123. Starlink Reaches Antarctica, Huge Trial for Cancer Blood Tests, Humidity into Hydrogen

That‘s Cool News | A weekly breakdown of positive Science & Tech news.

Show Notes:

SpaceX’s Starlink internet reaches Antarctica, touching all 7 continents | New Atlas (01:16)

• Scientists with the United States Antarctic Program at the McMurdo Station are tapping into the space-based internet service, Starlink.

  • Boosting the bandwidth for scientific research at the end of the Earth.

  • Location of the Antarctic Program? You guess it Antartica

• The researchers have received a Starlink terminal of their own where it is said to be improving connectivity as they carry out their research.

• All of this was ,adding possible through laser links between the satellites in orbit that eliminate the need for ground stations at the poles

• Ultimately this makes Antarctica the seventh and final continent to receive Starlink internet coverage.

Google spins out secret hi-speed telecom project called Aalyria | CNBC (04:52)

• Codenamed “Minkowski” within Google, the secret project is being unveiled to the public on Monday, Sept. 12th, as a new spinout called Aalyria.

  • No clue how long it’s been working on the technology or how many employees are joining the startup

  • Not too many details about the project.

• Aalyria said in a news release that its mission is to manage “hyper fast, ultra-secure, and highly complex communications networks that span land, sea, air, near space, and deep space.”

• The company continues by claiming they have laser communications technology “ on an exponentially greater scale and speed than anything that exists today.”

• It will be led by CEO Chris Taylor, a national security expert who has led other companies that have worked with the government.

  • Have an $8.7 million commercial contract with the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit.

• The Light laser tech is named, “Tightbeam”

  • The claim is that it keeps data “intact through the atmosphere and weather and offers connectivity where no supporting infrastructure exists.”

  • “Radically [improving] satellite communications, Wi-Fi on planes and ships, and cellular connectivity everywhere.”

A blood test that could detect cancers early will undergo trials in the U.S. | Interesting Engineering (11:04)

• According to a report by MIT Tech Review, The U.S. is preparing to launch trials of blood tests that can improve the detection of multiple kinds of cancer.

• The test will be conducted by the National Cancer Institute

  • Testing efficacy of various blood tests in detecting cancer in 24,000 healthy participants over four years.

• The only test that is currently used in the U.S. is the Galleri, which claims to detect more than 50 cancer types.

  • Not approved by the FDA

  • Therefore, it's not covered by most insurance and costs $949.

• To give a brief explanation on how the majority of these multi-cancer early detection tests (MCEDs) work:

  • Searching for tumor cell remnants that explode after being attacked by the immune system in the bloodstream.

  • A cancer warning before symptoms appear.

• Only some blood tests can identify the organ where the cancer is in.

  • To confirm a diagnosis a biopsy has to be performed but if you can’t tell the location that is an issue

  • The whole body of a person cannot be biopsied.

• The NCI trial should provide a standard approach to launching cancer screening research.

• Timothy Rebbeck, a professor of cancer prevention at Harvard thinks these tests will be critically helpful in cases of pancreatic, liver, and ovarian cancer, which are fatal and do not have any other screening options.

  • Concluding, “It seems very realistic to me to think that we could reduce death by half."

This modular off-grid solar EV charger can be installed in just four hours | Electrek (18:34)

• Paired Power, a California company, has debuted a modular, off-grid electric vehicle charger that is powered by a solar canopy.

• The new modular charger called PairTree

  • There is Level 1 (household charging, very slow), Level 2 (adds around twenty or so miles of range to the batteries of your car for every hour), and Fast Charging (Tesla Supercharging stations)

  • A transportable solar canopy with built-in EV charging capabilities

  • Can be used off grid, but it can also be hooked into the grid if desired.

  • Comes in 5 kW units using 10 bifacial solar panels each

  • Level 2 Charging

• PairTree is designed to optimize EV charging loads to deliver up to 75 miles of daily range.

• PairTree can be installed in only four hours by two people.

• Tom McCalmont, CEO and cofounder of Paired Power, said:

  • “EV charging is no longer a fringe benefit for any location where a car might park; it’s quickly becoming a service that both average citizens and employees expect. There are various reasons why site owners don’t want to wait or might have restrictions on grid-connected EV charging or conventional solar canopies, and PairTree is the solution to bring any location quickly into the EV future.”

• Paired Power is taking orders for PairTree now, and the company is expecting general delivery to take place in the second quarter of 2023.

• PairTree’s starting price is $26,900, and that covers the canopy and solar only (no charging or other electronics).

  • Fully configured units will sell for mid-$60k depending on options.

Scientists Just Made Hydrogen Fuel With Nothing But Air and Solar Power | Singularity Hub (23:55)

• Researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia have developed a new technique that makes hydrogen fuel out of thin air in even the driest climates.

  • Hydrogen could also be an important part of the energy mix.

  • Burned just like conventional fuels, but the only byproduct it releases is water

• For hydrogen to contribute to decarbonization, “green hydrogen” is needed.

  • Produced by electrolyzers that split water into hydrogen and oxygen using renewable energy.

• Gang Kevin Li, co-author on the study, told Newsweek:

  • “The ability to use moisture from air makes this DAE [direct air electrolyzer] module applicable in remote, arid, and semi-arid environments where the accessibility to fresh water is a big problem … Most areas on earth with high solar and wind potentials lack fresh water.”

• Even in the driest climates, though, there is a considerable amount of moisture in the air.

  • Sahel desert, relative humidity is still around 20 percent on average

• The researchers device to do all of this hydrogen harvesting consists of

  • a water harvesting unit that houses a sponge soaked in a water-absorbing liquid that can pull moisture from the air.

  • Electrodes that can be powered by any renewable energy source.

• When current runs through those electrodes water is split via electrolysis into its constituent oxygen and hydrogen atoms, which can then be collected as gas.

• The team showed the device could run efficiently for 12 consecutive days

  • Produced hydrogen with 99 percent purity.

• In a test for real world potential:

  • rigged up five electrolyzers in parallel and placed them outside

  • powered by a solar panel

  • Produced an average of 745 liters (197 gallons) of hydrogen per square meter per day.

  • Half of conventional electrolyzer methods, but this is running just on humidity

• Until electrolyzer technology comes down in price and becomes more efficient, hydrogen is unlikely to compete with traditional fuels, whether it’s pulled from thin air or not.