All’interno intervista
esclusiva al Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa di ENEA.
di: Marco La Rosa
Il “PALAZZO DELLA CIVILTA’ ITALIANA”, chiamato anche “della
Civiltà del Lavoro” e “Colosseo quadrato” (per via dei 54 archi per facciata),
è un edificio di carattere monumentale, sorge a Roma nel quartiere dell’EUR. Progettato nel 1936-37 fu iniziato nel 1938
ed inaugurato, ancora incompleto nel 1940. Fu ultimato dopo il 1945. Oggi è un
edificio di interesse culturale e quindi vincolato ad usi espositivi e museali.
Negli archi del piano terreno, sono collocate 28 statue
rappresentanti le virtù del popolo
italiano: EROISMO, MUSICA, ARTIGIANATO, GENIO POLITICO, ORDINE SOCIALE, LAVORO,
AGRICOLTURA, FILOSOFIA, COMMERCIO, INDUSTRIA, ARCHEOLOGIA, ASTRONOMIA, STORIA,
GENIO INVENTIVO, ARCHITETTURA, DIRITTO, PRIMATO DELLA NAVIGAZIONE, SCULTURA,
MATEMATICA, GENIO DEL TEATRO, CHIMICA, STAMPA, MEDICINA, GEOGRAFIA, FISICA,
POESIA, PITTURA, GENIO MILITARE.
ABBIAMO DIMENTICATO TUTTO
QUESTO. ABBIAMO PERDUTO LA NOSTRA IDENTITA’.
La “SCUOLA”, nel tempo è stata “cannibalizzata” di tutte le
risorse possibili, non è praticamente più in grado di trasmettere questi
valori, che nel tempo si sono prima diluiti e poi persi. Restano parole vuote
scolpite in qualche monumento, caduto pure quello nell'oblio.
Ma il DNA non è fantasia, per cui senza averne coscienza,
ognuno di noi ha dentro se il “seme” di questo immenso patrimonio. Quindi
nonostante tutto, esso continua a germogliare, ed anche se non ce ne
accorgiamo la pianta cresce, cresce e tende verso l’alto, verso il
sole, pure senza acqua.
Ho trovato una di queste "piante", non per caso. Perché se cerchi
trovi…eccome se trovi.
L’ ENEA, Agenzia
Nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico
sostenibile. E’ un fiore all’occhiello tutto italiano, specchio di quel
patrimonio “scolpito” nel travertino lassù. Fucina di idee e scoperte che fanno
invidia al mondo intero: Efficienza energetica, fonti rinnovabili, nucleare,
ambiente e clima, sicurezza e salute, nuove tecnologie… In questi tempi “cupi” è
come un gigante semi addormentato. Innumerevoli brevetti di importanza epocale
non solo per l’Italia, ma per tutti i paesi del mondo, giacciono polverosi nei
cassetti: mancano le aziende, mancano le risorse per “studiare” e “sviluppare”
i prototipi che poi faranno da volano al rilancio dell’economia… le eccezioni
sono poche, ma danno il polso di una situazione incredibile, basterebbe
veramente poco per cambiare le cose.
Leggete qua:
“ Un significativo passo avanti
per il rilancio dell’economia
italiana si sta compiendo grazie agli investimenti fatti nella ricerca e nel
sistema industriale ad alta tecnologia, che nonostante la crisi, è
uno dei pochi settori che ha accresciuto la propria competitività,
e la creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro.”
ha dichiarato Giovanni Lelli, Commissario dell’ENEA,
intervenendo alla cerimonia di avvio dei lavori per la costruzione di una
macchina sperimentale per la produzione di energia da fusione nucleare in
Giappone, con l’assemblaggio dei
primi componenti arrivati dall’Europa.
Si tratta di un programma internazionale tra Europa e Giappone, alla cui realizzazione
l’ENEA ha contribuito con il suo
progetto e lavorando in sinergia con le aziende italiane che forniscono alcuni
componenti essenziali. La collaborazione tra il sistema della ricerca pubblica
e quello dell’industria nazionale
dei sistemi energetici tecnologicamente avanzati ha portato alla qualificazione
di prodotti tecnologici che ora possono competere e vincere in tutti i mercati
mondiali. L’ENEA ha messo a
disposizione le infrastrutture tecnologiche dei Centri di ricerca di Frascati e del Brasimone, che sono tra i
più avanzati in Europa, e le
competenze tecnico-scientifiche dei suoi ricercatori per sviluppare e
qualificare i componenti tecnologici delle nostre maggiori realtà
industriali per il raggiungimento di quei livelli qualitativi di eccellenza che
hanno determinato il successo italiano
in tutti i programmi internazionali per la fusione nucleare.”
In particolare, le industrie italiane ad alta tecnologia
sono riuscite a cogliere l’opportunità
offerta dalla costruzione del reattore ITER, il più
importante programma internazionale di fusione nucleare, aggiudicandosi
commesse del valore totale di circa 750 milioni di euro per componenti
rilevanti, tra i quali i magneti superconduttori.
Un successo ottenuto grazie al ruolo che l’ENEA
svolge da più di 20 anni come
coordinatore nazionale dei programmi europei sulla fusione nucleare finalizzati
ad ottenere un’energia green,
che non comporta i rischi legati al nucleare da fissione, che è
la stessa energia che si verifica nelle stelle”.
Ecco un esempio
pratico:
Un’intervista esclusiva al Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa appunto di
ENEA, che ci onora della sua presenza sul nostro sito-blog e che ringraziamo per la seguente spiegazione
semplificata della sua scoperta:
Metodo per l’analisi di
immagini acquisite da strumenti di indagine nucleare
“Giuseppe Cotellessa
dell’Istituto Nazionale di Metrologia delle Radiazioni Ionizzanti (INMRI) dell'ENEA è l’inventore di un
procedimento fisico-matematico che permette un’analisi corretta della “natura”
e la “misura” affidabile delle dimensioni degli oggetti osservati nelle
immagini acquisite da strumenti di indagine nucleare ed estensibile ad immagini
non nucleari, per esempio: immagini radar, sonar, TAC, RMN, radiografiche,
ecografiche, da microscopi elettronici, ottici e telescopi. Il procedimento può essere applicato anche per
migliorare la precisione della lettura dei rilevatori di tracce nucleari, come
quelli utilizzati per misurare l’esposizione al radon e ai neutroni in ambienti
di lavoro per la radioprotezione dei lavoratori, come anche garantire la
sicurezza meccanica nel funzionamento dei componenti utilizzati negli impianti
nucleari, contribuire in modo significativo agli studi di ricerca sulla fusione
nucleare ed agli studi di ricerca nucleare in generale in quanto è in grado di
rilevare ed eliminare i segnali provenienti dalle pseudo tracce, cioè quei
segnali prodotti dalla presenza di impronte digitali sul rilevatore o da
imperfezioni del materiale”.
“I sistemi di indagine nucleare finora utilizzati si basano
sulla osservazione da parte di sistemi automatici di analisi di oggetti su
immagini bidimensionali a diverse tonalità di grigio, ricostruiti a partire
dalla misura del numero di danni delle radiazioni nucleari, provocate sulla
superficie del rivelatore, captate da una telecamera, dopo riflessione o
trasmissione sul o attraverso il rivelatore di un fascio luminoso.
L’interpretazione dell’immagine ottenuta è affidata esclusivamente a
procedimenti matematici di software che analizzano nella maggior parte immagini
trasformate in formato binario con notevole perdita di informazioni utili per
l’interpretazione degli oggetti. Gli oggetti delle immagini analizzate in campo
diagnostico e non (immagini radar, sonar, TAC, RMN, radiografiche, ecografiche,
da microscopi elettronici, ottici e telescopi) spesso sono analizzate
attraverso l’occhio umano dell’operatore, con notevoli errori
nell’interpretazione della natura degli oggetti, nella misura nel numero e
delle dimensioni degli oggetti interpretati.
Il procedimento brevettato consente di ricostruire grafici
tridimensionali facilmente interpretabili dall’occhio umano, che sono ottenuti
effettuando più letture dello stesso rilevatore, per diversi valori di
intensità luminosa. Ciò permette di differenziare le tracce nucleari emesse o
trasmesse dall’oggetto indagato, dalle pseudo tracce reali dovute alla presenza
di impronte digitali sul rilevatore o a imperfezioni del materiale, e da quelle
virtuali dovute a una non corretta impostazione dei parametri di lavoro.
L’eliminazione dei segnali delle pseudo tracce consente di ottimizzare i
parametri di lavoro e migliorare l’accuratezza e la riproducibilità della
lettura”.
Il brevetto, di proprietà ENEA, è stato depositato il 13
dicembre 2012 con numero RM2012A000637. È consultabile nella banca dati Brevetti
ENEA dal 19 dicembre 2012 ed è disponibile per licensing.
Chi è Giuseppe Cotellessa:
Laurea in fisica alla
Sapienza 1982, ricercatore all’ENEA dal 1985.
Specializzato in
metrologia dei gas, ha sviluppato prototipi di misura del gas radioattivo radon
(celle elettrostatiche), ha contribuito alla risoluzione di problematiche
relative alla taratura degli strumenti di misura del radon e di sviluppo dei
campioni relativi.
Ha partecipato a
contratti nazionali ed internazionali con funzione da parte di ENEA di
laboratorio garanzia per la taratura degli strumenti di misura: Italia,
Germania Orientale (Lipsia).
Ha partecipato alla
realizzazione di due sistemi integrati per la misura del radon e dei figli del
radon, denominati Radotron. Ha partecipato nel progetto di realizzazione dei
prototipi di flussimetri “Seeback” dell’Istituto tedesco di Jena per le alte
tecnologie, occupandosi della caratterizzazione ambientale tramite flussimetri
miniaturizzati in ambiente controllato. Questo progetto è stato selezionato
dalla Comunità Europea come esempio di “successo storico”.
Ha partecipato al
primo interconfronto italiano degli strumenti di misura passivi in Italia.
Ha partecipato a
diversi interconfronti con strumenti di misura passivi del radon in Inghilterra
presso NRPB e a Berlino.
Nel laboratorio ha
preso parte alla progettazione e ristrutturazione del sistema di gestione della
camera radon con microclima controllato.
Ha effettuato studi di
caratterizzazione della radioprotezione dei lavoratori dal gas radon nella
camera radon praticabile del laboratorio.
Ha partecipato alla
realizzazione di numerosi circuiti ed apparati per differenti finalità.
Il compito attuale è
quello di realizzare il primo campione primario assoluto per il radon per
l’INMRI (Istituto Nazionale di Metrologia delle radiazioni Ionizzanti) in
Italia.
MLR: Dott.
Cotellessa, può farci qualche esempio pratico per aiutare la gente comune, a
capire che la sua scoperta può davvero migliorare in modo sensibile tanti
aspetti della vita di società?
G.C.: Finora lo stato dell’arte da me raggiunto è di aver
verificato sperimentalmente la validità del procedimento fisico-matematico, con
un lavoro di ricerca applicata durato quasi cinque anni (da
Agosto 2007) utilizzando i mezzi disponibili nel laboratorio di tracce nucleari
dell’INMRI, in cui ho avuto la possibilità di sviluppare l’attività di ricerca dal 1985. In questo periodo di
tempo sempre nel campo dell’uso dei rivelatori di trace nucleari a stato solido,
ho depositato altri due brevetti di invenzioni originali:
1)RM2008A000148
|
“Processo per lo Sviluppo di Tracce
Nucleari Identificabili mediante la Loro Intensità Luminosa Rispetto ad Altre
Tracce Agglomerate, e Dispositivo per la Sua Attuazione” del 17-3-2008
|
2)RM92A000540
|
“Procedimento per la Separazione
Automatica delle Tracce con un Analizzatore di Immagini Utilizzando
l'Immagine Originaria.” Del 15-7-1992.)
|
Queste ricerche e relativi
brevetti hanno un comune obiettivo di migliorare gli aspetti metrologici dei
processi basati sulle applicazioni delle
analisi delle immagini.
Hanno aperto delle prospettive
per applicazioni in diversi campi, anche nel settore industriale e pertanto l’ENEA
ha ritenuto opportuno di proteggere i
risultati con la deposizione di un brevetto.
I passi ulteriori da effettuare
sono quelli di trovare i finanziamenti adeguati per continuare le ricerche; di promuovere le applicazioni in
collaborazione con le ditte interessate, preferibilmente italiane, concedendo
loro la licenza d’uso del brevetto ed incorporare
poi, lo stesso, in prototipi multidisciplinari, con la prospettiva di immettere sul mercato
l’innovazione.
Tutto ciò, potrà portare alla realizzazione di nuovi
dispositivi in campo medico, migliorando
la qualità di diverse tecnologie diagnostiche basate sull’analisi delle
immagini.
Ad esempio, per quanto riguarda
i trapianti di organi, riconoscere in
modo automatico, in un campione composto
di cellule morte e vive, la percentuale di cellule vive, fondamentale nei test per la determinazione della compatibilità dei
tessuti tra donatore e ricevente.
Procedendo per ipotesi, senza aver
ancora ottenuto le dovute verifiche sperimentali, penso a nuovi dispositivi nel
campo della produzione industriale.
Il procedimento consente di migliorare
le prestazioni dei microscopi ottici, elettronici, che hanno larga
applicazione. ecc.
Si potrebbero affrontare i
problemi più complessi da un punto di vista fisico, come la gestione dei
sensori di centrali solari termodinamiche con un procedimento molto più snello
e semplificato.
MLR: Dott.
Cotellessa, quanto importante sarà la sensibilizzazione della società, della
scuola a tutti i livelli (in questo momento di profonda crisi generale), affinché
il “genio” e la “ricerca” italiana ritrovino “splendore” di fronte al mondo, ma
sopratutto a quella parte del nostro paese ormai profondamente disillusa?
G.C: L’innovazione
costituisce un fattore significativo per dare impulso alla ripresa
socio-economica del paese. Questo processo deve essere reso operativo a tutti i
livelli, in particolare nella scuola.
MLR: Dott.
Cotellessa, è d’accordo sul fatto che se le Istituzioni italiane arresteranno
l’”emorragia di cervelli” dal nostro paese, con atti concreti, l’economia tutta
ne beneficerebbe da subito?
G.C.: .: La ricerca italiana, sia pubblica che privata, consentirebbe
se opportunamente valorizzata, un impulso positivo per superare le attuali
condizioni di ristagno nel nostro paese, e quindi anche “mantenere” in Italia i ricercatori che
si sono formati nelle nostre università e nei centri di ricerca.
In conclusione vorrei
evidenziare che il lavoro sperimentale è frutto di lavoro di equipe con il
concorso di altri ricercatori, ma anche della struttura operativa dell’INMRI dell’ENEA
che ha consentito e valorizzato questa linea di ricerca, portando anche alla
brevettazione dei risultati e dell’innovazione.
In particolare ringrazio il
Dott. Pierino De Felice, responsabile attuale dell'INMRI, il Dott. Marco
Capogni responsabile della sezione dell'INMRI per lo sviluppo dei campioni
primari (appartengo a questa sezione) e il Dott. Giuliano Sciocchetti mio
ex-responsabile, attualmente in pensione, che ancora mi segue quasi
quotidianamente nelle mie avventure scientifiche, Elvio Soldano (chimico) e
Massimo Pagliari (tecnico). Queste personalità, eccezionali all'interno
dell'ENEA, mi hanno creato le condizioni indispensabili per poter
conseguire questi risultati importanti.
MLR: Dott.
Cotellessa, la ringraziamo per la sua disponibilità e chiarezza, nella viva
speranza che quel “seme” di cui parlavo all’inizio di questo articolo,
custodito nelle nuove generazioni, possa
davvero trovare in ITALIA “terreno fertile” in cui germogliare e crescere…
questa volta con abbondanza di acqua.
SE TI E' PIACIUTO QUESTO POST NON PUOI PERDERE:
LA VERA "GENESI" DELL'UOMO E' COME CI HANNO SEMPRE RACCONTATO? OPPURE E' UNA STORIA COMPLETAMENTE DIVERSA?
"L'UOMO KOSMICO", TEORIA DI UN'EVOLUZIONE NON RICONOSCIUTA"
" IL RISVEGLIO DEL CADUCEO DORMIENTE: LA VERA GENESI DELL'HOMO SAPIENS"
DI MARCO LA ROSA
SONO EDIZIONI OmPhi Labs
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Universal artificial blood set for 2016 human trials
As a species, humanity is getting good at creating artificial body parts: from artificial hearts and other organs to limbs and prosthetics. Obviously, creating artificial blood is the natural next step, especially considering how expensive and time consuming and sometimes dangerous it is to suck blood out of humans just to give to other humans. Scientists at Wellcome Trust have created a form of artificial universal blood made from stem cells that is just about ready for testing in humans needing transfusions, potentially making blood something that can be mass produced.
The research team developed a way of creating red blood cells from stem cells. The process works like this: scientists create stem cells by taking cells from the human body and “rewinding” them back into stem cells. They then re-create conditions that mimic those of the human body: this turns the stem cells into red blood cells, specifically blood that's type O, the universal donor type.
Artificial blood isn’t new to science, but this is the first time that the final product meets standards for actual transfusion into a human body. The first human clinical trials will probably happen in late 2016 or early 2017. This new method paves the way for manufacturing artificial blood on a large scale in the future, getting rid of blood shortages, particularly in third world countries, once and for all. However, the manufacturing process must be highly efficient and fast: transfusions in the U.S. alone involve over 14 million units of blood. To put that into perspective: one unit of blood equals a trillion red blood cells.
The current process that the Wellcome Trust researchers are using to create the artifical blood is not replicable on an industrial scale, but we're still optimistic about a future full of blood factories. Because that's not creepy at all.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Supersonic Car: What It'll Be Like To Drive At 1,000 MPH
When we’re talking about supersonic travel, usually there are rockets involved — or maybe a daredevil skydiver. But those speeds may be coming down to Earth in a supersonic car designed to go 1,000 miles per hour.
10 Wild Ways To Travel In The Future
Since 2008, a UK team has been developing a ground vehicle called the Bloodhound Supersonic Car. Engineers are packing jet and rocket power into a slender car about 46 feet long, weighing more than 7 tons. Their goal is to build one that can go more than 1,000 miles per hour — that’s Mach 1.3 — by 2016.
Swansea University lecturer Ben Evans and his colleague Chris Rose recently simulated the aerodynamic characteristics of the Bloodhound SSC design using computational fluid dynamics. Reporting in the Journal of Automobile Engineering (PDF), they concluded that the design “has a benign lift distribution across the whole Mach range of interest and a sufficiently low drag coefficient” to achieve its objective.
That’s good news, but driving the beast won’t be easy. Besides being “shaken, compressed, disorientated, deafened and heated,” Bloodhound SSC driver Andy Green will experience G forces that push him hard into his seat back. Acceleration and deceleration will mess with his blood pressure, pushing him close to losing consciousness.
Engine and ground vibrations may also make it nearly impossible for Green to see the instruments clearly. Fortunately he’s a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force so he’s used to being uncomfortable at high speeds.
Mash-Up Puts Cars On Maglev Tracks
The Bloodhound SSC team plans to have a car capable of going 800 mph ready next year. They’ll take it to a dirt track nearly 12 miles long in Hakskeen Pan, in northwestern South Africa. Evans and Rose reported that questions remain about how shock waves will interact with the ground, especially if they cause the dirt surface to break up. The engineers plan to continue refining their computer models.
You really can’t have too many computer simulations with a rocket-car.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Breezes, Streetlights, and Distributed Generation
How far can you take wind power down the distributed energy path? In China, apparently to the top of the last light pole. Hybrid street lights combine photovoltaic panels with pole-top micro turbines for eight hours of nightly illumination. LED lights minimize power draw, and the units can be linked to the grid for daytime distributed generation
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
In Turbine Life, Timing is Everything
In an ideal world, the individual components of a turbine would all fail as it reaches the end of its design life. Reality is quite different — different components are designed to support different conditions, and anything out of the ordinary can cause unpredictable failures. North American Windpower recommends a managed approach to power levels, component costs, and other variables to synchronize wear and tear and improve total returns.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
GE's Rising Sun
Japan wants to build its largest-ever solar power project, and GE Energy Financial Services might just foot the bill. The company is considering putting almost $200 million into a proposed 230 MW mega-PV installation in Setouchi, Okayama Prefecture. The farm, more than double the size of any other Japanese solar project, would go online in 2018.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Turbine in the Sky
Wind turbines may be getting taller and taller, but there's none reaching as high as this one. Altaeros Energies is introducing a new, high-altitude floating wind turbine in Alaska. It's an inflatable, helium-filled ring with a wind turbine suspended inside. IEEE Spectrum says the turbine floats 300 m above the ground, where winds are much stronger.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Wind Turbine Pattern Provides More Power
What's the best way to set up a farm of wind turbines? How can you minimize "wake effects," where turbines effectively take wind energy away from one another? Science Daily shares a new report from Johns Hopkins University that challenges the conventional "checkerboard" pattern for installing wind turbines, and offers alternatives to maximize power output.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
This machine makes drinking water from thin air
Water. A vital nutrient, yet one that is inaccessible to many worldwide.
The World Health Organization reports that 780 million people don't have access to clean water, and 3.4 million die each year due to water-borne diseases. But an Israeli company thinks it can play a part in alleviating the crisis by producing drinking water from thin air.
Water-Gen has developed an Atmospheric Water-Generation Units using its "GENius" heat exchanger to chill air and condense water vapor.
"The clean air enters our GENius heat exchanger system where it is dehumidified, the water is removed from the air and collected in a collection tank inside the unit," says co-CEO Arye Kohavi.
"From there the water is passed through an extensive water filtration system which cleans it from possible chemical and microbiological contaminations," he explains. "The clean purified water is stored in an internal water tank which is kept continuously preserved to keep it at high quality over time."
Several companies tried to extract water from the air ... But the issue is to do it very efficiently.
Arye Kohavi, co-CEO Water-Genius
Energy efficient
Capturing atmospheric humidity isn't a ground-breaking invention in itself -- other companies already sell atmospheric water generators for commercial and domestic use -- but Water-Gen says it has made its water generator more energy efficient than others by using the cooled air created by the unit to chill incoming air.
"Several companies tried to extract water from the air," says Kohavi. "It looks simple, because air conditioning is extracting water from air. But the issue is to do it very efficiently, to produce as much water as you can per kilowatt of power consumed."
He adds: "When you're very, very efficient, it brings us to the point that it is a real solution. Water from air became actually a solution for drinking water."
The system produces 250-800 liters (65-210 gallons) of potable water a day depending on temperature and humidity conditions and Kohavi says it uses two cents' worth of electricity to produce a liter of water.
SEGUE SECONDA PARTE
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Haiti's clean water crisis
Could deadly water epidemic strike again?
Clean water solutions for Haiti
Civilian uses
Developed primarily for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Water-Gen says it has already sold units to militaries in seven countries, but Kohavi is keen to stress that the general population can also benefit from the technology.
He explains: "We believe that the products can be sold to developing countries in different civilian applications. For example in India, [drinking] water for homes is not available and will also be rare in the future. The Atmospheric Water-Generation Unit can be built as a residential unit and serve as a perfect water supply solution for homes in India."
Kohavi says Water-Gen's units can produce a liter of water for 1.5 Rupees, as opposed to 15 Rupees for a liter of bottled water.
Dirty water
Another product Water-Gen has developed is a portable water purification system. It's a battery-operated water filtration unit called Spring. Spring is able to filter 180 liters (48 gallons) of water, and fits into a backpack -- enabling water filtration on the go.
"You can go to any lake, any place, any river, anything in the field, usually contaminated with industrial waste, or anything like that and actually filter it into the best drinking water that exists," says Kohavi.
This unit gives logistic independence for the forces and make us ensure that we provide the soldiers high quality water.
Major Alisa Zevin, head of the Facilities and Specialized Equipment, IDF Major Alisa Zevin, head of the Facilities and Specialized Equipment Section for the IDF, says the unit is revolutionary for them.
"This unit gives logistic independence for the forces and make us ensure that we provide the soldiers high quality water," she says.
In 2013, the IDF took Spring to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan devastated the island country and left 4.2 million people affected by water scarcity. The system filtered what was undrinkable water into potable water, and that is what Water-Gen hopes to accomplish elsewhere where the technology is needed.
"It's something as a Westerner you cannot understand because you have a perfect water in the pipe, but people are dying from lack of water," says Kohavi.
Although Water-Gen's developments aren't a solution for the water crisis, Kohavi believes that the technology can do for countries that lack clean water, such as Haiti, what it has done for the Philippines. It can be the technology used to not only to filter water, but to save lives.
"They could actually bring solution, perfect solution, to the people over there," says Kohavi. "For the kids ... They can use the technology to filter water in the field. People are going days just to carry water. And all our solutions can be an alternative for that."
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Monitoring Underground Lines
Underground transmission and distribution lines that are out of sight, present much less chance of accidental electrocution, and aren't in peril from falling tree branches like overhead lines. However, it's tougher to spot potential problems underground. Electricity Today explains how monitoring underground lines with SCADA systems helps address that issue.
DA DOTT. COTELLESSA
Artificial eyes, plastic skulls: 3-D printing the human body
The 21st century has seen the growth of 3-D printing, with well-known applications in architecture, manufacturing, engineering, and now increasingly in medicine.
The birth of 3-D scanning technologies combined with organic inks and thermoplastics has enabled the "bioprinting" of a range of human body parts to accommodate a wide range of medical conditions. Let's start form the top.
Skulls
Doctors at University Medical Center Utrecht, in Holland, have reported successfully performing the first surgery to completely replace a patient's skull with a tailor-made plastic version that was 3-D printed.
The patient had a chronic bone disorder that caused her skull to be 5cm thick. The hospital said the condition had caused her to lose her vision and ultimately would have killed her, but that three months after the operation the patient regained her vision and was able to return to work.
Eyes
Batch-printing of up to 150 prosthetic eyes an hour has become a reality according to UK-based company Fripp Design and Research. The mass-production technique promises to speed up the manufacture of eye prostheses and drive down the cost. Printing each eye with slight variation in color is intended to produce better aesthetic results.
The aim is to ensure more affordable eyes for the developing world with countries such as India reportedly showing interest in the products. The company, in collaboration with the UK's Manchester Metropolitan University, hopes to implement the use of its printed eyes within the next year.
Noses and Ears
Fripp Design has also collaborated with the University of Sheffield, in the United Kingdom, to produce facial prostheses such as ears and noses. 3-D facial scans of patients are used to print out prosthetics using pigments, starch powder and silicone for replica facial parts closely matching the patient's original nose or ear. The real benefit here is that once parts begin to wear, they can be re-ordered at a fraction of the cost as the technology and design will already be in place. The simpler process of scanning a patient's face, rather than more invasive face molds needed for traditional prostheses, also makes the process a lot more patient-friendly.
A team at Cornell University, in the United States, is doing things differently. It's printing 3-D molds of a patient's ear using ink gels containing living cells. The printed products are injected with bovine cartilage cells and rat collagen and incubated until they are ready three months later. Human transplants could be possible within three years, say researchers.
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Synthetic Skin
James Yoo at the Wake Forest School of Medicine in the United States is developing a printer that will print skin straight onto the wounds of burn victims. The "ink" they're using consists of enzymes and collagen which once printed are layered with tissue cells and skin cells which combine to form the skin graft. The team plans on developing portable machines to print skin directly onto wounds in remote and war-torn settings.
The ideal synthetic skin graft needs to match the coloration of the patient as accurately as possible in order for the graft to look natural. Dr. Sophie Wuerger and her team at the University of Liverpool in the UK are working on using 3-D cameras, image processing and skin modeling to ensure the tone and texture of printed skin match up to the real thing.
Limbs
Thermoplastics have led the way in the growth of printable hands, arms and even individual fingers. Richard Van As is one of those producing affordable hand and finger prostheses with his company Robohand, based in South Africa. The team is creating functional fingers for use on amputated hands by combining the printing of the thermoplastic polylactide with aluminum and stainless steel digits to create a functioning mechanical finger.
Robohand recently collaborated with U.S. entrepreneur Mike Ebeling on a project providing affordable printed arms to war amputees in Sudan. The collaboration is known as "Project Daniel," named after 14 year-old Daniel Omar who lost both his hands and part of his arms after a bomb was dropped near his family home in Sudan's Nuba mountains. The team is enabling Robohands to reach the masses at costs as small as $100 for a basic hand.
Bones
One of the more established fields of 3-D printing is the bioprinting of human bone implants, and now replacement bones.
In 2011, researchers at Washington State University announced they had printed a bone-like structure that acts as a scaffold for new bone cells to grow on, before it degrades. The structure was printed using calcium phosphate and has been successfully tested in animals. The hope is to print customized grafts for use in patients with bone fractures.
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Saudi Arabia to build world's tallest tower, reaching 1 kilometer into the sky
Dubai, long champion of all things biggest, longest and most expensive, will soon have some competition from neighboring Saudi Arabia.
Dubai's iconic Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building, could be stripped of its Guinness title if Saudi Arabia succeeds in its plans to construct the even larger Kingdom Tower in Jeddah -- a prospect looking more likely as work begins next week, according to Construction Weekly.
Consultants Advanced Construction Technology Services have recently announced testing materials to build the 3,280-feet (1 kilometer) skyscraper (the Burj Khalifa, by comparison, stands at a meeker 2,716 feet, or 827 meters).
The Kingdom Tower, estimated to cost $1.23 billion, would have 200 floors and overlook the Red Sea. Building it will require about 5.7 million square feet of concrete and 80,000 tons of steel, according to the Saudi Gazette.
Building a structure that tall, particularly on the coast, where saltwater could potentially damage it, is no easy feat. The foundations, which will be 200 feet (60 meters) deep, need to be able to withstand the saltwater of the nearby ocean. As a result, Advanced Construction Technology Services will test the strength of different concretes.
Dubai Mall attracts 75 million people a year
Wind load is another issue for buildings of this magnitude. To counter this challenge, the tower will change shape regularly.
"Because it changes shape every few floors, the wind loads go round the building and won't be as extreme as on a really solid block," Gordon Gill explained toConstruction Weekly. Gill is a partner at Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, the design architects for the project.
Delivering the concrete to higher floors will also be a challenge. Possibly, engineers could use similar methods to those employed when building the Burj Khalifa; 6 million cubic feet of concrete was pushed through a single pump, usually at night when temperatures were low enough to ensure that it would set.
Though ambitious, building the Kingdom Tower should be feasible, according to Sang Dae Kim, the director of the Council on Tall Buildings.
"At this point in time we can build a tower that is one kilometer, maybe two kilometers. Any higher than that and we will have to do a lot of homework," he told Construction Weekly.
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Getting to the Heart of the Matter
Biomedical engineers have developed an implantable electronic sleeve embedded with sensors that promises to replace pacemakers. Using an ordinary 3D printer, the researchers created an elastic membrane that conforms to the outer wall of the heart, with numerous points of contact. The sensors measure temperature, mechanical strain, and pH and can counter arrhythmia with electrical pulses, enabling physicians to better diagnose and treat cardiac disorders.
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l primo impianto sperimentale per la conversione della CO2 in combustibile in funzione all’ENEA
FENICE, il primo impianto dimostrativo italiano per la trasformazione di CO2 in combustibile è entrato in funzione presso il Centro Ricerche Casaccia. La possibilità di convertire la CO2 in combustibile è una delle soluzioni per limitare le emissioni in atmosfera di anidride carbonica (CO2). L’ENEA è tra i principali attori nello studio sul trattamento della CO2, e in particolare, presso il Laboratorio Processi per la Combustione Sostenibile è da tempo attivo un gruppo di ricerca che studia la conversione di CO2 in metano, combustibile fra i meno inquinanti.
Impianto Fenice
FENICE è stato realizzato dopo attività condotte su piccoli sistemi sperimentali in scala laboratorio. Si tratta di un impianto che, lavorando ad alte pressioni e a temperature di circa 200 °C, rivitalizza il carbonio presente nella CO2 attraverso la sua riduzione con idrogeno: dalla reazione si ottiene metano ed acqua. L’elettrolizzatore, chel’impianto FENICE utilizza per la produzione di idrogeno, può essere alimentato da fonte rinnovabile, come i pannelli fotovoltaici o i generatori eolici, consentendo l’immagazzinamento dell’energia solare sotto forma chimica. Questa metodologia di stoccaggio presenta, oltre ai benefici di natura ambientale, significativi vantaggi in termini di versatilità, in quanto il metano prodotto può essere utilizzato in vari modi sia per uso locale che per la distribuzione in rete. Attualmente l’impianto può produrre 250 NL/h di metano, ma le sue potenzialità sono molto superiori.
Inoltre, nello stesso impianto, utilizzando opportuni catalizzatori, si può produrre anche metanolo e dimetil-etere (DME). Questi ultimi sono considerati combustibili alternativi per autoveicoli dalle ottime
qualità e dal basso impatto ambientale.
Il sistema è caratterizzato da un’elevata flessibilità ed è in grado di sperimentare la tecnologia per diverse applicazioni, tra cui la valorizzazione energetica di siti di rilascio spontaneo delle CO2 , di cui l’Italia è ricca per presenza di vulcani sul suo territorio.
Il nome di questo impianto si ispira al mitologico uccello dell’Araba fenice, che rinasce dalle proprie ceneri dopo la morte, a voler così simboleggiare la rigenerazione del combustibile a partire dal principale prodotto di combustione.
