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Europa Clipper is on its way to Jupiter and its moon

NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft launched successfully on October 10, 2024, from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

This mission is all about exploring Europa, one of Jupiter’s moons, which scientists believe has a huge ocean under its icy surface.

The spacecraft took off on a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, which is one of the most powerful rockets available today.

Instead of taking a direct path, Europa Clipper will use gravity assists from Mars and Earth to gain speed and adjust its trajectory. This journey will take about five and a half years, with the spacecraft expected to arrive at Jupiter in April 2030.

Europa Clipper is equipped with scientific tools to learn more about Europa. These include cameras to take detailed photos and spectrometers to study the moon’s surface. There is an ice-penetrating radar to look beneath the ice, and a magnetometer to measure the magnetic field.

The mission also plans to fly by Europa many times, getting as close as 16 miles above the surface, which will give us lots of data from different parts of the moon. This information will help plan for future missions, maybe even one that could land on Europa or explore its ocean directly.

Life on Europa?

One of the big goals of this mission is to see if Europa has conditions suitable for life. Scientists think that the ocean under the icy surface of Europa could possibly support life.

Scientists are curious if there could be life forms in its ocean, similar to what we find around hydrothermal vents on Earth’s ocean floor. The mission won’t look for life directly but will check out the moon’s habitability.

“This launch isn’t just the next chapter in our exploration of the solar system,” said project manager Jordan Evans. “it’s a leap toward uncovering the mysteries of another ocean world, driven by our shared curiosity and continued search to answer the question, ‘are we alone?’”

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Injectable magnetic nanomachines for remote brain stimulation

Scientists led by MIT have developed nanomachines that could change how we treat brain conditions. These nanomachines are tiny magnetic nanodiscs about 250 nanometers across, which is much thinner than a human hair. They’re designed to be injected into the brain where they can stimulate brain cells without using more invasive means to do the same.

These magnetic nanodiscs work because when a magnetic field is applied, they can generate a tiny electric current. This current can activate neurons in the brain, which is useful for medical treatments or research. The main idea is to use these discs for remote brain stimulation. This means doctors could affect brain activity from outside the body, without surgery to implant electrodes or using invasive genetic modifications.

A paper published in Nature Nanotechnology describes the process, which involves a few steps:

The nanodiscs are made with special materials that react to magnetic fields. They have a two-layer magnetic core and a piezoelectric shell, which allow to control the magnetic properties.

Once made, the discs would be injected directly into the part of the brain that needs treatment or study.

After injection, an external magnetic field would be applied. This would cause the nanodiscs to produce an electric field, which then would stimulate the nearby brain cells.

Potential therapeutic and brain research applications

The magnetic core of the nanodisc is magnetostrictive, which means it changes shape when magnetized. The rainbow nanodisc on the right is changing shape, allowing for the pink brain neuron to be stimulated (Credit: MIT).

The research is still in the early stages. The scientists, led by Polina Anikeeva, have made the nanodiscs respond more strongly to magnetic fields (this is called magnetostriction), but turning that magnetic effect into enough electrical output to stimulate neurons effectively still needs work.

This technology could one day help treat diseases like Parkinson’s or epilepsy, or help understand brain functions better. It opens up possibilities for treatments that are less risky and potentially more acceptable to patients who might be wary of more invasive brain surgeries or genetic therapies.

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Atomic editing swaps atoms in molecules to make better drugs

Researchers at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have found a way to easily change one kind of atom into another in certain molecules, which are like building blocks for drugs. This change can make drugs work better against diseases.

The researchers describe the work in a paper published in Science. Here is an open copy of the research paper.

The researchers changed oxygen atoms in furan molecules into nitrogen atoms. The change created pyrrole molecules with four carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. These molecules are important in many medicines.

A tiny change, like swapping one atom, can make a big difference in how well a drug works. This is called the single atom effect, and the technology is referred to as atomic editing.

Changing these atoms used to be hard and expensive because it needed many steps.

The team at KAIST found a way to do this easily using a photocatalyst that uses light energy. A photocatalyst is a substance that helps a chemical reaction happen when you shine light on it. The photocatalyst acts like scissors that can cut out the oxygen atom and stitch in a nitrogen atom.

The new method uses light energy to make this photocatalyst work. Therefore, it works at normal room temperature and pressure, making it simpler and cheaper.

Transformative applications

This new method enables scientists to try out lots of different atom changes quickly. This helps in finding new drugs or making existing drugs better without much hassle or cost.

