115. Increasing Muscle Mass…Thank Bears, Jet Fuel Creating Solar Tower, Beating Neuralink To The Punch

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Serum from hibernating black bears boosts muscle mass in human cells | New Atlas (01:16)

• The incredible ability of bears to hibernate for months at a time has inspired some interesting lines of research around how their secrets might benefit human health, and among them is a focus on muscle wasting.
• First let’s talk about bear hibernation:
  • The main difference between hibernation and torpor is during torpor, the animal is able to wake up quickly to avoid danger, or if the opportunity exists, exit the den to feed.
  • Hibernation is a voluntary state an animal enters to conserve energy, when food is scarce, and minimize exposure to the winter elements.
  • During hibernation an animal lowers its body temperature, slows its breathing rate, heart rate, and metabolic rate-the rate its body uses energy.
  • Bears technically do not hibernate, they enter a state similar to it called topor.
  • Fun fact: Bears can sleep more than 100 days without eating, drinking, or passing waste! Bears can actually turn their pee into protein.
• Scientists in Japan have made a fascinating discovery in this space:
  • Demonstrating how human muscle cells can be infused with serum from hibernating black bears to prevent atrophy and increase muscle mass.
• This new study focused on skeletal muscle, which is susceptible to wasting caused by immobility.
  • Led by scientists at Hiroshima University and Hokkaido University
• The research team took cultured human skeletal muscle cells and infused them with serum drawn from the blood of hibernating black bears, which led to significant protein growth after 24 hours.
  • Interestingly, serum collected during the bears' active summer season did not induce these same effects.
  • Believe this is due to a factor in the hibernating bear serum that suppresses a "destruction mechanism" behind muscle degradation
• Study first-author Mitsunori Miyazaki, stated:
  • “We have indicated that ‘some factor’ present in hibernating bear serum may regulate protein metabolism in cultured human skeletal muscle cells and contribute to the maintenance of muscle mass … However, the identification of this 'factor' has not yet been achieved."
• Doing so could open up some exciting possibilities around protecting humans during deep space travel, or preventing muscle wastage in people who are immobile due to aging or disease.

Alzheimer’s Breakthrough: Genetic Link to Gut Disorders Confirmed | Neuroscience News (08:18)

• A world-first Edith Cowan University (ECU) study has confirmed the link between the two, which could lead to earlier detection and new potential treatments.
  • The findings add to the evidence the gut-brain axis may play a role in the development of neurodegenerative disorders.
• Alzheimer’s Disease (AD), has no known curative treatments and is expected to affect more than 82 million people and is estimated to cost US$2 trillion by 2030.
• The study analyzed large sets of genetic data from AD and several gut-disorder studies – each of about 400,000 people.
  • The first comprehensive assessment of the genetic relationship between AD and multiple gut disorders.
  • They discovered people with AD and gut disorders have genes in common – which is important for many reasons.
• Research lead Dr Emmanuel Adewuyi explains:
  • “The study provides a novel insight into the genetics behind the observed co-occurrence of AD and gut disorders … This improves our understanding of the causes of these conditions and identifies new targets to investigate to potentially detect the disease earlier and develop new treatments for both types of conditions.”
• When researchers conducted further analysis into the shared genetics, they found other important links between AD and gut disorders – such as the role cholesterol may play.
• Dr Adewuyi provides context:
  • “Whilst further study is needed into the shared mechanisms between the conditions, there is evidence high cholesterol can transfer into the central nervous system, resulting in abnormal cholesterol metabolism in the brain… For example, elevated cholesterol in the brain has been linked to brain degeneration and subsequent cognitive impairment.”
• The research also indicated diet could play a part in treating and preventing AD and gut disorders. 
• There is a need for more studies and patients need to be assessed individually to judge whether they would benefit from cholesterol lower medication use.

