Research breakthrough highlights cerebellum’s role
By Heather Allen
Autism breakthrough: The cerebellum may be the key to a new treatment for autism
Pioneering new research on the role of the cerebellum could lead to an effective treatment for autism.
The research forms part of a study by Professor Frank Van Overwalle, from the Brain, Body, and Cognition research group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). The study highlights the cerebellum’s crucial role in both motor coordination and social-cognitive functions, expanding its known importance beyond just movement control. According to Professor Van Overwalle, this research offers a fresh perspective on the cerebellum’s role and paves the way for new treatments for psychiatric and neurological conditions, such as autism spectrum disorders.
The results of magnetic brain stimulation tests on autistic subjects were used in the study. The subjects showed measurable improvements when performing a sequence of cognitive tasks. More complex tasks are now being tested to see if further improvements can be made, with the goal of developing practical treatments for people with autism.
The aim of the research is to highlight the underappreciated role of the cerebellum in both motor functions and social-cognitive processes. The research supports a growing trend in neuroscience, which has historically concentrated more on the cerebrum, the larger, main part of the brain.
Although small compared to the rest of the brain, the cerebellum holds more than half of the neurons in the body. Often referred to as the back brain, the cerebellum is located at the back of the head, just above and behind where the spinal cord connects to the brain, at ear-level. The cerebellum forms a half-circle shape around the brain stem, which connects the brain to the spinal cord. It is easily identifiable by the series of horizontal grooves from top to bottom. The average adult cerebellum is about 11.5cm wide, between 3-4cm tall in the middle and 5-6cm on the sides, and weighs between 136-169 grams.
Although unusual, research on the cerebellum is nothing new. Over two hundred years ago, scientists started analysing the cerebellum by studying people with cerebellum damage. Subjects often had trouble keeping their balance or would have difficulty reaching for objects. Later, evidence was found that cerebellum damage could have other effects, including difficulty in learning new words or skills.
Crucially, the posterior cerebellum has a critical role in human social and emotional learning and decision making. Three systems and related neural networks support this cerebellar function: a biological action observation system; a mentalising system for understanding a person’s mental and emotional state; and a limbic network supporting core emotional pleasure/displeasure and arousal processes. The study describes how these systems and networks support social and emotional learning via connections initiating and terminating in the posterior cerebellum and cerebral neocortex.
Professor Van Overwalle’s research tests the hypothesis that a major function of the cerebellum is to identify and encode temporal sequences of events. Researchers believe that this function might help to fine-tune and automatise social and emotional learning. The study discusses tests conducted using neuroimaging and non-invasive stimulation that provide evidence for cerebellar sequencing, as well as accounts of the cerebellum’s role in these social and emotional processes.
For decades, the cerebellum was primarily associated with motor coordination, Professor Van Overwalle explains: “People with cerebellar abnormalities often experience motor issues. For example, they struggle to smoothly touch their nose with a finger. These difficulties highlight the cerebellum’s essential role in refining motor movements.”
The research extends beyond motor functions, exploring the cerebellum’s involvement in social and cognitive abilities. Professor Van Overwalle’s findings reveal that abnormalities in the cerebellum not only lead to motor deficits but are also linked to emotional and behavioral disorders. According to Professor Van Overwalle, research on individuals with autism demonstrates how non-invasive brain stimulation techniques like magnetic stimulation can improve social task performance.
Another breakthrough highlighted in the study is the use of transcranial electrical stimulation (tES), a cheaper and more accessible technique compared to magnetic stimulation. While the effects of tES are still limited, the research group is committed to further development, seeing its potential for wide-scale application in the future.
“Our hope is to refine these techniques further to improve social and cognitive functions in people with autism,” Professor Van Overwalle says.
Source: Social and emotional learning in the cerebellum by Frank Van Overwalle, 21 October 2024, Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
Technology could trick the brain into thinking it’s time to stop eating
by Heather Allen
Could the VIBES pill be the weight loss technology we have been waiting for? Image: Adobe Stock
We are almost at the end of January, and by now many of our New Year’s Resolutions for 2024 have gone by the wayside. That gym card hides at the back of the wallet, the tracksuit gathers dust in the wardrobe, and the new trainers nestle undisturbed in their box. Meanwhile, telling ourselves it’s too cold to diet, we are too stressed, upset, or ‘the diet starts next week,’ we pile the sweet treats and fat-laden snacks onto our plates and into our mouths. We know that, if we seriously want to lose weight, we will have to put down the cake and pull on the trainers. Whatever diet and exercise combo we decide on, action needs to be taken, and we don’t expect it to be easy.