In the conclusion of the paper, the researchers anticipate that this technology “will allow transformative exploration of otherwise inaccessible chemical spaces in multiple disciplines ranging from drug discovery to material science.”

“This breakthrough, which allows for the selective editing of five-membered organic ring structures, will open new doors for building libraries of drug candidates, a key challenge in pharmaceuticals,” research leader Yoonsu Park says in a KAIST press release. “I hope this foundational technology will be used to revolutionize the drug development process.”

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Space-based solar power for the Moon

Volta Space Technologies has announced plans to create a network of solar power satellites around the Moon, SpaceNews reports.

These satellites would collect solar power and send it to spacecraft on the Moon’s surface, such as lunar landers and rovers, using lasers. This technology would help these spacecraft work during the Moon’s two-week night or in places where sunlight doesn’t reach, like deep craters at the Moon’s poles.

The company tested sending power with lasers over distances up to 850 meters on Earth. They believe that having at least three satellites can provide enough power for one customer, and they can add more satellites for more customers.

This idea came from a class project at the International Space University and has grown because there’s interest in buying power in space, especially for operations where solar panels wouldn’t work due to lack of sunlight.

“The customers we were speaking to all had a lot of excitement for the kind of service that we could provide, the capability of lunar night survival and being able to operate in permanently shadowed regions and to buy power on demand, no matter what location you’re at,” said Justin Zipkin, co-founder and CEO of Volta.

A step toward SBSP

Volta’s project could make exploring and living on the Moon easier by providing necessary power when other power sources fail or are insufficient.

“Nighttime power source for lunar surface ops!,” space expert Greg Autry posted to X. Autry taught the International Space University class from which the project, then called “Eternal Light,” emerged.

“As an advisor to the firm from the start, it has been amazing to watch the concept mature and the hardware come together and to see very significant support emerge from both the investment world and the best part of the potential lunar customer base,” continued Autry.

This seems a very good idea that could advance both lunar operations and space-based solar power (SBSP) technology, without some of the challenges of SBSP for the Earth.

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We, Robot: Tesla presents the autonomous Cybercab

Tesla has officially unveiled its Robotaxi Cybercab, a long-awaited and highly-anticipated fully autonomous vehicle that the company says will revolutionize passenger travel, Teslarati reports.

Tesla held the presentation at Warner Bros. Studios in Los Angeles, and broadcast it live via X. Jump to minute 53 for the actual start.

Elon Musk arrived in a Cybercab, riding in the passenger seat (of course).

Screenshot from a Tesla video: Elon Musk enters a Tesla Cybercab (Credit: Tesla).

Musk said that the Cybercab will enter production before 2027 and will cost less than $30,000.

Musk Musk also presented a larger, self-driving vehicle, called Robovan, capable of carrying up to 20 people.

The event at Warner Bros. Studios was named “We, Robot.” This name, which is now also a tab in Tesla’s corporate website, seems to indicate that Tesla sees fully autonomous robotic vehicles powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a key part of its future.

Screenshot from a Tesla video: Elon Musk presents "We, Robots" (Credit: Tesla).
Screenshot from a Tesla video: Elon Musk presents “We, Robots” (Credit: Tesla).

Reuters reports that Tesla hasn’t given “concrete details on how quickly Tesla can ramp up robotaxi production, secure regulatory approval and implement a strong business plan,” and investors have been disappointed.

However, this seems an important milestone and the very successful history of Tesla gives reason to believe that the same investors will be very happy with their investment one day.

AI-powered cars on the road

Wired reports that Tesla uses just cameras, rather than a series of sensors, to orient its vehicles in space. “Tesla’s techniques combine this visual-based data with artificial intelligence to allow their vehicles to make ‘decisions’ on the road.”

Tesla is the leading electric car maker. But Must wants more. He wants, it appears, to make Tesla a leader in AI-powered self-driving cars.

“Musk put the Cybercab at the center of an idyllic vision of the future,” The Wall Street Journal reports (here’s an unpaywalled copy of the WSJ article).

Before too long, we could have a phone app that summons an AI-powered, self-driving Tesla Cybercab on demand (just like we do with the Uber app today, but without the driver). After the ride, we would just leave the car on the road. A question that comes immediately to mind is, who needs to own a private car at that point?

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Synthetic chemists find efficient way to create mirror molecules

Scientists at UT Dallas have discovered a new way to make “mirror molecules” or enantiomers. These are molecules that exist in two forms (like left and right hands) that are identical in structure but not in shape.

