In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we look at more expansive research cuts planned by the Trump Administration, advancements in the world of nuclear fusion, creating transparent wood and more. You can sign up to get The Prototype in your inbox here.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy plans to drastically reduce the size of his department by 10,000 jobs— beyond the 10,000 eliminated by voluntary layoffs. The sackings will hit major scientific areas such as the National Institutes of Health and the Center for Disease Control. HHS has also begun terminating research grants related to Covid-19. Meanwhile, an email reviewed by Forbes indicates that NIH is terminating some awards under its “All of Us” program, which aims to ensure that underrepresented populations are included in medical research–something Kennedy claimed was of importance to him during his confirmation hearings.
These cuts to medical research come on the heels of reports earlier this month that the Environmental Protection Agency may be eliminating its entire scientific research office and laying off some 1,000 employees. This office is responsible for developing the scientific foundation for rules protecting the health of humans and the environment.
Also potentially on the chopping block: the team at the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology responsible for ensuring that atomic measurement data is maintained. While that sounds obscure, the team’s work is foundational for advanced technological research in areas like computer chip manufacturing and medical diagnostic devices.
The United States’ science loss may be Europe’s gain. Universities in France and other nations on that continent are establishing programs to recruit American scientists, reports The New York Times. “Several European countries are responding to this and are going to attract international scientific talent,” said Dutch minister of education, culture and science Eppo Bruins.
Stay tuned.
Fusion Power Projects Move Foward
Commonwealth Fusion Systems, which has raised nearly $2 billion from investors like Bill Gates and George Soros, announced this week that it’s begun assembling its pilot fusion reactor, SPARC. The company is building a tokamak style reactor, a donut shaped container for high-energy particles that uses electromagnets to generate the nuclear fusion reaction that will eventually produce electricity. Commonwealth’s goal for SPARC is to generate more power from the reaction than it takes to create it, which could put it on track to have a working fusion power plant by the mid-2030s.
Meanwhile in Canada, fusion power company General Fusion succeeded in creating a high-energy form of matter called plasma–a key step in the development of its prototype reactor. General Fusion is attempting to make fusion power using a process called magnetized target fusion, which uses magnetic fields to compress plasma to generate the heat needed for fusion. The company published the results of its effort this week in the peer-reviewed journal Nuclear Fusion.
The fusion news kept coming on Thursday, when Tennessee based Type One Energy published a series of peer-reviewed papers outlining the fundamental physics of its fusion power plant approach in the Journal of Plasma Physics. This company’s design is based on a “stellerator” concept first developed in the 1950s, which uses helical magnetic fields to confine the plasma needed to generate fusion. Abandoned as a practical fusion concept in the late-1960s, it came back into fashion a few years ago thanks to advances in technology. The company is building its first reactor at the site of a decommissioned coal power plant owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: TRANSPARENT WOOD
Researchers at Georgia’s Kennesaw State University have developed a remarkable new material: biodegradable, transparent wood. The process starts by treating a piece of balsa with bleach and other chemicals to remove portions of the wood and leaving behind porous cellulose. Inspired by ancient Indian methods of making cement, the scientists then refilled the pores with a mixture of egg whites, rice extract and a curing agent. The result is a flexible, durable material that might potentially one day replace plastics or glass for certain applications. And while the team wasn’t the first to make transparent wood, past methods have involved the use of non-biodegradable epoxies, making this team’s version more environmentally sustainable.
FINAL FRONTIER: SHOOTING ROCKETS AT THE NORTHERN LIGHTS
Earlier this week, NASA launched two sounding rockets to study an aurora that had suddenly appeared over the skies in Alaska. One rocket measured changes to air pressure and magnetic effects, while the other fired vapor traces through it. The goal of the experiments is to better understand how aurorae affect the upper parts of the atmosphere and to gather data geared toward better predicting space weather.
WHAT ELSE I WROTE THIS WEEK
I wrote about how attacks on mRNA vaccines by state and federal governments could potentially cost the U.S. the lead in developing vaccines and treatments for new diseases using this powerful technology.
In my other newsletter, InnovationRx, my colleague Amy Feldman and I looked at how proposed Medicaid cuts could reverse the trend of fewer fatal drug overdoses, 23andMe’s bankruptcy, the new nominee to head the CDC and more.
SCIENCE AND TECH TIDBITS
Waymo will begin offering its self-driving vehicle service in Washington, D.C., next year as the leading U.S. robotaxi company pushes to grow its business.
A lupus-related antibody appears to trigger the immune system into attacking aggressive tumors, which might prove to be a way to fight hard-to-treat cancers.
A team of roboticists figured out a way to 3D-print robots that can walk without any electronic components–they just need a compressed gas cartridge.
An AI-powered therapy chatbot improved mental health symptoms in patients enrolled in a randomized, controlled clinical trial of the software.
Researchers developed a nuclear battery that could potentially power devices for decades. It uses carbon-14, which emits very low-levels of radiation that’s easily shielded by aluminum.
PRO SCIENCE TIP: GET A BETTER MIC FOR YOUR ZOOM CALLS
Video calls have become a fact of life in the modern-day office, and while most of us have gotten used to looking good for the camera (and picking the right virtual background so people don’t see how messy our desks are), we may not be paying as much attention to how we sound. That could be a mistake, according to research published this week, which found that the “tinny” sound in a cheap microphone actually impacts people’s impressions of you, lowering listeners’ judgements of your credibility and intelligence. So if you’re doing a lot of video calls–or have a remote job interview coming up–it might be wise to invest in a better microphone.
WHAT’S ENTERTAINING ME THIS WEEK
I’ve been listening a lot lately to Almost Home, the new album from Ghost Hounds. I’m a fan of their other albums but this one might be their best. Over the course of its tracks, the seven-piece band effortlessly travels across blues, rock and country. Lead singer Savnt’s voice has incredible range over the course of the album and pairs well with guest vocalists Lainey Wilson and Patty Griffin. My favorite song on the album is “Broken Roses,” which sounds like a long-lost Rolling Stones track. It’s fantastic.