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First Island to Be Powered Solely by Wind and Water
The smallest and least known of Spain's Canary Islands, El Hierro, is making a splash by becoming the first island in the world fully energy self-sufficient through combined water and wind power.
A wind farm opening at the end of June will turn the gusts that rake the steep cliffs and green mountains of the volcanic island into electricity. Five turbines installed at the northeastern tip of El Hierro near the capital Valverde will have a total output of 11.5 megawatts -- more than enough power to meet the demand of the island's roughly 10,000 residents and its energy-hungry water desalination plants.
Power Your Entire Home Without Wires!
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Although other islands around the world are powered by solar or wind energy, experts say El Hierro is the first to secure a constant supply of electricity by combining wind and water power and with no connection to any outside electricity network.
Surplus power from the wind turbines will be used to pump fresh water from a reservoir near the harbor to a larger one at volcanic crater located about 700 meters (2,300 feet) above sea level. When there is little or no wind, the water will be channeled down to the lower reservoir through turbines to generate electricity in turn.
"This system guarantees us a supply of electricity," said the director of the Gorona del Viento wind power plant, Juan Manuel Quintero who is supervising final tests before the plant starts functioning in a few weeks.
The plant will account for 50 percent of the island's electricity demand when it is officially inaugurated at the end of June, a figure that will rise to 100 percent over the following months. The scheme will cut carbon dioxide emissions by 18,700 tons per year and eliminate the island's annual consumption of 40,000 barrels of oil.
El Hierro will maintain its fuel oil power station as a back up, just in case.
World Pioneer
The island is cited as a pioneering project by IRENA, the international organization for renewable energy, and other experts such as Alain Gioda, a climate historian at France IRD science research institute.
"The true novelty of El Hierro is that technicians have managed, without being connected to any national network, to guarantee a stable production of electricity, that comes 100 percent from renewable energy, overcoming the intermittent nature of the wind," he said.
El Hierro's wind power plant has sparked interest from other islands seeking to follow its example. Officials from Aruba, Hawaii, Samso in Denmark, Oki in Japan, and Indonesia have all shown interest.
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This awesome Terrafugia electric vehicle will fly, someday
We're trying to figure out how the term "range anxiety" will apply to the Terrafugia TF-X flying car. Is it going to be applicable to the pilot or to others in the sky? The reason we ask is because the vehicle is a plug-in hybrid, so those batteries better well be charged up. But, according to the potential manufacturer, flying the vehicle will require only five hours of training, so getting too close could produce a different kind of anxiety.
Massachusetts-based Terrafugia says the four-seater plug-in hybrid plane, despite what we think are some awful short wings, will be capable of vertical take-offs and landings, Design & Trend reports. It will have two 600-horsepower electric motors and a 300-horsepower fuel engine that should give it a range of at least 500 miles. The company says only five hours of pilot training will be required because of the plane's connection to a data network that will essentially control the aircraft's flight path. Either way, the plane will fit in a single-car garage. Which is nice.
The name Terrafugia should be familiar because we've been covering the company since the first prototype was announced in 2006. The company made news last year with a test flight demonstration for its Transitionflying car. That model is supposed to start sales in 2015 or 2016 carrying an estimated price tag of $279,000. While we wait for that, you can check out a nicely CGI'd video of the TF-X hybrid below.
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Fifty Cent, Folding Microscope
How useful is a paper microscope that costs 50 cents to produce? According to its Stanford University, CA, designer, the Foldoscope's value is incalculable in terms of infectious disease diagnostics in developing nations. Assembled in 10 minutes, the battery-powered microscope features 2,000x magnification, weighs 8.8 g, and runs 50 hours on a single button cell.
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Nissan shows self-cleaning car coated in nano paint
Washing the car is an activity like mowing the lawn that some people love and others find to be an absolute chore. For the latter group, Nissan may have an answer. Nissan is testing a nano-paint coating that could make the car wash a very infrequent place to visit.
Shown on a European Note hatchback, the key is a special layer of super-hydrophobic and oleophobic material called Ultra-Ever Dry that is sprayed over the paint. It creates a protective layer between the body and environment, and it means that when dirt or water come into contact with the car, the gunk just sheets away.
Nissan admits that the coating is still early in testing. The key will be if the stuff can actually last for the long term, and the company will be analyzing it over the coming months to see how it will react in different conditions. At the moment, the automaker has no plans to offer Ultra-Ever Dry as a standard feature, but it may make it available as an aftermarket addition in the future.
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Better Tracking of Lost Aircraft Needed
When Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared, few expected such a long hunt to find it. The ensuing search efforts made one thing clear: better tracking technologies are needed. In this editorial piece, Aviation Week weighs in on the debate between capability and cost. The commentary recommends embracing Space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B). The enhanced surveillance provided, compared with terrestrial ADS-B, will generate "fuel-saving routes through oceanic and remote airspace," offsetting the cost of implementation.
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Scientists create circuit board modeled on the human brain
For all their sophistication, computers pale in comparison to the brain. The modest cortex of the mouse, for instance, operates 9,000 times faster than a personal computer simulation of its functions.Not only is the PC slower, it takes 40,000 times more power to run, writes Kwabena Boahen, associate professor of bioengineering at Stanford.
Bioengineer Kwabena Boahen’s Neurogrid can simulate one million neurons and billions of synaptic connections. Boahen is working with other Stanford scientists to develop prosthetic limbs that would be controlled by a Neurogrid-like chip.“From a pure energy perspective, the brain is hard to match,” says Boahen, whose article surveys how “neuromorphic” researchers in the United States and Europe are using silicon and software to build electronic systems that mimic neurons and synapses.Boahen and his team have developed Neurogrid, a circuit board consisting of 16 custom-designed “Neurocore” chips. Together these 16 chips can simulate 1 million neurons and billions of synaptic connections. The team designed these chips with power efficiency in mind.
Their strategy was to enable certain synapses to share hardware circuits. The result was Neurogrid – a device about the size of an iPad that can simulate orders of magnitude more neurons and synapses than other brain mimics on the power it takes to run a tablet computer.The National Institutes of Health funded development of this million-neuron prototype with a five-year Pioneer Award. Now Boahen stands ready for the next steps – lowering costs and creating compiler software that would enable engineers and computer scientists with no knowledge of neuroscience to solve problems – such as controlling a humanoid robot – using Neurogrid.Its speed and low power characteristics make Neurogrid ideal for more than just modeling the human brain.
Boahen is working with other Stanford scientists to develop prosthetic limbs for paralyzed people that would be controlled by a Neurocore-like chip.”Right now, you have to know how the brain works to program one of these,” said Boahen, gesturing at the $40,000 prototype board on the desk of his Stanford office. “We want to create a neurocompiler so that you would not need to know anything about synapses and neurons to able to use one of these.”
Brain ferment
In his article, Boahen notes the larger context of neuromorphic research, including the European Union’s Human Brain Project, which aims to simulate a human brain on a supercomputer. By contrast, the U.S. BRAIN Project – short for Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies – has taken a tool-building approach by challenging scientists, including many at Stanford, to develop new kinds of tools that can read out the activity of thousands or even millions of neurons in the brain as well as write in complex patterns of activity.
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Zooming from the big picture, Boahen’s article focuses on two projects comparable to Neurogrid that attempt to model brain functions in silicon and/or software.One of these efforts is IBM’s SyNAPSE Project – short for Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics. As the name implies, SyNAPSE involves a bid to redesign chips, code-named Golden Gate, to emulate the ability of neurons to make a great many synaptic connections – a feature that helps the brain solve problems on the fly. At present a Golden Gate chip consists of 256 digital neurons each equipped with 1,024 digital synaptic circuits, with IBM on track to greatly increase the numbers of neurons in the system.Heidelberg University’s BrainScales project has the ambitious goal of developing analog chips to mimic the behaviors of neurons and synapses.
Their HICANN chip – short for High Input Count Analog Neural Network – would be the core of a system designed to accelerate brain simulations, to enable researchers to model drug interactions that might take months to play out in a compressed time frame. At present, the HICANN system can emulate 512 neurons each equipped with 224 synaptic circuits, with a roadmap to greatly expand that hardware base.Each of these research teams has made different technical choices, such as whether to dedicate each hardware circuit to modeling a single neural element (e.g., a single synapse) or several (e.g., by activating the hardware circuit twice to model the effect of two active synapses). These choices have resulted in different trade-offs in terms of capability and performance.
In his analysis, Boahen creates a single metric to account for total system cost – including the size of the chip, how many neurons it simulates and the power it consumes.Neurogrid was by far the most cost-effective way to simulate neurons, in keeping with Boahen’s goal of creating a system affordable enough to be widely used in research.
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Speed and efficiency
But much work lies ahead. Each of the current million-neuron Neurogrid circuit boards cost about $40,000. Boahen believes dramatic cost reductions are possible. Neurogrid is based on 16 Neurocores, each of which supports 65,536 neurons. Those chips were made using 15-year-old fabrication technologies.By switching to modern manufacturing processes and fabricating the chips in large volumes, he could cut a Neurocore’s cost 100-fold – suggesting a million-neuron board for $400 a copy. With that cheaper hardware and compiler software to make it easy to configure, these neuromorphic systems could find numerous applications.
For instance, a chip as fast and efficient as the human brain could drive prosthetic limbs with the speed and complexity of our own actions – but without being tethered to a power source. Krishna Shenoy, an electrical engineering professor at Stanford and Boahen’s neighbor at the interdisciplinary Bio-X center, is developing ways of reading brain signals to understand movement. Boahen envisions a Neurocore-like chip that could be implanted in a paralyzed person’s brain, interpreting those intended movements and translating them to commands for prosthetic limbs without overheating the brain.A small prosthetic arm in Boahen’s lab is currently controlled by Neurogrid to execute movement commands in real time.
For now it doesn’t look like much, but its simple levers and joints hold hope for robotic limbs of the future.Of course, all of these neuromorphic efforts are beggared by the complexity and efficiency of the human brain.In his article, Boahen notes that Neurogrid is about 100,000 times more energy efficient than a personal computer simulation of 1 million neurons. Yet it is an energy hog compared to our biological CPU.”The human brain, with 80,000 times more neurons than Neurogrid, consumes only three times as much power,” Boahen writes. “Achieving this level of energy efficiency while offering greater configurability and scale is the ultimate challenge neuromorphic engineers face.”
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L’ENEA partecipa alla Joint Technology Initiative della Commissione Europea, che intende sostenere e sviluppare i settori più innovativi, come le celle a combustibile e l'idrogeno, per aumentare la competitività dell’industria europea. I progetti europei nel settore delle celle a combustibile si sono moltiplicati negli ultimi anni: attualmente è in corso un progetto dimostrativo di 1000 sistemi micro-cogenerativi installati presso utenze casalinghe e, all’interno di Horizon 2020, è stato varato anche il secondo mandato per la piattaforma FCH-JU (Fuel Cells & Hydrogen Joint Undertaking), dedicata alle celle a combustibile e all’idrogeno.
Le iniziative sulle celle a combustibile sono a pieno regime anche in ENEA, con vari progetti finanziati dalla piattaforma FCH-JU. Recentemente è stato fatto il punto sull’avanzamento delle attività relative al progetto SCORED 2.0 (Steel Coatings for Reducing Degradation in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells), coordinato dall’Università di Birmingham e incentrato sullo sviluppo di materiali e tecniche di ricopertura protettiva dei componenti in acciaio di un sistema a celle a combustibile ad ossidi solidi (SOFC). L’elevata temperatura di operazione di questa tipologia di sistemi, superiore a 700°C, consente di raggiungere efficienze di generazione elettrica di 60% netti anche per sistemi di un solo kW, ma al contempo rappresenta una criticità per la resistenza dei componenti in acciaio che corrodono e rilasciano composti volatili del cromo, dannosi per il modulo elettrochimico. Per far fronte a tali criticità, l’ENEA è attiva sia nello sviluppo dei materiali e di tecniche di ricopertura innovative che nella caratterizzazione dei componenti ingegnerizzati.
Nei prossimi giorni è previsto inoltre lo svolgimento del kick-off meeting del progetto NELLHI (New all-European high-performance stack: design for mass production), coordinato dall’ENEA, per lo sviluppo di una pila di celle a combustibile SOFC da 1 kWe ad alte prestazioni, progettata per la produzione di massa, che potrà favorire una drastica riduzione dei costi di fabbricazione. L’ENEA gestisce il coordinamento relativo alla validazione sperimentale delle celle e allo sviluppo di piatti bipolari e delle guarnizioni, l’integrazione di modelli numerici per l’assemblaggio ottimale dei componenti, l’input di un Industrial Advisory Board in merito alle esigenze del prodotto finale e la promozione del progetto e dei risultati.
L’avvio del progetto NELLHI coincide con la conclusione di MCFC-CONTEX (Molten-Carbonate Fuel Cells catalyst and stack component degradation and lifetime: fuel gas Contaminant effects and Extraction strategies), un altro progetto coordinato dall’ENEA, in collaborazione con i ricercatori spagnoli di CETaqua, per le attività relative al clean-up del biogas derivante dal trattamento delle acque reflue nell’impianto di Mataró (Barcellona) e, in collaborazione con il Politecnico di Monaco, per l’utilizzo di tecniche innovative di analisi gas e per la caratterizzazione accelerata di celle a combustibile a carbonati fusi (MCFC) in applicazioni non convenzionali come la separazione della CO2 dai fumi esausti di una centrale.
Inoltre, nel corso del kick-off in programma a Stoccarda il prossimo 26 maggio, prenderanno il via le attività tecniche del progetto SOCTESQA (Solid Oxide Cell and stack Testing, Safety and Quality Assurance), finalizzate a definire le procedure sperimentali di laboratorio per la caratterizzazione univoca e ripetibile di moduli SOFC. Il progetto è mirato all’utilizzo di moduli SOFC sia come generatori di potenza in vari campi di applicazione (in particolare la micro-cogenerazione e la potenza di bordo per mezzi di trasporto pesanti), che come generatori di idrogeno con l’utilizzo di energia elettrica. Alle temperature di esercizio della SOFC, questa conversione procede con efficienze elevatissime, grazie al fatto che l’energia del calore contribuisce alla conversione dell’acqua in idrogeno, che necessita così di un quantitativo di elettricità assai minore.
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New battery technology employs sticky composites
Lithium-ion batteries power a vast array of modern devices, from cell phones, laptops, and laser pointers to thermometers, hearing aids, and pacemakers. The electrodes in these batteries typically comprise three components: active materials, conductive additives, and binders.
Now, a team of researchers at the Univ. of Delaware has discovered a “sticky” conductive material that may eliminate the need for binders.
“The problem with the current technology is that the binders impair the electrochemical performance of the battery because of their insulating properties,” says Bingqing Wei, professor of mechanical engineering. “Furthermore, the organic solvents used to mix the binders and conductive materials together not only add to the expense of the final product, but also are toxic to humans.”
Carbon nanotubes to the rescue.
Wei and doctoral student Zeyuan Cao recently discovered that fragmented carbon nanotube macrofilms (FCNT) can serve as adhesive conductors, combining two functions in one material. Their work is reported in ACS Nano, a specialty publication of the American Chemical Society, and they have filed a patent application on the discovery.
Wei explains that FCNTs are web-like meshes with “tentacles” that are coupled with active lithium-based cathode and anode materials. They are then assembled using simple ultrasound processing. The process employs no organic solvents.
“We’ve found that the adhesive FCNT conductors actually have higher adhesion strength than PVDF, the binder traditionally used in lithium-ion battery manufacturing,” he says. “We’ve also demonstrated that these composite electrodes exhibit higher electrical conductivity than traditional materials, and we’ve achieved these benefits in a low-cost green fabrication process that replaces toxic organic solvents with just water and alcohol.”
“There is a wide market for lithium-ion batteries,” he adds, “and we see great potential for the use of this technology in vehicle applications, where quick charging and discharging are required.”
The approach strategy could also be employed for electrode preparation for other energy storage devices such as electrochemical capacitors.
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High-speed Cameras for Slow Motion
Analysis
Photron's Fastcam SA-Z provides mega pixel resolution to 21,000 frames per second (fps) at 25,000 ISO for the monochrome version, and 10,000 for color. Onboard memory options provide up to 2.56 seconds recording at 100,000 fps, top speed of 2.1 Million fps, and shutter times down to 159 nanoseconds.
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First transfusions of "manufactured" blood planned for 2016
According to the World Health Organization, approximately 107 million blood donations are collected globally every year. Nonetheless, blood is often in short supply – particularly in developing nations. Despite new safeguards, there's also still the risk of incompatibility, or of infections being transmitted from donors to recipients. Charitable organization the Wellcome Trust hopes to address these problems, by developing the ability to manufacture blood outside of the body. Last week, it announced that test subjects should begin receiving transfusions of blood made with lab-grown red blood cells by late 2016.
The research program is being led by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, thanks to the Wellcome Trust's £5 million (US$8.4 million) Strategic Award grant. Institutions collaborating on the project include the University of Glasgow, the University of Edinburgh, Loughborough University, NHS Blood and Transplant, the Irish Blood Transfusion Service, Roslin Cells Ltd and the Cell Therapy Catapult, in collaboration with Bristol University and the University of Cambridge.
The project has already created type O- red blood cells that are "fit for clinical transfusion," according to a report in The Telegraph. These were manufactured from induced pluripotent stem cells.
"We must first make the stem cells become a mesoderm – one of the body layers that makes things like muscle, bone and blood – and then get it to turn into blood cells," explained the University of Glasgow's Dr. Joanne Mountford. "Then we have to make it develop into a red blood cell specifically and finally make it eject its nuclei and mature properly."
The choice of type O- is significant, as patients with all other blood types can receive it.
While it is hoped that trials on human patients could begin within three years, there's still plenty of work to be done before so-called "blood factories" are a reality.
"Every single bag of transfused blood has about two trillion red blood cells in it," said Mountford. "It’s a ludicrously high number to make in the lab. We use two million of those bags every year in the UK alone. Ensuring that any industrially produced blood can be made economically viable is quite a task."
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Dassault achieves world's first formation flight of combat drone and manned aircraft
Dassault Aviation announced that last month it came a step closer to making science fiction reality when it conducted a formation flight of thenEUROn unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) with a Rafale fighter and a Falcon 7X business jet. The flight off the coast of the south of France took place on March 20, and for almost two hours the nEUROn kept station with the other planes as they flew over the several hundred kilometers out over the Mediterranean. According to Dassault, this was the first time an unmanned combat aircraft achieved formation flight.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) have come a long way in the past couple of decades, but they still have some trouble areas that keep them from becoming really practical. One is that no matter how sophisticated the sensors or complex the algorithms, a UAV can’t glance over its shoulder or catch a movement out of the corner of its eye. That means that UAVs have a lot of trouble with situational awareness. In other words, they can’t tell where other planes are. This makes for general safety issues and makes the formation flying that’s key to military operations especially difficult.
The March demonstration involved a carefully planned close formation flying maneuver with the nEUROn, the Rafale, the Falcon X, and two camera chase planes, where each flew in a planned sequence while keeping station in relation to one another. This required the engineers to not only make sure that the nEUROn could detect the other planes and stay out of their way, but also be able to deal with turbulence, and electromagnetic interference that poses a risk of disrupting communications between the UCAV and ground control.
The Dassault nEUROn UCAV made its first flight in December 2012 as a technology demonstrator dedicated to advanced avionics with aim of developing new methods of high-level flight control and stealth, and the ability to launch air-to-ground weapons from an internal bay. It’s built by Dassault Aviation as prime contractor along with Alenia Aermacchi (Italy), Saab (Sweden), EADS-CASA (Spain), Hellenic Aerospace Industry (Greece), RUAG (Switzerland), and Thales (France), and has so far undergone several dozen test flights.
Measuring 9.2 m (30 ft) long and boasting a wingspan of 12.5 m (41 ft), the nEUROn is the first large size stealth platform designed in Europe. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Turbomeca "Adour" engine, it has an empty weight of 5 tons (4.5 tonnes) and a maximum weight of 7 tons (6.3 tonnes).
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Italian doctor may have found surprisingly simple cure for Multiple Sclerosis
An Italian doctor has been getting dramatic results with a new type of treatment for Multiple Sclerosis, or MS, which affects up to 2.5 million people worldwide. In an initial study, Dr. Paolo Zamboni took 65 patients with relapsing-remitting MS, performed a simple operation to unblock restricted bloodflow out of the brain - and two years after the surgery, 73% of the patients had no symptoms. Dr. Zamboni's thinking could turn the current understanding of MS on its head, and offer many sufferers a complete cure.
Multiple sclerosis, or MS, has long been regarded as a life sentence of debilitating nerve degeneration. More common in females, the disease affects an estimated 2.5 million people around the world, causing physical and mental disabilities that can gradually destroy a patient's quality of life.
It's generally accepted that there's no cure for MS, only treatments that mitigate the symptoms - but a new way of looking at the disease has opened the door to a simple treatment that is causing radical improvements in a small sample of sufferers.
Italian Dr. Paolo Zamboni has put forward the idea that many types of MS are actually caused by a blockage of the pathways that remove excess iron from the brain - and by simply clearing out a couple of major veins to reopen the blood flow, the root cause of the disease can be eliminated.
Dr. Zamboni's revelations came as part of a very personal mission - to cure his wife as she began a downward spiral after diagnosis. Reading everything he could on the subject, Dr. Zamboni found a number of century-old sources citing excess iron as a possible cause of MS. It happened to dovetail with some research he had been doing previously on how a buildup of iron can damage blood vessels in the legs - could it be that a buildup of iron was somehow damaging blood vessels in the brain?
He immediately took to the ultrasound machine to see if the idea had any merit - and made a staggering discovery. More than 90% of people with MS have some sort of malformation or blockage in the veins that drain blood from the brain. Including, as it turned out, his wife.
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He formed a hypothesis on how this could lead to MS: iron builds up in the brain, blocking and damaging these crucial blood vessels. As the vessels rupture, they allow both the iron itself, and immune cells from the bloodstream, to cross the blood-brain barrier into the cerebro-spinal fluid. Once the immune cells have direct access to the immune system, they begin to attack the myelin sheathing of the cerebral nerves - Multiple Sclerosis develops.
He named the problem Chronic Cerebro-Spinal Venous Insufficiency, or CCSVI.
Zamboni immediately scheduled his wife for a simple operation to unblock the veins - a catheter was threaded up through blood vessels in the groin area, all the way up to the effected area, and then a small balloon was inflated to clear out the blockage. It's a standard and relatively risk-free operation - and the results were immediate. In the three years since the surgery, Dr. Zamboni's wife has not had an attack.
Widening out his study, Dr. Zamboni then tried the same operation on a group of 65 MS-sufferers, identifying blood drainage blockages in the brain and unblocking them - and more than 73% of the patients are completely free of the symptoms of MS, two years after the operation.
In some cases, a balloon is not enough to fully open the vein channel, which collapses either as soon as the balloon is removed, or sometime later. In these cases, a metal stent can easily be used, which remains in place holding the vein open permanently.
Dr. Zamboni's lucky find is yet to be accepted by the medical community, which is traditionally slow to accept revolutionary ideas. Still, most agree that while further study needs to be undertaken before this is looked upon as a cure for MS, the results thus far have been very positive.
Naturally, support groups for MS sufferers are buzzing with the news that a simple operation could free patients from what they have always been told would be a lifelong affliction, and further studies are being undertaken by researchers around the world hoping to confirm the link between CCSVI and MS, and open the door for the treatment to become available for sufferers worldwide.
It's certainly a very exciting find for MS sufferers, as it represents a possible complete cure, as opposed to an ongoing treatment of symptoms. We wish Dr. Zamboni and the various teams looking further into this issue the best of luck.
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Bionic pancreas could be life-changing for diabetics
For people living with type 1 diabetes, a constant process of monitoring and adjusting blood sugar levels is required. A change may be on the horizon, though. A bionic pancreas trialled among 30 adults has been very well-received by the participants, and has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for three transitional outpatient studies over the next 18 months.
People with type 1 diabetes are unable to produce insulin, a hormone that is required to control the level of sugar in the bloodstream. As a result, blood sugar levels can vary dramatically, causing potential damage to body organs when too high, or confusion and loss of consciousness when too low.
The device comprises a sensor inserted under the skin that relays hormone level data to a monitoring device, which in turn sends the information wirelessly to an app on the user's smartphone. Based on the data, which is provided every five minutes, the app calculates required dosages of insulin or glucagon to maintain optimal blood sugar levels and communicates the information to two corresponding hormone infusion pumps worn by the patient.
The bionic pancreas has been developed by associate professor of biomedical engineering at Boston University Dr. Edward Damiano, and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School Dr. Steven Russell. To date, it has been trialled with diabetic pigs and in three hospital-based feasibility studies amongst adults and adolescents over 24-48 hour periods. The upcoming studies will allow the device to be tested by participants in real-world scenarios with decreasing amounts of supervision.
The first study will test the device's performance for five continuous days. Twenty adults with type 1 diabetes will use it between 7am and 11pm, during which time they will have access to a 3 sq mi area near Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Accompanying nurses will check the participants' blood sugar levels every two hours to ensure the device is working. Participants will sleep at a hotel, where their blood sugar levels will continue to be monitored throughout the night. The results will be compared to a corresponding five-day period during which the participants will be at home under their own care without the device.
A second study will be carried out using 16 boys and 16 girls with type 1 diabetes, testing the device's performance for six days against a further six days of the participants' usual care routine. The third study will be carried out amongst 50 to 60 further participants with type 1 diabetes who are also medical professionals. They will wear the device for two weeks at home and monitor a comparative two-week period without the device.
Should the transitional trials be successful, a more developed version of the bionic pancreas, based on results and feedback from the previous trials, will be put through its paces in multi-center pivotal trials during 2015. The device will be a single, dual-chamber insulin and glucagon pump, without the need for being paired with a smartphone app. It will be tested in hundreds of participants with type 1 diabetes over a six-month period, with the results compared against participants in a control group using their usual care routine.
If all goes well, Damiano hopes that the bionic pancreas will gain FDA approval and be rolled out by 2017, when his son, who has type 1 diabetes, is expected to start higher education.
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Metal undergoes novel transition under extreme pressure
The precise chemistry of metals within the Earth's interior will dictate the nature of its magnetic field
Under extreme pressures and temperatures, one of the main materials of the Earth's interior has exhibited a never-before-seen transition.
Iron oxide was subjected to conditions similar to those at the depth where the Earth's innermost two layers meet.
At 1,650C and 690,000 times sea-level pressure, the metal changed the degree to which it conducted electricity.
But, as the team outlined in Physical Review Letters, the metal's structure was surprisingly unchanged.
The finding could have implications for our as-yet incomplete understanding of how the Earth's interior gives rise to the planet's magnetic field.
While many transitions are known in materials as they undergo nature's extraordinary pressures and temperatures, such changes in fundamental properties are most often accompanied by a change in structure.
These can be the ways that atoms are arranged in a crystal pattern, or even in the arrangement of subatomic particles that surround atomic nuclei.
Core values
A team at the Carnegie Institution for Science subjected the material to pressures up to 1.4 million times atmospheric pressure at sea level, and temperatures up to 2,200C.
They found that it pulls off the trick of changing its electrical properties without any shifting of shape - it can be an insulator or conductor depending just on temperature and pressure.
Combined with computer simulations of just what was going on with the material's electrons, the group claim that the results show a new type of metallisation.
"At high temperatures, the atoms in iron oxide crystals are arranged with the same structure as common table salt," said Ronald Cohen, a co-author of the study. "Just like table salt, iron oxide at ambient conditions is a good insulator—it does not conduct electricity."
"Our new results show, instead, that iron oxide metallises without any change in structure and that combined temperature and pressure are required. Furthermore, our theory shows that the way the electrons behave to make it metallic is different from other materials that become metallic."
A mixture of magnesium and iron oxide makes up much of the Earth's mantle - the solid layer just outside the planet's liquid outer core. The fact that iron oxide behaves as a metal means it will electrically link the core and mantle, affecting the way the magnetic field makes its way to the Earth's surface and beyond.
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Graphene is the Emerging Wonder Material
In the New York Times blog Bits, reporter Nick Bilton talks about the unique properties of graphene, a nanomaterial that has lately gained lot of attention. It is one of the few materials in the world that is transparent, conductive and flexible, all at the same time, says the University of Manchester lecturer Aravind Vijayaraghavan. Utilizing these rare properties, researchers are developing thinner, faster and cheaper electronics, with the option of making them clear and flexible. Researchers at IBM, Nokia and SanDisk have been experimenting with the material to create sensors, transistors and memory storage.
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Solar Cells Overcome Efficiency Barrier
Incorporating proprietary heterojunction technology, along with back-contact solar cell structure for more efficient utilization of sunlight, Panasonic has enhanced the conversion efficiency of its crystalline silicon HIT solar cells. As a result, the company said that the conversion efficiency for practical-size cells broke the 25% barrier for the first time. Other factors contributing to this improvement in conversion efficiency were reductions in carrier recombination and optical losses, and minimization of resistance loss.
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Infra-red warning system alerts drivers of pedestrian danger
Cars could soon be better at warning drivers of upcoming pedestrians at night thanks to a new infra-red detection technology.
Spanish researchers have developed a system that analyses images from two thermal cameras to alert the driver of pedestrians in the path of the car or, in the case of self-driving vehicles, work out when to automatically come to a stop.
‘With the model being used in our research, pedestrians up to 40 meters away can be detected, although this distance could be extended if we substitute the lens with one that has greater focus range,’ said researcher Daniel Olmeda, from the Intelligent Systems Laboratory (LSI) at Charles III University of Madrid (UC3M).
The aim is to provide more information to the driver than they would be able to see with their own eyes using a process of pattern recognition.
‘In this situation, the sensitive cameras in the visible spectrum, which are already incorporated into some vehicles, can only be utilized in regions illuminated by the car’s headlights. But our system does not require any type of external lighting,’ said Olmeda.
‘The algorithm developed detects pedestrian presence according to certain silhouette features, because we have confirmed that the contour of objects in infrared images have congruent phase features that do not vary with temperature and contrasting.’
The researchers used a non-refrigerated microbolometer as the infrared sensor, which provided sufficient results at a lower price than other refrigerated sensors. They claim this type of device could be easily installed in a commercial vehicle as some cars already carry visible-light cameras.
‘Generalized implementation of this type of sensors is viable and its mass production would lower production costs,’ said Olmeda.
The researchers now want to study the best way to present the driver with the alert information without creating a dangerous distraction. ‘We are working to join external perceptions with internal ones so that the system knows if the driver has not seen something, and we only warn him about this obstacle,’ said LSI coordinator Prof Arturo de la Escalera.
The systems has been installed on the university’s test-bed car, the IVVI 2.0, which also incorporates other artificial vision systems that allow it detect other vehicles and highway lines, read traffic signals, alert the driver with a sound if he starts to fall asleep, and warn of any driving danger.
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Focusing on a New Technique
Biological specimens can be a real challenge to view under a microscope: the tissues can bend light in ways that cause distortion, making it difficult for scientists to get clear and definitive images. Now, a team of researchers has borrowed an adaptive optics technique that astronomers and ophthalmologists use to measure the distortion in the image and then modify the optics to cancel out that distortion.
New Technique Takes Cues from Astronomy and Ophthalmology to Sharpen Microscope Images
The complexity of biology can befuddle even the most sophisticated light microscopes. Biological samples bend light in unpredictable ways, returning difficult-to-interpret information to the microscope and distorting the resulting image. New imaging technology developed at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Farm Research Campus rapidly corrects for these distortions and sharpens high-resolution images over large volumes of tissue.
The approach, a form of adaptive optics, works in tissues that do not scatter light, making it well suited to imaging the transparent bodies of zebrafish and the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, important model organisms in biological research. Janelia group leader Eric Betzig says his team developed the new technology by combining adaptive optics strategies that astronomers and ophthalmologists use to cancel out similar distortions in their images.
This video shows an adaptive optics (AO) microscope operating in two-photon excitation (TPE) mode. Imaging shows a membrane-labeled subset of neurons in the brain of a living zebrafish embryo. Portions of the video show what one would see with adaptive optics (AO) and deconvolution turned on, and for comparison's sake, AO turned off. (Higher resolution video available on request.) Video credit: Courtesy of Eric Betzig Lab, HHMI Janelia Farm Research Campus
In a report published online on April 13, 2014, in the journal Nature Methods, Betzig, postdoctoral fellow Kai Wang, and their colleagues show how the technique brings into focus the fine, branching structures and subcellular organelles of nerve cells deep in the living brain of a zebrafish. These structures remain blurry and indistinct under the same microscope without adaptive optics. “The results are pretty eye-popping,” Betzig says. “This really takes the application of adaptive optics to microscopy to a completely different level.”
“Our technique is really robust, and you don't need anything special to apply our technology. [In the future] it could be a very convenient add-on component to commercially available microscopes,” says Wang, a postdoctoral researcher in Betzig's lab.
Over the last decade, Betzig and others have taken a cue from astronomers in using adaptive optics to correct for the light-bending heterogeneity of biological tissues.
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Astronomers apply adaptive optics by shining a laser high in the atmosphere in the same direction as an object they want to observe, Betzig explains. The light returning from this so-called guide star gets distorted as it travels through the turbulent atmosphere back to the telescope. Using a tool called a wavefront sensor, astronomers measure this distortion directly, then use the measurements to deform a telescope mirror to cancel out the atmospheric aberrations. The correction gives a much clearer view of the target object they want to observe.
