In this week’s edition of The Prototype, we take a look at SpaceX’s five launch weeks, using AI to free scientists from lab boredom, how exercise is good for the brain, and more. You can sign up here to receive The Prototype in your inbox.

IIt’s been a big week for SpaceX. The company successfully launched its Starship spacecraft from Texas on Sunday morning and retrieved it an hour later in the Indian Ocean. The company also successfully “captured” the spacecraft’s super-heavy rocket booster with two massive mechanical arms as it returned to the landing site.

Then on Monday, SpaceX launched NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft with one of its Falcon Heavy rockets. The ship sets off for Jupiter’s moon Europa (contrary to the warning given to humanity in the film). 2010), where it will arrive in 2030. There it will explore the planet in detail from Jupiter’s orbit, paying particular attention to whether there is life in the ocean beneath its icy surface.

On Tuesday, SpaceX launched two more Falcon 9 rockets, one from California and one from Florida, carrying a total of 43 of its Starlink internet satellites into orbit. The first was the company’s 100th launch of 2024. As of this writing, SpaceX plans to launch another Falcon 9 from Florida on Friday evening – that’s five launches of three different rocket classes in less than a week.

There is still more to do. In January, SpaceX announced its launch target for this year was 148. It is not clear whether it will achieve this, but the company has already broken its previous record of 98 launches in a year, which it achieved in 2023.

Stay tuned.

Exclusive: This startup is launching an AI-powered lab assistant for scientists

TV And the films often make science seem like a glamorous endeavor, be it a breathless race to cure a disease or the accidental invention of time travel. But the reality is that research is often laborious: lots of careful data collection and observations repeated day after day.

Forbes Silas Adekunle, a graduate of 30 Under 30 Europe, sees an opportunity to change this with his new company Lumi. Today the company announces the launch of its autonomous laboratory assistant. This is a series of modular cameras and sensors that use computer vision to capture data for scientific research. Think of bacterial growth in a petri dish or color changes from a chemical reaction. The company said its software can be integrated into existing platforms and data pipelines.

Lumi has been working on this system since its inception four years ago, Adekunle said, and has validated its approach through pilot testing with customers such as pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and contract research firm CatSci. Now that it is generally available, the company plans to raise more capital to commercialize and expand its operations internationally.

Adekunle’s vision for Lumi is to free up scientists by automating tedious data collection tasks. “We are giving the human mind the freedom to actually focus on thinking and doing what humans are good at, which is bringing noble ideas to life,” he told me.

DISCOVERY OF THE WEEK: QUICK DETECTION OF A HEART ATTACK

If anyone has one heart attackThe sooner they are treated, the better. However, because heart attacks have the same symptoms as other problems, a diagnosis is sometimes possible takes hours. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University announced this week that a Blood sample that can find the biomarkers that indicate a heart attack less than ten minutes. Your next step will be to refine and follow up on the test clinical trials. The researchers believe the technology they developed for the test could also have potential for detecting other diseases. Their findings were published in the journal this week Scientific advances.

FORBES CALLED IT: SPACEX EDITION

As I mentioned above, SpaceX has now launched 100 rockets in 2024 and has become the dominant player in the commercial space industry (it was responsible for almost half of all launches worldwide last year). But in 2003–five years ago Elon Musk successful launched its first rocket-Then-Forbes Reporter Seth Lubove wrote one of the company’s first profiles. The article goes through Musk’s story, starting with his initial failure at X.com (plus ça change…) and finally success at PayPal. It explores the challenges that other space startups of the time faced Musk’s still unrealized ambition and ends there to get to Mars: “It sounds completely crazy.” Lubove wrote about the company’s plans. “But then digital money sounded pretty crazy a decade ago.”

Tidbits from science and technology

My colleague Amy Feldman explores why Amazon relies on nuclear energy to power its data centers.

Battery company Lyten announced that it is investing more than $1 billion to build a production factory Lithium-sulfur batterieswhich are said to be lighter than lithium-ion batteries and require no mining of nickel, cobalt and other materials.

Two billionaires are supporting a nonprofit initiative to use artificial intelligence Decoding animal communication. My colleague Phoebe Liu has the whole story.

The German startup Ororatech uses Satellites to monitor forest firesannounced that it has raised $27 million in investment funding to expand its capabilities.

Researchers at UCLA have developed a method for making cement without emitting carbon dioxide. The scientists say this method can be integrated into existing processes, potentially reducing the cost of carbon-free cement compared to alternative approaches taken in the industry.

PRO SCIENCE TIP: AN EXHAUST OF EXERCISE COULD BOOST YOUR BRAIN

A team of Neuroscientist reviewed existing studies examining the connection between exercise and brain performance and found that a short burst of vigorous exercise (think a HIIT session) will Improve your cognitive performance after that, especially yours Decision-making ability. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed, going to the gym can help. The researchers are planning follow-up studies to examine this effect in more detail.

WHAT’S ENTERTAINING ME THIS WEEK?

Since its release AugustI played constantly Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds‘ new album, Wild GodIn my opinion the band’s best since their 2004 double album Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus. By turns haunting and upbeat, it’s a fantastic listen from start to finish.

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