by Don Basile | May 10, 2021 | Tech
The announcement on Jan. 27, 2021 that two companies, 3D Systems and United Therapeutics Corporation, had successfully bioprinted lungs — organs that, significantly, had vascular structures capable of sustaining them — represented the latest breakthrough in a burgeoning field, and another step toward the day when transplantable 3D organs become a reality.
The companies’ development involved 3D printing vascularized hydrogel scaffolding that can be suffused with living cells, which in turn will create tissue. Dr. Jeffrey Graves, 3D Systems’ president/CEO called the development “absolutely remarkable” in a news release, and his company plans to ramp up development of bioprinting solutions.
Another recent development in this sector saw researchers at Carnegie Mellon University employ a 3D printer to create a model of the human heart. The material that was used in this process, according to a Jan. 7 report on Medical Expo E-Mag, was extracted from seaweed.
Adam Feinberg, a professor of biomedical engineering and materials science at Carnegie Mellon, told Medical Expo that bioprinting a transplantable heart is “decades off,” but added that parts of that organ, like valves and sections of the ventricle, should be available “much sooner and have a major impact in that way in a matter of years.”
Advances like these have become commonplace throughout the medical field in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, which has presented new challenges and demanded innovative answers. But beyond that is the grim reality that there was a crying need for organ transplants, even before the outbreak. Over 108,000 U.S. patients were on waiting lists as of the end of January, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, and 20 people die every day for lack of a transplant.
But the aforementioned breakthroughs offer hope, as did such 2019 developments as the 3D printing of a rabbit-sized heart in Israel and a pancreas in Poland. There is every expectation that the momentum will be maintained, as indicated by predictions that the 3D bioprinting market size — which encompasses not just organ printing, but that of ventilators, COVID-19 test kits, etc. — will exceed $9.9 billion in 2026, up from $8.3 billion in 2020. That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 19 percent.
Two of the bigger challenges of creating transplantable 3D organs are differentiation (i.e., ensuring that a patient’s body accepts such organs) and, as mentioned earlier, vascularization. Researchers believe that the first issue can be solved by using the patient’s own stem cells to build a new organ, though Robby Bowles, a bioengineer at the University of Utah, told The Scientist that it’s not that simple — that it’s a matter of “coming together and producing complex patternings of cells and biomaterials together to produce different functions of the different tissues and organs.”
Research is ongoing in that realm, and developments like the one by 3D Systems/United Therapeutics make clear that vascularization is possible. As Courtney Gegg, a senior director of tissue engineering at Prellis Biologics, told The Scientist, a blood supply is vital to organs’ survival.
“It can’t just be this huge chunk of tissue,” she said.
That hurdle, at least, has been crossed, the latest sign of progress in a promising field. These latest developments show that the 3D bioprinting of transplantable organs will one day become a reality.
by Don Basile | May 3, 2021 | Tech
Quantum computing has long been regarded as the next “big thing.” Now it’s looming ever larger on the horizon, and graphene is part of the reason for that.
Dr. Rajamani Vijayaraghavan, head of the Quantum Measurement and Control Laboratory at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), told Swarajya Magazine in September 2020 that an everyday quantum computer — i.e., one “that is practical and commercial in nature,” as he put it — is still a “couple of years” down the road.
But there have been strides in that direction for several years, and experts relish all that these computers might have to offer. So grand is their processing power, in fact, that it is believed they will be able to meet some of the world’s greatest challenges in a fraction of the time it takes classical computers. They can hasten the development of environmentally friendly technology, for instance. They can shorten the timeline for the development of drugs and vaccines. They can make market forecasting more sophisticated and supply chains more efficient.
The caveat is that the quantum bit (i.e., the qubit), the basic building block of quantum computers, is notoriously sensitive to its environment. In fact, until last year they always had to be supercooled at minus-272 degrees C (1 kelvin). They simply could not operate at higher temperatures.
This is one of the places graphene could come into play. Researchers, already aware of the substance’s superconductivity, discovered in 2020 that graphene was the first material capable of serving simultaneously as a superconductor, insulator and ferromagnet. That resulted in the further revelation, in February 2021, that when three layers of graphene were twisted — one more layer than had previously been attempted — the material’s conductivity was enhanced to the point that scientists could envision them operating at room temperature.