Indeed, as obesity rises through the western world, scientists have stepped up the search for ways to make weight loss easier. One possible solution has been developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Engineers at MIT have designed the VIBES pill, an ingestible capsule that vibrates inside the stomach and creates a sense of fullness. The technology relies on the signals sent by the stomach to the brain when a large meal has been eaten. Researchers say that swallowing the capsule before a meal could trick the brain into thinking it’s time to stop eating, offering a minimally invasive, cost-effective way to treat obesity.
Dr Shriya Srinivasan, a former MIT graduate student and now assistant professor of bioengineering at Harvard University, is the lead author of the new study. Dr Giovanni Traverso, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT and a gastroenterologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is the senior author of the paper. “For somebody who wants to lose weight or control their appetite, it could be taken before each meal,” Dr Srinivasan said. “This could be really interesting in that it would provide an option that could minimise the side effects that we see with the other pharmacological treatments out there.”
The pill’s mechanism works with the body’s response to satiety. When the stomach becomes distended, specialised cells called mechanoreceptors detect the stretching and send signals to the brain via the vagus nerve. When the signals are received, the brain stimulates production of insulin, as well as hormones such as C-peptide, Pyy, and GLP-1. All of these hormones work together to help people digest their food, feel full, and stop eating. At the same time, levels of ghrelin, a hunger-promoting hormone, go down.
While a graduate student at MIT, Dr Srinivasan became interested in the idea of controlling this process, using vibration to artificially stretch the mechanoreceptors that line the stomach. Previous research had shown that vibration applied to a muscle can induce a sense that the muscle has stretched farther than it actually has. For this study, Dr Srinivasan, Dr Traverso, and a team of researchers designed a capsule about the size of a multivitamin, that includes a vibrating element. The pill was designed to be orally ingested, to activate upon submersion in gastric fluid, to vibrate with sufficient amplitude to stimulate the gastric nerves, and to pass safely through the gastrointestinal tract. When the pill, powered by a small silver oxide battery, reaches the stomach, gastric fluids dissolve a gelatinous membrane that covers the capsule, completing the electronic circuit that activates the vibrating motor. After a set time period, the pill is safely excreted.
The VIBES pill could offer an affordable solution to obesity. Image courtesy of the researchers, MIT news
The VIBES pill was tested on a group of ten Yorkshire pigs, as a pig’s gastric anatomy is similar to humans. The pill’s effects were evaluated across a total of 108 meals. The researchers found that, as expected, once the pill begins vibrating, it activates mechanoreceptors in the stomach, which send signals to the brain through stimulation of the vagus nerve. The researchers tracked hormone levels during the periods when the device was vibrating and found that they mirrored the hormone release patterns seen following a meal, even when the animals had fasted.
The researchers then tested the effects of this stimulation on the animals’ appetite. They found that when the pill was activated for 20 minutes before the animals were offered food, they consumed 40 per cent less, on average, than when the pill was not activated. The animals also gained weight more slowly during periods when they were treated with the vibrating pill.
The VIBES pill is designed to vibrate for 30 minutes after being swallowed, but the researchers are hoping to develop a version which remains in the stomach for longer periods of time, where it could be turned on and off wirelessly. In the animal studies, the pills passed through the digestive tract within four or five days. The study also found that the animals did not show any signs of obstruction, perforation, or other negative impacts while the pill was in their digestive tract.
Dr Srinivasan believes that the capsules could offer an affordable solution to the obesity crisis, as they could be manufactured at a cost that would make them available to people who do not have access to more expensive treatment options. “At scale, our device could be manufactured at a pretty cost-effective price point,” she said. “I’d love to see how this would transform care and therapy for people in global health settings who may not have access to some of the more sophisticated or expensive options that are available today.”
The researchers now plan to explore ways to scale up the manufacturing of the capsules, which could enable clinical trials in humans. Such studies would be important to learn more about the devices’ safety, as well as determine the best time to swallow the capsule before a meal and how often it would need to be administered.
