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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Firefighters, Robots, and Reins
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Cold plasma technique helps wounds heal quicker
A particular problem in older people, persistent open wounds ,could be treated using a portable electric device which also has potential for home first aid
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Left to right, Andreas Helmke and Dirk Wandkle of Cinogy discuss the PlasmaDerm system with Profs Wolfgang Viöl and Steffen Emmert
The treatment method uses cold plasma as a healing agent, the first time this has been used on human beings. It uses the skin itself as an electrode in an electrical discharge process. The treatment device, about the size of a hand-held torch, houses an electrode that the doctor holds close to the wound site. A high voltage applied across the gap between the device electrode and the skin ‘electrode’ creates an electrical field that ionises the air in the gap, bathing the wound in a non-thermal or cold plasma. ‘All you feel is a slight tickling sensation,’ said Prof Wolfgang Viöl of the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films, who developed the technique working with the company Cinogy and the Department of Dermatology, Venereology and Allergology at the University Medical Centre Göttingen.
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Japanese engineers develop 'scorpion-like' robot to explore Fukushima
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Engineers at Toshiba Corporation have developed a scorpion-like robot to explore the inside of the stricken Fuskushima nuclear plant
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Nanogenerator harvests power from rolling tyres
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The nanogenerator relies on an electrode integrated into a segment of the tyre. When this part of the tyre surface comes into contact with the ground, the friction between those two surfaces ultimately produces an electrical charge.
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Looking Beyond 10 nm FinFETs
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Graphene Enables World's Thinnest Light Bulb
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Rolls Royce to head up autonomous ship project
Rolls-Royce is to lead a new €6.6 million project that could help pave the way for autonomous ships.
Funded by Finnish technology agency Tekes, the aim of the so-called Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative is to produce specifications and preliminary designs for the next generation of advanced ship solutions.
Rolls Royce has developed a number of concept designs fro unmanned ships
The concept of unmanned ships has been criticised by many in the shipping industry, but Rolls Royce and others believe that autonomous ships could have a number of advantages in both defence and commercial applications. The absence of a need to accommodate crew, for instance, could lead to fundamental redesigns of ships and potentially help marine freight transport – which is responsible for twice the level of CO2 emissions produced by aviation - become much more efficient.
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Autonomous freight vessels could help reduce emissions resulting from shipping
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Artists’ impression of a remote-controlled freight vessel
Esa Jokioinen, Head of Rolls-Royce’s Blue Ocean Team, said: “We bring a world leading range of capabilities in the marine market to the project including vessel design, the integration of complex systems and the supply and support of power and propulsion equipment. We are excited to be taking the first concrete steps towards making remote controlled and autonomous ship applications a reality.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
UK-developed Terahertz sensor could improve airport security
University of Warwick researchers have announced the development of a new type of sensor said to be able to detect and identify hidden objects more rapidly than existing technologies.
Called ‘Q-Eye’, the invention senses radiation across the spectrum between microwaves and infra-red, known as the Terahertz (THz) region of the spectrum. According to its developers at the University’s physics department it works by detecting the rise in temperature produced when electromagnetic radiation emitted by an object is absorbed by the sensor, even down to the level of very small packets of quantum energy (a single photon).
The technology could help improve airport security systems
The patented device involves a thin film of aluminium deposited on top of a silicon layer placed under strain, used to create an electronic cooling (e-cooling) process. The electrons in the silicon layer are so isolated from the silicon lattice they become highly sensitive to incoming radiation. This “e-cooling” process is the secret to Q-Eye sensor’s ability to carry out rapid imaging and material identification the team claims.
What’s more, the device can be made using standard silicon processes, enabling large numbers of detector chips containing designs matched to a particular application to be fabricated on large (300mm) wafers with great uniformity.
Commenting on the development Prof Evan Parker, one of the leaders of the project said: “We were very surprised when our first very crude prototype showed such impressive speed and detection performance and our initial calculations indicated world-beating detector capability – all this and using silicon.”
Parker and his colleague Prof Terry Whall are now hoping to commercialise the device through spin-out company Q-Eye Ltd. They claim that it could help address the weaknesses reported earlier this month in America’s airport security, where mock weapons and explosives were smuggled through airports, undetected in 95% of cases. It may also prove useful in discovering concealed goods in the retail industry or for non-destructive monitoring, for example quality control in drugs or food.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New project to test flywheel safety
A research project involving academic and industry partners is using a specially created test environment to improve the safety of flywheel systems.
The FlySafe collaboration, which is being led by engineering consultancy Ricardo, includes the University of Brighton’s Centre for Automotive Engineering, alongside Imperial College London, Torotrak Group and GKN Hybrid Power.
FlySafe test environment
Flywheels offer a potentially clean and cost-effective method of storing energy, and are currently used to save fuel and reduce emissions in vehicles through applications such as regenerative braking.
The team is using a custom-built test rig to analyse flywheel operation, investigating potential failure mechanisms at rotational speeds of up to 60,000 RPM in a vacuum. Imaging and sensors are used to monitor the behaviour of flywheels when they are caused to fail at high speeds through deliberately engineered defects.
Video is shot with a high-speed system that captures 20,000 frames per second, synchronised with a high-intensity pulsed laser that illuminates the flywheel. According to Ricardo, this high frame rate allows for just two seconds of footage to be captured, so data indicating when failure is imminent is closely monitored in order to film the exact moment it occurs.
“High-speed flywheel energy storage technology can provide a very practical, effective and commercially attractive means of saving energy, fuel and hence CO2 emissions across a range of industries,” said David Rollafson, Ricardo vice president of innovation.
“A major challenge in designing compact and lightweight high-speed flywheel systems, however, is in the provision of safety containment systems. In the absence of detailed data on potential failure mechanisms, these previously have had to be very conservatively engineered.”
The team hopes that the research will provide “fundamental understanding of the failure processes in composite flywheels”, and a key output of the project will be a proposed BSI flywheel safety standard.
“The meticulous and detailed research being carried out on the FlySafe project and the existence of the test facility at the University of Brighton, will enable the partners to propose a BSI flywheel safety standard to promote a higher level of design optimisation while retaining the full required safety level,” continued Rollafson.
“I believe that these achievements of FlySafe will accelerate the commercialisation of this very promising environmentally friendly technology across a range of industry sectors.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
China Bets on Hydrogen-powered Trams
China recently unveiled a hydrogen fuel-cell powered tram that offers pollution-free transit for its cities. The unit debuted can reach a speed of about 40 mph (70 kph), and travel 62 miles (100 km) before refueling, which takes just three minutes. Right now there are less than 100 miles of tram lines in the country, but a new five-year plan aims at building 1,200 miles of track for the water-only-emitting vehicles.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Pewec di Enea, l'energia low cost viene dal mare
Presentato il dispositivo frutto della collaborazione con il Politecnico di Torino: è capace di catturare qualsiasi tipo di onda e trasformarla in energia in modo pulito.
"UNA DECINA di questi dispositivi possono produrre energia elettrica per un paese di 3.000 abitanti, contribuendo in modo significativo anche a contrastare i fenomeni di erosione attraverso la riduzione dell'energia delle onde che si infrangono sulla costa, senza impattare in maniera significativa su flora e fauna marine": Gianmaria Sannino, responsabile del laboratorio Enea di modellistica climatica e impatti, ha illustrato così alcune delle potenzialità di Pewec (acronimo di Pendulum Wave Energy Converter), dispositivo smart e a basso. L'obiettivo di questa nuova tecnologia è produrre energia elettrica sfruttando le onde del mare.
. "Il punto di forza di Pewec, un sistema galleggiante simile a una zattera da posizionare in mare aperto", ha spiegato Gianmaria Sannino, "è la sua semplicità. Si tratta di uno scafo, come un guscio d'uovo con un pendolo all'interno che oscilla. Il moto relativo tra scafo e pendolo genera energia elettrica perché il pendolo è legato a un generatore di energia".
Pewec, cos'è e come funziona
"È un dispositivo smart perché capace di catturare qualsiasi tipo di onda e trasformarla in modo efficiente in energia elettrica e low cost perché la sua meccanica è estremamente semplice", spiega ancora Sannino. Il passo successivo è portare il prototipo di Pewec a una scala 1:1, con una potenza nominale di 400 kw. Enea e Politecnico di Torino sono già al lavoro per progettarlo. "Abbiamo tutti gli elementi necessari, potremmo realizzarlo nel giro di un anno, un anno e mezzo. Siamo quindi a caccia di finanziamenti, sarebbe sufficiente mezzo milione di euro per coprire l'ultimo miglio". E poi si aprirebbe la via per la commercializzazione.
"In italia", ha sottolineato ancora Sannino, "sta crescendo l'interesse per la produzione di energia pulita e rinnovabile da onde e maree e secondo il piano d'azione nazionale per le energie rinnovabili dovremmo installare una potenza di 3 mw di questo tipo di impianti entro il 2020. Con i suoi 8.000 chilometri di coste l'Italia possiede un importante potenziale di energia associata al moto ondoso, paragonabile a quello presente sulle coste orientali del Mare del Nord. La costa occidentale della Sardegna, ad esempio, ha un valore medio annuo del flusso di energia di circa 13 kw/metro, mentre quello del nord-ovest della Sicilia si aggira intorno ai 10 kw/metro".
In questo ambito, l'Enea ha realizzato L'atlante del clima ondoso del Mediterraneo, la prima mappa capace di individuare in modo accurato le zone più interessanti per lo sfruttamento energetico delle onde. E anche un nuovo sistema operativo per la previsione del moto ondoso fino a cinque giorni, in grado di stimare l'energia da immettere nella rete elettrica con un dettaglio spaziale di poche centinaia di metri.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Synchrotron shines a light on future medical devices
Researchers have used synchrotron light to detect and record complex 3D magnetisation in wound magnetic layers.
According to the international team, this technique could be important in the development of devices that are highly sensitive to magnetic fields, such as in medical diagnostics for example. Their results are published in Nature Communications.
Three-dimensional structures in materials and biological samples can be investigated using X-ray tomography, which is done by recording images layer-by-layer and assembling them on a computer into a three-dimensional mapping.
To date, there has been no comparable technique for imaging 3D magnetic structures on nanometre length scales. Now teams from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin for Materials and Energy (HZB) and the Institute of Solid State Physics, Berlin/Dresden University of Technology in collaboration with research partners from Advanced Light Source/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and UC Santa Cruz have developed a technique with which this is possible.
They studied the magnetisation in rolled-up tubular magnetic nanomembranes (nickel or cobalt-palladium) about two layers thick. To obtain a 3D mapping of the magnetisation in the tubes, the samples were illuminated with circularly polarised X-rays. Using the X-ray microscope at the Advanced Light Source and the X-ray Photoemission Electron Microscopy (XPEEM) beamline at HZB’s BESSY II, the samples were slightly rotated for each new image so that a series of 2D images was created.
“The polarised light penetrated the magnetic layers from different angles. Using XPEEM, we were not only able to measure the magnetic features at the surface, but also obtained additional information from the “shadow”, said Florian Kronast, who is responsible for the XPEEM beamline at HZB.
The physicists then successfully reconstructed the magnetic features on a computer in three dimensions.
“These samples displayed structures not smaller than 75nm. But with this method we should be able to see even smaller structures and obtain a resolution of 20nm,” Kronast said in a statement. However, so far only electron holography could be considered for mapping magnetic domains of three-dimensional objects at the nanometre scale, a process requiring complex sample preparation. Furthermore, the magnetisation could only be indirectly determined through the resulting distribution of the magnetic field.
“Our process enables you to map the magnetisation in directly in 3D. Knowledge of the magnetisation is prerequisite for improving the sensitivity of magnetic field detectors,” said Kronast.
The new method could be of interest to anyone involved with extremely small magnetic features within small volumes, such as those developing more sensitive devices for medical imaging as procedures - including magnetoencephalography - depend on externally detecting very weak magnetic fields created by the electrical activity of individual nerve cells.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Graphene audio system mimics bat communication
A team of physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, has developed a graphene-based microphone and speaker system that can mimic the ultrasonic communication used by bats and dolphins.
The devices could be used to transmit signals underwater, but with far more fidelity than current sonar or ultrasound devices, according to the team. It is also claimed that the system could be used to communicate through solid objects such as steel, which electromagnetic waves are unable to penetrate.
The system mimics the ultrasonic communication used by bats and dolphins.
“Sea mammals and bats use high-frequency sound for echolocation and communication, but humans just haven’t fully exploited that before, in my opinion, because the technology has not been there,” said UC Berkeley physicist Alex Zettl, one of the lead researchers on the project.
“Until now, we have not had good wideband ultrasound transmitters or receivers. These new devices are a technology opportunity.”
The research, published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, began two years ago with Berkeley postdoctoral fellow Qin Zhou building a set of speakers using a sheet of graphene for the diaphragm.
Graphene membranes are just one atom thick and are significantly more efficient than the paper or plastic used in conventional speakers. The graphene speakers convert over 99 per cent of inputted energy into sound, compared to eight 8 per cent in off-the-shelf sound equipment.
“Because our membrane is so light, it has an extremely wide frequency response and is able to generate sharp pulses and measure distance much more accurately than traditional methods,” said Zhou.
The team tested the ultrasonic microphone in a local park where they knew there were bats
After building the speaker, the team worked on developing the electronic circuitry to build a microphone with a similar graphene diaphragm. Once complete, they tested the ultrasonic microphone in a local park where they knew there were bats. With the recordings slowed down to 10 per cent of normal speed, the high frequency communication of the bats was clearly audible.
According to Zettl, the technology would have been extremely difficult to develop just a few years ago, but has been made possible by advances in graphene production.
“Over the past decade the graphene community has come together to develop techniques to grow, transport and mount graphene, so building a device like this is now very straightforward; the design is simple,” he said in a statement.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Silicon breakthrough could herald bio-implant improvements
Researchers from the University of Chicago have developed an artificial skeleton-like material that could make it easier to integrate medical devices into the body.
According to the team, the synthetic silicon-based spicules – described as mesoscopic three-dimensional semiconductors – show huge potential for improving the interaction between soft biological tissue and a host of implantable medical devices.
The 3-D silicon mesostructure is designed for integration with biological systems.
The method for producing these devices – which is described in Science – is underpinned by a number of key advances.
One was the demonstration of a chemical lithography process able to produce 3D structures. Existing lithographic techniques create features over flat surfaces. This was made possible by a pressure modulation technique designed to promote the growth of silicon nanowires and to induce gold-based patterns in the silicon.
Gold acts as silicon’s growth catalyst. By repeatedly increasing and decreasing the pressure on their samples, the researchers were able to control the gold’s precipitation and diffusion along the silicon’s faceted surfaces.
In another advance, the team developed a novel chemical method that uses the properties of gold atoms to trap silicon-carrying electrons and selectively prevent the etching. This is very different to the wet chemical etching approach already used by the semiconductor industry where an etch-resist is used to create planar patterns on silicon wafers.
The researchers, led by assistant professor in chemistry Bozhi Tian, found that even a sparse cover of gold atoms over the silicon matrix would prevent etching from occurring in their proximity. This method also applies to the 3D lithography of many other semiconductor compounds.
The team tested the material by implanting it into a collagen-fibre based artificial biological tissue – and using an atomic force microscope to measure the force required to remove the spicules. According to Tian, during these tests the material displayed stronger interactions with these collagen fibres than other currently available silicon structures.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
A Secondary Glance at the Surface
Thanks to a new analytic technique developed for scanning electron microscopes, researchers have been able to resolve the atomic structure of a material's surface, even those with rough outer layers. The new technique uses the secondary electrons emitted from the material when it is struck by the scanning electron microscope's high-energy beam. The new findings mean scientists can better understand how a substance will react chemically; for example, whether it will corrode under certain conditions or function as a good catalyst.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Lab on the Go
First, UCLA scientists developed a lens-free attachment for a smartphone's camera that turns it into a microscope. Now, they are creating a new device that produces holographic images of tissues at the cellular level, enabling scientists to identify cancerous or abnormal cells. The new device uses a light-emitting diode to illuminate a sample while a sensor array records the images and processes them into holograms. An algorithm then reconstructs the holograms, color-coding the images to make any abnormalities more apparent.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Graphene-based film takes the heat out of electronic devices
Researchers at Chalmers University of Technology have developed a method for cooling electronics using graphene-based film.
The film has a thermal conductivity capacity that is four times that of copper. Moreover, the graphene film is attachable to electronic components made of silicon, which favours the film’s performance compared to typical graphene characteristics shown in previous, similar experiments.
Electronic systems available today accumulate a great deal of heat, mostly due to the ever-increasing demand on functionality. Getting rid of excess heat in efficient ways is imperative to prolonging electronic lifespan, and would also lead to a considerable reduction in energy usage. According to an American study, approximately half the energy required to run computer servers, is used for cooling purposes alone.
A research team led by Johan Liu, professor at Chalmers University of Technology had previously shown that graphene can have a cooling effect on silicon-based electronics, a starting point for researchers conducting research on the cooling of silicon-based electronics using graphene.
“But the methods that have been in place so far have presented the researchers with problems”, Liu said in a statement. “It has become evident that those methods cannot be used to rid electronic devices off great amounts of heat, because they have consisted only of a few layers of thermal conductive atoms. When you try to add more layers of graphene, another problem arises, a problem with adhesiveness. After having increased the amount of layers, the graphene no longer will adhere to the surface, since the adhesion is held together only by weak van der Waals bonds.”
“We have now solved this problem by managing to create strong covalent bonds between the graphene film and the surface, which is an electronic component made of silicon.”
Silane coupling between the graphene and the silicon (an electronic component). After heating and hydrolysis of (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) molecules, silane coupling is created, which provides mechanic strength and good thermal pathways
The stronger bonds result from so-called functionalisation of the graphene, namely the addition of a property-altering molecule. Having tested several different additives, the Chalmers researchers concluded that an addition of (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES) molecules has the most desired effect. When heated and put through hydrolysis, it creates silane bonds between the graphene and the electronic component.
Moreover, functionalisation using silane coupling is said to double the thermal conductivity of the graphene. The researchers have shown that the in-plane thermal conductivity of the graphene-based film, with 20 micrometre thickness, can reach a thermal conductivity value of 1600W/mK, which is four times that of copper.