Also in February 2021 came a further development in the field of valleytronics, which seeks to exploit a property in graphene known as “the valley,” which is not unlike the spin of electrons in other materials. This new method again involves twisting layers of graphene — this time two, instead of three — after they are placed between a ferromagnetic insulator. It is expected that this method will increase processing speeds.
A few months earlier, in October 2020, scientists discovered that a bolometer, a device that detects the tiniest of energy changes in quantum computers — changes that can negatively impact qubits — operated far more quickly and efficiently when it was made of graphene as opposed to gold palladium alloy, as had previously been the case.
Taken together, these developments indicate that we are drawing ever nearer to seeing quantum computers become a reality. While experts caution that there are “many, many hurdles yet to overcome,” these are promising strides in the right direction.
by Don Basile | Apr 23, 2021 | Tech
Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly impacted by cloud storage. Perhaps you begin your work day by opening a Google Doc or an email sent to you via Gmail. Both of those platforms are dependent upon cloud storage. Or perhaps you spend your lunch hour checking Facebook, Instagram or YouTube. All those platforms make use of it as well.
It’s all around us, whether we’re downloading cat videos or toiling away on a big project, and impacts us most directly when we want to back up or store our own personal data — as will increasingly be the case. Spurred by the advent of such cloud-storage systems as Google One, Amazon Cloud and OneDrive, the cloud storage market size is expected to be $49.13 billion in 2021, then jump to $297.54 billion by 2028, a CAGR of 25.3 percent.
Cloud storage is particularly popular in the business world, as some 85 percent of enterprises around the world use it.
But what is it, really?
It consists not of storage in some mystical place free of Earth’s bounds (as its name might suggest), but in far-off data centers, where files of all sizes are secured and backed up but also constantly accessible to owners via the Internet. In fact, users — who pay for the service either via subscription or on a per-consumption basis — can access their information courtesy of any device.
It is, in other words, a sizable step beyond storing information on thumb drives or external hard drives. It has also been particularly useful during the coronavirus pandemic, given many companies’ pivot to remote work. Files can be shared, and it is possible for multiple users to access a file at the same time. In other words, collaborative projects are a breeze when cloud storage is involved.
Security is, of course, a constant concern, especially given how much data is going to be out there in the years to come. While there were some 33 zettabytes of data (the equivalent of 33 trillion gigabytes) throughout the world in 2017, that total is expected to mushroom to 175 zettabytes in 2025. And rest assured that cybercriminals are always lurking.
The countermeasures adopted by cloud servers are considerable. Most take steps such as encrypting files, storing them behind firewalls, and availing users of two-factor authentication. Some even resort to artificial intelligence to scan their system for weak spots.
In addition, most services make multiple copies of files and store them at various data centers — a practice known as redundancy — to preclude their loss in a natural disaster. A 2019 report even noted that there are occasions where these services back up data on magnetic tape, often considered a relic of a bygone era but actually a reliable, secure means of storage.
The long and short of it is that we continue to be enveloped by the cloud. It is all around us, at all times, and enables us not only to store an ever-increasing amount of data, but also to access and share it. All of that is valuable — particularly the latter, and particularly now.
by Don Basile | Dec 10, 2020 | Tech
3D printing is not just a matter of bigger and better, but also smaller and smaller. While such printers have already reached the point where they can produce items as large as houses and as complex as gastrointestinal system models, they can now recreate or reproduce objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye.
3D nanoprinting, as it’s called, involves using a focused electron beam to produce nanostructures — i.e., structures of molecular dimensions. This technique is invaluable in every field from medicine to electronics, and even in such areas as food science.
So how did we get here?
Until the advent of 3D printing, the only way to make objects ranging from ceramic mugs to carburetors was to create a mold of an object then fill the mold with the substance the object was to be made from. Creating the molds is prohibitively expensive, so the more you produce of a single object, the more the price of that object goes down.
One problem with this, however, is that any imperfections in the mold will result in an imperfection in the thousands, if not millions of items that mold produces. Any changes you want to make in the item also require the creation of a brand new mold.
3D printing, on the other hand, prints an object in hundreds and hundreds of thin layers that are created with thin strands of heated plastic. Heating the plastic liquifies it just enough that each layer will bond with the preceding layer.
More expensive and elaborate 3D printers are available that can print with almost any type of materials that can be heated and softened, such as metal but for the most part, 3D printing works by shooting very precise, thin strands of polymers or plastics in streams that bond together to create a single object. This offers the opportunity for changes to be made with each new printing and even to create a single, unique object without a mold.
