5. Making Rocket Fuel on Mars, Sustainable Transparent Wood, Plants Preventing Poisoning

The Next Byte Podcast · 16 Feb 2021 · 15m

What this episode covers

Daniel Scott Mitchell and Farbod Moghaddam discuss three engineering breakthroughs: NASA's MOXIE instrument, which extracts oxygen from Mars' CO2 atmosphere to enable rocket fuel production for return flights; University of Maryland researchers' scalable method for creating transparent wood by decolorizing lignin with hydrogen peroxide and UV light; and MIT’s SMART Alliance team's development of nanosensors embedded in plants to detect arsenic in real-time. The hosts highlight how these technologies address critical challenges in space exploration, sustainable materials, and agricultural safety.

Other shows on the same ground, closest first.

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 45m

    Turning Plants into Living Sensors: Making Farming More Sustainable with Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant

    Shely Aronov, Founder and CEO of InnerPlant, explains how her company uses genetic engineering to turn crops like soybeans into living sensors that signal stress (such as fungal pressure or nitrogen deficiency) via fluorescence. She details the technology's journey from leaf-clip prototypes to a remote sensing model using satellite imagery and hyperspectral cameras to detect these signals from space. Aronov discusses the business strategy of embedding this technology into seeds sold by partners rather than selling directly to farmers, and highlights the critical role of precision application hardware like John Deere's See & Spray in closing the loop on chemical usage.

  • Robot Talk · 23m

    Episode 102: Soft robots inspired by plants - Isabella Fiorello

    Isabella Fiorello, a Junior Group Leader at the University of Freiburg, explains her work on biohybrid soft robots that embed plant tissues, such as Avena sterilis awns, into synthetic materials to create autonomous, biodegradable actuators. She details how these plant-inspired mechanisms enable robots to move through soil for precision agriculture applications, like targeted fertilizer delivery, and discusses potential uses in space exploration for terraforming. Fiorello also describes her PhD-era work on micro-hooks inspired by Gallumaparina leaves, which allow reversible attachment to various surfaces including plant tissue for targeted molecule delivery.

  • Hackaday Podcast · 1h 07m

    Ep 255: Balloon on the Moon, Nanotech Goblets, and USB All the Way

    Hosts Elliot Williams and Dan Maloney review a diverse range of hardware hacks, including the Mars Ingenuity helicopter's use of commercial Snapdragon processors, a Commodore 1702 monitor restoration using an Alibaba mainboard, and a deep dive into USB-C cable testing with KMOO3C analyzers. They also discuss 3D-printed LED signage using silicone diffusers, ancient Roman nanotech in the Lycurgus Cup, and the rapid evolution of high-speed 3D printing firmware like input shaping. The episode covers inflatable space habitats from Sierra Space and various community projects like flux making and portable antennas.

  • Robot Talk · 25m

    Episode Thirty-Seven: Yang Gao

    Professor Yang Gao from the University of Surrey and the STAR Lab discusses space robotics, focusing on autonomous systems for planetary exploration and debris removal. She details the lab's work on biomimetic drilling mechanisms inspired by wood wasps for terrestrial utility applications and their contributions to ESA missions like VMMO and ExoMars. Gao also explains the development of visual navigation and capture technologies for the CLEAR mission to remove space debris, highlighting the synergy between extreme space environments and harsh terrestrial conditions.

  • Hardware to Save a Planet · 51m

    Clean Hydrogen on Demand with Max Mankin, CTO and Co-founder of Modern Electron, and Mothusi Pahl, Vice President of Business Development at Modern Electron

    Max Mankin, CTO and Co-founder, and Mothusi Pahl, VP of Business Development at Modern Electron, explain their methane pyrolysis technology that converts natural gas into clean hydrogen and solid carbon black at the point of use. They discuss the engineering challenges of high-temperature materials and carbon handling, as well as the business models for selling to industrial customers and gas utilities. The episode highlights the company's early-stage status, focusing on beta pilots and the transition to commercial scaling of modular units.

The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by The Next Byte Podcast. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.