Based on outstanding technical progress by research teams to date, DARPA has pivoted the third and final phase of its NOM4D (pronounced nō- mad) program^[1] from planned further laboratory testing to conducting a pair of small-scale orbital demonstrations to evaluate novel materials and assembly processes in space.

As commercial space companies continue to expand access to orbit for U.S. economic and national security needs, a major roadblock for building large-scale structures in orbit remains: the size and weight limits imposed by a rocket’s cargo fairing. In 2022, DARPA introduced NOM4D to break this cargo-constraint mold by exploring a new paradigm. Instead of folding or compacting structures to fit them into a rocket fairing to be unfurled or deployed in space, DARPA proposed stowing novel lightweight raw materials in the rocket fairing that don’t need to be hardened for launch. The intent of this approach is to allow in-orbit construction of vastly larger and more mass-efficient structures than could ever fit in a rocket fairing. Additionally, this concept enables mass-efficient designs of structures that would sag under their own weight on Earth but are optimized for the low-gravity environment of space.

“Caltech [California Institute of Technology] and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have demonstrated tremendous advances in the first two phases and have now partnered in Phase 3 with space-launch companies to conduct in-space testing of their novel assembly processes and materials,” said Andrew Detor, DARPA NOM4D program manager. “Originally, Phase 3 was going to be about making things more precisely in the lab than we did in Phase 2. But we said, ‘You know, the maturity is there, and there would be more impact if we took the capabilities we have now and actually go demonstrate them in space to show that it can be done.’ Pushing the performers to do a demo in space means they can’t just sweep challenges under the rug like they could in a lab. You better figure out how it’s going to survive in the space environment.”

Wound infections are common combat injuries and can take otherwise able-bodied personnel out of operations and/or result in severe medical complications. Current standard of care relies on complicated and often time-consuming tests to identify the specific infection-inducing pathogens that caused the wound infection. Therapeutic treatments rely on broad-spectrum and high-dose antibiotics alongside surgical excision – which are not pathogen specific, drive antibiotic resistance, can have toxic side effects, require advanced medical training, and can result in high treatment costs and burden on patients. A game-changing approach to managing infection of combat wounds, particularly one that can be applied autonomously, would benefit warfighter readiness and resilience.

The BioElectronics to Sense and Treat (BEST) program seeks to meet this need by developing wearable, automated technologies that can predict and prevent a wound infection before it can occur, and to eliminate an infection if it has already taken hold. To achieve this, DARPA is seeking researchers to develop novel bioelectronic smart bandages comprised of wound infection sensor and treatment modules. The sensors should be high-resolution and provide real-time, continual monitoring of wounds based on, for example, the person’s immune state and the collection of bacteria that live in and around a wound. Data from these sensors will be used to predict if a wound will fail to heal due to infection, diagnose the infection, and regulate administration of targeted treatments – using closed-loop control to prevent or resolve infection for improved wound healing.

“Given that infection initiates at the time of injury and can take hold before aid arrives, particularly in austere environments, the earlier we can deploy these technologies, the bigger impact they will have,” noted Dr. Leonard Tender, BEST program manager. “Even if medivac occurs immediately, without the ability to prevent infection, the downstream care required to treat the surge of wound infections resulting from a large-scale combat operation could easily overwhelm care capacity.”

https://vimeo.com/398813930

“Poland Uses Clams To Control Its Water” in several cities, similar methods are used by the city of Minneapolis.

While it seems that various technologies are completely taking over many different parts of human life, it appears that even some man-made things are better left to nature.