A microscopy technique that Betzig developed in 2010 with Na Ji, who is now also a group leader at Janelia, achieves similar results by using an isolated fluorescent object such as a cell body or an embedded bead in the tissue as the “guide star.” This target is imaged many times from many different angles to determine the correction that should be applied. While this approach works even in scattering tissues such as the mouse brain -- where the new technique does not -- the process is slow and exposes a sample to a lot of potentially damaging light. To improve images of large samples where the aberration changes quickly with position, researchers needed to speed up the correction process.
Betzig and Wang focused on devising an adaptive optics strategy for new microscopy methods that image dynamic processes non-invasively and at high resolution. Such technologies – such as the Bessel beam plane illumination microscope that Betzig's team developed in 2011 and the simultaneous multiview light sheet microscope developed by Janelia lab head Philipp Keller in 2012 – perform well on cells or small embryos, but image quality degrades in larger samples.
Those microscopes are used exclusively to image transparent samples, narrowing the scope of the problem. Betzig and Wang needed a rapid, non-invasive way to correct for heterogeneities in the composition of cells and tissues, but because it would only be used on transparent tissue, they did not need to compensate for light-scattering.
"If you're in a regime where there is no scattering, then you can do exactly what the astronomers do,” Betzig says, explaining that because transparent tissue would not scramble the light waves returned from a guide star, they could detect and measure its wavefront directly.
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The team created a guide star by focusing light from the microscope into a glowing point within the sample. Using a technique called two-photon excitation, they could penetrate infrared light deep within the tissue and illuminate a specific point. The wavefront sensor would then determine how the light that returned from this guide star had warped as it passed through the tissue, so that the appropriate correction could be applied.
However, because biological tissue is so heterogeneous, the situation was more complicated. “In biology, unlike astronomy, the wavefront errors are really complex,” Betzig says. “As light from the guide star returns to the sensor, the wavefront gets much bumpier in microscopy than in astronomy. If you fix the guide star at a single point, that bumpiness confuses the sensor, so you don't get a good correction.” Furthermore, a correction that works at one point won't be effective at a spot elsewhere in the sample that bends light waves in a different way.
The solution to this problem, Betzig and Wang determined, is to scan the guide star over a small region of the sample, instead of parking it in one spot. For the sensor to interpret the information returned from this moving guide star, the light must be made stationary, or “descanned.” This is achieved by bouncing the light off the same mirrors that tilt to project the guide star to different points in the specimen. The resulting wavefront is used to generate an average correction over the scanned region.
Betzig explains that a similar strategy is incorporated into adaptive optics that corrects images of patients' retinas, which are distorted when light passes through the eye's cornea and lens. Measuring and correcting those aberrations is complicated by movements of patients' eyes, so ophthalmic imaging uses descan to average out motion-induced errors.
“We combined the descan concept from the ophthalmologists with the laser guide stars of the astronomers, and came up with what amounts to a really good solution for aberrating but non-scattering transparent samples, like the zebrafish,” Betzig says.
“We kept on pushing this technology, and it turns out it works,” says Wang. “When we compare the image quality before and after correction, it's very different. The corrected image tells a lot of information that biologists want to know.”
To image a large section of tissue, a microscope might generate and compile tens of thousands of images of smaller volumes, each requiring its own adaptive optics correction. So it is essential that those corrections are determined and applied quickly, Betzig says. The new technique handles the task well, updating its corrections in just 14 milliseconds. And when the microscope is used in its two-photon mode, the adaptive optics work automatically. “You don't have to slow down or do anything different,” Betzig says. “It's just happening in the background as you're running the microscope.”
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Imaging in the Infrared
The world's first laser-based infrared microscope combines a high-brightness, broadly tunable, mid-infrared quantum cascade laser source with an ultra-wide field of view, allowing scientists to observe micron-sized structures across a large area. The microscope also offers "live mode" capability, providing users with instantaneous imaging of individual spectral data to help identify the molecular and chemical components in complex samples.
Daylight Solutions, Inc., a manufacturer of molecular detection and imaging solutions in the mid-infrared, announced the launch of the world’s first commercially available laser-based infrared microscopy platform.
The microscope, called “Spero”, opens up a new world of research possibilities with chemical imaging and analysis on a real-time basis. Powered by Daylight’s broadly tunable Quantum Cascade Laser technology and designed specifically for analyzing biomedical and materials research samples, Spero offers a visibility, instantaneous results in “live mode,” and a small resource footprint to easily fit into any lab setting, the company reports.
By seamlessly incorporating a high-brightness, broadly tunable mid-infrared laser source, Spero provides unprecedented image resolution with an ultra-wide field of view, according to Daylight Solutions. This unique combination enables researchers to observe micron-scale features while also covering large areas very quickly for high throughput applications. The instrument operates in the feature-rich mid-infrared region and provides high-fidelity spectral data for the accurate identification of molecular and chemical components of complex, heterogeneous samples. Unlike current FTIR-based instruments, full-spectrum, high-resolution hyperspectral data cubes can be collected in just minutes and with the revolutionary “live mode” capability, users can observe samples with discrete frequency illumination, allowing real-time imaging of individual spectral features. All of these capabilities are combined in a compact, desktop form factor that requires no liquid nitrogen cooling.
Spero is powered by an easy-to-use spectral imaging software platform that enables both novice and expert users to quickly generate high-quality images and accurate spectral information. Intuitive scripting and automation features are included to allow customized workflows to meet individual user needs. By taking a refreshing user-centric and context-aware approach to software development, the full capabilities of the Spero microscope can be leveraged to accelerate research across a wide variety of chemical imaging applications.
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High Tech Spectrometry Promises Materials
Advances
One company has recently licensed a technique that combines spectrometry and atomic force microscopy, originally perfected at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, that can provide simultaneous chemical and physical characterization of samples. The technique shows promise for a variety of applications and industries, including drug development, life science imaging, and even the development of polymer composites and solar cells.
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Helicopter Trims Trees
To keep power lines free of tree branches, Jersey Central Power & Light is taking to the skies. The utility is using an aerial saw mounted to a helicopter to trim trees that are too hard to access by traditional crews.
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Making Solar Cells Last Longer
Like battery cells, the cells in solar panels tend to degrade and lose efficiency. But researchers from Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, Japan, think they've found what's causing that degradation in dye-sensitized cells, and how to stop it. Science Daily adds that the discovery could lead to a more ideal solar cell and cleaner, more efficient power generation worldwide.
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Micro and Macro Algae: promising market perspectives
Biomass value chain is a complex structure, made of a wide range of steps which determine the economic and its environmental sustainability: plantation, harvest, transport, refining, processing. The environmental impact calculation passes through aspects like soil utilization, biomass cropping systems, energy and carbon balance and final process efficiency. Each of these aspects is affected by limited operating condition and resources. Here comes the crucial role of Micro and Macro-Algae.
Macro Algae are aquatic plants which don’t affect the land use and do not need specific and expensive cultivation practices other than for harvesting. Microalgae are cultivated in photo-bioreactors(PBR), as well as in open ponds. These unicellular organisms can be cultivated in desertic soils, without any relevant impact on ecosystem. Furthermore, their photosynthetic efficiency (6%) is largely the highest among other biomasses (max 3-4%) and the CO2 absorption reaches 1,7 t CO2 per t of microalgae produced. The potential bio-oil production ranges from 3,800 up till 50,000 l/ha/year in the best climate conditions. However, it is well known that the algae cost remains too high to be competitive with woody biomass or oil crops, this mainly due to the high costs caused by cultivation energy consumption. Therefore, the cultivation practices have been more and more studied in the last years with the target of reducing energy consumption and operation costs. Research activities at national and European level developed new strategies and technologies which contributed to decrease the market cost pushing algae sector towards an industrial development at global level. Low cost material for PBR pipeline, low energy consumption harvesting and water agitating systems - Integration of microalgae reactors in large scale biorefineries (es: wastewater industry, biogas & pyrolisis plants, etc.) - utilization of algae oil for diversified much more added value products (biofertilizers, biochemicals, additives, ..) - new advanced technologies for synthesis of gaseous and liquid transportation biofuels.
EUBIA is currently engaging with algae market opportunities and the benefits related to their integration in other biobased industry sector. Currently EUBIA is actively working in two projects co-financed by the European Commission:
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Energetic Algae
Energetic Algae aims to reduce CO2 emissions and dependency on unsustainable energy sources in NWE, by accelerating the development and use of algal-based bioenergy and GHG mitigation technologies from pilot phase to application and marketable products, processes and services. This is achieved by bundling know-how, finance and political support. The planned actions address the IVB NWE Strategic Initiative fields of action 2A “Addressing challenges / barriers related to specific sustainable energy technologies” and 2B “Bringing forward innovative approaches to sustainable energy promotion and management”.
NWE currently generates most of its energy from fossil fuels, whereas EC legislation requires an increasing proportion of energy from renewable sources including biofuels (EC Directive 2009/28/EC). In compliance with this RES Directive, the European Industrial Initiative on Bioenergy aims to ensure at least 14% bioenergy in the EU energy mix by 2020, and to "guarantee GHG emission savings of 60%. These targets provide a clear incentive for NEW to devise an integrated strategy for bioenergy production and GHG mitigation. Intensive use of land throughout much of NWE imposes challenges on land available for bioenergy crops and on crop types. The territory’s diverse physical environments and infrastructures present a further challenge for a unified strategy. Algal biotechnologies provide an opportunity to address this, as algae do not compete for food crop resources, are capable of GHG mitigation and are adaptable to different environments. A network of pilot scale algal facilities serves to develop and exchange algal bioenergy best practices tailored to prevailing operating conditions in NWE. Inputs are obtained from policy makers, regulators, operators, NGOs and the public to develop a sectoral technology roadmap. An ICT decision support tool is implemented to guide the sustainable expansion of the algal bioenergy sector in NWE.
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Increasing the competitiveness of European non-energy algal sector by a novel solution for biomass production
The aim of the ALGADISK project is to develop a modular, scalable, and automatic biofilm reactor for Algae biomass production, with low operational and installation costs. The reactor will be designed to capture CO2 from industrial emissions to produce high value organic products. In this system, algae will be grown both in an aqueous environment and on biocompatible surfaces, allowing for CO2 absorption from either the gas or liquid phase. This method will dramatically increase the efficiency of the reactor, and decrease water requirements. Automatic and continuous harvesting of algae will be designed to optimize CO2 uptake and biomass production. Adjusting the scale of the system will be trivial, as ALGADISK will have a modular design, and the installation’s footprint will be considerably reduced compared to technologies currently on the market. Design software will be provided which, based on user input, will suggest installation parameters, perform a cost/benefit analysis to calculate economic feasibility, and make predictions concerning the environmental sustainability of the system. The proposed system will be specifically crafted to meet the needs of European SMEs who are willing to produce algae biomass products from industrial emissions.
Furthermore, the European Biomass Industry Association is investigating and working in new projects focused on microalgae cultivation and their application as high quality biomass for different market sectors:
- Biomethane-Microalgae production integration with mixed residues in anaerobic digestion plants,
- New technologies for biofuels(biodiesel and bioethanol) production from micro and macro algae,
- Micro and macro algae application for high value bio-fertilizer production
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Looking at Earthquakes in Three Dimensions
A new airborne radar surveillance technique called "interferometric synthetic aperture radar" detects ground deformations as small as 0.04 in. Scientists hope that the technique — in conjunction with a new 3D computer model they've developed — will help them better understand and even predict earthquakes. The model shows what an earthquake may look like through the eyes of an uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) equipped with the radar system.
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Conferenza internazionale sui Robot bio-inspired al Centro ENEA di Frascati
A “Bio-inspired Robotics”, la Conferenza internazionale in corso di svolgimento a Frascati, presso il Centro Ricerche ENEA, organizzata in collaborazione con IARP, International Advanced Robotics Programme, l’organismo intergovernativo per la collaborazione internazionale nella Robotica, sono riuniti i massimi esperti del settore provenienti da diversi paesi.
I robot bio-inspired sono così chiamati perché si ispirano alla natura, come ad esempio gli sciami di robot, che si muovono in gruppo, proprio come i banchi di pesci.
Anche l’ENEA, che è leader nelle tecnologie robotiche, è impegnata nella progettazione e realizzazione di robot bio-inspired, e in particolare di uno specifico robot sottomarino “VENUS”, che rappresenta l’elemento base di un sistema a sciame composto da più veicoli cooperanti e coordinati. Gli sciami di robot hanno la caratteristica di svolgere funzioni in parallelo e garantiscono il proseguimento delle attività anche se un’unità va persa, e offrono la possibilità di adempiere a compiti che non sarebbero possibili ad un singolo robot.
L’ENEA, che nell’ambito dello IARP è delegato per l’Italia, a partire dalla Conferenza di quest’anno, intende favorire la presentazione di lavori originali e innovativi da parte di giovani ricercatori in grado di esporre le loro pubblicazioni in un contesto scientifico internazionale, e promuovere la competitività della ricerca e dell’industria nazionale nel settore della robotica, settore in cui l’Italia occupa una posizione di alto livello sia sotto l’aspetto scientifico che sotto l’aspetto produttivo, con un elevato potenziale di sviluppo.
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Precision Bearings in Surgical Robotics
Medical research labs at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, University of Nebraska, UC Berkley and UCLA are benefiting from open-source Raven II surgical robots, designed to accelerate the field of robotic research.
Dynaroll was chosen to provide miniature bearings for the robotic systems, joints, and instruments because of their extensive experience in the field of surgical robotics.
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Superior fuel cell material developed
Using a mixture of gold, copper and platinum nanoparticles, IBN researchers have developed a more powerful and longer lasting fuel cell material. This breakthrough was published recently in the journal,Energy and Environmental Science.
Fuel cells are a promising technology for use as a source of electricity to power electronic devices, vehicles, military aircraft and equipment. A fuel cell converts the chemical energy from hydrogen (fuel) into electricity through a chemical reaction with oxygen. A fuel cell can produce electricity continuously as long as there is a fuel supply.
Current commercially available fuel cells use platinum nanoparticles as the catalyst to speed up the chemical reaction because platinum is the only metal that can resist the highly acidic conditions inside such a cell. However, the widespread use of fuel cells has been impeded by the high cost of platinum and its low stability.
To overcome this limitation, a team of researchers led by IBN Executive Director Professor Jackie Y. Ying has discovered that by replacing the central part of the catalyst with gold and copper alloy and leaving just the outer layer in platinum, the new hybrid material can provide 5 times higher activity and much greater stability than the commercial platinum catalyst. With further optimization, it would be possible to further increase the material's catalytic properties.
IBN's new nanocomposite material can produce at least 0.571 amperes of electric current per milligram of platinum, compared to 0.109 amperes per milligram of platinum for commercial platinum catalysts. This is also the first time that a catalyst has been shown to enhance both the stability and activity for the fuel cell reaction with a significantly reduced platinum content.
To make this catalyst more active than the commercial platinum catalyst, the researchers have designed the core of the nanocrsytalline material to be a gold-copper alloy, which has slightly smaller lattice spacing than the platinum coating on the nanocrystal's surface. This creates a compressive strain on the surface platinum atoms, making the platinum more active in the rate-limiting step of oxygen reduction reaction for the fuel cell. Replacing the core of the nanoparticle with the less expensive gold-copper alloy cuts down the usage of platinum, a highly expensive noble metal.
Professor Ying said, "A key research focus at IBN is to develop green energy technologies that can lead to greater efficiency and environmental sustainability. More active and less costly than conventional platinum catalysts, our new nanocomposite system has enabled us to significantly advance fuel cell development and make the technology more practical for industrial applications."
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Scientists discover new pathway for artificial photosynthesis
Humans have for ages taken cues from nature to build their own devices, but duplicating the steps in the complicated electronic dance of photosynthesis remains one of the biggest challenges and opportunities for chemists.
Currently, the most efficient methods we have for making fuel -- principally, hydrogen -- from sunlight and water involve rare and expensive metal catalysts, such as platinum. In a new study, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory have found a new, more efficient way to link a less expensive synthetic cobalt-containing catalyst to an organic light-sensitive molecule, called a chromophore.
Although cobalt is significantly less efficient than platinum when it comes to light-induced hydrogen generation, the drastic price difference between the two metals makes cobalt the obvious choice as the foundation for a synthetic catalyst, said Argonne chemist Karen Mulfort.
"Cobalt doesn't have to be as efficient as platinum because it is just so much cheaper," she said.
The Argonne study wasn't the first to look at cobalt as a potential catalytic material; however, the paper did identify a new mechanism by which to link the chromophore with the catalyst. Previous experiments with cobalt attempted to connect the chromophore directly with the cobalt atom within the larger compound, but this eventually caused the hydrogen generation process to break down.
Instead, the Argonne researchers connected the chromophore to part of a larger organic ring that surrounded the cobalt atom, which allowed the reaction to continue significantly longer.
"If we were to directly link the chromophore and the cobalt atom, many of the stimulated electrons quickly fall out of the excited state back into the ground state before the energy transfer can occur," Mulfort said. "By coupling the two materials in the way we've described, we can have much more confidence that the electrons are going to behave the way we want them to."
One additional advantage of working with a cobalt-based catalyst, in addition to its relatively low price and abundance, is the fact that scientists understand the atomic-level mechanisms at play.
"There's a lot of different ways in which we already know we can modify cobalt-based catalysts, which is important because we need to make our devices more robust," Mulfort said.
Future studies in this arena could involve nickel- and iron-based catalysts -- metals which are even more naturally abundant than cobalt, although they are not quite as effective natural catalysts. "We want to extrapolate from what we've gained by looking at this kind of linkage in respect to other catalysts," Mulfort said.
Mulfort and her Argonne colleagues used the high-intensity X-rays provided by the laboratory's Advanced Photon Source as well as precise spectroscopic techniques available at Argonne's Center for Nanoscale Materials.
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Secrets of the first practical artificial leaf
A detailed description of development of the first practical artificial leaf -- a milestone in the drive for sustainable energy that mimics the process, photosynthesis, that green plants use to convert water and sunlight into energy -- appears in the ACS journal Accounts of Chemical Research. The article notes that unlike earlier devices, which used costly ingredients, the new device is made from inexpensive materials and employs low-cost engineering and manufacturing processes.
Daniel G. Nocera points out that the artificial leaf responds to the vision of a famous Italian chemist who, in 1912, predicted that scientists one day would uncover the "guarded secret of plants." The most important of those, Nocera says, is the process that splits water into hydrogen and oxygen. The artificial leaf has a sunlight collector sandwiched between two films that generate oxygen and hydrogen gas. When dropped into a jar of water in the sunlight, it bubbles away, releasing hydrogen that can be used in fuel cells to make electricity. These self-contained units are attractive for making fuel for electricity in remote places and the developing world, but designs demonstrated thus far rely on metals like platinum and manufacturing processes that make them cost-prohibitive.
To make these devices more widely available, Nocera replaced the platinum catalyst that produces hydrogen gas with a less-expensive nickel-molybdenum-zinc compound. On the other side of the leaf, a cobalt film generates oxygen gas. Nocera notes that all of these materials are abundant on Earth, unlike the rare and expensive platinum, noble metal oxides and semiconducting materials others have used. "Considering that it is the 6 billion nonlegacy users that are driving the enormous increase in energy demand by midcentury, a research target of delivering solar energy to the poor with discoveries such as the artificial leaf provides global society its most direct path to a sustainable energy future," he says.
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Tumori, il vaccino del morbillo efficace per la cura del mieloma
Potrebbe esserci un nuovo futuro per il vaccino contro il morbillo in campo medico. Un gruppo di ricercatori della Mayo Clinic è stato in grado di mandare in remissione un tumore del sangue, il mieloma, somministrando alla paziente ammalata il vaccino contenente il virus del morbillo. È stato un piccolo test, dall’esito rivoluzionario, che darà il via a uno studio più approfondito.
E' un punto di riferimento. Sapevamo da molto tempo che siamo in grado di inoculare un virus per via endovenosa e distruggere il cancro metastatico nei topi. Nessuno ha però dimostrato prima d'ora che si può fare anche nelle persone.
Ha commentato Stephen Russell, a capo della sperimentazione. Durante la cura sperimentale alla donna, con un cancro in fase avanzata, è stato somministrato per via endovenosa il virus del morbillo. I virus si legano alle cellule tumorali e le usano per replicarsi. In questo processo, i virus distruggono le cellule tumorali e il sistema immunitario attacca il “materiale virale” (in questo caso il morbillo).
Questo primo test è importante non solo perché ha dimostrato la possibilità di sviluppare unaterapia, ma ha anche permesso di identificare una dose per ridurre il cancro: 100 miliardi diunità infettive al posto delle 10mila unità standard.
L’entusiasmo iniziale c’è ed è giusto che non si spenga, ma anzi che sia da stimolo per continuare a capire quale strada percorrere. È bene però tenere presente che gli ostacoli da superare sono ancora tanti: il sistema immunitario una volta che ha registrato il virus, lo combatte appena ne registra la presenza, senza dargli tempo di infettare le cellule tumorali. Ciò vuol dire che in questo momento è efficace una volta sola.
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ENEA e Marina Militare per la ricerca di coralli nel Mar Ligure
Il Centro Ricerche Ambiente Marino di La Spezia dell’ENEA e la Marina Militare collaborano da mesi per la ricerca dei coralli profondi che si trovano nel Mar Ligure orientale, effettuando esplorazioni nelle acque antistanti Monterosso al Mare. Le indagini morfologiche, iniziate nel novembre scorso con la Nave Magnaghi, sono state completate in questi giorni con la Nave Aretusa della Marina Militare, comandata dal Tenente di Vascello Filippo Campolo.
La Direttiva Europea Habitats (H1170 – “Reefs”) annovera i coralli profondi tra gli habitat vulnerabili e di conseguenza è necessaria la loro individuazione e mappatura.
La campagna si pone l’obiettivo acquisire dati di dettaglio del Canyon del Levante e di verificare la presenza di banchi di coralli tramite rilievi batimetrici di dettaglio. Per esaminare le morfologie e le forme di fondo presenti in un’area di circa 66 Km2, con profondità comprese tra 120 e 800 metri, i ricercatori hanno utilizzato tecnologie come l’ecoscandaglio multifascio.
Le attività di ricerca rappresentano il primo passo per una indagine a più vasto raggio finalizzata alla conoscenza e alla valorizzazione delle morfologie marine profonde del Mar Ligure orientale, ancora largamente inesplorate.
La Marina Militare è da sempre in prima linea per la tutela dell’ambiente e grazie alla naturale connotazione “dual use” delle sue navi, per uso militare e civile, e all’impegno con l’Istituto Idrografico, offre la propria collaborazione agli Enti nazionali di ricerca come l’ENEA, per concorrere all’esplorazione, alla conoscenza e alla tutela della biodiversità dell’ambiente marino.
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Miniature Monitor for Cardiac Care
The smallest implantable cardiac monitor to earn U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and the CE Mark stars in this video. Weighing less than 3 g, the leadless device from Medtronic is inserted via a tiny incision for continuous subcutaneous ECG monitoring. Recorded data are wirelessly transmitted to a patient monitor, reports FierceMedicalDevices.
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Cells Get a Health Checkup
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have found a new way to accurately measure a living cell's internal redox (reduction-oxidation) potential. Redox reactions are important to cell chemistry because they regulate many genes and the proteins they produce. Measuring redox potential can provide insight into how well these genes are working. A major tool in this work: use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to image individual molecules.
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Quantum Computer Moves Step Closer to Reality
A functional quantum computer is one of the holy grails of physics and electronics. Unlike conventional digital computers, the quantum version uses quantum bits or qubits. Consequently, it is predicted to be more powerful than today's supercomputers. A group of UC Santa Barbara physicists have moved one step closer to making a quantum computer a reality by demonstrating a new level of reliability in a five-qubit array. Their findings were published in the journal Nature.
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Killer robots': Are they really inevitable?
The robot tank is moving rapidly through the scrub on its caterpillar tracks. It comes to a sudden halt and its machine gun opens fire with devastating accuracy.
It may seem like science fiction but is actually a scene from a video featuring a robot being tested by the US Army.
It is just one example of how yesterday's sci-fi has become today's battlefield fact.
This miniature tank, only one metre long and made by Qinetiq North America, is one of a host of unmanned air, sea and land vehicles that are being used by militaries across the globe.
More than 90 countries now operate such systems, and it is an industry which will be worth $98bn (£58bn) between 2014-23, says research company IHS.
"The USA remains the prime market and a main driver," says IHS's Derrick Maple.
"But many countries are building up their indigenous unmanned system capabilities."
Qinetiq's roaming robots are designed to aid soldiers in reconnaissance or surveillance, or to go into heavily booby-trapped areas where it might be too risky to send in troops.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
An enemy tank and a friendly tank might look pretty similar to a machine”
Paul ScharreCentre for a New American Security
Kitted out with either a grenade launcher or a machine gun, the firm's latest version MAARS - Modular Advanced Armed Robotic System - is certainly lethal, but independent it is not.
It relies on a soldier controlling it remotely, and only operates up to distances of about 800m (2,600ft).
However, many critics worry that marrying advances like these in robotics and miniaturisation, with developments in artificial intelligence (AI) could lead, if not to the Terminator, then perhaps to its crude precursor.
Others argue that such AI developments would take many decades, and that for the foreseeable future there will need to be a "human in the loop", overseeing such systems.
'Fire and forget'
Yet already, a few autonomous weapons are in use which themselves decide whether or not to attack a target.
Take Israel's Harpy drone, for instance.
IAI's Harpy drone makes it own decisions whether to attack an enemy radar.
This is what its manufacturers, IAI, call a "fire and forget" autonomous weapon - or a "loitering munition" in military jargon.
Once launched from a vehicle behind the battle zone, Harpy - effectively a guided missile with wings - loiters over an area until it finds a suitable target, in this case enemy radars.
Crucially, once a radar is detected it is the drone itself that decides whether or not to attack.
True, Harpy is only launched if its operators suspect there will be enemy radars to be attacked, but automation like this is likely to become more common.
Yet the real obstacle to the more widespread use of what some call "killer robots" is getting them to tell friend from foe.
"A tank doesn't look that much like a pick-up truck", says defence expert Paul Scharre, from the Centre for a New American Security.
"But an enemy tank and a friendly tank might look pretty similar to a machine.
"Militaries are not going to want to deploy something on the battlefield that might accidentally go against their own forces."
It is a point echoed by General Larry James, the US Air Force's deputy chief of staff for intelligence.
"We are years and years away, if not decades, from having confidence in an artificial intelligence system that can do discrimination and make those decisions."
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Fusion Reactor to Provide Fuel-free Power?
England already has what many call the world's best performing fusion reactor — the Joint European Torus — which holds the world record for fusion reactor efficiency. Now the reactor's at the center of an experiment to try and surpass the break-even point, meaning more energy will be released from the fuel than was put in to make the reaction start. If it's successful, fusion reactors could hit the "holy grail" of power generation: self-sustaining fusion. A breakthrough like that would revolutionize the power industry as we know it, says Extreme Tech.
The UK will be the first to break even with fusion power, leading us towards a future of clean, infinite energy.
The world’s best fusion reactor, situated in the heart of the merry,Hobbit-inspiring motherland of Oxfordshire in England, will soon attempt to become the first fusion power experiment to surpass the mythical “break-even” point. This experiment, known as the Joint European Torus (JET), has held the world record for fusion reactor efficiency since 1997 despite the USA’s recent laser-based fusion experiments at the National Ignition Facility. If JET can reach break-even point, there’s a very good chance that the massive ITER reactor currently being built in France will be able to obtain the holy grail of everlasting green power generation: self-sustaining fusion.
Way back in 1970, the European Community (a precursor to the European Union) decided that fusion power should be taken seriously. In 1977, after lots of planning, construction of the JET began at a former Royal Navy airfield near Culham in Oxfordshire. Rather uniquely for an advanced science experiment, JET was actually finished on schedule in 1983, and was officially opened in 1984 by fair old Blighty’s Supreme Leader Queen Elizabeth II. In 1997, 16 megawatts of fusion power was produced from an input power of 24 megawatts, for a fusion energy gain factor (usually expressed by the symbol Q) of around 0.7. No other fusion reactor, including the National Ignition Facility in California, has come close. (The NIF is hampered by the fact that its its ignition method — 500 terrawatts of laser power — is incredibly inefficient.)
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While JET itself is a fairly low-power experiment (38 megawatts), it’s still very exciting because it’s essentially a small-scale prototype of the massive (500 megawatts) ITER fusion reactor being built in France that will (hopefully) fuse deuterium-tritium (D-T) fuel by 2027. Over the last few years, JET has been upgraded with the ITER-Like Wall (yes, that’s its scientific name) — basically a wall of solid beryllium that can withstand being bombarded by ultra-high-energy neutrons and temperatures in excess of 200 million degrees.
Another fusion chamber, this time the NSTX at Princeton.
With this new wall in place, the scientists at JET think they’re ready to throw some D-T fuel into the tokamak, pump up the magnetic field, and pray that more energy is released from the fuel than was put in to start the reaction. The key to sustained fusion is keeping the plasma hot and focused — and a big part of that is using a wall that bounces the hot neutrons back into the reaction, rather than letting them escape and thus losing energy and heat to the environment.
After years of working with just deuterium, JET is now ready to use a deuterium-tritium fuel mix that will burn a lot hotter and have a better chance of reaching break-even. When ITER comes online in the 2020s, it will use a D-T fuel mix. Speaking to the BBC, JET director Steve Cowley said, “We hope in the next runs of Jet that we’ll approach a [fusion energy gain] of one.” (Q = 1). For self-sustaining fusion that can be harnessed for energy production, though, we need to reach a Q of 20 or more — we need a confinement method (magnets, walls) that is so good that very little external energy is required to keep the fusion reaction going. ITER is aiming for a Q of 5 or 10 — and if it proves to be successful, say in 2030 or so, then maybe we’ll finally be ready to produce a real fusion power plant.
Here’s hoping JET reaches break-even! I sure would like it if fusion became a reality, rather than continuing to hope that cold fusion isn’t some kind of parlor trick…
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Floating Nukes
Earthquakes and other natural disasters present a constant threat to nuclear power plants, not to mention public complaints about land use. Now a team of MIT engineers has announced a possible solution: ocean-based nuclear power plants. Located several miles offshore, the plants could use seawater as coolant.
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Google 'poised to produce 3D imaging tablet'
A tablet computer capable of taking 3D images is set to be put into production by Google, according to reports.
The Wall Street Journal quoted sources close to the company as saying a run of 4,000 devices will be manufactured next month.
The tablet will have two rear-facing cameras and advanced imaging software - and will be shown off at the firm's forthcoming developers' conference.
Google has said it will not comment on "rumour and speculation".
But in March, Google showed off Project Tango, an effort to bring 3D technology to its handheld devices. A prototype smartphone had been given out to 200 developers to try out.
The technology makes use of infrared sensors to measure depth of surroundings.
While the ability to create 3D images with small devices is by no means a new technological feat, Google's strategy will be to harness the hardware to contribute to, among other things, its mapping effort.
For instance, the devices could be used to create quickly a 3D map of indoor environments.
Virtual reality race
According to the Wall Street Journal, the 3D tablet will be shown off at Google's annual developers' conference at the end of June.
As it did with the Google Glass eyewear product, it is expected the firm will allow a select number of developers and engineers to experiment with the technology before a consumer launch is planned.
Although still a relatively minor industry, the race to create the "killer app" for building and viewing virtual reality environments is building apace.
In March, Facebook swooped in on a $2bn (£1.2bn) deal for Oculus VR, a company making a virtual reality headset.
A mini-site for Project Tango has highlighted a few of the firm's plansin the area.
"Project Tango is an attempt to create a mobile device unlike like any other," the site explains.
"A mobile device that shares our sense of space and movement, that understands and perceives the world the same way we do."
In the past few years, devices able to view and create 3D images have made it to market, but suffered heavily from a lack of consumer interest, said Jack Kent, an analyst at IHS.
"If Google really pushes it, that might change the dynamics of the market," he told the BBC.
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Transmitting Power Without Wires
Could scientists be on the verge of creating a system for distributing power without wires? The Mind Unleashed reports that researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology created a Dipole Coil Resonant System, which can transmit power wirelessly to a distance of 5 m.
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Can a Kite Power a Village?
Those of us in the developed world often take electricity for granted and don’t realize how hard it is to get power in remote villages. Without access to the power grid, these villages have to use diesel or petroleum to run generators, so they only have power when they can get fuel.
Windlift used NI technology to develop a renewable, portable power alternative. The company’s airborne wind energy (AWE) technology uses a flexible airfoil to capture power from the wind. This foil replaces the blades and tower found on traditional wind turbines. Compared to these heavy parts, the foil is very lightweight so it doesn’t require a reinforced concrete foundation. Instead, the foil is tied to a trailer.
A ground station on the trailer converts the lift generated by the fabric foil into electrical power. Tethers unspool from the trailer as the wind blows—like a kite. When the foil reaches the end of the tether, it is rewound and then unspooled again, over and over. Each repetition of the process creates up to 12 kilowatts of net energy.
Various motors in the ground station interface with an NI CompactRIO embedded system. The CompactRIO also controls sensors that monitor the position of the airfoil, the tension of the tethers, and the flow of power. In the future, CompactRIO could even replace the user in an automated system!
