Kozminski Techblog

The first person in the world to print and transplant an artificial pancreas was a Pole. I think that Professor Michał Wszoła deserves to me mentioned here because he will save thousands of lives. If he manages to get 9 milion euros, first transplants will start in 2024. Millions of patients who suffer from diabetes, cancer, and pancreatic insufficiency will be saved by this project. About 20,000 Poles require pancreas transplants due to health issues, and for the majority of them, there are no donors available. When compared to the number of people who require such a procedure, around 40 people underwent pancreatic transplants in a single year, which is a relatively small number. All of Europe did 300, the United States 800 transplants in one year. The numbers are really small and it’s teryfying how only few people get helped. There are 6 million people in the globe who might benefit from having an artificial pancreas.

What is a artificial pancreas? When asked, professor Michał replied „this is non natural organ made up of living cells and unique biomaterials that imitate the extracellular elements of the organ”. After completing the entire process of creating materials for the creation of the pancreas, they move on to building the fake pancreas layer by layer using a bioprinter. The pancreas hardens when exposed to a special light during printing. The professor and his team only focus on the functionality of the pancreas; artists are responsible for completing details on the organ, such as veins. The old pancreas is typically left in the patient’s body because it is one of the few organs that does not need to be transplanted into the same location as the original organ, artificial pancreas is placed in a totally different location.

The professor and his team had funding until 2019, after that private investors invested in them. Currently, they are looking for international investors who can give them 9 million euros so they may develop their work even farther than they have before. The professor claims that the conversations they are having with potencial inwestors are headed in a very positive way.

In conclusion, I must say that I am truly grateful that our world is filled with such gifted individuals who, because of their level of knowledge, diligence, and talent, can save the lives of so many people. Individuals who invest hours and hours and hours in work for the benefit of society should be considered heroes.

https://medicaldialogues.in/diabetes-endocrinology/news/new-dual-hormone-artificial-pancreas-leads-to-better-blood-sugar-control-in-type-1-diabetes-63641?infinitescroll=1

https://makeway.pl/pl/polska-technologia-druku-bionicznej-trzustki?fbclid=IwAR2JHwJLkARtiSVpqKIMHUqpjIwURGJzwjeRnp8MpiMR7QhF6xaLSMTYPFo

The framework is a newly developed firm. In 2020 framework was an established working company with one goal in mind. To make a reusable laptop that can be compared to any other laptop on the market.

In 2021 Framework came out with their first generation of laptops called the framework laptop quite an original name but it worked. As the company really only has one product the name did not matter as much but the laptop itself does. This laptop changed everything in the world of laptops as in 2021 it was awarded the top 100 inventions of 2021. 

Why did it change the laptop industry well this laptop was made for it to be changeable and repairable by any person with a bit of knowledge of laptops and computers. In this, the laptop can be bought only once. If you need something faster or different you can buy all the parts from them and change them yourself per the firm’s intentions. The chassis of the laptop was made for it to have changeable ports which I think is an amazing idea as people need different ports depending on their job and personal use.

As of 2022, they let out an upgrade for the laptop which is the 12th gen Intel CPU. now let us say you would like to upgrade you can choose any i5 or i7 latest CPU from intel and change it yourself. As you might think this might be a hard job to do but the framework gives you all the instructions with pictures on how to do it yourself and also have videos for those visual learners. It is also possible not only to make a change inside of the laptop but also outside you can change the keyboard and even the frame of the screen to personalize your own working machine. 

Many people have helped this company with large sums of money and today they are really building a name for themselves, in my opinion, it is a threat to others as HP is doing the same thing which is giving detailed instructions on how to repair your laptop. 

It has taken too long for companies (apple) to have a monopoly on us with their products. This company is overdue with its idea I hope it all goes well for them and I’m tempted to buy their laptop but I only have one problem they don’t sell to the country I live in but as I stay updated with them they expanded to many countries in Europe this year so this might just be a time problem for me.

Sources

https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/framework-laptop-review-the-anti-macbook-has-arrived

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framework_Computer#Battery_life\

https://frame.work/ca/en

Italian design studio Lazzarini has unveiled a new floating city concept shaped like a turtle. The idea is that ancient people believed that the world existed on the back of a giant space turtle. The Lazzarini designer thought it would be interesting to get a feel of living on a floating creature therefore, developed the concept of a floating city for 60,000 guests, which will be shaped like a turtle, powered by solar energy.

As planned, it will be a huge floating continent that is twice the size of the Roman Colosseum. The “terayacht” concept, is called Pangeos because it takes its name from the huge continent “Pangaea” that existed many years ago. The Pangeos will include hotels, malls, parks, an aircraft runway, and helipads.

