Ending January With a Crapload of Discoveries

Hey everyone. Just finished this comprehensive weekly overview of the coolest things to know about (in my opinion). But I'm still not sure how I want my future posts to look. Whether they'll retain this format or be divided into more digestible, daily articles is still undecided, but I appreciate the feedback and hope you can continue to enjoy some of my thoughts.

Obama, Telomeres & Your Future

Scientists and researchers at the Stanford Medical Center were able to extend telomeres in cultured human cells sometime last week. For the biologically disinclined, telomeres are the end parts of chromosomes that consist of nucleotide base pairs and allow for cell division. Over time, they shrink and that's partly what causes us to age. We call this senescence, and it's going to affect all of us at some point.

To combat this natural process, they delivered a special mRNA that could extend telomeres to human cells, and these cells ended up multiplying 40 more times than untreated cells, a truly astounding result. The extra 40 divisions equates to 10% longer telomeres, as well as longer lifespans for any organism subjected to the treatment, but that will only be the case if and when this technology is perfected. At present, there is no guarantee the telomeres can sustain this atypical behavior for a long enough time to mean anything for our species, but the researchers are hopeful that this is the first step in a positive direction. The future of health and medicine could turn out to be more wondrous than we ever could've expected.

In other biomedical news, president Obama recently gave a talk to a large audience full of well-known thinkers and doers, including the director of NIH, Francis Collins. Obama's talk gave mention to a new initiative that will collect genetic data from a million or so participants in order to personalize medical treatment for various diseases that are best fought when the individual's specific illnesses are taken into consideration.

Obama and the White House plan to spend hundreds of millions to pay for the consortium, and also for various corporations to go about gathering information in their respective fields. Dr. Collins said the initiative is now possible, after several decades of waiting, because of "advances in cell biology, as well as a sharp decline in the cost of DNA sequencing". I am excited about this new executive goal, which is finally awakening during a time when the US targets disease as if everyone is the same and should expect similar treatment, because it could mean a future that is more aware of our personal symptoms, and fully capable of putting an end to them in the most efficient way possible. Watch his speech here!

Becky, Look At That Bot

Boston Dynamics, a leading robotics firm, is at it again. Their newly featured, human-size robot, Atlas, has broken free from its chain and can finally move around without being tethered to the wall or any other surface. It's now powered by a heavy lithium-ion battery, and in order to amble forward without being weighted down, the majority of its predecessor's metal parts have been removed or replaced with plastics. A number of additional modifications have been made, including reduced noisiness, greater dexterity, and added strength. These upgrades will all come in handy when Atlas enters the DARPA Robotics Challenge this June, a competition to prepare nonhuman workers for natural disaster response. In the case of a high-magnitude earthquake, you may not think robot rescue teams fit the bill quite yet, but it's important to progress forward to reach that point, so survivors are not as reliant on humans with limited capabilities in a disaster setting. See how much progress was made in the video above.

In light of all that's happening to mobile machines these days, Bill Gates has announced he is worried about artificial intelligence. I can't blame him; the actions of super advanced beings are beyond our ability to comprehend. It's a matter of opinion at this point as to what they will do and how we'll be affected. There are those who believe that with added intelligence, comes a greater sense of morality, and a wider range of emotions. This would eliminate the need for concern, as a higher consciousness would automatically treat all life with respect and compassion. Nonetheless, I still think that designing an ultra complex being embedded with free will could end in our destruction, just like an ant hill is irrelevant in the construction of a skyscraper, so it's reasonable to approach this issue with caution.

Peering Deeper Into Space

This week was a big week for space, with companies making strides in visiting other planets, and the discovery of an ancient solar system clouding my news feed. It was just terrific, as space travel and astronomy are among my favorite topics of interest. So, without further ado, I present to you some of the best astronaut bedtime tales of the past 7 days.

Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have a new concept for a telescope, the "Aragoscope", that could capture images a thousand times sharper than the Hubble Space Telescope. Webster Cash, the professor behind the project, pointed out that it could allow physicists to better understand the properties of black hole singularities through photography, but that's not the only benefit to switching to the Aragoscope. Apparently, it will make use of lightweight optics to account for a dramatically reduced cost of launching it into space. Their idea, if it passes phase 2 in NASA's Innovative Advanced Concept Program, will receive a cash reward alongside five other visionary teams. Let's hope their telescope can change how we see the universe for the better, with crisp and detailed shots of the cosmos at a fraction of the original cost.

