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Since 1990, nearly one million people have died from the impacts of earthquakes. Reducing those impacts requires building a local seismic culture in which residents are aware of earthquake risks and value efforts to mitigate harm. Such efforts include earthquake early warning (EEW) systems that provide seconds to minutes notice of pending shaking.

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Credit: Phonlamai Photo/Shutterstock

There may come a day when humans take on the form of cyborgs with integrated, robotic parts to enhance our abilities. But long before then, a seemingly opposite type of integration may take place, with robots being equipped with human tissue or other living cells to make them more lifelike.

These "biohybrid" robots could be endowed with muscle cells to help them perform subtle movements. And on a microscopic scale, tiny robots could be merged with bacteria to ferry them through the body for precision medical procedures.

And the future, it seems, is happening now. [ Super-Intelligent Machines: 7 Robotic Futures]

In a new review of studies, an international group of scientists and engineers described the state of biohybrid robotics - a field that is entering a "deep revolution in both [the] design principles and constitutive elements" of robots. The review was published today (Nov. 29) in the journal Science Robotics.

"You can consider this the counterpart of cyborg-related concepts," said lead author Leonardo Ricotti, of the BioRobotics Institute at the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, in Pisa, Italy. "In this view, we exploit the functions of living cells in artificial robots to optimize their performances."

Scientists have created robots of all shapes and sizes with increasing complexity in recent decades. Some robots function well on assembly lines, tightening bolts or welding together sheets of metal. Miniaturized robots smaller than a millimeter are being developed to be placed in the body to kill cancer cells or heal wounds.

But what's lacking among all these fascinating robots is the range of fine movement and the energy efficiency found in living organisms, which evolved toward perfection over the course of millions of years, Ricotti told Live Science. That's why it's necessary to incorporate elements of living organisms into robots, he said.

If robot movement and efficiency are fine-tuned, scientists could be use them to explore the human body, monitor environments too small or intricate for current robots, or manufacture products with greater precision, the authors wrote in the review.

Actuation, or the coordination of movement, is a persistent hurdle in robotics, Ricotti said. For example, robots can be designed to easily lift heavy weights or make precision cuts, but they have difficulty coordinating actions as subtle as cracking an egg cleanly into a bowl or caressing a distressed individual. Their initial movements are jerky.

Animal movements, in contrast, start gently on a micro scale as a cascade of molecular machinery becomes activated inside nerve cells, and culminate in large-scale muscular motion, according to the review.

This raises the possibility that animal tissue, such as cardiac muscle or insect muscle, could provide precise actuation and steady movement in robots. For example, a group led by Barry Trimmer of Tufts University, a co-author of the Science Robotics paper, has developed worm-like biohybrid robots that move via the contraction of insect muscle cells.

Another problem in robotics is the power supply, particularly for micro-robots, in which the powering device can be bigger than the robot itself. Biohybrid robots can overcome this obstacle as well, Ricotti said. His colleague Sylvain Martel, of Polytechnique Montréal, also a co-author of the Science Robotics paper, is using magnetotactic bacteria, which naturally move along magnetic field lines, to transport medicine to hard-to-reach cancer cells. Martel's group can direct the bacteria with external magnets.

There are limits to what these biohybrid robots can achieve, though, Ricotti said. Living cells need to be nourished, which means that, for now, these robots tend to be short-lived. Also, biohybrid robots can operate only in the temperature range suitable for life, meaning that they can't be used in extreme heat or cold.

Despite these challenges, Ricotti and his colleagues said, the field of biohybrid robots is rapidly evolving from the "art of possible" to the science of "reliable manufacturing."

It may be that, in the near future, our cyborg descendants will be cured by biohybrid robotic medicine - administered, no doubt, by an android doctor.

Follow Christopher Wanjek @wanjek for daily tweets on health and science with a humorous edge. Wanjek is the author of "Food at Work" and "Bad Medicine." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on Live Science.

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Forget Cyborgs - Biohybrid Robots Are Almost Here

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There may come a day when humans take on the form of cyborgs with integrated, robotic parts to enhance our abilities. But long before then, a seemingly opposite type of integration may take place, with robots being equipped with human tissue or other living cells to make them more lifelike.

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INTRODUCTION

Myeloid cells have emerged as key regulators of cancer growth because of their abundance in the tumor stroma in a broad range of cancers, their association with clinical outcome, and their ability to modulate tumor progression. Most tumor-infiltrating myeloid cells derive from circulating precursors, which are produced in distant tissues, and some tumors amplify myeloid cell activity by skewing hematopoiesis toward the myeloid lineage or increasing myeloid cell populations in the periphery. For example, patients across diverse cancer types can present with elevated levels of myeloid progenitor cells in peripheral blood. Additionally, increased numbers of circulating myeloid cells, such as neutrophils, often correlate with poorer clinical outcome. It is therefore important to consider host changes that occur away from the tumor stroma to more fully understand the biological processes underlying tumor growth.

RATIONALE

The bone marrow is a tissue of particular interest as it is the main production site for hematopoietic cells corresponding to all circulating blood lineages in the adult. The marrow contains resident cell components, such as osteoblasts, which not only participate in bone maintenance but also regulate hematopoiesis and immune cell fate. However, our understanding of bone dynamics in the context of cancer (growing at sites distant from the local bone microenvironment) and related immune responses remains limited. To address this knowledge gap, we explored whether a common solid cancer-lung adenocarcinoma-remotely affects bone tissue and how this might shape tumor-associated hematopoietic responses and tumor growth.

