To the Stars with Data: December 19 2021
Hearing magnetospheres, anti-aging vaccines, megaconstellation galore, and more
Hello Datanauts!
This week, I dive into somewhat haunting audio of Juno’s flyby of Ganymede (Jupiter’s largest moon) and learn more about magnetospheres and why they’re so important. Also, there’s been tons of news on the vaccine front recently (not COVID-related), so I explore two vaccines in particular: anti-aging and Lyme disease. Finally, I touch on some recent megaconstellations (hundreds of thousands of proposed satellites) and why they’re ridiculous.
I will not be posting over the next 2 weeks as I will be celebrating the holidays with my loved ones. I will also be slightly changing the structure of my issues starting in the new year and welcome and feedback!
To those of you who celebrate holidays in the coming weeks, happy holidays!
Now, let’s go to the stars with data!
Thought-Provoking Data Viz
🛰 Haunting visual (and audio) representation of Juno’s Ganymede flyby
Quick hits. Earlier this year, Juno flew by Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon. (Juno is a spacecraft launched by NASA to explore Jupiter and its moons.) During its flyby, Juno captured electric and magnetic radio waves of Jupiter and Ganymede’s magnetospheres. These waves were then shifted into our audio range for the recording and visualized into this video. The height of the waves in the middle of the recording represents Juno moving from one area of Ganymede’s magnetosphere to another.
Digging deeper. Magnetospheres are spaces around celestial bodies where charged particles are affected by that body’s magnetic field. Magnetospheres are so important yet not well known to those who haven’t studied astronomy. For instance, one of the many reasons why Mars is so hazardous to humans is because it doesn’t have a magnetosphere and so the solar wind stripped away most of its atmosphere, leaving humans exposed to space’s radiation. Jupiter’s magnetosphere is huge, stretching almost to Saturn’s orbit (~409 million miles or ~659 million km).
Bonus. Here’s a breath-taking photo of Jupiter taken by Juno on its November 29, 2021 pass.
Earth News
💉 Researchers develop anti-aging vaccine that targets senescent cells
Quick hits. Researchers recently developed a vaccine that targets a protein found in senescent cells, encouraging the body to produce an antibody that targets that protein so the body destroys the cells. (Senescent cells are cells that did not die—but should have—and thus secret harmful chemicals that cause many different problems, such as arterial stiffening.) When the vaccine was tested on mice, the mice showed reduced levels of senescent cells and their associated symptoms.
Digging deeper. Many desperately want to extend their lifespans and shell out a lot of money to do so. In 2020, Statista estimates the size of the anti-aging market to be $58.5 billion. Extending lifespans is even one of the primary goals of transhumanism, a growing movement that advocates for making widely accessible advanced technology that extends human lifespans and increases human happiness (even if it means integrating with technology; think cyborgs).
🐜 Yale researchers develop Lyme disease vaccine
Quick hits. Yale researchers developed an mRNA vaccine to protect humans against Lyme disease. Interestingly, the vaccine actually causes users to develop an immune response against some proteins in tick saliva instead of the Lyme disease pathogens themselves. Targeting tick saliva instead of the Lyme disease pathogens works because it can take up to ~24 hours for the tick to transmit Lyme disease pathogens to its host. By protecting against tick saliva, the body will react to tick bites, thus alerting hosts, who can then take appropriate action before becoming exposed to Lyme disease. The researchers have only tested the vaccine on guinea pigs (literal guinea pigs) and human trials are yet to be coordinated.
Digging deeper. There was actually a human Lyme Disease vaccine released in 1998. However, many reported feeling ill and attributed it to the vaccine, so a class-action lawsuit was filed against the vaccine's manufacturer. The FDA found no evidence, but the company pulled the vaccine from shelves because use plummeted after the bad press. There were also a number of other contributing factors, which are summarized here.
Space News
☀ Parker Solar Probe flies through the Sun's corona, a first for human spacecraft
Quick hits. For the first time in human history, a spacecraft flew through the Sun's corona (the Sun's outer atmosphere) in April of this year. Recently, NASA released some footage from the spacecraft (also included above). The purpose of the Parker Solar Probe is to fly super close to the sun (or, in this case, through its atmosphere) to gather data that humans have never had a chance to collect. Awesomely, the probe needs to withstand brutal heat (upwards of 2,500 F / 1,371 C), so it has a 4.5-inch carbon-composite shield that faces the sun as it flies by.
Digging deeper. The Parker Solar Probe represents a historic mission to revolutionize humanity’s understanding of the Sun. It was launched in 2018 and will orbit the sun 24 times in about 7 years, getting as close as ~3.7 million miles from the sun. Though this seems like a humongous distance, it’s ~4% of the distance between Earth and the Sun and is seven times closer than any human spacecraft has gone before. Here's a video from NASA about the probe and its mission and the Parker Solar Probe’s official website.
⚖ These megaconstellation filings are getting out of hand
Quick hits. A number of huge satellite constellations were recently filed with the ITU (International Telecommunication Union)--a part of the UN. Some examples include a filing from Rwanda for 2 constellations that sum to over 327,000 satellites and Kepler filing through the German government for a constellation of 115,000 satellites. Many claim that these numbers are ridiculously high because there is currently more than enough supply of satellites to meet demand and having so many satellites in orbit would only congest low-Earth orbit.
Digging deeper. Though it’s unlikely that any of these huge megaconstellations will actually launch, we have a very real problem on our hands with so many constellations being submitted: eventually, some will be approved and we’ll have tens of thousands of additional satellites in orbit. If even one of these tens of thousands of satellites explodes, we could have potentially tens of thousands of new pieces of space debris in orbit, each going tens of thousands of miles/kilometers per hour. (As noted by NASA, space debris can orbit up to 18,000 miles per hour (~29,000 kph), so even very small pieces cause huge damage upon collision.) I’ll leave you with one question: how do you capture/destroy millions of small things flying around at 18,000 miles per hour?
Future-Thinking Companies
🧠 Kernal. They make mobile helmets that read brain activity. (Currently, brain-reading technology is either huge and stationary or lightweight and … stationary (because they’re wired). So I consider mobile helmets to be revolutionary.
📦 noissue. They make packaging that is reusable, recyclable, or compostable. They raised a $10-million Series A in November. 🔥