CrAAb Batteries | Fly Brains | Brain Builder

New feature for you: Unnatural Selection

At the bottom of this email, vote on a topic from this week’s TCK. See the results next week!

What to expect: Last week’s poll would’ve been, “How many bees are in st3v on site - Hive Minds?” (choose one)

11 | 9

(We get to test this poll feature for 2 weeks. Please give it a shot, it’s just one click!)

-Steve

Get the coolest STEM news in 5 minutes every Saturday, Join The Convo!

CrAAb Batteries

Crabs may power our future electronics. Scientists are turning used crustacean shells into carbon for sodium-based batteries.

• Heating over 1,000° F turns shells to carbon

• Added to tin or iron sulfide to create a sodium-ion anode

• Aka the “+” side on a battery

Crustacean carbon is created with “used parts”, meaning no crabs will be killed to charge your smartphone. These batteries aim to provide greener alternatives to our current lithium dependency. Another energy source - caffeinated crab cakes.

Krabby Batty

Fly Brains

We need to start small to better understand our brains, real small…fruit fly larvae tiny. Scientists spent 12 years mapping this minute mind.

• Fruit fly baby brain: ~3k neurons and 548k neural connections

• Human brain: ~86 billion neurons

• Adult fruit fly brain mapping currently in progress

Though our brains are obviously different, they follow some similar principles. Think of this as a base to build a “maps” app for human minds. Or maybe we just gain the ability to spontaneously appear near fruit.

Looks more like a Skittles-jellyfish

Brain Builder

Mapping brains reminded me of a favorite from TCK #65, so I brought it back:

Axolotls are so smart, they can regrow their brains. Researchers mapped the telencephalon region, then removed a section to learn exactly how these dragon-like salamanders regenerate brain tissue.

• Telencephalon has a large impact on animal behavior/cognition

• Phase 1: Specialized progenitor cells begin healing

• Phase 2: Those cells turn into neuroblasts (newly discovered in axolotl)

Regeneration is completed in phase three, when those neuroblasts turn into the exact neurons that were removed. Learning how these slippery salamanders build their brains back could lead to advances in regenerative medicine research.

Extra brains? More like “ask-a-lot-ls”

Clickables

• Math pros come together to solve for splitting a check (comic)

• Natural vault of human germs - Mt. Everest

• Before their “super”, novas still look pretty mindblowing

• Eating the world’s largest organism, oh deer

• Alright, alright, alright - celebrity AI office assistants

st3v on site

Shell+

Always a business-bot, st3v is already scheming his future crab-based battery conglomerate.

This is where I would tell you the results of last week’s Unnatural Selection. For now, let’s answer the intro question: 11. 9 bumblebees and 2 “bees” (coffee sign and st3v’s quote).

Forward to a friend!

Did someone forward this to you? Join The Convo!

Missed last week’s Convo?

Catch-up here: 💬 Bee Student | Motherless Mice | Nano Traps

I'd love to hear from you!

Reply to this email or reach out on Twitter @_steveburgess. I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions!