Ribbit Regrowth | Flying Car | Webb-Sight - The Convo Kit #33

As the northeast gets buried in snow this weekend, let’s look at how Bomb Cyclones are created:

1. Very cold, swirling, chocolate ice cream

2. A lot of Oreos

3. All the Reese Peanut Butter Cups

Then, if you’re Friendly’s restaurant, you ruin it by renaming it a friend-Z

P.S. Thanks for last week’s movie recs! Currently on Ocean’s 11.

-Steve

Join The Convo for weekly briefings on tech, space, and science news!

Ribbit Regrowth

Frogs don’t normally grow back limbs, but scientists at Tufts University thought they should. An African Clawed Frog began re-growing an amputated leg within 24 hours of receiving a specialized drug cocktail.

• Treatment is only needed to start regrowth, the body takes care of the rest

• Growth period: 18 months

• Re-grown limbs are not fully formed, but can still help swim

After amputation, “regrowth” drugs were administered in a silicon cap covering the wound to reduce inflammation and prevent scar growth. It is thought that frogs, and other animals, retain dormant regenerative abilities from their natural developmental years. To quote an expert,

Hop over to Tufts for more details

When Cars Fly

Watch out for flying cars next time you’re in Europe. Klein Vision’s AirCar was granted a Certificate of Airworthiness, valid across Europe. Meaning this car is allowed to drive to the airport it takes off from.

• Paris to London flight coming soon

• 200 successful test flights totaling 70 hours of air-time

• 140 hp engine cruises the sky at 112 mph

AirCar’s wings remain tucked away during grocery runs and traffic jams. At the push of a button, they fold out and the rear spoiler extends for flight mode. The “check-engine” light just got a lot more serious.

Learn more and watch a flight demo here (Update from TCK #3)

Webb-Sight

After a 30 day commute, NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) reached its destination this week. The $10 billion dollar telescope will observe our universe’s depths for 10+ years from Lagrange 2 (L2).

• L2 = point in space equally affected by the sun and Earth’s gravity

• JWST orbits L2 in a halo pattern facing away from the sun

• No sun, no heat: JWST operates at -370°F…or colder

JWST is 100 times more powerful than Hubble and will detect infrared light from objects we’ve never seen. But who chooses where to look? Per Shortwave, NASA is using a blinded review process to eliminate bias in telescope time.

Watch: Halo orbit around L2 (19 seconds), Listen: Shortwave Podcast (14 minutes) (Update from TCK #18 + #28)

Shark Armor

Whether it’s mosquitos or sharks, no one wants to get bit. While we wait for shark repellant, Shark Stop’s wetsuits protect femoral arteries to increase your chance of surviving a shark attack.

• Global 2021 Shark Bites: 137 total, 11 fatal

• Surf & dive suits have 50% higher strength-to-weight ratio than Kevlar

• Price: $569 via Kickstarter campaign

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene nanofiber fabric is strategically placed to prevent life-threatening blood loss. The fabric prevented puncture during great white shark bite tests, though crushing injuries would still be likely.

Chomp on more details

Space Junk to the Moon

The upper stage of a SpaceX rocket will soon crash into the moon. Falcon 9 typically sends this stage to burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, but a lack of fuel left it in a cislunar orbit for 7 years.

• Cislunar = region between the Earth and moon

• Launched on 2/11/15

• Impact speed: 5,700 mph

Impact is expected to occur on the far side of the moon the morning of March 4th. While this is the first accidental moon-rocket collision, NASA has intentionally crashed Saturn V and Atlas V rockets into the lunar regolith. What some call “crashing into the moon”, a SpaceX web-host calls a “Regolith Unplanned Disassembly”.

Learn more here

Bonus: To the Stars with Data

To the Stars with Data explores the future of humanity on earth and amongst the stars. The weekly newsletter includes articles, data visualizations, companies doing cool things, and commentary from Joe. Three things I enjoyed from last week’s issue:

• Carbfix turns carbon dioxide into stone

• James Webb Space Telescope

• Visualization: “CT scan” of the universe

Go stargazing: To the Stars with Data

Thank you for reading!

Missed last week’s Convo?

Catch-up here: Whale Inhale | Space Anemia | Railly Efficient - The Convo Kit #32

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