To the Stars with Data: May 16 2021
China goes to Mars, hypothetical asteroid collisions, and more...
Hey everyone!
This week, I learned about Stella, a dog that can talk to humans by pressing buttons (here's an interview with Stella's owner, the speech language pathologist Christina Hunger). I am hooked. In the words of my partner, "like a particle irresistibly drawn to the gravity well of a supermassive black hole.”
I’ve pondered our talking furry friends over the past week and realized two things:
A lot of animals probably have the capacity for communication with humans and can communicate with us if we give them the means, and
There is so much opportunity for technology to capitalize on this fact. It doesn't even have to be high-tech (i.e. buttons for dogs)!
Regardless, we are getting a dog soon and I cannot wait to start training it to communicate. If you want to learn more, check out They Can Talk. And if you have a pet that can talk, I have so many questions.
-Joe
Thought-Provoking Data Viz
NASA built a real-time interactive visualization of where its Martian satellites and rovers are at any point in time. Besides being an excellent data visualization (notice how smooth it is to interact with), I'm continually amazed about the fact that NASA alone has over half a dozen pieces of equipment orbiting and exploring Mars.
Assuming the current technological trajectory, we will see a human on Mars, an entirely other planet, within the next decade or two. Woah.
Earth News
👇 Researchers develop skin-like foam for robots (Video)
Quick Hits. Researchers develop a flexible, foamy material that allows robots to interact more intelligently with their environment. The foam is self-healing and can sense human presence from centimeters away.
My Thoughts. Human skin has so much to offer: it's self-healing, contains tons of nerves, and so much more. As we continually improve the software of our robots (the brain, if you will), we should aim to outfit our robot friends with commensurate hardware (the body). I suspect that doing so would also unlock technologies that can benefit humans as well.
🏭 Green infrastructure requires more minerals, but non-green infrastructure requires literal tons more material
Quick Hits.
The IEA reported that we need to seriously increase our production of various minerals (i.e. copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, rare earths, etc.) to meet upcoming climate goals because green infrastructure requires more of these minerals in its construction.
This piece notes that the IEA didn't report the fact that a fossil fuel system requires 2,000 times the amount of material in the long run (if you're comparing coal generation to solar generation by megawatt hour), intensely outpacing the initial mineral requirement for a green energy infrastructure.
My Thoughts. No current method of energy generation is a silver bullet. There will always be a downside to any method, including green technologies (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.). But if we want to fight climate change, it becomes quickly apparent that the upfront cost of minerals that green infrastructure requires is still more environmentally friendly than fossil fuel infrastructure.
Space News
🚀 China's Zhurong Rover Has Successfully Landed on Mars
Quick Hits. China's first Mars rover landing was a success! The rover will collect and analyze rock samples from the Martian surface.
My Thoughts. Landing rovers on Mars is no easy feat; other space agencies have failed in the past. This is great news, as more rovers exploring Mars is a win for the human race as we continue to answer the universe’s greatest questions like whether life exists anywhere else or why a lego block hurts so much when stepped on.
🛰 What you need to know about China’s Tiangong space station
Quick Hits. China is constructing a space station called Tiangong, meaning "heavenly palace", to succeed its previous space laboratories Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2 (launched in 2011 and 2016, respectively). Once all the modules are attached over the next few years, it will weigh 70 tons and house 3 crewpeople.
My Thoughts. Some might pit the United States and China against one another, but I'm of the opinion that this descriptive competition is unnecessary (even if it does exist just a little bit). The ability to conduct more science is good for all of us! Cooperation over competition!
Things that make you think
🌠 What would happen if we detected an asteroid that would hit Earth?
Quick Hits. A group of scientists at the International Academy of Astronautics 2021 Planetary Defense Conference conducted a hypothetical experiment of detecting an asteroid months before it hit Earth.
My Thoughts. It's honestly scary to imagine that an asteroid that would cause human extinction could be hurtling through space right now and there's nothing we could do to stop it. But that's why these thought experiments are so important. They help us understand avenues of 1) protecting ourselves to the best of our ability with current technologies and 2) creating technologies that would deter threats like these in the future.
Also, don’t you feel just a tad safer knowing that there’s a conference literally called the Planetary Defense Conference? I know I do.
Future-Thinking Companies
🌿 Sway - They produce biodegradable materials out of seaweed to replace single-use plastics
🌳 Forust - They use a 3D printing technique to make wooden items out of wood waste (i.e. sawdust)