Other authors of the paper include Amro Alshareef, Alexandria Hwang, Ceara Byrne, Johannes Kuosmann, Keiko Ishida, Joshua Jenkins, Sabrina Liu, Wiam Abdalla Mohammed Madani, Alison Hayward, and Niora Fabian. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Novo Nordisk, the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT, a Schmidt Science Fellowship, and the National Science Foundation in the US.
The paper, ‘A vibrating ingestible bioelectronic stimulator modulates gastric stretch receptors for illusory satiety’ can be accessed at https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adj3003
Floating free: the inflatable antenna at an altitude of 20 kilometres. (Image: Sent into Space)
The secrets of the universe’s origin came one step closer earlier this month with the successful first test of a new inflatable radio antenna.
Niels Vertegaal, a PhD candidate from Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is developing the antenna to help him realise his goal of examining the origins of the universe. The telescope will operate from the far side of the moon, free from earthly interference, which will enable it to detect these signals. The Big Bang theory sets the origins of the universe at around 13.8 billion years ago, within the scope of the antenna, which can capture faint, 14 billion-year-old signals in space.
The experiment was conducted in Sheffield, England, where Mr Vertegaal enlisted the help of the company Sent into Space, who specialise in executing and supervising this type of experiment. On 6th December, the weather conditions were favourable to allow the prototype inflatable radio telescope and weather balloon to climb into the stratosphere to an altitude of 30 kilometres. Once the weather balloon reached 20 kilometres, the antenna started to unfold. At 30 kilometers, with the air getting thinner and thinner, the balloon started to bloat, due to the pressure difference. Eventually, according to plan, the balloon tore, and a parachute then brought the equipment safely back to the ground.
During the experiment, the antenna did unfold completely, but later than Mr Vertegaal had expected. However, the antenna was operational for long enough for him to run enough measurements to determine whether the antenna was functioning properly.
Following the test, Mr Vertegaal said: “I still need to analyse the data, but I already saw that the antenna does work. Either way, I’m happy with how everything went.”
So why an inflatable antenna? It’s all down to cost, Mr Vertegaal explains: “Because every gram that goes into space is very costly. So the question is how you can make an antenna that’s large in space, but very small and light when it’s launched. In a vacuum you only need a tiny bit of air to inflate something.”
When launched, the antenna is contained in a small (ten centimetre) cube. Inside is a paper-thin film, which measures one metre square when unfolded. The film is covered by a two-micrometre thick conductive layer of copper, which functions as a radio receiver. The process of unfolding the antenna is conducted by blowing compressed air into its arms, followed by a small dose of CO₂. Prior to the experiment, Mr Vertegaal released a video of laboratory tests, where the antenna resembles a balloon being inflated, slowly revealing its final shape.
A consortium, which includes Radboud University Nijmegen and TU/e, is working on submitting a proposal to the European Space Agency. The goal is to use an inflatable antenna as a radio telescope on the far side of the moon.
“I really hope that space exploration missions to the moon will end up embracing this idea,” Mr Vertegaal said. “With an antenna that can capture ultralow frequencies behind the moon, free from interference from earth, we expect to gather information on the origins of the universe.”
Futuristic project has courted controversy from the beginning
By Heather Allen
Drokk that: An artist’s impression of The Line, Saudi Arabia’s futuristic mega city project. Picture: NEOM
How would you like to live in this stunning new residence, which when it’s completed will be over 170 kilometres long, 200 metres wide, and taller than the Empire State Building?
Boasting extensive views of the Red Sea, this sci-fi utopia is The Line, currently being built in the Tabuk province of north-western Saudi Arabia, and it’s apparently going to be a ‘model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability’. Don’t fancy it? But it’s going to be carbon neutral! There will be no cars to pollute and endanger, and everything you could ever need will be within a five-minute walk. You can even look forward to robot maids and flying taxis, if the rumours are true. You sure you wouldn’t fancy it? No?
That’s a shame, because The Line is Saudi Arabia’s ‘linear city of the future’ and is expected to accommodate nine million people when it’s finished. That would not include anyone from my household, however. A quick straw poll of my nearest and dearest led to mutters of ‘eyesore’ and wrinkled noses. But British families used to British architecture are not the targets for this planned development, which is just as well. No, it’s aimed at the ‘cosmopolitan elite’, if the blurb is to be believed.
