DIY EpiPens, An Augmented Reality Diving Helmet, And More
Claire Maldarelli
at 11:40 AM Sep 27 2016
DIY EpiPens, An Augmented Reality Diving Helmet, And More
How Zuckerberg's $3 Billion Compares To The U.S.'s Yearly Medical Research Spending
Mustafah Abdulaziz / WWF-UK
Science // 

Can you see Saturn's moon Pan? Its that tiny white dot left of center, within Saturn's rings. Despite its size in comparison to the planet, the moon actually plays a key role in shaping Saturn's changing rings. NASA's Cassini spacecraft captured this image on July 2 of this year from a distance of about 840,000 miles away.

 
 
 
Saturn's Tiny Moon

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

Saturn's Tiny Moon

 
 
 
orion spacecraft rescue practice

NASA/Radislav Sinyak

Pool Practice

After a test flight in 2018, the Orion Spacecraft will splash into the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, at which point Navy Divers and Coast Guard and Air Force rescue workers will need to recover the uncrewed spacecraft. The mission will be a practice run in preparation for an eventual trip to Mars. Here, workers practice their rescue techniques inside the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston this week.

 
 
Psittacosaurus' body

Jakob Vinther, University of Bristol and Bob Nicholls (Paleocreations.com)

New Pet-Sized Dino

In a new study out this week in Current Biology, researchers used fossil remains to figure out the color patterns of the skin on a Psittacosaurus' body. The dog-sized dinosaur had a lighter underside, called countershading, which is also seen today in penguins and other animals.

 
 
Space Microbiome

NASA / JPL

Space Microbiome

Over the next 10 years, NASA scientists will be studying not only how space travel effects astronauts, but also how it affects the collection of microbes that live on and within them. Understanding how the microbiome changes during stints on the space station will help researchers better understand how to create a controlled microbial environment in future spacecraft.

 
 
Wildfire At Vandenberg Air Force Base

Santa Barbara County Fire Dept.

Wildfire At Vandenberg Air Force Base

This past week, firefighters worked to control and eliminate the wildfire that burned through the forests in Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The fire got close, but ended up not reaching the Space Launch Complex 4, where SpaceX's Falcon 9 awaits its next launch.

 
 
epipencil

Four Thieves Vinegar Collective

Is A DIY EpiPen Safe?

The EpiPen, a life saving medication that injects epinephrine through an easy-to-administer injector, is crucial for people with severe allergies. But when it made news this month for having its price raised to over $600, a group of DIY medical activists showed the internet how they created their own cheaper, DIY version called an "EpiPencil." However, the medicine it injects, epinephrine, should be taken with caution, as one medical ethicist suggests.

 
 
Mercedes-Benz's Concept Vision Van

Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes-Benz's Concept Vision Van

The delivery system of the future may be a combination of vans and drones. Mercedes-Benz, working with drone delivery company Matternet, created the Vision Van concept. It comes equipped with two drones on its roof. Here's to a future of easier and swifter deliveries.

 
 
navy ar headset

U.S. Navy Photo by Richard Manley

Futuristic Views

Navy divers need to be able to easily navigate through murky waters--a challenge that may soon become a lot easier to overcome. Navy helmets may soon have smart eyewear that uses augmented reality to adds real-time sonar, text messages, schematics, photographs, and videos to the diver's field of view. Read more about it here.

 
 
total spending vs zuckerberg's $3 billion

Graphic by Sara Chodosh

How Zuckerberg's $3 Billion Compares To The U.S.'s Yearly Medical Research Spending

This week, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan announced that they would pledge $3 billion over the next 10 years to 'cure all diseases.' That funding will begin with an initial investment of $600 million into BioHub, a new partnership with UCSF and other research institutions in the Bay Area. Is $3 billion enough money to 'cure all diseases' though? Here we compare that number to how much is already spent yearly on medical research in the U.S. It turns out that in comparison, $3 billion is a very small amount of money.

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