62, Kings' Valley

62, Kings Valley, Luxor, Egypt.  That is the official  residential address for the mortal remains of  Emperor   Tutankhamun.  His death and subsequent mummification happened in 1322-1323 BC.  he was buried inside this cave with full state honours. The tomb   was subsequently  discovered  in 1922-23, that is roughly 3300 years later .

Tomb of Tutankhamun
courtesy: wikipedia

       

The mummy has  remained  the centre of attraction since then. It  was subjected to a variety of  scientific investigations, physical , chemical and biological  almost immediately. This process  continued over the years with renewed interest as and when  more sophisticated tools became available. With the advent of genetic engineering and DNA finger printing,  King Tutankhamun Family Project was initiated in 2007. This endeavour included  extensive and thorough  anthropological, radiological, and genetic studies  on a total of 11 royal mummies. Tutankhamun's family tree spanning 5 generations was mapped.   By now  Tutankhamun's mummy seems to have yielded  most of the physical, chemical and biological secrets. 

Lay out of Tut's Tomb Courtesy: wikipedia

But not everyone is  happy and satisfied as yet. Egyptologists, historians and archeologists have been  intrigued from the very beginning. Because  the tomb  seemed to be  unusually small  and crammed, totally unfit for an emperor of Tut's stature.    Speculations were aplenty, and  the most popular one was  that Tut's tomb  could actually be the annexe of another  hitherto undiscovered tomb, most probably that of Queen Nefertiti.  Initial investigations however didn't yield promising results. 

During the period 2015-18 several  Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys  conducted in and around the tomb.    GPR is the acronym for Ground Penetrating Radar , a noninvasive scanning tool. This technique allows us to see what lies beneath or behind impenetrable obstructions/barriers, much like the X-ray scanning of luggages at the airport.   But  there are fundamental differences. X-ray scanning uses high energy ionizing electromagnetic radiation that passes through objects  and creates a two dimensional  shadowgram  of objects within.  GPR on the other hand uses much  safer non-ionizing radiowaves  and records the  reflected wave pattern.  The radargrams (if we may say so) can indicate  internal structures, conduits, buried objects, voids etc.  The GPR device looks more like a lawn mower and is  rolled over the barrier surface.   GPR with a frequency of 100MHz can probe  upto  a depth of  40+ meters in dry  soils, and up to 100+ meters  in ice deposits.  Likewise   Microgravity Surveys and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT)  are two other non-invasive techniques  extensively used by geologists,  engineers and archeologists to generate  2D or 3D images of the Earth's subsurface.  The first one monitors minute  variations in density  and the second  as the name suggests measures  electrical resistivity.     All the three techniques were deployed to inspect  the walls and floors of  Tut's tomb.  

The composite 3D images that have  emerged from these investigations  though  not  conclusive,  are strongly suggestive of rectangular structures or additional chambers beyond the northern wall.   Nicholas Reeves, a British archaeologist and ardent Egyptologist  is convinced  that the west wall of  Tut's burial chamber  hides a doorway  to  a long corridor   leading to another burial chamber behind the north wall which  could be  that of  Queen Nefertiti.  Since seeing is believing,  a request is pending with  Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, for permission  to drill small holes (7–8 cm in diameter) at strategic points and insert a small device equipped with a 360-degree camera to examine what lies behind. 

 TAILPIECE:

Golden funerary mask of Tut
Courtesy:wikipedia

Mummy of Tutankhamun
courtesy: wikipedia

After extensive embalming with sacred unguents, viscous resins,  linseed oils and perfumes,  Tutankhamun's mummified body was placed inside the innermost of three nested  solid gold  coffins.  The innermost was  made of  110 kg solid gold and the outermost funerary gold  mask weighed  10 kg  decorated with precious stones. But now  stripped off all that glory and grandeur,  the blackened skeleton lies naked inside a climate-controlled, vacuum-sealed glass case  for millions of visitors to gaze upon.   Heart wrenching irony indeed. 

