With the growing interest in space flight and deep space exploration, more research is focusing on how to make life outside of earth habitable for human beings, and at what cost. In this blog, we’ll look at the market landscape of space travel, recent innovation activity, and scientific literature to gain a full picture of where our understanding of life beyond earth is headed.

Market Overview:

According to the Cypris Innovation Dashboard, over the past year alone, 15 new organizations entered the space travel industry (13 of which were startups) and the majority were based in USA. The past year also saw 406 new patents across 22 different countries, 10,549 new research papers, and 26,156 news articles published in the space.  The majority of news articles focused on new products, and across the board media coverage was positive.

Of the patents published, 15.46% were created by the top 3 entities: NANJING SANLE GROUP CO LTD, ANHUI HUADONG PHOTOELEC TECH, and EMULATE INC. Below, you can see the breakdown of patent activity by region.

In the recent months, a number of new scientific studies have been released on efforts to make life in outer space habitable for human beings, and the impact of travel on the body and brain. Let's dive into a few of these findings.

Creating Oxygen in Space Using Magnets:

Researchers at the University of Warwick have invented a new way to make oxygen for astronauts using magnets. To provide oxygen in space, NASA currently uses centrifuges, which are large machines that require significant mass, power, and maintenance. As a result, scientists have been looking for a sustainable way to create air in space.

This study focused on the phenomenon of magnetically-induced buoyancy. The researchers engineered a procedure to detach gas bubbles from electrode surfaces in microgravity environments at the Bremen Drop Tower. The results revealed for the first time that gas bubbles can be ‘attracted to’ and ‘repelled from’ a neodymium magnet in microgravity within various solutions.

According to Dr. Katharina Brinkert of the University of Warwick Department of Chemistry Center for Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM), “Efficient phase separation in reduced gravitational environments is an obstacle for human space exploration and known since the first flights to space in the 1960s. This phenomenon is a particular challenge for the life support system onboard spacecraft and the International Space Station (ISS) as oxygen for the crew is produced in water electrolyzer systems and requires separation from the electrode and liquid electrolyte.”

The results of this study could help generate breathable atmospheres for future space travel to the moon and Mars.

Space Travel’s Impact on the Body's Bone Mass & Stem Cells:

For those who stay in space for longer periods of time, the most prominent side effect is the loss of bone mass. New research now claims that living in space can also accelerate the process of bone aging, and irreparably damage bone structure.

The study assessed 14 male and three female astronauts, average age 47, whose missions ranged from four to seven months in space, with an average of about 5-1/2 months. The results showed that 1 year after their return from space, the astronauts on average exhibited 2.1% reduced bone mineral density at the tibia and 1.3% reduced bone strength. Nine of the 17 astronauts had not completely recovered a full year after returning from space.

"Astronauts experienced significant bone loss during six-month spaceflights - loss that we would expect to see in older adults over two decades on Earth, and they only recovered about half of that loss after one year back on Earth," Gabel said.

Additionally, another recent study focused on 14 astronauts from NASA’s space shuttle program whose white blood samples were stored for 20 years. Researchers found that the astronauts were more likely to have somatic mutations in their genes. The DNA mutations in blood-forming stem cells are at the root of several types of blood cancer.

Space Travel’s Impact on the Brain:

We know that space travel impacts the body, but what does it do to the brain? In this study, 12 cosmonauts who spent an average of six months aboard the International Space Station were scanned in an MRI scanner pre-flight, ten days after flight, and at a follow-up time point seven months after flight.

The results revealed "significant microstructural changes" in the white matter that manages communications within the brain, and to and from the rest of the body, as well as fluid shifts. In particular, the research team spotted changes in neural tracts related to sensory and motor functions, and believe this could have something to do with the cosmonauts' adaptation to life in microgravity while in outer space.

Whether through creating oxygen in outer space, or studying how travel impacts the brain and body, significant advances are being made in the space travel industry. For more data on patents and innovative research papers in the space travel field, visit cypris.ai ‍and get started with access to the innovation dashboard.

If you’d like to explore recent patents filed, you can search through our global patent search engine for free here: https://cypris.ai/patents/allrecords

Sources:

Cypris innovation dashboard cypris.ai ; Query: space travel

https://www.precedenceresearch.com/space-tourism-market

https://interestingengineering.com/science/first-researchers-invent-oxygen-magnets-space-exploration

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41526-022-00212-9

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/07/220729173222.htm

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-13461-1

https://www.slashgear.com/946243/scientists-discover-space-travel-accelerates-aging/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fncir.2022.815838/full

The brain processes 70,000 thoughts each day using 100 billion neurons that connect at more than 500 trillion points through synapses that travel 300 miles/hour. More and more, scientific advances are breaking down what's really going on behind these numbers. In this blog, we'll look at innovation in the area of artificial brain cells specifically.

