Category Archives: Futurism

In Brief Buzz Aldrin believes that if we want to colonize Mars we need to end our participation in the ISS as soon as possible. Although NASA has stressed the role of the ISS on the road to Mars, after 2024 the U.S. may well drop out of the project. Aldrin Clashes With NASA

At the 2017 Humans to Mars conference which was held on Tuesday May 9 in Washington D.C. Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin had a clear recommendation for NASA: if were serious about reaching Mars, ditch the International Space Station (ISS).

We must retire the ISS as soon as possible, Aldrin told the conference. We simply cannot afford $3.5 billion a year of that cost.

Aldrin made some alternative suggestions for NASAs Mars program, including handing low Earth orbit (LEO) projects like the ISS over to private companies like SpaceX, Boeing, and Orbital ATK. Hes also recommended that private companies like Axiom Space and Bigelow Aerospace build their own independent LEO stations.

NASA, however, has a different opinion aboutthe role of the ISS in getting to Mars.Thus far, the ISS has been part of the first phase of the project, which includes testing and developing partnerships with private companies. Furthermore, as Space.com reports, NASA officials have repeatedly said that the ISS is a key part of the agencys Journey to Mars vision.

In March, members of the House Science and Technologys Subcommittee on Space testified that extending U.S. participation in the activities of the ISS beyond the existing 2024 commitment date might not be prudent if getting to Mars isa priority. Right now, NASA spends around $3.5 billion annually on the ISS. The committees Chair, U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, commented during that hearingthatTax dollars spent on the ISS will not be spent on destinations beyond low Earth orbit, including the moon and Mars. What opportunities will we miss if we maintain the status quo?

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Buzz Aldrin to NASA: To Get to Mars ASAP, Pull the Plug on The ISS - Futurism

Aging and the Brain

One of agings most obvious signs is a decrease in cognitive function and learning ability. Usually, these issues express themselves in the form of memory deficiency. While this decrease in memory retention and recallis considered normal, it is often associatedwith more serious disorders, such as Alzheimers or dementia. Now,a team of scientists from the University of Bonn and their colleagues from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem discovered a potential treatment to reverse aging in the brain.

In their research, which waspublished in the journal Nature Medicine, the team showed how that a cannabis-based treatment successfully reversed the biological state of the brains of mice 12 months and 18 months old. This is notable, as mice age remarkably fast and serve as a viable animal model when research potential treatments in humans.

The team used two-month-old mice as a control group. The older mice were given an active ingredient in hemp called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) for a period of four weeks in non-intoxicating doses. Their tests revealed that mice who received THC displayed cognitive abilities as good as the control group mice.

Meanwhile, those older mice who received a placebo displayed the usual learning capacity and memory performance appropriate to older mice. The findings that stem from this are simply remarkable. The treatment completely reversed the loss of performance in the old animals, said researcher Andreas Zimmer, from the University of Bonns Institute of Molecular Psychiatry [emphasis added].

This age-reversing effects of cannabis occur as THC imitates the effect of naturally produced cannabinoids in the body, which are crucial for some of the brains important functions. With increasing age, the quantity of the cannabinoids naturally formed in the brain reduces, Zimmer explained. When the activity of the cannabinoid system declines, we find rapid aging in the brain.

Furthermore, the researchers realized that cannabis reverses aging by making the brain cells in the mice younger. To this end, they saw that links between nerve cells increased and their molecular signature resembled those of young animals. It looked as though the THC treatment turned back the molecular clock, Zimmer added.

The treatment, once tested and proven to be effective in humans, could help improve the conditions of people suffering from dementia. This disease, which affects more than 47 million people worldwide, often leads to cognitive disabilities memory loss and behavioral disorders that hinder a patient from performing day-to-day tasks.

Svenja Schulze, science minister of North Rhine-Westphalia,outlines exactly how helpful this study could be for future treatment in the elderly. The promotion of knowledge-led research is indispensable, as it is the breeding ground for all matters relating to application,he stated in the press release. Although there is a long path from mice to humans, I feel extremely positive about the prospect that THC could be used to treat dementia, for instance. To that end,Zimmer and his team are now preparing for human clinical trials.

The study adds to the number of potential benefits cannabis seems tohave, particularly in treating neurological disorders. That said, as has been previously noted, much of this is still early work, and more peer review research is needed onthe medical effects and uses of cannabis-based treatmentsbefore they can be deployed. Moreover, these studies use carefully controlled conditions, and as a result, similar benefits are not seen in individuals who use the drugrecreationally.