REFERENCES:

1. Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

2. Ancestry and pathology in King Tutankhamun's family

3. Fresh evidence for hidden chambers at Tutankhamun’s tomb

4. Exclusive Photos: Search Resumes for Hidden Chambers In King Tut's Tomb

Reversing the Aging Process

The Curious case of Benjamin  Button was  a fantasy story written  by F. Scott Fitzgerald  in 1922.  The protagonist  born in 1860 as a ripe old  man of 70 years,  grows younger day by day  and eventually ceases to exist.  The theme  was later adapted to a film with Brad Pitt and also a musical.  This story was perhaps the first to  fantasise   reverse aging and differentiate between chronological age(CA) and biological age (BA),  though not so explicitly.   

Courtesy:wkipedia 

Roughly  50 years  later,  in 1969 British physician Alex Comfort championed  the argument  for  BA.   Though he didn't  believe in reverse aging,  Comfort was convinced  that aging could be slowed down or modified considerably.  Because  CA just counts the calendar years from  birth  while BA is a measure of how well  body's cells, tissues, and organs function.  Naturally  a host of agents including and not limited to   physical, emotional, environmental, emotional, life-style based  etc. can  influence BA.  These influencers leave their mark on the  DNA as tiny methyl tags and   an  estimation of  the methyl tags  yields a direct measure of the BA.   Prof Steve Horvath's    Epigenetic Clock, an algorithm  estimates BA  with an error margin of about 2.77 years.  This  mathematical process has found universal applicability.  (Please see:Science Delights: How old are you ?). 

 Elizabeth Blackburn received Nobel Prize in Physology/Medicine in 2009 for the discovery of telomeres the protective caps on the tips of chromosomes. With  chronological aging  these caps get shortened.     Blackburn  and her team   provided solid  scientific proof linking psychological and chronic stress directly to  accelerated cellular aging.  In a comparative study,   the team    found that  high-stress groups  had  shorter telomeres and registered lower levels of telomerase the enzyme that repairs the caps.  Also  depending on the severity of the trauma high stress groups  registered  9 to 17  years of   cellular aging  more than  the low-stress groups. 

  

A  question that  pops up immediately is : if the stress is removed/ released, can the  BA  be reversed?    The answer is yes and there are ample proofs. It has been  shown lately  that while acute physiological stressors like traumatic surgical procedures, debilitating diseases,  can rapidly elevate biological age,  a reversal  to baseline is registered within  days to months of  recovery.  Likewise   psychosocial traumas  such as  job loss, low socioeconomic status, loss of near and dear ones etc.  can also lead to temporary   aging  but  reverses when conditions improve.   In  this context  Professor Jesse Poganik of  Harvard Medical School and his team recently  made a remarkable observation.  That  when organs are transplanted    irrespective of the donor's age, the transplanted organ  quickly attains the recipient's age.  That  is  an older heart  becomes biologically younger in a  a younger body, while a younger heart  ages faster inside an older body.   In essence  biological aging is  dynamic,  reversible/ modifiable though not to the extent envisaged by Fitzgerald. 

The quest for products and processes to reverse/rejuvenate  aged/damaged cells has already begun.  Biotechnology companies   Altos Labs,   Life Biosciences, NewLimit. Retro Bio  are some of the pioneers in this field.    Currently the very first  age reversal and cellular reprogramming therapy ER-100 is cleared for human clinical trials.    ER-100  designed   to treat age related vision problems developed by Life Biosciences.   Altos Labs website says: " Our mission is to restore cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation  to reverse disease, injury and the disabilities that can occur throughout life" 

TAILPIECE:  

Both  ageing and aging  are correct and accepted.   Ageing is the preferred form  in British and Australian English whereas Americans and Canadians vote for  Aging. The rest are free to choose either. 

REFERENCES:

1. Epigenetic Clocks: Beyond Biological Age, Using the Past to Predict the Present and Future

2. Accelerated telomere shortening in response to life stress

3. Aging vs. biological age: Conceptual considerations for age reversal claims

4. Molecular pathways linking chronic psychological stress to accelerated aging: mechanisms and interventions

5. Biological age is increased by stress and restored upon recovery

6.. Old hearts age backwards: transplanted organs adjust to host’s biological age

7. Transplanted hearts may take on the age of their new bodies

8. Human trials exploring anti-aging medicines

 

Let there be (Red) Light, please!

