#Wonder-ink could soon let you 3d print objects out of stretchy graphene A new 3d printing ink being developed at Northwestern University could soon make it possible to build objects
which are made of graphene for 60 percent of their volume and 75 percent of their weight.
This unprecedentedly high graphene composition means that the oft-praised electric and mechanical properties of graphene might soon find their way into all kinds of macroscopic 3d printed creations, with important consequences for the electronics and biomedical fields (among many others.
While we've already seen 3d printers that can create objects out of carbon fiber, the ability to print objects made mainly out of graphene could raise the bar even higher for material scientists and hobbyists alike.
Previous graphene-based inks could only print objects in two dimensions and, with a graphene content below 20 percent,
More recently, researchers have laid the foundations for building three-dimensional objects out of graphene, though this did not extend to 3d printing.
the secondary component of the ink (used as a binder) is a biocompatible, biodegradable and hyperelastic polyester (PLG) that,
according to the scientists involved, makes the objects printed with this ink highly flexible and safe for biomedical applications.
According to the researchers, their ink retains an electrical conductivity greater than 800 S m, an order of magnitude more than previous 3d printed carbon-based materials,
while also being mechanically flexible and robust, biocompatible, neurogenically bioactive, biodegradable, and surgically friendly. The stretchiness of the material can be controlled by the percentage of binder used.
The ability to tune the elasticity of the material at will could prove important in manufacturing biomedical polymers that can,
and regenerative medicine when the scientists populated one of the graphene ink scaffolds with stem cells, they found that the cells didn't just survive,
paving the way for these materials to be used for biodegradable sensors and medical implants. But the applications of a highly-conductive graphene ink could be
just as exciting in building high-performance electronics. The study appears in the latest issue of the scientific journal ACS Nano.
#Student-designed pill dispenser uses fingerprint scanner to avoid overdosing And you thought that regular pill bottles were hard to open...
a new overdose-proof medication dispenser developed by a team of mechanical engineering students at Johns hopkins university can't be opened even with the help of a hammer or drill.
Additionally, narcotic painkillers like Oxycontin are acquired frequently by prescription but then sold for recreational use. In the case of the Johns Hopkins dispenser, medication is added by the pharmacist via a lockable opening in the bottom the pharmacist has a key to that opening,
In its present form, the dispenser is made mainly from a"super-tough steel alloy, "and can hold up to 60 tablets at once.
The university is currently looking into developing and testing it further, with an eye on possible commercialization.
A student team at Brigham Young University previously developed a somewhat similar device, although it utilizes a timer and a combination lock instead of a fingerprint scanner.
Source: Johns Hopkins Universit s
#"Nemo's Garden"grows terrestrial crops underwater The stand for the region of Liguria at the Milan 2015 Expo features a project as bizarre-sounding as it is intriguing:
an attempt to grow crops underwater, inside air-filled biospheres. It's part of an effort that could prove a low-cost,
low energy solution to grow food in parts of the world where this was not previously possible.
Between the crowded population, rocky terrain, steep hills that often give way to landslides, and the periodic floods, the locals have had to resort to energy-inefficient terrace farming.
This is not an isolated problem: lack of fertile land and adverse climate conditions around the world means we've seen several projects involving growing crops creatively,
including underground, inside a skyscraper, in a tiny greenhouse and even in the cloud, to try and deal with the issue.
For their project, however, scuba diving company owner Sergio Gamberini and his son Luca have picked an even more unusual spot:
and the crops are well out of the reach of parasites. The evaporating sea water condenses on the inner walls of the biosphere,
creating a high-humidity environment (up to 85 percent) that favors crop growth. All in all according to its proponents, the system is sustainable
and requires very little energy. The Nemo's Garden project started in 2012 and continued through the next two summers.
The three (now five) underwater biospheres were anchored to the seafloor and filled with air. Then, shelves were installed
along with cameras and sensors that monitor the plants bunches of basil (used to make Liguria's iconic pesto sauce) growing either in hydroponics or in soil.
About 50 days later, the basil is harvested and laboratories are tasked with analyzing the results. According to the company, there has been no significant difference compared to land-grown basil
Live streaming for the underwater garden project is available via Ustream, 24/7. Four cameras will monitor the stretch of sea containing the garden and the inside of the biggest biosphere.
Each week will also see a live underwater broadcast to describe the latest progress. The video below further illustrates the project.
