Researchers have managed to transform sugars found in fast growing trees and grasses into plastic. Although there are already plastics on the market made from natural materials like corn, these do not biodegrade quickly. The new discovery would not only cut down on the use of oil (usually used to make plastic) but potentially enable… »
After writing about ferrofluid sculptures and Stanford scientists that combined carbon nanotubes and paper, in this article we’re going to write about researchers at Purdue University who have created a magnetic ferropaper. The material is made by impregnating ordinary paper (even newsprint) with a mixture of mineral oil and “magnetic nanoparticles” of iron oxide. The… »
Technology deals with human as well as other animal species’ usage and knowledge of tools and crafts, and how it affects a species’ ability to control and adapt to its natural environment. Among other stories we covered, in last year we wrote various articles regarding energy harvesting and transfer, nanotechnologies, material, space, medical and construction… »
Stanford scientists are harnessing nanotechnology to quickly produce ultra-lightweight, bendable batteries and supercapacitors in the form of everyday paper. The research team led by Yi Cui, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, includes postdoctoral scholars Liangbing Hu and JangWook Choi, and graduate student Yuan Yang. Simply coating a sheet of paper with ink made… »
The idea of space-based harvesting of solar power has been around since the 1970s, and now California utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) wants to bring the concept to its realization. A few days ago state regulators approved PG&E’s request to buy electricity from an orbiting solar power plant – if the company designing the… »
Heat shields are an important part of any space vehicle that re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere. The next generation of heat shields made to protect astronauts and payloads on their re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere may use superconducting magnets to deflect the plasma that forms in front of spacecraft as they travel at high speeds in… »
It is said that the air we breathe in the places where we live and work can often be 5 to 10 times more noxious than walking on the street, along with the dangerous chemicals found in commonly used household products. Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur and David Edwards of Harvard University, ANDREA is an air… »
Having the ability to read someone’s mind with a “thought machine” has been developed more intensively during the last decade. Scientists showed that they could guess a person’s memory simply by looking at the electrical activity of the brain. They have found that spatial memories can be “read” by a brain scanner so that it… »