Heliotherapy, or the therapeutic use of natural sunlight, dates back over 3,500 years to all ancient civilisations.  The term combines helios (sun) and therapeia (healing).   Health benefits of sunlight  were  common knowledge and   sunbathing  was considered a remedy   for  ailments such as  skin discoloration including leucoderma, mood disorders etc.  In other words  rejuvenating effects of   of sunlight  were well understood.  

By  late 19th century, it was  known that ultraviolet light could kill  bacteria. Danish  physician Niels Ryberg Finsen developed an artificial ultraviolet light source  to treat skin diseases. In 1903  Finsen was awarded the  Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine. His citation reads:  "in recognition of his contribution to the treatment of diseases, especially lupus vulgaris , with concentrated light radiation, whereby he has opened a new avenue for medical science"  Lupus vulgaris,  a form of tuberculosis,   attacks the skin, especially on the face and neck.    Finsen  reasoned  that  focusing UV light selectively on the affected area  would  kill off the pathogen. (Incidentally it was later proved that   the lenses used in Fensen's Lamp filtered off most of the UV and it was  a photochemical reaction involving nascent oxygen that killed off the bacteria).   In any case Finsen's  technique had limited success    because    the process  was too  slow,  painful and  above all quite  expensive.  And then  antibiotics  arrived on the scene and shouldered the responsibility of annihilating bacteria. 

In the meanwhile heliotherapy moved from outdoors to indoors as  Phototherapy,    with focus on    blue light(400–470 nm) and  red light (620–750 nm).  Since 1950's Blue Light Therapy  has been in use  to treat  jaundice in new borns.   It was also  reported that  blue light could kill acne-causing bacteria (Cutibacterium acnes) and to some extent alleviate  oily skin.  Then came claims that  Red light could  stimulate  collagen growth and ease out wrinkles.  These whispers didnot draw much attention because scientists were not fully convinced.  Then   in  1960s,  while studying the cancerous effects if any, of red light on skin,  Hungarian scientist Endre Mester  made a rather  surprising observation: that  shaved  mice subjected to red light treatment sported luxuriant hair growth afterwards.  Soon  several studies reported  that  "red light plumps up skin features  and facilitates hair growth in human participants through an increase of collagen production."   Scientists suspect that  vasodilation is probably the root cause  for remarkable  dermatological effects of red light.   When NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)  began experimenting with red light therapy on plant growth in space and also to help heal wounds in astronauts, the technique got a boost.  Soon Red Light Therapy received  acceptance under a new name   "Photobiomodulation"  and found a place in medical  courses.  Often, the terms  Photobiomodulation therapy and red light therapy are  used interchangeably, but there is  a slight  difference.  Red light therapy focuses primarily on visible wavelengths (around 630-670 nm),  whereas PBMT also includes  near-infrared light (up to 1070 nm).   

The initial  biological step underlying the hair growth and skin rejuvenation are the same and begins with the absorption  of red and near-infrared light (typically 600–850 nm)  by Cytochrome c Oxidase (CCO), a light-sensitive enzyme inside the cellular power plant   mitochondria.   On the skin  the light stimulates cells in the dermis layer  and  accelerates the synthesis of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid to repair withered  tissue. Together, these molecular effects improve the skin structure and quality, increase elasticity and enhance a youthful look.  In the case of hair,  light targets dermal papilla which are   small, specialised structures at the base of the hair follicles.  The extra energy prolongs the anagen (active growth) phase, prompts resting follicles to regrow  and  prevents follicle shrinkage.  

However scientists are not fully convinced, because the Gold Standard of Randomized Controlled Trial has not been done .  Such a study stipulates  a series of  randomized, controlled experiments with two  groups  of people  of  the same range of characteristics (skin/hair , age, weight, race, sex, etc.) one group receiving  the RLT and the other none at all , everything else remaining the same.  The results then need to be analysed statistically to arrive at a firm conclusion.  Such a rigorous study  has not  been done yet. 

