Technology

We’re about to learn a lot more about how the human body responds to space

Published

3 months ago

June 14, 2024

IAM

We could also be entering a renaissance in human spaceflight research as record numbers of personal residents enterprise into space and scientists improve techniques for collecting data on these intrepid test subjects.

An indication that a renaissance is at hand got here earlier this week when a paper appeared in the journal Nature collection of papers detailing the physical and mental changes the four-person Inspiration4 crew experienced almost three years ago. This mission, in cooperation with SpaceX, launched on September 15, 2021 and returned to Earth three days later.

During the mission, the crew experienced a broad set of moderate molecular changes, immune system dysregulation, and mild declines in cognitive performance. But researchers are only able to analyze the data – more than 100,000 health-related data points – because the four-person crew was able to reliably collect it.

This is a larger achievement than you would possibly think. The Inspiration4 crew underwent extensive training, largely thanks to SpaceX, which provided them with a Dragon capsule for the flight to orbit. However, their preparation still differs from that of NASA astronauts aboard the ISS, who also repeatedly perform a variety of health tests on themselves. This includes ultrasounds, cognitive tests, biopsies, blood and saliva tests, skin swabs and sensorimotor tests.

“You can conduct research in space with private participation and that is the number one (research) result,” Dr. Dorit Donoviel said in a recent interview. Dr. Donoviel is a co-author of a paper published in the journal Nature and an associate professor at the Center for Space Medicine at Baylor University. He can be executive director of the NASA-funded Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), which conducts and funds cutting-edge research to improve human safety in space.

“I’ll be honest, no one was sure whether we would be able to collect a reasonable amount of data, whether we would be able to implement it, whether ordinary people who had never had any contact with scientific research would be able to do something that we would actually be able to analyze” – she continued, referring to the Inspiration4 mission.

In some obvious ways, the Inspiration4 crew is anything but strange: the mission’s leader, Jared Isaacman, is a billionaire who began a payment processing company at age 16; Hayley Arcenaux is a physician assistant at the world-renowned St. George’s Children’s Research Hospital. Jude; Sian Proctor is a PhD pilot and lecturer in geology at university level; and Christopher Sembroski is a former United States Air Force journeyman whose long profession as an aerospace engineer led him to his current workplace, Blue Origin.

Inspiration4 crew.

Image credits: Inspiration 4

Yet they got here to Inspiration4 as novices in spaceflight. This meant that TRISH researchers had to develop a test battery that could possibly be performed with minimal training. The Inspiration4 crew also wore Apple watches, and the capsule was equipped with environmental sensors that researchers were able to link to the results of other tests. The correlation of the data is “remarkable,” Dr. Donoviel said, but it surely gave researchers unique insight into how changes in a closed environment affect parameters similar to heart rate and cognitive performance.

Overall, researchers try to move toward digitizing tests and increasing passive data collection to reduce the cognitive load on the private astronaut. (NASA astronauts also take cognitive tests, but they do it with pencil and paper, Dr. Donoviel said.)

Collecting such information might be crucial as the number of personal residents venturing into space increases, which is able to almost actually occur in the coming decade. Scientists will have the option to higher understand the impact of spaceflight on individuals who don’t fit the mold of the typical NASA astronaut: male, white, and other people in the highest percentiles of physical and cognitive ability. However, this may only be possible if future space tourists want to collect data.

More data means a higher understanding of how spaceflight affects women compared to men, or it could help future space tourists with pre-existing conditions understand how they may fare in a zero-gravity environment. The results of the Inspiration4 project are promising, especially for space tourism: the TRISH paper concluded that, based on data from this mission, short-duration missions don’t pose significant health risks. This latest preliminary discovery adds to existing data that shows longer stays in space – on this case 340 days – is probably not as dangerous as once thought.

So far, business providers, from Axiom Space to SpaceX to Blue Origin, have been more than willing to work with TRISH and have agreed to standardize and mix data collected on their missions, Dr. Donoviel said.

