Luminate aims to make hair loss from chemotherapy a thing of the past | TechCrunch (01:16)

• Hair loss resulting from chemotherapy is one of the most recognizable side effects in all of medicine.
• Luminate Medical may have a solution in a medical wearable that prevents the chemical cocktail from tainting hair follicles, preventing the worst of the loss and perhaps relegating this highly visible condition to the past.
  • According to their site, 47% of patients say hair loss is the most traumatic part of cancer treatment
• When a patient is undergoing chemotherapy, the cancer-inhibiting drugs course through their entire body — anywhere the blood goes.
  • Hair loss occurs as the substances affect the hair follicles 
• Luminate’s solution, developed in partnership with the National University of Ireland Galway, is to prevent the blood from reaching those cells in the first place.
  • Basically compression socks, but for the top of your head.
• The patient wears the compression cap during and after the whole chemo session.
  • Restricting blood flow to the skin of the scalp only
  • The chemo drugs will still flow unimpeded to wherever the tumor or cancer site is without hair follicle damage
• Luminate CEO Aaron Hannon discusses this compression therapy:
  • “Compression therapy has been really well studied … There are years of literature around how long you can apply these therapies without damaging the cells. There’s a certain amount of mechanical engineering involved in making it both comfortable and effective.”
• Tests have been done on animals, which saw strong hair retention of around 80% with no adverse effects.
• Initial tests of the headset’s blood-flow-blocking effects on healthy patients showed that it works exactly as expected on people as well.
• Although hair loss is considered a medical condition by many insurance companies and other methods of reimbursement it will take time and lots of evidence to get the device approved for those processes.
• The team is confident that at around $1,500, the device is within the means of many as long as other costs are being picked up by insurance.

Perseverance Just Drilled a ‘Perfect’ Rock Sample After The First One Crumbled | Science Alert (09:26)

• Following a failed first attempt last month, NASA’s Perseverance rover has successfully drilled and captured a perfect rock core from the Red Planet this past Wednesday (Sept. 1).
  • Thought they had it, but didn’t situation 
  • According to NASA, The rock sample proved too crumbly and literally disappeared from the rover’s grasp.
• One big step closer to their goal of someday returning the rock sample to Earth, in order to study it for signs of ancient microbial life.
• The boulder, nicknamed “Rochette,” sits on a ridge overlooking the nearby floor of Jezero crater, where it has endured the elements of Mars for potentially millions of years. 
• Perseverance will store the sample — which is about as thick as a pencil — in its belly for the duration of its mission, exploring the dried-up ruins of ancient rivers in Jezero crater.
  • Sample is sealed in one of the 42 remaining titanium tubes aboard the rover.
• The return trip of that sample likely won’t happen until at least the 2030s. 
• In the meantime, a triumphant Percy will continue to chug along the Red Planet, now one rock sample heavier.

Motional reveals its Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric robotaxi | TechCrunch (14:04)

• Motional revealed Tuesday (Aug 31st)  the first images of its planned robotaxi, a Hyundai all-electric Ioniq 5 SUV
  • Centerpiece of a driverless ride-hailing service
  • They hope customers will be able to access them starting in 2023 through the Lyft app.
• The purpose-built vehicle, which will be assembled by Hyundai, is integrated with Motional’s autonomous vehicle technology.
  • 30 sensors including lidar, radar and cameras
  • Sensing system provides 360 degrees of vision
  • Ability to see up to 300 meters away
• President and CEO Karl Iagnemma discussed the visible sensors with TechCrunch:
  • “We see so many competitors bending over backwards to try to hide this sensor suite and conceal it in these big plastic casings … And the fact is, you can’t hide the sensors. They need to be where they need to be and they’re an important part of the car and a key part of the technology. So our strategy was to celebrate the sensors, and to adapt the design language of the vehicle and carry that through the design of the integrated sensor suite.”
• Inside the robotaxi are displays to allow riders to interact with the vehicle during their ride, such as directing the robotaxi to make an extra stop.
• Motional has not announced where it will launch its first driverless robotaxi service.
  • Likely that it will be in one of the cities it currently is testing and validating its technology: Boston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh

