In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we explore how Trump policies are impacting the research ecosystem, a new diamond material that could power data centers more efficiently, NASA spies a speedy solar system and more. You can sign up to get The Prototype in your inbox here.
Since his inauguration, Trump’s executive orders have thrown America’s research ecosystem into chaos. Although federal judges have temporarily put a halt to certain policies, such as spending freezes and a cap on indirect costs for NIH grant awards, others have proceeded apace.
For example, agencies have been broadly interpreting Trump’s executive orders against inclusion efforts to flag grant applications and public datasets that include words like “Black”, “bias”, “women” and “gender.” And a memo circulating among employees of the National Science Foundation that was provided to me shows the agency is preparing for major layoffs later this year, which would further hinder scientific research efforts.
There’s an excellent article published this week at Stat that shows this chaos is sparking fears of a brain drain, as scientists abroad begin to reconsider whether they want to work in the United States. Meanwhile, American researchers are considering going abroad to do their work while others consider leaving academic research altogether. (This reflects some fears and concerns that scientists have personally conveyed to me as well.)
Throughout the 20th century, the United States became a home to scientists from around the world, particularly those fleeing authoritarian regimes, who helped build the technological infrastructure that made this the richest country in the world. Should these chaotic policies continue, the 21st century may see a decline in America’s scientific dominance.
Stay tuned.
Diamonds Might Be A Data Center’s Best Friend
The rise of artificial intelligence is driving huge demand for data centers, which are being built at a breakneck pace. But the energy required to both power and cool the chips inside them is massive. In just the next three years, that energy demand is estimated to at least double and perhaps even triple straining both the grid and the bank accounts of cloud providers.
U.K.-based Element Six thinks it may have a solution: diamonds. Last month, the company unveiled its latest product: a copper-plated diamond material that’s designed to help the semiconductors in computing systems to better dissipate heat and improve performance.
“Diamonds are the best conductors of heat of any material, more than 10 times better than the typical conductors used today,” CTO Daniel Twitchen told me. “If you can mount a device on diamond, you can keep it cooler and drive efficiency.”
The secret sauce in this material is imperfection, Twitchen said. A perfect diamond can’t conduct heat or electricity, but strategically introducing impurities when manufacturing it can make the mineral an excellent conductor of both heat and current. Which is why the company is pursuing other advanced technology applications for its diamonds, including quantum computers and electric vehicles.
“We’re really beginning to only those other properties of diamonds beyond just hardness,” he said. “Its thermal conductivity and electrochemistry could bring exciting applications in the next 50 to 100 years.”
DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: TREATING PEANUT ALLERGIES
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health discovered a simple treatment for some children with peanut allergies: peanut butter. In a new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the scientists began with children who could tolerate about half a peanut (about 50% of those with peanut allergies can). They then started feeding them 1/8 tablespoon of peanut butter, slowly increasing the amount every eight weeks until they could tolerate one tablespoon of peanut butter. By the end of the study, those who had been treated this way could tolerate up to 3 tablespoons of peanut butter. For their next step, the researchers will test to see if this tolerance to peanuts can be maintained, and also whether other food allergies can be treated similarly.
FINAL FRONTIER: A FAST-MOVING SOLAR SYSTEM
Researchers from NASA identified what might be a star and an exoplanet moving very quickly through the galaxy at about 1.2 million miles per hour. That’s about twice the speed of our own solar system. Astronomers need more data to confirm these findings, but if they do that would make this the fastest known exoplanet system. The research suggests the system is moving even faster, which means it could escape our galaxy entirely several million years from now.
BLACK HISTORY IN SCIENCE AND TECH
In 1893, Daniel Hale Williams successfully performed one of the first open heart surgeries–in a time before antibiotics or anesthesia. The operation was performed in Provident Hospital, which Williams founded in 1891 as the first Black-owned hospital in the United States. One of the reasons he founded the hospital was out of necessity–as a Black man, he wasn’t allowed to perform surgeries in any other hospital in the Chicago area. After the successful surgery, Williams used his fame to champion training programs for Black nurses and doctors throughout the nation. You can read more about Hale’s life and career here.
WHAT ELSE I WROTE THIS WEEK
In my other newsletter, InnovationRx, my colleague Amy Feldman and I wrote about the legal pushback against President Trump’s attempts to cut medical research funding, the ongoing financial struggles of rural hospitals, a measles outbreak, a new treatment for a rare neurological condition and more.
SCIENCE AND TECH TIDBITS
Computing company Quantinuum has installed one of its quantum computers at Japanese research institute RIKEN, where it has been integrated with Fugaku, the most powerful supercomputer in Japan and the sixth most powerful in the world.
A federal judge ordered HHS, the CDC and the FDA to restore their websites and data to what they were on January 30, prior to data being removed by the Trump administration.
Researchers at Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University found that users of generative AI applications report they use less critical thinking as a result. They also determinedthat users who use generative AI tools “produce a less diverse set of outcomes for the same task, compared to those without.”
Scientists at Sweden’s Linkoping University have developed a type of solar cell that is completely recyclable without any sacrifice in performance.
Jeff Bezos’ space company Blue Origin is preparing the second launch of its New Glenn rocket in late spring. The rocket’s payload hasn’t yet been determined.
A new study has identified a common brain circuit that controls creativity, giving scientists and doctors insight into how brain injuries and diseases might impact it.
PRO SCIENCE TIP: TO BE RESILIENT, BE PLAYFUL
The years of the Covid-19 pandemic were taxing on people’s mental health, but one thing that may have made some more resilient to its impact is playfulness. A new study published this week of more than 500 Americans found that adults who were determined to have higher levels of playfulness demonstrated more signs of mental resilience than their less playful peers. “Highly playful people were just as realistic about COVID-19 risks and challenges as others, but they excelled at ‘lemonading’ – creatively imagining and pursuing the positive, discovering ways to create moments of joy even in difficult circumstances,” lead study author Xiangyou Shen said in a statement.
WHAT’S ENTERTAINING ME THIS WEEK
In honor of today’s holiday, I plan to watch L.A. Story, which is both my favorite romantic comedy and favorite movie starring Steve Martin. The movie, written by Martin himself, is a magical, quirky ode to Los Angeles, romance and Shakespeare. Martin stars as a weatherman for a local TV news station, who has his own life changed by the weather. Twice. More than that and I’ll spoil it for you–just enjoy it.
