DARPA prosthetic hand can "feel" physical sensations

Through DARPA, a 28-year-old paralysed man has become the first person to feel physical sensations through a prosthetic hand directly connected to his brain.



A 28-year-old man, paralysed for more than a decade as a result of a spinal cord injury, has become the first person to be able to "feel" physical sensations through a prosthetic hand directly connected to his brain. He can even identify which mechanical finger is being gently touched.
This advance, made possible by sophisticated neural technologies, has been developed under U.S. military agency DARPA's Revolutionising Prosthetics program that was first launched in 2006. It could lead to a future in which people living with paralysed or missing limbs will not only be able to manipulate objects by sending signals from their brain to robotic devices, but also be able to sense precisely what those devices are touching.
"We've completed the circuit," says DARPA program manager Justin Sanchez. "Prosthetic limbs that can be controlled by thoughts are showing great promise, but without feedback from signals travelling back to the brain it can be difficult to achieve the level of control needed to perform precise movements. By wiring a sense of touch from a mechanical hand directly into the brain, this work shows the potential for seamless bio-technological restoration of near-natural function."
The clinical work involved placing electrode arrays onto the paralysed volunteer's sensory cortex, the brain region responsible for identifying tactile sensations such as pressure. In addition, the team placed arrays on the volunteer's motor cortex, the part of the brain that directs body movements.
Wires were run from the arrays on the motor cortex to a mechanical hand developed by the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University. That gave the volunteer – whose identity is withheld to protect his privacy – the capacity to control the hand's movements with his thoughts, a feat previously accomplished under the DARPA program by another person with similar injuries.
Then, breaking new technological ground, the researchers went on to provide the volunteer a sense of touch. The APL hand contains sophisticated torque sensors that can detect when pressure is being applied to any of its fingers, and can convert those physical "sensations" into electrical signals. The team used wires to route those signals to the arrays on the volunteer's brain.



In the very first set of tests, during which the researchers gently touched each of the hand's fingers while the volunteer was blindfolded, he was able to report with nearly 100% accuracy which mechanical finger was being touched. The feeling, he reported, was as if his own hand were being touched.
"At one point, instead of pressing one finger, the team decided to press two without telling him," said Sanchez. "He responded in jest asking whether somebody was trying to play a trick on him. That is when we knew that the feelings he was perceiving through the robotic hand were near-natural."
Sanchez described the basic findings at Wait, What? A Future Technology Forum, hosted by DARPA in St. Louis. Further details about the work are being withheld pending peer review and acceptance for publication in a scientific journal.
The restoration of sensation with implanted neural arrays is one of several neurotechnology-based advances emerging from DARPA's Biological Technologies Office, Sanchez said. Another major program is Restoring Active Memory (RAM), which seeks to develop brain interfaces to restore function to individuals living with memory loss from traumatic brain injury or complex neuropsychiatric illness.
"DARPA's investments in neurotechnologies are helping to open entirely new worlds of function and experience for individuals living with paralysis and have the potential to benefit people with similarly debilitating brain injuries or diseases," Sanchez added.

NASA's Cassini probe finds global ocean in Saturn's moon Enceladus

NASA's Cassini probe has discovered a global ocean lying beneath the icy crust of Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus.



A global ocean lies beneath the icy crust of Saturn's geologically active moon Enceladus, according to new research using data from NASA's Cassini mission. Researchers found the magnitude of the moon's very slight wobble, as it orbits Saturn, can only be accounted for if its outer ice shell is not frozen solid to its interior, meaning a global ocean must be present. This finding implies that the fine spray of water vapour, icy particles and simple organic molecules observed coming from fractures near the moon's south pole is being fed by this vast liquid water reservoir. The research is presented in a paper published online in the journal Icarus.
Previous analysis of Cassini data suggested the presence of a lens-shaped body of water, or sea, underlying the moon's south polar region. However, gravity data collected during the spacecraft's several close passes over the southern polar region lent support to the possibility the sea might be global. These new results – derived using an independent line of evidence based on Cassini's images – confirm this to be the case.
"This was a hard problem that required years of observations, and calculations involving a diverse collection of disciplines, but we are confident we finally got it right," said Peter Thomas, a Cassini imaging team member at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, and lead author of the paper.
Cassini scientists analysed more than seven years' worth of images of Enceladus taken by the spacecraft, which has been orbiting the gas giant Saturn since mid-2004. They carefully mapped the positions of features on Enceladus – mostly craters – across hundreds of images, in order to measure changes in the moon's rotation with extreme precision.