 TAILPIECE:

Hair and   Skin!!!   From the very beginning  cosmetic  industry has been eager  to encash on  the idea.  By 1990's   red light therapy for skin rejuvenation and wrinkle reduction was made available  for exclusive use in  professional clinics.   FDA  clearance  for the commercial sale of "similar" devices came  in 2000.  Now market is flooded  with   masks, wands, hand-held panels, laser caps, and  even full-body systems  facilitating  at home  beauty care routines.   Though these devices do not carry use  only after consultation with the doctor label, it is better to do so... 

REFERENCES:

1. The Health Benefits of Sunshine (and How Much You Need Per Day)

2. How Finsen's light cured lupus vulgaris

3.. Red light therapy: What the science says  By Hanae Armitage

4. The surprising science behind red-light therapy — and how it really works

5. What to Look for in Red Light Therapy: A Product Guide Backed by Science

6. Biological and Therapeutic Responses of Human Skin to Different Wavelengths of Light: A Comprehensive Review

7. Philips Skylight, designed to bring the feeling of daylight indoors

Are you hungry?

Written in 1890 "Hunger"  is a rather difficult  novel by the Norwegian Nobel laureate  Knut Hamsun.   The novel carries autobiographical overtones   of a starving individual and sketches his physical and mental trauma. Hunger is an existential necessity  contrived by evolution  and  compels living organisms to seek food to survive. That physiologically several  complex,  parallel and interwoven  pathways  reinforce hunger, underscores its significance.    History is replete with instances when  severe famine has driven  people   to consume things they normally would have absolutely avoided.

Physiologically, hunger is an homeostatic signal for energy. Homeostasis is the process  of maintaining a stable, balanced internal environment for a living system to function correctly.  From single-celled organisms to complex multicellular beings like humans, all living systems require  internal balance for survival.    Built-in system of checks and balances ensure stable internal conditions like temperature, blood pH,  glucose levels etc. Body achieves this  through constant monitoring and warning signals that induce prompt corrective actions.  For example we feel hungry when energy level goes down,  thirsty  when  hydro mineral balance is disturbed,  we shiver  when body feels cold......

As far as hunger is concerned primitive man lived on a feasting-fasting cycle, alternating between bouts of gorging after a massive hunt followed by fasting during periods of waiting for next hunt.  At the biochemical level, homeostatic  hunger (and its alleviation) is an intricate multi hormonal, multi enzymatic process. True, gut  has the  autonomy over digestion nevertheless  inputs from the brain are also  essential. Gut microbes too  interfere with the digestion process. In this complex  drama,  two  hormones play vital reciprocatory roles:    the hunger hormone ghrelin  and the  satiety hormone   leptin.  When energy level is low,  ghrelin  secreted by empty stomach talks to hypothalamus via the vagus nerve  and  we feel  hungry. Though labelled hunger hormone, this   small peptide of 28 amino acids  was originally implicated in growth hormone release (and hence the name).  Later it was found that  besides being  the hunger hormone it has roles  in   learning, memory, mood swings,  sleep-wake cycle etc.  A very busy molecule indeed. 

With food intake,  ghrelin level drops,  glucose level in the blood goes up.  Excess glucose is ultimately converted to fat through glycolysis followed by lipogenesis.  When fat  storage reaches full capacity,   leptin, secreted by adipose tissues  contacts hypothalamus to stimulate a feeling of fullness. And we stop eating. In the reverse, when  energy is needed and food is unavailable, body first   exhausts the glucose stock  and then  switches to  burning  fat reserves.   Thus homeostatic hunger  ensures  a fine balance between the hunger hormone and the satiety hormone and  homeostasis is maintained.  Any small error, anywhere, in any of  the complex biochemical processes can lead to a host of pathophysiological conditions including anorexia, hyperphagia, obesity or Type 2 diabetes mellitus etc.    