“Everyone is competing for these people (as customers), but this allows them to contribute to a common knowledge base,” she added.

This is just the starting. The increase in the variety of non-governmental spaceflight missions raises major questions related to the standards, ethics and regulations of research involving humans in space. While more private residents are likely to go to space than ever before, will they be inquisitive about being guinea pigs for further scientific research? Would a private astronaut paying $50 million for luxury space tourism want to spend his time in orbit having ultrasounds performed on himself or having his temporary cognitive decline meticulously measured?

Probably; probably not. Last 12 months, Donoviel co-authored a publication entitled article in Science calling, amongst other things, for the development of a algorithm to govern business spaceflight missions. One of the principles the authors called for is social responsibility – essentially the idea that non-public astronauts likely have increased social responsibility for advancing research.

“If you go into space, you will rest on the laurels of all the public funds that made it possible for you to go to space. Taxpayers paid for all these space capabilities that have now made space travel possible. So you owe taxpayers research,” Dr. Donoviel argued. She added that advances in wearable technology have only eased the burden on study participants – not only with the Apple Watch, but in addition with technologies like Biobutton device that repeatedly accumulates multiple vital signs or a sweat stain.

“We won’t make your life difficult, we won’t stab you with a needle, we won’t force you to do an ultrasound, but put on the Biobutton and a sweatband.”

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com

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MIT Develops Recyclable 3D-Printed Glass Blocks for Construction Applications

Published

2 hours ago

September 19, 2024

IAM

MIT develops recyclable 3D-printed glass blocks for construction

The use of 3D printing has been praised as an alternative choice to traditional construction, promising faster construction times, creative design and fewer construction errors, all while reducing the carbon footprint. New research from MIT points to an interesting latest approach to the concept, involving the usage of 3D-printed glass blocks in the form of a figure eight, which may be connected together like Lego bricks.

The team points to glass’s optical properties and “infinite recyclability” as reasons to pursue the fabric. “As long as it’s not contaminated, you can recycle glass almost infinitely,” says assistant professor of mechanical engineering Kaitlyn Becker.

The team relied on 3D printers designed by Straight line — is itself a spin-off of MIT.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com

Technology

Introducing the Next Wave of Startup Battlefield Judges at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

Published

9 hours ago

September 19, 2024

IAM

Announcing our next wave of Startup Battlefield judges at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024

Startup Battlefield 200 is the highlight of every Disrupt, and we will’t wait to search out out which of the 1000’s of startups which have invited us to collaborate can have the probability to pitch to top enterprise capitalists at TechCrunch Disrupt 2024. Join us at Moscone West in San Francisco October 28–30 for an epic showdown where everyone can have the probability to make a major impact.

Get insight into what the judges are in search of in a profitable company as they supply detailed feedback on the evaluation criteria. Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from their expert insights and discover the key characteristics that result in startup success, only at Disrupt 2024.

We’re excited to introduce our next group of investors who will evaluate startups and dive into each pitch in an in-depth and insightful Q&A session. Stay tuned for more big names coming soon!

Alice Brooks, Partner, Khosla Ventures

Alicja is a partner in Khosla’s ventures interests in sustainability, food, agriculture, and manufacturing/supply chain. She has worked with multiple startups in robotics, IoT, retail, consumer goods, and STEM education, and led mechanical, electrical, and application development teams in the US and Asia. She also founded and managed manufacturing operations in factories in China and Taiwan. Prior to KV, Alice was the founder and CEO of Roominate, a STEM education company that helps girls learn engineering concepts through play.

Mark Crane, Partner, General Catalyst

Mark Crane is a partner at General Catalysta enterprise capital firm that works with founders from seed to endurance to assist them construct corporations that may stand the test of time. Focused on acquiring and investing in later-stage investment opportunities equivalent to AuthZed, Bugcrowd, Resilience, and TravelPerk. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Mark was a vice chairman at Cove Hill Partners in Massachusetts. Prior to that, he was a senior associate at JMI Equity and an associate at North Bridge Growth Equity.