This solar tower makes jet fuel from sunbeams, water, and gas | PopSci (14:43)

• For the past several years, researchers from several different institutions in Switzerland and Germany have been using it to test a method to create propellant
  • normally a carbon-intensive process involving fossil fuels
  • They use little more than sunlight and greenhouse gasses captured from the atmosphere.
• What happens inside their tower is a bit of chemistry known as the Fischer-Tropsch process.
  • A collection of chemical reactions that converts a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen or water gas into liquid hydrocarbons.
  • These reactions occur in the presence of metal catalysts
  • Typically at temperatures of 150–300 °C (302–572 °F)
  • Pressures of one to several tens of atmospheres.
• So what does this structure tucked away in a Madrid suburb actually do?
  • 169 solar reflectors concentrate blinding sunlight —on average, 2,500 times brighter than the sun— to the top of a tower.
  • It hits a porous ceramic box made from cerium, the rare-earth element number 58
  • That draws water and carbon dioxide from the air and splits their atoms into hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide.
  • The newly created gasses sink to the bottom of the tower, where they enter a shipping container that carries out the Fischer-Tropsch reactions.
  • The end result is fossil-fuel-free kerosene, produced by pulling carbon dioxide from the air.
  • The researchers say it can be pumped into fuel tanks, today, without issue.
• According to Aldo Steinfeld, an engineer at ETH Zürich in Switzerland, meeting the entire aviation’s sector would require solar kerosene plants to cover an area of around 17,500 square miles, roughly the size of Estonia.
  • That’s large!!!
  • Steinfeld looks at it differently: A relatively small parcel of a sparsely inhabited hot desert could supply all the world’s planes.
• The next steps are to make the process more efficient.
  • Right now, a meager 4.1 percent of the solar energy striking the ceramic box actually goes into making gas.
  • The researchers think they could considerably boost that number.

Prime Air: Amazon officially rolls out drone delivery to customers | ZDNet (21:06)

• After years of development announcements, Amazon will be rolling out delivery by drone for Prime customers in areas of California and Texas.
  • Lockeford, California, and College Station, Texas.
• Amazon will join Walmart in offering limited drone delivery to a subset of customers, signaling a vote of confidence in the technology and a shifting regulatory environment from the two behemoth retailers.
• The service, called Prime Air, will deliver packages up to five pounds in less than an hour using drones.
  • Fly up to 50 miles per hour (80km/hour), up to an altitude of 400ft, and can carry packages of up to 5lbs.
  • Created a proprietary sense-and-avoid system that enables Amazon drones to operate at greater distances while safely and reliably avoiding other aircraft, people, pets, and obstacles.
• Amazon is reaching out to customers in both locations to give them an option to receive free and fast drone delivery on what's billed as the largest selection of items ever to be available for drone delivery.
  • Once onboarded, customers will see Prime Air-eligible items on Amazon
  • Place an order as they normally would and receive an estimated arrival time
  • The service will start later this year.
• Despite the limited rollout, the company's long-term vision is to create a drone delivery service that will scale and integrate into its vast fulfillment network.
• Naturally, there's a lot more riding on these drones.
  • A crash or injury involving an Amazon drone will receive heavy scrutiny.
• End it off with the end of Amazon’s press release:
  • “We’re bringing more than drone delivery to Lockeford and College Station. Through these Prime Air drone deliveries, we will create new jobs, build partnerships with local organizations, and help to reduce the impact of climate change on future generations.”

A brain-computer startup beat Elon Musk's Neuralink to implanting its first device in a US patient | Yahoo (26:02)

• Synchron, a brain-computer interface startup, reportedly implanted its first device in a US patient earlier this month — overtaking Elon Musk's Neuralink for the third time.
  • The startup implanted a 1.5-inch device into the brain of an ALS patient at Mount Sinai West medical center in New York on July 6
• The purpose of the device is to allow the patient to communicate — even after they have lost the ability to move — by using their thoughts to send emails and texts.
• Should mention this company has already implanted the device in four patients in Australia who have been able to use the brain implant to send messages on WhatsApp and shop online.
• Last year, the Australia-based startup received permission from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin human trials on six US patients who have been severely paralyzed.
  • Neuralink has yet to receive FDA approval
• Synchon and Neuralink's implants have similar immediate applications.
  • translate human thoughts into computer commands
  • could help patients with neurological diseases like Parkinson's or ALS.
• Neuralink and Synchron's products have several key differences: namely, size and installation.
  • Synchron’s device can be inserted into a human skull without cutting into it using a catheter, and the process requires two separate surgeries
  • In contrast, Neuralink plans to make a much smaller and more powerful device that would require a portion of the individual's skull to be removed and would be performed using a robot

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