RESULTS

We show in different mouse models and in cancer patients ( n = 70) that lung adenocarcinomas increase bone stromal activity even in the absence of local metastasis. Animal studies further reveal that the cancer-induced bone phenotype involves bone-resident osteocalcin-expressing (Ocn⁺) osteoblastic cells. Ocn⁺ cells affect distant tumor progression because experimentally reducing the number of these cells limits lung tumor growth. Also, Ocn⁺ cells are required for full-fledged tumor infiltration by a distinct subset of neutrophils that are defined by their high expression of the lectin SiglecF (sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin F). Compared to other neutrophils, SiglecF high cells express genes associated with cancer-promoting processes, including angiogenesis, myeloid cell differentiation and recruitment, extracellular matrix remodeling, suppression of T cell responses, and tumor cell proliferation and growth. Additionally, SiglecF high neutrophils have increased reactive oxygen species production, promote macrophage differentiation, and boost tumor progression in vivo. We further report that the soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE) is up-regulated in the circulation of tumor-bearing mice and fosters osteoblastic activity and osteoblast-dependent neutrophil maturation in vitro.

CONCLUSION

This study identifies systemic cross-talk between lung tumors and bones: Lung tumors can remotely activate Ocn⁺ osteoblastic cells in bones even in the absence of local metastasis. In turn, these Ocn⁺ cells supply tumors with SiglecF high neutrophils, which foster cancer progression. The findings bear scientific and therapeutic importance because they reveal contributions of the host systemic environment to tumor growth and they position Ocn⁺ cells, SiglecF high neutrophils, and sRAGE as candidate clinical biomarkers and possible intervention points for anticancer therapy.

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Osteoblasts remotely supply lung tumors with cancer-promoting SiglecFhigh neutrophils

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Bone has a well-established role in advanced cancer. It provides a supportive microenvironment for the growth of metastatic cells that escape the primary tumor, which ultimately leads to loss of bone mass. Engblom et al. show that bone may also contribute to early-stage tumorigenesis through a mechanism that leads to an increase in bone mass (see the Perspective by Zhang and Lyden).

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The film Gravity dramatized the risks of space junk. But although flyaway wrenches and broken-off rocket parts may pose the deadliest threat to spacecraft, most orbital debris is actually much smaller-think flecks of paint and the splinters of shattered satellites. Now, NASA hopes to learn more about the dust-size microdebris orbiting Earth with the Space Debris Sensor (SDS), set to be attached to the International Space Station (ISS) following a 4 December cargo launch by SpaceX.

Using ground-based radars, the U.S. Air Force keeps track of about 23,000 objects larger than a baseball, so satellite operators can avoid collisions by maneuvering out of the way. But much less is known about smaller debris, says Brian Weeden, director of program planning for Secure World Foundation, a nonprofit focused on space sustainability, in Washington, D.C. The SDS will study objects smaller than a millimeter-and at high speeds they can still cause real damage, Weeden says. "If a satellite is in orbit for 10 or 15 years, those little abrasions can have an impact by degrading sensors or degrading materials on the satellite," he says.

NASA previously studied microdebris by inspecting the windows and radiators of space shuttles, which returned to Earth pockmarked with tiny impacts. "A detailed ground inspection could estimate what sizes the objects were that impacted it, but there's limited information you can get out of that," says Joseph Hamilton, an orbital debris scientist and SDS principal investigator at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

After it's mounted to the ISS, the new sensor will offer a better handle on the true microdebris population. The 1-square-meter detector on the SDS contains layers of thin sensors embedded within a mesh of fine wires. When debris strikes the surface of the SDS, it will break a number of these wires, which correlate to the particle's size. Damage to layers beneath gives a sense of particle speeds and trajectories. The back plate will measure the intensity of the impact, helping scientists estimate the object's density.

With these data, scientists can determine the particles' orbits, which provide clues to their origins. An elliptical orbit, for instance, suggests that a particle is a natural micrometeoroid, whereas a circular orbit implies that it probably sloughed off a satellite. And by getting a more accurate estimate of the microdebris population, scientists can extrapolate and better predict the populations of objects larger than 1 millimeter, but smaller than 10 centimeters. These objects can cause more significant damage to spacecraft, but are still too small to be tracked by radar, Hamilton says.

The SDS, which will orbit at the ISS's altitude of about 400 kilometers, is considered a technology demonstration. If successful, future missions could study microdebris at altitudes in the 700- 1000-kilometer range, a more congested area of space where even less is known. The findings could help satellite designers develop better shielding, whereas improved models of the microdebris population could help them find an orbit where space dust is less of a problem.

Some companies have sensed opportunities in studying space junk. Astroscale, a private satellite services company based in Singapore, developed a 22-kilogram microsatellite called IDEA OSG 1 that was to study debris at these higher altitudes between 600 and 800 kilometers. On 28 November, it was one of many satellites launched on a Russian Soyuz rocket that failed to reach its target orbit, and is presumed to be lost. Before the launch, Astroscale Chief Operating Officer Chris Blackerby, based in Tokyo, said the company was seeking opportunities to share the data collected by the satellite through agreements with government agencies or private organizations. Astroscale did not respond to requests for comment about the Russian rocket failure.

doi:10.1126/science.aar6235

Ilima Loomis is a journalist based on Maui in Hawaii.

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# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
NASA sensor to study space junk too small to be seen from Earth

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The film Gravity dramatized the risks of space junk. But although flyaway wrenches and broken-off rocket parts may pose the deadliest threat to spacecraft, most orbital debris is actually much smaller-think flecks of paint and the splinters of shattered satellites.

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http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/11/china-s-dark-matter-space-probe-detects-tantalizing-signal