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Robots for Space Surgery
Someday, the belly button might be the route to salvation for a suffering astronaut. For future spaceflights, a Nebraska firm has developed a miniature surgery robot designed to slip into the body through a small incision in the belly button. Once there, DC motors power arms that can go to work on an inflamed appendix or diseased organ.
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A Leap Forward in Automation Tech
In the past, it was dragonflies, birds, jellyfish, and penguins. And now, add kangaroos to the list of living creatures being mimicked in an effort to adapt nature's energy-efficient principles to automation technology. The new BionicKangaroo jumps like the real thing, thanks in part to several electric servo motors. Design News explains the technology and shows the lifelike result.
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"TyGRe", il prototipo di ENEA per il recupero dei pneumatici.
Presso il Centro ENEA Trisaia e' in funzione TyGRe, un impianto prototipo che permette di sperimentare un processo innovativo di recupero dei pneumatici fuori uso (PFU). Si tratta di un impianto in grado di trattare 20 chilogrammi all'ora di pneumatici a fine vita, che costituiscono dei rifiuti ingombranti ed inquinanti, da cui ricavare energia e materiali ad alto valore aggiunto. L'impianto e' stato realizzato nell'ambito del progetto europeo TyGRe, coordinato da ENEA. Ogni anno nel mondo quasi 1 miliardo di pneumatici vengono dismessi e la quantita' e' in costante crescita; solo nell'UE sono circa 350 milioni. Da questo processo si ottengono due prodotti principali: un gas ricco in idrogeno, metano e monossido e biossido di carbonio, utilizzabile per scopi energetici; il carburo di silicio, un materiale ceramico di elevato valore commerciale che trova un ampio impiego in diversi settori industriali, superando i limiti costituiti dall'elevato costo delle materie prime e dei processi di sintesi. Le applicazioni riguardano principalmente i seguenti settori: l'elettronica (dispositivi ad alta potenza, alta frequenza e alte temperature), l'aerospaziale (schermatura termica), l'automobilistico (sistemi frenanti) e il siderurgico (fabbricazione acciaio).
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A biodegradable plastic made from waste methane
What if we could make the Great Pacific Garbage Patch just disappear? What if plastics didn't accumulate in our landfills? What if we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions while replacing up to 30 percent of the world's plastics with a biodegradable substitute?
Researchers have tried for decades to achieve these goals. One approach being taken is the development of an efficient production process for poly-hydroxyalkanoate (PHA)—a biodegradable polymer similar to the polypropylene used to make yogurt containers.
Scientists at Stanford University and a Palo Alto, Calif.-based start-up company called Mango Materials have come up with a new way to make PHA from waste methane gas. And, with funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF), Mango Materials is advancing the process toward commercialization.
PHA is a biodegradable polyester that is produced naturally inside some bacteria under conditions of excess carbon and limited nutrient availability. Processes being developed to make PHA at a commercial scale typically involve bacteria strains that have been genetically modified to boost production and corn-based sugar as the carbon source.
The microorganisms feed on plant-derived sugars and produce PHA. The PHA is then separated from the bacteria and made into pellets that can be molded into plastic products. This approach has several shortcomings: It requires use of agricultural land and other inputs to produce feedstock, and it competes with the food supply.
Mango Materials' process uses bacteria grown in fermenters to transform methane and oxygen, along with added nutrients (to supply excess carbon), into PHA. Eventually, the PHA-rich bacteria—now literally swollen with PHA granules—are removed from the fermenters, and the valuable polymer is separated via proprietary techniques from the rest of the cell mass. The PHA is then rinsed, cleaned, and dried as needed.
After the products made of the PHA have reached the end of their useful life, the plastic can be degraded anaerobically (without air)—to produce methane gas. This closes the loop and provides a fresh feedstock for PHA production. Because PHA's properties can be tweaked by varying the copolymer content or with additives, Mango Materials has identified a range of applications.
"We are currently focused on applications where biodegradability is key," says Molly Morse, CEO at Mango Materials. "However, we're open to all sorts of applications and are eager to bring PHA bioplastics to market."
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This unique approach addresses challenges that have derailed previous attempts at PHA commercialization. Other processes use sugar as a carbon feedstock, whereas Mango Materials uses waste methane—which is considerably less expensive than sugar.
"By using methane gas as the feedstock, we can significantly drive down costs of production," Morse says.
In addition, the process relies on a mixed community of wild bacteria that are obtained through natural selection rather than genetic engineering. Using wild bacteria that are not genetically altered alleviates concerns of some toward genetically modified organisms. And, the use of a mixed community of wild bacteria reduces production costs because it eliminates the need to sterilize equipment.
"This stands in contrast to the processes many biotech companies use that require high-purity, genetically engineered cultures," says Allison Pieja, director of technology at Mango Materials.
As an added environmental benefit, the process sequesters methane, a potent greenhouse gas, and provides an economic incentive for methane capture at facilities such as landfills, wastewater treatment plants and dairy farms. The unused, vented methane from California landfills (based on 2010 data from the Methane to Markets Partnership)—if used as PHA feedstock—would yield more than 100 million pounds per year of plastic. (This estimate is based on Mango Materials' internal calculations using its own rates and yields).
Mango Materials has vetted this technology and achieved excellent yields at the lab scale. Field studies have shown that the methane-consuming cultures grow just as well on waste biogas, which includes contaminants such as sulfides, as on pure methane. Now, the company is setting out to achieve the same yields at a commercial scale. Mango Materials standard commercial plants will be sized to handle the methane produced at an average wastewater treatment plant—enough to produce more than 2 million pounds per year of PHA.
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Enhanced photosynthesis is crucial for improving bioplastic yields from cyanobacteria
Traditional petrochemical plastics are made from non-renewable fossil fuels and cannot be readily assimilated back into the environment at the end of their useful life. Thus, there is considerable interest in replacing petrochemical plastics with biodegradable alternatives that are derived from more sustainable resources. Unfortunately, efforts to produce plastics by more sustainable means have yet to yield economically viable alternatives.
Minami Matsui, Nyok-Sean Lau and colleagues from the Synthetic Genomics Research Team at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science have now led research that has significantly advanced the potential of bacterial fermentation-based plastics.
Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are linear polyesters produced by bacterial fermentation of sugars or lipids. However, cultivation of the heterotrophic bacteria used so far to produce PHAs requires expensive organic substrates as a carbon source. An alternative approach is to use photosynthetic organisms, such as cyanobacteria, which extract carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide and have minimal nutrient requirements. Yet this approach has also been stymied by low conversion rates and an inadequate understanding of the factors that promote PHA accumulation.
In collaboration with Kumar Sudesh from Universiti Sains Malaysia, the research team produced a genetically modified variant of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain 6803 that produced PHA levels as high as 14 per cent of the cellular biomass—a record for cells grown without an external carbon source (Fig. 1). In the modified strain, the first enzyme involved in PHA production is replaced with another enzyme, acetoacetyl-CoA synthase from Streptomyces sp. CL190.
The team then compared the gene expression in their PHA overproducer with its unmodified counterpart. "The PHA-overproducing line actually expressed lower levels of most of the other genes directly involved in PHA synthesis," explains Matsui. Instead, the most striking set of genes that were expressed at higher levels in the modified line were in fact those encoding a wide range of components of the photosynthetic apparatus.
The findings suggest that increased expression of genes involved in various aspects of photosynthesis reflects an enhancement of the cyanobacterial capacity for carbon fixation to accommodate the increased diversion of carbon to PHA formation.
"Enhancing carbon fixation in cyanobacteria by manipulating the proteins involved in the process seems like the most obvious next frontier for the sustainable production of bioplastics, biofuels and other chemicals," says Matsui. "Cyanobacteria are ideally suited to showing that this is possible. And if we can achieve this with cyanobacteria, it is likely that the same or a similar approach might work in higher plants."
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Multijunction Solar Cells Break Efficiency Records by Harvesting the Full Spectrum of Light
Engineers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a new type of solar cell that uses multiple junctions instead of single subcells to gather the full spectrum of light. The panels are able to capture different wavelengths of sunlight, so they can achieve power conversion efficiencies of 44% as compared to the 29% of standard panels.
The solar cell project is headed by Professor John Rogers, who worked in collaboration withSemprius and Solar Junction. The team was able to use a printing technique to lay extremely small and thin layers of semiconductor elements on top of one another. The high-speed process yields quadruple junction, four terminal solar cells that can harvest a greater diversity of sunlight. Semprius incorporated the invention into their dual-stage optics, which are able to concentrate incident light more than one thousand times. Semiconductor materials were used for the top three layers, while germanium comprised the bottom.
Related: Sharp Sets Solar Cell Efficiency Record of 43.5%
The solar panels’ lattice-like composition requires the junctions to be matched exactly. As the number of junctions increase, the precision becomes more difficult to obtain. Rogers and his team have created methods that help avoid interface reflections, poor heat flow, and thermomechanical stress. As they progress, the group expects to manufacture cells with five or six junctions, making them even more powerful.
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A “Roma Drone Expo&Show” l’ENEA presenta due prototipi dimostrativi con innovativi motori a biocarburanti
Sono due innovative miscele a biodiesel e a bioetanolo ad alimentare i prototipi dimostrativi ENEA presentati a “Roma Drone Expo&Show”, il primo “salone aeronautico” sui droni in Italia, in programma il 24 e il 25 maggio.
Le sperimentazioni sono state messe a punto nell’ambito delle attività di ricerca dell’ENEA nel settore dei biocombustibili: i biocombustibili – soprattutto quelli di seconda generazione che possono essere miscelati con quelli di derivazione fossile- possono trovare utile campo d’applicazione anche nel settore aeronautico, responsabile di significative emissioni ad effetto serra.
Il primo drone utilizza un motore diesel alimentato con miscela ad elevato contenuto di biodiesel, ricavato da oli alimentari esausti, il secondo utilizza una miscela ad elevato contenuto di bioetanolo ottenuto dal trattamento di biomasse.
Si tratta di veicoli radiocontrollati, chiamati anche APR, aeromobili a pilotaggio remoto, a basso costo, sui quali vengono montati sensori, utilizzati per il monitoraggio a distanza dell’ambiente e del territorio: per esempio per avere informazioni di dettaglio sui danni subiti da strutture edilizie a causa di terremoti o altri eventi naturali, per rilievi di tipo archeologico e storico, per il controllo di agenti inquinanti e preziosi in tutti i casi in cui è necessario non esporre a rischio esseri umani.
“Questa sperimentazione –commenta Valter Di Gioia, ricercatore ENEA- nasce dalla collaborazione di diversi gruppi di ricerca multidisciplinari operanti in ENEA: infatti hanno partecipato alle attività, oltre che esperti di biocarburanti, ricercatori competenti in materia di monitoraggio ambientale, di osservazione aerospaziale e di robotica ”.
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Brevettato impianto per la gassificazione di biomasse per la produzione di energia termolettrica e biocombustibili
Nell’ambito della collaborazione industriale tra ENEA e l’azienda Varat, è nata una proposta progettuale per utilizzare biomasse lignocellulosiche eterogenee provenienti da potature per alimentare un processo di gassificazione altrimenti compromesso da shock termici e meccanici, dovuti alle repentine variazioni di temperatura di processo, e dalla scarsa qualità del syngas prodotto.
Il brevetto depositato riguarda un impianto che prevede un processo di pretrattamento della biomassa al fine di selezionarne una omogenea mediante una vagliatura grossolana di biomassa di alta qualità BHQ (Biomass high quality) da quella di bassa qualità BLQ (Biomass low quality).
La BLQ si ottiene da un’ossidazione parziale che viene trasformata in carbone omogeneo e funge da “transfer energetico” necessario per la gassificazione indiretta della biomassa HQ (high quality), prima di trovare valorizzazione energetica nella gassificazione diretta.
In tal modo si ottiene un duplice vantaggio: la produzione di energia elettrica e termica proveniente dalla gassificazione diretta della biomassa LQ e la produzione di un gas di sintesi a elevato tenore di idrogeno ottenuto dalla gassificazione indiretta della biomassa HQ. Il gas ottenuto può essere utilizzato nelle sintesi dei processi chimici, al fine di produrre biocombustibili liquidi o gassosi quali metanolo e eteri, che possono essere sintetizzati a partire dal syngas HQ e utilizzati come additivi per benzine, biodiesel di sintesi o ancora combustibili gassosi quali il gas naturale sintetico GNS.
L’impianto di gassificazione può trovare collocazione industriale non solo come impianto di facile gestione per la produzione di energia elettrica, ma anche come una piattaforma bioenergetica che possa fare da esempio e volano economico per le aziende che operano nel campo delle bioenergie.
Inventori del brevetto sono: Antonio Molino, Giovanni Santilli, Nadia Cerone, Maria Concetta Sorano, Luca Contuzzi, Sergio Senatore eDonato Sabatella.
Il brevetto, depositato l’8 maggio 2014 con numero RM2014A000233, è disponibile nella banca dati brevetti ENEA dal 13 maggio ed è disponibile per illicensing.
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L’aereo a energia solare che farà il giro del mondo
Il velivolo svizzero Solar Impulse 2 alimentato unicamente con l'energia solare ha effettuato il primo volo di prova sulla base aerea di Payerne. L'obiettivo è effettuare l'intero giro del mondo a marzo 2015, come ha spiegato uno dei piloti del Solar Impulse, l'astronauta svizzero Bertrand Piccard. «Si tratta di un progetto sperimentale e tutto è nuovo, da scoprire. Ci misuriamo costantemente con l'ignoto come abbiamo fatto oggi testando per la prima volta tutti i componenti dell'aereo che farà il giro del mondo». Realizzato dal gruppo Dessault, Solar Impulse 2 ha un'apertura alare di 72 metri, superiore a quella di un Boeing 747, pesa 2.500 kg. Ha ben quattro motori elettrici, alimentati da oltre 17mila celle solari con batterie sufficientemente capienti da permettere il volo anche durante la notte, con un'autonomia teoricamente illimitata. Anche se l'obiettivo più realistico è quello di garantire almeno 5 giorni consecutivi di volo, il tempo necessario per attraversare gli oceani Pacifico e Atlantico.
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L’applicazione del procedimento del brevetto è molto indicato per la seguente applicazione.
Bio-sciences Software
LI-COR's Image Studio 4.0 software is on the C-DiGit blot scanner. Used in molecular biology and immunogenetics, the analytical technique detects specific proteins in samples of tissue homogenate or extract on Western blots for medical diagnostic applications. Used together, the scanner and software allow researchers to get film-quality analysis results without the cost or processing requirements of film.
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London's Solar Bridge
London is now the stop for the biggest solar bridge in the world. Blackfriar's Bridge which spans the Thames, is outfitted with more than 4,400 photovoltaic panels, providing half the sustainable power required to operate the nearby Blackfriar's train station. The fixed panels are also said to reduce CO2 emissions by more 560 tons per year.
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The Great Tidal Wall of China
While lagging behind other regions in marine energy development, China is now attracting investments by U.S. and European energy companies. IEEE Spectrum cites plans for a $30 billion tidal wall built perpendicular to the coast. Low-head, bidirectional turbines are the centerpiece of this Dutch-Chinese venture, one of several projects underway or under consideration.
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Spectroscopy Targets Food Crime
Smarting from the UK's horsemeat-sold-as-beef scandal that rocked consumer trust, the food industry is turning to spectroscopy as a major defense against contamination and outright food crime. As noted in this Lab Equipment article, attendees at this year's Pittcon exposition saw a clear emphasis on systems designed to quickly identify adulterated foods. Example: AB SCIEX of Massachusetts has partnered with Germany's University of Munster to develop a rapid LCMS/MS method for detecting pig and horse contamination, based on identifying animal-specific biomarker peptides. Read on for news from other vendors on compact, portable solutions to ensure food safety.
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On the Horizon: Solar Power from Orbit
Japan appears to be ramping up its solar energy plans in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has prepared a roadmap for a 1 GW space-based commercial solar power system by the 2030s. Research requirements and feasible concepts summarized in IEEE Spectrum include development of untethered mirrors to direct radiation onto geosynchronous orbital PV panels, and microwave transmission to a receiving station.
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Standing Up to Superbugs
MRSA bacteria are the scourge of hospitals, resisting many traditional antibiotics. Now, University of South Carolina biochemists have discovered a class of agents that could defeat some of the most notorious strains. By attaching a metallopolymer agent to an antibiotic, the team succeeded in evading MRSA's defensive enzymes and destroyed its protective walls. The discovery, as detailed in this journal article, could lead to a new platform to design better antimicrobial agents.
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New Path to Healing: KOD
KOD, a synthetic collagen developed at Rice University's BioScience Research Collaborative, offers promise as a new healing agent by directing the natural clotting of blood. Laboratory tests showed how KOD hydrogel traps red blood cells to stop bleeding and, unlike commercial barriers, binds and activates platelets that form clots to promote healing Synthetics avoid the immune problems associated with using collagen from cows. Key potential application: staunching surgical bleeding.
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Probe Enhances AFM Measurements
A new probe for atomic force microscopes (AFM) could substantially improve measurements for scientists studying biomolecules, such as proteins and DNA. Developed by the Colorado-based JILA institute, the flexible, reusable probe enables state-of-the-art precision and stability in picoscale force measurements. To measure forces at the molecular scale in a liquid, the cantilever-shaped probe attaches its tip to a molecule and pulls. The resulting deflection of the cantilever is then measured.
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Solar Cell by Day, Light Source by Night
A new material developed by researchers at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) can convert light to electricity and emit light as well. This new hybrid Perovskite solar cell material was discovered almost by chance when NTU physicist Sum Tze Chien asked his postdoctoral researcher Xing Guichuan to shine a laser on a material they were developing.
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Presentate a Bucarest le conclusioni del progetto europeo M2RES
A conclusione del Progetto europeo M2RES – “From Marginal to Renewable Energy Source Sites”, cofinanziato dall’Unione Europea attraverso il programma South East Europe e coordinato dall’ENEA, si è svolta a Bucarest la conferenza internazionale “Strategie per lo sviluppo di fonti energetiche rinnovabili in aree marginali”. Il progetto ha visto la partecipazione di partner provenienti da sette Paesi dell’Unione Europea (Italia, Slovenia, Grecia, Romania, Bulgaria, Ungheria e Austria) e da Serbia, Albania e Montenegro. La conferenza ha presentato gli strumenti, le buone pratiche e i casi pilota realizzati e evidenziato le opportunità di sviluppo dell’esperienza M2RES nel contesto dei Programmi di Cooperazione Transnazionale 2014 – 2020.
Obiettivo di M2RES è la valorizzazione di terreni marginali, come insediamenti industriali dismessi, cave abbandonate, ex-aree militari, discariche di rifiuti, tramite investimenti mirati alla produzione di energie rinnovabili. In tal modo, attraverso partnership tra soggetti pubblici e privati, porzioni inutilizzate di territorio possono essere oggetto di un’opera di riqualificazione in grado di generare un ritorno economico e sociale a beneficio delle comunità locali.
In Italia, a livello dimostrativo, il progetto è stato sviluppato in Emilia-Romagna e in Veneto dove sono stati messi a punto una serie di studi di fattibilità, casi pilota, linee guida e strumenti operativi a supporto della pianificazione territoriale e energetica. E’ già on line un sito web-GIS, realizzato in collaborazione con il Servizio Geologico della Regione Emilia-Romagna, in grado di mappare e qualificare le aree marginali con una serie di dati che includono sia i vincoli normativi, geologici e ambientali che le potenzialità produttive di ciascun sito.
ENEA e Unioncamere Veneto, partner italiani di M2RES, sono attualmente impegnati a valorizzare i risultati del progetto, anche attraverso la proficua collaborazione con le Amministrazioni Regionali interessate, e a individuare gli strumenti per diffondere tali iniziative anche in altre regioni. Maggiori informazioni sul Progetto sono reperibili sul sito http://www.m2res.eu/.
Alla conferenza hanno preso parte rappresentanti dell’ENEA, del programma South East Europe e dei nuovi programmi di cooperazione Adriatico-Ionico e Danubiano. Amministratori provenienti da Italia, Romania, Grecia e Austria hanno illustrato come il progetto M2RES abbia permesso a diverse comunità territoriali di avviare realizzazioni nel campo delle energie rinnovabili. Inoltre i delegati dei ministeri romeni di Esteri, Economia e Ambiente hanno sostenuto l’approccio adottato da M2RES, basato sulla tutela dell’ambiente, sulla promozione delle rinnovabili e sul ritorno economico per le Amministrazioni Locali. In occasione della conferenza è stato presentato il volume “Transforming Marginalities into RES Opportunities: Experiences and Lessons Learnt.
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Optical Surface Metrology System Leica DCM8
Leica DCM8 is the latest evolution in non-contact 3D optical surface metrology. Designed to help you maximize efficiency, it unites the advantages of High Definition confocal microscopywith interferometry into one versatile, dual-core system. Ultra-fast analysis is ensured thanks to one-click mode selection, sophisticated software and HD confocal scanning without moving parts.
Fully adaptable to your sample, the system can be configured with a wide range of Leica objectives, motorized stages and columns. To meet your documentation needs the system includes a HD CCD camera and 4 LED light sources (RGB and white), delivering impressive realistic color imaging.
Whether you are working in production or research, the Leica DCM8 delivers the accurate, repeatable metrological analysis results you need in order to optimize material performance.
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NOSES, MADE IN BRITAIN: UK TOUTS LAB-GROWN ORGANS
In a north London hospital, scientists are growing noses, ears and blood vessels in a bold attempt to make body parts in the laboratory.
It's far from the only lab in the world that is pursuing the futuristic idea of growing organs for transplant. But the London work was showcased Tuesday as Mayor Boris Johnson announced a plan to attract more labs to do cutting-edge health and science research in the area.
While only a handful of patients have received the British lab-made organs so far— including tear ducts, blood vessels and windpipes — researchers hope they will soon be able to transplant more types of body parts into patients, including what would be the world's first nose made partly from stem cells.
"It's like making a cake," said Alexander Seifalian at University College London, the scientist leading the effort. "We just use a different kind of oven."
British authorities have invested nearly 4 million pounds ($6.7 million) in the plan to stimulate research in the London-Oxford-Cambridge area. It aims to attract companies to the area to foster collaboration and promote research and manufacturing. A major center for biological research will open in London next year.
University College London is a partner in the campaign. During a recent visit to his lab there, Seifalian showed off a sophisticated machine used to make molds from a polymer material for various organs.
Last year, he and his team used that material to mold a nose for a British man who lost his to cancer. Then they added a salt and sugar solution to the mold to mimic the somewhat sponge-like texture of a natural nose. Stem cells were taken from the patient's fat and grown in the lab for two weeks before being used to cover the nose scaffold. Later, the nose was implanted into the man's forearm so that skin would grow to cover it.
Seifalian said he and his team are waiting for approval from regulatory authorities to transfer the nose onto the patient's face but couldn't say when that might happen.
The polymer material Seifalian uses for his organ scaffolds has been patented and he's also applied for patents for their blood vessels, tear ducts and windpipes. He and his team are creating other organs including coronary arteries and ears. Later this year, a trial is scheduled to start in India and London to test lab-made ears for people born without them.
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"Ears are harder to make than noses because you have to get all the contours right and the skin is pulled tight so you see its entire structure," said Dr. Michelle Griffin, a plastic surgeon who has made dozens of ears and noses in Seifalian's lab.
"At the moment, children who need new ears have to go through a really invasive procedure involving taking cartilage from their ribs," Griffin said. She added they plan to eventually create an entirely synthetic face but must first prove their polymer scaffolds won't accidentally burst out of the skin.
"Scientists have to get things like noses and ears right before we can move onto something like a kidney, lungs or a liver, which is much more complicated," said Eileen Gentleman, a stem cell expert at King's College London, who is not involved in Seifalian's research. "What (Seifalian) has created is the correct structure and the fact that it's good enough for his patients to have a functional (windpipe), tear duct, etc. is pretty amazing," she said.
Some scientists predicted certain lab-made organs will soon cease to be experimental.
"I'm convinced engineered organs are going to be on the market soon," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson, a professor of transplantation biology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. She has transferred lab-made blood vessels into a handful of patients and plans to offer them more widely by 2016, pending regulatory approval.
Seifalian hopes lab-made organs will one day be available for a few hundred dollars.
"If people are not that fussy, we could manufacture different sizes of noses so the surgeon could choose a size and tailor it for patients before implanting it," he said. "People think your nose is very individual and personal but this is something that we could mass produce like in a factory one day."
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"Ears are harder to make than noses because you have to get all the contours right and the skin is pulled tight so you see its entire structure," said Dr. Michelle Griffin, a plastic surgeon who has made dozens of ears and noses in Seifalian's lab.
"At the moment, children who need new ears have to go through a really invasive procedure involving taking cartilage from their ribs," Griffin said. She added they plan to eventually create an entirely synthetic face but must first prove their polymer scaffolds won't accidentally burst out of the skin.
"Scientists have to get things like noses and ears right before we can move onto something like a kidney, lungs or a liver, which is much more complicated," said Eileen Gentleman, a stem cell expert at King's College London, who is not involved in Seifalian's research. "What (Seifalian) has created is the correct structure and the fact that it's good enough for his patients to have a functional (windpipe), tear duct, etc. is pretty amazing," she said.
Some scientists predicted certain lab-made organs will soon cease to be experimental.
"I'm convinced engineered organs are going to be on the market soon," said Suchitra Sumitran-Holgersson, a professor of transplantation biology at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. She has transferred lab-made blood vessels into a handful of patients and plans to offer them more widely by 2016, pending regulatory approval.
Seifalian hopes lab-made organs will one day be available for a few hundred dollars.
"If people are not that fussy, we could manufacture different sizes of noses so the surgeon could choose a size and tailor it for patients before implanting it," he said. "People think your nose is very individual and personal but this is something that we could mass produce like in a factory one day."
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Imaging material properties of biological
samples with a force feedback microscope
Mechanical properties of biological samples have been imaged with a force feedback microscope. Force, force gradient, and dissipation are measured simultaneously and quantitatively, merely knowing the atomic force microscopy cantilever spring constant. Our first results demonstrate that this robust method provides quantitative high resolution force measurements of the interaction. The small oscillation imposed on the cantilever and the small value of its stiffness result in vibrational energies much smaller than the thermal energy, reducing interaction with the sample to a minimum. We show that the observed mechanical properties of the sample depend on the force applied by the tip and consequently on the sample indentation.
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Physicists in the UK claim they can create matter from light by smashing two massless photons together at high speeds. It's a theory that's been around since 1934, but has been impossible to replicate experimentally. Until now. The scientists propose using a high-powered laser aimed at a slab of gold to produce a high-intensity gamma ray. Meanwhile, another high-powered laser would be used to create a field of photons inside a hohlraum, or open cavity. Then, they smash the gamma ray into the hohlraum and eureka! Electrons and positrons! No one's doing it yet, but thanks to the low cost of high powered lasers, many laboratories have the instruments they need to make it happen.
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Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley have developed the first size-based chromatography technique, designed to study living cell membranes. The small structures of cell membranes are difficult to view under conventional optical microscopy because of the diffraction of light. The new technique uses an artificial lipid-based membrane populated with gold nanoparticles and with proteins that bind with receptors on a living cell. Fluorescent tags on the receptors reveal how they move and bind with the proteins on the artificial membrane.
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A sophisticated spectrometer will be one of four new instruments on the Multi-User System for Earth Sensing (MUSES) platform, slated for installation on the International Space Station in 2015. The spectrometer will provide a unique view of the Earth, from the visible to near-infrared spectrum, and will be able to spot tiny variations in color, providing scientists studying agriculture, oceanography, and forestry with valuable information about how those environments are changing over time.
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Graphene Characterization Using AFM
Graphene is a 2-dimensional densely packed carbon allotrope. The material can be widely applied across a number of industries because of its exceptional properties in thermal conductivity, strength, electrical conductivity, electrical conductivity, lightness and transparency - leading many to dub it a "wonder material".
Graphene's proliferation across diverse fields from bioengineering to optoelectronics also causes a need for characterization tools. Graphene sheets just a single carbon atom thick need advanced instrumentation to characterize them.
The ideal tool for structural, mechanical, and electrical characterization is the atomic force microscope, due to it's with sub-nanometer height resolution.
The P100 AFM
The P100 is a high precision AFM with sub-nanometer Z resolution, and is used for applications requiring high-resolution imaging and measurement. Rapid and efficient experiments are possible with the combined low noise and open loop scanner up to 15µm by 15µm. The innovative astigmatic optical design produces a small 0.56µm laser spot size enabling users to experiment with smaller and faster AFM cantilevers.
The P100 also includes highly intuitive PSX control software permitting the user to complete experiments with minimal training. The scan and setup process is automated by the one-click scan feature permitting users to quickly obtain high-quality scan results.
The inbuilt scan library management feature simplifies flagging of scanned data and enables the user to export or delete scans easily.
About Ardic Instruments
Ardic Instruments is an analytical equipment manufacturer aiming to serve the global scientific community with the best customer experience possible. Through a transparent, accessible, and community-driven approach, Ardic Instruments fosters a direct channel of communication between the end-user and the manufacturer.
Ardic Instruments produces atomic force microscopes, MEMS analyzers, and label-free molecular diagnostic platforms for both academic and industrial applications.
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The choice may not materialize in auto showrooms for a while, but car buyers might one day order their new vehicle as "self-cleaning." Using a hydrophobic and oleophobic coating from UltraTech, Nissan has created the first self-cleaning car and has begun testing the prototype's paint job for its ability to repel mud, rain, sleet, and even frost.
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Tecnologia italiana per misurare il “respiro” dei vulcani
Sarà che tutti noi siamo cresciuti studiando quello che è successo a Pompei e ai suoi abitanti, ma nel nostro paese parlare di vulcani e di sicurezza è argomento sempre attuale, e la ricerca italiana pare ancora una volta dettare il ritmo delle nuove tecnologie in materia di monitoraggio dei vulcani. È questo il caso di un gruppo di ricerca dell’ INGV che ha messo a punto negli ultimi anni, una metodologia innovativa per monitorare il “respiro” dei vulcani, la loro attività esplosiva. Si tratta di un sistema sincronizzato di telecamere a infrarosso ad alta velocità, collegate a speciali microfoni che permettono di ricostruire ciò che l’uomo non vede, rallentare i processi di esplosione in modo da permetterne un’analisi precisa e dettagliata, fino a descrivere le traiettorie dei lapilli e costruendo vere e proprie immagini tridimensionali degli eventi vulcanici. Un modello questo, che i ricercatori italiani stano condividendo con i colleghi di tutto il mondo.
“Siamo partiti da casa nostra, lo Stromboli, che ha una frequenza di avvenimenti esplosivi molto alta– spiega Piergiorgio Scarlato, primo ricercatore del team dell’INGV – ma l’interesse verso questo tipo di progetto è mondiale, perché quello che abbiamo elaborato in questi ultimi anni è un metodologia utilizzabile in varie situazioni, basti pensare ai vulcani attivi delle Hawaii, in Kamchatka, nelle isole Vanuatu nel Pacifico, o al Giappone.”
Come spiega Scarlato infatti, quella che noi chiamiamo “pericolosità” di un vulcano, dal punto di vista strettamente scientifico è una probabilità: per dirla in parole povere è la probabilità che in un dato periodo si verifichi un certo evento o un altro. Per questa ragione il modo forse più valido per ridurre il rischio legato all’attività eruttiva di un vulcano è capirne l’andamento il comportamento durante tutte le sue fasi. Conoscere il “funzionamento” di un sistema vulcanico è inoltre di conseguenza fondamentale dal punto di vista della protezione civile” prosegue Scarlato.
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Non tutti i vulcani però vengono monitorati allo stesso modo, specie nei paesi in via di sviluppo, dove le eruzioni vulcaniche si trasformano spesso in vere e proprie emergenze, come è avvenuto lo scorso 30 dicembre a El Salvador, in Centro America, con l’eruzione del vulcano Chaparrastique. Proprio nel caso di El Salvador per esempio L’INGV ha collaborato con il governo locale per istallare delle speciali telecamere e altri strumenti di ultima generazione per monitorare momento per momento l’evolvere dell’eruzione.
Raccogliere dati da monitoraggi in tutto il mondo è importantissimo – spiega Scarlato – perché ci permette di costruire dei modelli che vanno oltre il singolo evento, ma che sono applicabili a tutte le attività esplosive. La stessa tecnica che viene usata per misurare per esempio la velocità delle scorie eruttate può facilmente essere adattata in situazioni dove l’attività esplosiva è più energetica.
Un altro esempio assai più celebre perché più vicino a noi è il vulcano Eyjafjallajokull, in Islanda, la cui eruzione nella primavera del 2010 ha portato con sé un enorme trambusto in tutta Europa. “L’esperienza di monitoraggio di un’eruzione come questa attraverso i nostri metodi innovativi ci ha permesso di studiare con maggior precisione la dispersione delle ceneri vulcaniche e come esse si depositano, meccanismi che valgono per tutti i tipi di vulcano, non solo per quello islandese”.