The turtle-shaped vessel will be 550 meters long and 610 meters wide and will be built in 8 years. If the project is successfully built, it will be the largest water structure ever built by humans. Despite the huge size of the vessel, it will be able to reach speeds of 5 knots thanks to nine engines with a capacity of 16,800 hp. each. While swimming, the large wings will be powered by the breaking waves that will produce energy. In addition, solar panels are installed on the roof, which provides part of the necessary clean energy to power the terayacht.

As mentioned earlier, the ship will have its own airport and helipads, they will be placed on the roof of the structure. Pangeos will also have its own shipyard called Terashipyard which will be 650 meters wide and 600 meters long, providing direct access to the sea.

Obviously now this is just a concept of an incredible project, but Pierpaolo Lazzarini who is the author of the concept hopes that his project will soon become a reality, the estimated cost of building the project is 8 billion dollars.

The answer is pretty simple: no! Laboratory grown diamonds are the same physically, chemically and optically compared to “real diamonds”. Basically, it means that without specialized tools we cannot tell the difference between natural and laboratory grown diamonds. Also, they are graded and certificated like naturally grown diamonds by companies such as GIA, IGI, AGS, AWDC and so more. So what makes the difference? The origin of the diamond. Laboratory grown diamonds are made in high-tech laboratories. Where specialized machines and experts try to copy the environment for a diamond to grow. Naturally grown diamonds grow under the deep earth’s surface, where high temperature and pressure form the diamond. And that is the main difference between mined diamonds and laboratory grown diamonds.

How do we make diamonds in laboratories?
First laboratory grown diamonds were made in the 1950s, but they were not good enough to be used in the jewellery industry. Of course, since then we had a huge growth in technology and the diamonds that we make right now are perfect for jewellery usage. Mainly we use High-Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) or Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) method. Both of them are capable of doing high clarity, colourless diamonds. The HPHT method starts with a small diamond seed which is placed in carbon. Then the seed is exposed to high pressure and high temperature, which replicates the way mined diamonds form. The CVD method is mainly focused on using different gases and heat to form the diamond. This method produces type IIa diamonds, which are the purest diamonds, without any additional chemical elements. However, the outcome is different for every method.

As we can see each method gives a different shaped rough diamond. What’s more in both natural and HPHT methods we might see some other chemical elements, what is rare for the CVD method, because scientist control the gases that are added to the process.

Are laboratory grown diamonds better than mined diamonds?
First of all, let’s start with the price. Laboratory grown diamonds are cheaper by around 30% compared to mined diamonds. Why? Because the supply chain to achieve the final version of a diamond is much shorter. We eliminate the costs of mining the diamond, transporting it or even polishing and cutting, because most labs do it by themselves. That’s why the price might differ by even 30%. However, we cannot forget that mined diamonds are not infinite and when the last diamond is mined, its value will grow rapidly. Also ecologically laboratory grown diamonds are better for our environment. Not only because they do not damage it physically to find diamonds deep in the ground, but also because lots of laboratories rely on renewable energy sources and produce much less air pollution than mining diamonds. So I think the answer to this question is yes, but also I know that some people may disagree with me. It brings us to the point of personal preference and what factors are important to us as a buyer.

Why do people call laboratory grown diamonds ”fake diamonds”?
I think their lack of knowledge of the topic and also some misunderstanding. Some people probably think that lab diamonds are something like moissanite or cubic zirconia. Both of the mentioned crystals are more of a diamond wannabe rather than a diamond. They differ chemically, physically and even optically, because they react differently to light than diamonds.

Can the newer advanced technology ultimately devalue laboratory grown diamonds?
I think not. Even if we make a huge amount of laboratory grown diamonds in a short period of time they will still keep their value. It might lower a bit, but its value will never be around cubic zirconia because laboratory owners won’t lose their profit even if they sell millions of diamonds in a day. Also, they will lose buyers that want to buy something luxurious, because lab diamonds will no longer be considered as luxurious products. It will result in losing customers, that are trying to find a replacement which meets their expectations.

To sum everything up laboratory grown diamonds are REAL diamonds not fake! So if you want to buy a new piece of jewellery that has diamonds in it consider buying it with lab diamonds not only to save some money, but also our planet.