There are, however, several challenges to printing on a microscopic level. Coming up with a device capable of shooting a microscopic strand of polymer is one but then shaping that polymer into a usable object is another. Recent advances have developed a system using negative polarity to attract one strand of polymer to another.
The implications of nanotechnology are almost limitless and every one of those applications will eventually need to be mass-produced. Imagine tiny armies of nanobots that can be absorbed directly through the skin that can be programmed to seek out and destroy cancer cells, leaving healthy cells intact or microstructures that can replace damaged tissue in a liver or kidney.
While medical applications may be among the most exciting applications for nanotechnology, its everyday uses are of interest as well. The smaller the tech that powers your electronic devices, for example, the smaller the devices themselves can be. Imagine an entire smartphone being reduced to the size of a disposable microdot you can simply stick onto your inner ear.
In addition, nanotechnology is being used to create smart coatings for windows that can lighten or darken to allow in a precise amount of light or even shade a certain area of a large window where the light is the strongest. All of these applications, however, will require millions of individual nanostructures to be created, which will create a greater and greater demand for 3D nanoprinting.
So onward we go, to a frontier that is becoming ever smaller, ever more complex — and yet, ever more promising. 3D nanoprinting enables us to go places we might not have ever visited before, and to improve structures and processes in ways that could have only been imagined in the past. It has been said that the future stretches out in front of us, as far as the eye can see. Actually, it goes well beyond that, to places that can’t even be viewed with the naked eye.
by Don Basile | Nov 2, 2020 | Tech
In 2016, Frederic Kerrest, COO and co-founder of the identity tech startup Okta, told Inc. that business was only “in the first inning” of cloud computing adoption. It is safe to say that we have moved along to subsequent innings. Snowflake, a Silicon Valley cloud data warehousing company, on September 15, 2020 raised $3.4 billion in what is the largest software IPO ever.
Now just about everyone wants his or her turn at bat (to torture the baseball metaphor a bit more).
Precious few industries have been left unaware of the advantages the cloud can offer. It is estimated, in fact, that 90 percent of companies are now reaping its benefits, and that spending on cloud infrastructure services will increase from $39.5 billion in 2019 to $63 billion by 2021.
Those benefits range from things like increasing accessibility, improving efficiency, and reducing the sheer size of a company’s data center to reducing an enterprise’s carbon footprint.
Of particular interest is the level of security the cloud provides. A 2019 post on Onehub noted that all businesses would be wise to follow the 3-2-1 backup plan, under which data is stored in two places on-site and a third off-site, thus negating the impact of a disaster such as a fire.
That same site shared some grim statistics about cybersecurity. Fully 21 percent of business files go unprotected, and 41 percent of companies leave over 1,000 files vulnerable to attack, including files that contain sensitive personal information. And just about half of cyberattacks are aimed at small businesses, while ransomware attacks have skyrocketed by some 350 percent each year.
The cloud obviously offers a much-needed layer of protection. Also pertinent — especially in this day and age, as the coronavirus pandemic rages — is the fact that the cloud offers businesses more flexibility in terms of remote work. No matter where an employee happens to be at any given moment, he or she can access a company’s data and applications. All that’s needed is the proper device and a working internet connection.
Here are four industries that have soared into the cloud:
- Education: With remote learning now a necessity in a great many places, the cloud offers the same flexibility it does to remote workers. Chad Stevens, leader for K-12 Education at Amazon Web Services, told EdTech Magazine that AWS affords students the opportunity to access educational resources, and in the case of the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District, was integral to the setup of call centers for tech/remote support.
- Marketing/Advertising: Data is king, and cloud platforms allow those in such fields as marketing to gather information from various sources — and do so in real time. This obviously helps to spot emerging trends and markets, and thus get a leg up on the competition.
- Real Estate: As with other disciplines, agents and brokers in real estate benefit from accessibility while on the go. The cloud gives them the ability to store data, safely and securely — and have peace of mind in the event of, say, a hard drive gone bad.
- Healthcare: Telemedicine has taken on added importance during the pandemic, and is expected to be critical to this sector in the years ahead. That means, once again, that storing data in the cloud is of the utmost importance. In addition, patients have easy access to their own records, and thus a greater say in their own care than ever before.
The cloud looks incredibly promising for many businesses, in a variety of industries, as they look to meet current challenges and anticipate those in the years ahead. It offers accessibility, security and flexibility — and, perhaps most of all, peace of mind.