The designs were launched last week by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince and de facto ruler, Mohammad bin Salman, a year and a half after the initial plans for the development were announced, live on Saudi TV, in January 2021. The megacity will consist of two parallel structures stretching over 170km (105 miles) running partly along the coastline of the Red Sea. These skyscrapers will be 500m (1,640ft) tall, and the complex will be a mere 200m (656ft) wide by comparison. Sitting on the edge of one of the world’s most prominent shipping lanes, the entire city will cover an area of just 13 square miles – roughly equivalent to the area covered by the combined districts of Westminster, Chelsea and Kensington in London.
According to a hi-tech promotional video that would rival the best efforts of George Lucas and Industrial Light & Magic, The Line will be powered by 100 per cent renewable energy and feature ‘a year-round temperate micro-climate with natural ventilation’. Its residents will not be able to have cars, as there will be no roads to drive them on, or indeed, car parks to park them in. This won’t matter though, according to the architects, because all supermarkets and essential services will be ‘a five-minute walk’ away, either up, down or across the city. Multiple communities will be housed within the glass façade, and residents will be able to ‘organically’ bump into each other as they go about their lives. The Line will also have an underground high-speed train that will allow citizens to go from one end of the city to the other in under 20 minutes, and will maintain an ‘ideal’ climate all year round because of its mix of shade, sunlight and ventilation. Underground tunnels will also be used for deliveries and utilities, so there won’t be pesky, smelly lorries messing things up. It is also rumoured that The Line will have an artificial moon, robot maids and flying taxis – presumably solar powered.
In case your sci-fi senses are tingling at the word ‘megacity’ commonly used in reference to this project, then like me you are probably thinking of Mega-City One, a fictional city which features in the 2000AD and Judge Dredd franchises. Mega-City One is a fictional post-nuclear megalopolis covering much of the Eastern United States and some of Canada. It is formed of colossal city blocks, each one of which is a town in itself. Each block possesses a hospital, gymnasium, school, and shopping district. A citizen can live their whole lives without leaving their block. The parallels are obviously unintentional, and will doubtless end there and not progress to the fate of the fictional Mega-City One, which, as fans will know, was not a happy one.
Saudi projections state that 1.5 million people will live in The Line by 2030 – in just eight years’ time. The Line will cost approximately £262bn to build, a chunk of which will be funded by the Crown Prince himself, as well as the Saudi government, the Saudi Public Investment Fund, and local and international investors. The project is expected to create 380,000 jobs.
The Line is part of the NEOM city project, an £830bn initiative owned by Saudi Arabia’s Sovereign Wealth Fund. The project is headed by the Crown Prince and launched by HRH in October 2017, just four months after his tenure began. NEOM is expected to harness solar and wind energy, and sources say that it will also house the world’s largest green hydrogen plant. Among other initiatives, the project will include a manufacturing and innovation city, called Oxagon, and, incredibly, an outdoor skiing destination in the Arabian Gulf. NEOM is part of Saudi Vision 2030, the stated aims of which are to diversify the country’s economy (not least by attracting more visitors) and to reduce its dependence on oil. The entire NEOM project area extends to the Aqaba Gulf, and includes 468km of coastline with beaches and coral reefs, as well as mountains up to 2,500 metres high. Analysts at The Washington Post have stated that the entire project will be built in phases, and will be completed around 2050: another 28 years.
No firm details have yet been released concerning the environmental impact of the construction. However, the project’s leaders have said that they plan to use digital designs and industrial-scale construction to speed up the building of The Line, and are keen to flag up how they are offsetting the environmental impact. One such initiative is NEOM’s project to plant 100 million native trees, shrubs and grasses by 2030, which they say will aid the restoration of degraded land and the repair of wildlife habitats, and will form part of NEOM’s program to rehabilitate 1.5 million hectares of land. The outer mirror façade of The Line is meant to allow the construction to blend into its environment – because a pair of parallel 170km long, 500-metre-tall mirrors are exactly what you expect to find in the desert, are they not? Concept designs include integrated vertical farming, a yacht marina (of course), and a sports stadium built 305m (1000ft) above ground.
Announcing the designs for The Line, the Crown Prince said: “The designs revealed today for the city’s vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities and create a model for nature preservation and enhanced human livability. The Line will tackle the challenges facing humanity in urban life today and will shine a light on alternative ways to live.” According to the Crown Prince, the project is, “a civilisational revolution that puts humans first, providing an unprecedented urban living experience while preserving the surrounding nature.”
