Science, Space, Technology

Societal Challenges facing Synthetic Biology

2017-04-07T11:00:00.000+01:00

I believe one of the biggest challenges facing Synthetic biology are excessive promises. Quotes such as “Synthetic biology has been predicted to heal us, feed us and fuel us.” (Milestones in synthetic (micro-) biology, 2014) will in time produce more harm than good. The ridiculous expectations from Synthetic biology are further fuelled by more promises from scientists and attempts to secure funding. These high expectations and slow delivery on them due to technical problems will eventually lead to some kind of backlash.

Additionally it seems that many scientists have already decided that the public is the “enemy”. In wanting to prevent the public opinion backlash which happened to previous fields such as stem cell research or GMO companies many scientists have decided to be proactive this time. However many have taken to the view that the general public is ignorant or uninformed and their opposition to some field of science stems from this (the now discredited ‘Deficit Model’). It seems many scientists have decided on the public as some obstacle for the above mentioned promise and vision for Synthetic Biology.

“Public perceptions and fears of synthetic biology may obstruct research in this field, in a similar fashion to GM. This has been recognised by all stakeholders and public engagement and dialogue activities are in the process of being developed.” (EPSRC, 2009, p. 46)

This somewhat arrogant view that scientists should know better than the public what is and isn’t to their benefit is encountered among some scientists. And indeed when it comes to communication with the general public, scientists tend to be most concerned with informing people about the potential benefits and attempting to stop people from overblowing the risks. It is a rare afterthought on whether the public should be involved in the discussion on the potential benefits concerning them.

Instead however it seems that the general public is overall sympathetic to the goals of synthetic biology and shows understanding of balancing potential risks with potential benefits. When involved in discussion with scientists selected members of the public were both excited about the opportunities as well as concerned about risks. From these workshops (carried out in 2010) five central questions emerged: “What is the purpose? Why do you want to do it? What are you going to gain from it? What else is it going to do? How do you know you are right?” (Synthetic Biology Dialogue Report, 2010)

I believe that these are important questions that scientists will have to face and should consider when approaching projects and deciding on their research.

Even in terms of regulations members of the public were generally sympathetic. There were acknowledgements that oftentimes risks are unforeseeable and uncontrollable and accidents do happen, however most were strongly against releasing synthetic organisms in the wild as well as generally recommending a cautious approach. One concern people showed was that regulation would not be able to keep up with scientific advancement, although I believe personally that this is less of an issue than people think. On the other hand there was also a belief that too harsh of a regulation would stifle creativity and advancement and rob society of potential benefits. Parallels with stem cell research were brought up.

[From the Economist]

There were also concerns regarding the “creation of life”, although the general consensus seems to be that if the benefits outweigh risks this was acceptable. In general humility was appreciated, especially in the context of synthetic life.

There are however some concerns that members of the public hold which are based on misinformation. For example one misconception is that the supposed “de-skilling” of biology together with the free availability of genomic sequences of pathogenic organisms and the relative cheapness of DNA synthesis will allow people to operate outside of professional research laboratories, allowing for some form of “bio-terrorism”.

A more realistic understanding of the research and the extensive knowledge required and our own lack of standardised practices in science puts any kind of risk from the misuse of de-skilled biology decades if not more into the future.

In general I believe societal challenges are much less serious than a lot of scientists believe. In fact people will generally be supportive, and there are indeed a lot of benefits to be gained from Synthetic Biology. I believe that people are much more scared of non-governmental organisations and big Pharmaceutical companies and their involvement in Synthetic Biology than they are of basic research being done by academic institutions.

The strawman of an uninformed and irrational public, with strong for or against views on science, and demands for 0-risk science, which has been built up in the mind of some scientists is more dangerous to public opinion than almost anything else. If anything this way of thinking will need to stop.

As with all emerging scientific fields there is a need to maintain a level of trust with the general public as well as policy regulators. Excessive hype and exaggeration over potential benefits are counterproductive for this, and instead the field as a whole will need to focus on the development of ethical models of regulation, which allow technological progress and direct it in a way that will yield the most benefit to humans and society

Sources and Further Reading

Marks NJ. Public understanding of genetics: The deficit model. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd; 2001. 10.1002/9780470015902.a0005862.pub2.

EPSRC. EPSRC landscape document: Materials mechanical & medical engineering programme. . 2009;1.

Bhattachary D, Pascall CJ, Hunter A. Synthetic biology dialogue report. . 2010.

Bubela T, Hagen G, Einsiedel E. Synthetic biology confronts publics and policy makers: Challenges for communication, regulation and commercialization. Trends Biotechnol. 2012;30(3):132-137.

Jefferson C, Lentzos F, Marris C. Synthetic biology and biosecurity: Challenging the â€˜mythsâ€™. Frontiers in Public Health. 2014;2.

