To the Stars with Data: May 30 2021
Photographic atoms, SpaceX's Starship, autonomous vehicles, and more...
Hey everyone!
I was away on holiday this weekend, so I'll just share a recommendation about something I enjoy and leave it at that.
Ologies. If you like science and fun, quirky podcast hosts, you'll likely enjoy Ologies too. My favorite episode so far is the one on Dasyurology, or the study of Tasmanian Devils. Have fun!
-Joe
Thought-Provoking Data Viz
Have you ever wondered who becomes a NASA astronaut? Wonder no more!
I was surprised by how young everyone is.
Earth News
🔬 A microscope can now see individual atoms
Quick Hits. Researchers were able to see/photograph individual atoms by using algorithms to clarify current limits to microscopic resolution. This allows for picometer (one-trillionth of a meter) precision. The remaining blurriness seen in the photo is due to vibration.
My Thoughts. Do you understand just how small this is? Do you really? Our naked eye can see with a resolution of about 100 micrometers, which is 100 thousand thousand times less than this microscope’s resolution. If you could see like this microscope, you could see a Ritz cracker in NYC from LA, assuming the Earth wasn’t in the way. Here’s a size comparison.
👁 A person was blind for 4 decades. Researchers partially returned their sight.
Quick Hits. A person’s photoreceptor cells (things in your eyes that enable you to detect light and color) died off ~4 decades ago. Genes were injected in their eye, causing their neurons to produce a light-sensing protein that is usually found in the slimy bodies of green algae. Now, with the help of projected video while wearing a pair of goggles, the person can partially see.
My Thoughts. We’ve based a lot of medicine over the past few centuries using substances found in nature. But altering our genetics based on what we find in nature is an entirely new level. I can’t wait to see where this technology leads us in the future!
Space News
🚀 SpaceX’s Starship is a big deal. Here’s why.
Quick Hits. Starship represents a thousand-fold improvement over the Space Shuttle. It’s 200x cheaper with 5x the payload and is reusable. Elon Musk’s SpaceX is changing the game.
From Robert Zubrin, an aerospace engineer, and author of this article:
Starship won’t just give us the ability to send human explorers to Mars, the moon, and other destinations in the inner solar system, it offers us a two-order-of-magnitude increase in overall operational capability to do pretty much anything we want to do in space.
My Thoughts. A few weeks ago, I shared a visualization about how the cost of sending things into low Earth orbit is decreasing. In order to maintain that trend, though, new innovations need to be made. I’m hopeful that Starship will be successful and continue to spur commercial competition in the space (pun intended).
✈ Virgin Galactic gives us a taste of its space tourism plans
Quick Hits. Virgin Galactic successfully flew its VSS Unity Spaceship (video), taking off from New Mexico (notably, it marked the first human spaceflight taking off from New Mexico). In the future, Virgin Galactic hopes to allow customers to experience weightlessness by taking suborbital trips around the Earth.
My Thoughts. With space tourism opening up in the coming years, the public will begin to see space access becoming more accessible. Hopefully, this will continue to drive commercial activity in the space and promote our expansion into the cosmos, eventually driving down costs and democratizing space access.
Things that make you think
🚗 Why are consumers hesitant or excited for self-driving cars?
Quick Hits. Researchers interviewed and surveyed consumers about adoption of self-driving cars. Consumers are hesitant because:
Performance (safety) risks of the vehicles' Artificial Intelligence and sensor systems
Loss of competencies by the driving public (primarily the ability to drive and use roads)
Privacy security breaches, similar to a personal computer or online account being hacked
Conversely, consumers are excited for self-driving cars because:
Freeing of time (instead of spending time driving)
Removing the issue of human error (accidents caused by human drivers)
Outperforming human capacity, such as improved route and traffic prediction, handling speed
My Thoughts. I don’t think losing our driving competency is going to be that big of a deal. For many tasks that are manual or time-consuming, we’ve either built machines to speed them up or have outsourced them so that we can spend more time doing what we want … and we don’t regret it. (Can you imagine making all your clothes and washing them by hand? Me neither.) When implemented in force, autonomous vehicles will likely fall into both categories.
Future-Thinking Companies
👖 Unspun - Custom-built jeans on demand
📦 Boox - Cute, durable reusable shipping boxes