Category: Tech

Japan achieved a milestone in sustainable space exploration by launching “LignoSat,” the world’s first wooden satellite. LignoSat, developed by Kyoto University researchers and homebuilder Sumitomo Forestry, was launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday onboard a SpaceX mission, where it will orbit approximately 400 kilometres above Earth.

LignoSat, made of honoki wood, a type of Japanese magnolia usually used in sword sheaths, is designed to evaluate the durability of timber in space. The satellite, inspired by early wooden aircraft, was made without screws or glue, demonstrating Japan’s traditional woodworking traditions as well as the possibilities of renewable materials in space technology.

Takao Doi, an astronaut and a professor at Kyoto University, considers timber a potential material for space habitats. “With timber, a material we can produce ourselves, we can build houses, live, and work in space indefinitely,” Doi added, emphasising its sustainability. The spacecraft will operate in temperatures ranging from -100°C to 100°C, and researchers will assess its ability to shield critical components from cosmic radiation.

LignoSat’s eco-friendly design has advantages over metal satellites, which emit hazardous aluminium oxide during re-entry.

Singapore has inaugurated a pioneering “token-less clearance” initiative, allowing eligible travellers arriving at Changi Airport to enter the nation without physical passports. This unique method uses eye and facial recognition technology to authenticate IDs, ensuring a smooth flying experience. Currently, in the trial at Terminal 3, the program allows travellers to clear immigration using solely biometric data. By December 2024, it will cover all Changi terminals, Seletar Airport, and Marina Bay Cruise Centre.

This plan, which is part of Singapore’s New Clearance Concept and was unveiled in May, intends to automate 95% of immigration lanes by 2026, eliminating traditional passport checks. The Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) anticipates the technology to reduce wait times by up to 40%, increasing efficiency and convenience. During its first 15 days, the program served 1.5 million travellers, demonstrating its potential impact.

ICA Commander Alan Koo stated that the system would enable immigration officers to prioritise critical jobs such as security profiling, which is critical as passenger numbers increase and the workforce ages. For the time being, foreign visitors must provide passports upon arrival but may exit without them. Changi Airport pioneers this innovation, establishing a new worldwide standard for travel convenience and efficiency.

For the groundbreaking international project LISA (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna), NASA has unveiled prototype telescopes to study gravitational waves—space-time distortions brought about by potent cosmic events like black hole collisions. LISA, a project of the European Space Agency (ESA) with a launch date of 2035, will send three spacecraft into orbit around the Sun in a triangular formation, more than 30 million miles behind Earth to find these elusive cosmic ripples.

Each spacecraft will house two of NASA’s newly revealed telescopes, which will work in sync by beaming lasers between each other to detect gravitational waves. These telescopes, made by L3Harris Technologies in New York, have gold-coated mirrors for improved reflection and a sturdy glass-ceramic material called Zerodur that keeps its shape even in the incredibly hot conditions of space.

Unlike ground-based observatories, LISA’s space-based telescopes can detect lower-frequency waves, revealing insights into supermassive black holes, stellar orbits, and even the early universe. NASA’s Ryan DeRosa noted that these prototypes mark a significant milestone toward building the final flight hardware.

Scientists hope to uncover mysteries about the universe’s origins and evolution by studying gravitational waves. According to NASA, “LISA will enhance our understanding of the unseen aspects of the universe.”

An innovative device that captures and plays back dreams has been developed by Japanese researchers, providing fresh perspectives on the subconscious. The gadget, created by Professor Yukiyasu Kamitani at ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, analyses brain activity as a person sleeps using artificial intelligence and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

The neural activity of volunteers entering REM sleep was monitored for the study. Participants told researchers about their dreams when they woke up, which helped the researchers link certain dream themes to certain brain patterns. By compiling a database of these patterns, researchers were able to predict dream themes with an accuracy of 60%, increasing to nearly 70% for specific images.

According to Professor Kamitani, the researchers were able to correlate verbal reports of dreams with observed brain activity. The device’s ability to diagnose mental health problems and comprehend human consciousness through dream content analysis was discussed by Dr. Mark Stokes of the University of Oxford.

This technology, even if it is still in its early stages of development, could make possible personalised assessments of psychological problems. Subsequent advancements might enhance the clarity and accuracy of dream reconstructions, hence advancing scientific progress toward complete dream decoding.

A patient suffering from severe type-1 diabetes was supposedly cured by Chinese experts through the use of stem cell therapy, marking a first of its kind.

A 25-year-old woman’s blood sugar levels naturally stabilised after 2.5 months following a minimally invasive operation; she had been suffering from it for more than a decade before that. Researchers from Peking University and Tianjin First Central Hospital completed the brief procedure in just 30 minutes.

The accomplishment was documented in the journal Cell and used islets produced from chemically induced pluripotent stem cells (CiPSCs). They transplanted the expanded pluripotent stem cells back into the patient’s body after reprogramming her adipose tissue into islet cells. Since these cells originated from the patient, no immune rejection occurred.

This patient underwent two liver transplants, both of which were successful, and one pancreatic islet transplant that was unsuccessful. 75 days after surgery, she no longer needed insulin since her fasting blood glucose levels were normal. There were no issues associated with the transplant, and her blood sugar levels stayed constant 98% of the time, for one year following the procedure.

In the future, additional clinical trials with CiPSC islet transplants could pave the way for improvement in diabetes management.

