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Whale Inhale | Space Anemia | Railly Efficient - The Convo Kit #32

Whale Inhale | Space Anemia | Railly Efficient - The Convo Kit #32

January 22, 2022

My top 3 movies: Fight Club, John Wick, Parasite. Number 3 is a rotating spot, but it’s currently holding on. What are your top 3?

Did you know you can reply to this email? Let’s have a convo! Plus, I really need more movie recs for my indoor bike rides.

-Steve

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

Whale Inhale

Imagine inhaling enough water to fill your body, now do it every time you eat…but not really! Whales that lunge feed do this every meal without choking thanks to an “oral plug”.

Oral plug = back-of-mouth muscle tissue acting like a door to the throat
Unique to whales
Discovered by dissecting fin whales

Whales’ mouths fill with water and food as they lunge forward while the oral plug makes sure it all stays there. After the whale filters food from water, the plug shifts to block the respiratory tract for safe swallowing. An evolutionary process much safer than Dory asking, “aaaaaaaare yoooooou chooooooookiiiiiiiiing?”

Big Gulp. Little Gulp.

Space Anemia

Living in space is hard, or so I’m told. In addition to loss of bone density and radiation, we now know humans in space destroy their red blood cells faster than they do on earth.

Astronauts destroy 54% more red blood cells (RBC) per second in space than on Earth
~10% of blood vessel liquid is quickly lost in space
Anemia begins upon landing as fluid levels increase quicker than RBC

Astronauts sealed their space-breath in cans, for science. Scientists later studied carbon monoxide levels within each can to estimate RBC loss, a process accounting for ~85% of our carbon monoxide creation. Naturally, I’m prepared to test replenishing RBC by attaching another can with a string.

Railly Efficient

Parallel Systems is bringing autonomous shipping to railways. Their electric rail vehicles deliver individual shipping containers to stations and automated loading terminals.

Rail vehicles can link/split as needed to accommodate shipping needs
10x shorter braking distance than traditional locomotives
Rail networks account for 28% of all U.S. freight movement

Founded by former SpaceX engineers, the company’s goal is to bring rail shipping in line with trucking. Recent funding will help develop and test a second-generation vehicle on privately owned railways. *Thomas the Tank Engine frantically updates his LinkedIn.*

Check out TechCrunch for the money talk. Or Parallel’s site for a demo video.

Exo-Legs

Wandercraft’s exoskeleton enables paraplegics to walk. The latest model, “Atalante”, is approved for use by patients and medical staff in Europe. Three main features govern the realistic walking motion.

“RealGait” feature enables walking speed adjustments
Step length and pace are managed by “CustomGait”
“ActiveGait” lets users select assistance level from 0-100%

Atalante’s versatility means it can be both a mobility and rehabilitation device. The 130 lb. structure currently requires a support strap or assistant for safety, but Wandercraft hopes to offer personal exoskeletons soon. If you’ve just been doomscrolling on the toilet for too long, this 5.5 lb. exo should be fine.

Take a walk on the exo-side: More facts and demos of Atalante

Shapeshifting Drone

UC Berkeley’s Midair Reconfigurable Quadcopter adjusts its wings mid-flight without draining battery power.

Wings are adjusted using gravity or reverse thrust
Can sit on a powerline by dropping two wings for balance
Folded wings can also carry small packages

Resizable drones could assist first responders in unpredictable environments, like collapsed buildings. While drones and robots already investigate dangerous terrain, shapeshifting drones offer on-the-fly versatility. Here’s to hoping they add cool Transformer sounds like “Autobots, roll out” or “whooorptinkclankclunk”.

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