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Research Shows Cannabis Restores Memory and Could Reverse The Aging Process - Futurism

Awarding Innovation

Each year,innovatorsfrom across the globe trade in their lab coats and laptopsfor ties and gowns to honor the nominees at the Edison Awards ceremony in New York City. Over the past three decades, the awards have highlighted the most innovative products and people in science. Last years honorees featured Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASAs New Horizons mission to Pluto.

This years ceremony was no different it focused oncutting-edge developments in medicine, energy, entertainment, and a slew of other categories. While not everyone who attended brought home an award, all of the nominees showcased the amazing power that science and technology have to transform our world.

Without their dedication to pushing boundaries and finding new solutions to old and emerging problems, our world would stagnate. Below are just four of this years attendees, all of whom are following in the footsteps of the Edison Awards namesake bymaking the world a brighter place.

With automation and robotics poised to completely transform the modern workplace, experts have predicted that the first jobs to face disruptionwill fall under the three Ds:dull, dirty, and dangerous. According to Tazio Grivetti, Innovation Viability Manager at Caterpillar (CAT),a 2017 Edison Awards sponsor, the companys tractor system is a perfect example of that type of tech.

Guided bya mantra of We Make Progress Possible, the company developed a tractor that can be operated remotely. Itsnot a simulator. Its not a video game. Its the real thing, saysGrivetti. Each vehicle needs an operator, but instead of working from a job site, they can work remotely. When you get off [work], you can enjoy the city as opposed to going back to your trailer, waiting until your next shift because youre 800 miles from civilization, he explains.

In addition to saving operators from the hassle of working on-site, Grivetti asserts that the companys tractor would prevent themfrom having to deal with the noise, discomfort, and dangerinherent in what is otherwise a highly desirable, good-paying job. Its a safety thing. Its a convenience thing. A skilled operator can move an amazing amount of material, and you want to keep those skilled operators working for you and being productive, says Grivetti.

CAT isnt content to simply transform how we build here on Earth, either theyrealso poised to use their tractors to transform other worlds, thanks to a partnership with NASAthat will have them digging on Mars in the future.

Taking home the silver in the Power Source subsection of the Energy and Sustainability category at the Edison Awards this year was TaiwansIndustrial Technology Research Institutefor itsultrafast rechargeable aluminum battery (URABat). We are the first group to use aluminum as a battery material, explains Chen Chia-chun, the principal investigator of the URABat Project.

Most of todays batteries utilize lithium, but that material isin limited supply, unstable, and expensive. By finding a way to create batteries out of aluminum, which comprises 8.2 percent of the Earths crust, the team at ITRI has opened up the possibility of much larger, higher capacity batteries, such as those needed for vehicles and industrial operations.

The team plans to incorporate other materials into their batteries to improve the tech even further. Graphite can make an aluminum battery even longer lasting, and also it can charge very quickly, claims Chia-chun. It can charge within one minute.

Better batteries are one of the greatest hurdles remaining in our quest to end fossil fuel dependence, so the work done by Chia-chun and his team will not only benefit our tech, itll also benefit our planet.

Winning bronze in the Media, Visual Communications, and Entertainment subcategory ofCameras & Virtual Reality was Lucid VR for its appropriately named LucidCam.

The pocket-sizeddevice uses two wide-angle lensesto cover a 180-degree field of vision, making it the first and only 3D camera with peripheral vision for virtual reality, according to the Edison Awards site.

Our technology can actually reproduce what both eyes can see, explains Han Jin, the companys CEO. The processing we do mimics how a human brain would work by taking two streams in and then creating that sphere where you feel like youre actually there.

The device iswifi supported for live streaming, and Jin hopes it willbring previously unattainableexperiences to people across the world. With this technology, I really think you can put people in different places without them physically being there, he says an ability that he believes will increase worldwide empathy as well as inspire people to try the seemingly impossible.

Taking home the gold in the Health & Wellness subcategory of Hearing Technology was Oticon USAs Oticon Opn. The device is heralded as the first hearing aid to connect to the Internet of Things (IoT), bringing a tech thats been around in some form or anotherfor more than100 years into the twenty-first century.

The device can connect to any other within the IoT, such as a smartphone or speaker. If someone was hearing impaired, theyd have to take out their hearing aids to listen to music through headphones, saysMaureen Doty Tomasula, a senior product and marketing manager at Oticon. It may not even be loud enough. Then theyd have to turn it up really loud. But with this, it streams directly through their hearing aids.