Australian scientists have found an exciting discovery that could dramatically improve the treatment of chronic injuries and diseases such as diabetes. Researchers from the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and the University of Adelaide have discovered a previously unknown cell type called “EndoMac progenitor cells,” which could unlock novel healing mechanisms in animals.

This discovery follows nine years of significant investigation.

EndoMac progenitor cells, discovered in the outer layer of adult mice’s aortas, have the unusual capacity to differentiate into two critical cell types: endothelial cells, which produce blood vessels, and macrophages, which play an important role in the repair of tissues. Dr. Sanuri Liyanage, one of the project’s primary experts, noted that these cells activate in reaction to injury or insufficient blood supply, allowing the body to recuperate more effectively.

These cells are distinguished by their low susceptibility to immune system attack, as they do not display normal “self” signals, making them suitable candidates for stem cell therapy.

In diabetic animal models, transplanting EndoMac cells resulted in considerable improvements in wound healing. This discovery has the potential to revolutionise regenerative medicine by providing novel treatments for people with chronic wounds that do not heal naturally.

Bayanat, an AI-powered geospatial solutions provider, collaborated with Yahsat to successfully launch the UAE’s first Low Earth Orbit Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite. This milestone, achieved through ICEYE’s collaboration and Exolaunch’s launch of SpaceX’s Transporter 11 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, represents a substantial increase in Earth observation capabilities.

The Earth Observation Space Program seeks to create national capabilities in satellite remote sensing by providing regular, high-definition imagery for disaster management, marine surveillance, and smart mobility.

The SAR satellite uses active sensing technology to collect high-resolution photos of the Earth’s surface, regardless of weather or sunshine. This capacity allows for continuous, day-and-night imaging. “Our new SAR satellite constellation strengthens our leadership in AI-powered geospatial analytics and demonstrates the value of our collaboration with ICEYE and Yahsat,” said Hasan Al Hosani, Bayanat’s Managing Director.

Over the following three years, the SAR satellite constellation will expand its position as a multi-orbit satellite operator, encompassing geostationary and low-earth orbit satellites, and will help to grow satellite manufacturing in the UAE.

The Earth Observation Space Program seeks to create national capabilities in satellite remote sensing by providing regular, high-definition imagery for disaster management, marine surveillance, and smart mobility.

Scientists at JILA, a joint NIST institute, have presented the world’s first nuclear clock, a significant advancement in timekeeping precision. Unlike atomic clocks, which rely on electrons, this clock uses signals from an atom’s nucleus. The findings in Nature get us closer to achieving remarkable timekeeping accuracy.

Unlike quartz wristwatches, which use crystal oscillations to determine time, atomic clocks employ laser light to transfer electrons between energy levels, resulting in higher precision. Nuclear clocks, on the other hand, go a step further by exploiting energy changes in the nucleus, making them less vulnerable to electromagnetic interference and thus quieter.

Thorium, the substance that powers the prototype, uses only ultraviolet light to produce these energy jumps, making it easier to operate than other elements. “Thorium can now be used as a timekeeper for ultra-high-precision measurements,” says scientist Thorsten Schumm of TU Wien. Although not as accurate as atomic clocks, the nuclear clock is projected to outperform conventional timekeeping systems soon.

Another team introduced an atomic clock in July that can only lose one second every 30 billion years. For context, Earth is around 5 billion years old. The future of timekeeping has entered a new age, with promising advances in precision measurements critical for applications such as satellite navigation.

According to CEO Takaya Taguchi, the Japanese startup Helical Fusion plans to launch the world’s first steady-state nuclear fusion reactor by 2034, with commercial operations beginning in the 2040s. Despite 70 years of global research, developing a commercially feasible fusion reactor that powers the sun remains a challenge.

Helical Fusion intends to develop a pilot reactor utilising the helical approach, which is a magnetic process capable of producing 50-100 megawatts. If successful, Japan, a major energy importer, might transition to energy production and export, considerably increasing its energy security.

With the aim of constructing a commercial reactor by 2040, Taguchi and two researchers from Japan’s National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS) founded Helical Fusion in 2021. They intend to run the prototype reactor for several years beginning in 2034.

Japan has already spent over 400 billion yen ($2.8 billion) on fusion research at NIFS, which houses one of the world’s largest experimental fusion facilities. This facility has achieved 100 million degrees Celsius and plasma lifetimes of over 3,000 seconds.

However, considerable obstacles remain, including collecting 1 trillion yen for the pilot reactor, developing high-temperature superconductivity technology for coils, and setting safety requirements to obtain local building permission.

On Tuesday, Bengaluru-based Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace (FWDA) proudly announced the successful inaugural flight of India’s first domestic unmanned bomber, the FWD 200B. According to FWDA Founder and CEO Suhas Tejaskanda, this cutting-edge Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) is capable of flying at altitudes of up to 15,000 feet and is outfitted with advanced optical payloads for surveillance as well as missile-like weapons for precision air strikes and bombing operations.

“The FWD 200B’s aerodynamics, airframe, propulsion systems, control systems, and electronics are entirely developed and manufactured in India at our cutting-edge facility in Electronic City, Bengaluru,” Tejaskanda told me. The aircraft has a wingspan of five meters, a length of 3.5 meters, a maximum takeoff weight of 102 kilogrammes, and a payload capacity of 30 kilogrammes.

It can cruise at 152 km/h and reach a top speed of 250 km/h. The aircraft only needs 300 meters of runway, allowing it to operate from shorter airstrips. The FWD 200B has an excellent endurance of seven hours and a range of 800 km, allowing for longer missions without the need for frequent refuelling or landing.