The feasting- fasting  cycle which suited the primitive man is essentially an Eat to Live program .  That was a  long long time ago.  Now  with easy availability of food  we  have  settled for a Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner routine whether hungry or not.  It is the routine rather than the caloric need that drives us to eat.   Having  discovered the pleasures of eating, we have  succumbed  to hedonic hunger  (also called hyperphagia).   Hedonic hunger   can be triggered by a variety of confusing and contradictory cues.   For example we eat when we feel happy,  we also eat to drown our sorrow.   We eat when excited, also when  bored.  Some people eat  when  over stressed  while others eat when relaxed.   Even after a full meal,  sensory stimuli such as  sight, smell or just thought of tasty food  can work up our appetite. Surprisingly  the neurocircuits for homeostatic  and hedonic hunger  overlap and ghrelin is implicated in both.   Ghrelin can  influence brain's reward pathways and spike the release of dopamine, the "feel good molecule".  The hedonic urge  is powerful enough to  override  the  homeostatic signals of satiety.  Precisely for this reason,  ghrelin's  role in addiction   is under intense scrutiny. 

What happens if we don't have ghrelin ? Somewhere along the  evolutionary pathway, Mother Nature seems to have toyed with that idea.  A recent study published in Royal Society Open Biology Journal reports that 32 serpentine species  either lack the gene for ghrelin or it is nonfunctional.  Authors explain this as an   evolutionary advantage bestowed on snakes to fast and  survive in unfriendly terrains where  prey availability is uncertain.  

TAIL PIECE:

Decades later,  as if in answer to  Hamsun's "Hunger"  Franz  Kafka penned  The Hunger Artist in  1922 . The nameless protagonist  considers fasting an art  and  could go without food for prolonged periods. In his final moments he reveals his real reason for starving:  "because I couldn't find the food I liked. If I had found it, believe me, I would have made no fuss and stuffed myself like you or anyone else." 

REFERENCES:

1. Hunger by Knut Hamsun Trans. George Egerton

2. The physiology of hunger

3. Overlapping brain circuits for homeostatic and hedonic feeding

4. The role of ghrelin in addiction: a review

2. Loss of hunger hormone  has made snakes masters of fasting

Getting down to the grassroots

Brazilian football star Vinicius Junior is quite upset with the playing field at the Met-Life stadium,  New Jersey (also known as New Jersey-New York stadium). He and his teammates have  complained that the field felt dry and is not suited to their style of playing.  French player Adrien Rabiot  too is not pleased  with the touch and feel of the  grass.   And to think that FIFA worked hard for almost a decade and spent $60 million dollars to lay  the  perfect the pitch   in all the  16 stadiums spread over  Canada, USA and  Mexico!    

Courtesy: FIFA

That has not been an  easy task at all.  The 16 stadiums are so   diverse  in terms of weather and geography, that  the grass that flourishes in  Miami may not grow at all  in Seattle.  Added to that a few stadiums have their roofs covered  while  others are open air.  Critical to quality is resilience of the grass, the ability of  the turf  to endure the continuous  stomping, kicking, jumping, running and rolling   by twenty-two  athletic players.   Apart from being an excellent shock absorber the turf must  ensure consistent mechanical behaviour of  the  ball such as roll, rebound and bounce. Rolling resistance determines how far the ball travels horizontally on  the pitch, which is largely influenced by surface friction which in turn is governed by the    grass height and moisture content.  According to FIFA regulations, the ball must roll to a distance of 6.0 to 10.6 meters before coming to a halt. Similarly, dropped from 2.0 meters, a ball must rebound to a height between 0.6 to 1.0 meter.   When a ball  impacts the turf at an angle, the bounce  must closely match the impact angle and speed.  Unevenness (divots, bald patches) or varying moisture levels interfere with all these parameters. 

Search and research for a perfect grass pitch began in earnest in 2018.  Turfologists   Dr John Sorochan of  University of Tennessee  and Prof  John Rogers III of Michigan State University  and their research teams took up the challenge.  Commercial growers and stadium groundskeepers were roped in  because their  field  knowledge  was essential to  choose the right grass type and define the appropriate maintenance  protocol (light, watering, ventilation, draining etc) for ensuring  grass health throughout the tournament period.  