“Increased thermal capacity could lead to several new applications for graphene,” said Liu. “One example is the integration of graphene-based film into microelectronic devices and systems, such as highly efficient Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), lasers and radio frequency components for cooling purposes. Graphene-based film could also pave the way for faster, smaller, more energy efficient, sustainable high power electronics.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Tidal Project Approved
Britain has officially approved the world's first tidal lagoon energy project, which will be built off the coast of Wales. Developed by Tidal Lagoon Power, the £850m Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project will be fully operational by 2023. At that time, it's expected to generate 320 MW, and provide up to 8% of the UK's electricity.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Waste-to-biofuel technology to improve carbon profile of Ghent steelmill
AcelorMittal is to build Europe’s first commercial carbon monoxide-to-bioethanol plant at its Ghent steelmill, using technology from a New Zealand firm which employs ancient microbes to digest the gas
Major steelmaker AcelorMittal has joined forces with carbon recycling specialist LanzaTech and announced plans to build Europe’s first commercial-scale plant to convert waste gases from steelmaking into bioethanol. The plant will be sited at AcelorMital’s steelworks in Ghent, Belgium, will produce 47,000tpa of ethanol when at full capacity and is slated for start-up in mid-2017.
About half the carbon used in steelmaking is emitted as carbon monoxide
Most of the waste gas from steelmaking is carbon monoxide, and emissions comprise about half of the carbon put into the process. Currently, this waste gas is flared off, or at best burned to provide heat and power in the steel mill; but both result in CO2 emissions. LanzaTech, a company spun-out from the University of Aukland in 2005, has developed a process using a proprietory strain of a microbe called Clostridium autoethanogenum to digest the monoxide and convert it into ethanol. An ancient form of life that predates cyanobacteria or algae, the microbe evolved in the vicinity of deep-ocean hydrothermal vents and uses only gases to derive energy. LanzaTech operates pre-commercial plants at steelmills in Beijing and Shanghai, both with 300tpa capacity, as well as smaller plants in the US, Taiwan and New Zealand.
AcelorMittal has been working on the project since 2011, and has formed a long-term partnership with LanzaTech with plans to implement the technology at further steelmills in the future once it has proved the commercial case at Ghent. It believes it could produce as much as 500,000tpa of ethanol, most of which would be used in fuel blending.
”This partnership is an example of how we are looking at all potential opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions and support a transition to a lower carbon economy,” said Carl De Maré Vice President, Innovation, ArcelorMittal. “Steel is produced through a chemical process that results in high levels of waste gases being emitted; this new technology will enable us to convert some of these waste gases into fuels that deliver significant environmental benefits when compared to conventional fossil fuels.”
Construction work on the €87m plant will start this year, with engineering, commissioning, autoimation and key equipment provided by Primetals Technology, a technology and service provider to the iron and steel industry; it will be built in two phases; the first, with a capacity of 16,000tpa will come on-stream in misd-2017, with the second following in 2018. According to the partners, every tonne of bioethanol produced will reduce the steelmill’s CO2 emissions by 2.3tonnes.
Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech’s chief executive, added: “We are tremendously excited to announce this partnership and our first production facility in Europe at a time when it is abundantly clear that we need all solutions and the commitment of large corporations, cities and countries around the world, to help us stay within our 2 degree carbon budget and keep fossil reserves in the ground.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
A Rotterdam le prime strade fatte con plastica riciclata
Gli automobilisti di Rotterdam potrebbero presto percorrere strade costruite con bottiglie di plastica riciclata, un' alternativa più green e più duratura rispetto all' asfalto tradizionale. Il progetto, chiamato PlasticRoad, utilizza moduli prefabbricati realizzati interamente con plastica riciclata al posto del manto di strada oggi in uso. L' idea é ora al vaglio del consiglio comunale della città; se realizzata, sarebbe il primo progetto di questo tipo al mondo. Secondo la società olandese che l' ha proposto, la VolkerWessels, strade realizzate con la plastica riciclata potrebbero tagliare l' inquinamento legato all' asfalto, responsabile ogni anno dell' emissione di milioni di tonnellate di CO2 a livello globale. Oltre ad essere meno inquinante rispetto al manto di strada tradizionale, sostengono i suoi ideatori, PlasticRoad é anche più affidabile: può sopportare temperature estreme (dal gelo fino -40 gradi a torridi 80 C) e richiede anche meno manutenzione. Grazie alla maggiore resistenza all' abrasione e alle intemperie, le strade realizzate con la plastica riciclata, assicura VolkerWessels, potrebbero durare fino a tre volte di più rispetto all' asfalto utilizzato oggi. Inoltre, grazie alla sua struttura cava, PlasticRoad facilita l' installazione di cavi e tubi, che possono essere posizionati al suo interno. Infine, sottolineano i suoi ideatori, la posa delle strade realizzate con la plastica é più semplice e più veloce rispetto a quella dell' asfalto: i blocchi prefabbricati possono essere posizionati sulle strade nel giro di poche settimane (contro i mesi necessari oggi), riducendo così i disagi degli automobilisti per il traffico e le deviazioni legati ai lavori in corso. Il progetto é ancora in fase di sviluppo, ma la compagnia spera di poter costruire la prima arteria realizzata con materiali plastica riciclata entro 3 anni. "Siamo molti positivi circa gli sviluppi di PlasticRoad", ha sottolineato Jaap Peters, membro dell' ufficio del comune di Rotterdam che si occupa delle questioni di ingegneria. "Rotterdam é una città che é aperta alla sperimentazione e agli adattamenti innovativi. Abbiamo a disposizione uno ' street lab' dove poter testare innovazioni di questo tipo".
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Spacecraft Hunts Mercury's Ancient Magnetic Field
Thanks to a NASA spacecraft that recently crashed into Mercury (in a planned, controlled crash, at the end of its three-plus year mission life), we now know the planet — like Earth — had a long-lived magnetic field dating back perhaps four billion years. The Messenger spacecraft's on-board magnetometer detected traces of Mercury's ancient magnetic field in magnetized surface rocks during orbital passes at altitudes less than 150 km.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Photonic Pressure Sensor Could Replace Mercury Manometer
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) researchers working on a laser-based photonic pressure-sensing instrument expect it to eventually make pressure measurements more accurate than NIST's current pressure standard — a three-meter mercury manometer. The work requires mechanical accuracies within tens of nanometers (tens of billionths of a meter) and determining the index of refraction for helium to within a few parts in 100 billion.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Buoy Detects, Warns Against Sharks
Researchers in Australia have launched a buoy capable of detecting sharks. The buoy uses an on-board sonar system and microprocessor to detect a shark's unique movements and — via a satellite communications network — send alerts to lifeguards who can raise the alarm. The microprocessor and associated software analyze the sonar data, differentiating between sharks and other sea creatures like dolphins based on sharks' distinct swimming patterns and sonar "signature."
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Doping Lithium-ion Batteries to Make Them Safer
Fires resulting from the catastrophic failure of lithium-ion batteries could be prevented with chemical additives, say researchers at Stanford University.
When lithium-ion batteries overheat, they can burn through internal pockets, burst into flames, and even explode. One reason such damage can occur is the formation of dendrites—finger-like deposits of lithium that can grow long enough to pierce the barrier between a lithium-ion battery's halves and cause it to short out.
Dendrites form when a battery electrode degrades and metal ions deposit onto the electrode's surface. Previously, scientists at Stanford developed a lithium-ion battery that can detect when dendrites start to puncture the barrier between its halves and warn that it needs to be replaced.
The Stanford researchers used chemicals designed to prevent dendrite formation. These get added to the battery's electrolyte, the fluid in which electrons flow between the battery's electrodes.
One of the additives, lithium nitrate, has been researched for a long time as a way to boost battery performance. The other, lithium polysulfide, has been considered a nuisance; it forms when a sulfur electrode degrades and can wreck lithium metal electrodes. But together, these additives can synergistically react with lithium metal to form a stable coating that protects the electrode from further degradation.
In experiments with coin cell batteries similar to the ones that power calculators and watches, the additives prevented dendrite formation, with harmless pancake-like deposits forming instead. Such batteries could operate at 99 percent efficiency after more than 300 charge-discharge cycles, compared with less than 92 percent efficiency after 180 cycles for batteries doped with only lithium nitrate.
This approach could help remove a major barrier to developing lithium-sulfur and lithium-air batteries, which can store up to 10 times more energy per unit mass than batteries now used in consumer electronics and electric cars, but have a tendency to form dendrites. It may also work for batteries made with metals such as magnesium, calcium, or aluminum, which also could store much more energy than today's batteries.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Building New Generation Solar Cell Using MOFs
Researchers from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, have developed a novel material for photovoltaics. For the first time, on the basis of metal-organic framework compounds (MOFs), KIT researchers have produced a functioning organic solar cell consisting of a single component. The material is highly elastic and might also be used for the flexible coating of clothes and deformable components.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Nano resonator 'makes objects super visible'
Engineers have created a nanoscale device that can emit light as powerfully as an object 10,000 times its size.
The team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe their advance could have implications for everything from photography to solar power.
In a paper published in Physical Review Letters, Zongfu Yu, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his collaborators describe a nanoscale device that drastically surpasses previous technology in its ability to scatter light. They showed how a single nanoresonator can manipulate light to cast a very large reflection.
The nanoresonator’s capacity to absorb and emit light energy is such that it can make itself – and, in applications, other very small things – appear 10,000 times as large as its physical size.
“Making an object look 10,000 times larger than its physical size has lots of implications in technologies related to light,” Yu said in a statement.
The researchers realised the advance through materials innovation and a keen understanding of the physics of light, which can amplify itself as the surrounding environment manipulates the physical properties of its wave energy. The researchers are said to have taken advantage of this by creating an artificial material in which the wavelength of light is much larger than in a vacuum, which allows light waves to resonate more powerfully.
The device condenses light to a size smaller than its wavelength, meaning it can gather a lot of light energy, and then scatters the light over a very large area, harnessing its output for imaging applications that make microscopic particles appear huge.
“The device makes an object super-visible by enlarging its optical appearance with this super-strong scattering effect,” said Ming Zhou, a Ph.D. student in Yu’s group and lead author of the paper.
The very small optical device can receive light energy from all around and yield a surprisingly strong output. In imaging, this presents clear advantages over conventional lenses, whose light-gathering capacity is limited by direction and size.
“We are developing photodetectors based on this technology and, for example, it could be helpful for photographers wanting to shoot better quality pictures in weak light conditions,” Yu said.
Given the nanoresonator’s capacity to absorb large amounts of light energy, the technology also has potential in applications that harvest the sun’s energy with high efficiency.
“This research opens up a new way to manipulate the flow of light, and could enable new technologies in light sensing and solar energy conversion,” said Yu.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
'White graphene' takes heat from small electronics
Small electronic systems could be kept cool by three-dimensional structures of boron nitride, claim scientists at Rice University.
Rice researchers Rouzbeh Shahsavari and Navid Sakhavand have completed the first theoretical analysis of how 3D boron nitride might be used as a tuneable material to control heat flow in such devices. Their work appears in Applied Materials and Interfaces.
In its two-dimensional form, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) - aka white graphene - looks like graphene, which is an excellent conductor of electricity.
As an insulator, h-BN does not share this property but commonality can be found in both materials’ being good conductors of heat, which can be quantified in the form of phonons.
Using boron nitride to control heat flow seemed worthy of a closer look, Shahsavari said in a statement.
“Typically in all electronics, it is highly desired to get heat out of the system as quickly and efficiently as possible,” he said. “One of the drawbacks in electronics, especially when you have layered materials on a substrate, is that heat moves very quickly in one direction, along a conductive plane, but not so good from layer to layer. Multiple stacked graphene layers is a good example of this.”
Rice University researchers Rouzbeh Shahsavari (left) and Navid Sakhavand have calculated the flow of heat across simulated structures of hexagonal boron nitride and boron nitride nanotubes. They report such structures may be suitable for controlling heat flow in electronics
Heat moves ballistically across flat planes of boron nitride, too, but the Rice simulations showed that 3D structures of h-BN planes connected by boron nitride nanotubes would be able to move phonons in all directions, whether in-plane or across planes, Shahsavari said.
The researchers calculated how phonons would flow across four such structures with nanotubes of various lengths and densities. They found the junctions of pillars and planes slowed the flow of phonons from layer to layer, Shahsavari said. Both the length and density of the pillars had an effect on the heat flow: more and/or shorter pillars slowed conduction, while longer pillars presented fewer barriers and thus sped things along.
While researchers have already made graphene/carbon nanotube junctions, Shahsavari believed such junctions for boron nitride materials could be just as promising.
“Given the insulating properties of boron nitride, they can enable and complement the creation of 3D, graphene-based nanoelectronics.
“This type of 3D thermal-management system can open up opportunities for thermal switches, or thermal rectifiers, where the heat flowing in one direction can be different than the reverse direction,” Shahsavari said. “This can be done by changing the shape of the material, or changing its mass - say one side is heavier than the other - to create a switch. The heat would always prefer to go one way, but in the reverse direction it would be slower.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Cutting carbon: work starts on world's tallest cross-laminated timber building
A new residential construction project in London – said to be one the largest of its type – is employing cross-laminated timber instead of concrete in order to save carbon.
The Dalston Lane development in Hackney is to use more than 3,500m3 of the sustainable timber (CLT), making it the largest project of its kind globally, claimed engineers at Ramboll. The 121 units are spread over 10 storeys. The overall height of the building is more than 33 metres. It will provide “significant residential capacity” over 12,500 square metres, and more than 3,400 square metres of commercial space.
Ramboll CLT engineer Gavin White told The Engineer that the timber was much less heavy than concrete, making it ideal for lightweight construction in an area of east London where Crossrail and HS1 passed underneath the streets. It had been used in other projects in the UK in Norwich and Bristol, he added.
According to the Commission on Affordable Housing in London, which was unveiled last month, 50,000 new homes are needed in the capital a year
The timber meant that the building would save 2,400 tonnes of carbon, White said. The London Borough of Hackney is encouraging timber construction as part of a ‘timber first’ policy. Total emissions of carbon, taking into account development and transport of materials, and construction of the building, would mean 50% less emissions, White added.
CLT panels are supplied in thicknesses of between 50mm-300mm and three to 13 metres in length. By using CLT, the embodied carbon is 2.5 times less than that of an equivalent concrete frame, Ramboll claimed.
Andrew Waugh, director at architects Waugh Thistleton, said the building at Dalston Lane was “important”. CLT structures are the only sustainable solution to provide high-quality, high density housing, and as such this project, given its scale and ambition, is a seminal piece of architecture.”
According to the Commission on Affordable Housing in London, which was unveiled last month, 50,000 new homes are needed in the capital a year just to keep pace with demand.
Prices for a new home are at an average of almost £500,000, the commission said.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Vision Enhancement Glasses Use Lasers
Technology may have surpassed Star Trek's utopian view of the future, at least in the area of corrective vision. This prototype retina imaging laser eyewear uses a miniature laser projector on the glasses frame to provide the wearer with digital information using the retina as a screen. The eyewear, which looks like regular eyeglasses, offers focus-free clarity, high brightness and high color reproducibility.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Planetary Resources begins asteroid prospecting satellite tests
The ambitious space mining company has sucessfully placed its first test satellite into orbit, testing its modular approach to space systems.
Planetary Resources, the company with ambitious plans to capture asteroids and mine them for valuable minerals, has deployed its first space telescope test satellite from the International Space Station. Arkyd 3 Reflight (A3R) is undertaking a 90-day mission to validate avionics, control systems and software for future versions of robotic telescopes that will prospect the Earth’s neighbourhood for potential targets for mining missions.
Arkyd-3 does not include a telescope — it is intended only to testy essential systems for the eventual Arkyd-100 telescope platform. It is based on the form of three CubeSat microsatellites stacked together. This mission is the second attempt to test the A3 model; the first in in October 2014, ended in failure when commercial space venture Oribital Sciences’ Antares launch vehicle exoloded on lift-off.
A3R uses a modular approach to spacecraft avionics, with each spacecraft function handled by commercially-available, low-level elements hardened for the space environment. The hardening is achieved by making the system tolerant to random reset events caused by radiation. This modular approach has several advantages, according to Planetary Resources: components and sub-systems can be replaced easily without disturbing the rest of the system; configurations can be fine-tuned and changed relatively late in the design and manufacture process; each component carries its own computing elements, so system interdependencies are reduced; this also means that hardware and sofware can be decoupled, so each can be developed independently.
A3R in stowed configuration prior to launch
“Our philosophy is to test often, and if possible, to test in space,” said Chris Lewicki, president and chief engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc ”The A3R is the most sophisticated, yet cost-effective, test demonstration spacecraft ever built,” he claimed. “We are innovating on every level from design to launch. By vertically integrating the system at our facility in Redmond, Virginia, we are in constant control of every component, including the ones we purchase off the shelf and the others that we manufacture using 3D printers.”
Planetary REsources’ next launch, for another test satellite, Arkyd-6, (A6) is scheduled for later this year. A6 will test attitude control, power, communication and avionics systems (incorporating refinements on A3R’s systems) and also include sensors for detection and characterization of resources. It is currently undergoing physical testing in Redmond.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Trapped light bounces through atomic lattices
Hexagonal boron nitride, stacked layers of boron and nitrogen atoms arranged in a hexagonal lattice have been found to bend electromagnetic energy in a way that can be utilised.
In 2014, University of California, San Diego, physicist Michael Fogler and colleagues demonstrated that light could be stored within nanoscale granules of hexagonal boron nitride. Now Fogler’s research group has published a new paper in Nano Letters that elaborates how this trapped light behaves inside the granules.
The particles of light phonon polaritons are said to disobey standard laws of reflection as they bounce through the granules, but their movement isn’t random. Polariton rays propagate along paths at fixed angles with respect to the atomic structure of the material, Folger’s team said. That in turn can lead to “interesting resonances”.
“The trajectories of the trapped polariton rays are very convoluted in most instances,” Fogler said in a statement. “However, at certain…frequencies they can become simple closed orbits.”
