56. Starship Has Finally Landed, Identifying Cognitive Issues with Driving, Toyota’s Hydrogen Combustion Engine

Cool STEM News:

SpaceX launched a high-altitude Starship prototype rocket and successfully landed it for the first time on Wednesday (May 5th).
Elon Musk has said the SN15 rocket contained “hundreds of design improvements” over past high-altitude prototypes, which were all destroyed during landing attempts.
Went through the same test that all the other prototypes have gone through:
- Lifted off and soared up 6 miles.
- As it reached peak altitude, SN15’s three Raptor engines gradually shut down
- Shifted to a horizontal free-fall position back to Earth.
- Nearing land, two engines reignited to execute a landing flip maneuver to position the vehicle back vertically.
- The rocket deployed a set of tiny legs and landed firmly on a concrete pad not far from its launchpad.
“Starship landing nominal!” Musk tweeted about seven minutes after SN15’s touchdown, declaring success.
Comment on the YouTube Video of the launch that I enjoyed from Jon Butcher: “I watched this live in the UK with my 6-year-old son and can safely say that Space X is inspiring minds and helping create the engineers, designers, and forward thinkers of the future by releasing live moments of history like this for all to see. Thank you.”
- Watch the launch here!

Researchers from Columbia University have announced the development of AI algorithms that can detect mild cognitive impairment and dementia in older people based on the way they drive.
As reported in the journal Geriatrics, this algorithm was 88% accurate.
“Driving is a complex task involving dynamic cognitive processes and requiring essential cognitive functions and perceptual-motor skills,” says senior author Guohua Li, professor of epidemiology. “Our study indicates that naturalistic driving behaviors can be used as comprehensive and reliable markers for mild cognitive impairment and dementia.”
Data were obtained from a previous study where in-vehicle recording devices captured the driving behaviors of 2,977 participants from August 2015 through March 2019.
- From the raw data, the researchers derived 29 behavioral variables, which they used to develop driver profiles.
Developed a series of machine-learning models to predict cognitive issues.
Lead to the most accurate model, which combined driving variables with a demographic model resulting in an ML algorithm with an 88% accuracy.
The ultimate goal of this algorithm is to hopefully keep the roadways safer.

For the first time, researchers have used 3D printers and a new bioprinting technique to print algae into tough, resilient living, photosynthetic materials.
As the researchers report in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the material has a variety of applications in the energy, medical, and fashion sectors.
Anne S. Meyer, an associate professor of biology at the University of Rochester talks on the technique:
- “Our photosynthetic living materials are a huge step forward for the field since they are the first example of an engineered photosynthetic material that is physically robust enough to be deployed for real-world applications.”

Material Composition: Microalgae with bacterial cellulose
- Microalgae or microscopic algae are invisible to the naked eye, typically found in freshwater and marine systems, living in both the water column and sediment.
- Bacterial Cellulose – organic compound that bacteria produce and excrete

The combination resulted in a unique material that has the photosynthetic quality of the algae and the robustness of the bacterial cellulose.
The material is tough/resilient while also being biodegradable.
- Simple and scalable to produce.
The characteristics of the material make it an ideal candidate for a variety of applications
- Artificial leaves – mimic actual leaves in that they use sunlight to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and energy.
  - Current artificial leaves in production utilize toxic material unlike this process
- Photosynthetic skins, used for skin grafts to jumpstart the healing process.
- Photosynthetic bio-garments
  - Could change the fashion industry would address some of the negative environmental effects of the industry.

Toyota already has a car (Toyota Mirai) that utilizes hydrogen fuel to convert electricity to power an onboard electric motor, but this new engine is different.
Toyota created a hydrogen engine that sounds a little different than what you would expect. See it in action in this video!
- The car in the video is a Corolla Hatchback fitted with a hydrogen-sipping internal combustion engine.
- Comment at the end from the driver: “It is not as different as I expected. It feels like a normal engine.”
Toyota claims the fuel is 100-percent hydrogen with zero gasoline content.
- Emits nearly no CO2, but does emit other noxious gasses as the engine burns hydrogen and oxygen from the air.
Not a zero-emissions vehicle like an all-electric vehicle (EV) but it significantly emits less toxic substances than a pure gasoline car.
“Toyota has hydrogen-related environmental technology cultivated through the Mirai. It also has safety technology developed through the Yaris WRC,” said Akio Toyoda, CEO, and President of Toyota Motor Corporation. “Thinking, as a member of the automobile industry, that it was important for motorsports to create a place where everyone could enjoy themselves even in a carbon-neutral era, I decided we should go with a hydrogen engine.”
This coincides with the announcement, reported by Toyota Time, on April 22nd, that Toyota intends to test the engine installed on the Corolla Sport (Corolla Hatchback) in a 24-hour endurance race from May 21 to 23.

Reported by PV magazine: Scientists led by Finland’s Aalto University have found a way to revive lithium-ion batteries and to facilitate their reuse,
In the published paper in the journal ChemSusChem, the scientists developed an electrolysis process, called “re-lithiation,” to replenish the lithium in battery electrodes.
Then compared the performance of electrodes treated in this way with those made from brand new materials.
- Found that the process restored the original electrode structure, and demonstrated capacity, rate capability, and cyclability properties only slightly behind the brand new batteries.
This doesn’t really mean that a revived battery can replace a new one, but that it can potentially reduce the cost and complexity of recycling battery components and materials.
“By reusing the structures of batteries we can avoid a lot of the labor that is common in recycling and potentially save energy at the same time,” says Aalto University professor Tanja Kallio, “We believe that the method could help companies that are developing industrial recycling.”
The scientists’ next goal will be to test and optimize its process for use with other battery chemistries, particularly the nickel-rich cathode designs.