As a result, they found Enceladus has a tiny, but measurable wobble as it orbits Saturn. Because the icy moon is not perfectly spherical – and because it goes slightly faster and slower during different portions of its orbit around Saturn – the giant planet subtly rocks Enceladus back and forth as it rotates. The team plugged their measurement of the wobble, called a "libration", into different models for how Enceladus might be arranged on the inside, including ones in which the moon was frozen from surface to core.
"If the surface and core were rigidly connected, the core would provide so much dead weight the wobble would be far smaller than we observe it to be," said Matthew Tiscareno, a Cassini participating scientist at the SETI Institute, Mountain View, California, and a co-author of the paper. "This proves that there must be a global layer of liquid separating the surface from the core."
The mechanisms that might have prevented Enceladus' ocean from freezing remain a mystery. Thomas and colleagues suggest ideas for future study that might help resolve the question, including the surprising possibility that tidal forces due to Saturn's gravity could be generating much more heat within the moon than previously thought.

Enceladus visible just above the rings of Saturn. Credit: NASA.

"This is a major step beyond what we understood about this moon before, and it demonstrates the kind of deep-dive discoveries we can make with long-lived orbiter missions to other planets," said co-author Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team lead at the Space Science Institute, Colorado. "Cassini has been exemplary in this regard."
The unfolding story of Enceladus has been one of the great triumphs of Cassini's long mission at Saturn. Scientists first detected signs of the moon's icy plume in early 2005, and followed up with a series of discoveries about the material gushing from warm fractures near its south pole. They announced strong evidence for a regional sea in 2014, and more recently, in 2015, they shared results that suggest hydrothermal activity is taking place on the ocean floor.
Cassini is scheduled for a close flyby of Enceladus on 28th October, in the mission's deepest-ever dive through the moon's active plume of icy material. The probe will pass a mere 30 miles (49 km) above the moon's surface. The mission is expected to end in 2017, when the spacecraft is crashed into the upper atmosphere of Saturn.
Future missions to Enceladus may include landers able to explore the surface and even drill into it. NASA is currently developing a massive new rocket known as the Space Launch System (SLS), including a 130-ton payload version due for operation in the 2030s. This rocket will greatly improve the capability of missions to the outer Solar System.
In 2012, a NASA presentation – SLS Concept Of Operations (Con Ops) – outlined some possible long-term options for the SLS, including ambitious missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn: "The SLS [...] would have the payload capacity to provide shielding for a lander on [a moon's] surface, and sufficient fuel for propulsive maneuvers out of the gravitational well," the report said. "At Enceladus, a small active moon of Saturn, the SLS could carry the fuel needed to slow down for sample capture from the plumes on Enceladus, or create an artificial plume on either Europa or Enceladus by firing a copper projectile at the surface."
Ultimately, robotic probes will be able to explore right the way down into the subsurface liquid oceans, though such missions are several decades away. In the more distant future, perhaps Enceladus will function as a resource extraction site for human colonists.
 

2024-2030

The PLATO observatory is operational

PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) was selected as the third medium-sized (M) mission in the European Space Agency's Cosmic Vision programme (the others being "Solar Orbiter" launched in 2017 and the Euclid Space Telescope launched in 2020). This observatory would include a payload of 34 separate telescopes and cameras, each comprised of four CCDs at 4500 x 4500 pixels resolution. It would scan up to a million stars, looking for truly Earth-like planets in sufficient detail to examine their atmospheres for signs of life.* In operation from 2024 until 2030,* at Earth-Sun Lagrangian point L2, the mission has the following objectives:

• Discover and characterise a large number of close-by exoplanetary systems, with a precision in the determination of the planet mass up to 10%, of planet radius of up to 2%, and of stellar age up to 10%.
• Detect Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone around solar-type stars
• Detect super-Earths in the habitable zone around solar-type stars
• Measure solar oscillations in the host stars of exoplanets
• Measure oscillations of classical pulsators

PLATO is aided by data from the Gaia mission launched in 2013, which provides many useful targets for subsequent follow-up observations.

