Easily manufactured, low cost, lightweight, flexible dielectric polymers that can operate at high temperatures may be the solution
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2014 was a big year for medicine. An unprecedented Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the release of a report showing an increase in antibiotic resistant diseases worldwide, and a spike in American measles cases from parents opting out of vaccines all made headlines.
Yet researchers studying a quieter but no less deadly disease also had something to say. A team at the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging released findings that showed that cases of Alzheimer's disease, the neurological condition that gradually robs the sufferer of their mental abilities, would increase considerably as the American population aged.
The report, which was put together using calculations that took data from a Chicago sample and extrapolated it nationwide using census data, showed that an estimated 1.6 million Americans age 65 or older would die of Alzheimer's by 2050. That would account for 43 percent of older adult deaths in the country. By contrast, 32 percent of older adults deaths were due to the disease in 2010.
It's not that Alzheimer's is somehow becoming more virulent. In fact, some studies indicate that Americans are at less risk of developing the disease today because the rates of heart disease and stroke nationwide are going down. Scientists believe there is a link between cardiovascular health and forms of dementia like Alzheimer's.
Instead, it's demographics that are leading the shift. As the Baby Boomer generation ages, the country will experience what some demographers call "the silver tsunami," as aging Americans fuel a higher demand for services and health care. With that shift also comes an increase in age-related disease, like Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia. So while the risk of Alzheimer's might actually be on the decline, the sheer number of older Americans is expected to make the disease a leading cause of death nationwide for decades.
By 2030, 20 percent of the American population will be 65 or older, according to an Alzheimer's Association report. Barring any unforeseen changes in the disease or a cure, that means roughly 13 million older Americans could suffer from Alzheimer's disease by 2050, the association says.
"Age is by far the strongest risk factor for Alzheimer's," said Jennifer Weuve, who led the Rush Institute study. "It will be interesting to see how the aging experience of the Baby Boomer generation will possibly change how we think about Alzheimer's, the way we treat it and the way we manage it."
Researchers are trying hard to stem the tide of dementia in a rapidly aging population. In 2011, President Obama signed an act establishing the National Alzheimer's Project to coordinate federal research into the disease across agencies, with the ultimate goal of an effective treatment by 2025.
With this new attention came renewed funding and global interest, with the G7 group of nations holding a "dementia summit" earlier this year. And cooperation has become central to the push to halt the disease. Federal agencies, universities, hospitals, and drug companies now partner together under an umbrella system organized by the National Institutes of Health to share information and test results, and researchers also share brain scans and other data worldwide.
But Weuve, the Rush Institute study leader, says that even with the hard work being put into research and testing, a workable treatment may still take some time, and that raises tough questions as Americans age.
"We need to face the possibility that there will be a lot of people who develop this condition before we have a cure," she said. "How do we humanely and sanely manage the symptoms of the condition? What is death going to be like? Will we be proud of how we treat Alzheimer's patients?"
We're not sure if there's anyone out there to receive them, but we earthlings have been sending messages into space for 40 years now. We've sent radio broadcasts, plaques engraved with pictures, and even a gold-plated record album. So far, we haven't gotten any return messages, but METI (Messaging to Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) enthusiasts are still coming up with new ways to tackle the two crucial questions raised by this kind of endeavor: How should we send the message? And what should it say?
The first question is technical, concerning the durability of materials, the means of transmission, and the distances to travel. The second is more complicated and far more interesting. A message like this is also a declaration: "This is what we find important. This is who we are."
The Earth Tapestry project aims to create a message that represents a shared, global answer to these questions through an online vote. Pairs of landmarks like Red Square, Machu Picchu, the Lascaux Caves, and others around the world (180 total) are presented along with the questions on eight different parameters: Which is more awe-inspiring? Information-rich? Famous? Noble? Ingenious? Delightful? Durable? Irreplaceable?
The plan is to create a laser engraved disc of a map of the earth along with a legend giving coordinates of these places and what we think about them. It will be sent to the moon on an Astrobotic Technology lander next year.
The director of Earth Tapestry, William Alba of Carnegie Mellon University, says the moon, being "the border between the terrestrial and celestial, between us and the rest of the universe" is a good place to put this information capsule. Not only might extra-terrestrial beings discover it, but humans from the future might as well.
There is also an art installation planned. Alba says they "will continue to take votes over the next year and a half. We plan to fill a space with images of the locations so people can get a sense of what's important to them and people around the world." Earth Tapestry images will be displayed for durations that accord with their rankings in the voting.
There are many other ways to give a sense of what humans find important, of course, but for Alba, landmarks of the world is a good arena for a trial run, to make "a kind of playground or sandbox to think about what do we think is important about ourselves as human beings and how do we decide that together. Place draws people's attention to the globe as a whole. They'll think about where they are and where other people are."
You can cast your vote at earthtapestry.org.
If lithium-air batteries live up to their promise, we could one day be driving electric cars 500 miles
The post A Better Way To Study Batteries, From The Transformative Materials & Devices Lab has been published on Technology Org.
