Techno-Optimist #7
Reading the minds of rodents, creating 'real' milk from plants, nuclear energy in America may finally be moving forward again, did AI just pass the mirror test?...and a lot more!
Welcome to the seventh edition of Techno-Optimist, and a big hello to the 41 new readers who have found their way here since last time.
I wanted to start with a brief note about the cover art I use at the beginning of each newsletter. For a lot of it I try and create (rather, I prompt an AI to create) something fun and reflective of what I think a techno-optimist future might look like. Sometimes, like today’s image, I find myself thinking it would be a genuinely nice place to visit if it existed. Perhaps one day, something like it will. A core part of this newsletter’s mission is to inspire you—my readers—to ‘go forth’ and build, discover, invent, and generally stive for humanity’s betterment. While art may often seem inconsequential, I think plays a small but important role in helping us visualize what we want the future to look like. So I encourage you to contemplate what it might take to bring these cities and landscapes to life, and feel free to share your own creations to help inspire us all.
Alright, let’s dive in.
“With enough science and engineering the impossible becomes possible.”
–Andrew McCarthy
Reading the minds of rodents. Decoding images and videos from cortical activity is getting impressively sharp. A recent study reconstructed 50 movies from the brain activity of 5 mice, achieving an average correlation of 64% between the original and the reconstruction. This opens new doors into understanding brain function, and allows “investigating an array of visual processing phenomena from a new perspective.”
That’s not all though, a different study implanted a brain-computer interface into a rat’s brain to model its movement and behavior. This led to the creation of a “virtual rodent” that accurately mimicked real-life rat movements, essentially providing a “biomechanically realistic model of the rat…providing a causal, generative model that can reproduce complex animal behaviors, not just correlate with them.” (@Neuro_Joel) (@sebkrier) (@DiegoAldarondo) (@IterIntellectus)
Creating ‘real’ milk from plants. Lab-grown or factory-produced meat are becoming popular and more affordable, but replicating milk has so far been elusive. While there are almond, soy, coconut, and rice alternatives, none of these are milk. A new approach involves engineering yeasts and plants with some specific cow genes responsible for milk production. The goal is to “make the key proteins that give the color of the milk and retain the original taste and nutritional value.” Though it's still a while from being a commercial product, we already engineer yeast and microbes to create various useful compounds—so why not milk? This could also have some great applications for space, as it’ll probably be a while before we send cows to Mars.
Separately, efforts are underway to bridge the nutritional gap between breast milk and baby formula using plants. While formula is a safe and sufficient substitute, it cannot “replicate the full nutritional profile of breast milk…in part because human breast milk contains a unique blend of approximately 200 prebiotic sugar molecules that help prevent disease and support the growth of healthy gut bacteria.” Many of these sugars are difficult or impossible to synthesize, so researchers have turned to plants, engineering them to produce a range of human milk oligosaccharides. Although still in development, this could really enhance the health benefits of baby formula. (Interesting Engineering) (Science Daily)
America may finally be moving forward on nuclear again. After decades of stagnation due to overregulation, nuclear power may finally be ready to move forward again in America. The Senate just voted overwhelmingly in favor of a new energy bill to “speed of licensing and construction of new nuclear reactors at home and overseas.” Bernie Sanders was one of only two senators opposed, which should surprise no one.
In line with this momentum, TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, has broken ground on a 345 MW power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. This SMR (Small Modular Reactor) is expected to come online in 2030, faster than any U.S. nuclear power plant in many decades. Additionally, Rolls Royce shared a teaser video last week of a sleek looking micro-reactor capable of producing between 1-10MW of power; designed for use in remote locations, defense, and in space. Although Rolls Royce is a British company, their micro-reactor highlights a broader revival of nuclear energy across the Western world. (@AlexCKaufman) (Gates Notes) (@RollsRoyce)
Recent progress against cancer: a mini-roundup. A cancer vaccine developed by UCLA using dendritic cells has shown promise in treating malignant gliomas, a highly aggressive form of brain cancer. While it isn't curative and doesn’t work for everyone, it's a step forward. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital discovered a gene that facilitates cancer metastasis, responsible for 90% of cancer-related deaths. Turning off this gene prevented cancer cells from growing and spreading. A huge breakthrough—now we know what we’re looking for the search can begin for ways to silence this gene.
