💡 Light-absorbing dye makes skin invisible, a chip that detects free radicals, and the first space mission to mine precious metals

🤔Did you know there's a Blueprint Weekly?

Our premium newsletter, Blueprint Weekly, delivers exclusive content to your mailbox every Sunday. For only 1$ your first month, you can receive IE's special articles, one-of-a-kind stories, and interviews.

Subscribe now!

Researchers from the universities of Texas and Stanford developed a solution that makes the skin invisible and the organs visible, a major advancement in medical imaging.

If this safe technique is adopted, it could offer doctors a whole new way of observing organs in the body. Dive deeper into this Must-Read.

🔥Today’s job of the day as featured on jobs.interestingengineering.com:

> Platform Engineer (Kubra) 
> Software Engineer (ENSCO, Inc.)

Reading Time: 4 mins

Did a friend forward this e-mail to you? Subscribe here.

MUST-READ

💡 Light-absorbing dye turns live mice’s skin invisible, reveals internal organs

Made with a popular food dye, the solution effectively blocked light-scattering properties, which rendered the skin invisible, almost like a magic trick. 

After applying the solution to mice’s skulls and abdomens in an experiment, researchers were able to observe blood vessels in the brain through a transparent skull and the internal organs in stunning detail.

Researchers believe this magic solution would “completely revolutionize existing optical research in biology.” As ultrasounds are the most common method of looking inside the body, this low-cost solution could offer a better way to see what’s going on. 

Better yet, it’s 100% biodegradable.  

🍔 Low-cost EPR sensor on chip to boost quality control of food products

Quality control: Researchers from the HZB and the University of Stuttgart have designed a sensor that fits on a small chip that detects radicals in food products, even at very low concentrations. 

The food industry must detect free radicals in food, which are highly reactive molecules produced by bad or spoiled food. Current methods, however, need an update, as most generate toxic waste. 

Already attracting the attention of olive oil and beer manufacturers, the sensitive chip stands to optimize production processes. But wait, there’s so many industries that this chip will help.

🚀AstroForge plans first-ever private space mission to mine near-Earth asteroid

California dreaming: Astroforge, a Californian aerospace company, is about to launch the first private mission to land on an asteroid outside the Earth-moon system. Their aim is to commercialize space mining and give the Earth a break. 

Does the asteroid have precious resources rapidly declining on Earth such as cobalt, nickel, and platinum-group metals? Only one way to find out. 

One thing’s for certain, however: new sources of metal are needed, and this could potentially be lucrative because the clean energy transition means we need more batteries and renewable energy infrastructure.

HOT TOPICS OF THE DAY

SCIENCE

> Researchers have turned fruit flies into tiny athletes to unlock the secrets of locomotion. (More)

> From fossils, the flying style of ancient pterosaurs has been decoded, the earliest vertebrates to develop powered flight. (More)

> The placebo effect may hold the key to developing new drug-free treatments for chronic pain. (More)

ENERGY

> The race to replace fossil fuels continues with XM-1, a scalable and modular hydrogen fuel-cell-based energy solution already used on maritime vessels. (More)

> Offshore wind turbine maintenance just got a major upgrade, effectively becoming a “virtual factory” enabling technicians to work regardless of the weather. (More)

> Fossil fuels still reign supreme in the US as the dominant source of power despite the efforts to generate clean energy solutions as fast as humanly possible. (More)

INNOVATION

> Several companies are actively involved in developing robotic rovers for lunar exploration. (More)

> A giant underwater drone in Norway sets a record by swimming 3400m deep in a multi-week long mission. (More)

> Scientists have created the world’s fastest microscope which will capture electrons in motion. (More)

VIDEO

> We forgot how to make concrete and then remembered, and we have the Ancient Romans to thank, except it’s not that great for the environment now that we mass-produce it. What secrets lie behind this crucial construction material? (More)

> The Italian Institute of Technology is developing a flying robot to save lives in emergency situations. (More)

IE QUIZ: THE RESULTS

In yesterday’s quiz, we asked you to find the unknown number

The answer is: 1

Ready for more brainy challenges? Gear up for future IE quizzes by following us on Instagram and Facebook! 

FROM THE WEB

> Weight-loss drugs have surprising benefits for mental health and the brain.

> The field of mechatronics combines electrical and mechanical engineering, MIT says, but it’s really about design.

> Scientists study a historical “super rainstorm” to evaluate whether extreme weather events will become more common with climate change.

> The most spectacular science shots from August.

> Mindfulness meditation for pain is not “just in the mind,” according to brain scans.

> There was a universe before the Big Bang, according to a new study.