Episode 64 Show Notes

This ancient beetle is the first new species discovered in fossilized poop | Science Mag (01:53)

• Beetles are everywhere—and new members of Earth’s most diverse group of organisms are being discovered nearly every day. 

• For the first time, scientists have found a new beetle species in an unusual place: the fossilized poop of a dinosaur ancestor. 
  • The poop fragment was nearly 2 centimeters long.
  • Dung presumed to have been excreted by Silesaurus opolensis, a beaked dinosaur ancestor about 2.3 meters in length.

• Subjected the whole specimen to an intense x-ray beam and by rotating the fragment in the beam, they created 3D reconstructions of the contents.

• Found whole and remarkably intact, the 230-million-year-old beetle, named Triamyxa coprolithica.
  • Likely belonged to a group known as Myxophaga, small beetles that thrive on algae in wet habitats.

• The first insect to be scientifically described from fossilized feces.

A Laser Breakthrough: First Commercially Scalable Integrated Laser and Microcomb on a Single Chip | SciTechDaily (05:15)

• According to Nature, since their inception, frequency combs have triggered substantial advances in optical frequency metrology and precision measurements and in applications such as broadband laser-based gas sensing and molecular fingerprinting.
  • Deployed in combination with other silicon photonics devices replacing the copper-wire connections that linked servers at data centers, dramatically increasing energy efficiency. 

• Researchers discovered “microcombs,” a series of parallel, low-noise, highly stable laser lines. 
  • Each line of the laser comb can carry information, extensively multiplying the amount of data that can be sent by a single laser.
  • Developed an integrated on-chip semiconductor laser and resonator capable of producing a laser microcomb.
  • It is a powerful tool that normally requires exceptionally high power and expensive lasers and sophisticated optical coupling to function.

• This research enables semiconductor lasers to be seamlessly integrated with low-loss nonlinear optical micro-resonators.
  • No optical coupling is required, and the device is entirely electrically controlled
  • Viable for commercial-scale production: 
    • Thousands of devices can be made from a single 100-mm-diameter wafer using industry-standard semiconductor compatible techniques.

• Chao Xiang, a postdoctoral researcher in Bowers’s lab, discusses the potential of this microcomb technology:
  • “I think this work is going to become very big … We believe that our achievement could become the backbone of efforts to apply optical frequency comb technologies in many areas, including efforts to keep up with fast-growing data traffic and, hopefully, slow the growth of energy consumption in mega-scale data centers.” 

Tougher Than Kevlar and Steel: Ultralight Material Withstands Supersonic Microparticle Impacts | SciTechDaily (12:11)

• A new study by engineers at MIT, Caltech, and ETH Zürich shows that “nanoarchitected” materials may be a promising route to lightweight armor, protective coatings, blast shields, and other impact-resistant materials. 

• Material made of interconnected carbon “tetrakaidecahedron,” the material absorbed the impact of microscopic bullets in spectacular fashion.

• The team tested the material’s resilience by shooting it with 14-micron-wide silicon oxide bullets at supersonic speeds and found that the material prevented the miniature projectiles from tearing through it.
  • The material was thinner than the width of human hair.

• Carlos Portela, assistant professor of mechanical engineering at MIT, said in a press release:
  • “We show the material can absorb a lot of energy because of this shock compaction mechanism of struts at the nanoscale versus something that’s fully dense and monolithic, not nanoarchitected … The same amount of mass of our material would be much more efficient at stopping a projectile than the same amount of mass of Kevlar.”

• This is just an initial lab result, so soldiers won’t be wearing nanoarchitecture flak jackets any time soon.

• The researchers plan to explore various nanostructured configurations, as well as other materials beyond carbon, and ways to scale up their production 
  • The goal of designing tougher, lighter protective materials.

CRISPR Breakthrough Could Help Protect Astronauts From Radiation in Space | Interesting Engineering & Science Daily (17:43)

• Near-Earth, unconscionable levels of ionizing radiation swarm around our tenuous atmosphere, protected only by our magnetosphere.
  • 3 types of radiation in space:
    • Particles trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field; 
    • Particles shot into space during solar flares (solar particle events); 
    • Galactic cosmic rays (Heavy ions outside our solar system)

• Scientists investigated the use of CRISPR gene editing systems in space, to safely and accurately test the effects of ionizing radiation on human-like cells aboard the ISS.

• CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing systems can provide a model to safely and accurately generate double-strand breaks in eukaryotes, the kind of cells humans use.
  • Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are a type of DNA damage caused by galactic cosmic radiation.
  • Create precise damage to DNA strands so that DNA repair mechanisms can then be observed in better detail.

• This study marks the first time that CRISPR genome editing has successfully been conducted in space, as well as the first time in space that live cells have undergone a successful transformation. 

• The technique could also serve as a foundation for investigations into other molecular biology topics related to long-term space exposure/exploration.

• Senior author Sebastian Kraves explains the importance of this development to ScienceDaily:
  • “It’s not just that the team successfully deployed novel technologies like CRISPR genome editing, PCR, and nanopore sequencing in an extreme environment, but also that we were able to integrate them into a functionally complete biotechnology workflow applicable to the study of DNA repair and other fundamental cellular processes in microgravity … These developments fill this team with hope in humanity’s renewed quest to explore and inhabit the vast expanse of space.”

Scientists create mouse embryo with a beating heart from stem cells | New Atlas (22:56)

• A new study, from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, has detailed the development of a nearly complete mouse embryo grown in a lab dish out of stem cells.
  • Had muscles, blood vessels, and a tiny beating heart.

• Most sophisticated “embryo in a dish” created to date, offering essential new innovations on the road to growing replacement human organs in a lab.
  • But could that raise new ethical questions?

