AI & ZZZs, plus: swamp gas, heat-sensing prosthetics, and your gut

🐊 Swamp Things: Wetlands and Emissions

A recent Science News story by Carolyn Gramling sheds light on the complex relationship between wetlands and methane production, revealing new insights into this potent greenhouse gas. While wetlands are vital ecosystems, their role in methane emissions—and our planet’s climate—presents both challenges and investment opportunities.

🌳Diving Deep into the Science: Wetlands and Methane

Wetlands, those soggy areas where land meets water, are home to unique communities of microorganisms. Among them are methanogens, tiny organisms that produce methane as a byproduct of their metabolism. It’s a natural process and anything but new – but with rising global temperatures and changes in land use, these methane emissions are becoming a bigger concern. In fact, wetlands are the primary source of natural methane output worldwide, and scientists have recorded spikes in wetland methane emissions in 2013 and 2020. 

🏭The Methane Mitigation Market: A Growing Opportunity

Awareness of methane emissions is fueling a surge in demand for mitigation solutions. Reducing the impact is crucial for slowing climate change. Various sectors such as livestock agriculture, oil and gas operations, and waste management are under pressure to find solutions. This creates a ripe opportunity for innovation and investment. 

🪸Seaweed + Soil: Focus on Innovative Startups

Can we deal with the problem at the source? Here are a few innovators using seaweed and other natural ingredients to curb methane emissions. 

• Rumin8: This Australian startup is tackling agricultural emissions head-on with seaweed-based feed additives that significantly reduce methane production in cattle. Scalable and cost-effective, the solution has attracted about $20 million to date from investors. The company has also received regulatory approval in New Zealand and Brazil to conduct efficacy and safety studies in commercial livestock. 
• CH4 Global: Similar to Rumin8, CH4 Global is also developing seaweed-based solutions to reduce methane emissions from livestock. Based in Nevada, the company has more than $45 million in investment to date and is piloting with partners worldwide, including Mitsubishi in Asia-Pacific markets and Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California. 
• Windfall Bio: This San Mateo–based startup has developed a technology that takes “methanotrophs”, naturally occurring soil microbes that eat methane, and cultivate and scale the output to generate organic fertilizer. They raised a $28 million Series A round last year. 

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⏰ Time is Money: Investing in the Science of Sleep

Wake up to sleep tech. A recent article by Sujata Gupta in SN dives into the critical link between our body’s internal clock and overall health. Tapping expert advice on “chronohygiene,” the piece discusses ways to customize your environment to emulate natural lighting. 

🥁 The Rhythm of Life: How Our Body Clock Works

Our sleep is regulated by the inner rhythm of our circadian clock, a master timekeeper in the brain that responds to light and darkness. It regulates everything from sleep-to-wake cycles and hormone release to metabolism and immune function. When our internal clock is in sync with the outside world, we thrive. But modern life, with its artificial lights and irregular schedules, often throws this rhythm off balance. Circadian misalignment has been linked to a host of health problems, including sleep disorders, metabolic diseases, cardiovascular issues, and even mental health conditions.

👁️Eye-opening startup opportunities

The global sleep industry is massive, valued at $63.9 billion in 2023 and forecasted to reach $108.21 billion by 2032. Sleep tech takes many forms, from wearables to trackers to smart beds, supplements and wellness programs and more. Though these tools can’t replace an evaluation by a medical professional, the data they gather may be helpful in conversations with providers. Here are some of our favorites:

• The Modius sleep device from Neurovalens was awarded the National Sleep Foundation’s 2024 SleepTech® Award for its prescription-only headband that delivers an electrical pulse to the hypothalamus to treat chronic insomnia. This UK-based startup has raised over $16 million in venture funding to date. 
• A French startup called Apneal offers an AI-powered app to detect sleep apnea (a condition notoriously known to disrupt sleep patterns). The app takes readings from the accelerometer, microphone and gyroscope in your smartphone to collect data on your heartbeat and breathing. They’ve raised over $5 million in pre-seed funding to date. 
• Asleep AI is a South Korean startup offering SleepBoard, a sleep-tracking bedside tablet and companion app called AsleepTrack. The product monitors your sleep patterns by listening to your breathing patterns, offering extensive feedback on snoring, sleep stages and more. The company has raised over $11 million in Series B funding and won a coveted Innovation Award at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show. 

