136. Overdose Stopping Compound, VR Haptic Hydrogel Skin, Fast Water-based Switch

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

Experimental compound shown to block effects of multiple harmful drugs | New Atlas (01:20)

• Naloxone is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids, which is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in an opioid overdose.
• A new chemical shows promise for serving a similar role, but it also works on non-opioid drugs.
  • Known as Pillar[6]MaxQ (P6AS)
• It was developed at the University of Maryland, and it was recently tested on lab animals for the first time.
• Once P6AS is injected into the bloodstream, it binds with the molecules of certain other compounds and sequesters them into its central cavity, where they're surrounded by an outer layer of water.
  • Altering the bound compound’s chemical, physical and biological qualities.
    • Resulting in blocking their effects on the body.
• In the mice model tests, P6AS proved to be highly effective at mitigating the effects of fentanyl – which is an opioid – but also on methamphetamine, which is not.
  • Additionally it showed to do well at neutralizing non-opioid drugs such as PCP, ecstasy and mephedrone.
  • Captured drug molecules were subsequently passed in the urine
• It should be noted that in the case of methamphetamine dosing, P6AS had to be injected within five minutes in order to be effective.
  • Would likely be too small of a window in the real world
• The scientists are now working on lengthening those times, for opioids and non-opioids alike.
  • It’ll be several years before P6AS is available for general use.

'Mars' interior is not behaving,' active mantle plume reveals | Live Science (06:30)

• NASA's InSight mission has detected quakes and even evidence of recent volcanism around one Martian region, known as Elysium Planitia.
  • Now, they think they know why this activity is occuring.
• This study appears to be the first active mantle plume discovered on the Martian surface.
  • Findings suggest that Mars may be cooling significantly more slowly than scientists had anticipated.
• Mars lacks separate tectonic plates; instead, its crust is a single continuous sheet sitting atop the mantle.
  • Therefore scientists think the volcanic activity on Mars must be the result of mantle plumes.
• Mantle plumes are columns of hot, rising material in the Earth's mantle that can cause volcanic activity and create hotspots on the Earth's surface.
  • Mantle lies between the crust and the core.
• In short this finding suggests that Mars is still cooling, just more gradually than scientists had assumed.
• The study concludes by stating:
  • “A plume beneath Elysium Planitia indicates that the surface volcanic flows and seismic activity are not isolated events, but part of a long-lived, actively sustained, regional system, with implications for the longevity and astrobiological potential of subsurface habitable environments.”
• In other words, the presence of this regional system suggests that there may be areas below the surface of Mars that have conditions that could be suitable for life to exist.

Haptic hydrogel "skin" simulates touch in VR and AR | New Atlas (10:36)

• Engineers at the City University of Hong Kong have developed a thin, wearable electronic "skin" that provides tactile feedback to users in VR and AR.
  • Called WeTac
• Most haptic feedback devices are big and bulky, and require complex setups and tangles of wires.
  • WeTac system looks like one of the neatest iterations
• The system is made of a rubbery hydrogel that sticks to the palm and front of the fingers, connected to a small battery and Bluetooth communication system located in a 5-cm2 (0.8-sq-in) patch on the forearm.
  • That battery can be recharged wirelessly.
• The hydrogel is dotted with 32 electrodes spread across the palm, thumb and fingers, and electrical currents are sent through these to produce tactile sensations.
  • Can simulate a range of experiences: catching a tennis ball, feeling a virtual mouse walk across your hand, or a negative feedback such as touching a digital cactus.
• Not interested in the video game applications, but this device could even help users remotely control robots, transmitting the tactile sensation of what the robot is grasping to its human operator.

Pill technology releases molecules by exposure to UV light | Brighter Side News (15:37)

• Researchers from Tel Aviv University developed a new technology that will allow controlled encapsulation and release of molecules by exposure to UV light.
• The researchers estimate that the technology will lead to further development of delivery systems for controlled release of biomolecules and drugs in the body by external stimuli, using light.
• Development was inspired by viral compartments formed by the measles virus.
  • The virus forms compartments that host all the reactions involved in the formation of new viral particles called viral factories.
    • Dynamic and liquid-like structures that are formed inside the host cell
• The researchers designed a peptide (short minimalistic protein) which forms compartments that resemble viral factories for encapsulation of biomolecules.
• Additionally, they incorporated a unique element to the peptide sequence that enables a control of the encapsulation and release of molecules by irradiating the compartments using UV light.
• Dr. Ayala Lampel, who supervised this study stated on the potential of this technology:
  • “This technology opens opportunities for biomedical and biotechnological applications including encapsulation, delivery and release of drugs, protein, antibodies or other therapeutic molecules.”

A new water-based switch is thousands of times faster than current semiconductors | Interesting Engineering (21:04)

• Researchers have developed a water-based switch that becomes conductive thousands of times faster than current state-of-art semiconductor-based switches.
  • Used in computers, smartphones, and wireless communications.
• Transistors are a crucial component in electronic devices because they can control the flow of electricity through a circuit, effectively acting as a switch.
  • The building block of modern electronics, allowing for the amplification and switching of electronic signals.
  • The faster a transistor can switch, the faster a computer system can perform tasks.
• To create this water-based switch:
  • The researchers used a highly concentrated sodium iodide dissolved water and sprayed this salty water from a custom-made nozzle as a thin sheet only a few microns (micrometers) thick.
  • Next, the water jet was excited with a short but powerful laser pulse at 400 nanometers (nm).
    • This bumps electrons out of the dissolved salts, increasing the conductivity of water.
  • Since the laser pulse is so fast, the water becomes conductive and behaves almost like a metal.
• All of this happens in less than one trillionth of a second, which translates to potential computer speeds in the terahertz (THz) range.
  • Making this water-based switch faster than the fastest semiconductor switching speed currently known.
• Terahertz devices could someday enable much faster computing, and water-based technology could offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to rare-earth metals.