Groundbreaking advances in artificial brain cell research are bridging the gap between man and machine, and paving the way for life-changing advances. Innovation in the artificial brain cell space is skyrocketing—experiencing a 61.79% growth rate over the past 5 years. The fastest growing category is Medical with an 133.33% increase in new patents filed over the last 5 years. Additionally, the IT Computing and Data Processing category is seeing a lot of filings by new entrants, so it might be an emerging space worth looking into.

Let’s take a look at the recent research that’s transforming the artificial brain cell space.

Artificial Neurons & Dopamine

Researchers at Nanjing University of Posts and Telecommunications and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China and Nanyang Technological University and the Agency for Science Technology and Research in Singapore recently developed an artificial neuron with the ability to communicate using the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is our feel-good neurotransmitter, involved in the brain’s reward system.

The research team built an artificial neuron that can both release and receive dopamine. The neuron was made using graphene and a carbon nanotube electrode, to which they added a sensor to detect dopamine and a device called a memristor. If enough dopamine is detected by the sensor, a component called a memristor triggers the release of more dopamine at the other end through a heat-activated hydrogel.

To test the ability of the artificial neuron to communicate, they placed it in a petri dish alongside rat brain cells and found that the neuron was able to sense and respond to dopamine created and sent by the rat brain cells. The artificial neuron was also able to product some of its own, which triggered a response in the rat brain cells. Additionally, their results revealed that they could activate a small mouse muscle sample by sending dopamine to a sciatic nerve, which they use to move a robot hand.

Reviving Deceased Animal Brains

In 2019, Yale scientists restored cellular function in 32 pig brains that had been deceased for hours. The team used a system called BrainEx, which consisted of computer-controlled pumps and filters that sent a nourishing solution through a dead, surgically exposed brain, with an ebb and flow that mimics the body's natural circulation. The proprietary solution was based on hemoglobin, the oxygen-ferrying protein in red blood cells, and was made to show up during ultrasound scans, to enable researchers to track its flow through the brain. The process was found to restore circulation and oxygen flow to a dead brain.

Continuing their research, the same team published findings this month on reviving pig organs, rather than just the brain. Researchers connected pigs that had been dead for one hour to a system called OrganEx that pumped a blood substitute throughout the animals’ bodies. The solution they circulated contained the animal’s blood, as well as 13 compounds including as anticoagulants — to slow the decomposition of the bodies and quickly restore some organ function. Although OrganEx helped to preserve the integrity of some brain tissue, researchers did not observe any coordinated brain activity that would indicate the animals had regained any consciousness or sentience.

Graphene Synapses

A team at The University of Texas at Austin just published their research on how they developed synaptic transistors for brain-like computers using the thin, flexible material graphene. These transistors are similar to synapses in the human brain. Synapses connect neurons in the brain to neurons in the rest of the body and from those neurons to the muscles.

Graphene and nafion, a polymer membrane material, were used to create the backbone of the synaptic transistor. These materials demonstrate the ability for the pathways to strengthen over time as they are used more often, a type of neural muscle memory. When it comes to computing, this means that devices will improve in their ability and speed to recognize and interpret images over time.

Notably, these transistors are biocompatible, which means they can interact with living cells and tissue. For medical devices that interact with the human body, biocompatibility is key. Currently, most materials used for these early brain-like devices are toxic, so they would not be able to contact living cells.

Whether through creating artificial cells capable of transmitting and receiving dopamine, or reviving deceased brain cells in pigs, research is transforming our relationship to technology, and our understanding of the brain. To learn more about patents and new innovations in the artificial brain cell space, visit cypris.ai and get started with access to the innovation dashboard.

Sources:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2332554-artificial-neuron-swaps-dopamine-with-rat-brain-cells-like-a-real-one/

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/03/science/pigs-organs-death.html

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/dopamine-the-pathway-to-pleasure

Ting Wang et al, A chemically mediated artificial neuron, Nature Electronics (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41928-022-00803-0

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-02112-0

https://techxplore.com/news/2022-08-graphene-synapses-advance-brain-like.html

https://www.miragenews.com/graphene-synapses-advance-brain-like-computers-833930/

https://healthybrains.org/brain-facts/#:~:text=Your brain is a three,that travel 300 miles%2Fhour.