Solid-state batteries are the holy grail of battery technology for automakers, but it’ll be a while before they reach production.
In sala operatoria oltre ai chirurghi c’erano alcuni ingegneri. Il paziente, un ragazzino di 13 anni, ha un grave problema congenito, la microtia, che comporta il mancato sviluppo dell’orecchio esterno (colpisce 5 bambini su 10mila). Grazie alla stampa 3D i medici dell’ospedale pediatrico Meyer di Firenze gli hanno ricostruito l’orecchio da zero. Sei ore di operazione, partita da una Tac con cui è stata acquisita l’esatta forma delle cartilagini. Poi, grazie a un software, è stata realizzata una copia delle cartilagini: dal modello è stato possibile vedere la porzione di cartilagini da prelevare. Per essere più precisi sulla forma, cercando di ottenere un risultato il più naturale possibile, è stato usato come modello un orecchio della mamma del ragazzino.
Una volta in sala operatoria la copia è stata fondamentale per plasmare le cartilagini ottenendo un orecchio “normale”. L’intervento è stato simulato più volte dal team dell’ospedale pediatrico fiorentino. Questo, come spiega lo staff del Meyer, ha consentito di affinare la tecnica arrivando a un risultato di grandissima precisione, riducendo anche tempi di esecuzione e anestesia. Il bambino tra qualche mese verrà sottoposto a un secondo intervento per ricostruire con la stessa tecnica anche il secondo orecchio.
“Per un bambino con una malformazione che era così evidente, il recupero estetico acquista una grande valenza psicologica e sociale – spiega il capo dell’equipe chirurgica Flavio Facchini, specialista in chirurgia plastica e ricostruttiva -. Lui non aveva problemi di udito, ma la malformazione gli creava grande disagio”.
Generating endless energy with zero emissions by just slamming hydrogen atoms together has been somewhat of a pipe dream for decades. Now, scientists may be getting a tiny step closer to feasible fusion power, thanks to a futuristic experiment and dozens of plasma guns.
Eighteen of 36 plasma guns are in place on the machine that could make fusion power a reality. Those guns are the key components of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX), which uses a new approach to the problem. PLX, if it works, will combine two existing methods of slamming single-proton hydrogen atoms together to form two-proton helium atoms. That process generates enormous amounts of energy per speck of fuel, much more than splitting heavy atoms (fission) does. The hope is that the method pioneered in PLX will teach scientists how to create that energy efficiently enough to be worthwhile for real-world use.
The promise of fusion is that it produces tons of energy. Every time two hydrogen atoms merge into helium, a small portion of their matter converts into a whole lot of energy.
Here’s my new story for Quartz on cyborg and #transhumanist bill of rights! It offers a look at the various ideas around the world surrounding this provocative issue:
Transhumanists are pushing the boundaries of what it means to be human. Our governing principles may need to progress along with them.
Okay, Science time.
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We’re continuing to release talks from Ending Age-Related Diseases 2019, our highly successful two-day conference that featured talks from leading researchers and investors, bringing them together to discuss the future of aging and rejuvenation biotechnology.
John Lewis of Oisin Biotechnologies discussed senolytics, which are drugs that kill senescent cells. He explained the differences between healthy and senescent cells along with the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) responsible for systemic inflammation. He went into detail about senolytics and what his company looks for when creating them, including details about suicide genes and biomarkers of senescence. He also discussed issues with bringing these drugs to humans and suggested oncology as a possible method for bringing them to the clinic.
WASHINGTON — Blue Origin is joining forces with three other major aerospace firms in a “national team” to develop a human lunar lander for NASA.
The company’s founder, Jeff Bezos, announced Oct. 22 his intent to work with Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper on the unnamed lunar lander, the proposal for which they will submit to NASA for its Human Landing Services competition.
“I am excited to announce that we have put together a national team to go back to the moon,” he said during an onstage interview at the 70th International Astronautical Congress here, where he received an Excellence in Industry award. “We could not ask for better partners.”
Jeff Bezos’ aerospace company, Blue Origin, no longer plans to build its giant lunar lander for NASA by itself. The company announced today that it is teaming up with three other legacy space companies — Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Draper — to develop a lunar landing system for the space agency that is fully capable of taking humans to and from the Moon’s surface.
