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Keeping people healthy in space and developing novel therapies with space technologies — dr. masayuki goto, MD, phd — director, space medical accelerator.


Dr. Masayuki Goto, MD, PhD is Director and President of the Space Medical Accelerator (https://space-healthcare.jp/), an organization founded in 2022 in Japan with a mission to keep people healthy in space and to develop terrestrial medicine by utilizing space technology and research.

Dr. Goto is a Medical Doctor, a Neurosurgeon, and a Space Medicine researcher with degrees from University of Tsukuba and Yamagata University.

Championing an aerospace renaissance — elizabeth reynolds, managing director, US, starburst aerospace.


Elizabeth Reynolds is Managing Director, US of Starburst Aerospace (https://starburst.aero/), a global Aerospace and Defense (A\&D) startup accelerator and strategic advisory practice championing today’s aerospace renaissance, aligning early-stage technology innovators with government and commercial stakeholders and investors to modernize infrastructure in space, transportation, communications, and intelligence.

Elizabeth’s team works alongside hundreds of technology startups developing new aircraft, spacecraft, satellites, drones, sensors, autonomy, robotics, and much more.

Episode Disclaimer — The views presented in this episode are those of the speaker and do not necessarily represent the views of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) or its components.

Dr. Diane DiEuliis, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Research Fellow at National Defense University (NDU — https://www.ndu.edu/), an institution of higher education, funded by the United States Department of Defense, aimed at facilitating high-level education, training, and professional development of national security leaders. Her research areas focus on emerging biological technologies, biodefense, and preparedness for biothreats. Specific topic areas under this broad research portfolio include dual-use life sciences research, synthetic biology, the U.S. bioeconomy, disaster recovery, and behavioral, cognitive, and social science as it relates to important aspects of deterrence. Dr. DiEuliis currently has several research grants in progress, and teaches in foundational professional military education.

Prior to joining NDU, Dr. DiEuliis was Deputy Director for Policy, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), Department of Health and Human Services. She coordinated policy and research in support of domestic and international health emergencies, such as Hurricane Sandy, and Ebola outbreaks. She was responsible for implementation of the Pandemic All-Hazards Preparedness Act, the National Health Security Strategy, and supported the Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasures Enterprise (PHEMCE).

From to 2007 to 2011, Dr. DiEuliis was the Assistant Director for Life Sciences and Behavioral and Social Sciences in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in the Executive Office of the President. During her tenure at the White House, she was responsible for developing policy in areas such as biosecurity and biodefense, synthetic biology, social and behavioral science, scientific collections, and biotechnology. Dr. DiEuliis also worked to help coordinate agency response to public health issues such as the H1N1 flu.

Reid was part of a 60-participant clinical trial that looked to use spinal cord stimulation to regain control of both hands. Similar treatments have shown promise in paraplegic patients, restoring the ability to walk in just a day. But those required surgery to place electrodes on the spinal cord.

ARC-EX therapy, by contrast, delivers two different types of electrical pulses through the skin—no surgery required. Developed by Grégoire Courtine and colleagues at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, the device improved hand strength, pinch, and other movements in 72 percent of participants.

Because the device is non-invasive, it’s a simple addition to physical rehabilitation programs—a sort of pilates for the fingers, explained the team. The trial only included two months of stimulation, and extending the timeline could potentially further improve results.

Fine air particles, less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (PM2.5), are a major air pollutant linked to various health problems. These particles can travel deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream when inhaled. Recent research suggests a major health concern: PM2.5 exposure can also damage the digestive system, including the liver, pancreas, and intestines.

Researchers discovered a trick for dragging an object in a fluid with minimal effort, suggesting an optimal strategy for nanorobots.

A research team has demonstrated that the most efficient protocol for dragging a microscopic object through a fluid has an unexpected feature: the variation of the velocity with time after the midpoint of the trip is the reverse of its variation up to the midpoint [1]. This time-symmetry property, the researchers say, can help to identify the most efficient control strategy in a wide variety of micromechanical systems and could improve the operation of tiny machines.

Biomedical engineers are exploring micro-and nanoscale devices that swim through the body under their own power to deliver drugs [2]. Machine-like motion at tiny scales is also common in biology, for instance in the transport of compartments called vesicles by motor proteins inside cells [3]. To understand the energetics of such systems, Sarah Loos of the University of Cambridge and colleagues have studied a simple model of microscale transport. They used optical tweezers—a laser beam that can trap a small particle—to drag a 2.7-micrometer-diameter silica sphere through fluids. “This problem is simple enough to be solved analytically and realized experimentally, yet rich enough to show some fundamental characteristics of optimal control in complex systems,” says Loos. In practice, the device inducing the motion “could be a nanorobot carrying a drug molecule or a molecular motor that pulls or pushes against a microscopic object.”

Scientists have made a significant breakthrough in understanding the properties of promethium, a rare earth element with elusive characteristics despite its use in modern technology.

Researchers have uncovered the properties of a rare earth element that was first discovered 80 years ago at the very same laboratory. Their discoveries open a new pathway for the exploration of elements critical in modern technology, from medicine to space travel.

Promethium was discovered in 1945 at Clinton Laboratories, now the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and continues to be produced at ORNL in minute quantities. Some of its properties have remained elusive despite the rare earth element’s use in medical studies and long-lived nuclear batteries. It is named after the mythological Titan who delivered fire to humans and whose name symbolizes human striving.

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have fabricated a device no wider than a human hair that will help physicists investigate the fundamental nature of matter and light. Their findings, published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology, could also support the development of more efficient lasers, which are used in fields ranging from medicine to manufacturing.