The Oticon Opn can also be connected to the IFTTT network to create if/then recipes to help the user or those around them manage their lives. If youre the parent of a younger child wearing hearing aids, you can set it up through IFTTT that if the batteries are running low in Suzys hearing aids, thenyoull get a message on your phone saying Suzys batterys are low, explains Tomasula.

The device should mitigate many of the problems associated with hearing loss, and in some cases, maybe even make users lives easier than those without hearing impairments. To talk on the phone is difficult. It just doesnt work well with hearing aids and hearing loss. But now, an Oticon user doesnt have to even think about it. She can use her phone even better than her friends, says Tomasula. Think about it. They have to put their phone up to their ear.

This interview has been slightly edited for clarity and brevity.

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The Four Technologies That Are Turning Our World Into the Future - Futurism

In BriefNew research shows that low oxygen therapy is able toeliminate brain lesions developed from mitochondrial dysfunction inmice. Eventually, hypoxia therapy could be used to treat peoplewith similar disorders and maybe even reverse signs of aging inotherwise healthy individuals. Less Oxygen, Better Health?

Though the medical community has made remarkable strides in recent years, a number of neurological diseases remain incurable. Because many of those are debilitating or even lethal, there has been no shortage of research into potential treatment options, and sometimes, that research can take a rather unusual direction.

One such example of an unusualtreatment is that being explored by researchers from Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI).Their latest work involves using low oxygen therapy to treat brain lesions caused by mitochondrial dysfunctions.Their findings were published online today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The researchers first genetically engineered mice to lack a gene that affects the mitochondria and that is mutated in some people suffering from a neurological disorder known asLeigh syndrome. They then exposed some of those mice toair with about half the oxygen levels typically found at sea level. They found that the mice breathing the hypoxic air didnt develop brain lesions and lived a median age of 270 days. The group breathing normal air did develop lesions and lived a median age of only 58 days.

Even more exciting was what happened when mice who already had brain lesions were exposed to hypoxic air after just one month, MRI scans revealed that the brain lesions in those mice disappeared.We found, much to our surprise and delight, that we could actually reverse advanced disease, said lead HHMI investigator Vamsi Mootha, a mitochondrial biologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, in a press release. I dont think anybody thought that these types of neurological diseases could be reversible.

Mootha and his colleagues conducted the research as a follow up to an initial study they had published in the journal Scienceback in 2016. They wanted to find out just how long mice treated with low oxygen levels could live and if such therapeutical hypoxia must be administrated continuously.

The results of the study seem to suggest that only a continuous exposure to 11 percent oxygen would work. Though tolerable, that oxygen level wouldnt be terribly comfortable for a healthy individual, so while this research is both profound and striking, according to Mootha, developing similar hypoxia therapy for humans is still some ways off. We are not ready yet to go into the clinic, he said.

The potential of such a treatment isnt lost on Mootha and his colleagues, however. As all of us age, our mitochondrial activity declines, Mootha explained. If hypoxia can cure mitochondria-related brain disorders, could it also be used to treat neurodegenerative disorders associated with aging? At a time when experts are beginning to see aging as a disease, Moothas low-oxygen therapy is promising after all, aging has been linked to a decrease in mitochondrial activity.

Could a world without neurological disorders, or without aging itself, be one thats low in oxygen? Significantlymore work has to be done for us to find out, but Mootha is optimistic: At a high level, this is exploring the remarkable potential and also the limitations of hypoxia.

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A Breakthrough Oxygen Therapy May Be Able to Reverse Brain Damage - Futurism

In Brief Researchers have presented the results of a study using remotely operated robots to perform eye operations. These robots were able to produce better results than traditional methods, perhaps signaling a turning point in the future of robot-assisted surgeries. Steady Hands

If you consume a lot of science fiction content, youve no doubt noticed the widespread use of robots in flicks set in some futuristic world. In these visions of the future, robots tackle all sorts of jobs, from personal assistant to doctor, and now, a team of surgeons has demonstrated that medical droids, specifically robot surgeons, arent likely to remain fictional ideas for long.

Today, at the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) in Baltimore, Maryland, surgeons presented research outlining how they were the first to successfully use a remote-controlled robotic system inside the humaneye during an operation.

The researchers recruited12 patients in need of retinal surgeries and placed them in randomized clinical trials. Of these, six underwent surgery with the robot while the other half were treated using the standard human approach. The results? Out of the six in the manual procedure group, five experienced retinal micro-hemorrhage events. Meanwhile, the group that received robotic assistance only had two cases of such bleeding.