Marris C. Public views on GMOs: Deconstructing the myths. EMBO Rep. 2001;2(7):545-548.

Technological Challenges for Synthetic Biology

2017-04-06T11:00:00.000+01:00

Technological and scientific challenges facing synthetic biology are manifold. Natural selection has had millions of years to build complex, working systems, and although we can make intentional changes, their effect on biological output is generally unexpected and riddled with unintentional effects. Natural systems have likely considered every single feasible aspect to solve a given problem, and indeed some companies are using similar approaches, using large numbers of mutants and screening them for a “better” desired activity. This can however hardly be called engineering biology and, to return to the aerospace analogy, if airplanes were built like this we would likely be confined to the ground.

[…] relative to its ambitions, synthetic biology is where aerospace engineering was in the 1800s – pre-flight.

(Timothy S. Gardner, 2013)

In general Biology contains few simplifying rules and principles, while exceptions to rules seem more common. We have a very limited understanding of even many relatively simple cell systems. There are several suggestions for dealing with this complexity. One is to strip down cells or create minimal cells from the ground up. The idea being that in natural cells there are many systems and genes that are not necessarily needed in controlled lab or industrial environments. The reality is that minimal cells are normally much less efficient and have slower growth than other cells. Why this is isn’t entirely clear, but it seems that it will be necessary to understand and tackle the complexity of biological systems rather than attempt to strip it down to its basic components. At the same time, building a minimal cell from scratch may reveal understanding of cells.

Biological systems have always been hard to understand as they behave with a certain stochasticity and a flexibility that does not compare with traditional engineering. Natural systems have to be able to account for varying environments and varying conditions. As a result it is hard to design systems such as a simple on/off switch, as oftentimes there is some very small level of “on” transcription. This “leakiness” of transcription is vital for cells to survive and adapt to changes in their environment but is undesirable in designed systems. Similar challenges are faced at every point when attempting to design biological systems. Cells do not behave in a standardised way, and even if a system works in one cell there is no guarantee that it will also work in another cell of even the same genus or even species or in different conditions.

Indeed the main and one of the more achievable problems to solve is the standardisation of biological characterisation. As it stands many labs have their own standards and record different background information on their own biological parts. Using these parts in different contexts may or may not work, it requires large amounts of time to track down these parts in the first place. This uncertainty and lack of full characterisation of biological parts is one of the things synthetic biology hopes to erase.

Biobricks - an attempt at standardisation of biological parts. [Image Source: MIT]

Indeed it has been said that the future of synthetic biology rests on solving the problems of measurements and design. The relative importance of design methods in synthetic biology applications can be determined by certain information based measures. Although modelling and exact mathematical design has in the past been limited by data gathering and inaccurate assay protocols. This could potentially be solved by new calibrated flow cytometry, which could provide a sufficient foundation for a further investigation into precise mathematical modelling and design.

One thing that is also needed for example are legal standards, in order to share and use genetic parts from several sources, in order to solve problems and realise applications. Current legal standards such as Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), can take several weeks to resolve and often do not resolve rights to application of standard parts. Indeed with chemical synthesis of genes becoming cheaper, synthesis of large DNA fragments being commercially available and viable for many labs, is a reality. Therefore new legal standards which can for example protect biological parts as well as facilitate the exchange of ideas and specific parts. Another example would be setting standards for ‘barcoding’ or ‘watermarking’ DNA, in order to improve detection and authentication of designed or engineered biological systems.

The challenges facing Synthetic biology are comparable to the challenges facing many emerging fields in academic sciences. In terms of technological challenges, revolutionising a field of science as synthetic biology is claiming to do is never easy. Biology is known to not be a discipline in which simplifying rules are common. Exceptions and strange unintuitive natural processes are prevalent, and as such standardisation of both biological parts and for characterisation of biological systems is hard and faces numerous issues.

However, I am confident that in time these challenges will be addressed and resolved.

Sources and Further Reading

Gardner TS. Synthetic biology: From hype to impact. Trends Biotechnol. 2013;31(3):123-125.

Milestones in synthetic (micro)biology. Nat Rev Micro. 2014;12(5):309-309.

Gibson DG, Glass JI, Lartigue C, et al. Creation of a bacterial cell controlled by a chemically synthesized genome. Science. 2010;329(5987):52-56.

Annaluru N, Muller H, Mitchell LA, et al. Total synthesis of a functional designer eukaryotic chromosome. Science. 2014;344(6179):55-58.

Endy D. Foundations for engineering biology. Nature. 2005;438(7067):449-453.

Kitney R, Freemont P. Synthetic biology – the state of play. FEBS Lett. 2012;586(15):2029-2036.

Kwok R. Five hard truths for synthetic biology. Nature. 2010;463:288-290.