Before you start to wonder why the British Royal Family aren’t putting their hands in their pockets to build such a fantastic project for the good of the people, remember, this is Saudi Arabia we’re talking about. As you would expect, it’s not so simple as all that, nor as benign.
To start with, some experts are sceptical about whether The Line can or should be built at all. Torbjorn Soltvedt, Principal Analyst, Middle East and North Africa, at global risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said: “The feasibility of Neom as a whole is still unclear given the unprecedented scale and cost of the project.” This scepticism was echoed by Carlosfelipe Pardo, Senior Adviser to the New Urban Mobility Alliance, who voiced his concerns to news outlet NPR about the idea of building new cities from scratch, rather than aiming to solve the problems in existing developments. Pardo points out that the idea of solving urban problems by creating a city from scratch isn’t new, as it has been tried before, from Brasília and India’s Chandigarh to Malaysia’s Putrajaya. “This solution is a little bit like wanting to live on Mars because things on Earth are very messy,” he said. Despite starting with a clean slate, such elaborate urban plans have usually “created new urban settings where problems have also arisen,” Pardo points out. While he grants that the approach can tackle typical city challenges head-on, Pardo says that it will not help people already living with problems elsewhere, and is concerned that The Line’s high-tech approach ignores people’s desire to simply go outside, to experience something in a city that isn’t man-made. “This seems impossible, greatly limited or just plain artificial,” he said – a sentiment which partly explains the negative gut reaction to developments such as this among nature-loving people. He does, however, ring a note of hope, albeit a faint one: “I’m sure several characteristics of this design could be integrated into existing cities, and it would be great to have a way of doing so.” Benefits? Maybe. But the story doesn’t end there.
More concerning than the merely practical is how the rhetoric of ‘enhanced human livability’ clashes with the hard truths of human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia. From the beginning, the project was beset by controversy, because 20,000 people will be forced to relocate as a result of its construction. These residents are members of the Huwaiti tribe, who have lived in the Tabuk province for centuries and who can trace their lineage to before the founding of Saudi Arabia itself. However, none of the official statements regarding the project have even acknowledged the existence of the tribespeople. Certainly, there is no evidence of any attempt to rehouse or compensate them.
More alarming still is the news that tribal activist and Tabuk province resident Abdul Rahim al-Huwaiti, who made several videos protesting against these evictions, was shot dead in October 2020 by Saudi security forces after refusing to leave his home. Alya Alhwaiti, a human rights activist from the same tribe but based in London, circulated the videos, in which al-Huwaiti said he would defy the eviction orders, though he expected Saudi authorities would plant weapons in his house to incriminate him. He was later killed by Saudi security forces, who claimed he had opened fire on them. This version of events was disputed by Alya Alhwaiti, who stated that al-Huwaiti did not own firearms. Eight cousins of al-Huwaiti were later arrested for protesting against the eviction order. However, the tribe assert that they are not opposed to the development of NEOM, but simply do not want to be evicted from their traditional homeland. Alya Alhwaiti also claims to have received death threats in relation to her role as spokesperson, which have been reported to British police. Interestingly, prior to the evictions, in June 2020, the Crown Prince signed a contract worth $1.7 million with a US public relations and lobbying firm to counter the criticism and controversies around the NEOM city project. Following on, in November 2020, British lawyers representing the displaced tribe urged the then British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab to boycott the G20 Summit in Saudi Arabia, arguing that Britain has a moral imperative to take a stand in defence of the tribe and to confront Saudi Arabia over its human rights issues. Indeed, pressing questions persist about how tightly Western countries should embrace Saudi Arabia and the Crown Prince, whom the US claims approved the 2018 operation in Istanbul, Turkey, which ended with the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents.