Patterns of orbiting light predicted for spheroids of hexagonal boron nitride illuminated with a dipole source just above their north poles. These are false-colour plots of predicted hot spots of enhanced electrical fields. Magenta lines trace the periodic orbits on the surfaces set up by particular frequencies
When that happens clusters of strongly enhanced electrical fields can emerge. Fogler’s group found those could form elaborate geometric patterns in granules of spheroidal shape.
The polaritons are not only particles but also waves that form interference patterns. When overlaid on the hot contours of enhanced electrical fields, these create strikingly beautiful images.
“They resemble Fabergé eggs, the gem-encrusted treasures of the Russian tsars,” Fogler observed.
Beyond creating beautiful images, their analysis illustrates the way light is stored inside the material. The patterns and the frequencies are determined not by the size of the spheroid but its shape, or the ratio of its girth to length. The analysis revealed that a single parameter determines the fixed angle along which polariton rays propagate with respect to the surface of the spheroids.
Scientists are beginning to find practical uses for materials such as hexagonal boron nitride that manipulate light. The theory this work informed could guide the development of applications such as nanoresonators for high-resolution colour filtering and spectral imaging, hyperlenses for subdiffractional imaging, or infrared photon sources.
The analysis provides a theoretical explanation for earlier observations of trapped light. Fogler and colleagues suggest several experiments that could confirm their prediction of orbiting light using advanced optical techniques, some of which are underway.
“The experimental quest to detect orbiting polaritons has already begun,” said Fogler.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Stretchy electronics potential from anelastic nanowire
Researchers have found that nanowires made from common semiconductor materials have pronounced anelasticity, a development that could lead to flexible, stretchable and wearable electronic devices.
This advance in understanding nanoscale anelasticity – where the wires, when bent, return slowly to their original shape – was made by researchers at North Carolina State University and Brown University.
“All materials have some degree of anelasticity, but it is usually negligible at the macroscopic scale,” said Yong Zhu, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the work. “Because nanowires are so small, the anelasticity is significant and easily observed - although it was a total surprise when we first discovered the anelasticity in nanowires.”
According to NCSU, the anelasticity was discovered when Zhu and his students were studying the buckling behaviour of nanowires.
“Anelasticity is a fundamental mechanical property of nanowires, and we need to understand these sort of mechanical behaviours if we want to incorporate nanowires into electronics or other devices,” said Elizabeth Dickey, a professor of materials science and engineering at NC State and co-author of the paper. Nanowires hold promise for use in a variety of applications, including flexible, stretchable and wearable electronic devices.
A time-lapse series of images of a nanowire exhibiting anelasticity. At top left, the image shows a nanowire bent almost in half, and then 5 seconds after release (middle left), 10 seconds (bottom left), 60 seconds (top right), 10 minutes (middle right), and 20 minutes (bottom right) after release
The researchers worked with both zinc oxide and silicon nanowires, and found that – when bent – the nanowires would return more than 80 percent of the way to their original shape instantaneously, but return the rest of the way - up to 20 percent - slowly.
“In nanowires that are approximately 50 nanometres in diameter, it can take 20 or 30 minutes for them to recover that last 20 percent of their original shape,” said Guangming Cheng, a Ph.D. student in Zhu’s lab and the first author for the paper.
The work was reportedly done using tools developed in Zhu’s group that enabled the team to conduct experiments on nanowires while they were in a scanning electron microscope. Additional analysis was done using a Titan aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope in NC State’s Analytical Instrumentation Facility.
When any material is bent, the bonds between atoms are stretched or compressed to accommodate the bending, but in nanoscale materials there is time for the atoms to move, or diffuse, from the compressed area to the stretched area in the material.
“This phenomenon is pronounced in nanowires. For instance, zinc oxide nanowires exhibited anelastic behaviour that is up to four orders of magnitude larger than the largest anelasticity observed in bulk materials, with a recovery time-scale in the order of minutes,” said Huajian Gao, a professor at Brown University and co-corresponding author of the paper.
Detailed modelling by Gao’s group indicates that the pronounced anelasticity in nanowires is because it is much easier for atoms to move through nanoscale materials than through bulk materials. And the atoms don’t have to travel as far. In addition, nanowires can be bent much further than thicker wires without becoming permanently deformed or breaking.
The team plans to explore whether this pronounced anelasticity is common across nanoscale materials and structures. They also want to evaluate how this characteristic may affect other properties, such as electrical conductivity and thermal transport.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Google car: primo incidente con feriti. Ma è colpa dell'uomo
Google sta utilizzando in questa fase una serie di Lexus RX450h, equipaggiati con l'impiantistica per la guida autonoma.
Una Lexus scelta come Google CarUna Google Car è stata tamponata con violenza, a Mountain View (California), quando le condizioni del traffico erano particolarmente intense. L’incidente non rappresenta di per sé una notizia: Big G ha raccontato nei mesi scorsi dei numerosi contrattempi in cui le Google Car si sono imbattute, tutti però senza alcuna responsabilità del sistema di guida autonoma.
L’ultimo episodio risulta più indicativo. Non soltanto perché si tratta del primo in cui viene ferita una persona, ma perché la dinamica mette in luce una questione ancora irrisolta (e forse irrisolvibile): le driverless car potranno evitare incidenti e diminuire la mortalità sulla strade, ma non riescono in alcun modo a prevenire o mitigare incidenti causati da automobilisti in carne ed ossa. La dinamica dello scontro è raccontata da Chris Umson, responsabile del programma.
La Google Car si stava avvicinando ad un incrocio. Era al fondo di un trenino composto da tre automobili, che hanno tutte rallentato prima di oltrepassare il semaforo (verde): al di là dell’incrocio si era formata una coda ed i tre automobilisti – la Lexus era gestita in quel momento dall’elettronica – hanno preferito non impegnarlo. Un quarto automobilista non si è accorto del rallentamento ed ha colpito in pieno il SUV giapponese, ad una velocità di circa 25 km/h. I due passeggeri della Google Car ed il colpevole dell’incidente hanno avuto tutti bisogno di cure mediche (non gravi)
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Frutta e verdura dall’acqua di mare - La serra galleggiante a impatto zero
Jellyfish Barge grazie ai pannelli solari dissala l’acqua per la coltivazione idroponica. Il sindaco di New York le vuole sul fiume Hudson. Non cancellerà la fame del mondo. Ma la direzione è quella. Soprattutto perché sfrutta l’elemento forse oggi culturalmente più distante da ciò che l’immaginario collettivo associa al concetto di risorsa alimentare. E cioè l’acqua salata del mare. La struttura - Un tronco di piramide retto da un’intelaiatura di legno e vetro delle dimensioni di 70 metri quadrati appoggiato su otto fustini di plastica riciclata che gli permettono di galleggiare. A prima vista la Jellyfish Barge della toscana Pnat ricorda quelle architetture post-apocalittiche alla Mad Max o Waterworld: praticamente il monolocale ideale per un’eredità distopica dove la decrescita (infelice) ha spinto via l’ecumene da una terra ormai arida e inospitale verso l’incerto orizzonte oceanico. In realtà ciò che fra Pisa e Firenze un pugno di biologi e architetti s’è inventato è qualcosa di molto meno fantascientifico e molto più concreto: coltivare frutta e verdura in mare. L’autonomia - Una serra, quindi. Ma a impatto zero: capace cioè di vivere e di vegetare senza nemmeno un granello di terra. La chiave di volta è il sistema di dissalazione dell’acqua che, azionato dai pannelli solari, è in grado di produrre 150 litri di acqua dolce al giorno e di nutrire le piante, le quali vengono coltivate con la tecnica idroponica. Il che permette di sostituire nei vasi la (preziosa) terra con un sostrato inerte di argilla. Il modello Jellyfish, cioè medusa. Il nome risale al primo prototipo della serra, presentato nel 2012 alla Biennale di Architettura di Venezia. «Da allora — raccontano gli architetti Cristiana Favretto e Antonio Girardi — il progetto ha subìto evidenti cambiamenti, ma il concetto alla base è rimasto: realizzare un ecosistema seguendo le indicazioni di sostenibilità e adattabilità al cambiamento che la natura stessa ci suggerisce». Il team - Progetto multidisciplinare fin dall’inizio, dato che Pnat è uno spin-off dell’Università di Firenze e molta della tecnologia di bordo è stata implementata da Stefano Mancuso, direttore del Laboratorio internazionale di Neurobiologia vegetale, il vero cambio di marcia, per la Jellyfish Barge, è però avvenuto dopo l’incontro con Marco Gualtieri, ceo di Seed&Chips, il salone dedicato alle startup della filiera agroalimentare. Un colpo di fulmine, tanto che il guru ha immediatamente voluto in squadra gli startupper toscani. «L’idea — spiega Gualtieri — ci è piaciuta alla prima occhiata, in particolare per il suo potenziale. Le dimensioni ridotte e la struttura modulare della zattera — l’idea è proprio quella di affiancare diversi moduli per creare una piccola comunità galleggiante, ndr — rendono la serra adatta a canali, darsene e luoghi acquatici poco proficui come le coste su cui si affacciano le grandi città». Il futuro - Non a caso la Jellyfish Barge, il prossimo settembre, dopo la sua presentazione ufficiale alla Darsena di Milano nelle prossime settimane (si attende solo il via libera di Palazzo Marino), entrerà nella lista delle startup curate dall’incubatore del Padiglione americano di Expo. «Abbiamo presentato il prodotto a Bill de Blasio, il sindaco di New York, il quale sta pensando di inserire le serre nel progetto di riqualificazione del tratto metropolitano dell’Hudson» conclude Gualtieri. Delle venti città più grandi del mondo, 18 si affacciano sul mare: la vita è da sempre giunta dal lì e il mayor della Grande Mela pare abbia intuito quanto futuro sia in grado di assicurare una medusa di legno e vetro ormeggiata poco distante dal bagnasciuga.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
CONOSCIAMO L’OLIO DI PALMA
È il grasso vegetale che si ottiene dal frutto della palma da olio, più utilizzato al mondo.
Vari sono i motivi che l’hanno fatto diventare l’ingrediente più desiderato dall’industria alimentare a quella cosmetica. Permette infatti oltre che ad abbattere il costo del prodotto finito, di facilitare il processo produttivo di qualsiasi prodotto come merendine, biscotti , torte ecc. Vince sugli altri olii vegetali per la sua capacità di conferire cremosità e croccantezza, pur rimanendo insapore, e aumentare la stabilità del prodotto. In pratica sostituisce il burro solo che non irrancidisce.
Da oltre 30 anni l’abuso di questo ingrediente per i suoi molteplici vantaggi ha così incrementato la richiesta da parte delle maggiori industrie alimentari che ha portato alla deforestazione ed estinzione di molte specie in paesi come Indonesia, Malesia, i quali producono il 90% dell’intera produzione mondiale di olio di palma. Per produrre questo olio sono state distrutte moltissime foreste pluviali della zona: secondo alcuni calcoli, in 30 anni l’Indonesia ha tagliato e bruciato foreste per un territorio pari all’Italia, la Svizzera e l’Austria messe insieme. Ogni ora, infatti, vengono distrutte aree di foreste pari a 300 campi da calcio. Il tutto viene fatto dai commercianti del legno che lasciano questo terreno libero per la coltivazione delle palme. Tutto questo ha messo a rischio estinzione ben 80 specie di animali, tra cui gli oranghi che vivono nel Borneo indonesiano. Vi chiederete, ma perché si parla solo ora di questo olio?
Perché dal gennaio 2015 è stato imposto l’obbligo attraverso il Reg. Reg.Ue 1169/2011 al produttore di indicare nelle etichette l’origine vegetale specifica dell’olio utilizzato (curioso il fatto che quando prima era solo “grasso od olio vegetale” nessuno ne parlava).
Ecco che salta fuori la sua presenza in tutti i biscotti Mulino Bianco e persino nella famosa Nutella (il 31% è olio di palma). Le aziende, come la Ferrero, si difendono affermando di utilizzare solo olio di palma certificato (RSPO) e che quindi non provoca deforestazione nè tantomeno sfrutta i lavoratori. Inoltre, negli ultimi mesi, sia Buitoni che Ferrero hanno dichiarato che stanno sostituendo l’olio di palma con l’olio di oliva che sicuramente crea meno problemi.
Fa male?
È ricco in grassi saturi, pertanto il troppo consumo può causare problemi a livello cardiovascolare e colesterolemia in quanto principalmente costituito dall’acido palmitico. Attualmente ci sono alcuni studi che stanno cercando di confermare o smentire quanto finora dichiarato.
Abbiamo così conosciuto l’olio di palma, il perchè si usa, cosa provoca, e la direzione verso cui che le industrie alimentare vorrebbero andare. Come sempre quindi ora, il potere è nelle mani dei consumatori che, volutamente, sono tenuti all’oscuro di questi affari e che ora possono prendere consapevolezza per una scelta più giusta e razionale.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Test Rapidly Diagnoses Ebola
A commercially developed diagnostic test can diagnose Ebola virus disease within minutes. The test, performed at bedside, was found to be as sensitive as the conventional laboratory-based method used for clinical testing during the outbreak in Sierra Leone. The test had 100% sensitivity and 92% specificity in detecting the Ebola virus in samples collected by point-of-care fingerstick and whole blood samples submitted to the reference laboratory.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Anthrax Scandal Widens
The scandal involving shipments of live anthrax samples continues to grow and doubt has been thrown on the gamma irradiation method to kill the anthrax. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found live anthrax in all of the samples sent by a U.S. military lab in Utah to 69 laboratories in 19 states, the District of Columbia, and five countries. It has instructed the labs to destroy any remaining anthrax still in their possession. In addition, Military.com reported that the government accounting office has discovered more problems at military labs beyond anthrax shipments.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Energia dalle maree, il Canale di Bristol accetta la scommessa
Il Canale di Bristol, in Gran Bretagna, ha un enorme potenziale per la produzione di energia dalle maree. Il problema è che, fino ad ora, gli schemi presentati (e scartati) per intrappolare questa energia avrebbero richiesto la costruzione di dighe e sbarramenti così grandi da rendere insostenibile tutto il progetto. Come alternativa più ecofriendly e decisamente anche più economica, la Kepler Energy ha annunciato i piani per un impianto sottomarino appositamente progettato per sfruttare le maree del canale e convertirle in elettricità. La società ha intenzione di realizzare una sorta di recinzione subacquea, con una potenza nominale di 30 MW, da istallare lungo la linea tra Aberthaw e Minehead. Il progetto, che richiede un investimento 143 milioni di sterline, non vedrebbe però la luce prima del 2021, dal momento che la tecnologia è ancora allo stato embrionale. Per il suo progetto, Kepler Energy sta utilizzando una speciale turbina idrica ad asse orizzontale trasversale (o THAWT, secondo l’acronimo inglese). Sviluppata da Dipartimento di Ingegneria Scienze dell’Università di Oxford, l’innovativa turbina è stata progettata per l’utilizzo in acque poco profonde e flussi più lenti. Si basa su una struttura reticolare realizzata in carbonio composito; le unità di generazione sono costituite da due serie di pale reticolari tra tre colonne con un singolo generatore tra loro. La società vorrebbe istallare il primo impianto nel canale britannico e ha già presentato i piani per 1 km di questo recinto. La centrale sottomarina sarà oggetto di una valutazione d’impatto ambientale durante il processo di pianificazione per garantire che non comporti rischi significativi per la vita marina. La recinzione dovrebbe essere installata, a patto che il progetto vada in porto, ad una profondità tra i 20 e i 30 metri. La società ha condiviso i suoi schemi con il Dipartimento britannico dell’Energia e dei Cambiamenti climatici, il governo gallese, il Crown Estate e il Bristol City Council, pronta ad affrontare un più ampio programma di consultazione delle parti interessate nella seconda metà di quest’anno.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Argus II ‘bionic eye’ implanted for first time in patient with AMD
A man with age related macular degeneration has become the first person with the condition to receive an implant to restore his sight.
Ray Flynn, 80, had the Argus II device implanted during a four-hour procedure carried out by Prof Paulo Stanga at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
The device, developed by Sylmar, California-based Second Sight and previously implanted into to patients with advanced retinitis pigmentosa, converts video images from a miniature camera installed in Flynn’s glasses.
Flynn’s condition, shared by over 500,000 people in the UK, is not painful but it does impair a person’s central vision, making it difficult to recognise faces and rendering everyday tasks such as reading or driving impossible.
“The dry form of AMD is a common, but untreatable condition,” Prof Stagna said in a statement. “In the western world, it is the leading cause of sight loss. Unfortunately, with an ageing population, it is becoming more common.”
Flynn was fitted with the device in June, which was activated on 1 July.
Prof Sagna said: “Mr Flynn’s progress is truly remarkable. He is able to detect the orientation of lines and objects very effectively while using only the newly acquired central visual function.
“It is very encouraging to hear Ray say that he can now make out the outline of a face. We expect that, in time the benefits derived from the implant will increase as we find the best settings for the patient and the patient himself learns how to interpret the information received through it.”
How it works
Argus II is Second Sight’s second-generation implantable device intended to treat profoundly blind people suffering from degenerative diseases. It was approved for sale in the European Economic Area in 2011.
According to the company, the system converts video images captured from a camera — housed in the patient’s glasses — into a series of small electrical pulses that are transmitted wirelessly to an array of electrodes on the retina.
These pulses then stimulate the retina’s remaining cells, resulting in the corresponding perception of patterns of light in the brain.
Over time Flynn will learn to interpret these patterns and regain vision.
“This technology is revolutionary and changes patients’ lives – restoring some functional vision and helping them to live more independently,” said Prof Stanga, who works in Manchester University’s Institute of Human Development as Professor of Opthalmology & Retinal Regeneration.
Commenting on the trial, Cathy Yelf, chief executive of the Macular Society, said: “Macular degeneration can be a devastating condition and very many people are now affected as we live longer. These are early trials but in time this research may lead to a really useful device for people who lose their central vision.”
Four more patients with dry AMD are now being recruited for the trial being carried out at Manchester Royal Eye Hospital.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Metal foam provides lightweight radiation shielding
Nuclear, space exploration and medical applications abound for low-density, non-toxic structural shielding materials
Lightweight composite metal foams can absorb energy from impacts and block X-rays, gamma rays and neutron radiation, according to a study from North Carolina State University. The discovery means the materials could be useful in spacecraft, the nuclear industry and in medicine.