Carlson R. Biology is technology: The promise, peril, and new business of engineering life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; 2010. 10.1080/00033790.2010.510941.

Esvelt KM, Wang HH. Genome‐scale engineering for systems and synthetic biology. Molecular Systems Biology. 2013;9(1). doi: 10.1038/msb.2012.66.

Beal J. Bridging the gap: A roadmap to breaking the biological design barrier. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. 2015;2.

What is Synthetic Biology?

2017-04-05T18:52:00.000+01:00

As with any relatively newly emerging scientific field it is hard to find a definition that encompasses Synthetic biology, although in this case it may be particularly difficult. There are largely disparate research activities and fields united under its banner, although there are some principles. Broadly speaking, Synthetic Biology aims to apply engineering concepts to biology and construct new systems “de-novo”. The term Synthetic in this sense has a meaning of “synthesizing” or “putting together” in opposition to analysis. The field could more fittingly be described as “Intentionally Engineered Biology".

[Image Credit: Liang Zong and Yan Liang - MIT]

As with the emergence of Synthetic Chemistry and later Chemical Engineering in the 19^th century Synthetic Biology, too will face challenges. And the same way Chemical Engineering changed how we view and understand nature, so will the study and creation of biological systems. Back then the ability to assemble organic molecules from their inorganic components changed the way large parts of nature were regarded, and now Synthetic Biology will allow us to change our understanding in a similar way.

Sources and Further Reading

Calvert J. Synthetic biology: Constructing nature? Sociol Rev. 2010;58:95-112.

Parry S, Dupré J. Introducing nature after the genome. Sociol Rev. 2010;58:3-16.

Carlson R. Synthetic biology 2.0, part IV :: What's in a name?. http://www.synthesis.cc/2006/05/synthetic-biology-20-part-iv-whats-in-a-name.html. Updated 2006.

Batteries that Recharge in Seconds

2011-04-13T06:00:00.006+01:00

A team of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have managed to make battery electrodes that can be 90% recharged within 2 minutes. If the method can be commercialised it could lead to laptops that recharge in minutes or mobile phones that can charge in 30 seconds.

The method used to make these ultrafast electrodes is compatible with many different types of batteries and the researchers have also used them to make nickel-metal-hydride batteries, the kind used in hybrid and electric cars.

The rate at which a battery can be charged up is normally limited by how fast ions and electrons can move from one end to the other. The researchers have used a nanostructured materials to try and find a way to decrease recharge time, and have now made progress using a highly porous metal "foam", coated with battery materials.

The Lithium-ion battery foam. (Credit: Paul Braun)

The method used for making these batteries, although it is complex should be easily applicable for the types of batteries commonly used in laptops and electric cars, and could be found in electrical appliances relatively soon.

SpaceX to launch the most powerful rocket since the Apollo era

2011-04-07T06:01:00.002+01:00

This is a bit of a follow up from my last post, which was only a video.

The new rocket, called Falcon 9-Heavy, will have a lift off power of 17 meganewtons, which makes it the most powerful rocket since Saturn V, the "Moon Rocket". The rocket should be capable of putting 53 metric tonnes of payload into orbit, which is more than twice that of the space shuttle.

The CEO of SpaceX, Elon Musk has also said that the rocket would be made safe enought to launch people. It is for example designed to meet NASA human rating safety standards. It has structural safety margins that are 40% above the actual flight loads.
The performance of the rocket could make more ambitious space missions beyond the ISS possible, although SpaceX has stressed that an even bigger rocket would be needed for any manned missions to Mars, as the equipment required for any such mission is far heavier.

The Falcon 9-Heavy. (Image Credit: SpaceX)

The first flight will take place in 2013 from Vandenberg Air Force Base with future missions also planned at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Animation of the Falcon 9-Heavy.

2011-04-03T12:39:00.000+01:00

No real blog post today, but I would like to show you guys this video.
It's a "trailer" for an anouncement by SpaceX, one of the most sophisticated of the space companies that are expected to take over the development of new spacecraft from NASA.

I am very excited about where SpaceX is going with their programme.

LED-Monitors affect Sleeping Pattern

2011-04-01T06:00:00.001+01:00

More and more people spend their time in front of a computer screen, often at night while there are no other light sources around. A large number of these monitors have LED (Light Emitting Diode) backlights, which strongly emitt light at a wavelength of around 464 nanometres. This corresponds to blue light.

Light at those wavelengths influences the concentrations of the sleep hormone melatonin, and thereby can influence productivity and cognitive ability late at night.
Now scientists from the University of Basel have shown that test subjects in front of LED screens were less sleepy than those that were not. In comparison the subjects aged from 19 - 34, showed up to 20% faster reaction times. They were both objectively and subjectively more awake and also performed better in a memory test.