This all makes for uncomfortable reading. But, you may ask, at least the management of NEOM will treat their employees fairly, if they want a job well done? Right? You would think so, but sadly,his does not seem to be the case either. The CEO of the NEOM project, Nadhmi Al-Nasr, was reported by former employees for promoting a management culture that ‘belittled’ expatriates, made unrealistic demands, and neglected discrimination in the workplace, according to reports in Bloomberg Businessweek and The Wall Street Journal. The resignation letter of a former chief executive, Andrew Wirth, accused Nasr’s leadership of being “consistently inclusive of disparagement and inappropriately dismissive and demeaning outbursts”. Nasr, still CEO at the time of writing, was appointed by the Crown Prince and given the responsibility to lead NEOM, and has been accused during his tenure of berating and scaring his employees, as confirmed by present and former staff members. Anthony Harris, a former director of innovation at NEOM’s education team, accused the Crown Prince of a faulty workplace culture since, he says: “Nadhmi takes his cue from his boss and everyone else at NEOM takes their cue from Nadhmi.” In a recording heard by The Wall Street Journal, Nasr once said at a meeting: “I drive everybody like a slave, when they drop down dead, I celebrate. That’s how I do my projects.”
It’s looking less and less attractive, isn’t it? But at least it’s good for the environment. Isn’t it? Well, funny you should say that. While the project’s supporters tout The Line’s zero emissions and a smaller footprint than conventional cities, critics note that those utopian ideals will come at an environmental price, as would be expected due to an entirely new city being created in the desert. Conservationists have also pointed out that a 170km long, 500-metre-high skyscraper straddling migration paths will potentially devastate bird populations, while the impact of the construction itself, plus the placing of two gigantic mirrors under intense sunlight in the desert, are also likely to cause environmental damage.
But surely it will be good for residents, if nothing else? After all, some sources say that it will be run according to ‘progressive laws that are compatible with international norms and conducive to economic growth’ Also, in an apparent effort to ease potential residents’ concerns about living under the kingdom’s restrictive laws, a NEOM tourism official recently told the Saudi Gazette that residents would be called ‘Neomians’ and would be subject to different rules than the rest of the country. After the predictable interest in this comment, NEOM then strenuously backpedalled by denying the idea, saying that while the area would be a special economic zone, it would still be part of the kingdom and “subject to all rules … related to security, defence and border protection”.
So, there we have it. A technological marvel, certainly, if it ever gets built, and with some possible benefits to residents – but given the cost to humanity and the environment, is it really worth it? The world will decide. Meanwhile, my family and I, un-elite, non-cosmopolitan as we apparently are, will be sticking to our British brick-built home, in Britain. You know where you are with bricks.
Cosmic heartbeat offers clues to expansion of universe
By Heather Allen
Cosmos calling: The CHIME radio telescope (source: CHIME/MIT)
Life on Earth is beginning to look like the opening pages of a science fiction novel, and a dystopian one at that. We’ve had an unprecedented heatwave in the UK, with parliament fiddling while London burns. The ice caps are melting as the poles heat up, we’ve had a devastating pandemic with rumblings of more to come, plus a smorgasbord of anomalous floods, earthquakes, wars, political unrest and other unsettling shenanigans across the globe. Business as usual in the 21st Century.
Meanwhile, in chapter two of 2022: The Novel, a whole host of fascinating and occasionally alarming scientific discoveries and innovations are emerging. Google’s AI chatbot has been accused of gaining sentience, quantum computers are in production (although as yet prohibitively expensive for the likes of us), and nanobots are being developed which are capable of crawling around inside the cells of your body. Asimov would be rubbing his hands together with glee (while no doubt nervously reminding us about his Three Laws of Robotics).
On the astronomical level, it seems only a matter of time before life is discovered on other planets – or it discovers us. We all gasp at the shiny images from the James Webb Space Telescope, obviously superior to the Hubble, in a world where anyone who lives in a city can barely see any stars in the night sky. It seems pure arrogance to assume that there’s no other sentient life out there.
Into this landscape comes the latest discovery by astronomers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the same educational institution which in 1972 predicted that society would collapse in the mid 21st century (we’re ahead of schedule on that, but that’s another story). Astronomers at MIT, along with colleagues in Canada and across the USA, have detected a fast radio burst (FSB) coming from a distant galaxy which appears to be flashing with surprising regularity. The signal persists for up to three seconds, which is around 1,000 times longer than the average FRB. Within this three-second window, MIT astronomers have detected bursts of radio waves that repeat every 0.2 seconds in a clear periodic pattern, like a cosmic heartbeat. Researchers have given the signal the snappy label FRB 20191221A, and it is the longest-lasting FRB, with the clearest periodic pattern, detected to date.
