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The Vanguard

The 5 Coolest Things On Earth This Week

Maggie Sieger
December 02, 2017
Scientists in Canada found a way to spot tornadoes before they form, their colleagues in the U.K built a living “solar” cell that can generate an electric current both in the dark and in response to light, and researchers in New York hacked the immune system of a bacteria and turned it into a microscopic data recorder.
Tornado Detection

 width= Above: A new tornado detection method could provide 20 minutes of additional warning time to people in the path of storms like this one in Canada. Image credit: Getty Images. Top: Scientists have hacked E. coli so that it can accumulate a chronological record of the viruses it encounters. GIF credit: Columbia University Medical Center.

What is it? Researchers from Western University in London, Canada, have developed a tornado prediction method using high-altitude radar that they say can forecast a tornado with 90 percent accuracy within a 100-kilometer radius, a vast improvement over today’s methods. The scientists analyzed 16 years of tornado data and correlated it with real-time and archived data from specifically designed radar arrays to make their findings, which were released this month in Atmospheric Science Letters, a journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Why does it matter? In a tornado, seconds count. This new tornado prediction method could give meteorologists — and the public — as much as 20 minutes of additional warning time, potentially saving lives and property in the process. The new method reduces false predictions to less than 15 percent, according to the study, and is relatively simple to learn.

How does it work? By adding high-altitude turbulence data gathered from 10 specially built radar arrays to traditional tornado prediction models, scientists were able to see patterns and predictors that haven't been evident in the past. The Ontario-Quebec radar network was designed to measure wind and turbulence through the upper atmosphere, troposphere and lower stratosphere. It turns out that specific profiles of cloud overshoot — a dome-like knob that forms atop thunderclouds — wind velocities and turbulence were present 90 percent of the time when tornadoes have formed for the 31 tornadoes the data covered. Additionally, all three features were evident 10 to 20 minutes before the tornado formed.

Amputee Robotics

Monkeys were trained to use their thoughts to move a robotic arm and grasp a ball. Image credit: Nicho Hatsopoulos and Karthikeyan Balasubramanian/University of Chicago.

What is it? Neuroscientists at the University of Chicago have taught previously injured monkeys to control robotic arms using electrodes implanted in their brains. Previous experiments have shown how paralyzed human patients can move robotic limbs, but the UC study is one of the first to test the viability of these devices in long-term amputees.

Why does it matter? The research shows the brain is able to create new nerve connections to learn how to control the robotics, even a decade after amputation. That’s great news for amputees, who may be able to regain capabilities lost years ago.

How does it work? Researchers implanted electrode arrays in the brains of three rhesus monkeys who had lost limbs as long as 10 years ago and trained the monkeys to pick up a ball with a robotic arm using thought control. At the beginning of the study, the monkeys’ brains had very few neuron connections in the area that previously had controlled movement of the amputated limb. But as the monkeys were trained — using large servings of juice as rewards — the nerve connections regrew in number and strength, allowing for easier and better control of the robotics. The next step is to equip so-called neuroprosthetic limbs with sensory feedback about touch and spatial location. "That's how we can begin to create truly responsive limbs, when people can both move it and get natural sensations through the brain-machine interface," one researcher said.

Finding Plastic Waste In The Oceans

Fluorescent dye makes it possible to see tiny pieces of plastic under a microscope. Image credit: University of Warwick.

What is it? Researchers led by the University of Warwick in the U.K. discovered that using a particular fluorescent dye enables them to quickly and easily identify microscopic pollution in the oceans and beaches. “Nile red” dye lights up when it comes into contact with certain chemicals, making it simple to find among the vast quantities of microscopic material in the sea. dye will stick to and fluoresce microplastics, or plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches). Using the dye, researchers were able to prove the quantity of microplastics polluting the oceans was much greater than previously estimated.

Why does it matter? While the ocean plastic gyres — giant islands of garbage — get a lot of press, the amount of microplastics polluting our water is so far unknown. Previous studies found that 99 percent of the plastic waste that we believe to be entering the ocean can't be detected, meaning it's either too small to see or is hiding inside the digestive systems of marine life. The dye could allow scientists to map oceanic waste in unprecedented detail, identifying exactly where it is and how much there is.

How does it work? Researchers took samples of beach sand and surface water, then flushed them with nitric acid to eliminate organic material such as fatty substances and wood fragments that otherwise might . They discovered a much higher concentration of microplastics under 1 millimeter (0.04 inches) in size than they'd predicted, and significantly more than they'd have found using traditional methods, which rely on sorting and identifying pollution manually. Using the dye allows researchers to semi-automate the pollution identification process.

Is that the colorAl Gore, who opened the conference this year, said that the world was “in the early stages of a sustainability revolution” and he called it “the greatest business and investing opportunity in the entire history of the world.”

‘Solar' Panels That Work in the Dark

 width= Printing algae onto a conductive surface creates a cell that can generate an electric current in the dark and in response to light. Image credit: M. Sawa et al. Nature Communications.

What is it? Researchers at Imperial College London and the University of Cambridge printed blue-green algae onto a conductive surface, creating a living “solar” cell that can generate an electric current both in the dark and in response to light. They say the cell could serve as an environmentally friendly power supply for low-power devices such as biosensors.

Why does it matter? The biophotovoltaic device is biodegradable, meaning it might be used in items such as solar panels or batteries, which could decompose in a garden compost pile when used up. Using a plain ink jet printer to create the “battery” makes them cheap, accessible and environmentally friendly, unlike current batteries that use heavy metals and plastics. The devices are around 10 centimeters thick and can be printed in a variety of sizes.

How does it work? Biophotovoltaic cells contain algae that is phototrophic, meaning it converts light into energy. Even in the dark, the algae generates energy by metabolizing its internal storage reserves. When connected to a nonbiological electrode, the cells can function as either a "bio solar panel" when exposed to light or a "solar bio-battery" in the dark. One of the biggest challenges is producing them on a large scale. In the new study, researchers demonstrated that they can use inkjet printing to print the battery, which means they can fabricate cells quickly and with great precision. Nine printed cells connected together can power a digital clock.

Microbe Tape Recorder

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiDKOkdbAEg

What is it? Scientists at Columbia University Medical Center hacked the immune system of a bacteria and turned it into a microscopic data recorder. Researchers modified an ordinary laboratory strain of the ubiquitous human gut microbe Escherichia coli (E. coli), enabling the bacteria to not only record their interactions with the environment, but also time-stamp the events.

Why does it matter? The research lays the groundwork for a new class of technology using bacterial cells for applications as varied as disease diagnosis and environmental monitoring. For example, a patient could swallow the modified bacteria, which then could record their experience through the digestive tract and yield an unprecedented view of . Other potential uses include environmental sensors and studies where bacteria could monitor without disrupting their surroundings.

How does it work? Scientists employed a molecular hack to take advantage of the bacteria’s natural immune system, which copies snippets of DNA from invading viruses so that subsequent generations of bacteria can fight off those pathogens. As a result, the bacteria accumulate a chronological record of the viruses they and their ancestors have survived. Synthetic biologists previously used a similar technique to store movies, books and images in DNA, but this is the first time it’s been used to record cellular activity and the timing of those events.
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