Sources:
https://www.gia.edu/gia-news-research/difference-between-natural-laboratory-grown-diamonds
https://geology.com/diamond/lab-grown-diamonds/
https://www.namdardiamondsusa.com/blogs/diamond-talk/natural-vs-lab-grown-diamonds
https://www.queensmith.co.uk/diamond-guides/lab-grown-diamonds/how-are-lab-grown-diamonds-made
https://www.cleanorigin.com/about-lab-created-diamonds/

Recently the world’s first clinical trial has been conducted, in which lab-grown blood was injected into two people, according to the researchers from nhsbt. This is a huge step to examine if lab-grown cells are safe and effective for the human body and if they could be used in the future. The main goal is to manufacture blood cells for people with various blood disorders such as sickle or for those who need a transfusion of a rare type of blood.

How is blood manufactured?

After the blood is collected from volunteers, it is filtered to pick stem cells that are capable of becoming red blood cells. In the next step selected stem cells grow and become red blood cells in a laboratory. The whole process takes about 3 weeks and results in the growth of cells from 1 million stem cells to around 50 billion red blood cells which are later filtered to 15 billion capable of use, according to BBC.

As of now, only 2 volunteers have taken part in the trial, although it is predicted that more than 10 people will participate. They have been closely monitored and none of them have shown any unwanted effects, allowing the trial to continue. Every participant will get 2 infusions of blood each containing 5-10 milliliters at least 4 months apart. One donation will contain natural blood and the other lab-grown blood which scientists have marked with radioactive substance to track how long it will survive in a human system as part of the clinical trial. The goal for lab-grown cells is to last longer than those produced by the human body. That is possible because lab-grown red blood cells are freshly made and should last a full 120 days in a human body, whereas typical blood donation contains a mix of old and young cells which together last only around 120 days. This may not seem like a huge difference, but in reality, it allows less frequent and smaller donations in the future.

In conclusion, I believe that the whole trial is a significant step in the future development of medicine. It will allow artificial blood to substitute natural blood and will limit the number of donors necessary to upkeep the current demand for red blood cells. It needs to be noted that such procedures and further testing will only be possible if appropriate funding is provided, which is difficult to predict as medical research is an underfunded field of science. Lab-grown blood cells will be not only unaffordable to the average person but also inaccessible without the right reasoning. If these tests succeed and become publicly available they will have a life-changing effect on millions of people all around the world and will save countless lives.

References:

https://www.nhsbt.nhs.uk/news/first-ever-clinical-trial-of-laboratory-grown-red-blood-cells-being-transfused-into-another-person/

https://www.bbc.com/news/health-63513330

As we know, there has been a trade war between the US and China for a long time, and not so long ago, the US tightened trade sanctions against China, namely in the areas of high technologies “The commerce department on Friday announced restrictions that will make it extremely hard for Chinese companies to obtain or manufacture advanced computer chips and will slow their progress in artificial intelligence.”FT. All this is being done to prevent the strengthening of China and at least slow down progress in the development of the high-tech industry. Also, as a result of sanctions, a huge number of highly qualified specialists from the United States also began to leave China. Now China is in a very difficult situation and Beijing is looking for ways out and solutions to the problem.

At the moment, some companies have already come up with methods to get around this problem, and today I will talk about some of them.

Let’s start with the fact that China has been trying to develop its own manufacturing industry for both chips and high technologies for a long time. To understand how much China wants to achieve this, you need to know that they will invest –1.4 trillion dollars in this space industry from 2020 to 2025 it is really huge amount of money. And all this in order to become less vulnerable and independent in terms of production, so as not to suffer from the sanctions on which they were imposed. However, at the moment China has not achieved full independence in this area.

What is important, it was modern chips that fell under the sanctions that can be used by Chinese scientific organizations and, worst of all, by the Chinese military. As we know, China has not increased its capacity in the production of powerful processors and chips, so they are highly dependent on third-party manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.

But as we know, Taiwan de facto does not belong to China, therefore, after the introduction of sanctions, TSMC, observing the sanctions, stopped all contacts with companies from the mainland that produce chips of a certain power.

“A person close to TSMC said Biren’s public presentations touting its processors had forced the contract chipmaker to halt supplies because the chips’ performance probably met the specifications banned by the US restrictions. “Unless they can prove that they are OK under the export controls, we will not be able to ship to them,” the person said. “Whenever there is a red flag, we will have to review.” Chinese engineers said figuring out what was compliant was complicated because of Washington’s unclear rules for calculating a key metric in the thresholds for chips called the bidirectional transfer rate, or the speed with which they send data to each other. The export controls cap chips at below 600(GB/s).”FT.

It was difficult to figure out this rate, but the Chinese specialists managed to do it “There are several ways in which [this transfer rate] can be calculated,” said a senior engineer at Biren, who asked not to be named. The company had begun to tweak its designs to reduce processor speeds in the hope of getting them manufactured by TSMC, the person said.”FT.