La sedimentazione delle ceneri dopo un’esplosione porta con sé infatti conseguenze importanti, anche gravi, per la popolazione e per l’ambiente. Prima di tutto perché il depositarsi massiccio di cenere sui tetti può provocare le stesse conseguenze sulla tenuta degli edifici che hanno le abbondanti nevicate invernali, minando la stessa sicurezza degli stessi. In secondo luogo, sebbene a piccole dosi la cenere sia un ottimo fertilizzante, in grandi quantità si rivela nociva per l’ambiente e per le colture, oltre che per le falde acquifere. Infine, il problema dei trasporti. L’eruzione del vulcano islandese nel 2010 ha determinato per giorni lo stop del traffico aereo in Europa. In Italia ciò accade spesso, come con la chiusura degli aeroporti di Catania e Reggio Calabria a causa delle ceneri emesse dall’Etna. In entrambi i casi è evidente come il funzionamento del sistema del trasporto aereo sia vulnerabile e condizionato dalla presenza di cenere vulcanica in atmosfera. Dunque un modello di dispersione che consideri nel modo migliore le dinamiche con cui la stessa cenere si concentra nelle nubi vulcaniche è fondamentale per gestire al meglio il traffico aereo riducendo, di conseguenza i rischi e i costi derivanti dallo stop forzato.
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The choice may not materialize in auto showrooms for a while, but car buyers might one day order their new vehicle as "self-cleaning." Using a hydrophobic and oleophobic coating from UltraTech, Nissan has created the first self-cleaning car and has begun testing the prototype's paint job for its ability to repel mud, rain, sleet, and even frost.
DA Ricky D'Ellena
sono contento che questa scoperta (brevetto del Dott. Cotellessa) abbia fatto il giro del mondo,ma soprattutto che sia utile veramente!!
Ricky D'Ellena
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Video: Forecasting desert storms to empower solar panels
Solar energy is ever more becoming an important source of renewable power generation. A serious problem for the productivity of solar power plants is desert dust: it obscures the sun and makes the mirrors dirty. To prevent energy loss and improve the management of solar power plants scientists of the European research project MACC II in France are now developing a 5-day forecast to predict the movements of desert dust and thus will be able to inform power plant managers beforehand.
Solar energy is an increasingly important source of renewable power generation in Europe and the rest of the world. Most people are familiar with the solar panels on their houses or company buildings, which convert the light from the sun directly into electricity. But there is an almost invisible enemy, which can cause serious problems to big solar power plants: dust coming from Sahara desert, even if it's hundreds of kilometres away. It obscures the sun and makes the mirrors dirty, reducing the energy production.
The European MACC-II project (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) informs power plant managers of the frequency at which a certain location is affected by these large dust plumes and by providing, in the near future, 5-day forecasts on a daily basis of the dust impact on solar radiation. For example, if a dust storm is foreseen, the complex operations to set the power plant in motion will be cancelled.
Furthermore historical data on solar irradiation in a given area is crucial to decide the location of future solar power plants.
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World’s first superconducting power line paves the way for billions of dollars in savings, more nuclear power stations
The city of Essen, Germany has just switched on the world’s longest superconducting cable, more than a kilometer from end to end, and hopes to be a model for similar projects the world over. The cable connects two large transformer stations in the heart of the city — and though it is larger than any one traditional copper cable, it can also carry five times as much power. The real advantage, of course, stems from the fact that a superconducting cable uses advancedhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png materials to effectively eliminate inefficiency in power transmission and distribution (T&D). This is a big, big deal that could save hundreds of billions of dollars in transmission losses if these superconducting cables were implemented across the world’s power grids.
This project, called the AmpaCity Project, is focused mostly on possible advantages for city infrastructure — notably, that a cable with almost-zero transmission losses can transfer power over long distances at residential voltages. Rather than using the amped up transmission voltages required by regular cables, superconductors could reduce the need for large, expensive transformers by eliminating the need for certain voltage conversions throughout the city. The total capacity of the AmpaCity project is whopping 40 megawatts. The real benefit of superconductors, though, comes when (if) we start installing them on the national scale.
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For a sense of how important that could be, consider that in America something like 6% of all electricity generated is lost to inefficiency during transmission. In 2005, that was around 250 million mega-watt hours, or about $20 billion in monetary value. Now, replacing the electrical infrastructure of the United States is a multi-decade endeavor even if wehttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/lb_icon1.pngrestrict such effort to major lines, maintaining regular wiring for local distribution. Still, efficient power transfer means we could build power plants much farther from the communities they are intended to serve; if nothing else, such ability will be a major boon to the nuclear industry. (Read: Nuclear power is our only hope, or, the greatest environmentalist hypocrisy of all time.)
The cable in this AmpaCity project uses spanking new technology to partially overcome the difficulties that have traditionally faced superconductivity in the real world. In the past, superconductors required cooling to near absolute zero (-273.15 degrees Celsius), which knocks out all electrical resistance between the atoms of the cable. As seen in the Large Hadron Collider, however, that approach to superconductors is expensive to build and maintain. So-called high temperature superconductors are a holy grail for modern engineers, who dream of being able to do perfectly efficient power transfers at with a naked, room-temperature wire.
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Crews installing the Nexans cable late last year.
This superconducting cable, from the companyhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png Nexans, falls a fair ways short of that goal. It is cooled by liquid nitrogen — not ideal, but a meaningful step forward from the LHC’s much more expensive tanks of liquid helium. With a working temperature of 67 Kelvin (-206C), it’s certainly not “room temperature” superconductivity, but it is much easier to maintain than the sub-10 Kelvin solutions of the past. The three-stage cable maintains a constant flow of coolant both inside and outside of the conductive material. The AmpaCity project is based around the premise that, over a 40-year lifetime, this Nexans cable will be cheaper than a conventional alternative — and that’s before factoring in any savings due to efficiency. (Read: Tesla turns in his grave: Is it finally time to switch from AC to DC?)
In the end, 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) is not so long a distance. To be feasible on a large scale, this project must not only be a success, but provide a platform for further reductions in cost — especially if Nexans wants to attack an areas as sprawling (and largely empty) as North America. Superconductors could allow cheap superconducting magnets for plentiful MRI machines and economical floating trains. They could allow Los Angeles to use solar energy collected in the Sahara Desert. Useful, affordable superconducting cable would be a breakthrough node, a single innovationhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png that would quickly allow a whole slew of others.
This early project, though, is aimed at reducing urban crowding while delivering more power for less money. That’s an impressive first step, and one that Nexan hopes will entice more cities to join up.
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Chinese Propose Asia America Rail Link
As fantastic as it may sound, railway experts at the Chinese Academy of Engineering are said to be discussing a high-speed rail line from Beijing to North America. The proposed line would include a 125 km (78 mi) underwater tunnel connecting Siberia and Alaska — four times the length of the Channel Tunnel between England and France. Assuming an average speed of 350 km/hr, a one-way trip would take at least two days. While the engineering challenge is daunting, some argue the impact on world trade and shipping would justify the project.
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Swedes Launching Electric Ferry Service
This summer sees the beginning of electric passenger ferry service within the Stockholm archipelago city islands. Green City Ferries is retrofitting a 100 passenger vessel, which will run for one hr after a 10 min supercharge. The propulsion system is based on Swedish submarine technology and uses nickel metal hydride batteries supplying two 125 kW electric motors.
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Solar Process Converts CO2 into Fuel
Swiss investigators at SOLAR-JET have developed a conversion methodology using a solar reactor to convert carbon dioxide into kerosene for turbine engine fuel. A solar-driven redox cycle using metal-oxide catalysts rearranges electrons changing CO2 and water into hydrogen and carbon monoxide which is then converted by conventional processes into kerosene. It is claimed the technique would cut worldwide carbon dioxide emissions.
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Makani — Fact or Fiction?
When Google bought Makani , they put a lot of faith in airborne wind turbines. The Makani turbine flies at altitudes up to 1,000 ft, tethered to a hub via carbon fiber cables.
The company claims its turbines reduce construction materials by 90%, and will make wind power as cheap and available as traditional fossil fuels. Some question the technology — bad weather and icing are serious hazards, and maintenance will definitely require a shutdown.
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Fiber Optics Solutions for Wind Turbines
Converting wind energy to utility grade AC power requires power electronics, such as rectifiers and inverters. In a high power generation system, galvanic isolation becomes critical to help ensure quality and reliability. Industrial fiber optics components offer protection by providing insulation from high-voltage glitches and unwanted signals.
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Energy Department Invests $20 Million to Advance Hydrogen Production and Delivery Technologies
The Energy Department today announced $20 million for ten new research and development projects that will advance hydrogen production and delivery technologies. Developing technologies that can economically produce and deliver hydrogen to power fuel cells from diverse, domestic, and renewable resources can enable substantial reductions in energy use and carbon emissions. Advancing these technologies will be critical to the widespread commercialization of fuel cell electric vehicles and other fuel cell technologies.
The six hydrogen production R&D projects selected today aim to produce, deliver, and dispense hydrogen at less than $4 per gallon gasoline equivalent:
FuelCell Energy Inc. of Danbury, Connecticut will receive $900,000 to develop a novel hybrid system for low-cost, low greenhouse gas hydrogen production.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory of Richland, Washington will receive $2.2 million to develop a reactor for hydrogen production from bio-derived liquids.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory of Golden, Colorado will receive $3 million to develop high-efficiency tandem absorbers based on novel semiconductor materials that can produce hydrogen from water using solar energy.
University of Hawaii of Honolulu, Hawaii will receive $3 million to develop photoelectrodes for direct solar water splitting.
Sandia National Laboratories of Livermore, California will receive $2.2 million to develop an innovative high-efficiency solar thermochemical reactor for solar hydrogen production.
University of Colorado, Boulder of Boulder, Colorado will receive $2 million to develop a novel solar-thermal reactor to split water with concentrated sunlight.
The four hydrogen delivery R&D projects aim to reach the hydrogen cost goal of less than $4 per gallon by addressing the cost of compression, storage, and dispensing at the station:
Southwest Research Institute of San Antonio, Texas will receive $1.8 million to demonstrate a hydrogen compression system.
Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc. of Billerica, Massachusetts will receive $1.5 million to design and demonstrate an integrated, intelligent high pressure hydrogen dispenser for fuel cell electric vehicle fueling.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory of Oak Ridge, Tennessee will receive $2 million to demonstrate a low cost, steel concrete composite vessel for high pressure hydrogen storage.
Wiretough Cylinders LLC of Bristol, Virginia will receive $2 million to demonstrate a low cost high pressure hydrogen storage vessel using a steel wire overwrap.
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Fuel Station of the Future- Innovative Approach to Fuel Cell Technology Unveiled in California
Imagine pulling-up to a fuel station that supplies your car with clean, renewable fuel. Now imagine that, while you’re filling up, this same fuel-station just so happens to be providing power back to an entire industrial facility. Sound a little far-fetched? Perhaps, but, in a first-of-its kind milestone—a new fuel cell and hydrogen energy station in Fountain Valley, CA, is doing just that.
Considered the world’s first tri-generation fuel cell and hydrogen station—the fuel cell used at the station, developed by FuelCell Energy, Inc., is a combined heat and power system that produces both hydrogen and electricity.
The Fountain Valley energy station, supported in part by a $2.2 million grant to Air Products and Chemicals from the Energy Department, runs on biogas generated by the Orange County Sanitation District’s wastewater treatment facility. In turn, hydrogen produced by the fuel cell system is sent to a fueling station able to support between 25-to-50 fuel cell electric vehicle fill-ups every day. The fuel cell also produces approximately 250 kW of electricity for use by the wastewater treatment facility.
“Innovations like this demonstrate how American ingenuity and targeted investment can accelerate breakthroughs in the hydrogen and fuel cell industry while driving the clean energy economy forward,” said DOE’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Renewable Energy Steve Chalk. “By providing the added value of electricity and heat, this approach provides a significant step in overcoming economic challenges with hydrogen refueling infrastructure.”
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Da Novosibirsk un nuovo reattore per dare energia a tutto il mondo
Produrre energia e bruciare i rifiuti radioattivi. La capacità di associare queste due funzioni in un reattore a fusione è stata messa a punto da scienziati nucleari russi a Novosibirsk. Già verso la metà degli anni '80 del secolo scorso, l'Unione Sovietica propose alla comunità internazionale la creazione di una nuova generazione di reattori.
Nel 1990, scienziati e ingegneri sovietici, americani, giapponesi ed europei svilupparono un progetto di reattore a fusione. Il progetto venne chiamato ITER, reattore sperimentale termonucleare internazionale; come afferma Julij Sulyaev ricercatore decano presso l'Istituto di Fisica Nucleare, alla sede siberiana dell'Accademia Russa delle Scienze:
Dare all'umanità una fonte inesauribile di energia elettrica. I lavori in questo settore iniziarono in Unione Sovietica dopo l'utilizzo militare dell'energia nucleare e termonucleare e averne saggiato il suo lato tragico. Gli scienziati volevano pensare ad un suo utilizzo per scopi pacifici.
Il progetto internazionale coinvolge 35 paesi. 10 anni fa si è unita per ultima l' India. La Russia si affida a un elemento chiave del progetto, in grado di riscaldare il reattore fino a diversi milioni di gradi. Questo elemento è una trappola dinamica in grado di bloccare le scorie. Nel momento in cui il plasma si riscalda esso viene bloccato per essere utilizzato per la reazione di fusione.
Nella fusione del Sole il processo inizia a un milione di gradi. Gli scienziati siberiani sono riusciti ad arrivare a 4,5 milioni di gradi utilizzando la radiazione a microonde, e utilizzando davvero un forno a microonde comune solo che quello dell'impianto siberiano è mille volte più potente di un forno casalingo. Il capo ricercatore Peter Bagryansky afferma:
Abbiamo imparato ad affrontare il fenomeno più pericoloso e temibile, la cosiddetta instabilità magneto-dinamica. Abbiamo così sviluppato un metodo di isolameento del plasma, che permette ai tecnici di registrare la pressione del plasma.
Più pressione ha il plasma e più energia viene sviluppata dalla installazione termonucleare. Ma il campo magnetico che mantiene il plasma sotto controllo non si può amplificare all'infinito, sarebbe contro le leggi della fisica. Quindi è necessario trovare nuove soluzioni, dice un ricercatore decano presso l'Istituto di Fisica Nucleare della sede siberiana dell'Accademia Russa delle Scienze Andrey Anikeyev.
Siamo riusciti a ottenere un sistema che stabilizza il plasma, il cosiddetto metodo del vortice isolato. Quando il plasma è curvato in un certo modo è impossibile che esca dall'impianto, è come un uovo in un bicchiere, continua a vivere in questo mulinello, al suo interno.
Gli scienziati nucleari stanno per portare la temperatura del plasma fino a sette milioni di gradi. A questa temperatura si raddoppierà la capacità di fusione dei neutroni. Ovviamente sarà necessario costruire un nuovo impianto più potente. Da notare che la struttura creata dagli scienziati russi, può anche smaltire rifiuti radioattivi, avendo una fase di post-combustione in cui i rifiuti nucleari del combustibile nucleare, come il plutonio, sono riutillizzati presso gli stessi impianti.
Il nuovo reattore sarà praticamente sicuro perché nel processo di fusione l'uranio non viene utilizzato e soprattutto un reattore a fusione non potrà mai esplodere. Anche se il plasma viene riscaldato a milioni di gradi e dovesse inavvertitamente arrivare alle pareti della camera di contenimento, non accadrà nulla di terribile. Il plasma semplicemente cessa di esistere. Pertanto avendo un punto di vista ambientalista l'energia di fusione può sostituire completamente il nucleare tradizionale.
Il progetto ITER si chiama "sole artificiale". Gli scienziati non hanno alcun dubbio che con l'aiuto di tali reattori finalmente si possa essere in grado di risolvere il problema della carenza di energia elettrica nel Mondo.
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MICROSPETTROMETRI IN FIBRA OTTICA
Le potenzialità delle tecniche spettroscopiche sono ulteriormente amplificate dall’impiego delle fibre ottiche, le cui caratteristiche intrinseche sia ottiche che meccaniche ne fanno un mezzo ideale per applicazioni alla spettroscopia. Inoltre, la grande disponibilità di sorgenti LED molto brillanti e di micro spettrometri in fibra ottica rendono possibile la realizzazione di strumentazione compatta, portatile e versatile. Gli spettrofotometri a fibra ottica proposti sono in grado di eseguire misure di assorbimento e di riflettività senza prelievo del campione, e possono trovare applicazione in tutti i controlli di processi industriali dove sia richiesta la colorimetria di superfici o di campioni liquidi o la caratterizzazione spettrale di sorgenti luminose
N ASSENZA DI DONATORI COMPATIBILI, È STATO SVILUPPATO AL BAMBIN GESÙ DI ROMA, UN PROTOCOLLO PER CONSENTIRE IL TRAPIANTO DAI GENITORI AI FIGLI
"La tecnica – chiarisce Alice Bertaina, responsabile dell'unità trapianti di midollo del Bambin Gesù – consiste nel ripulire le cellule staminali del donatore, che può essere indifferentemente uno dei due genitori, eliminando solo quelle cattive che causano le principali complicazioni, ma preservando, allo stesso tempo, una grande quantità di cellule buone che proteggono il paziente dalle infezioni, soprattutto nei primi mesi successivi al trapianto. Questo metodo di trapianto di cellule staminali – aggiunge la studiosa – consente di avere oltre il 90% di probabilità di cura definitiva, e di ottenere una percentuale di successi confrontabile a quella che si aveva cercando un donatore compatibile".
Il metodo è stato testato finora su circa 70 bambini affetti da leucemie e su una trentina di piccoli pazienti con malattie rare che coinvolgono il sangue o il sistema immunitario, come la talassemia, l'immunodeficienza severa, o l'anemia di Fanconi.
"Si tratta di una tecnica innovativa di ingegneria dei trapianti di midollo che, in assenza di donatore compatibile, consente il trapianto dai genitori ai figli", spiega Franco Locatelli, responsabile del reparto di Oncoematologia e medicina trasfusionale dell'ospedale della Santa Sede.
"Il protocollo messo a punto nei nostri laboratori – gli fa eco entusiasta Bruno Dallapiccola, direttore scientifico dell'ospedale romano – rappresenta una pietra miliare nella terapia di molte patologie del sangue ed è destinato a incidere radicalmente sulla loro storia naturale".
In Italia, nel 2013, sono stati sottoposti a trapianto di midollo da donatore esterno per malattie non maligne 125 bambini. Grazie a questa nuova procedura, secondo gli esperti, almeno altri 40 bambini l'anno, destinati ad esempio a dipendenza cronica da trasfusioni, potranno avere una chance di guarigione definitiva. "Con questa tecnica possiamo offrire a tutti la speranza di un trapianto efficace per diversi tipi di malattie – sottolinea Locatelli -. Nonostante i registri dei donatori volontari di midollo osseo, che contano ormai più di 20 milioni di iscritti, e le banche di sangue cordonale e placentare, pari a 600mila unità in tutto il mondo, infatti, il 30-40% dei pazienti non riesce ancora a trovare un donatore idoneo".
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Gli ingegneri del BYU si sono ispirati ai tradizionali origami per risolvere il problema dello spazio astronomico. Grazie alla collaborazione di un esperto di origami di fama mondiale si è riusciti a risolvere uno dei problemi più grandi (ed ironici) sull’esplorazione dello spazio: la mancanza di spazio. La Jet Propulsion Laboratory della NASA, attraverso un gruppo di studenti di ingegneria meccanica e docenti, ha progettato un pannello solare che può essere ben compattato per il lancio e poi distribuito nello spazio per generare energia per stazioni spaziali o satelliti.
Il tutto applicando i principi dell’origami sui pannelli solari in silicio rigido – un materiale molto più spesso della carta utilizzata per la tradizionale arte giapponese. Il pannello solare BYU è in grado di aumentare di quasi 10 volte la sua dimensione memorizzata. “E ‘costoso e difficile da ottenere cose nello spazio“, afferma il professore e leader del team di ricerca della BYU, Larry Howell.” Con gli origami si può fare compatto per il lancio e poi come si entra in uno spazio che è possibile distribuire e essere grande“. L’attuale progetto, dettagliato nel numero di novembre 2013 del Journal of Mechanical Design, è spinto dalla collaborazione tra BYU, la NASA e l’esperto di origami Robert Lang. Howell coinvolse Lang con un finanziamento di 2 milioni di dollari di sovvenzione per il National Science Foundation nel 2012 per esplorare la combinazione di origami e e meccanismo conformi (strutture elastiche congiunte che utilizzano la flessibilità per creare movimento.)
BYU stava già lavorando con la NASA attraverso il Jet Propulsion Lab, dove il lavoro del laureando Shannon Zirbel è stato determinante nel progetto. L’equipe di ricerca ha in programma di lavorare insieme per diversi anni su vari progetti, ma spera che la NASA possa mettere il proprio lavoro a buon uso. “E ‘difficile prevedere cosa sarà il più grande risultato di questa collaborazione, ma sarebbe un grande successo se un pannello solare basato sul nostro concetto possa volare in una missione NASA“, ha detto Lang. Il particolare pannello solare sviluppato dal gruppo può essere ripiegato strettamente fino ad un diametro di 2,7 metri e spiegato in tutta la sua dimensione di 25 metri di diametro. L’obiettivo è quello di creare una matrice in grado di produrre 250 kilowatt di potenza. Attualmente, laStazione Spaziale Internazionale ha otto pannelli solari che generano 84 kilowatt di energia. Gli origami, attraverso meccanismi compatibili, sono una misura perfetta per l’esplorazione dello spazio: sono a basso costo e i materiali in sono grado di gestire ambienti solari difficili. “Lo spazio è un posto fantastico per un pannello solare perché non dovete preoccuparvi di notte e non ci sono nuvole” afferma. “Gli origami potrebbero essere utilizzati anche per le antenne, vele solari e persino reti espandibili utilizzate per catturare asteroidi.” Il team di ricerca ha già guardato oltre l’ultima frontiera per le applicazioni di origami in ingegneria. Alcune applicazioni potrebbero includere protesi che possono essere inserite attraverso piccole incisioni prima di espandersi all’interno dei cellulari del corpo che possono essere compatti quando non non in suo per poi svolgere l’uso abitativo Deployable o rifugi che possono essere spediti o paracadutati compatti e poi ampliato per casi di emergenza “Se siamo in grado di estendere la conoscenza di artisti di origami a lavorare in materiali al di là di carta, questo porterà a potenti sistemi con prestazioni senza precedenti“, ha detto Howell. “Faremo cose che nessuno ha mai fatto prima.”
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Nuova era per i dentisti. Gli scienziati del King’s College di Londra sono riusciti a realizzare una tecnica per trattare la carie senza però dover sopportare il dolore di punte e iniezioni.Si chiama Electrically Accelerated and Enhanced Remineralisation (EAER) e permette di accelerare il movimento naturale di calcio e fosfato nel dente danneggiato, così da ripararlo. Questo metodo, che sfrutta basse correnti elettriche, secondo gli scienziati sarà utilizzabile tra tre anni.”Non solo il nostro apparecchio è meno doloroso per il paziente e migliore per i suoi denti, ma ci si aspetta che abbia un migliore rapporto qualità prezzo rispetto ai sistemi attuali”, ha detto Nigel Pitts, del London Dental Institute presso il King’s College.Grazie a tale novità, sottolinea Giovanni D’Agata, presidente dello “Sportello dei Diritti”, il terrore del trapano e del dentista potrebbe diventare presto solo un ricordo, con enorme risparmio economico per le cure dentali.
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Un materiale per creare l'acqua (quasi) dal nulla
Un recentissimo materiale composto da miliardi di nanotubi di carbonio potrebbe un giorno aspirare l'acqua dal nulla, anche nei posti più secchi della Terra. L'idea prende spunto dalle ali del coleottero del Namib: una speranza per portare l'acqua nelle regioni più aride. Presentati i risultati della ricerca sulla rivista americana ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.
Per sopravvivere nel suo ambiente molto secco, questo scarabeo tipico del deserto del Namib ha sviluppato particolari molecole sulle sue alimolto rigide, che avvicendano la funzione di permeabilità all'acqua con quella di idrorepellenza, alternando dei picchi in entrambi i versi. Inclinando il corpo verso il vento, il coleottero utilizza questo sistema per raccogliere le molecole d'acqua dalla nebbia del mattino, formando goccioline che si dirigono poco alla volta verso la sua bocca. In base a tale modello, i ricercatori hanno affiancato tantissimi nanotubi di carbonio alti un centimetro, compattati a formare una lamina dello stesso spessore, alla quale sono stati applicati sulla faccia superiore un polimero idrofilo, sulla inferiore un polimero idrorepellente. Così facendo, lo strato superiore attira le molecole d'acqua all'interno della lamina, senza la necessità di alcuna alimentazione elettrica. L'umidità viene trattenuta tra il fondo idrorepellente e i lati della struttura, anche se una parte può perdersi nel tempo per evaporazione. In pratica la struttura creata fa da spugna: può essere semplicemente spremuta per rilasciare l'acqua assorbita, dopo di che il materiale è pronto al riutilizzo.
Naturalmente il volume di vapore acqueo che si può raccogliere dipende dall'umidità dell'aria. I ricercatori hanno stabilito che in condizioni di aria asciutta, una minuscola parte di materiale del peso di 8 milligrammi ed una superficie di circa 0,25 centimetri quadrati ha trattenuto più di un quarto del proprio peso in acqua dopo 11 ore; in ambienti umidi la sua efficienza è aumentata fino a raccogliere l'80% del peso in un tempo di poco superiore. Ci sono insomma tutte le potenzialità per farlo diventare un dispositivo efficace di raccolta dell'acqua, particolarmente utile nelle regioni che non ricevono abbastanza pioggia, così da sostenere adeguatamente livelli di vita accettabili per le popolazioni locali. Per passare alla produzione su larga scala dovrà essere superato il classico collo di bottiglia di ottenere un materiale siffatto a costi accettabili; gli scienziati credono comunque che il passaggio tecnico dai piccolissimi prototipi funzionanti a prodotti più grandi e maneggevoli non sia una sfida particolarmente impegnativa.
In futuro l'idea della cattura vapore tramite l'alternanza materiale permeabile / materiale idrorepellente potrebbe essere implementata anche con materiali porosi diversi. Qualcuno ha espresso il dubbio che i nanotubi di carbonio siano la scelta migliore come struttura assorbente, data anche la loro complessità di realizzazione tramite sistemi al plasma. Quello che stupisce, tuttavia, è come la natura abbia espresso (e chissà da quanto...) una soluzione al problema delle regioni aride dotando il coleottero del Namib di un sistema intelligente per la sua sopravvivenza. La nostra mancanza è forse stata quella di averlo osservato con colpevole ritardo.
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myCopter, l’elicottero personale per muoversi nel traffico
Proviamo a immaginare come sarebbe il mondo se potessimo entrare nel nostro mini elicottero, alzarci in volo senza possedere nessuna licenza da pilota e raggiungere la nostra destinazione in grande stile evitando il traffico cittadino. Grazie al progetto myCopter finanziato dall’Unione Europea, questo sogno potrebbe presto diventare realtà.
L’idea è nata nel 2007 con Heinrich H. Bülthoff, ricercatore del Max Planck Institute, in seguito alla proposta dell’Unione Europea di cercare nuove idee per migliorare il sistema dei trasporti in Europa. Attualmente sei istituzioni europee stanno partecipando all’iniziativa che è ancora agli inizi.
La prima fase del progetto, che prevede l’avvio di piattaforme sperimentali e la programmazione di alcuni aspetti del sistema di controllo, è quasi completata.
L’aumento dei problemi legati al traffico che, secondo le previsioni, nei prossimi anni tenderanno a peggiorare, costituisce la spinta motivazionale per portare avanti il progetto. L’idea è quella di sviluppare un sistema di trasporto aereo personale, cha sia sostenibile non solo dal punto di vista ambientale ma anche dal punto di vista economico.
I veicoli verrebbero progettati in modo tale da poter essere pilotati da persone senza alcuna esperienza di volo. Inoltre, le stazioni di terra per il controllo del traffico aereo non sarebbero necessarie in quanto, volando a bassa quota, i mini-elicotteri non interferirebbero con l’attuale regime del traffico aereo.
Danny Hakim, giornalista del New York Times, ha colto al volo l’occasione per effettuare un test presso il simulatore di volo del centro di ingegneria dinamica dell’Università di Liverpool. Il giornalista ha così descritto la sua esperienza: «Non so come volare e non sono nemmeno un guidatore appassionato, tuttavia sono riuscito a decollare facilmente da quello che sembrava un campo circondato da sei case nella campagna inglese. Subito dopo, volando attraverso una serie di quadrati rosa distribuiti lungo l’orizzonte simulato, ho percorso un’autostrada aerea virtuale che si stendeva davanti a me».
I ricercatori della suddetta università hanno lavorato con ex piloti collaudatori militari con l’obiettivo di elaborare un sistema di facile utilizzo per persone prive di qualsiasi esperienza di volo. Gli studiosi stanno utilizzando i simulatori per capire come le persone possano riuscire a destreggiarsi ai comandi del veicolo virtuale.
Il progetto MyCopter ha ancora tanta strada da percorrere. Gli scienziati, infatti, dovranno trovare un sistema che impedisca alle persone di scontrarsi tra loro mentre sono alla guida del veicolo e dovranno lavorare alle infrastrutture che sarebbero necessarie qualora il progetto diventasse realtà.
Secondo quanto riportato dal New York Times, sebbene il progetto sia ancora agli albori il team spera di riuscire a entrare presto nella seconda fase, per poter coinvolgere le aziende private ed elaborare potenziali modelli e prototipi di mini-elicotteri.
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Solare a concentrazione: una risorsa per i paesi del Mediterraneo
Energia solare a concentrazione: una tecnologia sulla quale puntare nei prossimi anni. Uno studio pubblicato su Nature Climate Change dimostra come il Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) possa sopperire a un fabbisogno energetico esteso, soprattutto in determinate zone del Mediterraneo.
Lo studio, condotto all’International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), spiega come un sistema CSP su vasta scala, in alcune aree del Mediterraneo, sarebbe in grado di fornire il 70-80% della domanda di energia elettrica.
Secondo i ricercatori, i sistemi attuali su vasta scala permettono di produrre una quota di energia pari a quella prodotta in impianti tradizionali, come gli impianti nucleari, e senza nessun costo aggiuntivo rispetto alle centrali a gas. La ricerca è la prima ad esaminare le potenzialità dei sistemi CSP in quattro regioni del bacino del Mediterraneo. Stefan Pfenninger, ricercatore presso l’Imperial College di Londra e a capo della ricerca IIASA, ha spiegato:
Questo tipo di sistemi sono in grado di soddisfare molto più del nostro fabbisogno di energia elettrica, a costi più contenuti di quelli attuali.
L’ostacolo principale ad un utilizzo dell’energia solare è l’instabilità della fonte e quindi il problema dell’accumulo: ma, a differenza dei sistemi fotovoltaici a concentrazione (CPV), con il solare a concentrazione è possibile bypassare il problema.
I sistemi CPV, ugualmente quotati quanto i CSP da Global Data, trasformano direttamente l’energia solare in energia elettrica, sfruttando l’effetto fotovoltaico: i CSP, invece, la trasformano in calore, più facile da immagazzinare rispetto all’elettricità.
L’energia solare, quindi, potrebbe essere immagazzinata sotto forma di calore e trasformata in elettricità solo quando necessario: tuttavia, l’instabilità della fonte resta un problema non da poco per questo tipo di tecnologia.
La soluzione suggerita dai ricercatori è quella di costruire una rete di sistemi solari a concentrazione su vasta scala, che possa ovviare ai problemi locali: per questo motivo, la ricerca rappresenta un primo studio di fattibilità, in particolare su due territori considerati potenzialmente i più adatti. Anthony Patt, co-autore della ricerca IIASA ha concluso:
Il nostro studio è il primo ad analizzare nel dettaglio la possibilità costruire un sistema energetico basato principalmente sul solare, che fornisca quotidianamente energia elettrica, in modo stabile ed affidabile. Secondo i risultati, questo sarebbe sicuramente possibile in due regioni del mondo come il bacino del Mediterraneo e il deserto del Kalahari in Sud Africa.
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StratoBus - halfway between a drone and a satellite
The StratoBus project may immediately call to mind Google's Project Loon. But the advantage of StratoBus is that it offers long endurance and complete autonomy from a fixed position, while the high-altitude balloons in Loon move around the Earth and will offer only limited autonomy. StratoBus, a surprising vehicle halfway between a drone and a satellite, will be able to carry out a wide range of missions, including observation, security, telecommunications, broadcasting and navigation... and it offers a lifespan of five year.
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Biomedical engineers have developed an implantable electronic sleeve embedded with sensors that promises to replace pacemakers. Using an ordinary 3D printer, the researchers created an elastic membrane that conforms to the outer wall of the heart, with numerous points of contact. The sensors measure temperature, mechanical strain, and pH and can counter arrhythmia with electrical pulses, enabling physicians to better diagnose and treat cardiac disorders.
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Trends in automotive safety are pushing radar systems to higher levels of accuracy and reliable target identification for blind spot detection and collision prevention assistance. Consequentially, engineers need to better understand how mounting brackets, fascia, paint color, and bumper assemblies affect the far field radiation patterns of 24 GHz and 77 GHz automotive radar systems.
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Nature surely seems to be inspiring more mechanical technologies than ever. The latest success is an emulation of a mechanism that eluded researchers for decades: the body's joint lubrication. Biological lubrication relies on a polymer that latches onto cartilage and holds fluids in place to prevent friction. Scientists at Germany's Jülich Research Center believe they found the right polymer. Actually, not one, but two. Their system uses one water repellent and one water soluble polymer, a scheme that prevents tangling — which hampered past systems — and results in reducing friction by two orders of magnitude.