Aerospace and mechanical engineer Afsanah Rabiei originally developed the foams, which consist of hollow metal spheres of one metal dispersed in a matrix which can be of the same or a different metal, for military transport applications. They are mechanically strong, thermally insulative and lightweight, with their structure reducing the density compared with a bulk material, but Rabiei wanted to determine whether they could provide structural support while also shielding from radiation. Her research involved comparing foams’ shielding properties against pure lead and the A356 grade of aluminium, metals that are currently used for shielding purposes. Each comparison used samples of the same weight, but differing volume.
A sample of high-Z steel-steel foam
The best results were obtained from a foam called high-Z steel-steel, which consists of stainless steel spheres dispersed in a matrix of high-speed T15 steel, an alloy containing trace amounts of vanadium and tungsten. The term High-Z refers to all the metals in the alloy having a large number of protons in their atomic nuclei; Rabiei’s team chose this alloy because tungsten and vanadium both have good radiation shielding properties. The tungsten-containing foam was modified so that its density was the same as a foam made entirely from stainless steel.
The researchers found that the high-Z foam was as good as the bulk materials at blocking high-energy gamma rays, such as those emitted by radioactive caesium and cobalt, but even better at blocking low-energy gamma, such as the radiation from barium an americium. It outperformed bulk materials at blocking neutron radiation, and was bettered only by lead at blocking X-rays. “However, we are working to modify the composition of the metal foam to be even more effective than lead at blocking X-rays – and our early results are promising,” Rabiei said. “And our foams have the advantage of being non-toxic, which means that they are easier to manufacture and recycle.”
The size of the hollow steel spheres seemed to have little effect, as long as the ratio of wall thickness to diameter stayed constant; however, smaller spheres (around 2mm diameter) seem to be more efficient in X-ray applications. Rabiei believes that the foams could be particularly useful in making vessels to transport nuclear waste, in protecting equipment on-board exploratory spacecraft from the high radiation fluxes sometimes found in space without adding significantly to their weight, and in protecting patients from radiation doses in CT scanners. The team discusses its work in a paper in the journal Radiation Physics and Chemistry.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New medical imaging solution improves contrast, resolution and depth.
A new advance in elastography from The Technology Partnership could lead to improvements in surgical procedures and enhance a doctor’s ability to navigate around the body during operations.
Elastography is a medical imaging technique that maps the elastic properties of soft tissue to provide diagnostic information during surgery.
The process determines the stiffness of tissue and can be adapted to measure the level of muscle contraction. Cancerous cells, for example, will often be profoundly stiffer than the surrounding tissue and diseased livers are stiffer than healthy ones.
Traditional elastography relies on creating displacement in the tissue by inducing a distortion by sending a shear wave through the tissue or by vibrating the surface of the tissue.
TTP’s patent-pending approach is said to use a process of Passive Elastography, which relies on the body’s normal physiological distortions such as the beating of the heart, respiration of the lungs or the expansion and contraction of the blood vessels.
Using ultrasound frequencies between 5 and 40MHz, TTP captures sets of two or three ultrasound images at a time and measures the displacement caused by the body’s natural movement – typically around 10 microns amplitude within each set of images. TTP then looks at the structural changes visible from the data to map muscle stiffness or muscle contraction and displays this as a colour-map over the top of the ultrasound image. The result looks similar to a heat map with a resolution of around 0.5mm and up to a depth of around 50mm.
The strain imaging technology is designed for integration with existing ablation instruments or probes, to give surgeons the ability to visualise work which would otherwise be blind.
In a statement, TTP’s Paul Galluzzo said: “When we started looking at ultrasound imaging for these surgical applications, it became clear that there is a need for a new imaging solution, which has enough contrast, resolution and image depth.
“For example, optical methods such as OCT [optical coherence tomography] and photo acoustics provide good contrast but inadequate imaging depth in this case, while electrical impedance spectroscopy does not produce an image and traditional ultrasound can’t always tell the difference between live and dead tissue during ablation.
“Our new Passive Elastography approach gives surgeons much greater visibility, which increases clinical efficacy. Ultimately the goal is to reduce the number of re-interventions, reduce mortality rates and accelerate procedure times for all ‘blind’ medical procedures.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Japanese engineer Dr Ichiro Ario has designed a new mobile bridge based on the principles of origami, which could speed up emergency relief to cut-off areas following natural disasters.
People walked on the completed MB over the Hongo river in Fukuyama City at its first construction test.
The Mobile Bridge Version 4.0 (MB4.0) can fit in a car trailer, and unfolds in a scissor-like fashion to span small rivers and ravines. Its first construction test took place last month over the Hongo River in Fukuyama City, near Hiroshima in southwest Japan.
“From this test of a new bridge concept, the next generation of bridge technology starts on a new stage in the field of bridge engineering,” said Dr Ario, who is assistant professor at the Institute of Engineering, Hiroshima University.
“It is possible to use a real deployable and smart bridge with a scissor-type bridge system using this structural theory.”
From arrival on site, MB4.0 takes approximately one hour to deploy, with the actual extension time taking just five minutes. It is claimed that the patented scissor mechanism outperforms the older block assembly method of construction, making MB4.0 “the world’s lightest, fastest, largest, strongest and lightest expanding temporary bridge.”
The new technology uses a scissor-type mechanism, enabling rapid bridge construction.
No foundation construction or crane operations are required to deploy the bridge, and it is hoped that its speed and flexibility could lead to faster relief reaching areas in need following natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, tsunamis and landslides.
Dr Ario believes MB4.0 could also have other applications, such as providing structural support to existing bridges in need of repair, or as an alternative crossing where a bridge is closed for maintenance.
“I will further promote the development and evolution of MB4.0 in the future.,” he said. “Making MB stronger, longer, lighter, more compact, and quicker to set up will promote the development of infrastructure construction technology in general.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Chimica verde: l'Italia batte tedeschi e olandesi
L'Unione europea ha premiato l'innovazione tecnologica dell'impianto di Matrica, in Sardegna. Assegnati a Novamont 17 milioni di euro per sostenere l'impianto pilota che utilizza il cardo, una pianta povera che non ha bisogno di irrigazione né di fitofarmaci. È una scommessa sull'innovazione nella chimica verde che vale 3,7 miliardi di euro in sei anni e l'Italia si è conquistata un posto in prima fila battendo tedeschi e olandesi. La Bic (Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking), la partnership pubblico-privato tra l'Unione europea e le imprese del settore, ha assegnato 17 milioni di euro a fondo perduto per sostenere la ricerca Novamont sulle bioraffinerie. Tra il 2014 e il 2020 la Bic ha previsto investimenti per 2,73 miliardi di euro e altri 975 milioni verranno aggiunti direttamente dalla Ue. In questa prima fase è stato finanziato un unico progetto pilota, quello italiano coordinato da Novamont. Si chiama First2run e mira a dimostrare la sostenibilità tecnica, economica e ambientale su scala industriale dell'uso di colture che non richiedono irrigazione né pesticidi per estrarre oli vegetali con cui fare biolubrificanti, cosmetici, bioplastiche. Il ciclo della filiera servirà anche a ottenere mangimi animali, altri prodotti chimici ed energia. Sul progetto, che è stato sviluppato a Porto Torres, in Sardegna, nello stabilimento di Matrica, sono già stati investiti oltre 300 milioni di euro. "La bioraffineria è un concetto che rivoluziona il quadro economico e ambientale perché permette di adoperare materie prime povere, che non entrano in competizione con la sfera alimentare, in un ciclo di produzione a cascata in cui si utilizzano via via gli scarti della lavorazione precedente", spiega Catia Bastioli, amministratore delegato di Novamont. "In questo modo si ricavano consistenti benefici economici e ambientali arrivando alla produzione di energia solo alla fine del ciclo di uso della materia. Inoltre si dà una grande spinta all'occupazione: per ogni mille tonnellate di bioplastica si possono creare 60 posti di lavoro". Il settore della bioeconomia in Europa vale 2.000 miliardi di euro e dà un impiego a oltre 22 milioni di persone. Secondo le stime della Commissione, per ogni euro investito in ricerca e innovazione si possono ottenere 10 euro di fatturato entro il 2025. Nell'impianto di Matrica, una joint venture tra Eni-Versalis e Novamont, come materia prima è stato usato il cardo, una pianta rustica che cresce anche su terreni marginali o da bonificare, e ha pretese modeste: si accontenta dell'acqua piovana e non ha bisogno di fertilizzanti o fitofarmaci. Ora si passerà dai 500 ettari finora utilizzati a 3.500.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Innovazione: piante per rafforzare il sistema immunitario degli astronauti del futuro
Piante in grado di crescere nello spazio per fornire alimenti "freschi" nelle stazioni orbitanti del futuro: è questo l’obiettivo che si pone ENEA con le ricerche condotte sul pomodoro "Micro-Tom", una varietà nata come pianta ornamentale, ma con caratteristiche tali da adattarsi ad un "orto spaziale". Questi temi sono stati al centro del workshop "Agrispazio: colonizzare Luna e Marte per nutrire la Terra", che si è tenuto al Museo dell’Ara Pacis a Roma, nel corso del quale si è discusso di come nutrire gli astronauti della Stazione Spaziale Internazionale e sostenere con tecnologie biorigenerative la permanenza dell’uomo oltre la bassa orbita terrestre.
"Le nostre ricerche – afferma Eugenio Benvenuto, responsabile del laboratorio Biotecnologie dell’ENEA – mirano a favorire la sostenibilità dell’habitat delle stazioni spaziali grazie alla coltivazione di piante ‘tuttofare’, in grado di innescare un ciclo bio-rigenerativo di risorse vitali come acqua e ossigeno, di abbattere l’anidride carbonica e al tempo stesso di costituire un alimento sicuro per gli astronauti, ricco di molecole ad alto valore aggiunto".
"La ricerca agronomica - aggiunge Benvenuto - rende oggi possibile coltivare piante in luoghi estremi come la Stazione Spaziale Internazionale, grazie a colture ‘fuori suolo’ o idroponiche, che non hanno bisogno di suolo per crescere ma solo di acqua e sostanze nutritive".
Le ricerche condotte nel Centro ENEA della Casaccia nascono nell’ambito del progetto BIOxTREME, finanziato dall’Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, ed analizzano il potenziale delle piante sia come fonte di elementi antiossidanti che antimicrobici, capaci di rafforzare le difese immunitarie degli astronauti rispetto alle condizioni di vita imposte dalla permanenza nei moduli spaziali aggravate anche dalla proliferazione di microbi importati dalla Terra. Obiettivo è la costruzione di un "ideotipo" vegetale resistente alle condizioni extraterrestri, quali l’assenza di peso, le radiazioni cosmiche e i campi elettromagnetici. Da queste combinazioni genetiche potranno essere prodotte piante che accumulano grandi quantità di sostanze antiossidanti come le antocianine, le cosiddette "molecole-antidoto", utili contro l’invecchiamento e presenti in grandi quantità nei frutti di colore scuro.
Inoltre, sia le piante che le radici, possono essere fonte di svariate tipologie di proteine con riconosciute attività farmacologiche. Sono infatti allo studio colture di radici che funzionano come bioreattori naturali in grado di sintetizzare molecole ad altissimo valore aggiunto come anticorpi, peptidi e immunostimolanti. Si tratta di molecole preziose, la cui sintesi è indotta da nuovi geni costruiti in laboratorio. Le radici così ottenute possono essere cresciute in condizioni controllate aggiungendo nel terreno di coltura sali, zucchero e vitamine.
Queste radici risultano resistenti ad alte dosi di radiazioni gamma e protoni dell’ordine di 10 gray e sono in grado di proliferare anche dopo dosi di irraggiamento che sarebbero letali per molti altri tipi di cellule. Le condizioni di stress accentuato e le eventuali alterazioni del metabolismo che ne derivano, vengono puntualmente analizzate nel loro complesso mediante tecniche molecolari avanzate che riescono a mettere in evidenza anche le minime variazioni significative.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Salute: nuovo kit per la diagnosi precoce della Sindrome di Sjögren
ENEA e Università di Verona hanno brevettato un kit diagnostico che, in maniera semplice ed economica, è in grado di individuare i pazienti affetti da Sindrome di Sjögren. Il kit è stato presentato oggi a Verona nel corso di un simposio organizzato dall'Associazione nazionale italiana malati Sindrome di Sjögren (Animass), in occasione della Giornata mondiale dedicata alla malattia.
La nuova tecnica diagnostica, alternativa ai metodi bioptici più invasivi e costosi, si basa sul virus X della patata, prodotto in una pianta modello, del genere Nicotiana benthamiana, appartenente alla stessa famiglia della pianta del comune tabacco. La conformazione tridimensionale del virus, opportunamente modificata, ha permesso di ottenere un test diagnostico molto sensibile e riproducibile, in grado di rilevare con estrema efficacia pazienti colpiti dalla malattia. Inoltre, la struttura del virus vegetale naturalmente robusta e resistente permette di realizzare kit diagnostici caratterizzati da un’elevata stabilità nel tempo e quindi in grado di essere conservati a lungo. Infine, l’utilizzo di piante come bireattori, per la produzione delle particelle virali utilizzate nel test, permette di contenere notevolmente i costi di produzione del test stesso.
La Sindrome di Sjögren è una malattia autoimmune che colpisce essenzialmente le donne (il 90% delle persone malate ), con un’incidenza su tutta la popolazione mondiale pari allo 0,6%. Viene a volte considerata una malattia rara, perché spesso non è correttamente diagnosticata ed il suo tasso di diffusione è sottostimato. La malattia può manifestarsi a qualsiasi età, ma di solito viene diagnosticata dopo i 40 anni, e colpisce persone di qualsiasi razza ed etnia. È raro, ma non impossibile, che colpisca anche i bambini. È causata da una combinazione di fattori genetici ed ambientali, sebbene l’origine o il fattore scatenante la sintomatologia siano ancora oggetto di studio.
La malattia si manifesta con l'infiammazione delle ghiandole esocrine, soprattutto quelle salivari e lacrimali, e può successivamente estendersi ad altri organi, con possibilità di complicanze anche a livello neurologico. Una diagnosi precoce ed un rapido intervento nel trattamento della sintomatologia incidono positivamente sul decorso della malattia.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Ambiente: nasce il primo strumento musicale al mondo costruito con legno certificato italiano
É un prezioso clavicembalo tutto italiano il primo strumento musicale interamente realizzato con legno derivante da boschi e foreste gestiti in modo sostenibile; lo strumento ha ottenuto la certificazione PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification, Programma per il riconoscimento di Certificazione Forestale), il maggiore riconoscimento internazionale del settore.
Il clavicembalo, un "Modello Giusti 1679", è stato realizzato dall’Impresa Fratelli Leita, piccola azienda del Friuli Venezia Giulia ed è stato presentato ufficialmente al Made Expo 2015 a Milano.
L’ENEA ha collaborato fin dall’inizio del progetto: i ricercatori Gilda Massa e Nicola Gessa del Laboratorio CROSS-TEC dell’ENEA di Bologna, hanno identificato in fase di pianificazione della produzione e con il coinvolgimento dell’intera Rete d’Impresa12-to-Many, prima rete di imprese in Italia della Filiera Foresta-Legno, i principali parametri qualitativi e gli elementi strategici su cui puntare per il posizionamento di mercato dello strumento. Spiega la ricercatrice Gilda Massa: "La metodologia che abbiamo applicato all’intera Rete d’Impresa per misurare la qualità dello strumento, definendone nello stesso tempo anche il prezzo di vendita sul mercato è la Quality Function Deployment (QFD)".
"Il nostro studio - prosegue - ha permesso di evidenziare l'importanza di aspetti quali la scelta delle specie legnose, la fase del loro reperimento e le lavorazioni funzionali al prodotto. Messe insieme queste caratteristiche rappresentano il 72% della qualità complessiva attesa. Questa attività è solo un esempio della collaborazione che il nostro laboratorio ha attivato sul territorio con diverse realtà imprenditoriali costituite da piccole e medie imprese".
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Artificial pancreas will control blood sugar in Type 1 diabetics
France’s CEA-Leti and Diabeloop have announced a joint venture to develop an artificial pancreas that will help improve the treatment of Type 1 diabetes in people.
The joint lab is said to build on Leti and Diabeloop’s earlier three-year research project that included clinical trials in hospitals and demonstrated the promise of a closed-loop system for treating diabetes.
The artificial pancreas, designed to automatically deliver the appropriate dose of insulin to patients, includes a sensor that measures patients’ glucose levels, a pump that delivers insulin, and a smartphone with an embedded algorithm and patient interface that links the sensor and the pump. It also includes telemedicine capabilities for monitoring patients and linking them with health-care providers and dedicated nurses.
“The Diabeloop system can fundamentally improve everyday life of diabetes patients,” said Erik Huneker, CEO of Diabeloop. “It will allow better control of their blood sugar and result in a strong reduction in hypoglycemic events and associated comas, as well as a decrease in diabetes-related complications, such as ocular and renal complications and amputations.”
Leti will further develop the system’s regulation algorithm that takes into account the patients’ carbohydrate intake, glycemia, physical-activity and emotional-state history. The system predicts at any time how a change of insulin dosage will impact patient glycaemia levels in the next few hours and computes the optimal dose, especially at mealtime.
“This joint lab with Diabeloop will build on the success we had in the earlier research project, and bring the world’s first artificial pancreas closer to reality,” said Pierre Jallon, Leti R&D manager for digital health-and-wellness systems. “Designed for maximum user convenience and optimal integration with health-care providers, Diabeloop is a smart system that will provide a very precise dosage for diabetics.”
The three-year joint lab also will exploit real and simulated data to improve insulin physiology numerical models with a focus on how physical activity and emotional states affect glycemia levels. Clinical trials involving patients living at home are expected in 2015.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Wireless power transfer boosted by magnetic field enhancer
Research shows that passing wireless power transfer through a magnetic resonance field enhancer (MRFE) can boost the transfer efficiency by at least 100 per cent compared to transferring through air.
MRFE use could potentially boost transfer efficiency by as much as 5,000 per cent in some systems, said experts from from North Carolina State University and Carnegie Mellon University.
