News:

NASA Solar Sail Spacecraft to Chase Tiny Asteroid After Artemis I Launch | SciTechDaily (01:25)

• Launching with the Artemis I uncrewed test flight, NASA’s shoebox-size Near-Earth Asteroid Scout will chase down what will become the smallest asteroid ever to be visited by a spacecraft.
• The asteroid being targeted is, 2020 GE
  • near-Earth asteroid (NEA) that is less than 60 feet (18 meters) in size
  • Asteroids smaller than 330 feet (100 meters) across have never been explored up close before.
• The spacecraft will use its science camera to get a closer look, measuring the object’s size, shape, rotation, and surface properties.
• It will ride as one of 10 secondary payloads aboard the powerful Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, which will launch no earlier than March 2022.
• After it is dispensed in space it will use stainless steel alloy booms to unfurl a solar sail that will expand from a small package to a sail about the size of a racquetball court, or 925 square feet (86 square meters).
  • Will generate thrust by reflecting solar photons – quantum particles of light radiating from the Sun
  • Sunlight acts as a constant force, so a tiny spacecraft equipped with a large solar sail can eventually travel many miles per second.
  • Maneuver by tipping and tilting its sail to change the angle of sunlight
• The mission will act as a nimble scout for future human and robotic missions that may utilize asteroid resources – and will gain important planetary defense insights about this class of NEA.
• Julie Castillo-Rogez, the mission’s principal science investigator, provides insight as to why looking at even small asteroids are important:
  • “Although large asteroids are of most concern from a planetary defense perspective, objects like 2020 GE are far more common and can pose a hazard to our planet, despite their smaller size.”

Altos bursts out of stealth with $3B, a dream team C-suite and a wildly ambitious plan to reverse disease | FierceBiotech (08:11)

• Early details of Altos leaked out last year when MIT Technology Review reported Jeff Bezos had invested to support development of technology that could “revitalize entire animal bodies, ultimately prolonging human life.” 
  • The official reveal fleshes out the vision in more detail
• Hal Barron, M.D, the future CEO of Altos, provided a statement on the company:
  • “It’s clear from work by Shinya Yamanaka, and many others since his initial discoveries, that cells have the ability to rejuvenate, resetting their epigenetic clocks and erasing damage from a myriad of stressors. These insights, combined with major advances in a number of transformative technologies, inspired Altos to reimagine medical treatments where reversing disease for patients of any age is possible.”
  • Yamanaka is a 2012 Nobel Prize winner for the discovery of the ‘Yamanaka factors’ — four transcription factors (Oct3/4, Sox2, c-Myc and Klf4) that can reprogram cells to roll back cellular aging and repair tissues. 
• Altos is bringing in the biggest names in life sciences to staff out their C level positions at the company.
• The team will use $3 billion in capital committed by investors to turn breakthroughs in our understanding of cellular rejuvenation into transformational medicines. 
• Co-founder, Rick Klausner, M.D., stated in a press release:
  • “Remarkable work over the last few years beginning to quantify cellular health and the mechanisms behind that, coupled with the ability to effectively and safely reprogram cells and tissues via rejuvenation pathways, opens this new vista into the medicine of the future. Altos begins with many of the leading scientists who are creating this new science. Together, we are building a company where many of the world’s best scientists can collaborate internally and externally and develop their research with the speed, mission, and focus of private enterprise. Our success will depend upon a culture of intense collaboration, enthusiasm, and openness.”
• David Baltimore, PhD, a board member provided a positive goal Altos is shooting for:
  • “The goal of Altos will be to reverse the ravages of disease and aging that lead to disability and death, reinvigorating and extending the quality of life. Altos will provide an unparalleled environment for collaborative discovery and has already attracted a most impressive group of investigators to the daunting task of reversing ill health and taking medicine in a new direction.”

Patient-specific spinal model may predict the effect of disc implants | New Atlas (16:28)

• As people get older, the intervertebral discs in their spine tend to deteriorate, some of which end up being surgically replaced with implants. 
  • Who doesn’t know someone that has a bad back?
• A new patient-specific spinal model by scientists at Florida Atlantic University, could help determine how successful such surgery will be.
• Process:
  • Obtain a CT scan of a patient’s spine
  • Create a 3D computer model from the scan
  • Produce a 3D-printed model of one section of the spine with a cervical disc implant already in place
  • Utilize a robotic arm to flex and extend the spinal replica, simulating five different real-life spinal postures
  • Sensors then monitored the manner in which the added implant was causing stress to be distributed throughout the spine.
• The setup was found to be 100 percent accurate at replicating the effects that the postures would have on the real spine, with the addition of the implanted disc.
• Once developed further, the technology could be used to determine what sort of implant and/or surgical technique would work best, before the surgery is performed.
• Additionally, simulations could provide information as to what movements are best while recovering from the surgery.

Intel Is Investing $20 Billion Towards a Massive New Semiconductor Plant | Interesting Engineering (21:10)

• According to a Reuters report, Intel is set to invest $20 billion into a massive new semiconductor chip manufacturing site near Columbus, Ohio.
• All coincides with a recent analysis informing that China is “three or four generations” away from being at the cutting edge of semiconductor production.
• Chipmakers worldwide are frantically trying to boost output amid the global chip shortage brought on by massive demand and supply chain disruption fueled by the pandemic.
• Intel’s new investment will go towards building two new semiconductor manufacturing plants, bringing 3,000 new permanent jobs to the 1,000-acre site in Albany, Ohio
  • The first step in building an eight-factory complex that could cost additional tens of billions of dollars.
• Intel also recently announced plans for another U.S. campus site that would begin construction before the end of the year.
  • The new site, according to reports, could cost $100 billion and eventually employ 10,000 people.

Elon Musk’s brain chip firm Neuralink lines up clinical trials in humans | The Guardian (27:10)

• The billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s brain chip startup is preparing to launch clinical trials in humans.
• This is stemming from a job post for Neuralink for a “Clinical Trial Director.” What is mentioned in this post?
  • “As the clinical trial director, you’ll work closely with some of the most innovative doctors and top engineers, as well as working with Neuralink’s first clinical trial participants …. You will lead and help build the team responsible for enabling Neuralink’s clinical research activities and developing the regulatory interactions that come with a fast-paced and ever-evolving environment.”
• Just last month, Elon Musk, mentioned his optimism in allowing quadriplegics to move again:
  • “We hope to have this in our first humans, which will be people that have severe spinal cord injuries like tetraplegics, quadriplegics, next year, pending FDA approval … I think we have a chance with Neuralink to restore full-body functionality to someone who has a spinal cord injury. Neuralink’s working well in monkeys, and we’re actually doing just a lot of testing and just confirming that it’s very safe and reliable and the Neuralink device can be removed safely.”
• The company is also recruiting for a “clinical trial coordinator” to help build a team of people to run the trial and liaise with regulators. 
• These applicants, according to the posting, have an “opportunity to change the world and work with some of the smartest and the most talented experts from different fields”.