To many, this is just one more example of how robots could be helpful to humans. Others might argue that it mirrors howrobot apocalypses beginin any sci-fi story. However, dwelling on some unknowable future doomsday and ignoring the usefulness of roboticassistance wouldnt exactly be productive. Besides, robots taking over the world is really just based in sci-fi with no evidence in reality.

Based on this research, whats clear is that this robotic system can pave the way for robot assistance with future medical procedures. Robots can provide steady heads and hands, which will be especially useful for clinical treatments that require precision and stability, such as those involving a controlled delivery of gene therapy and stem cells. Testing such systems by operating on eyes, which are very sensitive, yet not vital human organs, seems like an ideal step forward as we carefully tread down the path to more complicated surgeries.

Link:
For the First Time Ever, a Robot Performed an Operation Inside a Human Eye - Futurism

In Brief

Sir Richard Bransons Virgin Galactic is ready to take flight. The space tourism company is looking forward to launching their first commercial spaceflights before the end of 2018.

Virgin Galactic has recently tested its re-entry system from the Mojave Air and Space Port. Before this, the company completed its first solo glide flightof its ship, the VSS Unity, late last year. Both tests were successes and further fueled optimism for the company. Galactic Ventures CEO, former NASA staff chief, George Whitesides echoed that optimism during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce.

The six passenger (and two pilot) spaceships will be launched from the air and take passengers to a distance of 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the Earth. Passengers will be able to experience a few moments in microgravity and will have the privilege of taking in a view of the Earth that only a select few have ever had the privilegeto see. Right now, tickets for this journey of a lifetime are going for $250,000.

Virgin is not the only company looking to bring tourists to the final frontier. Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com founding fame has also started a space travel venture called Blue Origin. Passengers will fly aboard the New Shepard spacecraft to the same altitude as Virgins ships. Bezos is hoping to have flights running next year as well.

Elon Musks SpaceX has also expressed interest in commercial space travel. The company has developed the Dragon V2 spacecraft, capable of carrying seven people into space. Even more, they are looking to take their travel plans significantly further by promising a trip to the moon in 2018.

Clearly, space travel has undergone a significant revitalization. The privatization of space travel will continue to support scientific endeavors by boosting interest in exploring the cosmos, while also making it easier to do so by backing innovation that makes it easier, safer, and cheaper.

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Virgin Galactic CEO: We'll Be Ready to Send Tourists Into Space in 2018 - Futurism

In Brief

NASA is looking to get deeply involved in the moon in the coming decades. The space agency has recently delivered a request for information to private agencies seeking to collaborate in future missions to the moon. In the request, NASA writes, NASA has identified a variety of exploration, science, and technology demonstration objectives that could be addressed by sending instruments, experiments, or other payloads to the lunar surface. To address these objectives as cost-effectively as possible, NASA may procure payloads and related commercial payload delivery services to the Moon.

The letter signals an increased interest in both the commercial and scientific research opportunities that the moon provides. As Inverseexplains, the moon could be a haven of valuable resources, like iron and platinum. Experts believe that even with existingtech,space mining is possible. Some experts have even estimated that if NASA were to divert 3 12 percent of their budget to mining efforts, it could become a reality.

The ESA has previously announced plans to build a station on the moon. The ability to mine resourcesfrom the moon itself could minimize cost as minimal materials would have to be launched from Earth and the rest could be3D printed.

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NASA Appears to Be Looking for Partners to Help Them Mine the Moon - Futurism

In Brief Iceland currently runs on 100% renewable energy, making them a global leader in the fight against climate change. Their latest project uses a drill named Thor to harness the geothermal energy of volcanoes. Drilling for Clean Energy

Drilling and clean energyare concepts rarely used together in the same sentence, but when it comes to geothermal energy, drilling is a major part of the process. In Iceland, engineers have created a drill which goes by the name Thor that has drilled up to a record-breaking depth of 4,659 meters (almost 3 miles). While this drilling project is experimental, it could potentially produce 10 times more energy than conventional fossil fuels.Click to View Full Infographic

Geothermal energy comes from the Earth, and since the team is digging in volcanic areas, its abundant. These areas, when accessed with a drill like Thor, contain extremely hot (427 degrees C (800 F), pressurized liquids that give off enough steam to turn a turbine, which then generates clean electricity. This project, the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), is still in its experimental phases, and hasbeen given two years to demonstratehow successful and economically viable it can be.