Wireless power transfer works by having a transmitter coil generate a magnetic field; a receiver coil then draws energy from that magnetic field. One of the major roadblocks for development of marketable wireless power transfer technologies is achieving high efficiency.
“Our experimental results show double the efficiency using the MRFE in comparison to air alone,” said David Ricketts, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and corresponding author of a paper describing the work.
From left to right are: performance of wireless power transfer using an MRFE, a metamaterial, and through air alone
Source: NC State/David Ricketts
From left to right are: performance of wireless power transfer using an MRFE, a metamaterial, and through air alone
Enhancing wireless power efficiency has been a major goal of many research groups and metamaterials have been leading candidates proposed for enhancing efficiency.
“We performed a comprehensive analysis using computer models of wireless power systems and found that MRFE could ultimately be five times more efficient than use of metamaterials and 50 times more efficient than transmitting through air alone,” Ricketts said in a statement.
By placing the MRFE between the transmitter and the receiver (without touching either) as an intermediate material, the researchers were able to enhance the magnetic field, increasing its efficiency.
“We realised that any enhancement needs to not only increase the magnetic field the receiver ‘sees,’ but also not siphon off any of the power being put out by the transmitter,” said Ricketts. “The MRFE amplifies the magnetic field while removing very little power from the system.”
The researchers conducted an experiment that transmitted power through air alone, through a metamaterial, and through an MRFE made of the same quality material as the metamaterial. The MRFE is said to have significantly outperformed both of the others. In addition, the MRFE is less than one-tenth the volume of metamaterial enhancers.
“This could help advance efforts to develop wireless power transfer technologies for use with electric vehicles, in buildings, or in any other application where enhanced efficiency or greater distances are important considerations,” said Ricketts.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Promising results for bomb-proof bag in aircraft trial
A UK-based research project has reported promising results from tests of a material designed to contain the force of bombs smuggled on-board aircraft
A lightweight lining for aircraft holds that can withstand the force of explosions could help prevent terrorist attacks similar to the Lockerbie bombing, according to its international team of developers. The research is being led by Sheffield University, and was reported in The Engineer at the outset of the project. The team has now demonstrated the concept using retired aircraft at Cotswolds Airport, including a Boeing 747 and Airbus A321, and increasingly-powerful explosive charges.
Dubbed Fly-Bag by the team, the lining is built up from layers of fabrics with high strength, heat and impact resistance, including woven aramid fibre, better known as Kevlar. The fibres in the lining are coated with shear-thickening fluids which, when subjected to a strong force such as an impact or explosive impulse, sharply increase their viscosity. This helps to dissipate the impulse by effectively stretching out the time during which it affects the fabric.
“Key to the concept is that the lining is flexible and this adds to its resilience when containing the explosive force and any fragments produced,” said research diector Andy Tyas of the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering at Sheffield, who is also a director of a university spin-out called Blastech. “This helps to ensure that the Fly-Bag acts as a membrane rather than as a rigid-walled container which might shatter on impact.”
Fly-bag has to contain a shockwave that can move at up to 20,000mph and temperatures up to 3,000oC, as well as resisting the inflation effect of the expanding gases frome combustion of the explosive and shrapnel formed by the hard parts of the luggage and any metallic pieces used by a bomb-maker. The team has developed their layered material so that it can withstand these conditions while being only 1.3mm thick.
Although the structure has been tested already in isolation, the aircraft tests help the researchers understand how Fly-Bag might work in the conditions it is intended for; previous trials had shown it expands when something explodes inside it, but the team needed to be certain this expansion would not damage the aircraft. Tyas said the results so far have been ‘very promising.’
The consortium, which includes engineers from Greece, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands, is aiming to produce a technology which is just as effective, but lighter and cheaper, than the hardened luggage containers that are currently available to deal with the threat of bombs hidden in luggage checked into the aircraft hold; these have been implicated in a number of terrorist attacks dating back to the early years of passenger flight, with the Lockerbie bomb in 1988 perhaps the most notorious today.
The team envisages three different versions of Fly-Bag, all of which would need to be certified by aircraft regulators: a lining that would hang inside the entire luggage compartment of a narrow-bodied jet; a smaller version for the luggage crates that are used in wide-bodied jets; and a compact version that would be carried in the passenger compartment and used if cabin crew suspect a passenger has brought a bomb on board in their hand-luggage. Italian airline Meridiana is believed to have already shown interest in the technology.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Researchers tap infrared spectrum to improve solar cell efficiency
A research team from the University of California, Riverside, has developed a method of converting infrared light from the sun into solar energy, potentially making solar panels up to 30 per cent more efficient.
The team’s report, published in Nano Letters, explains that by combining inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals with organic molecules, they were able to “upconvert” photons in the visible and near-infrared regions of the solar spectrum.
“The infrared region of the solar spectrum passes right through the photovoltaic materials that make up today’s solar cells,” said professor of chemistry Christopher Bardeen.
“This is energy lost, no matter how good your solar cell. The hybrid material we have come up with first captures two infrared photons that would normally pass right through a solar cell without being converted to electricity, then adds their energies together to make one higher energy photon.”
According to Bardeen, this upconverted photon can be absorbed by photovoltaic cells, generating electricity from light that ordinarily does not produce any.
“The key to this research is the hybrid composite material – combining inorganic semiconductor nanoparticles with organic compounds,” he said.
“By using a hybrid material, the inorganic component absorbs two photons and passes their energy on to the organic component for combination. The organic compounds then produce one high-energy photon. Put simply, the inorganics in the composite material take light in; the organics get light out.”
The inorganic materials used to make the hybrid composite were cadmium selenide and lead selenide semiconductor nanocrystals, with the organic compounds diphenylanthracene and rubrene forming the other component.
The team also believes the technology has a wide range of possible applications beyond solar energy, such as biological imaging, data storage and organic light-emitting diodes.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Lobster optics to protect communications agsainst space X-rays
An optical system developed in the UK could help detect harmful electromagnetic events caused by solar storms
An imaging system inspired by lobsters’ eyes could help to detect phenomena linked to space weather that damages space-borne instruments and electrical and communications infrastructure on Earth. Satellites carrying such ‘lobster-eye optics’ could soon be launched by ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Integrated instrument prototype with the optics assembly at the front and the electronics box in the back
The solar wind — the constant stream of charged particles emitted by the sun — contains a proportion of heavy ions that interact with clouds of electrically neutral gas, given off by comets as they approach the sun, to create ‘soft X-rays’ (radiation with an energy of 100eV to 10keV). This radiation can interfere with communications systems and cause problems with electrical infrastructure on Earth.
NASA has built on simulations created by Tom Craven and Ina Robertson of the University of Kansas to devise an optical element that can focus soft X-rays across a wide plane of view, which would allow researchers to observe events in the Earth’s magnetic field when the solar wind interacts with residual atmosphere to create soft X-rays.
This optical element, devised by Leicester University and Photonis in France, “consists of an array of very small square glass pores 20 microns on a side curved like a section of a sphere, with a radius of 75 centimetres,” explained Michael Collier, an astrophysicist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Centre and lead author of a paper in the journal Review of Scientific Instruments. This mimics the optics in a lobster’s eye.
Having such a system in space “takes us one step closer toward global solar wind and magnetosphere imaging capabilities,” Collier said. “Because all of the energy that powers dangerous space weather events comes from solar wind, this capability allows us to better protect our space assets—particularly geosynchronous spacecraft, such as those that carry cell phone signals.”
The optics could be easily mounted in a small CubeSat satellite, the researchers state, and would be suitable for a mission called “Solar Wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer,” (SMILE), being planned by ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a launch in 2021, that will include a wide-field-of-view soft X-ray imager featuring Lobster-Eye optics from Leicester University. “The goal of this mission is to perform global imaging of the solar wind and magnetosphere interaction—something that has yet to be achieved,” said Collier.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Graphene Mics and Speakers Reach Ultra- and Infra-sonic Ranges
Typically, microphones and speakers use diaphragms made of paper or plastic to detect or produce sound, respectively. By using one-atom-thick graphene sheets instead, physicists at the University of California Berkeley have developed lightweight ultrasonic microphones and speakers with the ability to respond to frequencies ranging from subsonic to ultrasonic.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Boxfish shell could inspire new form of body armour
Engineers that have been researching the shell structure of the boxfish claim that its unique structure could form the inspiration for new types of armour, robots and flexible electronics.
The boxfish has survived in the oceans for the past 35 million years.
The research, conducted by a team from the University of California, San Diego, examined the hexagonal-shaped scales – or scutes – of the boxfish. It found that the scutes were connected by sutures similar to the structure of a baby’s skull, where bones fuse together as the baby grows.
In their findings, published in the journal Acta Materialia, the researchers claim the boxfish sutures are different to those found elsewhere in nature. On impact, the sutures’ zigzag patterns essentially lock in and keep the scutes from breaking apart.
“The most common form of suture structures in nature are those that have a roughly triangular shape and consist of two important components: rigid suture teeth and a compliant interface,” said Steven Naleway, a materials science and engineering Ph.D. student and co-author of the paper.
Boxfish shell, scutes and sutures.
“To the best of our knowledge, there is no compliant phase in the interface of the boxfish’s sutures. In addition, the teeth themselves have a much lower aspect ratio – meaning that they are shorter and wider – than most other examples.”
Each of the fish’s scutes has a raised star-shaped structure at its centre, which distributes pressure across the entire surface. Beneath the scutes, a layer of interlocking collagen fibres provides an added layer of protection, as well as flexibility.
“We were able to demonstrate that even if a predator manages to generate a crack in the outer layer, the collagen fibres will help to prevent the structure from failing,” said Wen Yang, a UC San Diego alumna now working at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, and the lead author of the paper.
Each hexagonal scute in the boxfish’s armour has a raised, star-like structure in the centre that distributes stress across the entire surface.
The research project, which is part-funded by the U.S. Air Force, is now exploring how the structure of the boxfish’s shell could guide bio-inspired designs that offer improved protection against impact.
“We are currently investigating what mechanical advantage scutes and sutures might provide,” Naleway said in a statement. “We know that the boxfish has survived for 35 million years with this armour, so the design has proved very successful in nature.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Ricerca: ENEA firma due accordi di collaborazione con le Università di Texas e Missouri
L'ENEA ha siglato accordi di collaborazione scientifica con due tra le più prestigiose università pubbliche degli Stati Uniti: la Texas Tech University (TTU) e l'Università del Missouri (MU). Le collaborazioni sono focalizzate su argomenti di particolare valenza strategica e avranno durata almeno decennale. Il Research Service Agreement firmato con TTU prevede un finanziamento di circa 500 mila euro a favore dell'ENEA. "Si tratta di uno scenario di collaborazione internazionale – afferma Vittorio Violante del Dipartimento ENEA "Fusione e Tecnologie per la Sicurezza Nucleare" - che vede affiancati, in uno sforzo comune, due tra i paesi più sensibili allo sviluppo della ricerca e delle tecnologie nel campo delle nuove energie ecosostenibili".
Gli argomenti scientifici della collaborazione con la TTU riguardano le nuove energie rinnovabili e sostenibili e i materiali avanzati per la produzione di energia. Tra le sfide più significative, lo studio sugli effetti termici anomali nei sistemi metallo-idrogeno, un tema per il quale l'ENEA è considerata un centro di eccellenza a livello internazionale. In questo campo l'Agenzia già nel recente passato ha svolto ricerche in collaborazione con altri prestigiosi Istituti statunitensi, come ad esempio il Naval Research Laboratory e SRI International di Stanford.
La collaborazione scientifica con l'Università del Missouri verterà esclusivamente sullo studio dei sistemi metallo idrogeno.
La collaborazione tra ENEA e Istituti statunitensi su questi temi è nata diversi anni fa: il Ministero degli Affari Esteri assegnò nel 2011 a ENEA, SRI, Naval Research Laboratory e Università del Missouri un Progetto triennale nel campo delle nuove energie ecosostenibili. Oltre al finanziamento da parte di TTU, l'ENEA ha ottenuto contratti di collaborazione con altri enti di ricerca statunitensi per un valore complessivo di alcune centinaia di migliaia di euro.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Landmine detection project gets financial backing
Bath University has been awarded funding to further develop a new method for detecting landmines, which uses a combination of 3D cameras and metal detecting technology.
Newer landmines tend to be made of plastic rather than metal.
The £100,000 of funding, provided by Sir Bobby Charlton’s charity Find A Better Way, was awarded via a competition organised by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).
“The UN estimates that it would take more than 1,100 years to clear the estimated 110 million landmines situated in 70 countries,” said Charlton. “As a charity we are determined to find a practicable technology solution that can bring an end to this humanitarian tragedy.”
Modern landmines are usually made from plastic rather than metal, rendering traditional techniques for identifying them useless. The team from Bath University is looking to combine metal detection with new imaging technology that relies on 3D cameras, allowing for all types of landmines to be identified.
“Currently, manual metal detectors sweep minefields in a slow and time-consuming process which cannot detect non-metallic landmines,” said Dr Manuchehr Soleimani, associate professor in the Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering and leader of the Engineering Tomography Lab (ETL) at Bath University.
Dr Manuchehr Soleimani
“We aim to develop an integrated technology to detect both metallic and non-metallic landmines and to improve the speed and reliability of this process.”
That integrated technology includes two different types of array, so that older, metal landmines can be detected, as well as the newer plastic landmines that have begun to proliferate.
These landmines can cost as little as £2 to manufacture, while the cost of finding and clearing an individual mine can range anywhere from £120 to £600, according to the University of Bath.
“The innovative idea in this project is a combination of capacitive array and inductive array, so that both classification of electrical properties and detection of non-metallic (and metallic) landmines can be done,” Dr Soleimani told The Engineer.
Planar array MIT system.
“The capacitive array works a bit like a touch screen, and the inductive array is like a metal detector. We were able to develop 3D subsurface imaging in our lab and also able to do some initial feasibility tests representing simple scenarios of landmines in the lab.”
The research project, which will take place over the next three years, aims to not only to develop a detector that will work for all landmines across all terrain, but one that can also be produced relatively cheaply, thus helping to reduce the overall cost of clearing minefields.
“We’re hoping to develop a compact, low cost version of this combined smart camera that can be deployed in landmine detection,” said Dr Soleimani.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Vattenfall scraps UK wind project after subsidy cuts
Swedish energy company Vattenfall has scrapped a planned 69 MW wind project in Lincolnshire, after government subsidy cuts “introduced increased risk in the process”.
The project was first floated in 2013 and was set to be host to 20 wind turbines.
It was being built as part of a planning process known as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Planning. In June this year, the government proposed changes to this regime, including removing onshore wind farms of over 50 MW in size from this process.
“It’s obviously disappointing to stop development of Nocton Fen as it would have delivered significant benefit locally and generated affordable, clean and renewable energy for tens of thousands of homes every year,” said Graham Davey, Vattenfall’s project manager for the Nocton Fen Wind Energy Project.
“It was clear that proposed changes to onshore wind planning in England introduced increased risk in the process. Stopping the scheme now is a sensible decision.”
The government also recently announced that it would close the Renewables Obligation to new onshore wind farms from April 2016, one year earlier than previously planned.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Robo-whiskers build picture of surroundings
Researchers at the University of Illinois’ Advanced Digital Sciences Centre in Singapore have developed a whisker-like sensor array that measures the fluid flow of its surroundings and creates tomographic images.
The results, published in the journal Bioinspiration and Biomimetics, describe the array as consisting of five superelastic wires made from nitinol, an alloy of nickel and titanium.
Each wire is covered with a plastic straw, making the whiskers about 15 cm long and 3 mm wide. Strain gauges attached at the base measure movement in each whisker, and these signals are used to build up an image of the fluid flow past the array.
“When it is dark, whiskers play a key role for animals in exploring, hunting or even just living underground” says electrical engineer Cagdas Tuna, a lead author on the paper.
“For example, seals can catch fish in the dark by following the hydrodynamic wake using their whiskers.”
According to the research team, the array could work as either an alternative or complimentary technology to existing systems for navigating, tracking and detection in dark conditions. Plans to miniaturise the technology could see wider adoption, says Tuna, with potential medical uses.
“This may even find use in biomedical applications, such as cardiac surgery” he says.
“A thin-whiskered catheter tip could be used during surgery to track the relative position inside the heart, potentially reducing the risk of injury, or atrial fibrillation.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Material Converts Electrons into Photons
As applications expand, scientists continue to improve the efficiency of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) while simplifying manufacturing. A new study by researchers from the California NanoSystems Institute reveals a new material that can further boost performance at low cost. Working with multilayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), UCLA researchers have shown the material demonstrates strong luminescence when electrical current is passed through it.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Supercapacitors Turn a New Leaf
Until recently, efforts to develop efficient solid-state micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) have proved unsuccessful. But a MSC graphene-hybrid film incorporating copper-hydroxide nanowires delivers energy density 10x higher than commercial supercapacitors. The difference between the old and new designs? The MSC graphene-hybrid film mimics the natural vein texture of leaves, taking advantage of the natural transport pathways to enable efficient ion diffusion parallel to the graphene planes.
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Wastewater treatment captures CO2 and produces energy
Engineers at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed a wastewater treatment that captures CO2, produces energy, and could help reduce rising acidity in the oceans.
According to the research, published recently in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, Microbial Electrolytic Carbon Capture (MECC) involves an electrochemical reaction that absorbs more CO2 than it releases, creating a source of renewable energy in the form of hydrogen gas at the same time.
“This energy-positive, carbon-negative method could potentially contain huge benefits for a number of emission-heavy industries,” said Zhiyong Jason Ren, an associate professor of civil, environmental, and architectural engineering at CU-Boulder and senior author of the study.
Traditional wastewater treatment contributes to CO2 emissions through both the decomposition of organic material, and the fossil fuels burned to power energy-intensive treatment machinery.
MECC uses the natural conductivity of saline wastewater to facilitate an electrochemical reaction designed to absorb CO2 from water and air. According to the team at CU-Boulder, the process transforms the CO2 into stable mineral carbonates and bicarbonates. These can then be used as raw materials in the construction industry, a chemical buffer in the wastewater treatment cycle itself, or to reduce acidity downstream of the process such as in the ocean.
Rising acidity in the oceans is a threat to marine life, particularly shellfish and coral.