Making methane from carbon dioxide: Carbon capture grows more affordable | TechXPlore (20:35)

• The Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has developed a method to convert captured carbon dioxide (CO2) into methane.
  • The primary component of natural gas.
• PNNL chemist Jotheeswari Kothandaraman discusses natural gas in the U.S:
  • “Right now a large fraction of the natural gas used in the U.S. has to be pumped out of the ground … and demand is expected to increase over time, even under climate change mitigation pathways. The methane produced by this process—made using waste CO2 and renewably sourced hydrogen—could offer an alternative for utilities and consumers looking for natural gas with a renewable component and a lower carbon footprint.”
• This new method reduces the materials needed to run the reaction, the energy needed to fuel it, and ultimately, the selling price of the gas
  • Key chemical known as EEMPA makes the process possible
• EEMPA — A lab developed solvent that snatches CO2 from power plant flue gas, binding the greenhouse gas so it can be converted into useful chemicals.
  • EEMPA captures over 95 percent of CO2 emitted in flue gas. 
• The new process gives off excess heat, too, providing steam for power generation.
• Previously this year the researchers revealed that power plants could slash the price of carbon capture with this method.
  • 19 percent lower than standard industry costs—the lowest documented price of carbon capture.
  • CO2 captured by EEMPA can be converted to methane on site.  
• Now, in a study published Friday, August 21, the team reveals a new natural gas incentive to further drive down costs.
  • New process requires an initial investment that costs 32 percent less
  • Operation and maintenance costs are 35 percent cheaper
  • Selling price of synthetic natural gas down by 12 percent
• Ron Kent, Advanced Technologies Development Manager at SoCalGas discusses the importance of carbon capture:
  • “It’s important that we not only capture CO2, but find valuable ways to use it … [T]his study offers a cost-effective pathway toward making something valuable out of waste CO2.”

Serendipity opens new path toward osteoporosis treatment | MedicalXPress (28:36)

• Osteoporosis causes bones to become weak and brittle — so brittle that a fall or even mild stresses such as bending over or coughing can cause a fracture.
  • afflicting about 10 million people in the United States alone. 
  • 20% of women over age 50 having osteoporosis
• According to researchers, a cellular protein whose normal function appears to suppress bone formation may be a potential new target for treating osteoporosis.
• In the study, researchers discovered that mice lacking the cellular protein SLITRK5 built more bone tissue than their SLITRK5-expressing kin. 
• According to Dr. Matthew Greenblatt, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine, “This cell surface protein is a new negative regulator of bone formation … Those are really the most valuable genes for us to discover, because when we inhibit them with an antibody or by other methods, they could augment bone formation and be potential therapeutic targets for osteoporosis and related disorders.”
• Researchers found that deleting the gene from mice increases their rates of bone formation, and it doesn’t cause any overt skeletal defects. 
• The lack of major side effects in mice suggests that drugs targeting SLITRK5 aren’t likely to cause problems, at least in skeletal growth.
  •  May be attractive as a therapeutic target to enhance bone formation.

Tesla Could Open Up Its Superchargers to Other EVs Next Month | Teslarati (35:20)

• Based on a reported all-hands meeting Elon Musk recently held with Tesla employees, the company seems to be pushing through with its open EV Supercharger Network plans. 
  • Aiming to open its Supercharger Network to non-Tesla vehicles next month, starting with Europe. 
• Tesla’s Supercharger network is one of the most massive and comprehensive on the planet consisting of over 2700 stations around the world with over 25,000 chargers installed. 
• Could this be a result of pressure to open up their stations to other EVs in Europe?
  • Back in June of 2021, German Federal Minister of Transport Andreas Scheuer pushed Musk to allow any manufacturer to use the secrets of the company’s superchargers for the development of all current and future electric vehicles.
• Although this is great news for electric vehicles in Europe, one has to wonder what it means for Tesla and the company’s customer base. 
• Tesla tried to quell owners’ concerns at the last earnings call and explained how other EV owners would use the Tesla App to access the Supercharger Network. 
  • All transactions and interactions at the stations will pass through it.