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MSP has been away for a few weeks owing to an unscheduled illness in Matt's family. Still, he can't be expected to get the future right all the time.

As Elon Musk gets ready for his Mars Mission, MSP looks at an electrifying new treatment for baldness, how echolocation can rewire the brain and asks if invisible ink is the solution to encryption hacks. Oh yes. And tea bags are evil.

Show Notes:
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2217050-a-hat-that-zaps-the-scalp-with-electricity-helps-reverse-male-balding/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2216247-generator-that-runs-on-heat-escaping-to-the-sky-can-charge-phones/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2217483-plastic-tea-bags-shed-billions-of-microplastic-particles-into-the-cup/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2216382-tall-twisting-tower-is-made-from-wood-that-shapes-itself-as-it-dries/
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2217550-coated-paper-holds-secret-messages-that-can-be-erased-with-a-hairdryer/
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/10/echolocation-blind-people-reveals-brain-s-adaptive-powers
https://www.space.com/china-new-spacecraft-crewed-moon-missions.html?utm_source=notification
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2217915-avoiding-red-or-processed-meat-doesnt-seem-to-give-health-benefits/

EPISODE EXCERPT

It’s that time again where Matt unfreezes his smile, has it stress tested and tries to reanimate those dormant facial muscles. Yes, it’s time to be happy as we return to an MSP regular feature that celebrates science and the innovations and breakthroughs that demonstrate that our humanity isn’t rotting away to nothing.

That wasn’t the most uplifting intro. Rotting away to nothing?
It’s a new tactic.
I get you to say all the negative stuff.

Why would you do that?
No, Jeff. The question is why would you do that?
I’m not the one being negative here.
Show our listeners that you’re better than that.

Are you going to tell listeners where you’ve been for the past few weeks?
I could lie and say I was visiting the future.
In truth, a family member was very unwell but is now on the mend.

While we’re on the subject of illness, the first thing I want to talk about is baldness…
Baldness is not an affliction.
It’s nature’s aerodynamic modelling.
Do you see how mean these comments make you look?

I’m not bad, I’m just drawn that way…
In a post truth world, the way you’re drawn is the way you are.
But you’re right. Baldness. Very important thing to start with.

Does being bald make you unhappy?
Just to point out to listeners that this isn’t another mean question.
I asked Jeff to ask me this.
And no. It doesn’t really bother me.
I wish I had a nicer shaped head so that I could shave it completely bald without looking like an inmate or terminally ill.
But I’ve never spent ridiculous amounts on hair thickeners or gone for expensive treatments.

No. You spent the money on burgers, instead…
And I should point out that I didn’t ask Jeff to ask that question.
Losing your hair is a big deal for a lot of guys.
And the treatments that we currently have are patchy, to say the least.
Transplant surgery is painful. It’s very expensive, too.

You checked the price?
For a friend.
And the various drugs available to reverse or slow male pattern baldness are either a bit hit and miss in terms of effectiveness, or come with unpleasant side effects like reduced sex drive.
What’s the point of that? You look like a stallion and behave like a gelding.

All of which is a very long way of saying someone has found a cure?
This is one of those items I really like talking about on MSP.
Because it’s not necessarily about new knowledge.
It’s about making theoretical knowledge useful and practical.
We’ve known for quite a while that stimulating the scalp with electrodes is a good way to regenerate hair growth.

Why?
Because the electric shocks make all your hair stand on end, even in the follicles that seem to be dead.

That isn’t true, is it?
No. But I wanted everyone to have that mental image of Albert Einstein having a Eureka moment with his hair on end.
A team of researchers at University of Wisconsin - Madison, helmed by Xudong Wang has come up with scalp stimulating patches, a series of which can be mounted in a simple baseball cap.
The main reason the electric route has proved impractical is because users would have to connected to machines that delivered the current to their scalp for hours every day over an extended period.

Ok. But what makes this really clever?
I’m glad you spotted this is really clever.
It’s wireless and it uses kinetic energy to create the current in the patch.