Credit: ESA

2024

The biggest refugee crisis in world history

Torrential flooding in southeast Asia – produced by a combination of rising sea levels, melting glaciers and extreme weather events – is creating the biggest refugee crisis in world history. Bangladesh and neighbouring regions are seeing literally tens of millions of men, women and children displaced from their homes.*

This unfolding horror is the worst environmental crisis of the 21st century so far. Although various different countries are affected, the disaster is centred on Bangladesh with its high density and population (150 million), situated in the low-lying Ganges River delta. With most of the country just a few metres above sea level, combined with a flat topography, storm surges are flooding huge areas of land with almost no hope of recovery. As well as the physical damage to infrastructure, salt in the ground means that fields up to 40 km from the new coastline are rendered useless for growing crops.*

Many thousands drown, while others die in the subsequent looting and chaos that sweeps the nation. With so many refugees attempting to flee the region, conflicts begin to erupt along the borders with India and Burma. The sheer scale of this catastrophe makes it difficult to coordinate relief efforts, and relatively speaking, only token assistance can be offered by the UN.

Credit: NASA

African elephants are going extinct in the wild

Despite efforts to curtail the ivory trade, vast numbers of elephants continued to be poached throughout Africa. Their population – which stood at 600,000 in 2009 – declined by nearly 40,000 each year.* They are now on the verge of extinction, with few reported sightings in the wild. Zoos and parks are working to maintain a viable population for future rewilding.

© Paul Hampton | Dreamstime.com

Open-source, 3D printed clothes at near-zero cost

3D printing – having emerged as a mainstream consumer technology – is now so cheap, fast and easy to use that it can produce items of clothing for just a few cents.* A milestone was passed in 2014 when 3D printing became faster than injection moulding.* The speed of printing continued to increase, doubling every two years in a trend similar to Moore's Law. By 2024, it is over 30 times faster, so an item which took four hours to print in 2014 now takes just seven and a half minutes.* Millions of open-source designs are available to download. Sweatshops in the developing world are declining as a side effect, with low-paid factory jobs made increasingly obsolete.

Completion of the Square Kilometre Array

Our view of the universe is greatly expanded with the completion of a major new observatory.* This radio telescope has a combined collecting area of approximately one kilometre. It operates over a wide range of frequencies and its size makes it 50 times more sensitive than any other radio instrument. By utilising advanced processing technology, it can survey the sky more than 10,000 times faster than ever before. With stations extending to a distance of 3,000 km from a concentrated central core, it continues radio astronomy's tradition of providing the highest resolution images in all of astronomy.

Click to enlarge


Image used with permission from Jo Bowler, SKA Program Development Office, Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics.

99% of near-Earth asteroids have been catalogued

Sentinel is a mission developed by Ball Aerospace for the non-profit B612 Foundation which aims to identify the vast majority of asteroids near Earth. Launched by 2018 and with 6.5 years of operation, it becomes the first privately-funded mission to the inner Solar System. A spacecraft with a 0.5-metre infrared telescope is placed in a Venus-like orbit, facing away from the Sun. This allows it to view the night half of the sky every 20 days – picking up objects that were previously difficult, if not impossible, to see from Earth.** In its first month alone, Sentinel discovers over 20,000 objects, more than double the 10,000* found in the past 30 years. Given the telescopic accuracy, its data also proves useful in future asteroid mining.

The Sentinel Space Telescope in orbit around the Sun. Image courtesy of Ball Aerospace.

The first probe to fly into the Sun's outer atmosphere

Solar Probe Plus is a historic mission flying into the Sun's outer atmosphere (corona) for the first time. The probe travels to within 5.9 million km (3.6 million miles) of the Sun's surface – just four times the length of its diameter.

At such close range, a shield is needed at the front of the spacecraft. This is made of reinforced carbon-carbon composite, able to withstand temperatures of 2000°C. At closest approach, Solar Probe Plus hurtles around the Sun at approximately 450,000 miles per hour; fast enough to get from Philadelphia to Washington in one second.

The mission's primary scientific goals are:

• To determine the structure and dynamics of the magnetic fields at the sources of solar wind.
• To trace the flow of energy that heats the corona and accelerates the solar wind.
• To determine what mechanisms accelerate and transport energetic particles.
• To explore dusty plasma near the sun and its influence on solar wind and energetic particle formation.

Coming closer to the Sun than any previous craft, Solar Probe Plus uses a combination of in situ measurements and 3D imaging to revolutionise our knowledge of the physics, origin and evolution of the solar wind.*

Lunar Mission One drills into the Moon's south pole

Lunar Mission One is a British-led, unmanned Moon probe launched in 2024.* It attempts to land on the lunar south pole – a region largely unexplored until now – before drilling down at least 20m (65 ft) and trying to reach as deep as 100m (328 ft). This provides fresh new insights into the Moon's composition and geologic history, revealing new clues about the early Solar System. The mission gains crowdfunding through Kickstarter.* Backers are able to contribute photos, text and even their DNA in a time capsule, leaving a digital record of civilisation. Detailed analysis of the surface environment helps to gauge the suitability of the lunar south pole as a location for a permanent human base in future decades.*

Bio-electronics for treating arthritis are in common use

Arthritis is a form of joint disorder caused by trauma or infection of a joint, or old age. As of the 2010s, it was the single most common type of disability in the United States, predominantly affecting the elderly and resulting in over 20 million individuals having severe limitations in function on a daily basis. Total costs of arthritis cases were close to $100 billion annually, a figure expected to increase dramatically in the future with an aging population. Treatments for arthritis usually involved a combination of medication, exercise and lifestyle modification, but a cure remained elusive.