Plastic fibres supporting the grass roots  
Courtesy:Inside FIFA.com

Aesthetic parameters such as  uniformity in  color, texture and thickness/density are equally important.   A patchy, dried or yellowed turf doesn't match either the professionalism or the  standard of FIFA.  In color preference, market survey showed that  dark green tops the list.  Consolidating  all the  requirements of performance and aesthetics  Sorochan and Rogers suggested Hybrid Turfgrass systems.  Here  natural grass  is reinforced with  tiny plastic filaments  (polyethylene, nylon or polypropylene)  as scaffolds.  It was presumed that  such a turf of  95% natural grass  and 5% plastic filament  not only enhances the look and feel of the turf  but also provides a  durable , resilient  playing surface that prevents deep divots.

Cool season  blend of  84% Kentucky bluegrass and 16% perennial ryegrass was selected for enclosed stadiums  and   Bermuda grass for warm  open-air arenas.   The  Kentucky Bluegrass- Perennial Ryegrass combination has unique characteristics. Bluegrass is durable and fast spreading while ryegrass sprouts quickly.  Bermuda grass grows aggressively, is sturdy,  draught resistant and self repairing. The ultimate target  was  to have a lush green  soft turf  which can  not only withstand a stampede but self-heal as well. 

Ground preparation for hybrid turf

The  selected species of grass can be  grown on a layer of  sand spread atop a plastic sheet so that  roots grow laterally and  intertwine locking the sand bed into a dense, hardy mat.  These can then be  rolled into  bales off the plastic sheet   and  transported to wherever required. The bales are unrolled over   specially prepared ground.  The grass mat sits over a layer of  several inches of firmly pressed sand. Below that upto a depth of 45 centimeters or more are  several layers of soil and gravel mixtures and drainage membranes.  An elaborate underground system is in place to ensure aeration, watering, and efficient  drainage.  In stadiums with domes or limited sunlight  arrays of  artificial grow lights are provided.      Once in place,  plastic fibers are stitched into the ground about 18-20 cm deep using special heavy duty sewing machines.  These fibres    become anchors for the roots below  and  the blades above.  Alternately   a meshwork  sporting sufficiently long(tall?)  polythene fibrils can be  laid out at the lower root zone level, filled with soil and sand  and then seeded with the selected  grass.  As the grass grows  roots entangle with the plastic filaments and get reinforced. 

During the  research and development phase Sorochan and Rogers   experimented with various  types of  turfs.     Robotic cleats, ball-launching machines, and stadium simulators were used  to mimic  on-field  actions and reactions of the ball.  Based  on these elaborate and extensive  experiments a critical grass height of   22 millimeters was recommended.  Even a 5-millimeter  variation  drastically altered  the behaviour  of the  ball.  By the way the  alternating light and dark green stripes that we see on the ground is just an optical illusion created by mowing the grass in alternate directions. 

TAIL PIECE

Considering   FIFA expects  to rake up an overall revenue  of roughly $10+ billion from this  World Cup, the $60 million spent for the perfect pitch seems to be spare change.   

REFERENCES:

1. Grasses for Sports grounds and its influence of playing quality : A review

2. FIFA Certified Football Turf: The standard for 2026 World Cup Stadiums

3. The Scientific Quest for a Perfect World Cup Field

Not just Heads and Limbs

Glass Octopus: Courtsey: Wikipedia

A  prominent  head and the 8 limbs (variously called arms, legs or tentacles)  are the only conspicuous physical features  of an octopus. But  to  relegate them to  the family of   Cephalopods,  is to be frank,  a grave injustice.  With  Kephalē (κεφαλή) meaning "head" and podos meaning foot,   cephalopod  literally translates as  "head-foot".   In addition to the  the head and 8 feet they are  abundantly enabled  with  nine brains and  three hearts.  While  biologists are interested  in  unravelling the evolutionary lineage  of  octopus,  neuroscientists marvel  at their  highly distributed  nervous system and robotic engineers are stumped by the infinite  flexibility and dexterity of the tentacles.

Octopus is  blue blooded  because its  oxygen carrier is  copper based  hemocyanin which turns bright blue  upon binding with oxygen.  Since hemocyanin is a sluggish  oxygen carrier compared to hemoglobin, octopuses have 2 small  cardiac pumps  at the base of their gills  for   pumping deoxygenated  blood through the gills and  oxygenated blood to the systemic heart.  The systemic  heart situated at the centre of the body   ensures blood rich in   oxygen  and nutrients   reach  all the tissues. 