This works by supressing the sleep hormone melatonin for longer periods of time, meaning that they could concentrate longer.

The researchers have suggested developing monitors that can be programmed to emitt a number of wavelengths, so that the sleeping pattern is not disturbed when using computers in the evening.

First Practical Artificial Leaf Developed

2011-03-29T06:00:00.002+01:00

Speaking in Anaheim, California at the 241st National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, scientists have described the advanced solar cell, about the size of a playing card, which imitates photosynthesis.

It has long been a goal of scientists working towards sustainable energy to develop an artificial leaf. The device shows promise for a cheap source of electricity especially in third world countries, and it is thought that just one of them could power the average house in most developing nations.

Optically the device has however nothing in common with the natural counterpart. It is made from silicon, different electronic parts and several catalyst substances, which accelerate and start reactions that would otherwise not happen. To use the device it is placed in water, where it splits water into Hydrogen and Oxygen. These are then put into a fuel cell, which uses them to produce electricity. This fuel cell could be located on top of a house or next to it.

At the moment the artificial leaf is already about 10 times more efficient at carrying out photosynthesis than a natural leaf, but the team is confident that they can boost both efficiency and lifetime of the device significantly in the near future.

sorry guys for my rather long absence. I've been busy with school and I will probably be busy with school for quite some time to come. I'll go through all your blogs soon and catch up on what I missed.

Is pulling objects with light possible? How far away are we from tractor beams?

2011-03-06T13:40:00.002+00:00

It is a known fact that light has the ability to push objects away. This is used in the concept of solar sails, which I explained in the first post on this blog.

In a new development though, researchers from Hong-Kong and China have calculated what is needed for a laser to pull instead of push. This can not be achieved with normal lasers, instead the researchers used what is known as a Bessel beam. They have a few rather unusual properties, for example they can re-assemble themselves. With conventional lasers, if you place an obstruction in their path they stop, whereas Bessel beams continue behind the object.
This allows the energy of the beam to be precisely controlled, and allows them to place more energy behind an object than in front of it, pushing it towards the source of the beam.

A close up, head on, view of a Bessel beam. (Credit: California Institute of Technology)

Rather than in science fiction however the effect is only predicted to occur over small distances, and will therefore mainly impact particle science. We unfortunately won't be able to use this to levitate or pull enemy space ships into our hangar, but it is fascinating none the less.

"Light can indeed pull a particle," the researchers wrote.

Synthetic Cells - How close are we to creating life?

2011-03-04T16:49:00.000+00:00

Only last year, Craig Ventner, a known Human Genome sequencer, managed to inject completely synthetic DNA, into another cell, which then managed to reproduce. The goal of his research was to create bacteria that could be used to control CO2 levels in the atmosphere by converting it to other non-greenhouse gases.

Creating life some would argue, while other say that really all he did was make a synthetic replicate of life, a copy. Regarding the actual production and creation of new life, research is at its beginning.
In the visions of Bio-engineers, there are truly amazing things yet to come. DNA code that instead of two basepairs contains three, an alternate, new genetic code, which could increase the amount of possible combinations massively. Completely new amino acids, and therefore proteins could be created.

There are other potential uses for bio-engineered cells. Researchers in Edinburgh presented microorganisms capable of detecting arson in drinking water, in 2006, ideas about biological circuits have been in discussion for a long time.

But there are of course also other more sinister uses for these kinds of manipulations of life. Extinct strains of long dead diseases could be brough back, or even worse modified. The horrible biological weapons that are possible with this kind of technology are hard to imagine.

As of yet, however most of what has been done is the synthetic recreation of existing DNA. Little original life has been made, also due to problems with the synthesising of other cell parts. While making cell proteins is less of a problem, making the different cell membranes and organelles is more difficult, and only recently a new experimental way was found to make them in a regular way.

Artist's rendering of cell structure. (Credit: iStockphoto/Sebastian Kaulitzki)

So since this is a bit of a long one:

Tl;dr: Synthetic cells, have not yet been made, but due to recent advances will probably soon be made.

Basically I will try to post once every two days, although I don't have much time during the week, due to school etc.

Multi-Core Voltage regulators could lead to better energy usage

2011-03-02T16:35:00.000+00:00

Electronic apps today are expected to be ever smaller. Smart phones are expected to have GPS, w-lan, multiple apps running at the same time and be capable of playing music, but if the battery time is at 4 hours the phone has only so much use.

To promote energy efficiency Harvard graduate Wonyoung Kim has developed and demonstrated a new device with the potential to reduce the power usage of modern processing chips. The “multi-core voltage regulator” (MCVR), almost instantly responds to changes in demand of voltage, which has the potential to solve the mismatch between power and demand.