Nemo's Garden via New Scientis e
#ADAMAAS smart glasses to assist elderly and disabled in everyday tasks We've seen various head-mounted wearables,
such as the Motorola HC1, Golden-i and the AITT system, which are designed to give industrial workers or military personnel a helping hand in carrying out highly specialized tasks.
and not only provide context-appropriate assistance in the form of text, visuals or avatars on a virtual plane in the wearer's field of view,
like how to bake a cake or brew a pot of coffee, as well as more complex tasks,
The ADAMAAS project is being conducted at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interactive Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University in Germany.
The group recently received#1. 2 million (US$1. 3 million) in funding from the German Federal Ministry for Education to further development of the glasses. n this project
eye tracking and vital parameter measurements (such as pulse or heart rate), object and action recognition (Computer Vision),
taking a diagnostic system that is usually stationary and making it mobile, while also integrating monitoring technology that enables reaction to and individualized support for the user's actions in real time.
This could mean huge things for people who face challenges with everyday tasks but who want to remain independent p
#Elastic, wound-healing hydrogel activated by light Hydrogels have huge potential in the field of biomedicine,
Indeed, in the last few years alone we've seen advances that suggest they could find use in generating new heart tissue, fighting off superbugs and the controlled release of anti-inflammatory drugs.
Bioengineers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BHW) in Boston say they have overcome this problem by creating a hydrogel that becomes stronger only once it is exposed to light.
"says Nasim Annabi, PHD at BHW's Biomedical engineering Division.""In addition, the material can be used as a sealant,
sticking to the tissue at the site of injury and creating a barrier over a wound."
"The gel was found to be consumed by naturally-occurring enzymes over time and had no toxic effects on living cells in the lab. The team also discovered that mixing the gel with silica nanoparticles gave it the ability to more effectively prevent bleeding,
something that could allow better protection of a wound and stop bleeding with a single treatment.
The scientists say that more preclinical studies are required to test the gel's properties and safety before human trials will be possible.
The research was published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials. Source: Brigham and Women's Hospita a
#Turning the smartphone into a mobile pregnancy test Today's smartphones come chock-full of technological capability,
the hardware inside is starting to show huge promise in the world of medical diagnostics,
with smartphones repurposed as blood-scanning microscopes, HIV testers and sleep apnea detectors. The latest advance in this area comes in the form of a fiber optic sensor for smartphones that monitors bodily fluids,
a tool that could be used for biomolecular tests such as pregnancy or diabetes monitoring. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a process where a stream of light is directed onto a metallic film, with most,
but not all of it being reflected. Some of the light is absorbed by electrons on the film's surface
along with the presence of certain trace gases and biomolecules. This has seen SPR commonly used in biosensing,
Researchers at the Hanover Centre for Optical Technologies figured that a modern smartphone contained much of
The scientists fixed a 400 micrometer fiber optic cable curved into a U-shape across the phone's camera and LED light.
The team says the sensor's readings could then be processed by a smartphone application to turn out real-time results."
"We have the potential to develop small and robust lab-on-a-chip devices for smartphones, "says Kort Bremer,
"So, surface plasmon resonance sensors could become ubiquitous now.""The research is published in the journal Optics Express.
#New energy cell can store up solar energy for release at night A photoelectrochemical cell (PEC) is a special type of solar cell that gathers the Sun's energy
and transforms it into either electricity or chemical energy used to split water and produce hydrogen for use in fuel cells.
In an advance that could help this clean energy source play a stronger role within the smart grid, researchers at the University of Texas,
Arlington have found a way to store the electricity generated by a PEC cell for extended periods of time
and allow electricity to be delivered around the clock. Currently the electricity generated by a PEC cell could not be stored effectively,
as the electrons would quickly"disappear"into a lower energy state. This meant that these cells were not a viable solution for a clean energy grid,
as the electricity had to be used very shortly after being produced. That is, on sunny days, at a time when standard PV panels would already be producing energy at full tilt.
Now, researchers Fuqiang Liu and colleagues have created a PEC cell that includes a specially designed photoelectrode (the component that converts incoming photons into electrons.
Unlike previous designs, their hybrid tungsten trioxide/titanium dioxide (WO3/Tio2) photoelectrode can store electrons effectively for long periods of time,
paving the way for PEC cells to play a bigger role within a smart energy grid.