In 2014, a breakthrough involving the use of bio-electronics was unveiled by researchers. This took the form of a pacemaker-style device embedded in the necks of patients, firing bursts of electrical impulses to stimulate the vagus nerve – a crucial link between the brain and major organs. The impulses were shown to reduce activity in the spleen, in turn producing fewer chemicals and immune cells that would normally cause inflammation in the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Over half of people saw a dramatic improvement, even for severe symptoms, with up to 30% achieving remission.

After successful clinical trials, another decade of progress led to next-generation implants miniaturised to the size of rice grains, as well as improvements in cost and efficacy. By 2024, it is a routine form of treatment in many countries.* Bio-electronics are showing promise in other areas too. For example, they can prevent the airway spasms of asthma, control appetite in obesity, and help restore normal insulin production in diabetes.

Wind turbine drone inspection is a multi-billion dollar industry

As the world shifts towards clean energy, the number of wind turbines is growing exponentially. With so many installations, there is now enormous demand for inspection and maintenance of these structures. This is occurring alongside rapid uptake of drones and other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), which can provide a faster and cheaper alternative to traditional inspections. Until now, most of these jobs involved either simple ground-based visual assessments, or complicated and risky rope or platform access (sometimes at heights of 600 feet). By contrast, drones are essentially risk-free, extremely quick in their operations and offer much higher resolution than human eyes, while automating much of the image processing, data analysis and other tasks. By 2024, global revenue for wind turbine UAV sales and inspection services has reached almost $6 billion.**

The Aibotix drone. Credit: Aibotix/YouTube

NASA reports flowing water on Mars

NASA has announced evidence, for the first time, supporting the presence of liquid water flowing on Mars today.

New findings from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft have provided the strongest evidence yet that liquid water flows intermittently on present-day Mars.

Using an imaging spectrometer on the MRO, researchers detected signatures of hydrated minerals on slopes where mysterious streaks are seen on the Red Planet. These darkish streaks appear to ebb and flow over time. They darken and appear to flow down steep slopes during warm seasons, and then fade in cooler seasons. They appear in several locations on Mars when temperatures rise above –23°C (–9°F), and disappear at colder times.

"Our quest on Mars has been to ‘follow the water,’ in our search for life in the universe, and now we have convincing science that validates what we’ve long suspected," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "This is a significant development as it appears to confirm that water – albeit briny – is flowing today on the surface of Mars."

These downhill flows, known as recurring slope lineae (RSL), have often been described as possibly related to liquid water. The new findings of hydrated salts on the slopes point to what that relationship may be to these dark features. The hydrated salts would lower the freezing point of a liquid brine – just as salt on roads here on Earth causes ice and snow to melt more rapidly. Scientists say it’s likely a shallow subsurface flow, with enough water wicking to the surface to explain the darkening.

"We found the hydrated salts only when the seasonal features were widest, which suggests that either the dark streaks themselves or a process that forms them is the source of the hydration. In either case, the detection of hydrated salts on these slopes means that water plays a vital role in the formation of these streaks," said Lujendra Ojha, a PhD candidate in Planetary Science at Georgia Institute of Technology, and lead author of a report on these findings published today in Nature Geoscience.

Click to enlarge

Liquid water at the surface and subsurface increases the possibility that life could be present: "We know from the study of extremophiles on Earth that life can not only survive, but thrive in conditions that are hyper-arid, very saline or otherwise 'extreme' in comparison to what is habitable to a human," said Dr Joe Michalski, a Mars researcher at the Natural History Museum in London. "On Earth, wherever we find water, we find life. That is why the discovery of water on Mars over the last 20 years is so exciting."

Furthermore, there are implications for human colonists in the future, who may find it easier to form self-sustaining habitats: "It may decrease the cost – and increase the resilience – of human activity on the planet," said co-author Mary-Beth Willhelm, from NASA's Ames Research Center in California. "Looking forward, it is imperative for us to further understand the source of the water for these features, as well as the amount."

