131. Lab-Grown Blood Transfusion, Breast Cancer Vaccine Trials, Microplastic Eating Robot Fish

Summary: Show Notes: First human patients receive transfusions of lab-grown blood cells | New Atlas (01:01)  For the first time ever, human patients have received transfusions of blood cells that were grown from stem cells in a lab  Revolutionize blood transfusions Blood donations are life saving, but the demand outweighs the supply But only 13.6 million units of whole blood and red blood cells are collected in the U.S. in a year. According to the Red Cross, only about 3% of age-eligible people donate blood yearly. Nearly 16 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S. Approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed every day in the U. S.  An attractive alternative would be large-scale production of red blood cells in labs, which can be tuned to have whichever blood type is needed.  The new clinical trial, named RESTORE, is designed to test the safety of transfusions of these manufactured blood cells, as well as how long they last in the body. Lab-grown blood  is all made “fresh,” so it should all reliably last up to 120 days. For people with conditions that require regular blood transfusions, such as sickle cell, the longer lifespan of the cells should help give them longer gaps between transfusions.  The RESTORE trial will involve at least 10 participants receiving “mini” transfusions of blood, containing just 5 to 10 ml (one to two teaspoons) of red blood cells. So far, two participants have received transfusions of lab-grown blood cells as part of the trial, with the scientists reporting that they have shown no untoward side effects. While this is a major milestone towards that goal, there’s still much more work to do before blood transfusions are regularly lab-grown This clear window coating could cool buildings without using energy | Electrek (06:41) Scientists have used advanced computing tech and AI to design a clear window coating that could lower the temperature inside buildings. Saving a whole lot of cooling energy. Cooling accounts for about 15% of global energy consumption, and it’s only going to get hotter, especially in more tropical climates. The sun’s ultraviolet and near-infrared light are the parts of the solar spectrum that pass through window glass to heat an enclosed room. Why a car gets hot sitting in the sun. If you block that light energy the amount of cooling needed would be reduced According to their new paper, researchers from University of Notre Dame in Indiana and Kyung Hee University in Seoul, successfully designed a clear window coating, or “transparent radiative cooler” (TRC). According to the report,  “[The team] optimized the type, order, and combination of layers using an iterative approach guided by machine learning and quantum computing, which stores data using subatomic particles” Using this quantum method allowed the team to carry out the optimization process faster. Which eventually, “produced a coating design that, when fabricated, beat the performance of conventionally designed TRCs in addition to one of the best commercial heat-reduction glasses on the market.” Through heat simulations of the TRC as a potential window material for a standard office with two windows they were able to figure out roughly the heat savings. 31.1% of the cooling energy consumption when conventional windows are used. The average annual energy saving over the surveyed U.S. cities is 50 MJ/m2 In cities with hot, dry weather the TRC can potentially save around 86.3 MJ/m2 per year. There’s no indication of commercial scaling in the study, but the researchers write that the film “can be potentially scaled up for practical applications because their fabrication can be achieved using state-of-the-art deposition techniques.” Experimental breast cancer vaccine passes first human trials   | New Atlas (12:19) I don’t like using the term vaccine for these types of treatments. It is more of cell/protein therapy so I’ll put that out t