Ocean absorption of CO2 increases acidity and is a long-term threat to marine life. The researchers claim that the dissolved carbonates and bicarbonates produced via MECC could help chemically counter these effects.
“This treatment system generates alkalinity through electrochemical means and we could potentially use that to help offset the effects of ocean acidification,” said Greg Rau, a senior researcher at the Institute of Marine Sciences at the University of California Santa Cruz and a co-author of the study. “This is one of several environmentally-friendly things this technology does.”
The research raises hopes that wastewater could be treated on site rather than via the costly disposal methods currently used. However, further work is required to optimise the system as well as assess its scalability, according to the team.
“The results should be viewed as a proof-of-concept with promising implications for a wide range of industries,” said Ren.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Oculus-rift based technology could address shortcomings in surgical training.
A UK developed virtual reality (VR) system for training surgeons offers considerable advantages over existing approaches its inventor has claimed.
Developed by Huddersfield University PhD researcher Yeshwanth Pulijala, the technology – which has been designed primarily to help train maxillofacial surgeons – combines a specially developed app with the Oculus Rift VR headset, in order to give trainee surgeons close-up unrestricted, 360-degree views of a surgical procedure.
The project aims to provide accurate graphical visualisations of human anatomy and surgical procedures via state-of-the-art headsets.
Pulijala explained that whilst learning through observation is essential for trainee surgeons, it is often difficult for trainees to see exactly what is going on, and the technology was developed in response to this challenge.
“Trainees learn by observing procedures in real time,” he said. “But the problem is that not everybody can see what is happening. This is especially the case in crowded operating rooms where surgical trainees perform multiple duties. Also in surgeries confined to oral and maxillofacial zone, as the structures are complex and densely enclosed in a confined space, it is very hard to observe and learn.”
Pulijala is now working on further developing the technology, and hopes to be able to release a commercial version in the first quarter of 2016.
The Huddersfield project is one of a number of initiatives aimed at exploring the potential medical application of the Oculus Rift headset. Indeed, last year, The Engineer reported on a system under development by the UK government’s Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and electronic consultancy Plextec designed to help trainees to experience what it’s like to make tough clinical decisions whilst under fire.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
King of the Kuiper Belt
Pluto may not be a planet anymore, but it is King of the Kuiper Belt, thanks to the fantastic images coming back from the New Horizons probe. One of the most celebrated instruments on New Horizons is Ralph, which consists of eight different cameras: four color cameras, three panchromatic cameras, and a composition-mapping spectrometer. Ralph is responsible for revealing what Pluto's surface really looks like, and what it's made of.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Build a Better Profile
New optical profiling technology extends confocal microscopy with true-color imaging, as seen in this comparison between Zeta Instruments' ZDot contact profilometry system, atomic force microscopy, and a stylus profiler. The new ZDot system allows imaging of complex surfaces and provides exceptional metrology capability necessary in applications as varied as high-brightness LEDs, microfluidics, solar cells, and advanced semiconductor packaging.
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UK scientists create magnetism in non-magnetic metals
Scientists at Leeds University have discovered a method to create magnetism in metals that aren’t naturally magnetic, opening up the possibility of using a range of abundant metals for magnetic applications.
The study, published in the journal Nature, details a way of altering the quantum interactions of matter in order to adjust the outcome of a mathematical equation called the Stoner Criterion, which determines whether elements are magnetic.
Magnets have multiple industrial and technological uses, including power generation in wind turbines, memory storage, and medical imaging. However, only three metals – iron, cobalt and nickel - are naturally ferromagnetic, meaning they remain magnetic in the absence of a field.
Researchers from the University of Leeds have found a way to alter the quantum interactions of matter, opening up new materials for magnetic applications.
“Having such a small variety of magnetic materials limits our ability to tailor magnetic systems to the needs of applications without using very rare or toxic materials,” said Tim Moorsom from the School of Physics & Astronomy at Leeds University, co-lead author on the paper.
“Having to build devices with only the three magnetic metals naturally available to us is rather like trying to build a skyscraper using only wrought iron. Why not add a little carbon and make steel?”
In the new study, the researchers have shown how to alter the behaviour of non-magnetic materials by removing some electrons using an interface coated with a thin layer of the carbon molecule C60, which is also known as a ‘buckyball’.
The movement of electrons between the metal and the molecules allows the non-magnetic material to overcome the Stoner Criterion and become magnetic. According to the researchers, the discovery opens up new possibilities across a host of different industries.
“Being able to generate magnetism in materials that are not naturally magnetic opens new paths to devices that use abundant and hazardless elements, such as carbon and copper,” said co-lead author Fatma Al Ma’Mari, also from the University’s School of Physics & Astronomy.
“Future technologies, such as quantum computers, will require a new breed of magnets with additional properties to increase storage and processing capabilities. Our research is a step towards creating such ‘magnetic metamaterials’ that can fulfil this need.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Measure Molecules One at a Time
A new mechanical device can measure individual molecules and their shape. According to Chromatography Techniques, the device, which can identify individual protein molecules or complex assemblies of protein molecules such as enzymes, features a piezoelectric, nanoelectromechanical systems-based resonator. When a particle or molecule lands on the nanodevice, the added mass changes the frequency and provides information about the particle's mass and shape.
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Laser-based test for skin cancer
Scientists from Lancaster and Pisa Universities have developed a method for detecting skin cancer using a laser Doppler system, potentially reducing the need for invasive biopsies.
The research, published in Nature Scientific Reports, details how the laser Doppler system is able to detect subtle differences in blood flow beneath malignant and non-malignant moles. From 55 patients with atypical melanoma, the laser Doppler signal correctly identified 100 per cent of those with malignant skin.
Lasers have a wide range of medical uses
“We used our knowledge of blood flow dynamics to pick up on markers which were consistently different in the blood vessels supplying malignant moles and those beneath normal skin,” said Prof Aneta Stefanovska of Lancaster University.
“Combining the new dynamical biomarkers we created a test which, based on the number of subjects tested to date, has 100 per cent sensitivity and 90.9 per cent specificity, which means that melanoma is identified in all cases where it is present, and ruled out in 90.9 per cent of cases where it is not.”
The laser test takes approximately 30 minutes. Once complete, the fluctuations in recorded signals are analysed using methods developed by physicists at Lancaster University. In the case of this study, the patients subsequently had their moles biopsied to ascertain the accuracy of the laser test, but the researchers believe the technique could dramatically reduce the need for biopsies in the future.
“Skin malignant melanoma is a particularly aggressive cancer associated with quick blood vessel growth which means early diagnosis is vital for a good prognosis,” said Prof Marco Rossi from Pisa University.
“The current diagnostic tools of examination by doctors followed by biopsy inevitably leads to many unnecessary invasive excisions. This simple, accurate, in vivo distinction between malignant melanoma and atypical moles may lead to a substantial reduction in the number of biopsies currently undertaken.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Bloodhound team turn to F1 for cooling solution
Engineers on the Bloodhound SSC project have turned to Formula 1-derived ceramic coatings to help the 135,000bhp Land Speed Record challenger keep cool.
The jet-and-rocket powered car is due to make its first test runs in a matter of months and tight packaging within the design means that heat soak is a constant concern.
One of the more unusual facets of Bloodhound is the rocket motor’s fuel pump, which is driven by a 550bhp supercharged Jaguar V8. This sits next to the tank of high-test peroxide (HTP) used to feed the rocket. The consequences of putting too much heat into this 1,000-litre container of highly volatile rocket fuel are potentially explosive, so temperature control is a major issue.
To reduce heat transfer, the V8’s exhaust pipes were coated using Zircotec’s ThermoHold material. This was applied using a plasma spray technique, where an electrically generated plasma is used to heat particles of a zirconia-based material to extremely high temperatures (circa 10,000°C), before it’s shot towards the surface at around twice the speed of sound.
The concept itself isn’t new, but more recently Zircotec has developed a technique for applying the same material to composite surfaces.
One example of this comes with a load-bearing rib that sits on the upper part of the rear structure, just beside the after burner petal of the jet engine.
“We weren’t able to use aluminium because of the temperatures involved. In theory, a machined titanium part was an option, but that would have been extremely expensive and heavier than we’d have liked,” explained George Morris, senior composite design engineer for Bloodhound SSC. “Using composites provided the strength we needed, but there’s no way we could have done that without the ceramic coating to control the temperature.”
Elsewhere on the car, the front brake discs can reach more than 600°C, but thanks to the thermal barrier coating the team was able to package a major carbon fibre structural component less than an inch away from their surface.
“At 1,000 mph the air pressure alone on that structure equates to about 18 tons. We just can’t risk any degradation in performance by taking the material above its glass transition temperature,” concluded Morris.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
UK breakthrough promises to unlock potential of dozens of atomically-thin materials
Researchers at Manchester University have announced the development a range of specialised fabrication methods that they claim could be used to produce dozens of useful new 2-dimensional materials similar to graphene.
The isolation of graphene in 2004 by a Manchester University team lead by Sir Andre Geim and Sir Kostya Novoselov led to the discovery of a range of 2D materials, each with specific properties and qualities. However, until now the vast majority of these atomically thin 2D crystals are unstable in air, so react and decompose before their properties can be determined and their potential applications investigated.
Writing in the journal Nano Letters, the Manchester team, led by Dr Roman Gorbachev, explains how by protecting the new reactive crystals with more stable 2D materials, such as graphene, via computer control in a specially designed inert gas chamber environments, these materials can be successfully isolated to a single atomic layer for the first time.
The team used method on two particular two-dimensional crystals that have generated intense scientific interest in the past 12 months but are unstable in air: black phosphorus and niobium diselenide.
Dr Gorbachev said: “This is an important breakthrough in the area of 2D materials research, as it allows us to dramatically increase the variety of materials that we can experiment with using our expanding 2D crystal toolbox.
“The more materials we have to play with, the greater potential there is for creating applications that could revolutionise the way we live.” Sir Andre Geim added.
The latest breakthrough could allow for many more atomically thin materials to be studied separately as well as serve as building blocks for multilayer devices with such tailored properties. Combining a range of 2D materials in thin stacks give scientists the opportunity to control the properties of the materials, which can allow ‘materials-to-order’ to meet the demands of industry.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Integrated imaging system provides new focus for laparoscopy
An integrated imaging system under development at the University of Wisconsin-Madison could significantly advance laparoscopy.
The system is said to take advantage of variable focal length microlens systems pioneered by Hongrui Jiang, the Lynn H. Matthias and Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of electrical and computer engineering at UW-Madison.
Laparoscopy (or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive technique used for procedures in the abdominal area, including surgery on the colon, stomach, oesophagus or reproductive organs. Surgeons conduct the procedure with the assistance of a video camera and long, thin instruments fed through three to five ports, or trocars, placed in small incisions in the abdomen.
In most current laparoscopic procedures, the camera presents several challenges - one of which is that the surgeon can’t operate it independently, said Charles Heise, a UW-Madison professor of surgery. “Another person must hold the camera, manipulate it, focus it, and move it in and out to clean it,” he says. “It has a limited field of view and it ties up one of the ports.”
The new system centres around retractable microlens arrays integrated onto the end of each port. When a port is inserted into the body, these cameras will flare out in a ring, allowing the surgeon to use the port simultaneously for imaging and operating.
Using software or voice commands, the surgeon can tune the focus of each camera to adjust the depth of field, which improves the image quality. Multiple cameras on each port will provide an immersive, three-dimensional view of the procedure, yet their location near the abdominal wall will help to minimise spatter that ordinarily would accumulate on a traditional camera placed right at the site of the procedure.
Jiang said in a statement that the new system is a holistic solution that addresses most of the drawbacks in the current technology. He has been fine-tuning the microlens technology for more than a decade and sought to transform his technology into clinically relevant applications. For the past several years, Jiang has collaborated with laparoscopic surgeons at UW-Madison on ways to do that.
“This whole project was generated and driven by both sides - from the pursuit to address engineering challenges to the pursuit to solve clinical and medical problems,” he said. “The advantage of our approach is that we gave the clinical requirements and disadvantages a lot of thought so that we could come up with a comprehensive solution to address all of the problems.”
Jiang received a four-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to fund the effort. In addition to Jiang and Heise, the UW-Madison research team includes Jacob Greenberg, an assistant professor of surgery; and Yu Hen Hu, a professor of electrical and computer engineering.
While the researchers have made significant strides, they will continue to refine the lens and camera technology. They also will focus on developing algorithms for processing the images from multiple cameras and stitching them seamlessly into a single, 3D view, as well as developing prototypes for laparoscopic simulators that will allow them to gauge how surgeons use the system.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Open Bionics wins UK leg of Dyson award
A low cost 3D-printed bionic hand for amputees has won the UK leg of the James Dyson Award, an annual prize established by the prominent industrialist’s charitable trust, The James Dyson foundation.
Developed by UK design engineer Joel Gibbard, the Open Bionics hand can be 3D printed and assembled in just 40 hours and costs under £1,000, a fraction of the cost of other advanced prosthetics.
As previously reported in The Engineer the device can perform the same tasks as more expensive systems including individual finger movement through the use of electromyographical sensors which are stuck to the amputee’s skin.
“We’ve encountered many challenges in designing our hands,” commented Gibbard, “but the reactions of the individuals we help fuels our perseverance to bring them to market. My aim is for Open Bionics to disrupt the prosthetics industry by offering affordable prosthetics for all.”
James Dyson said: “3D printing has been used by engineers as a prototyping tool for decades, but Joel is using it in a new way to provide cheaper, more advanced prosthetics for amputees. It shows how bold ideas don’t need a big budget and if successful his technology will improve lives around the world.”
Open Bionics and the UK national runners up will progress to the next stage of the competition, which will see 100 entries from around the world whittled down to just 20. The results of this stage will be announced on 17 September 2015. The international winner will be awarded £30,000 to develop their invention.
The overall winner of the 2014 competition was MOM, a portable, inflatable incubator for taking care of babies in environments including refugee camps.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
'Velcro-like' scaffold holds promise for artificial heart grafts
Canadian engineers have created a biocompatible scaffold that could make it easier to grow artificial heart tissue for repairing damaged hearts.
Scientists have been able grow heart cells in the laboratory for a number of years, however the absence of the support cells found in a real heart means that these cells often bear little resemblance to those found in the body.
To address this, a team from the University of Toronto in Canada has developed a scaffold mesh that can be used to build larger tissue structures than is possible with existing methods.
The group, led by biomedical engineer Prof Milica Radisic, used a special polymer called POMaC to create a 2D mesh for the cells to grow around.
This resembles a honeycomb in shape, except that the holes are not symmetrical. Instead, they are wider in one direction than in another. This provides a template that causes the cells to line up together. When stimulated with an electrical current, the heart muscle cells contract together, causing the flexible polymer to bend.
Next, the team bonded T-shaped posts on top of the honeycomb. When a second sheet is placed above, these posts act like tiny hooks, poking through the holes of the honeycomb and clicking into place. The concept the same as the plastic hooks and loops of Velcro.
The assembled sheets are said to have functioned almost immediately.
“As soon as you click them together, they start beating, and when we apply electrical field stimulation, we see that they beat in synchrony,” said Radisic. The team has created layered tissues up to three sheets thick in a variety of configurations.
The ultimate goal of the project is to create artificial tissue that could be used to repair damaged hearts. The modular nature of the technology should make it easier to customise the graft to each patient.
“If you had these little building blocks, you could build the tissue right at the surgery time to be whatever size that you require,” Radisic daid in a statement. These artificial tissues could be used to test out new drugs in a realistic environment.
Radisic and her team are now collaborating with medical researchers in order to design in vivo experiments that will take the project one step closer to the clinic.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Countdown to a Combustion-free Liftoff?