The system also includes a vanadium redox-flow battery (VRB. This is an already established type of energy storage cell that is very well-suited for the needs of the electrical grid as it can stay idle for very long times without losing charge,
is much safer than a lithium-ion cell (though less energy-dense), is nearly immune to temperature extremes,
and can be scaled up very easily, simply by increasing the size of its electrolyte tanks. According to the researchers, the vanadium flow battery works especially well with their hybrid electrode, allowing them to boost the electric current,
offering great reversibility (with 95 percent Faradaic efficiency) and allowing for high-capacity energy storage.""We have demonstrated simultaneously reversible storage of both solar energy
and electrons in the cell,"says lead author of the paper Dong Liu.""Release of the stored electrons under dark conditions continues solar energy storage,
thus allowing for continuous storage around the clock.""The team is now working on building a larger prototype,
with the hope that this technology could be used to better integrate photoelectrochemical cells within the smart grid.
A paper describing the advance appears in the latest edition of the journal ACS Catalysis. Source:
UT Arlington via Kurzweil A a
#New wireless power tech can charge multiple devices in any orientation Scientists at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science
and Technology (KAIST) have developed an omnidirectional wireless charging technology that can charge multiple devices at once, at a distance and, crucially, at peak efficiency regardless
of which way the devices are facing. The technology, said to be safe for humans, is set to be trialled in cafes
and offices and could allow for much more convenient charging of mobile devices. Wireless (or inductive) charging is witnessing a huge surge in popularity
since many high-end smartphones have started to include it as one of their flagship features. And soon we might have the ability to charge our devices by the dozen from up to 30 ft (9 m) and coming straight from our furniture.
For smartphones and tablets, this means they can't be charged very effectively while they're being used.
The new wireless power transfer system developed at KAIST, which was tested on a Samsung galaxy Note equipped with a special reception coil,
has the potential to bridge this gap by introducing the ability to charge devices efficiently regardless of their orientation,
and at a distance of up to 0. 5 meters (1. 6 ft). Led by Professor Chun T. Rim,
and building on technology the team had developed last year, the scientists assembled a thin, flat rectangle-shaped transmitter.
While their original power transmitting system employed two magnetic coils placed in parallel, the researchers rearranged them
to generate a rotating magnetic field that makes it possible for devices to receive power from any direction.
An effective wireless transmitting power of 30 watts means the device can, according to the researchers, power either 30 smartphones or five laptops simultaneously.
Prof. Rim and colleagues say the level of magnetic flux exposure is within the safety levels set by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP
and maximum power transfer efficiency while charging the laptops was measured at 34 percent. The results were published in last month's issue of the journal IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics,
and a spinoff company is now conducting pilot studies to apply this technology in cafes and offices.
While there's a healthy selection of compact solar panels to keep our mobile gadgets charged up light permitting the vast majority of these are either too small to be effective or too bulky for carting around.
yet is lighter than an iphone 6 Plus and only slightly wider and longer. So called because its panels are thing enough to slot between the pages of a notebook
and touted as the"world's thinnest and lightest solar charger"by its creators, Yolk,
while the actual solar panels are only 1. 5 mm thick. But Solar Paper has more going for it than just its form factor.
Unlike most solar chargers on the market, it features modular panels that connect via embedded magnets.
you can connect up to four panels together. Each individual panel generates a maximum of 2. 5 W of power
so four will provide up to 10 W via USB. On a sunny day, that just as good as a 5v/2a wall charger.
Solar Paper also has some built-in smarts to help users get the most out of it.
To avoid the hassle of manual restarting when the available light drops, as is the case with most competing solar chargers,
Solar Paper has been programmed to automatically resume charging when it detects sufficient sunlight. So when that cloud passes overhead,
There's also a built-in LCD screen that displays the current being delivered to a connected device.
Add in water resistance and grommet holes for utility/attachment options, and it easy to understand why so many have pledged their support to the device's Kickstarter campaign, with it shooting past its US$50, 000 goal in just the first two days.
#Ultrasound cuts healing time of chronic wounds by 30 percent Further to the mental anguish, a lot of time in a hospital bed can bring about some agonizing physical discomfort.
This is most commonly brought about by skin ulcers and bedsores, which threaten to evolve into dangerous and potentially deadly infections if left untreated.
But a British research team has happened upon a technique that promises to cut the healing time of these
and other chronic wounds by around a third, using simple low-intensity ultrasounds. Wound healing presents a serious problem for two demographics in particular
the elderly and those with diabetes. When a young and healthy person incurs an injury to the skin,
connective tissue cells called fibroblasts migrate to the site of the wound and kickoff the healing process.
But skin defects that are typical of above groups prevent the migration of fibroblasts and make healing problematic, sometimes leading to amputation.
Researchers from the University of Sheffield and the University of Bristol say that low-intensity ultrasounds can overcome this deficiency.