The dark streaks pictured here are 0.5 to 5 metres wide and up to 300 metres long. They combine to form extensive fan-like patterns. The discovery of these water flows was made when scientists developed a new technique to analyse chemical maps of the surface. However, only 3% of Mars has so far been covered at resolutions high enough to see these features. The researchers plan to look for more locations where flows may occur. In addition to satellite data, NASA's rovers have been finding a lot more humidity in the air and moisture in the soils than previously thought.

"We're revolutionising our understanding of this planet," said Jim Green, the agency's director of planetary science. "Mars is not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past."

"It seems that the more we study Mars, the more we learn how life could be supported and where there are resources to support life in the future," said lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, Michael Meyer.

NASA plans to send humans to Mars in the 2030s and is developing a huge new rocket – the Space Launch System (SLS) – to make this possible.

Many complex surgeries are performed by robots

Basic robotic surgeons have been around since the 1990s. In the first decade of the 21st century, they remained uncommon and relatively simple, though high-end companies began to develop their own more advanced models.*

Surgeries were divided between supervisory-controlled systems, telesurgical systems and shared-control systems. Supervisory-controlled systems were the most automated – requiring a human only to input directional data, and to supervise the operation to take control if anything went wrong. Shared-control systems were the least automated, in which human surgeons were physically present and did most of the work, but were aided by robots.

Though yet to become widespread, many large hospitals and universities had their own automated systems in place by 2010. Continued tests and trials of these machines greatly improved their accuracy and reliability. The growing number of successful surgeries made patients more willing to trust in robotic procedures.

By the mid-2010s, many cardiothoracic, gastrointestinal and orthopaedic surgeries could be handled almost entirely by remote-controlled robots. By 2018, the majority of large hospitals in the developed world use a robotic surgeon on at least a semi-regular basis. South Korea in particular is leading the way in this field, with almost every hospital in the nation using them routinely.* The latest models feature improved dexterity and multitasking, high quality incision tools and higher levels of automation. New ultra-small cameras are also in use, giving controllers an extreme close-up view of the operation.*

©2011 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

Previously, it could take a dozen surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses to perform surgeries, with even more for certain complex procedures. Now, robots can remove some or all of this burden, performing the jobs of several different specialists at once and working around the clock without tiring.* Surgeries in 2018 often consist of just one or two human supervisors overseeing a robot's work. In the long run, this helps to reduce health costs. Additionally, robots offer much higher precision than humans, so patients are able to leave the operating table with less collateral trauma.

Telesurgery is now being looked into as a way for doctors to conduct surgeries over long distances. This could allow a specialist surgeon in England to operate on a patient in Australia for example, using only remote-controlled robots. However, issues with latency will delay this practice from entering the mainstream for a while yet.

Despite being another profession threatened by automation, hospital surgery remains a primarily human undertaking for now. Robotic operations are still in their infancy, requiring the presence and supervision of doctors and other personnel. It will be a long time before human medics are made entirely redundant by this technology.

©2011 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

Robot insect drones are in military use

Micro aerial vehicles the size of insects have been in development for over a decade.* One of the major hurdles was creating sufficient battery power in such a small object, as well as keeping them light enough to remain airborne. They are now entering military use in a number of roles – from spying missions (where they quite literally serve as a "fly on the wall"), to search and rescue operations* where they can easily navigate tight corners and spaces.

Enterprise-grade SSDs reach 128TB of capacity

Solid state drives (SSDs) have recently begun to overtake spinning drives in terms of storage capacity.* The largest of the enterprise-grade models are now reaching 128TB of capacity, with conventional HDDs lagging further behind. The gap between these storage methods will continue to accelerate as flash memory and similar technologies reach unprecedented densities in the 2020s.* The demand for consumer versions is being driven by rapid growth in 4K video adoption, enormous video game file sizes and other data-hungry applications.

GM babies could be "morally acceptable" in the future

A group of scientists, ethicists and policy experts have released a report in which they state that research into GM human embryos is "essential" and should be permitted. While the birth of complete GM babies should not be allowed at present, they believe it may become morally acceptable in the future.

Research that involves editing of the human genome – including research with human embryos – is essential to gain basic understanding of biology and germ cells and should be permitted, according to one of the first global meetings to debate the controversial new techniques. This bold statement is published by theHinxton Group, a global network of stem cell researchers, bioethicists, and experts on policy and scientific publishing, who met in Manchester, UK.

