To the Stars with Data: January 30 2022
GEO Satellite and potential collisions viz, 100x more powerful brain implants, autonomous robot surgeon pig surgeries, and more
Hello Datanauts!
This week, I put together my JWST poster! (Picture at the bottom of the issue.) I wanted to wait until it arrived safely at its destination to commemorate the occasion—more news on this in the Space News section.
I also dig into a viz with GEO satellites and potential satellite impacts, brain implants that are 100x more powerful than what we have today, more pig surgeries and transplants (some even completed by autonomous robot surgeons!), and NASA’s 2022 spinoffs.
Now, let’s go to the stars with data!
Thought-Provoking Data Viz
🛰 Explore potential satellite impacts in geosynchronous orbit using Satellite Dashboard
Quick hits. The Satellite Dashboard displays satellites in geosynchronous orbit (GEO) and provides details and analysis of potential collisions. The data itself comes from AstriaGraph, which itself pulls data from many international commercial, academic, and governmental sources. It’s augmented with data from a number of other reputable sources, such as the Satellite Database maintained by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
tl;dr: this is an accurate visualization and source for potential GEO satellite collisions
Digging deeper. The number of satellites in space is rapidly increasing through companies establishing constellations of communications satellites (e.g. SpaceX’s Starlink and Blue Origin’s Project Kuiper) and through a general increase in space commercialization. I’ve talked at length in previous issues of the space debris problem, but it can be summed up by this: if collisions occur at thousands of miles per hour (6,876 miles per hour and 11,052 kph in GEO), how can we keep from catalyzing a chain reaction of collisions, each of which produce potentially thousands of pieces of space debris?
Earth News
🧠 Researchers develop a brain implant that provides 100 times the resolution of previous implants
Quick hits. Earlier this month, researchers published results of a brain implant that can read brain activity up to 100x the resolution of what’s available today. The implant employs electrocorticography—placing electrodes directly on the brain to measure brain activity. The implant is up to 100x more powerful because it places 1024 or 2048 sensors 1 mm apart from one another, whereas many of today’s sensors place them 1 cm apart. Here’s a video showcasing the grids on the implant.
Digging deeper. If we hope to decipher the human brain, the most complex thing humans know of, measuring brain activity is pivotal. Though this brain implant is invasive (it requires opening up the skull to apply it), many noninvasive techniques for measuring brain activity are bulky (e.g. MRIs) or not nearly as precise (e.g. EEG). There is a growing number of techniques being developed commercially for non-bulky and non- or minimally-invasive options. Some examples include Synchron's Stentrode and Kernal's helmet.
In other Earth news…
Robot surgeon autonomously completes intestine surgery on pigs and performed better than human surgeons. Intestines are soft tissues, which makes surgery much more difficult. Robot surgeons have already been aiding surgeons for a number of years, but this is among the first times robots have performed autonomously.
There was another successful pig → human kidney transplant! The experiment ended after 77 hours and the kidney was still stable at that point.
Meta developed an AI that can learn from multiple input source types. Usually, AI can only utilize one source type for training. Meta’s AI can accept speech, vision, and writing.
Meta to develop the most powerful AI supercomputer in the world by end of 2022. The supercomputer will have over 16,000 GPUs and will be able to train AI models with over 1 trillion parameters and use datasets as large as an exabyte (1 billion gigabytes).
Like To the Stars with Data? You’ll love The Convo Kit.
In The Convo Kit, Steve Burgess provides smart conversation starters every Saturday morning. If you like the material I post in To the Stars with Data, you’ll enjoy The Convo Kit’s topics, which span tech, space, and science.
I particularly enjoy the Convo Kit because the format makes it easy to digest and I always save quite a few links to look at later.
Space News
🧪 NASA releases its 2022 Spinoff publication
Quick hits. NASA Spinoff’s motto is: “There’s more space in your life than you think!” And honestly, it couldn’t be more true. NASA Spinoffs are commercial technologies that are based on or incorporate NASA’s research and development. Some examples from the 2022 spinoff publication include using NASA’s research on vertical farming in space to help vertical farming at a commercial scale on Earth and new insulation technologies in clothing to keep people warm outside.
Digging deeper. NASA has been cataloging some of its most important spinoffs since 1976. Though there are a number of notable spinoffs, my favorites include emergency blankets, advanced water filtration, GPS, memory foam, and invisible braces. To commemorate 40 years of spinoffs, NASA released their “top 40” in 2017. If you’re interested in learning more about NASA’s spinoffs, check out their website!
In other space news…
JWST arrived at L2! Here’s a video of its orbit in L2. Unless you are in the industry, I guarantee it’s not something you’ve seen before. To commemorate the occasion, I put together my JWST poster at the same time it arrived (see the end of this issue for a picture).
Artemis I is scheduled to launch in late March after years of delay. Artemis I is one of the first portions of the Artemis program, in which the US plans to place astronauts on the moon.
Future-Thinking Companies
✈🚗 Klein Vision. Based in Slovakia, they officially received the Certificate of Airworthiness, which is valid across Europe. They hope to begin selling flying cars in early 2023.
🐟🌱 Upward Farms. Based in Brooklyn, NY, they produce plants via vertical aquaponic farms. (Aquaponic means the plants are fertilized with fish excrement.) They recently announced the world’s largest vertical farm (250,000 square feet, 23,225 square meters) to be built in Pennsylvania; it will produce microgreens and striped bass.
For Fun
Here’s my JWST poster, as promised! Isn’t it gorgeous? 😱You can get it yourself here.