It is a radical idea: a new propulsion technology that launches rockets without chemical combustion. Instead, hydrogen — heated by beamed high-power microwave energy — will provide the thrust. Success could lead to reusable, single-stage-to-orbit spaceplanes. Recent testing, reported in this news release, validates the concept on a lab scale.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
L' alternativa all' asfalto? La plastica riciclata. E' l' idea nata da un' azienda di Rotterdam, che dal materiale delle comuni bottigliette vuole ricavare un materiale adatto a costruire strade, che promette di essere a basso impatto ambientale e molto più resistente delle soluzioni oggi adottate. A raccontare il progetto é il sito In a Bottle (www.inabottle.it). ' Plastic Road' é un' invenzione che "prevede una copertura stradale composta al 100% da materiale riciclato - racconta il sito - un' innovazione che offrirebbe numerosi vantaggi rispetto alle strade convenzionali, sia in termini di costruzione che di manutenzione. La plastica é infatti più sostenibile e di più facile utilizzo; inoltre, ridurrebbe considerevolmente le 1,6 milioni di tonnellate di emissioni di anidride carbonica a livello globale, andando a sostituire l' asfalto fatto di catrame e bitume". La nuova copertura stradale avrebbe un design più leggero, una riduzione del tempo di costruzione (perché composta da moduli componibili), "sarebbe più duratura e praticamente esente da manutenzione". Questo perché Plastic Road "riuscirebbe a sopportare sia le alte temperature fino a 80 gradi, sia quelle più basse fino a meno 40 gradi, con una resistenza tale alla corrosione da risultare fino a tre volte più affidabile rispetto all' asfalto". A quest' idea ' green' ora mancano solo i partner per poter avviare i test e, se tutto andrà per il verso giusto, essere lanciata sul mercato.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Svizzera, dall'aria acqua potabile e di qualità
Produrre acqua potabile dall'aria per portare un bene prezioso per la vita anche nelle zone ad alta desertificazione. L'innovazione arriva dalla Svizzera e si chiama 'Awa Modula' (Air to water to air). Il sistema creato dalla startup "Seas - Societè de l'eau aérienne Suisse" è stata presentata a Expo in un convegno organizzato nel padiglione della Svizzera. La tecnologia è in grado di produrre acqua dall'aria ovunque, senza bisogno di avere fonti di acqua già esistenti da trattare (mare o fiumi, laghi e acque reflue) e permette di avere a disposizione una fonte praticamente inesauribile di acqua, esattamente dove necessita. Con Awa Modula si può ottenere acqua potabile arricchita di sali minerali ma anche acqua per uso agricolo, distillata per uso alimentare, farmaceutico, ospedaliero, industriale. I sistemi permettono di produrre acqua dall'aria con macchine da 2.500 a 10.000 litri al giorno, modulabili sino a centinaia di metri cubi. "La tecnologia è frutto di oltre quattro anni di ricerca e sviluppo e garantisce un impatto ambientale basso o nullo - ha spiegato la docente di Idraulica, Ambientale ed energetica, Anna Magrini, dell'Università di Pavia - non rilascia impurità nell'ecosistema locale e offre una fonte illimitata e inesauribile di acqua potabile". La startup Seas, nata nel 2014, ha donato alcuni mesi fa alla onlus UnaKids, che lavora per garantire migliori condizioni di vita ai minori nelle regioni colpite dalla guerra, un sistema capace di produrre 2.500 litri di acqua potabile al giorno. Il nuovo sistema è stato introdotto per il momento in alcune zone di America Latina (Messico, Perù, Ecuador), Isole Caraibiche, Nord Africa, Sud Africa, Libano, Emirati Arabi.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Irrigare a basso costo con l’acqua di mare
Precedenti tentativi sono stati un disastro perché l’acqua salata veniva fatta arrivare a pioggia. Invece deve venire da sotto. Come avevano scoperto i carmelitani 300 anni fa - di Michelangelo Bonessa - Irrigare dal basso e con acqua di mare. L’idea sviluppata dalla Fondazione Acqua Maris, in collaborazione con il Politecnico della Catalogna e altri enti, potrebbe essere una soluzione per l’approvvigionamento idrico mondiale. Il problema diventa ogni giorno più centrale visto che le risorse scarseggiano, soprattutto nei Paesi più poveri, e si prevede che presto non ci sarà acqua dolce per tutti. Dal basso - Uno dei settori che ne utilizza quantità enormi è proprio l’agricoltura, secondo i dati della Fao è il settore che consuma più acqua: nei campi finisce infatti il 70% dei consumi idrici mondiali, pari a circa 2.500 chilometri cubi su un totale di circa 9-14 mila chilometri cubi di risorse idriche accessibili all’uomo. Per questo la fondazione ha provato a ribaltare fisicamente il problema: «L’irrigazione dall’alto verso il basso, è il metodo che l’umanità utilizza per idratare e dare così vita alle piante, e lo ha scelto imitando il modello che ha davanti agli occhi: la pioggia. Nel corso della storia la sperimentazione è sempre stata guidata dalla premessa che l’acqua doveva venire dall’alto. E, naturalmente, la maggior parte dei tentativi di irrigare che sono stati fatti con l’acqua di mare, secondo il modello generale di irrigazione, hanno avuto conseguenze disastrose sugli impianti e sulle terre coltivate». Come i monaci del XVII secolo - Per questo, adesso, i ricercatori hanno studiato questo sistema per irrigare dal basso. Ma non si tratta del primo tentativo della storia, già alcuni religiosi avevano intrapreso questa strada: «Non siamo gli unici che hanno lavorato nei test di irrigazione con acqua di mare. Monaci carmelitani di Sestao (in Spagna nei Paesi baschi), già nel XVIII secolo avevano ottenuto ottimi risultati nella coltivazione di tutti i tipi di verdure in terreni sabbiosi con acqua di mare, anche nei campi sterili dell’Eritrea, dove la coltivazione di salicornia ha trasformato la regione in un vero e proprio giardino». Il nuovo-vecchio metodo - E per utilizzare al meglio questo nuovo metodo, i ricercatori hanno creato alcuni moduli: come quello su tre livelli per confrontare le prestazioni della stessa specie a distanze diverse dall’acqua che ha evidenziato come il sapore delle specie coltivate cambi a seconda della distanza dall’acqua di mare. Poi ci sono quelli fatti di un bidone di plastica da 1000 litri tagliato a metà. «Con questo», spiegano, «abbiamo intenzione di fare un sistema di irrigazione per le aree desertiche con il minor costo possibile. Nei contenitori c’è solo sabbia di spiaggia e un ingresso per l’acqua di mare». Oppure i terrari: sono chiusi ermeticamente con acqua di mare sul fondo, sabbia di spiaggia e due centimetri di terra fertile sulla superficie. L’acqua di mare, attraverso l’evaporazione, si condensa nella sommità del terrario, creando una doccia giornaliera di acqua fresca da acqua di mare evaporata. Questo consente una irrigazione permanente e alta umidità. Il terrario sperimentale è rimasto chiuso per cinque anni e oggi ha ancora un paio di piante vive.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Engineers apply imaging technology to help in the fight against malaria
Engineers at Warwick University are using imaging technology and robust algorithms to help combat malaria in Tanzania.
Researchers at Warwick University’s School of Engineering are using the technology to image thousands of mosquitoes to help develop better netting against the malaria-spreading insect.
Warwick University engineers - David Towers, Natalia Angarita and Catherine Towers - are helping entomologists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine explore the best insecticide treatment and physical design of the protection for sleeping people in areas where mosquitoes are a problem.
Their work is part of AvecNet, a €12m research project funded by an FP7 grant.
The entomologists at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine are carrying out their latest experiments in a swamp in Tanzania that is home to a population of mosquitoes where some are resistant to insecticide and others are not.
They have built a hut at this site mimicking the typical housing and sleeping arrangements for local people. They need to experiment at night when people are at greatest risk of being bitten by anopheles gambiae mosquitoes, which is the species responsible for transmission of the malaria parasite that is the most dangerous to humans.
When observing mosquitoes an their interaction with insecticide treated barriers such as netting, researchers have previously relied on recording the insect’s final landing location, which does not give a full picture of how they approach and handle the protective barriers.
To help overcome this limitation, the Warwick University engineers devised a method that would capture a vast amount of data on the behaviour of the tiny mosquitoes.
Using a modified back lighting technique the insects have been imaged throughout a 2.0 × 2.4 × 1.0 metre volume using illumination in the near infrared. This is a wavelength that is not perceived by mosquitoes so it does not change their natural behaviour. Two cameras are positioned so each captures images at a rate of 50 per second. For every hour of operation 360,000 images are captured, each taken at 4 million pixels, or 1.4 TerraBytes (TB) in total size.
Until now there was no software capable of analysing such a large number of high-resolution images, so it had to be specially written by the Warwick Engineers and it has now been used to process over 50 TB of data so far.
“There is a lot of interest in the analysis of so-called ‘big data’ – here we have the added complexity of capturing information from the field with everything powered from petrol fuelled generators and we need very robust algorithms to be tolerant of the natural variability in behaviour exhibited by wild mosquitoes,’ said Prof David Towers, an engineering researcher at Warwick University.
A report - Infrared video tracking of Anopheles gambiae at insecticide treated bed nets reveals rapid decisive impact after brief localised net contact – has been published in Nature Scientific Reports.
Indications show that the mosquitoes do not realise a net is treated before they touch it and future research will build on these findings.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Making Transistors Without Semiconductors
By combining graphene and boron nitride nanotubes, a team of researchers at Michigan Technological University have created a digital switch which could eventually become the basis for controlling electrons in computers, phones, medical equipment and other electronics.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
UK team uses NHS funding to develop innovative catheter system
Researchers at Imperial College London have developed new technology that could improve outcomes for people on dialysis.
The project has received £1m funding from the National Health Service (NHS) to further develop the first minimally invasive procedure that uses a stent graft to form a fistula for dialysis.
More than 2.5 million people worldwide have kidney conditions that require their blood to be routinely filtered by a dialysis machine and many patients undergo a surgical procedure to prepare their veins for the filtration process. This involves a surgeon creating a connection in the arm - a fistula - between an artery and a vein, which is then connected to a dialysis machine.
Although they are the gold standard in medical care, fistulas are unreliable, often blocking up and requiring repeated costly repair operations. In the US alone, $4.6bn is spent annually to treat failing fistulas.
The market in the US, France, Germany and the UK for vascular access technologies is conservatively estimated at around $550m and $1.1bn worldwide
Now, the team at Imperial have developed prototype technology for inserting the stent graft between a patient’s artery and vein with greater precision and accuracy.
The device - Electronic Percutaneous Anastomosis Technology for Haemodialysis (ePATH) - will help some patients with kidney failure to avoid open surgery before beginning dialysis treatment. According to Imperial, this is because the ePATH catheter system creates a vascular access site in a minimally invasive manner, with less trauma for patients. In turn, this is expected to lead to faster recovery times, and enable patients to use dialysis machines sooner.
The ePATH system lets surgeons insert catheters into the vein and artery through needle-sized punctures in the skin, instead of opening up the arm. The surgeon then guides two catheters through to the artery and vein to the appropriate site in the arm, where an electronic alignment system is activated, manoeuvring the catheters so that they are properly aligned. A small needle would then cross from one catheter to other, creating a channel between the two. A guide wire would then be passed through the needle and another catheter inserted. This final catheter deploys the stent graft, which remains inside the patient’s arm to form the connection between the vein and artery.
Sorin Popa carried out the underpinning research for this technology at Imperial in 2014. Popa is now a visiting researcher at Imperial and together with Dr Robert Dickinson from the Department of Bioengineering, they formed spinout company Stent Tek to further develop and commercialise the technology.
The next steps of the research will now be carried out by Popa and Dr Dickinson at the College in conjunction with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust.
The team plans to move to the next phase and start in-vivo trials in 2016. In early 2018, they aim to carry out clinical trials with patients. Following this stage the team expect to get the technology approved for market release in Europe and the US and into the European market by late 2018.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Biodiesel: tabacco “mutante” per alimentare gli aerei
Il tabacco si è finalmente ritagliato uno spazio di tutto rispetto nel settore dei biocarburanti, grazie ad un’iniziativa portata avanti in Sud Africa. Proprio qui è partito infatti lo scorso il progetto Solaris, iniziativa che ha raccolto anni di ricerca su come trasformare questa pianta in carburante per l’aviazione. Ai risultati raggiunti in laboratorio si è aggiunta proprio ieri una bella notizia, il via da parte dell’RSB, la Tavola rotonda su Biomateriali sostenibili, che ha concesso la sua certificazione di qualità al tabacco energetico. “Il biocarburante sostenibile per l’aviazione prodotto dalle piante Solaris può ridurre il ciclo di vita delle emissioni di carbonio dal 50 al 75%, assicurando il rispetto della soglia di sostenibilità definita dalla Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB)”. Si tratta di un particolare ceppo in cui sono state introdotte delle mutazioni (mutagenizzazione) che ne massimizzano la produzione di fiori, semi (a scapito della produzione di foglie) e di biomassa per finalità produttive di biogas, e di cui l’italiana Sunchem Holding detiene i diritti esclusivi. Il seme contiene circa il 40% di olio e dalla spremitura a freddo si può ottenere il 33-34% di olio grezzo, ovvero più del doppio del rendimento di colza, soia o girasole. Ciò che resta, essendo privo di nicotina, può essere utilizzato in mangimi per animali. Il progetto, ha testato la coltura affidando il lavoro a contadini e piccoli proprietari commerciali nella provincia di Limpopo. Il primo raccolto si è ottenuto all’inizio di quest’anno e la Boeing, sponsor del progetto, ha annunciato che il primo volo di prova sarà effettuato a breve. Intanto le società aeree sono già in fila per testare il fuel jet ottenuto da questo tabacco mutato: la South African Airways (anch’essa partner di Solaris) sta progettando di fare affidamento su biocarburanti dal tabacco per la metà del suo approvvigionamento di combustibile Jet presso l’aeroporto internazionale di Johannesburg entro il 2023. La società italiana ha invece rivelato di voler portare il progetto di produzione anche in Malawi e Zimbabwe.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Researchers have developed a new “zippered tube” that makes paper structures that are stiff enough to hold weight and fold flat for convenient shipping and storage.
The team, made up of researchers from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tokyo, say the method could be applied to other thin materials, including plastic or metal, to transform structures from furniture to buildings to microscopic robots.
Illinois graduate researcher Evgueni Filipov, Georgia Tech professor Glaucio Paulino and University of Tokyo professor Tomohiro Tachi published their work in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Origami ‘zipper tubes’ interlocking zigzag paper tubes, can be configured to build a variety of structures that have stiffness and function, but can fold compactly for storage or shipping
Paulino sees particular potential for quick-assembling emergency shelters, bridges and other infrastructure in the wake of a natural disaster.
“Origami became more of an objective for engineering and a science just in the last five years or so,” Filipov said in a statement. “A lot of it was driven by space exploration, to be able to launch structures compactly and deploy them in space. But we’re starting to see how it has potential for a lot of different fields of engineering. You could prefabricate something in a factory, ship it compactly and deploy it on site.”
The researchers have used an origami technique called Miura-ori folding. They make precise, zigzag-folded strips of paper, then glue two strips together to make a tube. While the single strip of paper is highly flexible, the tube is stiffer and does not fold in as many directions.
The researchers tried coupling tubes in different configurations to see if that added to the structural stiffness of the paper structures. They found that interlocking two tubes in zipper-like fashion made them much stiffer and harder to twist or bend. The structure folds up flat, yet rapidly and easily expands to the rigid tube configuration.
“The geometry really plays a role,” said Paulino, a former Illinois professor of civil and environmental engineering. “We are putting two tubes together in a strange way. What we want is a structure that is flexible and stiff at the same time. This is just paper, but it has tremendous stiffness.”
The zipper configuration reportedly works even with tubes that have different angles of folding. By combining tubes with different geometries, the researchers can make many different three-dimensional structures, such as a bridge, a canopy or a tower.
“The ability to change functionality in real time is a real advantage in origami,” Filipov said. “By having these transformable structures, you can change their functionality and make them adaptable. They are reconfigurable. You can change the material characteristics: You can make them stiffer or softer depending on the intended use.”
The team used paper prototypes to demonstrate how a thin, flexible sheet can be folded into functional structures, but their techniques could be applied to other thin materials, Filipov said. Larger-scale applications could combine metal or plastic panels with hinges.
Next, the researchers plan to explore new combinations of tubes with different folding angles to build new structures. They also hope to apply their techniques to other materials and explore applications from large-scale construction to microscopic structures for biomedical devices or robotics.
The paper “Origami tubes assembled into stiff, yet reconfigurable structures and metamaterials” is available from PNAS.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Diagnostic Tests in Less Than 15 Minutes
NOWDiagnostics Inc., based in Springdale, Ark., has created a line of unique blood-based rapid tests that will enable medical professionals to conduct simple-to-use, highly accurate tests for a variety of ailments and diseases. The company is currently developing its ADEXUSDx product pipeline consisting of 50+ tests in a variety of categories, including food intolerance, common infectious disease, STDs, cardiology, toxicology and screening (from thyroid dysfunction to vitamin D deficiency and pregnancy).
The tests allow for a one-step process that provides results in five to 15 minutes using only a single drop of whole or capillary blood with no laboratory needed. NOWDiagnostics recently received U.S. Food and Drug Administration registration to manufacture and market under the ADEXUSDx brand name. NOWDiagnostics’ Springdale, Ark., facility was officially registered with the FDA in December 2014 and is currently manufacturing the ADEXUSDx hCG test for distribution in the United States and five other tests for distribution in Europe.
“The broader implications for this technological breakthrough are game changing,” said Kevin Clark, chief executive officer of NOWDiagnostics. The tests have the potential to revolutionize current medical test protocol and to lower costs to insurance companies and, ultimately, consumers. In addition, these tests can reduce consumer anxiety by providing results in only minutes.
“Waiting on lab results for days is highly inefficient for any clinic or hospital,” Clark said. “The immediacy of this technology could truly impact the health care industry by saving time and avoiding unnecessary delays in beginning treatment, and possibly lowering liability for the caregiver. It could also help point-of-care medical channels create new revenue streams in the projected $60 billion in-vitro diagnostic industry.”
The traditional blood testing model requires a larger blood draw by a professionally trained phlebotomist or several drops of whole blood collected in a smaller tube. In either case the blood sample is then shipped off to a reference laboratory. Both the physician and the patient can wait days for a diagnosis and to begin treatment. NOWDiagnostics changes that model.
The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and precision of the NOWDiagnostics tests are proving as reliable as tests performed in a full-scale lab, yet ADEXUSDx tests require a remarkably small sample size of blood, only a single drop.
Six WO patents have been granted, and an additional three WO patent applications have been filed. Six tests are available for sale in Europe today (hCG [pregnancy], two cardiac [heart attack] tests and three toxicology tests). A third cardiac marker test is expected to complete the NOWDiagnostics cardiac panel for Europe by 2016. The hCG whole blood pregnancy test has recently received 510(k) clearance by the FDA for distribution in the United States under the ADEXUSDx brand name.
"The tests we have available are changing how and when healthcare decisions are being made – important timely decisions that can save lives,” said Jeremy Wilson, chairman of NOWDiagnostics. “Our rapid tests provide fast, efficient and reliable test results all through one small device and with no extra processes, which we believe will change healthcare in this country and abroad.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Da ricercatori Cnr nuova tecnica per realizzare "pettini" luce
Ricercatori dell' Istituto nazionale di ottica del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Ino Cnr), hanno realizzato un modo inedito per generare dei ' pettini' di frequenze ottiche, ossia sorgenti laser in grado di emettere contemporaneamente diverse frequenze ben distinte e perfettamente equidistanti, utilizzando una nuova classe di materiali. La ricerca è stata pubblicata su Physical Review A. "La prima realizzazione dei pettini di frequenza alla fine del secolo scorso, premiata nel 2005 con il Nobel per la fisica a Theodor Hänsch e John Hall, ha radicalmente rivoluzionato il modo di misurare il tempo e la frequenza", afferma Maurizio De Rosa, coordinatore del gruppo di ricerca e responsabile della sezione Ino di Napoli, "e ha aperto la strada alla realizzazione di orologi atomici molto più precisi di quelli fino ad allora usati, per esempio, nel sistema globale di posizionamento (Gps). Dalla loro introduzione i pettini sono diventati un elemento chiave per numerose applicazioni in ambito medico, ambientale e per le telecomunicazioni, mentre continua la ricerca di tecniche più efficienti per la loro generazione". Nei laboratori di Pozzuoli i ricercatori sono riusciti a generare pettini di frequenza "inviando il fascio di un laser che emette una singola frequenza su un cristallo non-lineare progettato per generare luce con frequenza doppia rispetto a quella del laser, trasformando così la luce infrarossa, invisibile per l' occhio umano, in luce visibile di colore verde", spiega Iolanda Ricciardi, ricercatrice dell' Ino-Cnr di Napoli. "In più, il cristallo è racchiuso tra due specchi. Questo semplice stratagemma permette di innescare una cascata di processi secondari che portano alla generazione di pettini con alcune migliaia di ' denti' perfettamente ordinati intorno alla frequenza laser originale". "Oggi i pettini di frequenza vengono usati per realizzare sensori per diagnosi cliniche o per il monitoraggio ambientale", conclude Paolo De Natale, direttore dell' Istituto. "L' uso di pettini può semplificare le tecniche di trasmissione e ricezione nelle reti di comunicazioni in fibra ottica. Pettini di luce sono alla base dei sistemi di disseminazione dei segnali che scandiscono il tempo e vengono comunemente impiegati dagli astrofisici per la misura accurata dei segnali provenienti dal cosmo. La semplicità del sistema ideato e la maggiore efficienza intrinseca dei materiali impiegati dai ricercatori dell' Ino-Cnr stabiliscono un nuovo punto di riferimento concettuale per lo sviluppo di una nuova classe di dispositivi ottici con nuove e inimmaginabili caratteristiche".
