66. Building Habitats in Lunar Orbit, Special Operations Testing a Anti-Aging Pill, First 3D Printed Steel Bridge

Northrop to build homes on moon orbit under $935 mln NASA contract | Reuters (01:07)

• Northrop Grumman Corp won a NASA contract worth $935 million to develop living quarters for the U.S. space agency’s planned outpost in lunar orbit.
  • Called the Habitation And Logistics Outpost (HALO).

• According to Space News, this module is one of the first for the Lunar Gateway and will serve as a habitat for visiting astronauts and a command post for the lunar orbiting facility.
  • A vital component of NASA’s Artemis program, it will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the Moon.

• HALO is based on the transport Cygnus spacecraft, and Steve Krein, vice president of civil and commercial satellites at Northrop Grumman, talked about the benefit of this Cygnus design in a company statement:
  •  “By leveraging our active Cygnus production line, Northrop Grumman can uniquely provide an affordable and reliable HALO module in the time frame needed to support NASA’s Artemis program.” 

• Northrop Grumman will be responsible for attaching and testing the integrated quarters with a solar propulsion module being developed.

• NASA is targeting a November 2024 launch for the integrated spacecraft on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.

• NASA Administrator Bill Nelson provides the final quote discussing the significance of this mission:
  • “NASA is building the infrastructure to expand human exploration further out into the solar system than ever before, including Gateway, the lunar space station that will help us make inspirational scientific discoveries at and around the Moon. Just as importantly, these investments will help NASA carry out the United States’ horizon goal: to further develop and test the technology and science needed for a human trip to Mars … The HALO is a critical component of Gateway, and this exciting announcement today brings us one step closer to landing American boots on both the Moon and Mars.”

Tesla launches initiative to build first solar neighborhood in Austin  | Fox7Austin (06:38)

• In a new partnership with real estate developer Dacra and asset manager Brookfield Asset Management, Tesla has already begun construction on a large-scale sustainable neighborhood in Austin. 
  • Named SunHouse at Easton Park

• According to the press release, Tesla V3 solar roof tiles and Powerwall 2 battery storage will be installed in phases at homes in the SunHouse community.
  • Developed on land in Brookfield Residential’s Easton Park.
  • Residents will be provided with backup storage in the event of a power outage.
  • Potentially could be compensated for returning power to the energy grid

• The first phase of installation already began in June.
  • Goal to provide insight and information on product integration, which will guide the installation at the next phase of significantly more homes. 

• Tesla Solar will provide ongoing oversight of the homes’ energy systems, and Brookfield’s renewable power business will integrate a community-wide solar program to serve broader public use needs and surrounding neighborhoods. 

• Austin Mayor Steve Adler is excited about this new community:
  • “The City of Austin is excited for the arrival of these affordable options to housing powered by renewable energy, … I am excited for the Tesla, Brookfield, and Dacra partnership’s approach to sustainable energy and housing as an example of the out-of-box thinking that continues to make our community a beacon of innovation for the rest of the country and world.”

US Special Operations Command to Test Anti-Aging Pill | GenEngNews & Popular Mechanics (12:10)

• The U.S. military says it is months away from launching clinical trials of a pill designed to block or reduce many degenerative effects of aging

• The pill involves what Navy Commander Tim Hawkins called a “human performance small molecule” that will be fashioned into a nutraceutical form for both civilians and military personnel.
  • Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, oxidized state (NAD+) enhancer, a small molecule drug being developed by Metro International Biotech (MetroBiotech).
  • A small molecule is a molecule with low molecular weight.

• SOCOM and MetroBiotech are set to start clinical trials during the 2022 federal fiscal year, which starts October 1.
  • SOCOM has spent $2.8 million on its anti-aging effort since it began in 2018

• Hawkins continues to talk on this development:
  • “These efforts are not about creating physical traits that don’t already exist naturally. This is about enhancing the mission readiness of our forces by improving performance characteristics that typically decline with age. Essentially, we are working with leading industry partners and clinical research institutions to develop a nutraceutical, in the form of a pill that is suitable for a variety of uses by both civilians and military members, whose resulting benefits may include improved human performance—like increased endurance and faster recovery from injury.”

• MetroBiochem elaborates on the benefits of NAD+:
  • “Reduced levels of NAD+ are linked to aging and numerous diseases, including mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, and a variety of associated diseases. These levels decline as humans age and remain depleted during disease states.”

• According to David Sinclair, the mind behind MetroBiochem says the cure-all nature of the NAD+ molecule is by design. 
  • Trying to address the upstream cause of diseases instead of the current solution of playing “Whack-a-Mole.”

• Not All People are on board:
  • “This is better than nothing, but not much better,” cautioned Aubrey D.N.J. de Grey, Ph.D., a biomedical gerontologist. 
  • He states that methods of slowing down metabolism rates that generate biological damage have been unsuccessful, and therefore, “The pill that MetroBiotech is looking at is probably going to fail, for that reason.”

• I guess we will have to wait for the phase II clinical trials, which will go a long way to confirm what is or isn’t going to be treated by NAD+.
  • Estimate completion on April 10, 2022.

