Inverse - 💨 Meet the S.H.A.R.T. machine

Thursday

Dec 01 2022

Farts, urination, and diarrhea are nothing to be embarrassed about — in fact, if you’re willing to share your toilet sounds with doctors, it could save your life.

Scientists have found that the noise of our bathroom deeds can point to signs of disease. By attaching sensors to toilets, AI could help stop an outbreak in its tracks.

Keep reading to learn how the Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing machine (yep, S.H.A.R.T.) could make this all possible.

What's New

POTTY PHYSICS

Innovation

Farts say more about your health than you think — now, scientists are listening

As David Ancalle opened video after video of diarrhea this year, it struck him: This is not what he expected to be doing for his Ph.D.

Ancalle, a mechanical engineering student at Georgia Tech who researches fluid dynamics, is currently working to demystify the acoustics of urination, flatulence, and diarrhea to benefit public health.

Ancalle and Maia Gatlin, an aerospace engineer at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI), created a mechanical device loaded with pumps, nozzles, and tubes meant to recreate the physics — and sounds — of human bodily function. They named it the Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing machine (S.H.A.R.T.).

S.H.A.R.T. is now preparing an AI algorithm to one day pick up on deadly diseases like cholera and stop an outbreak in its tracks, according to a presentation at last week’s American Physical Society’s annual Fluid Dynamics conference.

Review

Television

Willow is a spellbinding departure from a tired fantasy series formula

Warwick Davis still has a wand from Willow in the wall of his office, encased in a box frame.

“It sits up there as a reminder that anything’s possible, but the power normally to achieve anything is within you,” Davis told Inverse in a 2020 interview. “That was the message behind Willow: The power to control the universe is within you. It’s not anywhere else. The wand always reminds me to get out there and go for it.”

Thirty-four years after the original film that made Davis a household name, the actor who played the titular protagonist is headed back to the whimsical land of sorcerer supreme (at least, in this franchise), Willow Ufgood. Disney+’s Willow series is more spellbinding than it has any right to be for a theater-to-TV sequel show, but it brings back all of the charms of the iconic 1988 fantasy movie, then double downs on the magic and mayhem, remixing it just enough to satisfy fans both old and new.

FUTURE OF SLEEP

Mind and Body

Can health wearables help you sleep better?

With fitness trackers all the rage now, it’s no surprise that folks are turning to them to overhaul their sleep. In a 2022 survey conducted by Sleep Junkie, 37 percent of more than a thousand polled reported using sleep tracking technology frequently.

The undeniable allure of wearable technology is having personalized data that can be immediately actionable. Studies have shown that health and fitness trackers can encourage exercise and weight loss. But is the same true for sleep?

Not really, sleep experts tell Inverse. In fact, it turns out devices meant to track sleep come up woefully short, and for some, it can actually create anxiety around sleep, potentially making getting a good night’s rest even harder. Despite this, sleep researchers do have hope that there may still be benefits to these trackers after all — you just need to know what to focus on and, of course, you have to put in the work.

Transport

Gear

Polestar hopes to pivot EV success into making e-bikes

When it comes to EVs, Polestar has been one of the hottest names to watch in 2022. The Swedish company is poised to hit 50,000 orders by the end of the year thanks in part to a 125 percent jump in sales during the first half. Now, it’s planning to pivot its EV success to the increasingly competitive world of electric two-wheelers.

As reported by The Verge, Polestar’s CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, confirmed the company’s intentions to build its own electric bike with the help of Allebike, a previous collaborator that helped Polestar make a non-electric mountain bike.

Bacteria

Mind and Body

The bacteria that causes leprosy can also help regrow human livers

Among all the infamous ancient diseases cropping up in human history, leprosy is perhaps second only to the plague. The chronic infection ravaged the bodies of its victims, causing skin lesions and loss of limbs much like House of the Dragon’s Viserys Targaryen who actor Paddy Considine revealed had a severe form of leprosy. But unlike in fiction, infected individuals in our real world were often ostracized by society and forced to quarantine for life in leper colonies. The last such colony was dismantled as late as 1969.

Today, leprosy is known as Hansen’s disease and researchers now know that the culprit behind it is a bacterium called Mycobacterium leprae, or M. leprae. In the 1960s, scientists developed antibiotics that thwart the microorganism’s destructive tendencies. Now, they’ve discovered a far gentler, daresay nurturing side that we could potentially harness for the greater good.

Published this month in the journal Cell Reports Medicine, researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that M. leprae rejuvenated livers, coaxing these organs to grow dramatically but also without any scarring or triggering tumor growth in armadillos infected with the bacteria.

Meanwhile...

December 2022 sky guide: 4 can’t-miss celestial events

A four-door Corvette EV could shirk every rule in the sports car’s playbook

5 years ago, Guillermo del Toro turned his love of cinema into a sci-fi masterpiece

The 'Ahsoka' series may return to a trippy Star Wars location

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Inverse - 💨 Meet the S.H.A.R.T. machine

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