Elsewhere, microbots made from “drug-filled nanoparticles” attached to green algae cells successfully delivered chemotherapy to lung tumors, improving survival time in mice. The hope is to adapt this method for larger animals, and eventually humans. Lastly, an AI system detected prostate cancer more often and more accurately that radiologists based on information gleaned from MRI images—and with less false positives. (SciTechDaily) (Massachusetts General Hospital via @IterIntellectus) (UC San Diego) (Science Daily)
AI updates: Anthropic has released Claude 3.5 Sonnet, which they say is “our most intelligent model yet,” capable of graduate level reasoning almost 60% of the time. Give it a try here, and see what you think.
An interesting experiment with this new model suggests that Claude Sonnet 3.5 may be getting closer to passing the AI Mirror Test, which is the AI version of a test used on animals to determine whether they’re self aware (do they recognize that it’s themselves in a mirror or not). In the test an image of the chat interface was taken, and Claude was asked to “Describe this image.” The idea is that a non self aware AI would just describe the image contents, whereas one showing some degree of self awareness would notice and comment on itself within the image. Through several description cycles Claude appeared to show at least contextual awareness, consistently referring to itself in the 3rd person, saying things like “Claude is describing its own interface within that very interface.” Self awareness may be more of a gradation than a hard line, I’m very interested to see how things develop over the next couple years.
Speaking of AI getting smarter, tests show that when humans have a conversation with ChatGPT-4, they identify the conversation as being with another human 54% of the time. Compared that to 67% of the time for actual human interactions, this suggests that Large Language Models are getting very close to passing the Turing Test. (@AnthropicAI) (@joshwhiton) (Tech Radar)
Space
I’m happy to report that all systems on Voyager 1 are now functioning within normal parameters. Previously, data streaming from two instruments had been restored on the spacecraft since it stopped sending anything coherent last November—now all four are sending back scientific data to Earth from just over 163 AU away [Sidebar: an astronomical unit is the distance between the Earth and the Sun]. Said another way, the smart folks at NASA were able to reprogram a 47 year old machine that’s now outside our Solar System. (@NASAJPL) (@LKrauss1)
A novel idea to terraform Mars will be presented at this year’s Mars Society Convention in Seattle (August 8th – 11th so mark your calendars). In involves “generating iron or aluminum nanorods and suspending them in Mars’ atmosphere to create a powerful greenhouse effect, thereby warming the Red Planet.” This warming will release large amounts of CO2 and eventually water vapor, currently frozen on the surface or in the soil, creating a large secondary greenhouse effect. A popular current plan involves using fluorocarbon gasses to kickstart warming, but as the prevenance of fluorine on Mars is unknown, this new idea could be far easier. After all, we know there’s abundant iron on the Red Planet! (The Mars Society)
China’s Chang’e 6 mission has returned to Earth with just over 1.9kg (~4.2lbs) of material from the Moon’s far side, the first mission ever to do so. Genuinely impressive work! If the U.S. and other Artemis Accord signatories want to stay ahead of China long term (or in this case catch up to it), the best advice I can give is don’t throw up roadblocks in front of SpaceX and the rest of the growing private space industry. (@CNSAWatcher) (@SciGuySpace)
Some launch updates: Rocket Lab now has 50 launches of their Electron rocket under their belt. A number they’ve reached faster than any other commercial rocket, even the Falcon 9. State owned SAST (the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology) has launched a reusable rocket up 12 kilometers before sticking the landing. An orbital flight is planned for next year. Everyone building reusable rockets was what SpaceX hoped to inspire, so mission accomplished looks like. (@Peter_J_Beck) (@RocketLab) (Space News)
Titan is an interesting place. The largest moon of Saturn, it’s the only other spot we know of with an active “hydrological cycle”—except there water is replaced by methane and ethane. A new study based on image data and simulations finds it’s likely that the shorelines on Titan are actively shaped by waves, making the moon an even more interesting Earth analogue. Very much looking forward to what the upcoming Dragonfly mission will show us! (Phys.org)
Starlink Mini is officially selling, with deliveries starting next month. It’s lighter, cheaper, and easier to transport. In addition to more mobile internet in the developed world, this could greatly speed up access everywhere else, particularly Africa. Pirate Wires had a good take on it, saying that it’s probably “the best example of American exceptionalism and soft power we’ve seen in decades.”