Well, if a component is known that can’t be exceeded, then the maximum can be avoided by a fairly simple solution. Deliberately decreseing the performance of processors and chips and reduce their functionality. For example, Biren “Archived versions of Biren’s website from before the US imposed sanctions show specifications for its first processor, the BR100, that would give it a transfer rate of 640 GB/s, exceeding the US limits. Now Biren’s site shows slower specs for the BR100 of 576GB/s, according to calculations from research group Bernstein.”FT.

How the Chinese are reducing processor power was detailed by “Dylan Patel, chief analyst at semiconductor research group SemiAnalysis, who first noticed Biren’s change of specs, said the company was attempting to slow down its processors by disabling part of the chip. “They are not changing the chip design, so it’s like saying ‘pinky promise we won’t re-enable it later on’ and it’s unclear if the [US] government will accept that,” said Patel.”FT.

However, how long China will use such solutions is not an easy question. But as far as one can judge, China is still quite advanced in the development of its own industry for the production of semiconductor components and systems, although not so much as to fully cover all needs, but there are already successes. For example, China produces its own processors using the 14nm process technology, it is expected to release chips according to the 7nm and 5nm process technology.

However, we must not forget that American technology is used almost everywhere, so if the United States acts tougher, it may well slow down China’s progress.
But you still need to understand that sanctions can at least slow down progress, but not completely stop development. Because Chinese companies a long time already not so mediocre to as not to be able to realize their own potential, for example, the well-known Huawei is implementing very ambitious projects, they began to build their own production plant modern chips.

In general, if you look at the whole picture, you can understand that the new sanctions are a tangible blow for China, but not a fatal one, and no matter how US tries to slow down Chinese the development of its own high technologies. You need to understand that China will be able to develop its own industrial high-tech base and not depend on anyone in the future. But the main question remains, how long will China need to implement these plans?

Write in the comments what do you think China will be able to become technologically independent despite the sanctions?

Sources

1.https://www.ft.com/content/7df13a5e-84e8-44af-b0d3-3e3efa6a8671

2.https://futuresupplychains.org/chinas-semiconductor-supply-line/

3.https://developingtelecoms.com/telecom-business/partner-spotlight/11775-chinese-14nm-chips-to-enter-full-scale-production-in-2022.html

4.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-21/china-s-top-chipmaker-makes-big-tech-advances-despite-us-curbs

5.https://www.huaweicentral.com/huawei-will-start-manufacturing-its-own-chipset-in-2022/

The UK government has recently announced the plan to establish several “investment-incentive” zones across the country. According to https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk the plan is to cut taxation rates for businesses and entrepreneurs in order to make them more willing to move their headquarters or local assets to these investment zones, thus making firms invest into local infrastructure and develop local economies. 

What exactly is the UK government’s plan and what are the differences in taxation rates?

Investment zones are the government’s new proposal to set up dedicated geographic areas with specific tax and regulatory rules intended to drive economic growth. The precise rules within investment zones have not yet been confirmed, but they are set to include:

• Time-limited tax incentives for 10 years. For example, the zones are expected to provide:

• Lower employer National Insurance Contributions when employing new workers inside the zone.

• Lower business rates for new buildings, with the relevant local authority receiving all additional business rates income above an agreed baseline for 25 years.

• More generous capital allowances (deductions from corporation tax for investment) to encourage private investment.

• Lower Stamp Duty Land Tax for commercial property.

• Looser planning rules. It will be easier to build houses in investment zones, although exactly what this means in terms of regulation has not yet been set out.

• Greater control of local growth funds. Designated investment zones with 

“appropriate governance” (meaning mayoral combined authorities) will receive a single “local growth settlement” at the next spending review, combining the various different pots of money that Whitehall provides to local government to drive different aspects of local growth (such as transport).

The growth plan raised the possibility that not all investment zones would have all of these benefits, with only mayoral combined authorities receiving consolidated funding, tax incentives only applying in England (because many of the relevant taxes are devolved in Scotland and Wales), and the government saying that “development sites may be co-located with, or separate to, tax sites, depending on what makes most sense for the local economy”.

In theory the UK government’s plan should work on paper, but there is a very high chance that bigger businesses will not make a move due to lack of subsidisation to cover the “move-costs” of the company. Moreover, the move would create huge decrease in profits for smaller companies due to a change in geographical position and newly-created transportation costs, so the most likely outcome would be that it is unlikely that the creation of investment zones will bring a massive change into UK economy.