This week we will discover a possible path to younger looking skin. We also investigate a new range of Tiger Steaks soon to be launched in London. We examine the potential for Liquid Lenses for future Space Telescopes. Finally we look at a new AI from OpenAI that can create images based upon your text description.
Younger looking Skin
No this is not a sponsored post for a new skin care range nor is it the announcement of the fountain of youth. Researchers from the Abraham Institute in the UK have built upon the work that won Shinya Yamanaka the 2012 Nobel Prize in Medicine. Yamanaka was able to turn normal cells with a specific function into stem cells that can then develop into any type of cell. Stem cells are the cells that all human cells grow from in the womb as we form into babies. Yamanaka’s process meant that the cell lost its’ original purpose or identity.
Using a method called “maturation phase transient programming” the team was able to take cells and turn them into younger versions of those cells and stop the process before the stem cell state is reached. This meant that skin cells remained skin cells.
A variety of measures including the epigenetic clock (chemical tags that indicate age) and the transcriptome (gene readings produced by cells) confirmed that the skin cells had been rolled back in biological age by three decades. The cells produced more collagen than the control skin cells that had not been reprogrammed and showed signs of healing of wounds more quickly.
The next step is to try and apply the process to other types of cells in the body. Eventually we may be able to identify the genes that rejuvenate without the need for reprogramming. We might then be able to target those genes to reduce the effects of aging. As this is an early step in a very long process to reduce the impact of aging on our bodies you probably should keep up your current skin care regime.
Tiger Steaks
Tiger steaks are a sought after (and extremely illegal) delicacy in China. The hunting of tigers for food over history is one of the reasons that tigers are heading towards extinction. British Lab-grown meat company Primeval Foods, is planning to bring lab-grown tiger steaks to market.
Primeval takes a small sample of tissue from a healthy wild animal. The animal is not harmed and it is released to the wild to continue its’ life. The cells from the sample are then cultivated in the lab and the meat is grown from those cells.
Lab-grown beef first arrived in 2012 and cost $325,000 to produce each kilo. The goal then was to reduce the cost to less than $80 per kilo with scaled production. Still expensive for beef and chicken however more exotic meats will be able to attract a more exotic price.
Will the lab-grown tiger steaks taste the same as a tiger steak from the wild? The vast majority of potential customers have no idea what a tiger steak tastes like (and admitting that you do know may bring another world of trouble). Most people have an opinion on the difference between plant based, lab grown and natural beef or chicken. Replicating taste and texture are vitally important to success. For more exotic meats an exact replication is not required but the meat needs to have a satisfying taste and texture. A much lower hurdle to get over.
Primeval are planning to release a range of wild animal meats including Lion, Zebra, Elephant and Tiger. Several high end restaurants in London are rumored to part of the launch. Big cats such as Lion and Tiger have a unique amino acid and protein profile. Elephants have more fattiness in their muscle tissue which the company claims makes for an exceptional “umami” experience (umami is a taste sensation produced by the presence of glutamates and nucleotides, it is considered the 5th basic taste along with sweet, sour, salty and bitter). Zebra, apparently tastes like sushi.
Liquid Space Telescopes
The next generation of NASA’s space telescopes might use liquid lenses. The lenses may also be vastly bigger than the lens in the James Webb Telescope, the current state of the art.
The upcoming Axiom-1 mission bound for the International Space Station will evaluate the basics of constructing a space telescope that uses a liquid mirror. The current understanding of the behavior of liquids in space is promising enough to consider developing telescopes that might be 10 or even 100 times larger than today.
Every liquid has a surface tension that keeps small amounts in certain shapes. Think of raindrops. The force of surface tension is strong enough so that when water droplets are 2mm or smaller they retain a spherical shape. In the microgravity of space, blobs of water or other liquids will eventually take on a near perfect spherical shape.
The team has created liquid lens on the NASA Zero Gravity parabolic flights (flights that go into free fall to simulate zero gravity for 15 to 20 seconds). Each lens took only a few seconds to create. The forthcoming experiments on the ISS expect to be able to create smooth and perfectly shaped surfaces, in effect developing the perfect lens for the future of space based telescopes.
AI that creates images from text descriptions
We have seen lots of developments with AI creating art and being used to develop other imagery. DALL-E2 is a new AI system from OpenAI. It can create realistic images from a description in natural language.
For example ask DALL-E2 to generate a picture of an Astronaut riding a horse in a photorealistic style and it will produce this picture.
The system can also make edits to existing images from natural language. When it adds or removes elements it will take shadows, reflections and textures into account. For example the system added a dog to the painting below.
To see additional examples of dogs being added to the image (i.e. where the 2 and 3 are) see here. The system can also create variations of original photos or paintings inspired by the original.
The AI is has been programmed so that is unable to generate violent, hate or adult images. The system prevents generation of real individual’s faces including those of public figures. The system is currently being tested by a group of trusted users to help OpenAI learn about the technologies capabilities and limitations and to develop better ways to prevent misuse.
Paying it Forward
If you have a start-up or know of a start-up that has a product ready for market please let me know. I would be happy to have a look and feature the startup in this newsletter. Also if any startups need introductions please get in touch and I will help where I can.
If you have any questions or comments please comment below.
I would also appreciate it if you could forward this newsletter to anyone that you think might be interested.
Till next week.