at the Australian National University have developed a new approach for desalinating water that does not use electricity.
Source: TechXplore.com Story by David Appell
Link: https://techxplore.com/news/2024-05-electricity-free-desalination-method.html#google_vignette
- Researchers from The Australian National University have proposed a new method for desalinating water that avoids many of the unwanted side effects of traditional desalinating techniques and that reduces the energy required by about 80%.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Story: Experimental device yields fresh hope for patients with spinal cord injuries
Source: UPI.com Story by Paul Godfrey
Link: https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2024/05/08/spinal-injury-treatment-study/1861715156028/
- A combined science-medical team at Cambridge University in England has developed a new minimally invasive technique to treat spinal cord injuries with a miniature, wrap-around, electronic implant to comprehensively map nerve signals.
- Unlike current high-risk approaches that involve cutting into the spinal cord to fit electrodes and placing implants in the brain, high-resolution implants a few microns thick are wrapped around the entire circumference of the cord to provide a 360-degree picture of nerve activity, the university said in a news release.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Story: AT&T deal will make every phone a satellite phone
Source: Yahoo! News Story by Mariella Moon
Link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/att-deal-will-make-every-phone-a-satellite-phone-101351590.html
- Soon, AT&T subscribers will have the option to ensure that they have access to cell service even in typical dead zones, like deep inside national parks or far-flung rural locations. The mobile carrier has been working with AST SpaceMobile since 2018 under a Memorandum of Understanding, helping the latter test two-way audio calls, texts and video calls via satellites in space using ordinary smartphones. Now, the companies have entered a definitive commercial agreement, which means AT&T is getting close to offering subscribers the capability to transform their regular phones into legit satellite devices.