Gadgetory

welcome to what the future on today's show the European Space Agency lays out its plans to build a lunar base for mining moon rocks a parking structure that parks your car for you begins trial operation in China and finally we talk about the ethics of gene edited babies and cloning schizophrenic monkeys let's get into it with the International Space Station set to be decommissioned in 2024 the European Space Agency believes a permanent lunar colony could be the next step in international space exploration the ESA is vision for the moon involves four ambitious projects the first is a collaboration with Russian space agency Roscosmos lunar resource lander also known as lunar 27 will be the first european lander to touchdown on the moon its mission will be to drill into the moon's surface to analyze samples and determine whether or not there is any water the ESA is next lunar project will be to provide service modules for NASA's four-person crew transport vessel the Orion spacecraft psays modules will supply the astronauts aboard Orion with power propulsion water and other necessities for deep space travel Orion's first manned mission is a trip around the moon planned for the early 2020s the ESA is next step will be to help NASA establish a deep-space gateway in orbit around the moon the Gateway planned for 2023 would give astronauts a place to conduct experiments in lunar orbit and could make it possible to control robots on the lunar surface the ability to remotely control a robot on the lunar surface could make possible a concept mission currently known as Heracles Heracles is a remote-controlled Rover that would go around gathering samples from unexplored areas on the moon's surface the samples would then be returned to Earth aboard an Orion spacecraft where they would be analyzed to determine the feasibility of mining moon rocks to extract resources like water or oxygen ESA believes that being able to exploit lunar resources in this way could open the door to more deep space explorations and could turn the moon into a stepping stone to other world's a 20-story garage that parks your car for you recently began trials in chun qiang china the hi-tech garage aims to reduce traffic congestion emissions and land usage by parking cars without the need for pedestrian walkways ramps for driving or stairs even the space usually reserved for opening car doors has been repurposed to fit more vehicles here's how it works just drive into one of the entry points turnoff and exit the car scan the QR code on the side of the garage and it'll whisk your car off to an available parking space the whole process of moving a car into a space reportedly takes about a minute I wouldn't be surprised to see this type of space-saving automated parking structure become more widely used as the world's population continues to grow these five baby monkeys are all genetically identical clones of an original monkey whose genes were edited with CRISPR CRISPR is a type of gene editing technology derived from bacteria that is shaking up the world of medical science in 2015 the American Association for the Advancement of science crown CRISPR the breakthrough of the year in this experiment the CRISPR method was used to genetically disrupt the circadian rhythm also known as the biological clock of a monkey which was then cloned five times to make the monkey clones scientists use the same cloning method that bored Dolly the sheep more than 20 years ago so far the genetically altered monkey clones have exhibited signs of psychiatric disorders including anxiety depression and schizophrenia like behaviors let's start with the most obvious question why use the godlike power of CRISPR gene editing to make monkeys that are destined to suffer like this the research team responsible has said that eliminating genetic variation among test subjects could make studying diseases and finding cures faster and more efficient they argue that this could lead to an overall reduction in animal suffering over time though many others in the scientific community are not convinced that the ends justify the means and the ethically questionable use of CRISPR doesn't end with last November Jean edited twin girls named Lulu and Nana were born after professor ha Jong Kwai used CRISPR to alter their DNA to make them immune to HIV Chinese authorities have since confirmed that there is also a second pregnancy in progress with another gene altered human embryo and that genetically altered child is due in about six months the twins birth sparked outrage in the scientific community because of the risks and ethical boundaries crossed in this experiment thoughtless gene editing could put the infants at risk of health problems later in life and could even someday affect the health of their children to accomplish this scientific first doctor hub reportedly forged ethics documents and could now face criminal charges as the scientific community rallies to create rules regulations and guidelines for CRISPR and its implementation these infant humans and infant monkeys serve as stark reminders of the tremendous power modern humans wheeled and the tremendous caution we must exercise as we decide how best to utilize our new tools and abilities what are your thoughts on gene editing love it hate it join the conversation down in the comments thanks for watching with the future I'm your host Jesse Orel see you next time