Iceland currently runs on 100% clean, renewable energy: approximately 25% geothermal and 75% hydroelectric energy. However, while geothermal energy is much more environmentally-friendly than the use of fossil fuels, it is not completely green. According to Martin Norman, a Norwegian sustainable finance specialist for Greenpeace, drilling for geothermal energy is not completely renewable and without problems. As soon as you start drilling you have issues to it, such as sulphur pollution and CO2 emission and they need to find solutions to deal with it.

While Iceland is making great progress with renewable energy, there are still improvements that can be made to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, according to The Institute of Economic Studies at the University of Iceland, due to their produced emissions, the country will not beadherent to the Paris climate agreement.

However, while Iceland still has a lot to accomplish in order to lessen their carbon footprint, this type of progress is what will make it possible for us to fight the progression of climate change.

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Iceland is Using Extreme Tech to Harvest Clean Energy From Volcanoes - Futurism

In BriefThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Radicava, anew drug for ALS. It's only the second time the FDA approved an ALSdrug that could slow down the progress of the disease. The Second of its Kind

By now, most people are familiar with theneurological disorder called ALS, which is short for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, thanks to social media and the ice bucket challenge. The latter was, of course, started by the ALS Association to raise awareness and funding for ALS treatment research. Speaking of treatment, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved a new drug for ALS called Radicava, which is based on an antioxidant known as edaravone.

This is only the second time the FDA has approved such a drug meant to treat ALS, and the first one, called Riluzole, was approved 22 years ago. ALS is a disease that affects about 14,000 to 15,000 people in the U.S.according to the NIH,and some 450,000 people worldwide. It also currently has no known cure, which is why new drug treatments are so important.

After learning about the use of edaravone to treat ALS in Japan, we rapidly engaged with the drug developer about filing a marketing application in the United States, explained the FDAs Eric Bastings in a press release. This is the first new treatment approved by the FDA for ALS in many years, and we are pleased that people with ALS will now have an additional option.

Patients diagnosed with ALS have varying life expectancies. At its worst, an ALS patient succumbs to respiratory failure around three to five years after the first signs of symptoms. As such, finding a way to cure ALS is crucial. Of course, Radicava isnt a cure, but it could slow the progressionof ALS.

However, its not going to be cheap. According to a Reuters report, Radicava is going to cost $1,086 per infusion and were talking about 12 to 13 cycles, which puts the total cost to $145,524 without government discount. The pharmaceutical company thatwould sell Radicava, according to the New York Times, is working on a co-payment plan.

Nevertheless, Radicava is expected to be well received. Its exciting. I expect many, if not all, of our patients will be lining up to try to get the medication, Nathan Staff, Mayo Clinics ALS Clinic director, told Forbes.

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The FDA Just Approved the First New Drug to Treat ALS in Two Decades - Futurism

In Brief Researchers believe their surgery-assisting robot is capable of performing complex brain surgeries. The machine can reduce the time of surgeries by cutting down the time it takes to cut into the skull from two hours to two and a half minutes. Doc Bot

Brain surgery is precision business, and one slip can spell doom for affected patients. Even in one of the most skilled jobs in the world, human error can still be a factor. Researchers from the University of Utah are looking to provide less opportunity for those errors to occur. A robot that the team is developing is able to reduce the time it takes to complete a complicated procedureby 50 times. According to CNN, the robot can reduce the time it takes to drill into the skull from two hours to two-and-a-half minutes.

The research was published in the journal Neurosurgical Focus and the team says it is a proof of principle that the robot is capable of performing complex surgeries. The robot is guided around vulnerable areas of the skull by data gleaned from CT scans and entered into the robots programming. The CT scans show the programmer the location of nerves or veins that the bot will have to avoid.

The teams lead neurosurgeon William Couldwelltold CNN, We can program [it] to drill the bone out safely just by using the patients CT criteria, hesaid. It basically machines out the bone.

Aside from the obvious life-savingcapabilities that such a machine would have, it also could potentially save money in the long run. Shorter surgery times will allow for lower costs per surgery as well. Theres also the added benefit of lowering the time a patient is under anesthesia, which can cause its own complications.

Robotics and automation are slowly transforming the way doctors are performing surgery. Some patients may initially balk at the thought of some machine cutting into them and messing with their insides, but these robots can perform with a precision that may be impossible for humans to achieve.

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This Robot Completes a 2-Hour Brain Surgery Procedure in Just 2.5 ... - Futurism