Earlier this year, scientists in China edited the genome of live human embryos using a revolutionary new technique known as CRISPR/Cas9, to prevent a fatal blood disorder. This type of research is currently banned in Europe and the United States. While firmly backing the need for gene editing research, the Hinxton Group makes a clear distinction between laboratory research and clinical applications: "We believe that while this technology has tremendous value to basic research and enormous potential for somatic clinical uses, it is not sufficiently developed to consider human genome editing for clinical reproductive purposes at this time," the report states.

Nevertheless, the consensus statement adds, "when all safety, efficacy and governance needs are met, there may be morally acceptable uses of this technology in human reproduction, though further substantial discussion and debate will be required."

According to Debra Mathews, a member of the Hinxton Group steering committee, discussions at the meeting focused on the use of gene editing in research and the most contentious aspects of these new technologies – primarily the implications for any children born with engineered genetic modifications, and also successive generations who would inherit those genetic changes; that is, the inheritable, or germline, nature of modifications.

"While there is controversy and deep moral disagreement about human germline genetic modification," says Mathews, "what is needed is not to stop all discussion, debate and research – but rather to engage with the public, policymakers and the broader scientific community, and to weigh together the potential benefits and harms of human genome editing for research and human health."

In the future, parents could have the option of genetic treatments to prevent their children being born with cystic fibrosis, for example, or genes that increase the risk of cancer. Eventually, it might even be possible to create "designer babies" with height, skin, hair, eye colour and other characteristics programmed into the embryo prior to birth. However, in addition to concerns about the technical and safety aspects of these procedures, ethical issues would arise over people with built-in genetic advantages and the two-tier society this could lead to, reminiscent of the sci-fi movie Gattaca.

Such technology is likely decades away, but in the meantime, knowledge gained through basic science research is essential to human understanding of both ourselves and other life, the group concludes. While genetic modification has been used successfully for over 30 years to alter genes in animals, these methods have been inefficient, often lacking specificity or otherwise relying on a series of steps that made them both inappropriate and unsafe to use in humans. More recent advances in genome editing technology, however, make it possible to insert, delete, or modify DNA with greatly increased precision and efficiency.

"Much of our knowledge of early development comes from studies of mouse embryos, yet it is becoming clear that gene activity and even some cell types are very different in human embryos. Genome editing techniques could be used to ask how cell types are specified in the early embryo and the nature and importance of the genes involved," says Robin Lovell-Badge, another member of the Hinxton Group steering committee and head of the Laboratory of Stem Cell Biology and Developmental Genetics at the Francis Crick Institute.

The group statement emphasises the importance of "meaningful and substantial public engagement" to decision-making about genome editing. Policymakers are specifically addressed, stating that policy restraints on science should have justification "that reaches beyond disagreements based solely on divergent moral convictions."

"The relevant regulatory distinction should be not between using genome editing in somatic cells and using it in embryos, but between research and reproduction: whether those embryos are ever destined to be implanted," says Sarah Chan, another steering committee member. "Restricting research because of concerns that reproductive application is premature and dangerous will ensure that it remains forever premature and dangerous, for want of better knowledge."

New battery technology will double EV range by 2020

German company Bosch – the world's largest supplier of automotive components – is developing a new battery technology that it claims will double the range of electric vehicles by 2020.

Bosch has announced a new battery technology for electric vehicles (EVs), based on solid-state cells, which could double their driving range while lowering costs and is likely to be production-ready in as little as five years. The recent acquisition of U.S. start-up Seeo Inc. – based near Silicon Valley – will make this possible. As well as its own experience in the area of battery technology, Bosch now has crucial know-how in innovative solid-state cells for lithium batteries, along with exclusive patents.

"Bosch is using its knowledge and considerable financial resources to achieve a breakthrough for electromobility," says Dr. Volkmar Denner, the firm's chairman of the board. "Solid-state cells could be a breakthrough technology. Disruptive start-up technology is meeting the broad systems knowledge and financial resources of a multinational company."

Using solid-state cells, Bosch sees the potential to more than double energy density – while at the same time reducing size requirements by 75% and improving safety with non-combustible materials. A comparable electric car that has a driving range of 150 kilometres today would be able to travel over 300 kilometres without recharging – and at a lower cost.

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In current lithium-ion batteries, one of the major reasons energy capacity is limited is because the anode consists to a large degree of graphite. Using its new solid-state technology, Bosch will manufacture the anode out of pure lithium. In addition, the cells will function without the need for ionic liquid, meaning they are not flammable.