Sofia Dolfe, Partner, Index Ventures

Sofia partners with founders who use their unique perspective and private understanding of the problem to construct corporations that drive behavioral change, powerful network effects, and transform entire industries, from grocery and e-commerce to financial services and healthcare. Sofia can also be one of Index projects‘ gaming leads, working with some of the best gaming corporations in Europe, making a recent generation of iconic gaming titles. He spends most of his time in the Nordics, but works with entrepreneurs across the continent.

Christine Esserman, Partner, Accel

Christine Esserman joined Acceleration in 2017 and focuses on software, web, and mobile technology corporations. Since joining Accel, Christine has helped lead Accel’s investments in Blackpoint Cyber, Linear, Merge, ThreeFlow, Bumble, Remote, Dovetail, Ethos, Guru, and Headway. Prior to joining Accel, Christine worked in product and operations roles at multiple startups. A native of the Bay Area, Christine graduated from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a level in Finance and Operations.

Haomiao Huang, Founding Partner, Matter Venture Partners

Haomiao from Venture Matter Partners is a robotics researcher turned founder turned investor. He is especially obsessed with corporations that bring digital innovation to physical economy enterprises, with a give attention to sectors equivalent to logistics, manufacturing and transportation, and advanced technologies equivalent to robotics and AI. Haomiao spent 4 years investing in hard tech with Wen Hsieh at Kleiner Perkins. He previously founded smart home security startup Kuna, built autonomous cars at Caltech and, as part of his PhD research at Stanford, pioneered the aerodynamics and control of multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles. Kuna was part of the Y Combinator Winter 14 cohort.

Don’t miss it!

The Startup Battlefield winner, who will walk away with a $100,000 money prize, can be announced at Disrupt 2024—the epicenter of startups. Join 10,000 attendees to witness this breakthrough moment and see the next wave of tech innovation.

Register here and secure your spot to witness this epic battle of startups.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com

Technology

India Considers Easing Market Share Caps for UPI Payments Operators

Published

16 hours ago

September 19, 2024

IAM

phonepe UPI being used to accept payments at a road-side sunglasses stall.

The regulator that oversees India’s popular UPI rail payments is considering relaxing a proposed market share cap for operators like Google Pay, PhonePe and Paytm because it grapples with enforcing the restrictions, two people accustomed to the matter told TechCrunch.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which is regulated by the Indian central bank, is considering increasing the market share that UPI operators can hold to greater than 40%, said two of the people, requesting anonymity because the knowledge is confidential. The regulator had earlier proposed a 30% market share limit to encourage competition within the space.

UPI has change into the most well-liked option to send and receive money in India, with the mechanism processing over 12 billion transactions monthly. Walmart-backed PhonePe has about 48% market share by volume and 50% by value, while Google Pay has 37.3% share by volume.

Once an industry heavyweight, Paytm’s market share has fallen to 7.2% from 11% late last yr amid regulatory challenges.

According to several industry executives, the NPCI’s increase in market share limits is more likely to be a controversial move as many UPI providers were counting on regulatory motion to curb the dominance of PhonePe and Google Pay.

NPCI, which has previously declined to comment on market share, didn’t reply to a request for comment on Thursday.

The regulator originally planned to implement the market share caps in January 2021 but prolonged the deadline to January 1, 2025. The regulator has struggled to seek out a workable option to implement its proposed market share caps.

The stakes are high, especially for PhonePe, India’s Most worthy fintech startup, valued at $12 billion.

Sameer Nigam, co-founder and CEO of PhonePe, said last month that the startup cannot go public “if there is uncertainty on regulatory issues.”

“If you buy a share at Rs 100 and value it assuming we have 48-49% market share, there is uncertainty whether it will come down to 30% and when,” Nigam told a fintech conference last month. “We are reaching out to them (the regulator) whether they can find another way to at least address any concerns they have or tell us what the list of concerns is,” he added.

This article was originally published on : techcrunch.com