Editorial: "Reasons to be cheerful" - Some glimmers of light in uncertain times
As humanity continues its trend of lurching from one crisis to the next, ticking off another of the Four Horsemen boxes as we go, the latest print edition of IE focuses on those glimmers of light that, despite it all, are making great strides to improve the world in which we live.
And what could be more upbeat, more life-affirming, than helping disabled pets walk again, and improving our own quality of life? The medical applications of 3D printing are far-reaching and still in relative infancy and, as such, this incredibly versatile technology is the first of our focuses in this edition.
The first 3D printing story looks at a project in Poland that has given disabled animals the ability to move freely again. The project, a collaboration between the company Zortrax and a fifth-year veterinary student at the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences, has seen the use of the technology to print tailor-made prosthetic limbs for pet dogs. While the printer does the heavy lifting, the fine-tuning to each animal’s individual needs is done by hand, and the dogs seemed to grow used to walking normally again in a remarkably short space of time.
Read more: How 3D printing is helping disabled animals walk
From pets in Poland to surgery in the States, the second story looks at a partnership between South Carolina’s 3D Systems and New Jersey healthcare firm Enhatch which is producing bespoke medical devices and integrating them into smart surgery networks. The implants could be used in cranial or orthopaedic surgeries, making them fit better in the patient, minimising the changes to a patient's looks that reconstructive surgery can cause and increasing the overall longevity of the implant itself.
Read more: 3D Systems to print bespoke medical implants
Our next focus is on the rapidly burgeoning space industry, the modern manifestation of the urge for exploration. The desire to reach the stars has long been part of our collective consciousness. From our ancient ancestors’ myriad myths, legends and stories built up by countless years gazing at a night sky undiluted by light pollution, in 2022 it also represents humanity’s ultimate “just in case” backup plan.
Completing an idea first laid out by famed German astronomer Johannes Kepler in a 1608 letter to his Italian contemporary Galileo Galilei, French space startup Gama is working on the deployment of a solar sail with the aim of revolutionising space transport. A propulsion technology akin to solar panels on a spacecraft, the company claims that it can “enable speeds never reached before” and facilitate the exploration of the Solar System and beyond. Relying on the power of the Sun means that spacecraft no longer need fuel, making them lighter and faster, and expanding the edges of our reach in the vast unknown.
Read more: The French startup aiming to "revolutionise" space travel
Our second Space Tech story looks at how a microphone developed by France’s ISAE-SUPAERO has allowed NASA to record the soundscapes of our nearest neighbour Mars. The project was born out of ongoing efforts to garner a better understanding of the Red Planet as we continue to explore. Not only does the sound of Mars whet our curiosity, but the microphone can also help us to understand the properties of Martian rocks and atmospheric phenomena such as wind turbulence and dust devils. After all, if that backup plan becomes necessary, we’ll need all the information we can get.
Read more: The microphone helping NASA understand Mars
For our Focus on Technology & Innovation, we’re keeping our feet firmly on the ground and staying closer to home with the passing of the long-awaited EU Chips Act, a €43 billion investment scheme aiming to boost domestic chip production as the effects of the ongoing semiconductor shortage continue to bite.
Semiconductors represent a vital part of the energy and digital transitions, being necessary for the manufacture of a range of technologies from electric vehicles to robots to consumer electronics, with demand projected to skyrocket. Currently valued at $550 billion, this figure will grow rapidly as the necessity for technology becomes greater.
The Act represents an understanding in Brussels that the entire continent is uncomfortably reliant on a sector dominated by two companies – TSMC and Samsung – both located in East Asia. The Commission has said the legislation will have a positive effect on all member states and the establishment of a domestic semiconductor industry will shield the bloc against future supply chain crises.
Read more: Inside the EU's Chips Act
This month’s final focus looks at the most pressing issue of our time – climate change and the progress of Europe’s largest three economies – Germany, the UK, and France - in the race to reach net-zero.,
As a topic, global warming can seem at times overwhelming, immense and, even sometimes, with so many figures and statistics to digest, a little on the dry side.
Compounding this of course is the dawning of the political reality of climate change. It is an issue that is dogged with accounts of greenwashing by big companies and used as a political football by political parties of all persuasions. The sometimes overzealous actions of climate activists eager to have their voices heard in an increasingly noisy media landscape coupled with doom-filled predictions of untold horror in the near future can also serve to turn people off the issue.
Our Road to Net-Zero series attempts to take a look at where those three nations are at currently with their plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions and it’s not giving too much away to say that while it’s something of a mixed bag, there has been tangible progress. What remains to be seen is whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine will ultimately be a positive for the push to net-zero, with a reduction in fossil fuel imports seeming inevitable, or whether it will be a stumbling block along the way.
Read more: The Road to Net-Zero
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