SciFi to Reality

Dale Thomas is a NASA veteran of several decades, a professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and one of the leading researchers on nuclear thermal propulsion. A method using uranium fission of propelling rockets with far high impulse than most chemical rockets. He walks us through the history of nuclear propulsion from the solid fuel-based rockets being designed by NASA now, to the liquid fuel rockets his research team is exploring the viability of now. We work through what has inspired Dale in his life, the safety and operation of these rockets, and how liquifying uranium might let us travel through space much more efficiently.

Check out the student lead effort of building a scientific mission-oriented CubeSat here.

https://www.uah.edu/ASGC

https://www.uah.edu/csil/research/research-projects/abex-alabama-burse-energetics-explorer

Despite what we say in the intro and episode, they are not currently looking for funding. Although the work they are doing is fantastic.

If you are interested in some books that Dale has recommended you can check out some of them here.

These are affiliate links so if you want to help out the podcast, this is a good way to do it :)

Seven Eves -  https://amzn.to/3ATwBNv

Saturn Run -  https://amzn.to/3jfaWJr

The Martian - https://amzn.to/3BXxSnX

0:00 Intro

1:51 An introduction to rocketry, nuclear reactions and how they both work in nuclear thermal rocketry

Specific Impulse: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_impulse

Nuclear Thermal Rocketry https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_thermal_rocket

7:51 - Dale Thomas’s personal journey to working on nuclear thermal propulsion

Likely a good clip would be here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuiper_belt

14:56 - Liquid core nuclear propulsion or liquid fuel and some of the details about it

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NERVA

19:51 - Bubbly thermodynamics for bubbling hydrogen into liquid uranium

22:13 - How nuclear reactions are safely cooled

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_reactor#Reactivity_control

24:00 - What the current state of nuclear thermal propulsion

Solid fuel is being built by NASA

Liquid fuel is what Dale specializes in researching

26:50 - What the components in current nuclear thermal propulsion designs will need the most design validation

Windows ping 3 (sorry sorry sorry)

29:40 - How big of a concern is radiation in nuclear thermal rockets?

33:15 - NTP rockets currently will likely have radiated exhausted, what does that mean for ground launches?

Currently being developed as a space only engine.

Impulse vs thrust

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_impulse

36:00 - Expansions on gas fuel uranium and pulsed staged nuclear propulsion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_thermal_rocket#Nuclea

John Bradford is the CTO of SpaceWorks Enterprises and Generation Orbit. He also has started the Human Torpor Fund, a non-profit designed to further the research and development of enabling cryosleep for space travel. In this episode, we drill down into the reasons why cryosleep will be a massive commercial success if it can be done at scale. We also break down exactly where the research is right now and what work we still need to do. This ranges from the exact procedures that would be done on a person entering cryosleep, what the space habitats for these people would be like and how it compares to some of the other work that John is doing at Spaceworks as the CTO there.

If you want to support the mission for enabling human torpor/cryosleep. Donate to the human torpor fund here: www.humantorporfund.org/donate

www.SciFitoReality.com

00:00 - Intro
1:40 - How John started working in the aerospace industry

3:51 - John’s transition from university research to Spaceworks

7:25 - Quick discussion about reusable rockets

10:07 - Spaceworks looks at a lot of technologies that are decades from practicality, and human stasis could have a larger impact than many of the others

14:38 - Explanation of human torpor for space flight

16:48 - Current state of human torpor research from the medical field

17:50 - John explains how to torpor is induced in humans

22:00 - How do we feed someone in hibernation?

https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/total-parenteral-nutrition/about/pac-20385081

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percutaneous_endoscopic_gastrostomy

26:58 - Muscle stimulation to prevent muscle atrophy

30:04 - Duration limits for human torpor

https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.013486

32:49 - The benefits of putting people into cryosleep for space travel

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsiolkovsky_rocket_equation

35:00 - Clarifications on the space habitat that is being shrunk

37:00 - What does NASA think about human hibernation?