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Invalido muove la mano col pensiero grazie a microchip neurale
Grazie alla collaborazione fra l'Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center e Battelle, per la prima volta un tetraplegico riesce a muovere la mano con la sola forza del pensiero. Tutto questo grazie a un microchip neurale che riesce a creare un collegamento diretto tra cervello e muscoli, permettendo quindi al paziente (Ian Burkhart, dublinese di ventire anni e invalido dal 2010) di avere un controllo volontario dell'arto.
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Replacing Silicon
Chip makers increasingly struggle with the physics and economics of keeping up with Moore's law, constantly pushing to fit more and more transistors onto a die. As transistors shrink to atomic dimensions, they leak current even when switched off, wasting power and generating heat. The challenges have reached the point where some fabs think the end of the silicon transistor is in sight. The Economist looks at alternative ways of making chips — such as spintronics and neuromorphic computing — and predicts a slow transition to new technologies, with hybrids that combine silicon transistors and exotic new devices enabling the transition.
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Muscle and Machine Working Together
People who have lost an arm can now perform everyday tasks with the help of Dean Kamen's "Luke Arm." The device's onboard computer takes sensor measurements of muscle activity in the shoulder and translates them into control inputs. The prosthesis can perform multiple, simultaneous movements, with the wrist and fingers adjusting positions to perform six different user-selectable grips.
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Metal undergoes novel transition under extreme pressure
The precise chemistry of metals within the Earth's interior will dictate the nature of its magnetic field.
Under extreme pressures and temperatures, one of the main materials of the Earth's interior has exhibited a never-before-seen transition.
Iron oxide was subjected to conditions similar to those at the depth where the Earth's innermost two layers meet.
At 1,650C and 690,000 times sea-level pressure, the metal changed the degree to which it conducted electricity.
But, as the team outlined in Physical Review Letters, the metal's structure was surprisingly unchanged.
The finding could have implications for our as-yet incomplete understanding of how the Earth's interior gives rise to the planet's magnetic field.
While many transitions are known in materials as they undergo nature's extraordinary pressures and temperatures, such changes in fundamental properties are most often accompanied by a change in structure.
These can be the ways that atoms are arranged in a crystal pattern, or even in the arrangement of subatomic particles that surround atomic nuclei.
Core values
A team at the Carnegie Institution for Science subjected the material to pressures up to 1.4 million times atmospheric pressure at sea level, and temperatures up to 2,200C.
They found that it pulls off the trick of changing its electrical properties without any shifting of shape - it can be an insulator or conductor depending just on temperature and pressure.
Combined with computer simulations of just what was going on with the material's electrons, the group claim that the results show a new type of metallisation.
"At high temperatures, the atoms in iron oxide crystals are arranged with the same structure as common table salt," said Ronald Cohen, a co-author of the study. "Just like table salt, iron oxide at ambient conditions is a good insulator—it does not conduct electricity."
"Our new results show, instead, that iron oxide metallises without any change in structure and that combined temperature and pressure are required. Furthermore, our theory shows that the way the electrons behave to make it metallic is different from other materials that become metallic."
A mixture of magnesium and iron oxide makes up much of the Earth's mantle - the solid layer just outside the planet's liquid outer core. The fact that iron oxide behaves as a metal means it will electrically link the core and mantle, affecting the way the magnetic field makes its way to the Earth's surface and beyond.
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Wafer X-ray metrology platform
Nordson DAGE's XM8000 Wafer X-ray Metrology Platform takes the capabilities from company's existing X-ray systems to provide an automated, high-throughput X-ray metrology and defect review system for both optically hidden and visible features of TSVs, 2.5D and 3D IC packages, MEMS and wafer bumps.
The XM8000 provides non-destructive, in-line wafer measurement of voiding and fill levels, overlay, critical dimensions and much more. In this way the XM8000 can be used as an integral part of the fabrication and packaging of integrated circuits or as part of quality control and product acceptance.
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AOI series with shadow-free 3D measurement technology
The AOI systems of the OptiCon family extend their dimension with a revolutionary measurement technology.
Telecentric Multi Spot Array (TMSA)
The AOI systems of the OptiCon family made by GOEPEL electronic extend their dimension with a revolutionary measurement technology and have evolved to become the “3D Series”.
The first OptiCon Advanced Line 3D will be presented at the SMT/Hybrid/Packaging show. The telecentric measuring procedure for three-dimensional detection of components and solder joints represents a significant technology leap in terms of area-wide height measurement. Known disadvantages of conventional 3D methods include such problems as shadowing caused by high components are with this technology now a thing of the past.
The sensor module called “3D EyeZ” is based on a Telecentric Multi Spot Array (TMSA), which measures the height of assemblies and solder joints by movable scanning. Due to the orthogonal and telecentric projection and viewing direction, error-free measuring is possible even in the gaps between the closest of components. In addition, this technology guarantees the independence of surface properties of components, solder joints and the PCB.
As well as the 2D inspection tasks of a standard AOI system, solder volume, wetting angle, height and coplanarity of components can still be measured by all systems of the OptiCon family.
Further outstanding features of 3D EyeZ are the freely selectable X/Y resolution as well as a maximum measurement speed of 70cm²/s. The integration is possible both in-line systems and in the well-known stand-alone AOI system the OptiCon Basic Line.
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People have always dreamed of creating artificial human beings. Modern technology is realizing this dream in the form of humanoid robots. The main challenge is a power supply and the limited space requirements. Micro motors from MICROMO represent an ideal solution for resolving these issues
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PROTOTYPE OF NEW TRANSISTOR FOR LOWER POWER CONSUMPTION
Researchers from the University of Twente MESA+ research institute, together with the company SolMateS, have developed a new type of transistor to reduce the power consumption of microchips. The basic element of modern electronics, namely the transistor, suffers from significant current leakage. By enveloping a transistor with a shell of piezoelectric material, which distorts when voltage is applied, researchers were able to reduce this leakage by a factor of five (compared to a transistor without this material). An article presenting the prototype of the transistor appears in the June issue of Transactions on Electron Devices, an authoritative scientific journal in the field of transistor research.
Current leakage in transistors is one of the causes of battery depletion in portable electronic devices, such as smartphones and laptops. With the new type of transistor, either the current leakage (while the transistor is not active) or the energy consumption (while the transistor is active) can be addressed. In the latter case, it is estimated that energy consumption can be reduced by approximately 10%.
INTELLIGENT SQUEEZING
The trick lies in a piezoelectric material which is applied to the exterior of the transistor. The piezoelectric material expands when you apply a voltage to it and compresses the silicon in the transistor with a pressure of about 10,000 atmospheres. This high pressure ensures that electrons flow through the transistor faster. You can therefore make microchips more efficient by 'intelligently squeezing the transistor'.
Incidentally, existing transistors are already put under high pressure in order to improve their efficiency. In this case, however, the pressure is permanently built in, which actually increases the current leakage. In the prototype designed by the UT, the transistor is only put under pressure when required and this makes a big difference. The electric current needed to switch the transistor from on to off is thereby partly replaced by mechanical tension.
The transistor current flows through tiny silicon bars, which are enveloped by a package of conductor layers and piezo-electric material. The conductors control the amount of mechanical tension, and also the quantity of electrons in the silicon. In this way, the power can be turned on and off.
CRUDE
According to dr. ir. Ray Hueting from the chair Semiconductor Components, this is an initial prototype that can already produce energy savings. "The design is still fairly crude where the material is concerned. With the further development of the transistor, it should therefore be possible to achieve a further significant increase in efficiency."
The operating principle of this transistor was theoretically predicted in 2013 by the same research group. But in advance it was by no means certain that the transistor would be a success. The reason for this is that piezoelectric materials and silicon (which transistors are made of) are difficult to combine. The researchers solved this by inserting a buffer layer between the two materials.
Energia pulita dalla CO2
Un nuovo metodo biotecnologico per la cattura dell’anidride carbonica e la sintesi di idrogeno mediante la fermentazione di materiali organici anche di scarto, che potrebbe avere un utilizzo industriale per la produzione di energie rinnovabili ed ecosostenibili, è stato ideato e brevettato da un team diretto da Angelo Fontana presso i laboratori di ricerca dell’Istituto di chimica biomolecolare del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Icb-Cnr) di Pozzuoli. Lo studio è apparso su ‘International Journal of Hydrogen Energy’ ed è in via di pubblicazione su ‘ChemSusChem’.
“Il metodo per la produzione di biogas è chiamato Clf, Capnophilic Lactic Fermentation, e si avvale di un batterio estremofilo (cioè che vive e prolifera in condizioni ambientali estreme), la Thermotoga neapolitana, che cresce a 80 gradi nelle solfatare marine a largo del litorale Flegreo”, spiega Fontana. “Le cellule della Thermotoga si comportano da micro reattori in grado di produrre idrogeno da fermentazione di substrati organici, inclusi materiale di scarto dell'industria agro-alimentare, permettendone una trasformazione in energia pulita”.
Un meccanismo assolutamente nuovo. “Clf rappresenta un inedito metodo che consente di avere simultaneamente tre vantaggi: la produzione di energia pulita, la cattura dell'anidride carbonica e il recupero di materiali di scarto”, prosegue il ricercatore dell'Icb-Cnr. “Il metabolismo del batterio prendendo CO2 e acido acetico rilascia acido lattico con la completa eliminazione della CO2, inoltre, al contrario dei classici meccanismi di fissazione autotrofa, come ad esempio la fotosintesi, non comporta sintesi di composti del metabolismo cellulare. Anzi, l’utilizzo di anidride carbonica stimola la velocità di fermentazione determinando un miglioramento della produzione di idrogeno da cui potrebbe essere direttamente ottenuta energia elettrica”.
I vantaggi derivanti da tale processo sono intuitivi: “L’obiettivo del lavoro attualmente in corso è scientifico, ma i risultati aprono ora la possibilità dell'applicazione industriale della Capnophilic Lactic Fermentation, considerando che per la sola produzione di acido lattico esiste un mercato mondiale stimato in circa 1.200 milioni di dollari nel 2010”, conclude Fontana. “La produzione biologica di idrogeno mediante fermentazione batterica di substrati organici, incluso molti materiali di scarto, è una tematica scientifica caldissima e di grande prospettiva per la produzione di energia da fonti rinnovabili”.
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Scoperta una molecola che fa scoppiare le cellule del cancro
Uccidere le cellule tumorali "ubriacandole", questa l'intuizione dei ricercatori dell'Istituto nazionale dei tumori di Milano. In particolare, gli esperti hanno usato una molecola che intossica le cellule del tumore della tiroide e le costringe a "bere" liquidi fino a scoppiare. La scoperta è stata pubblicata su Oncotarget e presentata al congresso mondiale della European Association for Cancer Research di Monaco.
Gli scienziati hanno scoperto che la molecola chiamata miR-199a-3p, in genere presente a bassi livelli nel carcinoma della tiroide, se viene reintrodotta è in grado di intossicare le cellule tumorali.
Le cellule tumorali muoiono in massa - I ricercatori spiegano: "La sua produzione porta le cellule del tumore a riempirsi di liquido extracellulare fino a scoppiare, causandone una morte in massa".
Maria Grazia Borrello, a capo del team di ricerca, precisa: "Questo risultato è d'interesse sia per i pazienti con carcinoma papillare della tiroide, sia in generale per terapie antitumorali innovative. Il carcinoma papillare della tiroide è in costante crescita e, sebbene generalmente sia associato a una buona prognosi dovuta alla risposta positiva ai trattamenti chirurgici o con radioterapia, il 10% dei casi presenta una malattia progressiva e resistente alle terapie tradizionali. La molecola miR-199a-3p rappresenta quindi una potenziale strategia terapeutica".
L'esperta aggiunge: "Inoltre, essendo le cellule tumorali frequentemente resistenti all'apoptosi, e cioè alla morte programmata delle cellule, l'identificazione di un meccanismo alternativo per indurre questa morte è di sicuro interesse anche per altre patologie tumorali".
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L’influenza della CO2 atmosferica sulla qualità del frumento duro
Il mese di aprile di quest'anno ha segnato un record negativo: per la prima volta nella storia la CO2 atmosferica, misurata sull'osservatorio di Mauna Loa alle isole Hawaii, non è mai scesa sotto le 400 parti per milione (ppm), contro le circa 320 misurate a metà del secolo scorso. La CO2 atmosferica trattiene all'interno dell'atmosfera la radiazione infrarossa, contribuendo al cosiddetto "effetto serra" e quindi al riscaldamento globale del nostro pianeta. Ma la CO2 è anche la principale fonte di nutrimento delle piante, che la fissano dall'atmosfera tramite la fotosintesi e la trasformano in sostanza organica, che è alla base della catena alimentare e quindi della vita sul nostro pianeta. Per questo occorre studiare come le piante coltivate si adatteranno alle condizioni di CO2 elevata e selezionare varietà che, meglio di altre, siano capaci di crescere e produrre nelle nuove condizioni climatiche.
Con il finanziamento della fondazione AGER (Agroalimentare e Ricerca), il Consiglio per la Ricerca e la sperimentazione in Agricoltura (CRA) - Centro per la Genomica di Fiorenzuola d’Arda e Centro per la Cerealicoltura di Foggia, in collaborazione con il CNR - Istituto di Biometeorologia di Firenze, e l'ENEA - Laboratorio Biotecnologie Verdi di Roma, ha realizzato un esperimento denominato “FACE” (Free Air CO2 Enrichment), che permette di studiare l’effetto dell’aumento della CO2 atmosferica sulla crescita del frumento duro in condizioni di campo aperto.
Il frumento duro è alla base della filiera della pasta e l'Italia è all'avanguardia in questa filiera, dalla produzione di sementi alla coltivazione, alla trasformazione. Per mantenere questa posizione competitiva, è importante comprendere gli effetti dei cambiamenti climatici sulla produzione. Nel corso di due anni di sperimentazione, l'esperimento FACE ha analizzato il comportamento di 12 varietà di frumento duro, cresciute in condizioni di campo in un’atmosfera contenente circa 570 ppm di CO2 (la concentrazione attesa per il 2050). I primi risultati hanno dimostrato un generale aumento di biomassa vegetale e di granella. Tuttavia, analisi più approfondite hanno dimostrato una diminuzione del contenuto proteico e quindi una minore qualità della pasta ottenuta dalla semola. Inoltre, le analisi del metabolismo delle piante effettuate presso l'ENEA hanno messo in evidenza la diminuzione significativa, nella granella ottenuta in condizioni di CO2 elevata, di una serie di sostanze a funzione nutrizionale (amminoacidi, fosfolipidi) o protettiva (insetticidi naturali).
Nello stesso tempo è stata riscontrata, nelle diverse varietà analizzate, una variabilità genetica nelle risposte alla CO2 elevata, che lascia sperare sulla possibilità di realizzare, tramite miglioramento genetico assistito, nuove varietà di grano duro, adattate a condizioni di CO2 elevata.
L'ENEA ha una forte tradizione sul miglioramento genetico del frumento duro ed è un punto di riferimento internazionale sulla genomica delle piante agrarie.
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La competitività dell’industria italiana hi-tech chiave di successo per l’aggiudicazione delle forniture per la costruzione del reattore sperimentale a fusione ITER
780 milioni di euro per la fornitura componenti ad alto contenuto tecnologico e 18 milioni in attività di ricerca e sviluppo, acquisiti attraverso gare competitive della Fusion For Energy, l’Agenzia europea istituita nel 2007: sono questi i numeri della partecipazione italiana a ITER, il progetto trentennale per la costruzione e la sperimentazione di un reattore a fusione, a Cadarache in Francia, frutto di un accordo di collaborazione tra Europa, Stati Uniti, Giappone, Russia, Cina, India e Corea del Sud.
In un incontro a Milano che si è tenuto alla presenza di oltre 150 imprese, ENEA, Confindustria Lombardia e il Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster hanno illustrato gli ottimi risultati finora ottenuti dalla partecipazione delle imprese italiane, a conferma dello straordinario livello di competitività del nostro sistema, che ha saputo superare la forte concorrenza delle industrie europee in un campo ad alta tecnologia altamente qualificante.
Durante l’incontro sono state evidenziate le opportunità imprenditoriali che potranno essere colte nei prossimi anni: al momento, infatti, sono stati investiti poco più della metà dei fondi a disposizione per le imprese europee e si prevedono nuovi appalti per oltre 2,3 miliardi di euro. I bandi per la realizzazione del reattore sperimentale a fusione ancora da assegnare riguarderanno componenti ad alta tecnologia - garantendo quindi una concreta opportunità anche per le piccole e medie imprese italiane operanti nell’hi-tech - ma riguarderanno anche tutte quelle imprese operanti in settori più tradizionali che vogliano affrontare nuove sfide.
Alberto Ribolla, Presidente di Confindustria Lombardia e di Lombardy Energy Cleantech Cluster, ha dichiarato: “Il Progetto ITER rappresenta una straordinaria opportunità per le imprese italiane e lombarde. I successi registrati fino ad oggi sono il risultato di un grande lavoro svolto in collaborazione tra aziende, centri di ricerca, università e istituzioni: il modello vincente dell’ecosistema-cluster che stiamo cercando il più possibile di promuovere. Solo attraverso il lavoro di squadra le imprese, in particolare quelle del settore dell’impiantistica e legate all’energia, possono concorrere in modo efficace sui mercati interni ed esteri”.
SEGUE SECONDA PARTE
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SECONDA PARTE
“La collaborazione tra soggetti diversi – ha proseguito Ribolla – è utile anche e soprattutto per agevolare la conoscenza di strategiche quanto talvolta poco conosciute occasioni di business: l’incontro di oggi è servito a far conoscere le opportunità offerte da ITER, un Progetto altamente tecnologico dal forte respiro internazionale ma a pochi passi da casa. La forza del sistema imprenditoriale italiano si gioca infatti sulla specializzazione dei prodotti e non nella standardizzazione dei grandi numeri, ed è in questa arena che possiamo competere e vincere”.
Giovanni Lelli, Commissario dell’ENEA, ha dichiarato: “Conscia dell’importanza per un Paese come il nostro di trovare nella competitività dei suoi prodotti high-tech la chiave di volta per affrontare e vincere le grandi sfide di una economia sempre più globalizzata, l’ENEA è impegnata da decenni ad attivare le indispensabili sinergie con il settore dell’industria e quello della formazione. Lo straordinario successo ottenuto dall’Italia nella partecipazione al progetto ITER, uno dei più complessi ed ambiziosi mai affrontati dal genere umano, dimostra inequivocabilmente come la strada tracciata da ENEA nella direzione di accrescere la competitività del Paese è quella giusta, il che significa aprire nuovi orizzonti ai nostri giovani migliori e al contempo non solo consolidare la leadership di quella parte della nostra industria già affermata, ma dare opportunità di crescita a quelle piccole e medie imprese che hanno bisogno di accrescere il loro livello competitivo. Auspico – ha aggiunto Lelli – che questo esempio diventi un modello a cui i decisori istituzionali facciano riferimento nel definire quelle strategie che devono rilanciare il nostro Paese verso una crescita solida e duratura”.
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ENERGIA DAL MARE, LE NUOVE TECNOLOGIE
Sono entrati oramai nel gergo comune: green economy e blue economy. ‘Colori’ diversi per una uguale finalità, la salvaguardia dell’ambiente. E non solo. “L’elaborazione di una strategia in grado di stimolare l’energia blu è uno degli obiettivi per il rilancio dell’economia e dell’occupazione in Europa” è quanto ha dichiarato Giovanni Lelli, Commissario dell’Enea in apertura della due giorni del secondo workshop nazionale sull’energia dal mare. Obiettivo del convegno organizzato dall’Enea nell'ambito dell'Accordo di programma con il ministero dello Sviluppo economico: accelerare lo sviluppo del settore stimolando la collaborazione tra imprese e centri di ricerca.
Sul tavolo dei relatori i dati, quei numeri che dovrebbero stimolare l’impegno di tutti: in Europa l'energia generata dal mare raggiungerà una potenza installata di circa 3,6 Gigawatt (GW) entro il 2020 e 188 GW entro il 2050. Stime registrate dall'European ocean energy association per ribadire che “lo sfruttamento dell'energia del mare – si legge nella relazione – rappresenta uno dei punti prioritari del Piano d'azione messo a punto dalla commissione Europea” per lo sviluppo della Blue economy ma anche – ed è collegato – per la crescita economica e la creazione di nuovi posti di lavoro.
E l’Italia nella mappa delle stime europee si posiziona bene grazie alla sua configurazione geografica: 8.000 chilometri di costa che garantiscono quei vantaggi legato allo sfruttamento di questa fonte di energia alternativa. Eppure proprio in Italia lo sfruttamento energetico di onde, correnti e maree si è sviluppato soltanto negli ultimi anni. Ora però si guarda avanti con più ottimismo, come dire i tempi sono maturi, grazie alla realizzazione di impianti e dispositivi sperimentali in grado di ricavare il massimo del potenziale energetico dal Mediterraneo che, a causa della sua specificità di mare chiuso, richiede
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Researchers have combined two spectroscopy technologies — 2D-electronic and 2D-infrared — to simultaneously monitor the electronic and molecular dynamics of photochemical reactions. The combined electronic-vibrational spectroscopy technique can be used to study a wide variety of molecular behavior, from the effect of atomic sound waves on carbon nanotubes to how pigment proteins work in the human eye.
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Tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy used to identify inks
The inks on historical documents can hold many secrets. Its ingredients can help trace trade routes and help understand a work’s historical significance. And knowing how the ink breaks down can help cultural heritage scientists preserve valuable treasures. In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society ("Tip-Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (TERS) for in Situ Identification of Indigo and Iron Gall Ink on Paper"), researchers report the development of a new, non-destructive method that can identify many types of inks on various papers and other surfaces.
A better way to analyze inks could help preserve treasured historical documents.Richard Van Duyne, Nilam Shah and colleagues explain that the challenge for analyzing inks on historical documents is that there’s often very little of it to study.
Another complication is that plant- or insect-based inks, as well as some synthetic ones, are composed of organic molecules, which break down easily when exposed to light.
Current methods are not very specific or sensitive or can leave a residue on a document. To address these issues, the research team set out to develop a different way to analyze and identify historical inks.
They used the novel method, called tip-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (TERS), to analyze indigo and iron gall inks on freshly dyed rice papers. They also studied ink on a letter written in the 19th century. “This proof-of-concept work confirms the analytical potential of TERS as a new spectroscopic tool for cultural heritage applications that can identify organic colorants in artworks with high sensitivity, high spatial resolution, and minimal invasiveness,” say the researchers.
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The ASTM F2998 standard, available now from IHS, is meant to serve as a guide for developing methods to reliably measure the area to which cells spread at a surface. This surface can be conventional tissue culture polystyrene or sophisticated engineered biomaterial surfaces. The measurement described is based on the use of fluorescence microscopy imaging of fixed cells and the use of image analysis algorithms to extract relevant data from the images.
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Using fluorescence microscopy and an extracellular matrix model made out of alginate gel, researchers at Harvard have identified how breast tissue density may contribute to the development of breast cancer. The system can also be used to study many other biological processes, including characterizing stem cells and analyzing how wounds heal.
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Researchers successfully 3D print blood vessels, a ‘game changer’ for artificial organs
Hundreds of thousands of people die annually because the demand for organs far exceeds the donor supply. Artificial organs could save those lives — and scientists just made a huge breakthrough in the field by “bio-printing” artificial vascular networks.
Researchers from the University of Sydney, MIT, Harvard, and Stanford have successfully bio-printed blood vessels, offering 3D-printed organs access to nutrients, oxygen, and waste-disposal routes, according to a study published Monday.
“While recreating little parts of tissues in the lab is something that we have already been able to do, the possibility of printing three-dimensional tissues with functional blood capillaries in the blink of an eye is a game changer,” said Dr. Luiz Bertassoni, the study’s lead author and a University of Sydney researcher.
To 3D print vascular networks, the researchers fabricated fine, interconnected fibers with an advanced bioprinter. Then they coated those fibers with human endothelial cells — these sit between circulating blood and vessel walls in the interior of blood vessels — and subsequently applied a protein-based material. They hardened the whole structure with light, then delicately removed the fibers, leaving behind a complex network of hollow cell material. After a week, those cells organized themselves into stable capillaries.
Cells inside the bioprinted vascular networks survived, differentiated, and proliferated at better rates than cells that received no nutrient supply, the study found.
“Imagine being able to walk into a hospital and have a full organ printed — or bio-printed, as we call it — with all the cells, proteins, and blood vessels in the right place, simply by pushing the ‘print’ button on your computer screen,” said Bertassoni.
That’s still “far away,” he said, but this new research is a key advancement toward achieving that goal.
Scientists have had some earlier success growing blood vessels in labs, engineering veins by taking donated blood vessel cells and placing them on tubular, biodegradable scaffolding. But 3D printing technology could make the process substantially more feasible by increasing speed and cutting costs.
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A servire i clienti ci pensa il cameriere-robot
Un cameriere robot che serve i clienti al tavolo. E’ la trovata che ha fatto incrementare i clienti di un ristorante in Cina. Una iniziativa lanciata a Guangzhou nel sud del Paese durante la festa delle lanterne.
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La necessità di produrre biomassa per uso energetico sfruttando il periodo invernale ha aperto nuovi destini alle produzioni del triticale. ENEA e ISEA hanno depositato il 17 giugno 2014 il brevetto per una nuova varietà di triticale, denominata "Quirinale", che ha due caratteristiche fondamentali: produttività elevata e una buona resistenza a freddo e principali malattie.
La varietà Quirinale, per la sua resistenza alle avversità, la capacità di mantenere in un buono stato vegetativo le foglie basali fino alla maturazione cerosa del seme, la grande capacità produttiva, è sicuramente una delle varietà più versatili e adattabili alle diverse esigenze produttive: granella, insilato, biomassa per uso energetico.
La varietà, detta a “a portamento prostrato”, è stata ottenuta mediante incrocio semplice della linea Triticale 1 x Triticale 105 reperite nell'altopiano di Leonessa (Rieti) con successiva selezione secondo il metodo pedigree. Presenta una spiga lunga tra i 120-130 cm.
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People who have lost an arm can now perform everyday tasks with the help of Dean Kamen's "Luke Arm." The device's onboard computer takes sensor measurements of muscle activity in the shoulder and translates them into control inputs. The prosthesis can perform multiple, simultaneous movements, with the wrist and fingers adjusting positions to perform six different user-selectable grips.
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Eco Marine Power's Aquarius USV (unmanned surface vessel) will be a trimaran covered with "marine grade" solar cells to charge its Li-ion batteries. The craft is designed for monitoring and data collection for applications such as coastal patrol, pollution monitoring, and oceanographic surveys. With a beam of 8 m (26.2 ft), the 5 m (16.4 ft) long craft will cruise at up to six knots.
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A new technique featuring near-infrared fluorescence laser imaging measures structures and flow throughout the lymphatic system in real time, even in the tiniest of vessels. Developed at the University of Texas Health Science Center, the device visualizes the lymphatic capillaries in concert with a dye that fluoresces when illuminated by a laser diode. Compared to current methods, the device is faster and less invasive. Learn about key benefits beyond early diagnosis.
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Schermi arrotolabili, ecco la tv del futuro
Da Lg due prototipi di schermi per televisori dal design unico
Televisori avveniristici, con schermi da 50 pollici e oltre, trasparenti come il vetro e avvolgibili come un cartoncino. A immaginarli così, per un futuro prossimo, è il colosso Lg, che sta lavorando sulla trasparenza e la flessibilità dei display per portare in salotto le tv di nuova generazione. L'azienda ha svelato due prototipi di display a tecnologia Oled, che offre schermi più luminosi ed efficienti rispetto agli Lcd perché non necessitano di retroilluminazione.
Il primo è trasparente, il secondo tanto flessibile da essere arrotolabile, ma la casa sudcoreana punta a unire le due caratteristiche in un unico schermo da 60 pollici entro il 2017. I prototipi, spiega LG, ''dimostrano che in futuro potremo portare sul mercato tv avvolgibili da oltre 50 pollici''.
Se piani di produzione ancora non ce ne sono, i sudcoreani si dicono convinti che i televisori con schermi arrotolabili e trasparenti saranno il prossimo trend, in un mercato in cui a fare la differenza sarà sempre di più l'unicità e la particolarità del design. E se uno schermo avvolgibile sembra avere, almeno per ora, solo la funzione di stupire gli amici, la trasparenza può rendere la presenza della tv più omogenea nell'arredamento, ad esempio prendendo, quando è spenta, un colore simile a quello delle pareti.
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Creare nuove bioplastiche usando la lignina, un idrocarburo complesso che si trova negli alberi e più in generale nelle piante. A cimentarsi con successo nell'impresa è stata l'azienda Biome Bioplastics che ha dimostrato la fattibilità di estrazione dei prodotti chimici organici dalla lignina per la produzione di plastiche bio.
Da oltre 30 anni, i ricercatori sono alla ricerca di un metodo sostenibile per estrarre le sostanze chimiche dalla lignina. In precedenza, sono stati utilizzati dei metodi chimici ottenendo però scarse quantità di materiali. La novità della ricerca britannica sta nell'utilizzo dei batteri. Grazie a quelli presenti nel suolo, infatti, è possibile manipolare il processo di degradazione della lignina per controllare le sostanze chimiche prodotte.
L'azienda di Southampton, nel Regno Unito, ha iniziato la ricerca grazie ad un finanziamento della Technology Strategy Board, assegnato a un consorzio guidato da Biome Bioplasticsnei primi mesi del 2013 per studiare la lignina come nuova fonte di sostanze chimiche organiche volta a ridurre i costi e aumentare le prestazioni di questi materiali sostenibili.
Come? Sfruttandone alcune caratteristiche. La lignina è un idrocarburo complesso che fornisce il supporto strutturale agli alberi. Tagliare gli alberi per appropriarsene? Tutt'altro. Quella utilizzata da Biome Bioplastrics utilizzerebbe i prodotti di scarto dell'industria della cellulosa e della carta, molto abbondanti. Una materia prima basso costo in grado di dare vita a prodotti chimici ad alte prestazioni che potrebbero fornire la base per la prossima generazione di bioplastiche.
La ricerca è stata condotta in collaborazione col team del Centro di Biotecnologia dell'Università di Warwick, guidato dal professor Tim Bugg. Gli scienziati hanno lavorato per sviluppare metodi per controllare la composizione della lignina utilizzando i batteri ed estrarre le sostanze chimiche in quantità significative.
Il progetto ha dimostrato con successo che i batteri possono essere efficaci nella degradazione selettiva di lignina e che la ripartizione può essere controllata e migliorata utilizzando la biologia sintetica. In laboratorio, ciò che i ricercatori hanno ottenuto è stata una grande quantità di sostanze chimiche biologiche.
I primi test hanno dimostrato la possibilità della loro lavorazione e produzione su scala industriale, suggerendo la fattibilità commerciale dell'utilizzo dei prodotti chimici derivati dalla lignina come alternativa ai loro omologhi petrolchimici.
“Siamo estremamente soddisfatti dei primi risultati dello studio di fattibilità, che mostrano una forte promessa per l'integrazione nelle nostre linee di prodotto. Guardando al futuro, ci aspettiamo che la disponibilità di un polimero ad alte prestazioni, realizzato economicamente da fonti rinnovabili, aumenti considerevolmente il mercato della bioplastica,” ha detto Paul Mines, CEO di Biome Bioplastics.
La prossima fase del progetto tenterà di incrementare i rendimenti di questi prodotti chimici organici utilizzando diverse tipologie di batteri.
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SCOPERTI CORALLI BIANCHI VIVI NEL MAR LIGURE ORIENTALE
Formazioni di coralli bianchi vivi appartenenti alla specie Madrepora oculata a 560 metri di profondità nei fondali davanti Punta Mesco alle Cinque Terre (La Spezia): questa la scoperta della campagna oceanografica condotta dai ricercatori del Centro Ricerche Ambiente Marino dell’ENEA di S. Teresa (La Spezia) e dalla Marina Militare.
L’attività di ricerca è stata condotta a bordo di nave “Leonardo”, unità polivalente di ricerca costiera della Marina Militare, con l’impiego del Remoted Operative Vehicle (ROV) “Pegaso” del Gruppo Operativo Subacquei del Comando Subacquei ed Incursori (COMSUBIN).
ENEA e Marina Militare collaborano al progetto di ricerca dei coralli bianchi di profondità da ottobre 2013. La ricerca prende avvio dalla preziosa collaborazione con l’Istituto Idrografico della Marina Militare e l’eccellente contributo del suo personale tecnico e scientifico. Durante questa fase le prospezioni geofisiche sono state svolte a bordo delle navi idrografiche “Magnaghi” e “Aretusa” e le indagini sono state dirette con ROV “Pluto Gigas” - in dotazione al cacciamine “Milazzo” del Comando delle Forze di Contromisure Mine (COMFORDRAG) della Marina Militare - che ha permesso di identificare l’area dove sono stati rinvenuti i banchi di corallo bianco.
Oltre ad aggiornare la distribuzione dei coralli bianchi nei mari italiani, tale ritrovamento offre un punto di partenza per ulteriori indagini nell’area, dove sono state segnalate altre formazioni madreporiche, e pone le basi per l’identificazione di appropriate misure di salvaguardia di questi ecosistemi di elevata biodiversità ma molto vulnerabili.