While it might be amazing just to stare at the stars, others are focusing on visiting them. The Google Lunar XPrize is accomplishing just that; five companies were awarded millions in cash prizes this week for their contributions to a global effort in landing another spacecraft on the moon. Anyone can apply before 2016 is over, and teams can send up their valued work at any time they see fit. The five major contestants were from four countries around the world- Germany, the U.S., Japan and India- and demonstrated their progress so far in the competitive race to safely fly a lander to the lunar surface and take hi-res video. The entire reason for these efforts, you might be wondering, is to rekindle interest in space exploration, which is important if we are to survive for very long as a species.

Using asterooseismology and other techniques to listen to sound waves, an international group of researchers and astrophysicists were able to determine the age of a solar system, named Kepler-444, with five planets smaller than earth. The miraculousness of this discovery is not that it's insanely old -11 billions years- but rather what its age suggests. The fact that Earth-like planets existed in the universe eons before our own suggests the possibility of alien life inhabiting at least a few of them. In the early stages of the universe, when metals were scarce, cosmic neighborhoods such as the one found by the Kepler space telescope sprang into being, boosting the chances of extraterrestrials inhabiting some areas of this vast, undiscovered expanse we call home. Now having realized that there lie places in our relative vicinity that could be teeming with unknown creatures because their planets are in the habitable zone, I am thrilled to hear about any follow-ups to this find, but still confused why we haven't had contact yet. It's fair to say that out of a pool of alien civilizations, at least one must emerge victorious, and given this amount of time to flourish and develop, they should've colonized the Galaxy by now. So why is the night sky as silent as ever? I'll leave that question open to debate. If you want to learn more, check out the informational video.

Just last Monday, a medium-size asteroid called 2004 BL86 passed by earth only three times the distance from the moon to our planet, which on a cosmic scale is dangerously close. Although there was no risk of anyone getting injured, it's still a frightening reminder of how susceptible we are to astronomical occurrences that we can't control. The next predicted flyby? 2027, and that's when the asteroid is within the moon's orbit. Scientists are working on mapping its precise shape and size, to better prepare for an asteroid retrieval mission that will take place in the near future, in order to analyze some of the first samples of space rock.

The threat of a space rock collision is very low, but if something like that were to occur, it could devastate entire counties. Millions would die depending on the impact location. It is therefore important for us to have better tracking methods, but even if advanced telescopes could locate every asteroid, we would still be in one place hoping for our continued survival. With a much larger impact occurring every half a million years (NatGeo), it may seem like a distant and meaningless event, but our descendants will not feel the same way. It is critical for our species to branch out and colonize the far reaches of space, including other planets and even other solar systems.

Energico Fantastico

Nissan, one of several electric automobile manufacturers, has declared its efforts to install up to 1K new charging stations around America, in places that have not been disclosed to the public. The company joins several others such as BMW and Tesla on a mission to increase the ease of use for electric car users, and announced they will be compatible for most drivers by including both types of chargers on the market. They hope to expand their stations, which are currently only occupying a handful of urban centers, to over two dozen large American cities before 2015 is over.

The U.S. federal government is allowing a $2 billion transmission line to be built that will span two western states, providing jobs for thousands of workers and electricity for millions of homes. The project, officially dubbed the SunZia Southwest Transmission Project, will harness the power of renewable energy sources to battle the debilitating near term effects of man-made climate change. However, not everyone is hunky dory with the go-ahead. U.S. Representative Steve Pearce is not happy with the recent plan to compromise national defense and destroy New Mexico's historic sites. What he forgets, though, is that renewable energy and a new grid infrastructure are also critical to national security. Troops are not the whole story.

Solar panels are constantly undergoing changes. This week witnessed a significant one, and the benefits will be far-reaching. A super-thin mineral called Perovskite is about to replace the traditional silicon-y material, and can efficiently convert solar to usable electricity; up to 50% more productive than original panels. At a cheaper price, too, the new tech might enter third world countries where it can also serve as a window shade for poverty-stricken families. To begin industrial-scale production, though, more needs to be understood through various tests and closer examinations. Despite this minor setback, the future of photovoltaic energy looks promising as we incrementally turn our backs to fossil fuels. Seriously, I can't wait.