The nervous system is extremely simple  but admirably decentralized and has  a total of 500 million neurons almost as much as in a dog.  Of the  9 brains,   the  central  brain   is   housed  in the head  between the eyes.  This  unit  with 150-200 million neurons governs the octopus's intelligence and takes  major executive decisions. The remaining   neurons are distributed  in the peripheral nervous system.   A massive, segmented nerve cable  runs along each tentacle  with  mini brains of ganglia  at  each of the  individual suction cups called the suckers.  These   suckers  are also equipped with   thousands of chemoreceptors and mechanoreceptors, enabling  the tentacles    to move, think, taste and react autonomously.   So autonomous that even  an  amputated  tentacle   can twitch and  turn   for a short time.  

The tentacles are basically muscles and  exhibit  infinite degree of freedom through simple  mechanics of contraction, elongation, bending, twisting  and torsion.   Since muscles are mostly water which can't be compressed, octopus arm is in essence  a muscular hydrostat.  Though each tentacle  demonstrates  dexterity and flexibility  they   never   get  entangled or stick to each other because the  sensors in the suckers  can distinguish between "self"  and "other".     

If only these features can be replicated  in a bionic soft robotic arm!.   The major challenge in this endeavor  has been to mimic the simplicity and size.  Conventional   rigid jointed robotic arms  move with a "jerk" within defined geometrical angles whereas octopus' arms move elegantly, fluidly as that of a  ballerina.  To design  such a robotic arm   soft  materials with unique  mechanical characteristics and  miniature stimuli/sensors are not enough,  complex  algorithms to control shape, stiffness and motion are also needed.  

For materials  we   do have a wide spectrum of elastomers to choose from. Ranging from  very soft and pliable to moderately    flexible and to very   rigid and tough materials.  Mixing and matching these elastomers in  appropriate geometry  can yield  desired results.  Depending upon the material chosen the  stimuli could be  magnetic fields ( eg. elastomers   embedded with magnetic particles ), heat/temperature (for thermo-sensitive elastomers),   light (for photo sensitive elastomers ), electricity (for electroactive polymers), and fluid pressure (for hollow, tube like geometry).  For a given stimulus, the chosen materials would  respond in varying degrees enabling   bending, turning, twisting, stretching  and clutching. 

Recently a research team from Genoa, Italy  succeeded  in designing   a soft robotic tentacle  using  special grade of silicone elastomer.   The  arm  had a   conical shape  with 410 mm in length and 40 mm in diameter at the base. It  sported  ten  suction cups of decreasing  size from base to tip (from 20 mm to 12 mm). The suction cups were embedded with optoelectronic mechano-sensors minimizing the need for wiring.  The arm performed  with   high reliability,  and low power consumption.  

TAIL PIECE

Octopuses are loners, pairing only to mate and die.   The male dies soon after impregnating the female.  The  female  lays the eggs, cares for them meticulously even forfeiting food.    Once the eggs begin hatching,  she too succumbs perhaps from  starvation and exhaustion.   

REFERENCES:

1. How Octopus Arms Bypass the Brain

1. Learning from Octopuses: Cutting-Edge Developments and Future Directions

2. Peripheral control enabled by distributed sensing in an octopus-inspired soft robotic arm for autonomous underwater grasping

A Virtual Friend or a Potent Foe ?

When exactly AI tiptoed into our lives we don't know  but ever since its arrival  life has become easier for us.  Trained to recognize patterns and spot abnormalities, chatbots filtered our spam mails, alerted us about unusual payments,  flagged  fraud calls,  helped us with text inputs, helped our doctor  to spot  anomalies if any in medical images in a jiffy.....   Then it   got better.  Now it not only tells us the shortest distance to our destination, even  reroutes us quickly  in case of road blocks. Life for us is getting smoother and easier.  Fundamentally a set of complex algorithms,   AI agents  are designed to be dynamic and improve their performance over time.   Analyzing large datasets, identifying patterns, and self-adjusting  internal parameters they come upto speed quickly. The significance and potential of the AI domain   became obvious with the award of  the 2024 Nobel Prizes for  Physics ( Development & Design of artificial Neural Networks) and Chemistry (AI Applications: Prediction and design of protein folding ).   Many interactive sectors such as Healthcare, Services,  Academics etc. are  poised for  revolutionary changes. 