41:45 - College competition on space exploration break down and how human torpor is becoming viable.

42:30 - What would the benefits be for using human hibernation for moon missions

45:45 - How could someone break into studying human torpor or space exploration in general?

48:15 - What would John like to learn more about in space travel

Quantum computing

AI

Metastable metallic hydrogen as a propellant option for space flight

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metallic_hydrogen

52:30 - Go donate to the human torpor fund! www.humantorpor.org/donate

It’s tax deductible as a 5013c charity ;)

53:50 - Outro

Daniel Smalley is a Professor at Brigham Young University specializing in making holographic displays in science fiction come to life. In this episode, we drill down into how we can make interactive holograms without a headset visible, what Smalley's lab is working on, and how that technology will scale over time.

www.SciFitoReality.com



Show Notes:
1:23 - Smalley mentions his colleague Justin Peatross who first showed him the possibilities of optical traps
2:20 - Smalley describes holography and how a scene in Iron Man (2008) inspired him to look elsewhere for the ultimate display tech
4:55 - Smalley explains how his optical trap display works
9:32 - Possible health hazards of small particles
https://www.epa.gov/pm-pollution/health-and-environmental-effects-particulate-matter-pm
10:15 - Discussion of the laser-plasma display pioneered by Keio university
13:31 - Relayed images could be used to combat safety concerns
15:34 - Optical tweezers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_tweezers
16:36 - Photophoresis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photophoresis
18:57 - Converting the trapping laser to IR and optimization challenges
21:14 - What are the open questions/next steps for this technology?
22:01 - Dammann grating
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/294698009_Dammann_gratings_for_laser_beam_shaping
24:51 - Description of a simple display geometry that Smalley’s lab is aiming for
26:23 - Description/explanation of a galvanometric scanner
27:23 - How fast can this display technology scan through images?
31:16 - Smalley describes a possible application of volumetric displays in the form of a spherical display showing satellites around the Earth
33:11 - 40 years down the line?
34:04 - Vladlen Shvedov and his large scale optical traps
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zUtGwZ8AAAAJ
https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.118103
35:54 - The media often gets holography wrong, but optical trap displays can do all the things people mistakenly think holography can do
38:56 - Smalley’s hopes for crowdsourcing display optimization
41:45 - Other ways people can engage with and help improve this technology
42:41 - Smalley puts out an open request for ideas for applications of small-scale volumetric displays to generate industry interest
44:26 - Idea for displays of catheterization to improve medical procedures
46:16 - How the Leia hologram inspires the technological goals of the optical trap display
47:46 - The Avatar (2009) sand table display could also be enabled by this technology.
48:46 - Smiley describes a volumetric display which shows different images within the same volume to different viewers at the same time
51:21 - Smalley expresses interest in future space propulsion technology and brain/machine integration
53:51 - Smalley promises not to break our hearts with optical trap displays. Real volumetric displays will be real.

In this episode, we talk to Dr. Cindy Chestek about her work on signal processing for prosthetics and what the future of prosthetics might look like.

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/gEp6Z-E0CVo
Our Website: https://www.scifitoreality.com/ 
Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RealSciFiToReality
 
Cindy's favorite SciFi book recommendations: 
Lock In: https://amzn.to/2WWerwA 
The Three Body Problem: https://amzn.to/3tlqY8v 

Cindy's google scholar page: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=36sxAZEAAAAJ Cindy's Research page: https://chestekresearch.engin.umich.edu/ 
Cindy's Twitter: https://twitter.com/chesteklab 