(Credit: Image courtesy of Wonyoung Kim, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)

Imagine you’re listening to music your iPod MP3 player, the graphics and images processor doesn’t necessarily need power, and similarly if you’re looking at photos the audio processor or the hd video processor don’t need power. Essentially it is faster than other devices like it. It can decrease the voltage supplied by 1Volt in less than 20 nanoseconds. Additionally it uses an algorithm that recognises which parts of the processor aren’t in use at the moment and cuts power to them.

The fact that the device is on the chip means that even individual cores on one processor chip can be managed individually. The short distances between the MCVR and the processor chip further reduce time between changes in voltage.

The biggest supply currently for this device would be in the mobile phone market, although it could also be used in laptops to reduce the heat output of the processor which is currently the obstacle to slimmer laptops.

The device is also readily implemented in current chip designs, meaning that it doesn’t need radical changes in the way chips look, instead in can be incorporated in the chip design.

Researchers develop an artificial "Super-Skin"

2011-02-26T06:00:00.037+00:00

Powered by stretchable solar cells, with integrated sensors that are sensitive enough to feel a fly touch down on it, while at the same time being as thin as normal skin, the artificial skin developed by Stanford researcher Zhenan Bao truly is a "Super-Skin".

At the foundation of the skin is an organic transistor, made from flexible polymers and other carbon based materials. Above that, to allow touches to be detected there is a rubber layer. When pressed it changes thickness which changes the amount of current that flows through the material below. This can then be translated into sensations.

(Credit: Photos by L.A. Cicero)

There are also plans to add other kind of sensors to the material.

"With artificial skin, we can basically incorporate any function we desire," said Bao, a professor of chemical engineering. "That is why I call our skin 'super skin.' It is much more than what we think of as normal skin."

Especially detectors for chemicals are planned, and only recently they have managed to demonstrate the concept by detecting a specific type of DNA. This has applications especially in the medical science field, and a glove made from the material could help with the detection of diseases.

The applications for this type of material are endless, from replacing burned skin, to covering robotic prosthetic arms, or to allow robots to sense touches, it could be used for many things.

Luke Skywalker's artificial hand. Things like this might soon be a reality.

First complete millimeter-scale computer developed

2011-02-24T06:00:00.001+00:00

Scientists from the University of Michigan have made significant advances towards such a millimeter-scale computer, a field of electronics which is expected to expand massively over the next few years.

The "computer", an eye pressure monitoring system for glaucoma patients is only a few millimeters across. Similar systems could make practically anything "smart". They could be used to track structural deficits in buildings as they develop, they could be used to track pollution or make any object traceable.

The implantable eye pressure monitor. (Credit: Greg Chen)

They are once again in line with Bell's law, which states that about once every decade there are computers that are smaller and at the same time better at what they are doing than before. The law has held up with the 1960s' mainframes through the '80s' personal computers, the '90s' notebooks and the new millennium's smart phones.

I myself expect these "millimeter computers" to be the next great advancement in computing, although they will get competition from quantum computing over the next few years and decades as well.

Especially for medical purposes there are many possible applications for these devices, not just measuring eye pressure, but possibly replacing eyes, allowing blind people to see again, or constantly monitoring bloodstreams of hospital patients, so any dangerous changes can be counteracted at once.

Bigger Brain Size due to Social Networking?

2011-02-22T11:12:00.001+00:00

According to the "Social-Brain" theory, portions of the brain increase in size the bigger and more complex the social network around you is.

Specifically the amygdala, the central component of the limbic brain system which is known to be vital to understanding aspects of emotion, memory and social behaviour, is thought to increase in size.
To manage social contacts and aquaintances the brain needs a more capable centre for managing its "data".

Hank Grebe / Pures/tock / SuperStock

An American group of scientists has now found in humans what was before known for other animals. The bigger and more complex the "herd", the larger the volume of the amygdala.
But it is not only the brain that increases in size, other parts of the nervous system, like the optic nerve are known to improve in other animals.

Now the trouble with social networks is the depending on how they are used they can also isolate people, reversing the effect. But if these online communities are used to reinforce contacts the internet can be a great tool for "being social".

If social networks can turn shy people into masters of socialising remains to be seen. Soon MRI scans might show clues.

So. Your opinions on social networks? Helpful for keeping contacts, good for making new ones, or rather the opposite, leading to isolation?

Lithium Intake can make you live longer

2011-02-20T17:41:00.002+00:00

Professor Dr. Michael Ristow's team from the University of Jena along with Japanese colleagues from universities in Oita and Hiroshima have demonstrated by two independent approaches that even a low concentration of lithium leads to an increased life expectancy in humans.

Lithium is one of the many nutritional trace elements found especially in vegetables and drinking water. It is found in the group of chemicals known as the Alkali metals, many of which are important for humans.