In 2014, Bosch joined Mitsubishi Corporation and GS Yuasa in establishing the joint venture Lithium Energy and Power, whose objective is to develop a more powerful generation of lithium-ion batteries. Seeo Inc.'s technology complements the work done thus far with Bosch's Japanese partners. The result will be a combination of groundbreaking start-up technology with Bosch's systems and technology know-how, GS Yuasa's cell competence, and Mitsubishi Corporation's broad industrial base.

"The pure lithium anode represents a huge innovative leap in battery cell construction," says Denner. By 2025, the company forecasts that 15 percent of all new cars built worldwide will have at least a hybrid powertrain. In Europe, more than one-third of all new cars will be electrically powered.

Scientists find possible "off switch" for cancer

A new way of "switching off" cancer cell growth, based on adhesion proteins, is reported by the Mayo Clinic.

Cancer cells in culture from human connective tissue. Credit: Dr. Cecil Fox

Researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Florida have discovered a way to potentially reprogram cancer cells back to normal cells. This finding, published in the journalNature Cell Biology, represents "an unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer," says the study's senior investigator, Panos Anastasiadis, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cancer Biology. His team experimented with human cells in the laboratory that were affected with breast, lung and bladder cancer.

Normal cells are prevented from uncontrolled growth by adhesion proteins – a special "glue" that keeps cells together. The Mayo team discovered that this glue – which consists primarily of E-cadherin and p120 catenin – is controlled by biological microprocessors known as microRNAs that in turn use another protein called PLEKHA7 for regulation. In other words: when normal cells come into contact with each other, genes that promote cell growth are suppressed by this specific subset of microRNAs. Cancer cells, on the other hand, were shown to be missing PLEKHA7. Restoring either its level or increasing the level of microRNAs within these cells turned them back into a benign state.

"We believe that loss of the apical PLEKHA7-microprocessor complex is an early and somewhat universal event in cancer," says Dr. Anastasiadis. "In the vast majority of human tumour samples we examined, this apical structure is absent, although E-cadherin and p120 are still present. This produces the equivalent of a speeding car that has a lot of gas (the bad p120) and no brakes (the PLEKHA7-microprocessor complex).

"By administering the affected microRNAs in cancer cells to restore their normal levels, we should be able to re-establish the brakes and restore normal cell function," he adds. "Initial experiments in some aggressive types of cancer are indeed very promising."

Lead authors Panos Anastasiadis, Ph.D., and Antonis Kourtidis, Ph.D.

"The study brings together two so-far unrelated research fields – cell-to-cell adhesion and miRNA biology – to resolve a long-standing problem about the role of adhesion proteins in cell behaviour that was baffling scientists," says Antonis Kourtidis, Ph.D., an associate of Dr. Anastasiadis. "Most significantly, it uncovers a new strategy for cancer therapy."

"When this apical adhesion complex was disrupted after loss of PLEKHA7, this set of microRNAs was misregulated – and the E-cadherin and p120 switched sides to become oncogenic," he adds.

The team is now working on better options for delivering the molecules. In the future, an injection could be developed that sends the microRNA directly into cells or tumours, without the need for harsh chemotherapy or additional surgery methods. Experts not involved in the research note its importance, but appear sceptical about its possible effectiveness in treatments.

"This important study solves a long-standing biological mystery – but we mustn't get ahead of ourselves," said Henry Scowcroft, the senior science information manager at Cancer Research UK. "There's a long way to go before we know whether these findings, in cells grown in a laboratory, will help treat people with cancer. But it's a significant step forward in understanding how certain cells in our body know when to grow, and when to stop. Understanding these key concepts is crucial to help continue the encouraging progress against cancer we've seen in recent years."

"I think in reality, it is unlikely that you could reverse tumours by reversing just one mechanism, but it's a very interesting finding," concluded Dr. Chris Bakal from the Institute for Cancer Research in London.

Mars colony simulation begins

A year-long experiment to simulate a Mars colony has begun in a remote part of Hawaii.

Credit: HI-SEAS / NASA / University of Hawaii

Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) is a collaboration between the University of Hawaii and NASA. The experiment, which began on Friday 28th August, is located in an isolated position on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii. This area has Mars-like features and an elevation of 2,500m (8,200ft) above sea level. Six people will spend 365 days inside a small dome, only 36ft (11m) in diameter and 20ft (6m) tall, eating a diet that consists of traditional space food (such as freeze-dried items). They will only be allowed to venture outside if they wear a spacesuit and will be monitored using cameras, body movement trackers, electronic surveys and other methods. The team comprises three men and three women – a French astrobiologist, German physicist and four Americans including an architect, journalist, pilot and soil scientist.

