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Topic Sundays: Neuralink Ilona Maska
The head of SpaceX and Tesla, Elon Musk, launched the Neuralink project in 2016. The main goal of the initiative is to develop a brain-computer interface. This is a system that directly connects the human brain with an electronic device. The technology could be useful for treating neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s, Musk said. And in the future, it will allow people to completely control brain activity.
So far, the company has held only one official presentation in 2019. Then Musk said that the neural interface is a chip connected to the brain with special electrode threads 4-6 micrometers thick (that is, four times thinner than a hair). The chip will be implanted by a robot surgeon. It works like a sewing machine – the needle grabs the thread and inserts it into the brain so that it is close to the neuron. At the same time, the device avoids blood vessels, which reduces the likelihood of inflammation. According to Musk, the operation will be no more difficult than laser vision correction.
The first chips will transmit information using a USB cable, but in the future the technology will become wireless. To do this, Neuralink will create the N1 sensor. Unlike the wired prototype, it will send less data. But on the other hand, you can control such a sensor using a mobile application.
Neuralink is testing the technology on animals. The chip was implanted in 19 rats, in 87% of cases, the threads “took root”. One of the rodents was shown to The New York Times reporters. 1,5 electrodes were connected to the animal, while the system transmitted ten times more data than the most modern sensors. The company’s employees are ready to begin human clinical trials as early as 2020, but are awaiting approval from the US Department of Health.
On July 9, 2020, Elon Musk tweeted that a new presentation of the Neuralink project will take place on August 28, 2020. In comments and new tweets, he added that the technology will help treat paralysis and movement disorders. Also, users can optionally control the level of hormones in the body to cope with depression and anxiety.
Technology of the week
Cellular agriculture
Humans are still a long way from colonizing other planets and interstellar flight, but some startups are already working on what such flights will require.
For example, Finless Foods thought about what the astronauts would eat, and offered “fish” cakes. The solution was tested on the ISS in cooperation with the Russian manufacturer of 3D bioprinters, 3D Bioprinting Solutions. The muscle cells of the fundulus, a fish common in Central and North America, were sent to the space station. the cosmonauts first grew the material from fish cells to the required density, and then printed the cutlets on a bioprinter.
Representatives of Finless Foods are confident that their solution will be useful not only in space, but also on Earth. According to one of the founders of the company, Michael Selden, 90% of fish farms have already depleted their resources. The more people include seafood in their diet, the more expensive and hard-to-find fish becomes. Achievements in molecular biology make it possible to grow meat and fish from cell cultures right in the laboratory. In other words, you can get a beef steak without a cow. Cellular agriculture is a humane and ethical alternative to animal husbandry. And with scaling, this technology will become cheaper.
Article of the week
Can a nuclear war start on Twitter
On July 15, 2020, hackers gained access to the accounts of many major businessmen, politicians, and celebrities. On their behalf, the attackers published messages about the distribution of cryptocurrency. The hackers offered to send $1 worth of bitcoins to the specified wallet and promised to return twice as much. Similar tweets appeared in the accounts of former US President Barack Obama, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, rapper Kanye West and his wife Kim Kardashian.
Researchers from King’s College London believe that humanity has been lucky in the hacking situation. In their report “Escalating with a Tweet: A New Approach to Nuclear Diplomacy,” Heather Williams and Alexie Drew said that careless statements on social media could be the cause of major conflicts in the future. This is not the first such prediction. In 2018, Jeffrey Lewis, a professor at the American Middlebury Institute for International Studies, published the book Report of the Special Commission on North Korean Nuclear Attacks on the United States in 2020. This is a fictional story about how President Donald Trump started a war with the DPRK because of a tweet. In his message, he insulted the sister of Kim Jong-un, after which he launched a nuclear strike on the United States.
Experts believe that social networks are the same political platform as the official press. But governments don’t take these platforms seriously. The main goal of popular social media accounts is to attract as many subscribers as possible, and the official pages of politicians are no exception. As a result, they distribute not so much truthful information as interesting content. Such emotional statements can be misinterpreted, resulting in misunderstanding or conflict.
Study of the week
American scientists have created artificial vesicles
Vesicles are small vesicles that store and move nutrients between cells. In the human body, they are formed with the help of lipids – biological compounds that do not dissolve in water. Researchers are already using lipid vesicles for drug delivery. But such bubbles are short-lived and can collapse before the drug reaches the desired organ. This leads to dangerous side effects.
Scientists at the University of Buffalo and the University of Iowa in the US have found a way to make vesicles more reliable. Instead of lipids, they used RNA and proteins. The result is hollow bubbles that can be filled with the desired chemical composition. Scientists conducted an experiment with synthetic materials and were also able to synthesize stable vesicles. The advantage of the new solution is that the structure and size of the bubbles can be adjusted. At the same time, in a solution with a suitable concentration of substances, bubbles form independently, without additional efforts on the part of scientists. This makes it possible to create personalized vesicles for drug delivery.
One line
The African continent will split into two parts, and an ocean will appear at the site of the split.
Antibiotics can be a cure for depression.
The UAE has successfully launched a probe that will study the atmosphere of Mars.
A NASA experiment has shown that radishes can be grown on the moon.
scientists summed up the results of the experiment on printing by living cells in space.
Astrophysicists have published an accurate map of the universe.
Rostec has developed a device for rapid wound healing.
What to read
Longread The New York Times on the future of cities after the coronavirus pandemic. Journalist Eduardo Porter is confident that metropolitan areas will become less populated. Those who will work remotely will not want to overpay for renting apartments and will move to small towns. As a result, megacities will no longer be inaccessible centers of wealth. This will allow you to look at values differently and form a new urban culture.
What to listen
Release of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast about theoretical physics. In it, astrophysicist and Columbia University professor Jeanne Levine spoke about the challenges of interstellar flight and what life would look like in a four-dimensional world. Levin also answered the question of whether time travel is possible.
What to see
Scientists at the National University of Singapore have developed technology that will allow robots to sense objects. The solution is a system of pressure sensors based on the model of the human nervous system. From each “receptor” a thin wire is stretched, which is then connected to a large wire – a kind of spinal cord. Through it, the data is sent to the information processing center.
The system, which is called ACES (Asynchronous Coded Electronic Skin), can understand in 60 nanoseconds which of the sensors was pressured. In just 10 milliseconds, it determines the shape and texture of the object it touches. This is ten times faster than the blinking of the human eye.
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