(@is_OwenLewis) (@SawyerMerritt)We’ve just spotted a supermassive black hole waking up in real time. Back in 2019 galaxy SDSS1335+0728 (astronomers are the best with names, aren’t they?) suddenly got brighter. The conclusion now is that the black hole at its center suddenly became active. It’s something we’ve never been able to watch happen before. It’s also a warning in the search for life, as the intense radiation spewed by this black hole will likely sterilize life within at least a few thousand light years of the now active galactic nucleus. (Phys.org)
Dust changes 63 light years away seen by the JWST around the star Beta Pictoris suggest a massive collision occurred there about 20 years ago, an insight into the chaotic process of planetary formation. The system is still young, maybe only 20 million years old, and “is at an age when planet formation in the terrestrial planet zone is still ongoing through giant asteroid collisions.” (SciTechDaily)
Sometimes the stars do actually align, at least when it comes to protostars. “Astronomers have long assumed that as clouds collapse to form stars, the stars will tend to spin in the same direction,” leading to the baby stars forming bright stellar jets that are launched out from their poles, many with roughly the same orientation as their neighbors. This image gives us a much better picture of how new stars form, and is also incredibly beautiful. (@NASAWebb) (NASA)
AI, Energy, Engineering, & Physics
Our cellphones could soon have the ability of Superman to see through walls. An imaging chip small enough to be integrated into mobile phones uses high frequency radio waves to let it peer through a centimeter of cardboard and “see” objects behind it. In addition to fighting crime and rounding up supervillains, this tool could be handy for construction and home renovation. (Live Science)
Those robot boxing movies are getting a step closer to reality with the ‘HumanPlus’ robots built by Stanford University engineers. Able to mimic human actions through observation, the robots have so far learned to box, play the piano, and hit a ping-pong ball. We’re not at Real Steel levels just yet, but that’s where this could be headed. I’d buy tickets to go see that. (Interesting Engineering)
Scientific progress often happens by serendipity, with a group looking at protein properties finding that “mixing a certain peptide with water results in the creation of self-assembling and self-healing glass.” The new material is also very strong, and just as transparent as glass, suggesting that it could be used to make glass panes. (Phys.org)
New fabric has been designed to help beat the heat, with the material staying 2.3 °C (4.1 °F) cooler than the current best on the market, and almost 9 °C (16 °F) cooler than commonly worn summer clothing. Given the problem of urban heat islands and an increasing number of people living in cities, cooling textiles could be an important breakthrough. (Science Daily)
An Italian startup has figured out how to recycle 99% of solar panel components, an important step as right now many of them just end up in landfills where they can leach a surprising amount of toxic material into the environment. They plan to build an 800 panel per day demonstration facility to test the economics. Hopefully that moves forward soon. (Interesting Engineering)
Medicine
This is often one of the most exciting sections for me, the breakthroughs or at least hints of them seem to happen almost daily now, and it just blows my mind sometimes. If only they could move out of the lab a little faster!
UK scientists have discovered a major cause of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that results from a DNA glitch 95% of people with the disease have, allowing some immune cells to cause inflammation in the bowels. The exciting part is the team found existing drugs that reversed it in samples provided from people with IBD—they’re hoping to get human trials going within 5 years. But that’s not the only piece of progress towards treating IBD: researchers from the University of San Diego have built algae based microbots to help bind the inflammatory molecules causing IBD, significantly reducing symptoms without any apparent side effects. (BBC) (Interesting Engineering)
Liver damage from aging, disease, and bad diet may be reversible by using a drug called Ferrostatin-1, which inhibits cell death. Mice given it had livers that looked biologically younger and healthier, “even in old animals that were kept on [a] disease-inducing diet.” They concluded that “aging exacerbates non-alcoholic liver disease by creating…stress, and by reducing this impact, we can reverse the damage.” (Medical Xpress)
Speaking of reversing aging, researchers have found a compound that activates an enzyme in our bodies called TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase). When levels of TERT get too low it causes our telomeres to shrink, a prime marker—and possible cause—of aging. This newly discovered TERT activating compound (TAC) was given to mice for half a year, and resulted in new formation of neurons and improvements in memory and general cognition. It also improved muscle performance “while eliminating hallmarks linked to many age-related diseases.” (New Atlas)