I coralli bianchi possono essere paragonati a delle vere e proprie oasi nel deserto, in quanto offrono riparo e alimentazione a molte specie. Si è infatti stimato che i reef di coralli bianchi ospitano una diversità biologica tre volte più elevata di quella dell’ambiente circostante.
La scoperta di questi ecosistemi, così peculiari e punti focali di biodiversità negli fondi batiali, permetterà alla comunità scientifica di aggiornare i programmi di ricerca nazionali ed europei sul corallo bianco e alla Marina di confermare le capacità dual-use delle sue componenti operative di maggior pregio.
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XIMEA and imec announce collaboration on hyperspectral imaging camera
XIMEA and imec have announced a project in which imec’s hyperspectral imaging sensors will be integrated into XIMEA’s xiQ USB 3.0 cameras.
Interoperability between the cameras and sensor streamlined the success of the integration, according to the press release.
“Combining imec's hyperspectral sensor with XIMEA’s impressively compact xiQ cameras is a new milestone for us. The high-speed USB3.0 interface includes power supply over USB that removes the need for expensive and bulky frame-grabbers and separate power supplies. It will enable our partners to design and mass-produce extremely compact hyperspectral imaging camera solutions” stated Andy Lambrechts, program manager for imaging & vision systems at imec.
Imec applies narrow-band spectral filters at pixel-level using semiconductor thin-film processing to enable compact hyperspectral imaging sensors to be produced in volume. The hyperspectral images are available in a 100 bands line scan design, 32 bands snapshot tiled design, and a new snapshot mosaic designs featuring 16 bands in a matrix of 4x4 per-pixel filters, according to imec.
xiQ USB 3.0 cameras from XIMEA are currently available in five models (with a six on the way), all of which have CMOS image sensors and range in size from VGA to 2048 x 2048 pixels. XIMEA’s most recent USB 3.0 model, the MQ003MG-CM (mono) / MQ003CG-CM (color) camera features a 1/3” CMOSIS CMV300 CMOS image sensor with 7.4 µm x 7.4 µm pixel size, VGA array, and a maximum frame rate of 500 fps. xiQ cameras come with xiAPI software, which is compatible with more than 30 image processing libraries and packages, including Cognex, ImagePro, NI LabVIEW, Matrox MIL, and MVTec Halcon.
The xiQ series of cameras, according to XIMEA, are the world’s smallest industrial USB3 Vision and hyperspectral imaging cameras, at just 26.4 x 26.4 x 21.6 mm total dimension and a weight of just 27 grams.
Jerome Baron, business development manager at imec, noted that hyperspectral imaging is not new in the world of high-rend remote sensing instruments, such as satellites and UAVs.
"We are excited by this new partnership with XIMEA as it will bring this unique technology into the hands of the numerous drone and UAVs companies that want to fly compact multispectral / hyperspectral imaging cameras to serve the emerging precision farming industry," he said.
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Sensor measures eye pressure for improved glaucoma control
University of Washington engineers have designed a low-power sensor that could be placed permanently in a person’s eye to track changes in eye pressure.
According to the university, the sensor would be embedded with an artificial lens during cataract surgery and would detect pressure changes instantaneously, then transmit the data wirelessly using radio frequency waves.
The researchers recently published their results in the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering and filed patents on an initial prototype of the pressure-monitoring device.
The device would be placed in an artificial lens with its antenna circling the perimeter, and the sensor and radio frequency chip inside
‘No one has ever put electronics inside the lens of the eye, so this is a little more radical,’ said Karl Böhringer, a UW professor of electrical engineering and of bioengineering. ‘We have shown this is possible in principle. If you can fit this sensor device into an intraocular lens implant during cataract surgery, it won’t require any further surgery for patients.’
The research team wanted to find an easy way to measure eye pressure for management of glaucoma, a group of diseases that damage the eye’s optic nerve and can cause blindness. There are currently two ways to check eye pressure, but both require a visit to the ophthalmologist. At most, patients at risk for glaucoma may only get their pressure checked several times a year, said Tueng Shen, a collaborator and UW professor of ophthalmology.
If ophthalmologists could insert a pressure monitoring system in the eye with an artificial lens during cataract surgery – now a common procedure performed on three million to four million people each year to remove blurry vision or glare caused by a hazy lens – that could save patients from a second surgery and essentially make their replacement lens ‘smarter’ and more functional.
In use, a thin, circular antenna spans the perimeter of the device – roughly tracing a person’s iris – and harnesses enough energy from the surrounding field to power a small pressure sensor chip. The chip communicates with a receiver about any shifts in frequency, which signify a change in pressure. Actual pressure is then calculated and those changes are tracked and recorded in real-time.
The chip’s processing mechanism is very simple, leaving the computational heavy lifting to the nearby receiver, which could be a handheld device or possibly built into a smartphone, Böhringer said in a statement.
The current prototype is larger than it would need to be to fit into an artificial lens, but the research team believes it can be downscaled through more engineering. The team has tested the sensing device embedded in the same flexible silicon material that’s used to create artificial lenses in cataract surgeries.
The team is now working on downscaling the prototype to be tested in an actual artificial lens. Designing a final product that’s affordable for patients is the ultimate goal, researchers said.
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Purificazione dell'idrogeno: ENEA brevetta un sistema di riscaldamento a induzione per membrane metalliche
L’ENEA ha brevettato un sistema di riscaldamento a induzione per membrane metalliche tubolari, sviluppato presso i laboratori del Centro di Frascati, da utilizzare in permeatori che purificano purificazione l'idrogeno da miscele gassose o in reattori a membrana dove viene prodotto idrogeno a partire da reazioni di deidrogenazione.
Questo nuovo sistema permette di ridurre i consumi energetici di circa il 50% rispetto ai sistemi di riscaldamento tradizionali (utilizzo di resistenze elettriche esterne, forni, ecc.). Infatti, con questa tecnologia il riscaldamento è confinato alla sola membrana metallica evitando così di scaldare il modulo del reattore e altri componenti del dispositivo. Inoltre, questo sistema è caratterizzato da un’elevata flessibilità operativa in quanto permette di realizzare e modificare in maniera semplice il profilo di temperatura lungo la membrana (ad esempio, variando la distanza tra le spire dell’induttore o cambiando il circuito elettrico di alimentazione delle spire stesse). L’adozione di uno specifico profilo di temperatura è molto importante in numerose applicazioni. È questo il caso di una membrana tubolare utilizzata in un reattore dove hanno luogo diverse reazioni chimiche a temperature diverse.
Dispositivo sperimentale realizzato e caratterizzato presso i laboratori di Frascati
Il sistema sviluppato è stato validato mediante prove di laboratorio condotte sia con sistemi di riscaldamento a induzione commerciali e sia con un sistema di riscaldamento a induzione progettato e realizzato nei laboratori ENEA.
Più in generale, il sistema brevettato può trovare applicazione nella realizzazione di separatori e reattori a membrana che utilizzano tubi permeatori in lega metallica. L'utilizzo di queste membrane si va diffondendo sempre più nelle applicazioni dove è richiesta la produzione di idrogeno ultra-puro, per esempio per impieghi in celle a combustibile di tipo PEM.
Tra i potenziali soggetti interessati al brevetto vi sono le aziende che operano nel settore della separazione e produzione di idrogeno ultra puro (ad esempio, generatori di idrogeno per applicazioni di laboratorio)
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Can’t Touch This! Revolutionizing Contactless Health Care
Recording a full set of vital signs is a crucial component in patient care, but not all vital signs are easy to measure. The respiratory rate (RR) is measured by using devices that rely on patient contact to monitor respiration, which leads to various drawbacks. As nurses and doctors work around these problems, the Medical Electronics Engineering Research Group (MEERG) at Sheffield Hallam University plans to revolutionize respiration monitoring with a noncontact medical device they designed and developed.
The 4FA device uses infrared imaging to monitor patient respiratory rates. This reduces patient discomfort, inaccurate recording due to patient movement, and set-up complexity. MEERG used NI LabVIEW software to capture 25 thermal images per second from an infrared camera. With LabVIEW, complex image processing can track the effects of inhaling and exhaling on the skin of the human body, allowing medical professionals to analyze respiration patterns. The 4FA uses four stages to determine the respiration rate: image acquisition and subject segmentation, face detection and tracking, eye corner detection, and nose detection and extraction of respiration feature.
The 4FA medical device is undergoing clinical trials at the Sheffield Children’s Hospital. So far, it has increased the accuracy of respiratory monitoring in children by 50 percent. Nurses, doctors, and even patients can now breathe easy and let contactless respiration monitors take it from here.
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Le università italiane e romene rispondono all’invito a collaborare al progetto ALFRED, il dimostratore di reattore nucleare di nuova generazione che non produce scorie a lunga vita.
ALFRED (Advanced Lead Fast Reactor European Demonstrator) è il primo progetto di reattore nucleare di nuova generazione interamente concepito e gestito da una comunità paneuropea di ricercatori, destinato a diventare un parco tecnologico accessibile a tutti i ricercatori europei per studi ed applicazioni sulla tecnologia dei reattori veloci refrigerati a piombo. Si tratta di un dimostratore di una nuova tipologia di reattori, capaci di garantire livelli di sicurezza senza precedenti e non produrre scorie a lunga vita, vale a dire quelle che devono essere stoccate all’interno di formazioni geologiche. Grazie al contributo di fondi infrastrutturali dell’Unione europea, sarà sviluppato, progettato e realizzato in Romania dal consorzio internazionale FALCON (Fostering ALfred CONstruction), costituito lo scorso dicembre da Ansaldo Nucleare, ENEA e ICN (l’Istituto romeno per le ricerche nucleari).
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Modeling the Effects of Wind Turbines on Radar Returns
Wind turbines located near radar installations can
significantly interfere with a radar’s ability to detect its
intended targets. In order to better understand and mitigate the adverse effects of wind turbines on radar, the government and wind farm community need tools that can be used to analyze the radar returns from wind turbines. Remcom’s XGtd® software is a high frequency solver capable of calculating the radar cross section of electrically large objects.
Interference from wind turbines is predicted
using XGtd simulations and new post-processing algorithms that calculate Doppler shift quantities based on points of interaction with the rotating turbine blades. Results of the analysis are used to calculate the bistatic radar cross section and Doppler shift from two blade orientations. In addition, the time-varying monostatic radar cross section and Doppler shift for a single wind turbine are analyzed and shown to agree well
with measured data from actual wind turbines.
Several studies and reports have documented the adverse
effect that wind turbines and wind farms have on radar
returns, including long range radar, air traffic control,
and weather radar. Their impact can be summarized by
three major effects:
• Large Size: wind turbine heights can reach 198
meters, including max blade height. This results in
large radar cross-section, and potential for detection
at long ranges.
• Rotational velocity similar to aircraft: with rotor
diameters between 40 and 126 meters spinning at 12-
34 RPM (typically at the lower end for larger blades),
blade tip velocities can exceed 150 Knots,
comparable to a slower aircraft such as a Cessna.
• Wind Farm Sizes: with the number and size of farms
growing (some now exceed 1,000 turbines), potential
radar clutter can be very significant.
Il Dott. Giuseppe Cotellessa è un grande esempio per molti un vero Genio Italiano, un grande Maestro.
Ilaria Di Meo
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Eliminating space-consuming batteries and storing their energy elsewhere could lead to smaller electronics and lighter and less-costly electric vehicles. In fact, researchers at the University of Central Florida have created a new copper wire that uses nanotechnology to both transmit and store energy. In effect, they created a supercapacitor on the outside of a single wire by growing "nanowhiskers" and then treating them with an alloy that transforms them into an electrode. With some additional work, the researchers believe the technique will transfer to other materials as well.
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Flames in space promise better engines on Earth
A heptane droplet is ignited in the FLEX chamber on the International Space Station. Igniters ignite the droplet. The hot or conventional flame then burns for a short time before extinguishing. This is then followed by a prolonged period of cool flame burning, which is invisible to all the cameras on the ISS. Researchers had to infer the fact that the droplet was still burning from the other diagnostics and associated theoretical work
A better understanding of the cool flames’ chemistry could help improve internal combustion engines in cars, for example by developing homogenous-charge compression ignition that could potentially lead to engines that burn fuel at cooler temperatures, emitting fewer pollutants while still being efficient.
Screen shots taken during one of the FLEX experiments
During the experiments, researchers ignited large droplets of heptane fuel. Initially, the flames looked as if they’d been extinguished - as they would have on Earth - but sensors showed that the heptane was still burning, although the resulting cool flames were invisible to the eye.
The cool flames occurred in a wide range of environments, including air similar to the Earth’s atmosphere and atmospheres diluted with nitrogen, carbon dioxide and helium. The resulting combustion reaction creates toxic products, such as carbon monoxide and formaldehyde, which in turn burn off.
Researchers believe that the cool flames are the result of elementary chemical reactions that do not have the time to develop around burning fuel droplets on Earth, where they can only exist for a very short period of time.
The difference between Earth and the space station is buoyancy. When droplets of fuel burn on Earth, buoyancy limits the amount of time gases can hang around in the high temperature zone around the droplets so there isn’t enough time for the droplets’ chemistry to support the cool flames. In micro-gravity, however, there is no buoyancy, which helps provide enough time for the gases to stay around the droplets and for that chemistry to develop.
The challenge for future applications is to get the right mix of fuels to generate this cool flame combustion here on Earth. To investigate this question, NASA is planning a new series of experiments dubbed called Cool Flame Investigation, starting next winter and continuing for about a year.
The research team, including scientists from UC San Diego, the University of Connecticut, NASA, Princeton, the University of South Carolina, UC Davis, and Cornell, conducted their experiments by remote control from NASA’s John Glenn Research Center in Cleveland.
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Nanotube Transistor is on Right Track
For over two decades, IBM has tried nearly every possible way to a make a 1.4 nm carbon nanotube the successor to the silicon transistor channel. Now, the technology giant has some new tricks up its sleeve. As a result, eetimes.com reports that IBM is on the right track in fulfilling its nanotube transistor mission by 2020.
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Scientists at the University of Southern California have developed a water-based organic battery that is long lasting and is built from cheap, eco-friendly components. According to the researchers, the new battery can last for about 5,000 recharge cycles, giving it an estimated 15-year lifespan. The developers believe that such organic flow batteries will be game-changers for grid electrical energy storage in terms of simplicity, cost, reliability, and sustainability.
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A team of Israeli researchers has developed a chemically modified chip that can remotely detect explosives at concentrations as low as a few molecules per 1,000 trillion. Outperforming current detection technologies, this small sensing platform can rapidly detect various explosive species. The fingerprinting of explosives is accomplished by identifying patterns of interaction established between the chemically modified nanodevice and the molecular analytes under test.
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Pisa sviluppa i primi robot marini
Ecco i polpi Octopus e Poseidrone
Polpi sintetici all’avanguardia nella robotica. Serviranno per pulire ed esplorare il mare, monitorare le acque e pure per operazioni di soccorso.
Sono ancora neonati Octopus e Poseidrone, eppure hanno già battuto tre record mondiali. Sono le prime creature artificiali marine realizzati in Italia, hanno natali labronico-pisani e ancor prima di compiere mirabilie hi-tech hanno conquistato una pagina del New York Times. Sono stati realizzati dai giovani ricercatori dell’Istituto di BioRobotica della Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa. I laboratori si trovano negli edifici dello “Scoglio della Regina”, storico belvedere del lungomare livornese dove, non senza critiche e contestazioni, è stata avviata una imponente ristrutturazione che, secondo alcuni critici, avrebbe oscurato una parte di panorama e deturpato un luogo storico di Livorno anche se in stato di abbandono.
Robot marini dal «corpo» morbido
Sono robot flessibili, Octopus e Poseidrone, una specie di polpi sintetici che seguono una filosofia costruttiva diversa da quella dei “soliti” automi tutti acciaio e plastiche fino ad oggi conosciuti. I due neonati sono stati creati con materiali morbidi che li rendono, come sostengono i ricercatori della Sat’Anna, «flessibili, morbidi, scattanti». Non è una novità: l’università di Pisa (professor Antonio Bicchi) ha già costruito macchine “soffici”, utilissime anche nell’impiego industriale (prevengono gli infortuni), però l’intuizione dei robot marini è certamente un passo in avanti nella robotica, scienza ancora agli albori. Da anni Cecilia Laschi, direttore vicario dell’Istituto di BioRobotica e la sua equipe, studiano polpi marini e altri animali e cercano di replicarli in modo artificiale. Il progetto, finito sul NYT, è finanziato dall’Unione Europea ed è nato per «carpire i segreti che nascondono la destrezza del polpo, per riprodurli in una nuova tipologia di robot marini dal “corpo” morbido – spiegano i ricercatori - e permettere poi lo sviluppo di complesse applicazioni marine, come per esempio la pulizia del mare, l’esplorazione, il monitoraggio delle acque e perfino operazioni di soccorso».
Progetti all’avanguardia
Le due macchine sono molte suggestive e fanno sognare. Però i due progetti devono essere ancora perfezionati. Oggi Octopus e Poseidrone sono poco più che “giocattoli scientifici”, ma la ricerca continua. Riusciranno ad avere abilità in un futuro molto prossimo? Gli scienziati si dividono. Fino ad oggi, almeno in Italia, i robot (non industriali) costruiti non possono competere neppure con l’intelligenza di un insetto. E i vari automi spazzino, badante, e calciatori non riescono a soddisfare i compiti assegnati in modo adeguato. Il cammino è lungo, ma la ricerca italiana sembra essere all’avanguardia. Una buona notizia, finalmente.
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An efficient route to manufacturing nanomaterials with light through plasmon-induced laser-threading of gold nanoparticle strings.
A new method of building materials using light, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, could one day enable technologies that are often considered the realm of science fiction, such as invisibility cloaks and cloaking devices.
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Catalyst converts carbon dioxide into fuel
Scientists from the University of Illinois at Chicago have synthesised a catalyst that improves their system for converting waste carbon dioxide into syngas, a precursor of petrol and other energy-rich products.
Amin Salehi-Khojin, UIC professor of mechanical and industrial engineering, and colleagues are said to have developed a unique two-step catalytic process that uses molybdenum disulphide and an ionic liquid to reduce - transfer electrons - to carbon dioxide in a chemical reaction. The new catalyst is claimed to improve efficiency and lower costs by replacing expensive metals such as gold or silver in the reduction reaction.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications on July 30, 2014.
The discovery is a big step toward industrialisation, said Mohammad Asadi, UIC graduate student and co-first author on the paper.
‘With this catalyst, we can directly reduce carbon dioxide to syngas without the need for a secondary, expensive gasification process,’ he said in a statement.
In other chemical-reduction systems, the only reaction product is carbon monoxide. The new catalyst produces syngas, a mixture of carbon monoxide plus hydrogen.
The high density of loosely bound, energetic d-electrons in molybdenum disulphide facilitates charge transfer, driving the reduction of the carbon dioxide, said Salehi-Khojin, principal investigator on the study.
‘This is a very generous material,’ he said. ‘We are able to produce a very stable reaction that can go on for hours.’
‘In comparison with other two-dimensional materials like graphene, there is no need to play with the chemistry of molybdenum disulphide, or insert any host materials to get catalytic activity,’ said Bijandra Kumar, UIC post-doctoral fellow and co-first author of the paper.
‘In noble metal catalysts like silver and gold, catalytic activity is determined by the crystal structure of the metal, but with molybdeneum disulphide, the catalytic activity is on the edges,’ said graduate student Amirhossein Behranginia, a co-author on the paper. ‘Fine-tuning of the edge structures is relatively simple. We can easily grow the molybdenum disulphide with the edges vertically aligned to offer better catalytic performance.’
The proportion of carbon monoxide to hydrogen in the syngas produced in the reaction can also be easily manipulated using the new catalyst, said Salehi-Khojin.
‘Our whole purpose is to move from laboratory experiments to real-world applications,’ he said. ‘This is a real breakthrough that can take a waste gas – carbon dioxide – and use inexpensive catalysts to produce another source of energy at large-scale, while making a healthier environment.
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Valanghe e terremoti , un drone ritrova le persone scomparse
Un piccolo drone vola in circolo nel cielo, con due potenti antenne intercetta i segnali emessi dai telefoni che cercano di connettersi a una rete wi-fi e invia a terra le rilevazioni. Qui un software indica sulla mappa dove sono gli apparecchi con dei segnaposto simili a quelli usati da Google. “Siamo arrivati a un’approssimazione di una decina di metri al massimo - dice uno degli ideatore del progetto, realizzato dal Mobile Communications Laboratory del Politecnico di Losanna, in Svizzera. Il drone potrebbe essere usato ad esempio per individuare le persone rimaste sepolte sotto le macerie di un terremoto o sotto la neve di una valanga: addirittura riesce a calcolare la profondità a cui si trovano a seconda dell’intensità del segnale.
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L’ENEA ENTRA NEL PROGRAMMA DI RICERCA SUL GAS DA SCISTO, DELL’ALLEANZA EUROPEA PER LA RICERCA SULL’ENERGIA (EERA)
L’ENEA è entrata a far parte del programma di ricerca sul gas da scisto (shale gas) dell’Alleanza Europea per la Ricerca sull’Energia (EERA - European Energy Research Alliance).
Il Joint Programme sullo shale gas di EERA intende creare una piattaforma di ricerca sul potenziale, sull’impatto e sulla sicurezza delle attività di esplorazione e produzione di gas da scisto in Europa. Le tecnologie e le metodologie esistenti saranno valutate e migliorate per stabilire una base di conoscenze indipendente a livello europeo.
Lo sfruttamento dei giacimenti di gas da scisto è un tema controverso a causa dell’impatto ambientale legato alle pratiche estrattive che richiedono il ricorso alla tecnica del fracking, vale a dire la frantumazione fino a 1 chilometro di profondità della roccia madre nel quale il gas da scisto è intrappolato, attraverso l’immissione di considerevoli quantità di acqua ad alta pressione e di additivi chimici per facilitare il processo. Le maggiori preoccupazioni su questo tipo di pratica estrattiva riguardano la contaminazione delle falde acquifere, l’emissione di gas serra e l’insorgere di fenomeni microsismici.
Le conclusioni a cui approderà il programma di ricerca serviranno come input sia per l’opinione pubblica che per le istituzioni nazionali ed europee chiamate a decidere sulle normative che regolano le attività produttive dello shale gas.
Il contributo dell’ENEA riguarderà lo sviluppo di sistemi innovativi per le prospezioni geologiche e per le analisi di laboratorio necessarie a identificare e classificare le riserve di shale gas, oltre allo studio dell’impatto ambientale e delle emissioni di gas serra associate alle pratiche di esplorazione e produzione.
Il Joint Programme sullo shale gas riunisce 26 partner provenienti da 15 Stati membri dell’Unione Europea; il Dipartimento di Geologia dell’Università Roma Tre e il Dipartimento di Fisica e Geologia dell’Università di Perugia sono gli altri partner italiani che collaboreranno con l’ENEA.
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Artificial Leaf Can Make Oxygen in Space with Water and Light
It seems like we are constantly getting a little bit closer to being able to live in outer space, but one teeny-tiny little detail keeps holding us back: oxygen. Plants just don’t like zero gravity environments, and toting around an indefinite oxygen supply isn’t really feasible. Enter the Silk Leaf: a manmade “plant” that can actually create endless oxygen using light and water.
Julian Melchiorri wanted to create a way to produce oxygen in space that could handle the harsh environment of interstellar travel. What he created is an artificial leaf that has the chloroplast from the plants we know and love actually suspended inside. Melchiorri used a silk fiber to suspend the chloroplast in place so that it can still act like a plant but with a sort of super-structure to make it extra durable.
NASA wants to Launch New Ultra-Light Inflatable Habitats for the International Space Station
“I extracted chloroplasts from plant cells and placed them inside this silk protein. As an outcome I have the first photosynthetic material that is living and breathing as a leaf does, “Melchiorri told Dezeen. He also says that he wanted to build off of nature’s own system to take advantage of a proven method and the leaves won’t just be handy for exploring the far reaches of the galaxy. Back here on Earth, they can be used as biological air filters or oxygen producers.
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Stanford Scientists Harvest Electricity From Algae Photosynthesis
Scientists at Stanford have just discovered the greenest source of energy yet — harvesting electricity directly from plants! They’ve successfully collected energy from photosynthetic processes in algae by tapping straight into currents of electrons generated at the cellular level. We know that cars can run on bio-fuel made from algae, but imagine if our power grid could run on pond water in its natural state. No refinement is necessary – all you need is a pool of water, a bunch of the green stuff and a high-tech gold electrode. Best of all, the only by-products are protons and oxygen!
When a plant goes through photosynthesis, the chloroplasts in the plant cells split H2O cells into oxygen, protons and electrons. After this split, light energy from the sun zaps the protons into high gear and the electrons then speed through the cell dolling out their energy to proteins that use it to create sugars.
During the Stanford experiment, researchers were able to intercept the electrons before they went on their high speed jaunt. They used a tiny gold electrode placed inside the membrane of an algae cell to collect the electrons. Now that’s a sophisticated heist.
So far researchers have only had success on the cellular level, and each cell provides a relatively tiny amount of energy. To fill an AA battery you’d need a trillion cells practicing photosynthesis for one hour — that’s a lot of cells for a little bit of juice. WonHyoung Ryu, the lead author of the research paper, noted that this is just the first step in a long line of experiments in harvesting energy from plants. These scientists were the first to harvest electrons from plant cells and with more experiments the outcome can only get better.
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Creata la batteria del futuro. Dura di più perché tiene il litio "sotto chiave"
L'ha inventata un professore dell'università di Stanford. Sarà più sottile e leggera. Ma soprattutto aiuterà i nostri smartphone a scaricarsi molto più lentamente.
UNA BATTERIA con una durata, a parità di dimensioni, tre o quattro volte superiore a quelle attuali agli ioni di litio. Tutto grazie a una scoperta messa a punto dal professore Yi Cui presso il dipartimento di Ingegneria e Scienza dei materiali dell'Università di Stanford. Mr. Cui è a capo di un gruppo di ricerca che da anni studia il futuro delle batterie ricaricabili e di cui fa parte anche Steven Chu, ex Segretario dell'Energia del governo americano. "Potrebbe essere il Sacro Graal delle batterie", scrive entusiasta il professore Cui sul giornale scientifico Nature Nanotechnology. Oggi abbiamo bisogno di batterie più efficienti. Per non dover ricaricare continuamente il telefono o per fare più chilometri su un'auto elettrica, non c'è dubbio che l'autonomia limitata dei moderni accumulatori sia uno dei problemi più importanti da risolvere. Non è un caso se Apple, Google, Samsung e altri sono tutti alla ricerca di una soluzione che permetta di costruire batterie più efficienti, più piccole e potenti, per la tecnologia del futuro.
Le attuali batterie agli ioni di litio hanno tre componenti chiave: un anodo, il polo negativo che rilascia gli elettroni per dare vita ai nostri dispositivi; il catodo, il polo positivo da cui rientrano gli elettroni nella batteria una volta che hanno finito il loro viaggio attraverso i circuiti dell'apparecchio; infine, in mezzo, un elettrolita, solido o liquido, dove si trovano gli ioni di litio che viaggiano tra l'anodo e il catodo. L'anodo oggi di solito è realizzato in grafite, un materiale affidabile ma dalla scarsa efficienza. Il litio è oltre dieci volte più efficace, ma ha un difetto: si espande senza controllo e questo porta a problemi di durata della batteria, che non sopravvive a lungo.
Nella soluzione proposta da Yi Cui, la batteria ha un anodo in litio racchiuso in una microscopica membrana di carbonio. La membrana è spessa appena 20 nanometri. In questo modo il litio può espandersi senza problemi, è reso stabile, sotto controllo. Il risultato è una batteria che, a parità di dimensioni, produce circa tre o quattro volte l'energia di una batteria tradizionale. "Significa che potremo avere, ad esempio, smartphone ancora più sottili oppure auto elettriche con un'autonomia di oltre 400 chilometri a prezzi competitivi, intorno ai 25.000 dollari. Inoltre si può risparmiare su peso e ingombri, visto che si può ottenere più energia in meno spazio", continua il professore Cui. In molti hanno provato a produrre un anodo di puro litio, perché oltre a essere più efficiente, è anche più economico, piccolo e facile da realizzare. Ma fino a oggi nessuno era riuscito in questa impresa. Il team dell'università di Stanford non è nuovo a scoperte del genere. In passato aveva creato la prima batteria agli ioni di litio trasparente, poi una batteria sottile quanto un foglio di carta. Ma l'ultima scoperta è senza dubbio quella più importante, quella che potrebbe presto diventare realtà. Certo, per passare dal laboratorio di Stanford alla fabbrica di qualche colosso del settore ci vorrà molto tempo, ma presto potremmo finalmente avere uno smartphone con una batteria che dura tutta la giornata. Sì, anche se ci colleghiamo continuamente a Facebook.
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New software provides uncompromising performance, speed, and usability for Raman, AFM, and SNOM
The new WITec Suite software is now available for all WITec imaging systems. It was specifically developed to acquire and process large data volumes of large-area, high-resolution measurements and 3D imaging while providing speed, performance, and usability. Through the software architecture and graphical user interface an integrated and consolidated functionality is available incorporating the various techniques and measurement modes from Raman, to AFM, to SNOM, fluorescence and luminescence.
An intelligent computer resource management provides the capabilities for the generation and visualization of even large data sets. The high-speed data acquisition allows for example the measurement and recording of over 1300 Raman spectra in only one second. Furthermore data sets including several million image pixels, each containing the information of e.g. a complete Raman spectrum or an AFM pulsed force mode-curve, can be generated, processed, and imaged smoothly with WITec Suite.
Another focus of WITec Suite is the improved and simplified usability. The software design provides a clear and intuitive menu guidance and an individually adjustable user interface to be suitable for all experience levels and user requirements. The smart access options for all principle functions, including for example the circle mouse menu, accelerate the workflow and smooth the first steps into the software and an accessible learning curve.
“WITec imaging systems are well-known for their exceptional imaging qualities. Unprecedented performance and speed facilitate the acquisition of large data volumes and the generation of 3D images and large-area scans.” explains Dr. Olaf Hollricher, R&D Director at WITec “The capabilities of WITec Suite match perfectly with the requirements for high-speed data acquisition and processing of large data volumes and provide an accomplished combination of comprehensive data analysis and ease-of-use.”
WITec Suite includes Control FOUR, a powerful software tool for measurement control and data acquisition, and Project FOUR, a user friendly data evaluation and processing software. The license terms facilitate the installation of Project FOUR on an unlimited number of computers permitting the user to process data and generate images wherever required.
About WITec
WITec is a leading manufacturer of confocal and scanning-probe microscopes for state-of-the-art Raman, Atomic Force (AFM), and Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy (SNOM). WITec’s headquarters is located in Ulm, Germany, where all WITec products are developed and produced. Branch offices in USA, Japan, Singapore, and Spain ensure a worldwide sales and support network. From the company’s founding in 1997, WITec has been distinguished by its innovative product portfolio and a microscope design that enables combinations of the various imaging techniques within one system. An exemplar of the company’s breakthrough development is the world’s first integrated Raman-AFM microscope. To this day, WITec’s confocal microscopes are unrivaled in sensitivity, resolution and imaging capabilities. Significant innovation awards document WITec’s enduring success and innovative strength.
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FASTCAM Mini UX100
The Photron FASTCAM Mini UX100 high speed camera packs a lot of performance in such a small package, providing 1,280 by 1,024 pixel resolution to 4,000 frames per second (fps) and reduced resolution operation all the way to 800,000 fps, with 1,280(H) by 720 (V), equivalent to 720 HD video resolution, to 6,400 fps. This makes the UX100 a small and lightweight camera ideally suited for applications as varied as fluidics, life sciences or ballistic testing. A global shutter provides blur free imagery with a minimum shutter speed of 1µs with 12-bit pixel depth (36-bit for the color version) from the CMOS pixels 10µm square pixel providing an ISO 12232 Ssat certified light sensitivity of 10,000 ISO for the monochrome version.
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Ocean Turbine Test Finds a Home
The Gulf Stream off of Florida contains an enormous amount of energy which could potentially add to the U.S. renewable energy supply. Now, a first time lease in federal waters will allow researchers to test tapping into the current. Ocean current turbines will be deployed, in conjunction with instrumentation buoys capable of documenting the ocean conditions. In advance of test facility readiness, research has already begun by using small scale turbines in a tow-able configuration,
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Solar is Buoyant in India
Why place solar panels over water bodies? Large stretches of water may be widely available in areas where land is at a premium. Floating solar power systems help to reduce evaporation without experiencing yield reductions from ground heating effects. A 50 MW floating PV plant, the world's largest, is in the planning stages in Kerala State, India, to reap these benefits.
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DNA fingerprinting pioneer honoured by Royal Society
he inventor of genetic fingerprinting has been awarded the world's oldest science prize, the Royal Society's Copley Medal.
In 1984, Prof Sir Alec Jeffreys stumbled on a method for distinguishing individuals based on their DNA.
It was a discovery that went on to transform forensic science and resolve questions of identity and kinship.
He receives the medal "for his pioneering work on variation and mutation in the human genome".
Prof Jeffreys said he was "thrilled" by the honour.
"I am particularly delighted that the award recognises our work extending over three decades into exploring DNA diversity and the processes that generate this variation, and not just our accidental foray into forensic DNA."