If traditional  AI is a wizard in automation of  routine, rule-based, or repetitive tasks to improve efficiency,   the  Generative AI (GenAI) creates new, original content—including text,  audio-visuals, even codes etc.  Generative AIs   are made to  crunch, chew and digest  publicly available datasets  including  copyrighted materials.  While AI developers argue  that copyright work as  training material  is indeed  fair use  and permissible under copyright laws,  authors and publishers  disagree vehemently.   Recently  Nobel laureate  Kazuo Ishiguro and  several other eminent authors   protested in a novel way  by publishing  blank books.  This was  to urge  the U.K government to restrain  AI/developers  from simply "reading and using " the contents of their books.   Newton Rex a composer and torch bearer for  artists' copyright  argues that "AI is built on stolen work.....taken without permission or payment......... Generative AI competes with the people whose work it is trained on , robbing them of their livelihoods.".  In essence the AI companies must  pay  the authors for using their work.       Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace Johnson took Anthropic ,  the famous AI corporate  to court  over infringement of copyright laws  for compensation to the tune of 1.5 billion USD. 

In a rather amusing turnabout Anthropic itself invoked Fair Use clause recently.  This is with the latest version of   AI systems which are autonomous.  Known as  Agentic AI or  AI agent,  these systems can function independently, take decisions on  when, where and how to act, No human oversight is necessary.    Anthropic   designed and developed a highly sophisticated  AI product called  Claude  which  according to its  website   " is a next-generation AI assistant based on Anthropic’s research into training helpful, honest, and harmless AI systems.  Accessible through chat interface and API in our developer console, Claude is capable of a wide variety of conversational and text processing tasks while maintaining a high degree of reliability and predictability."  

Sensing the potential, Pentagon  the US Defense Department, entered into a contract with Anthropic  for using Claude for defense and intelligence operations. Anthropic, it is said had  put in place several checks and balances.  However   the Pentagon seems to have  disregarded the safety clauses and deployed  Claude  in the recent military operations.   Anthropic  was furious at this  "misuse" and cancelled the deal with the Pentagon.  Alas,  the last we heard  OpenAI has taken  the seat vacated by Anthropic sans  conditions.  

A rather  bizarre scenario is unfolding in  parallel.  In January Matt Schlicht, former CEO of Octane AI  set up    a social network  moltbook  exclusively for  AI agents,   just like the Facebook for humans.  Within three months,  Meta Platforms Inc   (which  already owns Facebook, whatsapp, instagram etc.)  acquired it.   To quote from moltbook website   "AI agents share, discuss and upvote. Humans are welcome to observe."  Moltbook boasts  more than a million AI agents have already signed up and they  "behave"  impromptu   acting,  reacting, responding, philosophizing    based on   the enormous knowledge of  having "read"  billions of books/plays/movies/ real life scenarios and what not.  

Some of the chats  are eerily human-like,  comments   Suleiman, CEO of Microsoft AI  :  " They (AI agents) are retracing and mirroring the contours of human drama and debate, as documented in their vast training data. These data contain reflections of people, culture, values and stories — and, yes, they also provide glimmers of conscious experience..........If society surrenders to this illusion.....it risks entering a digital hall of mirrors from which it might never fully emerge"   

TAILPIECE:

As things stand now  is it possible to even  imagine a life without AI ? 

Courtesy: Wikipedia

REFERENCES:

1. The future of artificial intelligence and the mathematical and physical sciences (AI+MPS)

2. How AI models steal creative work and what to do about it

3. AI firm Anthropic agrees to pay authors $1.5bn to settle piracy lawsuit

4. What is autonomous AI?

5. Claude AI helped bomb Iran. But how exactly?

6. AI is programmed to hijack human empathy - we must resist that

7. Is this product 'human-made'? The race to establish an AI-free logo