Show Notes: 
0:00 - Intro 
1:15 - How do the muscle grafts that Cindy's lab work on get us larger signals from nerves? Here is a rather old research paper that gives a high level overview of nerve cuffs. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254428346_NERVE_CUFF_ELECTRODES_FOR_PROSTHETIC_AND_RESEARCH_APPLICATIONS
Presentation on some of Cindy's research: https://spotlight.engin.umich.edu/mind-control-prosthesis/
4:20 - Paul Cederna, the plastic surgeon who enables a lot of this work is mentioned: https://www.uofmhealth.org/profile/387/paul-stephen-cederna-md
5:18 - The work Cindy's lab is doing in the brain 
9:47 - What are the limitations on current prosthetic research? DEKA arm https://www.analog.com/en/landing-pages/001/deka.html
The 5 finger Ozer hand Cindy mentions refers to the i-limb prosthetic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-LIMB_Hand
11:43 - If Cindy's lab had an infinitely capable prosthetic what could they do with their nerve signals? 
12:22 - What prosthetic manufacturers Cindy's lab has been working with. 
13:28 - What are the physical limits of prosthetic manufacturing? 
15:47 - How long and what will the research path look like to make prosthetics better than our organic limbs? 
18:19 - Going through the ethics of prosthetics and the risks. It is great to hear how important regulation is and how grateful Cindy is for their study participants. 
22:12 - What an experiment for these prosthetics looks like. 
23:16 - Cindy's take on scientific journalism 
25:40 - Is Cindy's lab writing to nerves to simulate feeling as well? Yes, they are doing nerve stimulation as well. The University of Utah has some good work in this area: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5702130/
As does Case Western: https://engineering.case.edu/news/new-understanding-neural-language-gives-amputees-ability-discern-light-touch-intense-pressure
31:54 Cindy's work in brain-computer interfaces? 
33:16 - Brain implants in the motor cortex for amputees? 
35:32 - Cindy's favorite science fiction ideas: Lock-in: https://amzn.to/2WWerwA
38:47 - What other BCI companies are you excited about? 
https://neuralink.com/
Stentrode based BCI https://synchron.com/
https://www.paradromics.com/
Despite Doug's protests, he was thinking of Synchron Neuralink pong video: https://youtu.be/rsCul1sp4hQ
41:28 - How do you work on what Cindy works on? 
43:05 - Cindy's path on her career https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krishna_Shenoy
44:41 - What Cindy would like you to check out: The Three Body problem: https://amzn.to/3tlqY8v 
Chong Xie's electrodes from Rice: https://news.rice.edu/2020/09/14/gentle-probes-could-enable-massive-brain-data-collection/ His research: https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Chong-Xie-2117777010
Nick Melosh's BCI work: https://www.meloshgroup.com/neural-interface
Brain Controlled stimulation of a paralyzed limb at Case Western: https://thedaily.case.edu/man-quadriplegia-employs-injury-bridging-technologies-move-just-thinking/

In this episode we drill down into the biological mechanisms that allow many animals to go into various states of hibernation deep sleep and torpor. We then explore what that might mean for the future including cryosleep and anti-aging ramifications.

YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/t-qGngFecXQ
Our Website: www.scifitoreality.com
Our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/RealSciFiToReality