The upshot? If your circadian clock gets out of whack, you may want to try adding more AI to your ZZZs. 

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🦾 Haptics are hot

📸 The big picture: A new device makes it possible to sense temperature through a prosthetic limb, writes Simon Makin for SN.

🧪Behind the science: Haptic technology — devices that incorporate tactile experience or feedback as part of their user interface — is advancing to include temperature sensing. A team of researchers at EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, attached sensors to the prosthetic hand of a 57-year-old man with an above-the-wrist amputation. In tests, the man could identify cold, cool and hot bottles of liquid with perfect accuracy. He performed less accurately — but still better than chance — on distinguishing between materials such as plastic, glass and copper. When sorting steel blocks by temperature, he performed with 75% accuracy. 

💡Why it matters: The technology is a step toward prosthetic limbs that restore a full range of sensations, improving both their utility and adoption by those who wear them. This advancement could have broad applications in the safety and well-being of a broad range of people with mobility challenges.

👩🏼‍🔬👨‍🔬Dive deeper: Research was produced by EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), a world leader in medical, scientific and engineering research, including 3D imaging, biotech, pharmaceutical research and AI in medicine. While the tech is not yet out of the lab, the team boasts a promising pedigree. Learn more about EPFL’s early stage startup launchpad, one of Europe’s most competitive incubators offering funding, support, and connections to industry. 

Bonus: another notable EPFL accelerator graduate is Hikane, which has developed a high-tech cane for the visually impaired, using Lidar technology to provide haptic feedback to detect obstacles above ground level. 

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🧐 Time for a gut check on probiotics? 

From increased energy to better digestion and a sunnier disposition, there’s no shortage of claims about the benefits of including probiotics (foods or supplements containing naturally occurring or added live microorganisms that improve the “good” bacteria in the body) in our diets. SN senior writer Tina Hesman Saey explores research that found that a probiotic-vitamin combination lowered sugar cravings – in lab rats.

🤠The Wild West of Wellness Claims

The public’s thirst for probiotics began in the mid 1990s with the mass commercialization of kombucha (GT’s Living Foods was an early adopter). Today, the global drinks market alone is valued at almost $40 billion. Because probiotics are sold as dietary supplements, they aren’t subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but companies do need some evidence to support marketing and branding claims. It turns out that evidence often comes from lab rats, not humans chugging down probiotic lattes. Studies in rats don’t guarantee effectiveness in humans. In other words, it’s more of a gut feeling than settled science.

🤑The Billion-Dollar Belly Business

It’s a profitable brew. So, where’s the money? Here are a few companies riding the probiotic wave:

• Poppi, a a beverage company that specializes in flavored sparkling probiotic drinks, raised $50 million in Series B funding before being acquired just last month by PepsiCo in a $1.95 billion deal, including $300 million in anticipated cash tax benefits, for a net purchase price of $1.65 billion. 
• Viome offers kits to test your microbiome, your mitochondria, and your biological age and then whip you up a custom supplement cocktail. With $300 million in funding, a recent $25 million D round, and a former Amazon executive joining the team, they’re cleaning up. Think personalized pills, but for your insides.
• Sun Genomics offers its flagship product Floré, a microbiome test and custom platform for probiotics and prebiotics (non-digestible food ingredients like fiber). It uses AI and whole-genome sequencing to evaluate different digestive system data points and create personalized probiotics. The privately held company, based in San Diego, has raised over $10 million with a recent Series B round in an undisclosed amount. 

Bottom line: The gut is the new goldmine. Just remember, do your due diligence before you dive headfirst into the probiotic pool.

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