• Scientists at UVA have been working for years to find a way to build functional embryos out of stem cells.
  • Not a simple process
  • Require different types of stem cells
  • Need the cells to develop in the correct organized structure at the right moments.

• The primary goal of this research is to grow functional human organs for transplants. 

• Christine Thisse, one of the lead scientists, explains the team’s breakthrough:
  • “We found a way to instruct aggregates of stem cells to initiate embryonic development … In response to this controlled instruction, the aggregates develop into embryo-like entities in a process that recapitulates the embryonic steps one-by-one. What is amazing is that we can get the variety of tissues that are present in an authentic mouse embryo.”

• So far the research has not progressed to the point of producing a fully mature mouse embryo.
  • Halt at a stage equivalent to the middle phase of gestation.

• The researchers suggest this new breakthrough brings that reality one step closer by demonstrating that complex tissue organization can be achieved through tailored control over stem cell growth.

Astronauts successfully roll out and power up new solar arrays on ISS | New Atlas (29:39)

• Astronauts (NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet) aboard the ISS have undertaken three spacewalks over a 10-day period in order to fit a new set of solar arrays to the exterior hull of the spacecraft.
  • Two new roll-out solar arrays
  • Augmented by a further four arrays that will provide power to the station.
  • Springboard for the Artemis Moon exploration program

• The first spacewalk took place on June 16th, took a total of 7 hours and 15 minutes, and saw the duo collect the bulky solar arrays and transport them to the installation site.

• On June 20th, on the second spacewalk:
  • The duo began by removing the panels from their transport tubes and then proceeded to align and connect the first array’s data and power cables. 

• On June 25th, the final spacewalk:
  • The duo attached and connected the cables of the second solar array, and the two new additions have been supplying power to the station ever since.

Alaska Airlines Optimizes Traffic Flow Using Artificial Intelligence | Flying Mag (32:28)

• Alaska Airlines and Airspace Intelligence have signed a multi-year contract for a “first-of-its-kind partnership to optimize air traffic flow using artificial intelligence and machine learning.”

• In a news release, Alaska Airlines said the partnership will use, “Flyways AI … that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to assist dispatchers in making flight operations more efficient and sustainable by optimizing routes and improving the predictability and flow of airline traffic. Alaska is the first airline worldwide to adopt the technology.”

• This comes after Alaska Airlines utilized Flyways AI in an initial 6-month trial program where their dispatchers utilized, “flight prediction information to help them plan, monitor, and make recommendations for rerouting flights to avoid issues like congested airspace and bad weather.”

• According to the news release, Flyways found opportunities to reduce mileage and fuel consumption for 64% of their main flights. 
  • The dispatchers evaluated and accepted 32% of the recommendations.

• Flyway AI “looks into the future” with its predictive modeling, which informs dispatchers on the evolving air traffic changes. 
  • Looks at all scheduled and active flights system-wide instead of focusing on a single flight.

• Pasha Saleh, flight operations strategy and innovation director for Alaska Airlines, sings the praise of this technology:
  • “Artificial intelligence and machine learning are among the top drivers of technology today and, for the first time, have been applied to the airline flight planning environment … Alaska’s use of Flyways in just six months, even with significantly depressed flying due to COVID-19, enabled us to save 480,000 gallons of fuel and avoid 4,600 tons of carbon emissions.”

Eviation’s ‘Tesla of aircraft’ production version unveiled with over 400 miles of range | Electrek (37:40)

• A few years after unveiling their prototype in 2017, Eviation is unveiling the production version of the Alice electric aircraft with a few more details:
  • Nine-passenger, two-crew member aircraft
  • No carbon emissions, 
  • Significantly reduced noise
  • Costs a fraction to operate per flight hour. 
  • Powered by two magni650 electric propulsion units from magniX.
  • A single-volume, high-energy-density battery system is made from currently available battery cells and is not reliant on future advancements. 
  • Range of 440 nautical miles
    • 440 nautical miles = 506 miles
    • Roughly the flight distance between Philadelphia and Charlotte

• The Israel-based company does have a prototype of the aircraft, which they plan to fly for the first time later this year.

• Despite the range downgrade, the aircraft could still prove useful on some routes thanks to its much lower operation cost due to fuel savings.

• Eviation is planning to hold an inaugural flight later this year, but the certification process is going to take a while, and Alice is not expected to go into service until 2024.

Flying Car Completes Its First-Ever Inter-City Flight | Interesting Engineering (42:03)

• According to the press release, AirCar, a flying car that takes less than three minutes to transition to driving mode once on the ground, performed a 35-minute flight between the international airports of Nitra and Bratislava in Slovakia on June 28.
  • According to Google Maps, it is roughly a 55-mile journey through normal auto transport (1-hour trip)

• The first-ever inter-city trip and the flying car aced its 142nd successful landing.

• The inventor, Professor Klein, after exiting the AirCar cockpit in Bratislava stated:
  • “This flight starts a new era of dual transportation vehicles. It opens a new category of transportation and returns the freedom originally attributed to cars back to the individual.”

• Once the car landed in Bratislava’s international airport the vehicle folded its wing, drew in its tail, and was driven by its inventor to downtown Bratislava.
  • Fits with the name of a flying car and not just an eVTOL 

• Currently, in the prototype phase, the vehicle comes equipped with a 160 HP BMW engine with a fixed propeller, and a ballistic parachute.
  • The two-seater model weighs approximately 2,425 lbs
  • Can lift an extra 440 lbs
  • Altitudes up to 8200 ft
  • Maximum cruising speed of roughly 118 mph
  • 40 hours of test flights completed.

• Next in line for the development of AirCar is the Prototype 2: 
  • Feature a 300 HP engine and reach cruise speeds of up to 185 mph and a range of 621 miles.

• The company’s aircraft certification tests are still pending, but we could be close to flying cars!