It found the technique reduced healing times by 30 percent in aged and diabetic mice,
The team also observed that the technique could be replicated successfully in human venous leg ulcer patients,
indicating that it could be applicable to other chronic human wounds. And because it is modelled on
#Ford rolls autonomous and smart tech into new city/road/mountain e-bike Earlier this year, Ford previewed its Mode:
The bikes were envisioned as key components of a multimodal transportation ecosystem that would also incorporate cars and public transit.
which uses the latest wireless and connectivity technologies to integrate further into a coordinated transportation system.
Ford revealed them at Mobile World Congress back in March and has continued its research in the area since then.
the third prototype in Ford's ongoing research is designed for a broader demographic of bicycle enthusiasts.
though Ford doesn't explain or show exactly how the bike magically transforms between these different configurations.
The new bike features a more traditional diamond-frame design when compared to its predecessors,
but things stray from the norm at the bloated seat tube, which houses the battery and electric motor drive.
Some tools are better left to stand alone rather than Swiss army knife. The Mode:
where Ford sees it working as one of the modes within a smooth, seamless multimodal transportation system.
The front triangle detaches from the battery cage, splitting the bike for transport (another reason why we wouldn't ride it on anything rougher than a paved path).
Ford imagines riders driving to a convenient, low-cost public parking area outside the dense city center, pulling the Mode:
The battery can be charged directly from the vehicle outlet. The multipurpose, breakaway frame may have you thinking that the Mode:
Flex looks just like a bike designed by an auto manufacturer in other words, a bike sculpted by automotive folks that haven't actually ridden bicycles since childhood.
The fact that Ford is a car manufacturer dipping its toes into e-bike design isn't all bad, though.
Flex gets a bit of the autonomous tech that is taking over the auto industry. An ultrasonic rear sensor provides a warning
when cars approach from behind, both via the handlebars and the accompanying Mode: Link app. It also HAS LED the latest headlight
and taillight technology, derived from vehicles like the F-150 and Ford GT, integrated into its construction."
"The LED lighting is efficient and detailed in a way never before done in the bike world,
"explains Bruce Williams, the lead designer and engineer behind the bike.""The lens elements are very small,
"Ford revealed the Mode: Link app with the original two Mode e-bikes back in March
and has added since a smartwatch extension. The new smartwatch app includes a"no sweat"mode,
which adjusts output of the bike's electric drive based upon the rider's watch-read heart rate,
Link app also provides on-bike eyes-free navigation, health and fitness data, and weather information.
It also syncs with the rider's Ford vehicle to provide parking location, lock/unlock functions,
and access to vehicle information including mileage, EV charge status and maintenance manual. Ford revealed the new Mode:
Flex last month as the latest update of the Smart mobility Plan it first announced in January.
We don't see any information about the bike's specific drivetrain, so we're left to assume that it packs the same 200-watt motor and 9 Ah battery as the Mode:
Me and Mode: Pro. All three e-bikes are still just prototypes. The video below provides a little more information about Ford's e-bikes and its vision of multimodal transportation i
#First 7nm node test chips developed IBM Research has created successfully the first 7nm node test chip with functioning transistors,
a development that could lead to processors that boast four times the capacity of those on the market today.
Developed in conjunction with Globalfoundries and Samsung, the new manufacturing technique has the potential to see a whopping 20 billion transistors packed into a chip the size of a fingernail.
In order to achieve this, the team used a number of nonconventional semiconductor manufacturing methods including the development of transistor channels made of silicon-germanium, or Sige
rather than pure silicon. Sige is suited better for smaller transistors because of the fact that it has higher electron mobility than pure silicon.
Basically, when pure silicon is used, the gap between silicon nuclei gets so small that silicon atoms cannot carry enough current.
When some germanium is added to the mix, electron mobility is increased. These transistors are each only 7 nanometers wide that's about 1/10, 000th the width of a human hair and three times the width of a single strand of DNA.
The smallest transistors in use on chips today are 14 nm wide although 10 nm chips are in development by the likes of Intel and Samsung.
The team also used extreme ultraviolet lithography, or EUVL, for etching. Current chips are etched using an argon fluoride laser,
which has a beam that is 193 nm wide. EUV beams are only 13.5 nm wide,
however they are expensive and to date have been difficult to deploy on a commercial level. We probably won see any 7 nm chips on the market for at least a few years because of how expensive they are to produce,
but the breakthrough promises to help satisfy our appetite for more powerful, less energy-hungry devices in years to come,
as well as help industry keep pace with Moore's Law as it continues the search for viable alternatives to silicon.