A major issue with drug delivery is getting it to the right spot in the body. Failure to do so often necessitates larger doses, and causes more side effects. To overcome this, U.S. scientists have found that drugs in nanocapsules can be released exactly where needed by using ultrasound waves. So far the method has been tested in monkeys with no side effects, human trials are next. (Phys.org)
Efforts to genetically correct cystic fibrosis have often been stymied by the liver filtering out the treatment before it reached its target. A good solution seems to be lipid nanoparticles designed specifically to avoid being trapped by the liver. In mouse models of cystic fibrosis it’s proved very effective, with the gene editor correcting the mutation in about 50% of mice, and relieving symptoms for up to 22 months, which is most of a mouse’s lifespan. (Phys.org)
An existing cancer drug could help treat Parkinson’s disease—and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases too—by blocking the transmission of abnormal protein clumps from neuron to neuron, which is how Parkinson’s spreads in the brain. It’s probably not a cure, but it could stop the disease from progressing. (Science Alert)
Biotech & Agriculture
Last time I talked about blast disease, a fungal pathogen attacking rice and wheat. Now another avenue of resistance has been discovered in a wheat variety resistant to another fungus—powdery mildew—which unexpectedly gives it protection against wheat blast as well. As I said then, let’s engineer this into our crops asap! (Phys.org)
Speaking of fungus, a crop of genetically edited rice designed to resist another common fungus was planted recently in Italy. Excellent, that’s how progress happens. Success here would have meant more rice production and less fungicide use, all positive things. Except that environmentalist, being the wankers they usually are, decided they’d better destroy it—which they of course then did. This is your periodic reminder that there’s a lot of anti-progress, and ultimately anti-human forces out there. The enemy are those who want degrowth, deceleration, and less humans; no matter how they pretty it up with pretending to care about the environment and humanity. (IFL Science)
Weird & Wonderful
Equal parts fascinating and horrifying, it’s been confirmed that yes, a species of terrestrial leech can indeed jump. Chtonobdella fallax lives in the tropical forests of Madagascar, so if you’re ever there, keep your eyes peeled. (Smithsonian Magazine)
A beautifully preserved ancient wolf has been pulled from the permafrost in Russia. It’s so complete that researchers are hoping to find stomach content and thus get an idea of what the ecosystem was like in this part of the world at that time. (Live Science)
Photos & Videos
While not identical to the Milky Way, this image of spiral galaxy Messier 66 taken by the Hubble Space Telescope gives you a good idea of what our home galaxy might look like from the outside. Beautiful.
Voyage through the Pillars of Creation | NASA
Take a 3D trip through the Pillars of Creation, curtesy of NASA. The video switches between visible and infrared light, giving different views of the magnificent dusty pillars, and the stars forming within them.
A satellite from Maxar Technologies took a picture of the International Space Station from a perspective you don’t see much—above it. If you look carefully you can see Boeing’s Starliner capsule docked.
Have a watch through these great animations of a moon orbiting a gas giant being torn apart by tidal forces (the moon, not the gas giant). It’s thought to be a common way planets acquire rings.
Just in case you think I only put up space stuff (not gonna lie it’ll mostly be space stuff), here’s some weird and wonderful insect pictures. This one is my favorite, but check out the whole galley.
Recommendations & Reviews
I’ve got a couple things to recommend for you this time. The first is a detailed tour through SpaceX’s Starbase, led by Tim Dodd (Everyday Astronaut on X), and Elon Musk. There’s a ton of details, so if you want to see what SpaceX is working on to help make humanity a spacefaring, multiplanetary species, give these a watch.
The second item today is a book called Origins, by Asimov Press. I’m always on the look out for techno-optimist books, and I think this one definitely qualifies. From the authors: “The book is an ode to scientific progress, and the articles within tell stories about everything from the origins of synthetic biology to the discovery of an antimalarial drug in China and the invention of the micropipette.” In addition to these essays, there are also two interviews and a work of fiction. You can learn more about it on their site here.
That’s all for this edition, but Techno-Optimist will be back in your inbox two weeks from now. Until then, a very happy 4th of July to all my American readers (which I think is most of you).
Keep your eyes on the horizon — and thank you all for reading.
-Owen
cool stuff Owen; we love the same things! Tech I love the most and the new Claude frontier model is super interesting but I'd say progress in reverse Turing (humans deciding if they are talking to a human v. AI) is more legit than a mirror test that's easy for a prediction model (that's all LLMs are now) to respond too