This unusual, persistent radio signal originates from a distant galaxy several billion light years from Earth. What that source might be is uncertain, but astronomers believe that the signal emanates from either a radio pulsar or a magnetar, both types of neutron stars – extremely dense, rapidly spinning collapsed cores of giant stars. Whatever it is, it’s certainly got the attention of Earthlings.
“There are not many things in the universe that emit strictly periodic signals,” Dr Daniele Michilli, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said. “Examples that we know of in our own galaxy are radio pulsars and magnetars, which rotate and produce a beamed emission similar to a lighthouse. And we think this new signal could be a magnetar or pulsar on steroids.”
The team hopes to detect more periodic signals from this source, which they say could be used in future as an astrophysical clock. The frequency of the bursts, and how they change as the source moves away from Earth, could be used to measure the rate at which the universe is expanding.
Since the first FRB was discovered in 2007, hundreds of similar radio flashes have been detected across the universe, most recently by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment, (CHIME), an interferometric radio telescope consisting of four large parabolic reflectors.
CHIME is designed to pick up radio waves emitted by hydrogen in the very earliest stages of the universe. The telescope is sensitive to fast radio bursts and has identified hundreds of new FRBs. The vast majority of these FRBs are one-offs. However, FRB 20191221A, first picked up on December 21 2019, was not. This signal consisted of a four-day window of random bursts that were then repeated every 16 days.
After analysing FRB 20191221A’s radio bursts, Dr Michilli and his colleagues found similarities with emissions from radio pulsars and magnetars in our own galaxy – except that FRB 20191221A was more than a million times brighter.
“It was unusual,” Dr Michilli said in a classic astrophysicist understatement. “Not only was it very long, lasting about three seconds, but there were periodic peaks that were remarkably precise, emitting every fraction of a second – boom, boom, boom – like a heartbeat. This is the first time the signal itself is periodic.
“CHIME has now detected many FRBs with different properties. We’ve seen some that live inside clouds that are very turbulent, while others look like they’re in clean environments. From the properties of this new signal, we can say that around this source, there’s a cloud of plasma that must be extremely turbulent.”
The astronomers hope to catch additional bursts from the periodic FRB 20191221A, which they say will help to refine their understanding of its source and of neutron stars in general. The James Webb Space Telescope will be a big help in this enterprise, just as the Hubble space telescope has been in the past, and reveal new clues about the origins of the universe.
It’s only a matter of time before we discover that something in the universe is looking right back at us. Hopefully they will send a message if they’re popping over for a visit, and a fast radio burst seems the ideal way for a space consciousness to get in touch. True, FRB 20191221A is unlikely to be an alien ‘Hello’, but it’s proof enough that the technology exists to pick up communications from deep space. Let’s just hope that, when it happens, we recognise it for what it is and are able to act appropriately.
What do you think about when you picture a robot? A shining metal man? A factory production line machine? Maybe you picture a remote-controlled cleaning device, a self-driving car, or even a security bot?
These are all traditional, hard robots – inflexible constructions which are limited in their application, partly due to the safety problems they pose to human beings. However, a new field of robotics is emerging which takes these issues into account, offering countless potential applications from medicine and surgery to machine repair. This is soft robotics.
The field of soft robotics concerns the creation of robots constructed of compliant materials and flexible links rather than the familiar rigid-bodied robots made of metals, ceramics and hard plastics. Now, researchers at the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) are exploring the multiple potentialities of soft robotics, including artificial hearts and micro-bots to perform surgery and dispense medicines. The team of researchers is led by Bas Overvelde, associate professor within the Soft Robotics Group (part of the Mechanical Engineering faculty) and scientific group leader of the Soft Robotic Matter Group at AMOLF. In 2020, Overvelde received a five-year ERC start-up grant of more than €1.5 million to increase the application perspective of soft robots. The project brings together researchers from different disciplines and faculties at TU/e, such as Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering.
“Scientifically, it’s an incubator for new directions and research,” Overvelde said. “It’s a great topic that brings researchers together, which continually generates new ideas. Such an interdisciplinary approach is characteristic of a new science with which we are pioneering in all kinds of areas: materials, mechanical intelligence, interaction with humans, design. Precisely because it requires a very different way of thinking that goes more towards the intelligence of nature. It’s a form of artificial intelligence.”