0:00 - Intro
1:12 - Show starts
3:19 - Aline tells us about working at the Chico Community Observatory
6:36 - High level view of torpor, focusing on animals
8:38 - Explanation of how frogs don’t die: proteins and cryoprotectants 
11:21 - Supercooled insects survive extremely low temperatures
12:12 - Explanation of different modes of hibernation in mammals: obligate hibernators, facultative hibernators, and torpor.
17:20 - Two primates that go into torpor are mentioned: grey mouse lemur and monito del monte
19:44 - Squirrel hibernation involves insulin resistance, lipid breakdown, and protective proteins for muscles and the brain
20:35 - Explanation of epigenetics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroRNA
29:45 - Introduction to Spaceworks Research and inducing torpor with therapeutic hypothermia
Research Paper on therapeutic hypothermia: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3519955/
Study at the University of Maryland
https://www.umms.org/ummc/health-services/shock-trauma/news/body-cooling-study
32:00 - Identifying what the critical processes that stay “on” while an animal in torpor
37:00 - Asking about the impacts of aging when in torpor
40:00 - Naked Mole rats and their many interesting properties (They live to 30)
Hummingbird’s scale exactly as you would expect based on metabolic rate; they live 3-5 years with a heart rate of 1260 bpm. For comparison, humans live 60-100 years with a bpm of ~60. We have a metabolism about 20x slower and live about 20x longer (Doug is full of crap)
Telomeres: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telomere
An article on epigenetic gene expression for Scott Kelly and his time in space: https://www.genomeweb.com/genetic-research/nasa-twins-study-finds-space-linked-changes-gene-expression-telomere-length
46:00 - A piece of science fiction that Aline would be interested in learning more about: teleporters!
51:00 - How to work in the field of torpor in animals and the like.
Check out the research lab Aline works in with Ken Storey here: http://www.kenstoreylab.com/
Afshin Behesti NASA research on microgravity and microRNA: https://scholar.google.ca/citations?user=OXYo7HoAAAAJ&hl=en

Please go read up further on the scientific method and what researchers are doing for you.
56:20 - Outro

Neil walks us through his work and how it pertains to building the Young Ladies Illustrated Primer and the nanotechnology as a whole as described in The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson.

Our Website: www.SciFitoReality.com 

Read The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson: https://amzn.to/3ya4l8N

Check out Neil's work in more detail here: http://ng.cba.mit.edu/
Neil Gershenfeld's latest book Designing Reality: https://designingreality.org/
The Fab Foundation: https://fabfoundation.org/

Show Notes:
0:00 - Intro
1:55 - Show starts

4:54 - Neil talks about William Shatner (Captain Kirk!) coming by his lab to illustrate the importance of analyzing the science behind science fiction and begins to point out the importance of the world building around it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shatner

6:30 - Neil talks about Joe Jacobson, the physics around printing and color, and the invention of e-ink, what is used in kindle readers.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Jacobson

12:05 - Neil mentions Von Neumann and Alan Turing, the fathers of modern computation and how they were so much more than the technology we use today that bears their name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann_architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing

16:14 - Neil explains "digital" in terms of error rates and error correction that is orders of magnitudes better than those errors, allowing unreliable devices to communicate reliably.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Shannon

See the definitions of head and tape in the Turing machine page.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_machine

Von Neumann's ideas on the universal constructor: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann#Cellular_automata,_DNA_and_the_universal_constructor

23:40 - Neil talks about the work of a student of his, Prashant Patil. Prashant has worked on making nano-scale robots, which has been spun off into the company Atomic Machines.
https://www.atomicmachines.com/

27:52 - Neil mentions the work of his student, Manu Prakash, on microfluidic bubble logic in reference to how easy it is to compute.
https://profiles.stanford.edu/manu-prakash
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136907

35:30 - Erik Drexler "complimented" Neil of cheating in his development of nano-machines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Eric_Drexler

36:15 - Douglas says he’ll pass the torch to Michael and keeps talking

38:00 - Neil talks about environmental sources of energy for the Primer, referencing Joseph Paradiso's work on shoes which could recover energy from walking. He also mentions ways of transmitting energy wirelessly, as researched by Joshua Smith.
https://www.media.mit.edu/people/joep/overview/
https://sensor.cs.washington.edu/joshua-r-smith-phd

38:47 - Neil explains entropy and the potential issues that might crop up from that in The Diamond Age

39:50 - Neil explains Maxwell's Demon and Rolf Landauer's solution.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell%27s_demon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolf_Landauer

44:25 - Neil cites two ideas that drove his success: his perspective on computer science vs. physical science, and "ready, fire, aim."

45:55 - Neil talks the design challenges of The Diamond Age.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hox_gene

48:48 - Neil talks the economic challenges of The Diamond Age
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gross_National_Happiness

57:35 - Outro