Periodic table showing the position of lithium. (Credit: FHWA)

In an earlier study from the US, it was shown that high concentrations of lithium were life prolonging in a specific species of roundworm, C. elegans. The concentrations used then are however not suitable for humans.

In earlier studies it has already been shown that low doses of lithium are associated with an improvement of psychological well-being and with decreased suicide rates.

Um... My main computer is in repair and this laptop is kinda slow, so I won't be able to read many of the awesome blogs that I normally read.... sorry guys. Thanks for reading my blog anyways. :)

For technorati: 5STSBSK2CSKG

Project Icarus: Visiting Other Suns?

2011-02-17T16:27:00.001+00:00

Answer to that question is not for many years to come. But it is an interesting question.

Project Icarus is a 5 year study, headed by scientists from the Tau Zero Foundation, a non-profit group of scientists dedicated to interstellar spaceflight. The ambition of the project is designing a spacecraft and a plan for a future space mission to another planetary system.

At the moment no technology exists that would allow such a journey in a reasonable timeframe. Icarus works with the assumption that we will one day possess technology that allows us to send probes to other stars, reaching the star within 100 years after launch. Given realistic propulsion options, and the requirement that the spacecraft can slow down to orbit its target, the target star cannot be more than 15 light-years from Earth, although given that the timeframe is 100 years, the distance will likely be much less.

The second stage of the Project Daedalus interstellar spacecraft arrives at its target star system. (Credit: Adrian Mann)

One of the factors will of course be which stars in a 15 lightyear radius will have planets. Of the 38 stellar systems (some containing more than one star) only 2 are known to have planets so far. Epsilon Eridani, 10.5 light-years away, and the red dwarf GJ 674 at a distance of 14.8 light-years.
Just outside the radius there are another 3 stars with planetary systems.
There has however to date not been a systematic survey for planets of the closest stars, which in the near future could reveal a lot more planets, by current estimates around 15 or 16.

Artists Impression of the planet Epsilon Eridani b (Credit: NASA, ESA)

Thus, although currently we cannot identify an obvious specific target for Icarus, when the time comes to actually build a starship, we will have a very good idea where to send it.

My bests bet lies with the nearest system. Even though no planets have been found there yet, due to the system being the closest to the solar system at 4.4 lightyears, it will likely be chosen as a target for the first human spacecraft to fly under the light of another star.

Spacecraft control system developed that allows spacecraft to “think” for themselves

2011-02-15T16:51:00.004+00:00

The first ever control system that allows satellites or spacecraft to think for themselves has been developed. Professor Sandor Veres from the University of Southampton and his team of engineers have developed an artificially intelligent control system called 'sysbrain'.

Sysbrain can read special English language technical documents using Natural Language Programming (NPL). The vehicle thereby gains advanced guidance and feedback and navigation capabilities. This can be used to better prevent crashes with other objects as well as give the vehicle the ability to adapt during missions, identify problems or carry out repair works. It can also give the vehicle the option to decide for itself how to best carry out a task based on the situation.

Special English or (sEnglish or system English) is a simplified version of English that has been used since the 1950s in special American broadcasts around the world. It uses simple grammar and vocabulary, which makes it possible for sysbrain to understand it. In the future instead of writing an update for the software, we might just write a technical paper for sysbrain to read to enhance its physical and problem solving skills.

The system could not just be applied to spacecraft, but also to other types of autonomous vehicles, be that underwater, ground or in air.

This is what I'm thinking:

“I’m sorry, Dave. I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

Full control with a bionic arm

2011-02-11T20:43:00.000+00:00

After amputations, the nerve cells in the stump remain active and healthy, at least for a while. This is now being used by a researchers to create and allow use of highly dexterious, thought controlled prothetics.

Todd Kuiken, a biomechanical engineer at Northwestern University, and his team are looking at how different patterns of brain activity can be used to control prosthetic limbs.
They do this by connecting the nerves from the stump to chest muscles. When the patient thinks about moving his chest muscles, the signals are picked up by the nerves that were previously connected to the arm and interpreted by a computer which relays the information to the bionic arm. This has the potential to give patients control over a wider range of movements than was ever possible before.

With conventional prosthetics people tend to lose control over their nerves, as they are no longer used, but with the new technology, nerve signals are becoming stronger. This could be due to the brain getting used to the rewired pathways.

Next, Kuiken's team wants to make the technology accessible to a greater number of patients. They plan to develop the system so it can be applied to less high-tech prosthetics currently on the market.

Claudia Mitchell - first woman to receive a bionic arm. (Credit: Dayna Smith - The Washington Post)

Self Repairing Solar Cells?

2011-02-10T17:39:00.000+00:00

Researchers at the University of Purdue have developed a solar cell that can repair itself.