A key feature of soft robotics compared to hard robotics is its autonomous adaptability. The complex shapes and deformable bodies made possible with soft robots bring their own challenges, as they are less predictable and require new design methods to get them to perform desired functions. Traditional robots have hinge points, hard moving parts and interfaces, which makes them suitable for repetitive actions and programmable sequences.
Jaap Den Toonder, leader of research section Microsystems, explains: “Soft robots respond to stimuli such as air pressure or light. Their movements result from the reaction and deformation of the material, which is where the intelligence lies. That leaves a lot of room for complex possibilities. That’s why a whole chain of research disciplines is needed: to devise and develop the right materials (chemistry), to make the mechanical design and to direct and control the systems (mechanical engineering).”
The softness and flexibility of soft robots makes them ideal for human interaction, as Overvelde points out: “A soft robot will never squeeze your hand. The power of hard robotics makes collaboration between humans and robots more difficult, so soft robotics is a way to make that interaction safer. In the slipstream, that also helps social acceptance, because soft robots are closer to us. What is more likely to be accepted in our bodies; a hard pump or a beating object that resembles a natural heart? Such questions must ultimately be tested.”
Miguel Burns of the Faculty of Industrial Design agrees. He says: “Soft materials fit humans better than hard, mechanical ones. But what makes it especially innovative are the dynamic properties that the use of new materials entails. This makes it possible to manipulate physical properties in a controlled way and adapt them to the needs of the user, such as humans. Although animals, plants or buildings can also be users for that matter. That adaptive nature is the interesting thing about soft robotics.”
Another useful application for soft robotics is in the field of haptics, which concerns perception through the hands. This is the field of researcher Irene Kuling of research section Dynamics and Control. She says: “We are currently using soft robotics in two ways: the development of a hand that imitates human movements as lifelike as possible, and the development of objects with which we can provide haptic feedback to people from a distance. In other words: feeling without being present. Think, for example, of maintenance in a nuclear power plant, giving a hand via video calling, or digitally touching curtains before ordering them online.
“A lot has already happened in that area, such as 3D images, sharper pixels or surround sound, but in terms of sensing, very little exists. Soft robotics is changing that and we are just at the beginning. With traditional robotics we think very much in performance terms, whereas with soft robotics we can be much more creative. Who knows, it might lead to a real life Barbapapa, something that can turn into both light and heavy objects.”
The possible applications of soft robotics are wide-ranging, but naturally limited. However, as researcher Danqing Liu from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry points out, the limitations themselves present even further opportunities: “Since soft robotics lacks the power of hard robotics, we need to turn the differences into an advantage. Such as the combination of moving surfaces with dynamic coatings, which allows us to use vibration to clean hard-to-reach objects without water. For example, solar panels, or think of the Mars Rover, which has to deal with sandstorms. NASA has already encouraged us several times to work out this principle further to meet the extreme conditions in space.
“Also in the field of haptics, with coatings on screens that allow you to feel what is happening in another place. That’s valuable for blind people, or for surgeons to experience what’s happening in the body. Another application is a control panel in cars that allows you to regulate functions without looking, so that you continue to pay attention on the road. Soon we’ll actually be able to do two things at once. If we apply this form of touch sensation feedback on a large scale, it will have a huge impact on the human machine interface. We’re going to change the world.”
One of the questions addressed by researchers is how to bring intelligence to the point where soft robots react autonomously, for example to their environment or to chemical substances. Among other applications, this would enable soft robots to perform surgery and repairs, Den Toonder points out: “Ultimately, we want to make robots on a microscopic scale, smaller than a hair’s breadth, that walk through the body and deliver drugs locally or do surgery. Or that perform repairs in complex machines with very small parts.”
The possible applications don’t stop there. Edible robots could be created which are capable of changing shape to deliver drugs or nutrients at a specific location. Plant-based foods could simulate meat, such as 3D printed algae-based hydrogel ‘bacon’ which reacts like the real thing when cooked.
So what, then, is a robot? Will we one day get to the stage where, as Isaac Asimov says in I, Robot, ‘You just can’t differentiate between a robot and the very best of humans’, or will there always be a clear and discernible difference between robot and human; between the organic and inorganic? One thing is certain: our concept of what a robot is will need to be as flexible as the new generation of robots themselves.