Even though the two forms are chemically the same, they can behave very differently inside the body. For example, one form may be helpful as a drug, while the other might cause harmful side effects.

The scientists have described their research methods and results in a paper published in Science.

The scientists developed a technique that adds a chemical group called prenyl, which is made of five carbon atoms, to other molecules. This process, known as prenylation, is important because it affects how a molecule behaves.

A natural compound called nemorosonol served as a key molecule in the team’s experiments to test their new method of adding prenyl groups to other molecules.

Medical applications of mirror molecules

With this new method, scientists can more precisely control how prenylation occurs, making it easier to create one specific form of the mirror molecule. This control is crucial for drug development, as often only one of the mirror forms is useful for treating diseases.

The ability to produce enantiomers in large amounts could lead to the development of new treatments for various conditions, including cancer and infections.

Current drug manufacturing processes struggle with producing just the right mirror form, often resulting in waste or ineffective drugs. This new method offers a more efficient solution, potentially speeding up drug discovery and improving the safety and effectiveness of new medicines.

In a press release, UT Dallas researcher Filippo Romiti said that this research represents a paradigm shift, because it will allow to “synthesize large quantities of biologically active molecules and test them for therapeutic activity.” Romiti added that the new method mirrors what nature does, and nature “is the best synthetic chemist of all.”

Nemorosonol which could have both antimicrobial and anticancer activity. Romiti and his colleagues tested their nemorosonol enantiomer against lung and breast cancer cell lines.

“Our entantiomer of nemorosonol had pretty decent effects against cancer cell lines,” Romiti said. “This was very interesting and could only have been discovered if we had access to large quantities of a pure entantiomeric sample to test.”

These research results demonstrate the importance for medicine of new molecules produced by synthetic chamistry.

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Electronic tongue decodes flavors with advanced AI

Scientists led by Penn State researchers have developed an innovative electronic tongue that mimics human taste by using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyze various flavors. The device can identify tastes such as sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. By training the electronic tongue with a diverse range of samples, the team has enabled it to learn and predict how new substances might taste, significantly enhancing its accuracy and reliability.

The implications of this technology are substantial for the food industry. It could streamline the product development process, allowing companies to create new flavors or refine existing ones without the extensive time and resources typically required for human taste tests. This efficiency could lead to faster innovations in food products, benefiting both manufacturers and consumers.

Beyond food science, the researchers envision applying this technology in other fields, such as medicine, to analyze chemical compositions in various materials. This versatility makes the electronic tongue a powerful tool for various applications.

The scientists have described the research methods and results in a paper tited “Robust chemical analysis with graphene chemosensors and machine learning,” published in Nature.

The Nature podcast has an audio explanation titled “This AI powered ‘tongue’ can tell Coke and Pepsi apart.”

Looking inside what a neural network is thinking

A key feature of the AI system is the incorporation of Shapley additive explanations, a method rooted in cooperative game theory. The method helps explain how each individual taste contributes to the overall flavor profile, providing valuable insights into the decision-making process of the AI. This transparency is crucial because it allows researchers to understand not just what the electronic tongue recognizes, but also why it makes those distinctions.

When asked to define its own assessment parameters, the AI could more accurately interpret the data generated by the electronic tongue. “[W]e used a method called Shapley additive explanations, which allows us to ask the neural network what it was thinking after it makes a decision,” explains researcher Andrew Pannone in a Penn State press release.

By leveraging the power of Shapley additive explanations, this technology enhances interpretability, making it easier to understand the complex interactions that define taste.

It is often said that neural networks are black boxes where one is not allowed to look inside, but this research suggests that one can, and should, look inside.

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Biochemist and AI researchers win the Nobel Prize in Chemistry

David Baker, Demis Hassabis, and John M. Jumper have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 for computational protein design and protein structure prediction.

Baker, a biochemist and computational biologist, is Professor at the University of Washington. Hassabis and Jumper are respectively CEO and senior research scientists at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) company Google DeepMind.

Baker, who will receive half of the Prize, pioneered the use of amino acids as building blocks to design new proteins. His research group has designed and produced new proteins that can be used as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, nanomaterials and tiny sensors.

Hassabis and Jumper, who will share the other half of the Prize, developed an AI system called AlphaFold2. With AlphaFold2, they have been able to predict the structure of virtually all the 200 million proteins that researchers have identified.

“One of the discoveries being recognised this year concerns the construction of spectacular proteins,” says Heiner Linke, Chair of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry, in a press release.