HI-SEAS is funded by the NASA Human Research Program. Its purpose is to determine what is required to keep a space crew happy and healthy during an extended mission to Mars and while living on the surface of Mars. Research into food, crew dynamics, behaviours, roles, performance and other aspects of space flight and a mission on Mars itself are the primary focus. The HI-SEAS team will also conduct a variety of other science research as part of their daily activities.

Credit: Zak Wilson / HI-SEAS

NASA has a long-term goal of sending humans to Mars, with the 2030s being the most likely timeframe in which this happens. Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk also wants to establish permanent settlements on the Red Planet. There have been three previous HI-SEAS experiments. This fourth test will be the longest so far (the last one ended after eight months) and will offer an interesting glimpse into the possible future of human space exploration.

"The longer each mission becomes, the better we can understand the risks of space travel," says Kim Binsted, principal investigator and University of Hawaii professor from the Department of Information and Computer Sciences. "We hope that this mission will build on our current understanding of the social and psychological factors involved in long duration space exploration and give NASA solid data on how best to select and support a flight crew that will work cohesively as a team while in space."

Below is a recent interview with Sheyna Gifford, who will serve as the Health Science Officer and Habitat Journalist. For more information, visit the official website at hi-seas.org. You can also follow their progress at LiveFromMars.life and on Twitter @ HI_SEAS.

Japan to open fully automated lettuce factory in 2017

Japanese factory operator SPREAD Co. has announced it will develop the world's first large-scale vegetable factory that is fully automated from seeding to harvest and capable of producing 30,000 heads of lettuce per day.

Credit: SPREAD Co.

SPREAD Co. was founded in 2006 and operates the world's largest vegetable factory using artificial lighting in Kameoka, Kyoto Prefecture. Four types of lettuce are currently produced, totalling 21,000 heads per day that are shipped to around 2,000 stores throughout the year.

As the company embarks on global expansion, it is now focussing on environmentally-friendly measures to be featured in the construction of a major next-generation vegetable factory. This new facility will be a vertical farm with total automation of the cultivation process from start to finish. It will cut labour costs by 50 percent, while energy costs will be reduced by 30 percent per head of lettuce through the use of artificial LED lighting specifically created for SPREAD, as well as the development of a unique air conditioning system. Up to 98 percent of water will be recycled onsite.

Thanks to indoor operations, this highly controlled environment will be unaffected by pests, temperature or weather conditions and will not require any chemical pesticides. Productivity per unit volume will be doubled in comparison to the company's existing factory in Kameoka, as a result of innovative efforts to save space in the cultivation area. Stacker machines will carry seedlings and hand them over to robots that will take care of transplanting them. Once fully grown, they will be harvested and delivered automatically to the packaging line.

The project will require up to 2 billion yen (US$16.7 million) of investment, which includes onsite R&D and testing facilities. The factory will have a total area of 4,400 square metres (47,400 sq ft) and be capable of producing 30,000 heads of lettuce per day. Construction is expected to start in spring 2016 with commercial operations beginning from summer 2017. The company is predicting annual sales of approximately 1 billion yen (US$8.4 million).

SPREAD Co. has plans for major expansion. They intend to increase the scale of production to 500,000 heads of lettuce per day within five years and will continue expanding their franchise both domestically and internationally.

3-D printing of transparent glass is now possible

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated the first 3D printing technique able to make transparent glass objects.

The range of materials that 3D printers can work with has been steadily growing in recent years – from bioprinted cartilage constructs, to combinations ofdifferent plastic types in full colour, to elastic silicon membranes for heart attack patients, and even artificial rhino horn.

Some materials have been more difficult to develop, such as glass. Until now, it was only possible for opaque glass to be 3D printed. However, a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has achieved the first method for creating fully transparent glass, as demonstrated in this video.

The platform, known as "G3DP", is based on a dual-heated chamber concept. An upper chamber acts as a kiln cartridge, while the lower chamber serves to anneal the structures. The kiln cartridge operates at over 1,000°C (1900°F), with molten material being funnelled through a custom nozzle of alumina-zircon-silica. Objects are formed inside a third chamber, where they are cooled in a gradual, controlled way to ensure they don't break.

Finding a nozzle suitable for molten glass was a major challenge, according to the researchers. It had to be made of a material able to handle both high temperatures and resist the glass sticking to it. A paper describing their work, "Additive Manufacturing of Optically Transparent Glass", is available online.