The design exploits the unusual electrical properties of structures called single-wall carbon nanotubes, using them as "molecular wires in light harvesting cells," said Choi, whose research group is based at the Birck Nanotechnology and Bindley Bioscience centers at Purdue's Discovery Park.

Generally, the material works in much the same way as plants do. In a photochemical cell, a light absorbing dye, called "chromophore" degrades, much like the chlorophyll molecule in plant leaf cells.

The problem with normal solar cells is that they degrade over time. This new technology overcomes that problem in the same way that plants do: by continuously replacing the broken down molecules. In plants this happens approximately once every hour.

This design theoretically allows for indefinite use of a solar cell, as along as new chromophores are added.

The design works by using DNA strands and carbon nanotubes. DNA is used for its ability to sponatneously assemble in a structured way, and the carbon nanotubes are used as a backbone for the DNA to attach to.

Diagram illustrating the principle behind how electricity is generated. hv stands for light, while e- stands for electricity/electrons being produced. (Credit: http://spie.org/)

Although the process is only in research stage and still far away from being used on an industrial stage, it shows promise, as most initial hurdles have already been overcome.

Why the International Space Station is Valuable.

2011-02-07T17:59:00.001+00:00

This month, the ISS will become truly international. At the moment an unmanned Russian progress space truck, and a Japanese vehicle called Kounotori are attached to the station. They came to deliver food and now serve as temporary accomodation units, and by the end of their live time will serve as garbage disposal.
Next week the European Space Agency robot delivery craft, Johannes Kepler, wich carries with it more than seven tonnes of propellant, supplies and oxygen, will join the other two craft.

The vehicle is carried into space by an Ariane 5 ES launch vehicle and give the European spaceflight programme increased independence. This will become important after the discontinuing of the NASA Space Shuttle program, later this year, when provisioning of the ISS will become dependent on the Russian Cosmodrome at Baikonur.

Artists impression of "Johannes Kepler" approaching the ISS. (Credit: ESA)

The last Space shuttle, Atlantis, will visit the ISS in June, after that other partners of NASA will supply and provide transport from and to the station.
Each shuttle launch costs NASA $ 500 million, something it can simply no longer afford. The station itself is the costliest project ever undertaken by mankind.
To say however that the station should have never been built misses the point. Occupied for more than 10 years, the station has been the only living outpost in space for that time.
Every future manned mission to space will have profited in some form from the ISS. Whether that be in how to best retrain muscles after a stay in microgravity, or experiments conducted on the effect of space on organisms.

Any future journey to the moon, or Mars, will build on lessons learned aboard the ISS.

I've realised I took a bit to come to the point here...
Anyways I'll probably write about something not space next. Although maybe the next post will be on Wednesday. I might not have enough time tomorrow.

ESA's & NASA's Proposed Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moons

2011-02-06T13:29:00.000+00:00

European and American scientists have been working on the joint mission which will send orbiters around Ganymed and Europa. Both moons are thought to have a liquid water ocean beneath their icy crusts, which could potentially harbour life.
The European Jupiter Ganymed Orbiter would focuss on Ganymed, the largest moon in the solar system and the only one with a significant magnetic field, which it will investigate.

The American Jupiter Europa Orbiter would instead focus on Europa, and especially on the composition of the ice field, as well as map the moon thoroughly, to identify possible future landing sites. Especially points where the ice sheeth is thinner.
It will also try to map the internal structure of the moon, which is up to now pure guesswork based on a few results. The orbiter would carry an ice penetrating radar, which could be used to estimate the thickness of the ice.
Although Europa is relatively far a way from the Sun it is kept warm by tidal heat. It's orbit around Jupiter is slightly eliptical, meaning that it is stretcehd and squashed by Jupiter's gravitational forces, which creates heat and 500 meter high tides in its interior. According to several experts life on Europa could well exist even beyond single cell microorganisms although even just finding simple bacteria would be a sensation.

Europa. The darker regions are where the water ice has a higher mineral content. (Credit: NASA)

The two orbiters will be indipendently developed by both space agencies, and each would be a significant mission in their own right. ESA is expected to name this their flagship mission for the next few years, meaning that financial support on the european side is assured. NASA has also promised support for the mission but has a larger number of other missions to pay for.

Making Use Of Carbon Dioxide

2011-02-05T15:26:00.000+00:00

Rather than burying CO₂ under ground, in recent years companies have started looking at other alternatives, specifically how to make use of the gas as a chemical starting material.
The main problem scientists have faced so far is the unreactiveness of CO₂, it being a stable compound that generally doesn't do much chemically.

In Germany the company Bayer has tried to turn carbon dioxide into a chemical feedstock to make plastics, or specifically polyurethane polymers. The interesting thing here is that these polymers are generally used for insulation of houses, meaning that they will reduce the amount of CO₂ emitted in two ways: by using it up during production, and by providing better insulation, reducing loss of energy from heating etc.