New Spring-Loaded ‘Sound Screw’ Makes Drywall Noise-Dampening | Gizmodo (18:57)

• The smooth featureless walls around your home are easy to paint and great for hanging artwork, but they’re also very effective at transmitting soundwaves from room to room.
  • Anyone living or has lived in an apartment knows this issue

• Drywall is quite flexible and can function like a drumhead, vibrating when sound waves hit it and then transmitting those sounds.

• You could always soundproof your rooms, but that is a little bit on the pricier side.
  • According to Home Advisor, the cost of soundproofing a room typically ranges between $1,024 and $2,558, with the average being $1,752.

• A cheaper and easier way is to install drywall using spring-loaded, sound-damping screws that could be the solution.

• These screws, called The Sound Screw, were developed by Håkan Wernersson of the Department of Materials Science and Applied Mathematics at Sweden’s Malmö University.
  • Features a flexible spring just below the screw head allowing the spring to expand and compress, damping the energy of sound waves hitting the walls.

• In a lab test, they found the screws reduced sound transmission by up to nine decibels.
  • About half as loud to human ears in the other room.

• More expensive than normal drywall screws, however drastically cheaper than normal soundproofing methods. 
  • Requires no special adjustments to drywall installation.

• The creator of the Sound Screw is still looking for manufacturers to put their creations into mass production.

Netflix will start publishing video games, has hired former EA exec | Arcs Technica (23:30)

• While Netflix has yet to post its own announcement about its gaming initiative, the streaming-video provider has confirmed to Ars Technica that it has hired a former EA and Oculus exec to lead a Netflix game-publishing team.

• The newly hired exec is Mike Verdu, who most recently worked in developer relations with Facebook’s Oculus VR team.
  • Worked in game development and publishing since the early ’90s.

• While Netflix has not yet confirmed what shape its video game publishing arm might take, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman has suggested that the effort could lead to “video games [as part of] its service in the next year.” 

• Netflix currently enjoys massive exposure by way of its popular app, we don’t know if the same app will support streamed games on all existing devices and operating systems. 

• Is Netflix planning to offer competitive, cloud-based button-tap latency? 
  • Competing with the likes of Google Stadia, GeForce Now, Amazon Luna, and many MANY more.

Brain Implant Transforms Thoughts Into Words On Computer Screen | NPR (28:24)

• A man who is unable to move or speak can now generate words and sentences on a computer using only his thoughts.

• The ability comes from an experimental implanted device that decodes signals in the man’s brain that once controlled his vocal tract, as researchers from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) reported on July 14th.

• The man, who asked to be referred to as BRAVO1, is currently limited to a vocabulary of just 50 words and communicates at a rate of about 15 words per minute. 

• According to The Next Web, to accomplish this feat the researchers surgically implanted a high-density electrode array over BRAVO1’s speech motor cortex. The implant was then connected to a computer via a port in his head. 
  • The computer studied the patterns of electrical activity produced when he attempted to speak 50 different words. The process took months.

• Words were decoded with a median accuracy of 74% at 15 words per minute and reached a peak performance of 93% accuracy at 18 words per minute.

• This brain decoding device could eventually help thousands of people who’ve had a stroke or a traumatic brain injury, says Krishna Shenoy, a professor in the School of Engineering at Stanford University.
  • He goes on to say that decoding 50 words is the tip of the iceberg, and thinks that it “could easily become 500 or 5,000 words.”

• Wanted to find out what people thought about this discovery so I turned to the best place to have a rational discussion…Twitter! 
  • From my quick assessment, as always it is a mixed bag. 
  • People are excited for this development for people who have lost the ability to speak, but are also worried about the security of this device if you think about it long term. 

World’s First 3D-Printed Steel Bridge Unveiled in Amsterdam | Interesting Engineering (37:17)

• This bridge was developed on an Amsterdam canal, is loaded with sensors, and as the headline gives away is the world’s first 3D-printed steel bridge.
  • The canal is called the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal, but I’m not going to pronounce it on the show.
  • Project was a collaborative effort between MX3D, a Dutch startup focusing on 3D metal printing, researchers at Imperial College London, and The Alan Turing Institute.

• It was printed by four robots in a matter of just six months, the bridge heralds a new beginning in additive manufacturing.
  • The project used multi-axis robots to heat the steel to 2,732°F and constructed the bridge layer by layer. 

• The 40-foot-long bridge is made up of close to 10,000 pounds of stainless steel.
• What are the sensors for?
  • They will collect data about strain and vibration as people use it under various weather conditions. 
  • This data will be used to help researchers better understand how 3D-printed steel behaves over a period of time. 
  • Also will help identify problem areas they will need to address on the bridge with maintenance/modifications.

• Imperial co-contributor Prof. Leroy Gardner of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, stated in a press release:
  • “A 3D-printed metal structure large and strong enough to handle pedestrian traffic has never been constructed before … We have tested and simulated the structure and its components throughout the printing process and upon its completion, and it’s fantastic to see it finally open to the public.”