That accidental foray came about almost exactly 30 years ago, when he was comparing the X-ray images that resulted from processing the DNA of one of his lab technicians, alongside her mother and father.
"My first reaction to the results was 'this is too complicated', and then the penny dropped and I realised we had genetic fingerprinting," Prof Jeffreys has said of the original finding.
In 1985, the method was used to settle an immigration dispute, which was followed by a paternity case and numerous others. Before the technique was commercialised in 1987, all tests were run in Prof Jeffreys' own lab at the University of Leicester.
He and his team developed an improved technique specifically for forensic applications, which has since been developed even further.
In subsequent years, Prof Jeffreys made numerous discoveries relating to the way our DNA mutates and rearranges.
Methods of genetic fingerprinting have improved since 1984 but Prof Jeffreys pioneered its use in court
Sir Paul Nurse, President of the Royal Society, said the award to Prof Jeffreys was "great news".
Is DNA the 'smartest' molecule in existence?
How does DNA testing work?
"Since discovering genetic fingerprinting back in 1984, Sir Alec's work has transformed our understanding of human genetics."
The Copley Medal was first awarded in 1731 and its 273 previous recipients include Albert Einstein, Francis Crick and Stephen Hawking. It alternates between physical science in odd years and biological science in even years.
In 2013 it was awarded to the Nobel-winning physicist Prof Sir Andre Geim, one of the pioneers of research into graphene.
Dorothy Hodgkin received the medal in 1976 and remains its only female winner.
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Shanghai, il secondo grattacielo più alto al mondo raggiunge la vetta di 632 metri
Il nuovo grattacielo in costruzione a Shanghai, che sarà il secondo più alto al mondo e il primo in Cina, ha raggiunto la sua massima altezza a quota 632 metri. Gli operai hanno completato il tetto del Shanghai Tower, che conterà in tutto 137 piani. I lavori si concluderanno alla fine dell'anno prossimo, per cui la Shanghai Towe sarà il secondo grattacielo più alto al mondo - dopo il Burj Khalifa di Dubai di 829,8 metri - per un anno: nel 2016 infatti è previsto il completamento a Shenzhen, nel sud della Cina, del Ping'an International Financial Center, che sarà alto 660 metri.
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VarOS: Variable Object Sensors
Sensors with light-band – a trend in the detection of irregular objects
The detection of variable objects, i.e. objects with changing shapes and dimensions, is the World Series of detection tasks. Leuze Electronic's retro-reflective photoelectric sensors with light band are designed to detect everything safely and reliably. A Fresnel lens with high imaging quality produces a homogeneous and wide light band that has numerous advantages over selective detection in many applications, especially in packaging systems and intra-logistics.
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La California vara leggi per le auto senza guidatore
Lo Stato della California ha varato una serie di norme per regolamentare i test su strada che le case costruttrici devono condurre per sperimentare in condizioni reali le vetture che “si guidano da sole”. Ma sta già studiando anche i regolamenti che in futuro riguarderanno il loro uso da parte dei normali cittadini.
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Un radar anti-mine
Il procedimento del brevetto RM2012A000637 potrà potenziare notevolmente il campo delle applicazioni, specialmente nel radar anti-mine.
Un gruppo di ricercatori olandesi ha sviluppato un sistema radar che in prospettiva potrebbe essere utilizzato per individuare le mine presenti nel terreno, consentendo la bonifica dei terreni interessati.
P. van Genderen e A.G. Yarovoy del Politecnico di Delft descrivono la nuova tecnologia in un articolo sull'ultimo numero del Journal of Design Research.
Pur esistendo alcune apparecchiature in grado di identificare mine nascoste, come i cosiddetti sensori multi-iperspettrali o i rilevatori passivi di onde millimetriche, esse sono molto costose, poco maneggevoli e di complessa utilizzazione, rendendole di fatto inutilizzabili per operazioni di sminamento su vasta scala. Per contro, i metal detector, molto più economici, non sono in grado di identificare diversi tipi di mine - soprattutto nel caso di mine anti-uomo - mentre lo sminamento a mano è rischioso, lungo e richiede personale specializzato.
L'apparecchiatura ideata dai due ricercatori - che hanno appena terminato di testarne un prototipo - è costituita da un radar a banda ultra-larga, potenzialmente molto più semplice ed economico da utilizzare. Al momento i ricercatori stanno studiando il modo di ridurre ulteriormente la percentuale di falsi allarmi che l'apparecchiatura ancora segnala, legati alla presenza nel terreno di oggetti non pericolosi.
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Muscle-Powered Bio-Bots: Soft biological machines take a step forward.
University of Illinois engineers recently created a biological robot that moves by heart cell power. But heart cells are always on, so the bot couldn't be turned off, or sped up, or slowed. Researchers just redesigned the bots with muscle cell drivers and electric pulse control. The frequency of the electric field determines the bot's speed.
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Primo test alla Nasa per il motore “impossibile”
Funziona a microonde, senza carburante. “Rivoluzione che in apparenza vìola la fisica”
Viene definito il «motore impossibile». E in effetti, per le sue caratteristiche e potenzialità, è un propulsore spaziale da fantascienza. O quasi.
Un motore in grado di sospingere un veicolo spaziale senza utilizzare alcun tipo di propellente. L’ideale per le future missioni di esplorazione dello spazio, a cominciare dal viaggio per Marte.
È la nuova creatura della Nasa, ancora in fasce, ma dalle immense potenzialità. Chiamata «Cannae Drive», è stata testata negli Eagleworks Laboratories e ha prodotto tra 30 e 50 micronewton di spinta. Si tratta di una quantità di energia minima, tra lo 0.03 e lo 0.05 per mille della forza generata da una mano per afferrare un iPhone, ma, comunque, reale. Ed è l’esistenza di questa frazione che ha fatto gridare gli scienziati e gli ingegneri americani al miracolo.
Riprendendo il progetto di un motore simile - l’«EmDrive» dello scienziato britannico Roger Shawyer - il motore è in grado di convertire l’energia elettrica in una spinta. Se lo scorso anno un team cinese aveva effettuato un primo esperimento, l’ente spaziale americano ha appena reso noto la riuscita del nuovo esperimento, anche se - com’è evidente - si è ancora molto distanti da una possibile realizzazione in grande scala.
«E’ un progetto che, se davvero si realizzasse, sarebbe una delle più grandi scoperte di sempre - commenta Giancarlo Genta, professore del dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale al Politecnico di Torino e studioso di propulsione spaziale -. D’altra parte c’è ancora scetticismo attorno a questa idea, perché, almeno in apparenza, questo propulsore vìola le leggi di conservazione dell’energia e della quantità di moto».
I sostenitori del nuovo motore, da parte loro, sono convinti che il meccanismo, invece, non comporti alcuna violazione delle leggi della fisica. A differenza dei motori tradizionali, che processano enormi carichi di propellente, il nuovo metodo sfrutta un sistema elettrico con cui generare una serie di microonde: queste, vengono sparate all’interno di un contenitore, dove si creano forti differenze di pressione e fasci di radiazione molto potenti in grado, così, di creare la spinta per muovere il veicolo spaziale.
Il «Cannae Drive» - battezzato così per ricordare come, nella celebre battaglia di Canne, Annibale riuscì a fare prevalere la forza di un piccolo esercito su quella più grande dell’esercito romano - non è comunque un «unicum». Nuove generazioni di motori a funzionamento elettrico e a ioni vengono sperimentati da un po’ di tempo (un esempio è la sonda lunare europea, la «Smart 1»).
Al momento uno dei più promettenti è quello progettato da un ex astronauta: è il «Vasimr», del team di Franklin Chang-Diaz, protagonista in sette missioni shuttle. Il propulsore si basa sull’emissione a impulsi di getti di plasma, garantendo, almeno in teoria, super-prestazioni per muoversi rapidamente nel Sistema solare.
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La super-batteria italiana al grafene che farà correre auto e telefonini
Dura il 25% in più e può ricaricare rapidamente le macchine elettriche. Lo scienziato Pellegrini: per i veicoli rifornimento in minuti invece che ore
La chiave di tutto è il grafene: un foglio a due dimensioni dello spessore di un atomo di carbonio, scoperto nel 2004 da due ricercatori russi che nel 2010 hanno vinto il premio Nobel. Ha caratteristiche uniche: è flessibile, impermeabile e, soprattutto per quanto riguarda i ricercatori italiani dell’Istituto di tecnologia, è un conduttore elettrico. Ebbene, lavorando sulla base di queste premesse a Genova hanno messo a punto un prototipo unico al mondo: una batteria che grazie ad un anodo trattato con il grafene garantisce un’efficienza superiore del 25% rispetto a una tradizionale batteria al litio. Un quarto in più di corrente insomma, che può essere utilizzata per alimentare auto elettriche o i vari dispositivi elettronici che utilizzano batterie, dagli smartphone ai tablet ai personal computer. Una tecnologia tutta italiana (con il team genovese di Vittorio Pellegrini e Bruno Scrosati hanno lavorato il Cnr e la Sapienza di Roma), pronta per lo sviluppo industriale e che sta già raccogliendo l’interesse di produttori dell’automotive e di gruppi elettrici, come la Bluecar del gruppo Bollorè e l’Enel.
La notizia «ufficiale» della batteria italiana al grafene sarà diffusa tra pochi giorni da «Nano Letters», una delle bibbie mondiali delle nanotecnologie e dell’elettrochimica. Ciò che i ricercatori italiani hanno fatto è sostituire con procedimenti speciali il grafene alla normale grafite utilizzata per l’anodo di una comune batteria al litio, con il risultato che gli ioni di litio si sono «attaccati» assai più copiosamente al nuovo materiale. Il grafene, detto per inciso, ha tra le sue caratteristiche quella di avere il più elevato rapporto tra superficie e peso: con un solo grammo si possono ricoprire 2.600 metri quadrati. All’Iit hanno trovato il modo di trattarlo in una soluzione, ottenendo una sorta di «inchiostro» che viene poi spalmato sull’elettrodo della batteria. In più, la sua flessibilità e robustezza sono uniche, tanto che colossi come Nokia e Samsung si sono già mossi. Il gruppo coreano ha da tempo messo il suo timbro su touchscreen flessibili per i telefonini. Ora si aprirebbe la prospettiva di estendere la flessibilità anche alle batterie dei cellulari, che potrebbero così essere ripiegati e messi in tasca dopo l’uso. E visto che il grafene non perde le sue proprietà anche con torsioni del 40%, a mettere gli occhi sul materiale è stata anche la Head, che ha chiesto a un’azienda coreana di fornirle il grafene per alleggerire il manico delle sue racchette da tennis e renderle più potenti. Quegli attrezzi sono ora nelle mani di campioni come Novak Djokovic e Maria Sharapova.
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SECONDA PARTE
Una delle prospettive più interessanti agli occhi europei e italiani, tuttavia, riguarda l’annoso problema di come «immagazzinare» energia in modo efficiente. La diffusione dell’auto elettrica, ad esempio, è frenata dalla scarsa autonomia garantita fino a oggi dalle batterie, e dalla lunghezza dei tempi di ricarica, che vanno dalle 6 alle 8 ore. Il prototipo italiano, dice Pellegrini, «in prospettiva apre la strada allo sviluppo di batterie che si potrebbero ricaricare nell’arco di minuti, non ore». Più energia e tempi ridotti, quindi. Ma quanto costa il grafene, e chi lo produce? A Genova, oggi, i ricercatori dell’Iit si autoproducono un paio di litri al mese di «inchiostro», e un contenitore da un centinaio di millilitri costa tra i 3 e i 400 euro. Diverso sarebbe lavorare su scala industriale: a Como lo fa la Directa Plus, maggior produttore europeo con 30 tonnellate l’anno, che ha stretto accordi con l’Iit. Per una volta un’accoppiata italiana ricerca-industria potrebbe rivelarsi vincente.
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Physicists at Technische Universität München (TUM) are using graphene to produce key elements of an artificial retina.
Graphene is thin, transparent and has a tensile strength greater than that of steel. In addition, it is a better conductor of electricity compared to copper; and, since it comprises a single layer of carbon atoms, it is considered two-dimensional.
A team of researchers led by Dr. Jose A. Garrido at the Walter Schottky Institut of the TUM is taking advantage of these properties to develop components of an artificial retina made of graphene. They are joined by colleagues from the Institut de la Vision of the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris and the French company Pixium Vision.
Retina implants can serve as optical prostheses for blind people whose optical nerves are still intact.
The implants convert incident light into electrical impulses that are transmitted to the brain via the optical nerve. There, the information is transformed into images.
Although various approaches for implants exist today, the devices are often rejected by the body and the signals transmitted to the brain are generally not optimal.
In contrast to the traditionally used materials, graphene has excellent biocompatibility thanks to its great flexibility and chemical durability. Along with its electronic properties, graphene provides an efficient interface for communication between the retina prosthesis and nerve tissue.
In October 2013, the Graphene Project was selected alongside the Human Brain Project as a Flagship Project of the EU FET Initiative (Future and Emerging Technologies).
Under the supervision of Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, it bundles the research activities and will be funded with €1bn over ten years. In July 2014 the program took on 66 new partners, including the TUM.
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L’ENEA ha realizzato un nuovo brevetto riguardante un processo per la produzione di collisioni ioniche utilizzando laser di alta potenza all’interno di un plasma. Grazie ad esso è possibile analizzare reazioni di fusione nucleare in assenza dell’azione schermante degli elettroni. Questa condizione è tipica di un plasma astrofisico e non realizzabile nei comuni acceleratori di particelle.
Nell’impianto ABC dell’ENEA di Frascati sono stati realizzati plasmi prodotti da laser irraggiando bersagli plastici drogati con Boro, utilizzando due fasci laser contrapposti con impulsi di 3 nanosecondi, ottenendo evidenze della reazione di fusione p+11B=3α, grazie alla presenza di ioni veloci. Sono stati osservati ioni prodotti con carica q con energie dell’ordine di 0.1keV /q / Joule principalmente in modo direzionale.
L’utilizzo dei fasci contrapposti e di bersagli solidi spessi consente una buona efficienza di produzione ionica, con basse perdite radiative.
La tecnica può essere utilizzata anche per la produzione di altre specie ioniche da impiegare come fasci secondari.
Possibili applicazioni riguardano:
metodi alternativi agli acceleratori per lo studio di reazioni di fusione a bassissima energia
produzione di nuclei radioattivi, per es. 11C da utilizzare in medicina (PET) e in altri campi
impiantazione ionica (per esempio nel drogaggio dei semiconduttori)
produzione di sorgenti di neutroni intensi.
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New device could improve biomarker analyses
A device proposed by researchers at Sweden's KTH Royal Institute of Technology could offer a more reliable alternative for detecting biomarkers in patients facing such illnesses as cancer or malaria. Whether to extract circulating tumour cells from the blood of a cancer patient, or to measure the elasticity of red blood cells due to malaria infection, the physical attributes of cells are important biomarkers in medicine. Yet today, most cell sorting techniques rely on the difference between chemical properties of the cells. The problem is chemical properties don’t give pathologists the full picture. Two cells can have very similar chemical properties, but different physical properties. Size, shape and elasticity, or deformability, are important attributes that can be also enable cell sorting, given the right kind of device. Luca Brandt, a professor of fluid mechanics at KTH, says his team used extensive computational simulations to propose a microfluidic device that would sort cells according to their elasticity. Visualization from a numerical simulation of a cell flowing past the obstacle through the microfluidic device.Dhrubaditya Mitra, Assistant Professor in theoretical physics at NORDITA, Nordic Institute of Theoretical Physics at KTH and Stockholm University, offers an example of why elasticity matters. If you are infected with malaria, the physical nature of your red blood cells changes, he says.“They become harder. And red blood cells also become harder as they get older too,” Mitra says. “These harder red blood cells are filtered by the spleen which acts like a sieve. The softer red blood cells can squeeze through the gaps but the harder ones cannot.”Consisting of a duct embedded with a semi-cylindrical obstacle, and a diffuser, a microfluidic device works in a similar fashion. Several kinds of microfluidic devices have been fabricated to detect biophysical markers. But the big challenge has been in designing the geometries that allow for efficient cell sorting, Brandt says.The design was proposed by the researchers at KTH Linne FLOW Centre and SeRC (Swedish e-Science Centre): Lailai Zhu, who implemented the numerical model, and Cecilia Rorai, who worked together under the guidance of Brandt and Mitra. Their work draws on numerical techniques and computational capabilities developed in the last decade to handle the complexity of microscale flows. The researchers recently published their paper in the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal, Soft Matter ("A microfluidic device to sort capsules by deformability: A numerical study").“A particular novelty of our work is that this design process has not been done in a laboratory but as a computer simulation,” Brandt says, comparing their computer simulations to the early stages of aircraft or vehicle design. “We hope that our work will bring such a change to design of microfluidic devices, too.”
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DNA Tests in Your Home?
If a company called Exogen Biotechnology can negotiate the FDA approval process, consumers could one day buy a kit to test for damaged DNA. The company's new diagnostic test analyzes a blood sample to determine how much DNA damage has occurred from environmental factors like toxins and UV light, or from poor lifestyle choices like smoking. Exogen also claims to have developed technology to quantify the type of DNA damage, called double-strand breaks.
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Implanted electrodes control and monitor moth flight
Researchers have developed methods for electronically manipulating the flight muscles of moths and for monitoring the electrical signals moths use to control those muscles.
The work from North Carolina State University could lead to the development of remotely controlled moths, or so-called biobots, for use in emergency response scenarios.
‘In the big picture, we want to know whether we can control the movement of moths for use in applications such as search and rescue operations,’ said Dr. Alper Bozkurt, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper on the work. ‘The idea would be to attach sensors to moths in order to create a flexible, aerial sensor network that can identify survivors or public health hazards in the wake of a disaster.’
According to NCSU, the paper presents a technique Bozkurt developed for attaching electrodes to a moth during its pupal stage, when the caterpillar is in a cocoon undergoing metamorphosis into its winged adult stage. This aspect of the work was done in conjunction with Dr. Amit Lal of Cornell University.
The new findings in the paper involve methods developed by Bozkurt’s research team for improving the understanding of precisely how a moth coordinates its muscles during flight.
By attaching electrodes to the muscle groups responsible for a moth’s flight, Bozkurt’s team is reportedly able to monitor electromyographic signals, namely the electric signals the moth uses during flight to tell those muscles what to do.
The moth is connected to a wireless platform that collects the electromyographic data as the moth moves its wings. To give the moth freedom to turn left and right, the entire platform levitates, suspended in mid-air by electromagnets.
‘By watching how the moth uses its wings to steer while in flight, and matching those movements with their corresponding electromyographic signals, we’re getting a much better understanding of how moths manoeuvre through the air,’ Bozkurt said in a statement.
‘We’re optimistic that this information will help us develop technologies to remotely control the movements of moths in flight,’ Bozkurt said. ‘That’s essential to the overarching goal of creating biobots that can be part of a cyberphysical sensor network.’
Bozkurt stressed that there is more work to be done to make moth biobots a viable tool.
‘We now have a platform for collecting data about flight coordination,’ Bozkurt said. ‘Next steps include developing an automated system to explore and fine-tune parameters for controlling moth flight, further miniaturising the technology, and testing the technology in free-flying moths.’
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Da Trento un nuovo tipo di forza elastica
Scoprire un nuovo modo tramite il quale una forza può manifestarsi non è certo cosa da tutti i giorni. Il gruppo di ricerca ERC-Instabilities dell’Università di Trento, guidato da Davide Bigoni c’è riuscito: ha creato un prototipo di bilancia che dimostra un nuovo modo tramite cui una forza elastica si esprime, la cosiddetta forza configurazionale. Una bilancia che si è conquistata la copertina del numero di ottobre della prestigiosa rivista Proceedings of the Royal Society A. Ma il punto qui non è la bilancia, come ci spiega proprio l’autore, Davide Bigoni. “Il punto è aver scoperto come si sviluppa un nuovo tipo di forza configurazionale, ovvero che scaturisce da una struttura che può cambiare forma nello spazio e nel tempo. E questo nuovo meccanismo deformabile è stato creato per dimostrare come è possibile migliorare uno strumento di misura utilizzando le proprietà di questa forza configurazionale.”
Venendo alla bilancia, essa è una sorta di combinazione delle proprietà della tradizionalestadera a braccia rigide e il più moderno dinamometro a molla, inventato nel XVII da Robert Hooke. La struttura ricorda infatti quella di una stadera, ma per la pesata utilizza la forza elastica, come il dinamometro e l’innovazione consiste nel combinare i principi meccanici che stanno alla base di entrambi i sistemi per ottenere uno strumento di misurazione del peso ancora più raffinato. “Nella nuova bilancia i bracci si ‘inflettono’, se non si deformano infatti l’equilibrio non viene garantito” spiega Bigoni. Ai bracci rigidi si sostituisce una lamina flessibile ed elastica, libera di scorrere in un manicotto inclinato senza attrito e che raggiunge l’equilibrio quando vi sono applicati dei pesi alle estremità. Essa riesce a lavorare con o senza contrappeso, sfruttando appunto i due concetti fondamentali di equilibrio e deformazione, dove l’equilibrio della bilancia viene garantito da queste “forze configurazionali”, frutto di complesse equazioni, che si sviluppano ai due bordi del manicotto a causa della possibilità di scorrimento e della deformabilità della lamina.
Ma questa bilancia così speciale alla fine è più o meno precisa rispetto alle bilance tradizionali? “Per certi intervalli di carico la nostra bilancia risulta più sensibile delle bilance classiche. La cosa curiosa è che a noi non interessa poi tanto questo aspetto, a noi interessa la teoria che c’è dietro” racconta Bigoni. “La bilancia è solo un modo semplice per dimostrare che la nostra teoria è valida, come quando spieghiamo a un bambino come è fatta un’altalena usando dei legnetti. Il punto non è l’altalena, ma il modello che c’è dietro.” Il team trentino infatti dopo la bilancia sta già orientando le proprie ricerche verso altri lidi. “Stiamo lavorando a un nuovo prototipo, questa volta per dimostrare che lo stesso tipo di forza configurazionale che mette in equilibrio la bilancia può funzionare anche per la locomozione, cioè per la capacità di spostarsi.”
In ogni caso non siamo in grado oggi di prevedere in che modo la nostra scoperta, frutto essenzialmente di un accurato e lungo lavoro teorico, potrà trovare applicazione pratica. Quello dipenderà dagli interessi che la nostra idea potrà suscitare nell’industria. Il nostro lavoro è scoprire aspetti nella meccanica che finora non sono noti, e questa nuova tipologia di forza elastica in questo senso è un passo in avanti di prim’ordine.”
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La disponibilità del nuovo metodo, associato con l’applicazione procedimento innovativo depositato nel brevetto ENEA RM2012A000637 , consentiranno di conseguire significativi risultati positivi per gli ammalati di diabete .” G.C.
Laser system takes sting out of blood sugar testing
Diabetics could soon have a way to easily measure their blood sugar without drawing blood, thanks to a new laser system.
Researchers at Princeton University in the US have developed a technology that measures the amount of glucose in the blood by analysing how much light it absorbs when a laser is shone through a user’s hand.
They hope this could provide an alternative to the daily practice of pricking the fingertips to take a blood sample that is then analysed by a portable meter.
The key to developing the laser system was finding the right frequency of light that would pass through the body’s cells and be absorbed by dermal interstitial fluid – which has a strong correlation with blood sugar – without interacting with other chemicals present.
Mid-infrared light has this ability but can be difficult to produce using standard lasers and requires relatively high power and stability to penetrate the skin and scatter off the interstitial fluid.
But by using a quantum cascade laser, in which electrons pass through multiple semiconductor layers, the beam can be set to one of a number of different frequencies.
The system uses a laser directed at a user’s palm that is absorbed by fluid beneath the skin.
The method was accurate enough to meet the standard glucose monitor requirement of producing a blood-sugar reading within 20 per cent of the patient’s actual level. Improvements to the system have now produced a version that is 84 per cent accurate.
The researchers have already found a way to operate the laser without an elaborate cooling system and now want to miniaturise it from a workbench-size piece of equipment.
‘This summer, we are working to get the system on a mobile platform to take it places such as clinics to get more measurements,’ said Sabbir Liakat, lead author on a paper about the research published in the journal Biomedical Optics Express. ‘We are looking for a larger dataset of measurements to work with.’
Claire Gmachl, professor of electrical engineering and the project’s senior researcher, said: ‘Because the quantum cascade laser can be designed to emit light across a very wide wavelength range, its usability is not just for glucose detection, but could conceivably be used for other medical sensing and monitoring applications.’
The work follows similar research by a team at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany, which last year announced intentions to produce a shoebox-size laser system for monitoring blood glucose within three years.
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Remcom announces an update to XFdtd® 3D Electromagnetic Simulation Software with new features for the biomedical industry.
The central biomedical addition in the release is an enhanced Biological Thermal Sensor, exclusive to the Bio-Pro version of the software. XFdtd Bio-Pro is a specialty version of XFdtd, developed to calculate the biological effects of electromagnetic fields.
The Biological Thermal Sensor allows metals and other non-biological objects to be included in temperature rise computations. The calculations consider the effects of conductive heat transfer between thermally connected materials, blood perfusion, metabolic processes, and general RF heating.
The new sensor provides crucial data to engineers studying temperature effects of RF exposure. Analyses include therapeutic heating devices; MRI heating in patients, including effects of implants, probes, and electrodes; microwave thermal ablation; and implantable devices.
Rodney Korte, product manager for XFdtd, said, “Remcom’s customers in the magnetic resonance community have relied on XFdtd for SAR modeling and MRI safety analysis for many years; however, there was a need for an improved thermal solver that could account for non-biological objects such as metal probes. Remcom has carefully researched our customers’ processes and most pressing problems in order to offer a complete solution. The new release reflects our ongoing commitment to this market’s needs and our product development philosophy of continually adding features that customers directly request.”
About XFdtd and the Bio-Pro Version: XFdtd Bio-Pro provides users with a bundled collection of important biomedical EM calculation capabilities such as Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) analysis, VariPose® Mesh Repositioning, and Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC). Bio-EM analyses include imaging devices and MRI coil design and tuning, SAR and field analysis, implantable devices (pacemakers, diagnostic equipment), field exposure from radiating sources (cell phones and other antennas), human models and phantoms, and regulation/certification.
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MIT researchers have found that by controlling the concentration of electrons in a graphene sheet, they can change the way the material responds to short but intense light pulses. In other words, by modulating graphene's electron concentration, the researchers realized that they could effectively alter graphene's photoconductive properties from semiconductor-like to metal-like.
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Fuel Cell Technology Market (Portable, Stationary, Transport) (PEMFC, DMFC, PAFC, SOFC, MCFC) Trends and Forecast to 2018
Fuel cells convert chemical energy into electrical energy through electromechanical reaction, like a battery; the only difference is that the fuel is supplied from outside; thereby making the fuel cell feel like an engine converting fuel into electricity without burning it. Fuel cells are of different types such as proton exchange membrane (PEM), solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC), molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) and many more differentiated ones based on the components used and type of reaction taking place within the cell. They can use variety of fuels such as hydrogen, methanol, biogas, natural gas, and hydrocarbons. When working with hydrogen, fuel cell generates water as outcome and gives electricity with zero emission. The fuel cells are gaining worldwide importance as the demand for clean energy is increasing and due to continuous depletion of world oil and gas reserves.
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Nano-factory promises automated production of complex molecules
Researchers in Switzerland have created a “molecular assembly line” that acts like an automated factory for building complex chemical substances.
The lab-on-a-chip system created at ETH Zurich replicates many of the elements of a conventional production line – such as a mobile assembly carrier that moves each product between a number of assembly stations – but in the form of microscopic canals through which a solution is pumped.
The researchers say the system could be used to selectively modify organic molecules such as protein and DNA, assemble nanotechnological components or small organic polymers, or chemically alter carbon nanotubes.
‘It would enable us to assemble new complex substances or materials for specific applications,’ said Prof Viola Vogel, head of the Laboratory of Applied Mechanobiology at ETH Zurich.
The microfluidic platform consists of a main canal 30 micrometres wide – three times thinner than a human hair – with five inflows and outflows at right angles. The canal system is fitted with a “carpet” made of the protein kinesin, which is made up of several molecular elements including two “heads” that can move around.
When a base molecule is added to the system it binds with a string-like protein polymer that acts as an assembly carrier. This in turn is bound to the kinesin heads, which shuttle it around the system drive by both molecular force and the flow of solution.
The five side channels represent a loading bay, where the base molecule starts, two assembly stations where additional molecules are then added to it, and two end stations, where the cargo is delivered.
To build such a system, the molecular engines such as kinesin have to be removed from their biological context and integrated into an artificial entity without any loss of their functionality. The researchers also had to consider how to build the assembly carriers and what the “tracks” and assembly stations would look like.
‘We have put a lot of thought into how to design the mechanical properties of bonds to bind the cargo to the shuttles and then unload it again in the right place,’ said Vogel
However, Vogel said: ‘The system is still in its infancy. We’re still far away from a technical application. We need to continue to optimise the system and learn more about how we can design the individual components of this nanoshuttle system to make these applications possible in the future.’
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Carbon Dioxide Gets a New Fizz
Technologies transform greenhouse gas into a feedstock for chemicals.
Efforts to exploit waste carbon dioxide as a raw material to manufacture chemical products are advancing, driven by economics and the quest for sustainability. Companies such as Novomer, Oakbio and Liquid Light in North America, plus the Solar-Jet project in Europe are at various stages of developing technology to use the greenhouse gas. Such work is prompting interest and investment from major chemical companies including Saudi Aramco, DSM, BP and Shell.
The move is an important step for the company, which has developed two technology platforms — one for carbon dioxide and the other for carbon monoxide — based on proprietary catalysts to transform propylene oxide or ethylene oxide into economically competitive, high-performance industrial products.
Converge polyols are designed to replace conventional petroleum-based polyether, polyester and polycarbonate polyols. The products, which are based on the co-polymerization of carbon dioxide and epoxides, contain more than 40% by weight carbon dioxide (Figure 1). Novomer says the use of waste carbon dioxide as a significant raw material gives the product an extremely low carbon footprint. In addition, because waste carbon dioxide is markedly lower in cost than conventional petroleum-based raw materials, production at full commercial scale is said to offer favorable economics compared to those of making conventional polyols.
The initial product offerings — 1,000- and 2,000-molecular-weight grades — are manufactured at a multi-thousand-ton commercial-scale toll facility in Houston. They currently are being tested by users and at the company’s internal development center at Waltham.
“I can’t name names yet but in June our first customer started buying one of our products in commercial quantities,” says Peter H. Shepard, Novomer’s chief business officer. “It’s one thing to have the technology but a whole other thing to have someone else discover the value in a product and pay for it. That’s a huge step forward. Once one customer starts using the product and getting good performance, it will help to springboard interest,” he adds.
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Energia dal Mare: l’Aquilone del mare
Tra i sistemi innovativi progettati e brevettati dai nostri scienziati c'è l'Aquilone del Mare, che produce energia grazie alle correnti marine. Un progetto italiano che per ora verrà sviluppato in Francia, come racconta il prof. Domenico Coiro dell'Università di Napoli.
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Energia dal Mare: il Resonant Wave Energy Converter
Un esempio di brevetto sviluppato da una spin off universitaria è il Resonant Wave Energy Converter che sfrutta l'energia dalle onde utilizzando il principio dei dispositivi a colonna d'acqua oscillante. Intervista a Felice Arena, Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria.
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Energia dal Mare: ISWEC, un progetto Mediterraneo
ISWEC è un sistema di produzione di energia elettrica da moto ondoso che verrà varato ad ottobre a Pantelleria per produrre 240 MWha
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Developing a Portable 3D Vision-Guided Medical Robot for Autonomous Venipuncture
La sfida:
Developing a portable, image-guided, medical robot that autonomously performs blood draws and other IV procedures when medical professionals are unable to successfully access veins.
La soluzione:
Combining the performance of NI CompactRIO hardware, the flexibility of NI LabVIEW system design software, and the extensive NI robotics and machine vision libraries to deliver a safe portable medical device for initial human testing.
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Developing a Portable 3D Vision-Guided Medical Robot for Autonomous Venipuncture
La sfida:
Developing a portable, image-guided, medical robot that autonomously performs blood draws and other IV procedures when medical professionals are unable to successfully access veins.
La soluzione:
Combining the performance of NI CompactRIO hardware, the flexibility of NI LabVIEW system design software, and the extensive NI robotics and machine vision libraries to deliver a safe portable medical device for initial human testing.
Weather Radar: Design-to-Deployment Using the NI Platform
La sfida:
Developing a weather radar with flexibility in the signal processing unit to accommodate various potential design changes and incorporate a way to verify the system-level performance by co-simulating the digital and analog sections.
La soluzione:
Adopting the NI FlexRIO platform for digital section hardware, using graphical system design methodology to accommodate potential design changes in the software, and taking advantage of the co-simulation capability between AWR Visual System Simulator (VSS) and NI LabVIEW software to realize the system-level simulation of digital and analog sections together.
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A Nuclear Niche
U.S. politicians have recently alluded to the promise of small modular reactors (SMRs) as energy saving technologies. While the use of SMRs may still be a decade off, the World Nuclear Association explains that "there is a move to develop smaller units." These reactors are simpler and have passive safety features compared to traditional reactors. For example, an SMR's valves can go into safe mode without power, cooling down the reactor.
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