Bayer MaterialScience teamed up with the CAT Catalytic Center in Aachen, Germany, to try and turn CO₂ into polyol feedstocks for polyurethane plastics. (Credit: BAYER MATERIALSCIENCE)

Another, this time US based company, called Phycal, has built an algae biofuel plant. The aim is to feed the algae CO2 and receive oil produced by the plants. Phycal produces its oil by introducing algae initially grown in isolation into ponds. The ponds contain nutrients and have waste CO₂ injected into them at a rate set to maintain a steady pH and optimal algal growth rate. They are then fed sugars, and start producing oils at a very fast rate. This then makes it easy to take out the oil.

'Hands down, algae is the most productive oil crop on Earth on a per-area basis. The US Department of Energy says that soybean crops produce 48 gallons of oil per acre per year, he notes, while algae could produce 1000-6500 gallons per acre per year.'

says Phycal's Jeff Bargiel

A remarkable efficiency, especially nowadays when really most countries can't afford to waste any farmable space, that could be used for food production.

Opinions? Also general question: What do you think about climate change/global warming. Man made or natural? It's kinda related, and I'm curious.

Sorry, no regular update today

2011-02-04T16:13:00.000+00:00

Yeah, I think my offline life is calling. I have played around with the background a bit yesterday, tell me if you like it or not.
Also I haven't found a news story yet today that would interest me or inspire me to do a bit of research... If you find something interesting regarding science, space or technology tell me in the comments and I might write about it.

Also I have added a unit converter to the bottom of the page. Someone commented a few days ago, on the maglev train "article" asking what 1200km/h are in mph, and I realised that this being a science blog, a unit converter might come in handy.

So yeah, instead of an article, have this nice picture.

No Idea who to give credit to. Found it on tumblr.

Finding Blood clots before they become dangerous

2011-02-03T14:22:00.002+00:00

For several decades cardiologists have searched for ways to see blood clots before they cause heart attacks or other cardiovascular diseases.
Now, researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have reported that they have designed nanoparticles that find and attach to blood clots and make them visible to a new kind of X-ray technology.

There are already ways of finding out whether a person who comes to a hospital with chest pain is actually experiencing a heart attack or not, but it involves a complicated procedure and an day long stay. This new technology will reduce the wait to a few hours, and a much cheaper procedure.

It can also be used in people who have not had a heart attack yet, but who might have an increased risk factor, overweight people, or smokers for example, to detect risks, or potential blood clots, and help people avoid cardiovascular disease.

The nanoparticles work because they contain the metal bismouth, which can be seen in the body using a new kind of CT-scan, that uses the full spectrum of X-Rays meaning that it can image in colours, not just black and white as normal X-Rays do.
Bismouth is however a toxic heavy metal, and to use it without damaging tissue even more, it has been packed in a chain of fatty acid that cannot be broken apart by the body.

But the new nanoparticle does more than just confirm a heart attack/blood clot, it also shows the exact location of it, which has the potential to save countless lives.

Image of a blood clot (Credit: Massachusetts General Hospital: Vascular Centre)

Also, 100 followers. Wow, in a week! You guys are awesome :)

NASA's Kepler Spacecraft discovers potentially terrestrial planets in the habitable zone of stars

2011-02-02T20:03:00.000+00:00

NASA's Kepler mission, which was launched in 2009, has found its first earth sized plants. Several of them could lie in the habitble zone of their stars, meaning in a suitable distance for them to be neither too hot, nor too cold.
Of the 54 new planet candidates found in the habitable zone, five are near Earth-sized. The remaining 49 range from double the size of earth up to larger than Jupiter.

The findings increase the number of planet candidates identified by Kepler to-date to 1,235. Of these, 68 are approximately Earth-size; 288 are super-Earth-size; 662 are Neptune-size; 165 are the size of Jupiter and 19 are larger than Jupiter.
This brings the total nomber of exoplanets found to nearly 1800. Considering that only half a century ago astronomers argued that there may not even be any planets around other stars this number is truly staggering.

In this same release, NASA scientists anounced that they found a planetary system that beares resemblance to our own, only that it seems to be shrunk down. In the planetary system Kepler-11, six planets have been found to orbit, all of them however closer to their star than Venus in our solar system.

An artist's impression of the Kepler-11 planetary system. (Credit: Photograph: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech/T Pyle/Nature Magazine)

Of course all this data has to be verified and double checked by other telescopes and astronomers, however if proven this could well be one of the biggest finds ever.
It may well be that NASA has found an Earth twin in another solar system.

I will write more about exoplanets, and specifically this batch of data from Kepler as soon as more information is found or released on it.