“The other is about fulfilling a 50-year-old dream: predicting protein structures from their amino acid sequences,” adds Linke. “Both of these discoveries open up vast possibilities.”

Two documents titled “Popular science background: They have revealed proteins’ secrets through computing and artificial intelligence” and “Scientific background: Computational protein design and protein structure prediction” provide detailed explanations.

AI takes all?

This follows the previous announcement of the Nobel Prize in Physics, which went to the AI research pioneers John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton.

This Nobel Prize in Chemistry seems to follow the same trend. It recognizes one specific AI application to Chemistry rather than foundational developments in AI technology. But this Nobel Prize seems to confirm that something is in the air.

“I hope we’ll look back on AlphaFold as the first proof point of AI’s incredible potential to accelerate scientific discovery,” says Hassabis in a DeepMind press release. “It is a key demonstration that AI will make science faster and ultimately help to understand disease and develop therapeutics,” adds Jumper.

“As more scientists adopt AI for use in everything,” notes the DeepMind press release, “we will continue to see foundational scientific breakthroughs in the years ahead.”

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Holographic methods could revolutionize 3D printing

Researchers at Concordia University have developed a new method of 3D printing that uses acoustic holograms.

The researchers are persuaded that the new method could revolutionize 3D printing and its applications in many industries.

The new method, called holographic direct sound printing (HDSP), uses sonochemical reactions to create extremely high temperatures and pressures for trillionths of a second to harden resin into complex patterns.

HDSP can print 3D structures from acoustic holograms that contain cross-sectional images of a particular design, creating different parts of a structure simultaneously.

“This method allows for the manipulation of acoustic fields to simultaneously create an image of the entire layer,” note the researchers in a paper published in Nature Communications.

The precise control of acoustic holograms allows acoustic holography to store information of multiple images in a single hologram. This means multiple objects can be printed at the same time at different locations within the same printing space.

This could improve printing speed by up to 20 times while at the same time using less energy, say the researchers in a Concordia University press release.

A short video explanation of HDSP is available from Concordia University’s YouTube channel.

Revolutionary applications

“You can imagine the possibilities,” says research leader Muthukumaran Packirisam. “We can print behind opaque objects, behind a wall, inside a tube or inside the body. The technique that we already use and the devices that we use have already been approved for medical applications.”

The medical applications of HDSP that have been identified so far include the creation of complex tissue structures, localized drug and cell delivery systems and advanced tissue engineering. For example, skin grafts that can enhance healing and improved drug delivery for therapies that require specific therapeutic agents at specific sites.

Since sound waves can penetrate opaque surfaces, HSDP can be used to print inside a body or behind solid material. This can be helpful in repairing damaged organs or delicate parts located deep within an airplane, Packirisam added.

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Satoshi Nakamoto: unmasked?

The new HBO documentary “Money Electric: The Bitcoin Mystery” documents the journey of filmmaker Cullen Hoback to find out who created the first and most valuable cryptocurrency, CNN reported before the documentary went on air.

A Politico story reviewed previous speculations on the identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. Now Hoback claims to have unmasked Satoshi.

Hoback is the creator of the series “Q: Into the Storm” about QAnon.

HBO describes the new documentary as “a thrilling, globe-spanning investigation, with Hoback immersing himself with key players, uncovering never-before-seen clues, and humorously unraveling Bitcoin’s meteoric rise.”

The documentary went on air on October 8 at 9pm EST.

And Satoshi is…

Peter Todd!

Todd is a Bitcoin software developer. He is well known to Bitcoin coders and hardcore enthusiasts, but not well known (so far) to the public at large.

Todd denied: “Cullen is grasping for straws here,” he told CNN after Hoback’s documentary went on air. “He is playing up a few coincidences into something much more.”

Does it matter?

In both CNN stories Hoback says that it’s important that Satoshi’s identity does not remain a secret to the public, especially if Satoshi’s cryptocurrency is still usable. The value of Satoshi’s crypto assets is, indeed, of tens of billions of dollars with the current exchange rate, and Satoshi (or whoever controls those assets, if anyone) is one of the richest persons in the world. “I think that understanding if that person still holds the keys (to their crypto wallet), what the ideas and intent of that person or people, really are, is important,” Hoback says.

But many crypto enthusiasts think that the identity of Satoshi doesn’t matter much. Satoshi may be, of may have been, this or that person, alive or dead. Or, Satoshi may be a group of people sharing a common identity, just like a football team that always acts as one even if its members come and go. I often think that this is probably the case. But more importantly, Satoshi is the spirit of our right to privacy and anonymity.

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