#Smart capsule keeps hold of payload until reaching its target We have drugs to treat nasty conditions like irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease,
These body parts are prone to absorbing certain medications before they can do their best work.
Researchers at Purdue University have developed what they are describing as a smart capsule. The device is around the same mass as a 000-size gelatin capsule
and powered by a capacitor that is charged up before use. As the capsule makes its way through the body,
"says Babak Ziaie, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue. The research team says the capsule could prove particularly valuable in treating Clostridium difficile,
a bacterial infection that causes the body to lose microorganisms essential in fighting off infection. One method used to treat C. difficile involves transplanting feces from another person into the large intestine to provide it with the missing microorganisms.
The findings were published in the journal Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Transactions on Biomedical engineering.
But thanks to a new Kickstarter project you may not have to worry about your smartphone dying before the electricity comes back on.
The Candle Charger is described as an"indoor power plant for smartphones, "providing USB charging capabilities with just a candle and five ounces of water.
The Candle Charger can help in a power outage or on a camping trip All you need is five ounces of water and a candle Even if the power's out,
your phone can keep charging The device is being funded on Kickstarter and is expected to go on sale in December We've seen outdoor chargers based around camping stoves and boiling water before,
It's being developed by the same people who previously gave us the Flamestower, a larger device that works with any open flame.
and the difference in temperature generates the electricity (though the device can also be used to sterilize water).
One candle canister is reported good for six hours of USB charging at a steady 2. 5 W (500 ma at 5v),
which is the equivalent output of most laptop USB ports, and is roughly enough power to charge two iphones from one candle.
Cameras, torches and other small devices can be recharged through the Candle Charger, too. At the heart of the contraption is a thermoelectric module (or Peltier cooler.
The semiconductor device converts the temperature gradient (the heat of the candle against the coolness of the water) into electricity.
constant and usable flow of electricity is generated without any special setup, as long as there's a candle in the home.
#Quantum dots and perovskite combined to create new hyper-efficient light-emitting crystal Two optoelectronic materials getting a lot of press these days are perovskite and quantum dots.
Both have been utilized individually by researchers to boost sunlight conversion to electrical current in solar cells, and to increase the efficacy of electrically-generated light.
Now engineers at the University of Toronto (U of T) have combined both of these materials to create an ultra-efficient,
super-luminescent hybrid crystal that they say will enable new records in power-to-light conversion efficiencies.
To create the crystal researchers in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer engineering had to come up with a way to incorporate highly luminescent colloidal quantum dot nanoparticles into perovskite.
They achieved this by using a technique known as heteroepitaxy, where an atomically aligned crystalline film is grown"on top of a different crystalline substrate.
"We started by building a nanoscale scaffolding'shell'around the quantum dots in solution, then grew the perovskite crystal around that shell so the two faces aligned,
"said Dr. Zhijun Ning, who was a postdoctoral fellow at U of T at the time of the research."
"When you try to jam two different crystals together, they often form separate phases without blending smoothly into each other,
"The resultant form is colored a black crystal whose light production depends on the perovskite matrix's ability to guide electrons into the quantum dots,
which then super-efficiently convert electricity to light. Merging these two materials has solved also the problem of self-absorption that occurs
when a physical medium partially re-absorbs the same spectrum of energy that it emits, resulting in a net efficiency loss."
"These dots in perovskite don suffer reabsorption, because the emission of the dots doesn overlap with the absorption spectrum of the perovskite,
"said Dr. Comin. In explaining the remarkable optoelectronic properties of these so-called"heterocrystals, "the team claims that this is due to the fact that photoelectrons
and holes generated in the larger bandgap of the perovskite are transferred with 80 percent efficiency to become excitons in the quantum dot nanocrystals.
This, then, leverages the superior photocarrier diffusion of the perovskite to produce bright light emission. Producing light at the near-infrared,
the researchers have designed also specifically their new crystal material to be suitable for use in solution-processing (that is the use of chemical deposition in a solution),
so the material may be incorporated easily with inexpensive commercial methods of manufacturing solar film and other PV devices.
The material could also form the basis of the basis for a new family of highly energy-efficient near-infrared LEDS,
which could be used to improve night-vision technology, biomedical imaging, and high-speed telecommunications. The team next plan to build
and test hardware to prove the practicality of the technology.""Wee going to build the LED device
and try to beat the record power efficiency reported in the literature, "said Gong. The work was published recently in the journal Nature.
Source: University of Toront
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