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Force Sensors Are Making Medical Devices Smarter
The practice of medicine has always been an art as well as a science. But, in the age of value-based care, the balance between those two is shifting in favor of the latter. Sensor-enabled medical devices are playing an important role in the trend.
In healthcare in the 21st century, data is king. Number crunchers in hospitals’ procurement departments now wield considerable influence in the healthcare landscape. And group purchasing organizations (GPOs) are emerging as the Costco of healthcare—buying products in huge quantities and then selling them at discounted rates to members.
But healthcare needs more than hawking medical products at discounted rates; it needs a way to gauge their efficacy. It needs smarter medical devices.
A growing number of sensor-enabled medical devices are hitting the market, providing metrics for diagnoses and helping systematize how doctors deliver treatments.
Surgical tools are one example that could benefit from such technology. In the past, surgeons relied heavily on their training and experience to guide them in a procedure. Whether they squeezed a surgical instrument with the correct amount of pressure was determined largely based on experience.
Now, force sensors can be integrated into surgical grippers to help surgeons get a sense of the force they are applying. “The sensors can provide a surgeon with the feedback during a procedure that helps them avoid cutting a vital organ or vein,” says Lisa Jones, marketing specialist, FlexiForce at Tekscan (South Boston, MA).
The problem is compounded by minimally invasive surgery, which has made an array of surgeries far less traumatic, but has taken away tactile feedback from surgeons.
Cambridge Research & Development has worked to bring haptic feedback to minimally invasive procedures, providing a surgeon with precise feedback, enabling them to feel as well as see what they are doing in a procedure.
A similar scenario exists in the realm of physical therapy, where practitioners deliver hands-on treatment. One study found that the amount of force applied by physical therapists could vary as widely as 500% among practitioners.
That variability not only makes it difficult to compare the efficacy of the therapy, it also increases the risk that patients will be hurt in its course.
Australian researchers tackled this problem by using FlexiForce load and force sensors from Tekscan to create a physical therapy training device to help coach students to use the precise amount of force required for manual evaluations.
“We've seen force sensors being used in a couple of prosthetics applications to actually give a sense of touch in the fingertips,” Jones says.
Force sensing technology is also being employed in assisted living devices to help caregiver's monitor a patient's health remotely.
A “Maker”-esque example of where force sensors can come in handy can be found in the case of the 14-year-old Kenneth Shinozuka, recently winner of the Scientific American Science in Action Award and a $25,000 cash prize from the Davidson Institute. Shinozuka’s grandfather has Alzheimer’s and would occasionally wander out of the home disoriented. So the teenager came up with a wearable tracking device that can go in his grandfather’s sock. Using an ultrathin film sensor, the device can detect when its wearer gets out of bed, relaying a signal to a caregiver’s smartphone.
Force sensors can also be integrated into wearable drug-infusion or insulin pumps to detect early signs of occlusion and pump malfunction. The sensor can then help trigger a potentially life-saving alarm that there is a serious problem.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Authentication Technology Uses Finger Vein Patterns
A major bank in Poland has expanded trials of a biometric authentication technology based on finger vein patterns (also known as vascular pattern recognition). Already in tests in the city of Lubin, in June the pilot program added selected branches in Warsaw. Using the technology — which shines near-infrared light on a finger inserted into the reader, detecting hemoglobin in the blood with a charge-coupled device (CCD)-based image sensor — customers can sign personal account agreements using just a finger.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
US team develops fuel-producing ‘artificial plant’
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have created an “artificial leaf” that produces methane, the primary component of natural gas, using a combination of semiconducting nanowires and bacteria.
Led by Prof Peidong Yang the team has developed a “hybrid bioinorganic” system, which combines biocompatible light-capturing nanowire arrays with bacteria and mimics the natural photosynthetic process by which plants use the energy in sunlight to synthesize carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water.
The research, detailed in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is claimed to a major step towards the development of synthetic photosynthesis, a type of solar power based on the ability of plants to transform sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into sugars.
Instead of sugars, however, synthetic photosynthesis seeks to produce liquid fuels that can be stored for months or years and distributed through existing energy infrastructure.
Talking at a roundtable event, convened to discuss the potential of such technologies, Thomas Moore, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry at Arizona State University said: “Burning fossil fuels is putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than natural photosynthesis can take it out. A system that pulls every carbon that we burn out of the air and converts it into fuel is truly carbon neutral.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Produzione ad alta temperatura di idrogeno più sicura, economica e a basso impatto ambientale grazie ad un nuovo brevetto ENEA
L’aumentata disponibilità di calore ad alta entalpia ed elettricità prodotta da fonti energetiche rinnovabili richiede lo sviluppo di nuove tecnologie-chiave per la produzione e lo sfruttamento dell’idrogeno come vettore energetico, nonché per la conversione e l’accumulo chimico di energia rinnovabile. Negli ultimi anni si assiste ad un interesse sempre crescente della ricerca energetica nei confronti delle tecnologie elettrolitiche di alta temperatura come uno dei potenziali processi-chiave per la produzione su larga scala dell’idrogeno in maniera efficiente, economicamente valida e con un minimo impatto ambientale.
Attualmente, la maggior parte delle ricerche in questo settore è incentrato sullo sviluppo di elettrolizzatori che sfruttano la tecnologia delle celle a combustibile ad ossidi solidi per operare a temperature comprese fra 700 e 900 °C. Nonostante la presenza di atmosfere pericolose (idrogeno e ossigeno) in spazi confinati e in condizioni di alte temperature, il rischio di incendi ed esplosioni è un aspetto ancora poco approfondito della ricerca sugli elettrolizzatori ad ossidi solidi. Un elemento aggiuntivo di pericolosità deriva anche dal particolare schema di processo adottato per il funzionamento ottimale di un elettrolizzatore a ossidi solidi che prevede operazioni di ricircolo in alta temperatura dell’idrogeno proveniente dal comparto catodico della cella di elettrolisi.
Il brevetto depositato dall'ENEA propone una soluzione fortemente innovativa per realizzare un processo di produzione elettrolitica dell’idrogeno ad alta temperatura in condizioni operative che evitano il ricircolo di idrogeno e rendono trascurabile il rischio di fiamme ed esplosioni anche in caso di perdite di idrogeno/ossigeno e anomalie di impianto. Tali condizioni di sicurezza intrinseca vengono realizzate in un processo di elettrolisi in sale fuso che sfrutta il particolare “chimismo” dei sali di carbonato fuso per produrre atmosfere gas-vapore non infiammabili contenenti elevate percentuali di anidride carbonica (non meno che il 50%).
Come ulteriore vantaggio, già descritto in un precedente brevetto ENEA degli stessi autori del 2012, il processo opera a temperature intermedie (intorno a 500-550°C) al fine di realizzare un sistema di produzione simultanea di idrogeno e miscele ossi-combustive (ossigeno+anidride carbonica, prive di azoto) completamente integrato e alimentato da energia solare a concentrazione.
La sicurezza operativa scaturisce non solo dal fatto che l’anidride carbonica, grazie al suo elevato peso specifico, è un ottimo agente diluente ed estinguente di ogni tipo di fiamma.In più, è anche l’unico gas diluente che, nelle concentrazioni presenti nel processo, agisce efficacemente sull’energia di ignizione dell’idrogeno, riducendo in maniera sostanziale il rischio di accensione dell’idrogeno da scintille.
Altri vantaggi sono ottenibili dal processo proposto utilizzando l’anidride carbonica come gas di trasporto: è un gas facilmente separabile dall’idrogeno e dall’ossigeno e inoltre evita la formazione di idrossidi corrosivi nel sale fuso, che altrimenti si formerebbero inevitabilmente in ambienti gassosi contenenti vapore acqueo, ma privi di CO2.
Come aspetto preferenziale della presente invenzione, è inoltre possibile utilizzare la miscela ossicombustiva per alimentare un processo di ossicombustione. In questo modo, recuperando i fumi di combustione (100 % CO2) si può realizzare un processo ibrido di produzione di idrogeno a ciclo chiuso di CO2 ovvero viene fatta ricircolare CO2 (gas inerte) nell’impianto di elettrolisi invece che idrogeno come succede negli elettrolizzatori tradizionali ad ossidi solidi, al fine di massimizzare gli aspetti economici e di sicurezza operativi.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Scoperta molecola-trappola per estrarre l'uranio dal mare
Allo studio americano ha collaborato l'Università di Udine e quando il costo di questa nuova tecnologia sarà competitivo ci sarà una valida alternativa per la produzione di energia - A breve sarà possibile estrarre uranio dal mare a costi ridotti, grazie al miglioramento dei materiali impiegati e della chimica utilizzata. Il risultato della ricerca, che ha ottenuto ad agosto la copertina della rivista Dalton Transactions, arriva da uno studio condotto al Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Usa) a cui ha collaborato l'Università di Udine. Il mare costituisce una sorta di miniera alternativa per l'estrazione di uranio, elemento strategico per la riproduzione di energia. Si stima, infatti, che sia circa mille volte più fornito di qualunque miniera terrestre conosciuta. "Lo studio ha chiarito - riferiscono Andrea Melchior e Marilena Tolazzi, docenti del Dipartimento di chimica, fisica e ambiente dell'università di Udine e che collaborano con il Berkeley Lab - la chimica alla base della selettività di alcune molecole-trappola per l'uranio e ha fornito un importante contributo per il miglioramento del sistema chimico di estrazione, che rappresenta attualmente l'approccio più promettente". Per estrarre l'uranio dall'acqua di mare si può utilizzare infatti una "trappola" costituita da molecole capaci di legarlo selettivamente, ancorate a un materiale plastico di supporto, che poi viene trattata in superficie per l'estrazione. "Questa tecnologia - precisa Melchior - è già testata, ma il costo per chilogrammo di uranio recuperato non è ancora competitivo rispetto alle altre fonti di approvvigionamento". Il gruppo di Udine ha contribuito alla ricerca mediante modelli computazionali per spiegare a livello molecolare la struttura e quindi la selettività del sistema di cattura. La collaborazione dell'ateneo di Udine con il LBL sarà rafforzata in futuro anche grazie alla presentazione di un progetto di ricerca congiunto nell'ambito della cooperazione scientifica Italia-Stati Uniti 2016-17.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Fighting Hydro Failure
Norway is home to nearly half the Francis water turbines in the world, and they've run into a problem: while hydropower can be turned on and off on short notice, this type of cycling doesn't work so well with Francis turbines over time.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
A Stretch of the Imagination
Material scientists have developed a stretchy acoustic device that can record and amplify sound across the range of human hearing, from 20 Hz and 20 KHz, making it a candidate for wearable electronics and biological sensing applications, such as hearing aids. The speaker consists of a liquid metal coil made of an alloy called Galinstan and a magnet, and it has demonstrated stable performance under mechanical stress.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Jump-starting the Lithium-ion Battery
There's a problem. Efforts to boost the capacity of lithium-ion batteries beyond present levels have failed to produce a "breakthrough technology." Some scientists are looking to change the materials used to create the battery's electrodes, but manufacturability, safety, size, and cost issues plague efforts to move forward. The Economist looks at the potential benefits and shortcomings of the technologies being developed to turbocharge lithium-ion technology.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Il fotovoltaico in perovskite e grafene diventa trasparente
Con livelli di efficienza ormai soddisfacenti, la ricerca solare sta concentrando gli sforzi maggiori su economicità dei materiali ed estetica. Uno degli elementi qualificanti del fotovoltaico di nuova generazione è infatti proprio quello di riuscire ad integrarsi in maniera non invasiva ed “economica” in edifici e veicoli. L’ultimo contributo in tal senso arriva da un gruppo di ricercatori del Politecnico di Hong Kong (PolyU). Il team è stato in grado di creare un fotovoltaico in perovskite e grafene semitrasparente, efficiente e al contempo dai costi contenuti. In linea con le ricerche sulle celle solari di terza generazione – che sono leggere, flessibili, possiedono processi di fabbricazione più semplici -e più a basso costo, gli scienziati del PolyU hanno sviluppato una propria versione di fotovoltaico “next generation” usando un film sottile di cristalli di perovskite ed elettrodi in grafene. Essendo il grafene bidimensionale e al tempo stesso ad alta conducibilità e basso costo, rappresenta una scelta ideale per le celle solari semitrasparenti in quanto permette alla luce di essere assorbita da entrambi i lati. Con un’efficienza di conversione dichiarata di circa il 12 per cento, le celle solari del PolyU superano le versioni standard trasparenti e semitrasparenti con estrema facilità. La possibilità di essere prodotto a meno di 0,06 dollari il Watt significa, inoltre, un risparmio superiore al 50 per cento sul costo delle celle solari al silicio convenzionali. Per ottenere questo risultato, il grafene è stato rivestito con una patina di PEDOT PSS, un polimero conduttivo che ne migliora la capacità di trasmissione della corrente, funzionando nel contempo da strato adesivo sulla perovskite durante il processo di laminazione. Per promuovere l’efficienza di conversione, i ricercatori hanno scoperto che il processo di multilayering del grafene tramite deposizione di vapore chimico (finalizzato a creare elettrodi trasparenti) permette di ridurne la resistenza; le prestazioni del dispositivo sono state ulteriormente migliorate anche aumentando il grado di contatto tra gli elettrodi e lo strato di trasporto delle lacune sul film sottile. Secondo i ricercatori, l’eccezionale flessibilità del grafene e la preparazione semplificata delle celle permetterebbe la produzione di massa del nuovo fotovoltaico attraverso la stampa diretta o utilizzando un processo roll-to-roll.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Low cost catalyst a boost for hydrogen production
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US have announced the discovery of a new catalyst that they claim could significantly reduce the cost of Hydrogen production.
Hydrogen, which some claim will be the dominant automotive fuel of the future, is usually produced by separating water with electrical power, a process which typically relies on platinum or other expensive noble metals to help the water-splitting process.
However, according to a report in Nature Materials, a new hydrogen-making catalyst containing phosphorus and sulphur and cobalt, could offer a highly effective, lower cost alternative to existing catalysts.
A photoelectrolysis cell splits water into hydrogen and oxygen using a catalyst made of the abundant elements cobalt, phosphorus and sulphur.
According to Prof Song Jin, who led the research team, the new catalyst is almost as efficient as platinum and appears to show the highest catalytic performance among the non-noble metal catalysts reported so far.
The advance emerges from a long line of research in Jin’s lab that has focused on the use of iron pyrite and other inexpensive, abundant materials for energy transformation. Jin and his students discovered the new catalyst by replacing iron to make cobalt pyrite, and then added phosphorus.
What’s more, although electricity is the usual energy source for splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen, Jin said that the new catalyst can also work with energy from sunlight. “We have demonstrated a proof-of-concept device for using this cobalt catalyst and solar energy to drive hydrogen generation,” he claimed.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Measure Glucose in Real Time
Because measuring glucose uptake in live cells can be a challenge, researchers have developed a Stimulated Raman Scattering method to create real-time, 3D bioimages. The technique detects vibrations in chemical bonds between atoms and these signatures can be targeted and monitored. It is hoped the method will shed light on malignant tumors, which require high energy.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
BAE demonstrates “see-through” vehicle armour
An advanced situational awareness system developed by engineers at BAE Systems enables a tank’s crew to see through their vehicle’s armour.
The BattleView 360 system, which is on show at this week’s DSEI exhibition in London, combines a head-mounted display with cameras on the outside of the vehicle to give an unobstructed view of the surrounding terrain.
The technology uses a camera to relay an 360 view of surrounding terrain to the crew
The technology then uses communications systems and digital mapping technology to augment this view with real-time data on a host of surrounding features of interest.
The system can be accessed via a head mounted display as well a head-down touch screen display that can be used by commanders to assess information and view the displays of other crew members and even other vehicles, such as unmanned drones that may be patrolling the area.
BAE claims that this will enable a vehicle commander to make rapid informed decisions and communicate these decisions to other vehicles.
The technology has been developed by BAE’s Swedish subsidiary Hägglunds.
Dan Lindell, one of the engineers behind the system told The Engineer that it offers considerable advantages over existing technologies. “It’s a huge difference,” he said, “‘You get proper see through armour and with augmented reality. You get blue forces and red forces tracking and the correct geographical data just by looking through the armour.”
The system can be accessed via a head-mounted display
Lindell added that by coupling all of the information with 3D map data, the system is able to plot and identify safe routes for vehicles. “For instance”, he said, “if you have a high point scout that you want to sneak by, if you have that 3D data the driver would be able to see the route. That has never been seen before.’
The system has been designed to be compatible with a range of existing vehicles and communication technologies. According to Lindell it is currently under trial with a number of users and the firm is continuing to refine the technology before it enters full production.
The through-armour view is augmented with digital-mapping information and data from other units
BAE has also revealed that engineers in the UK are working on a related “intelligent turret” system. The firm said that this technology is being developed to free up armoured vehicle crews to concentrate on the battlefield. A spokesperson declined to confirm whether this will include some form of autonomous driving capability.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Robots help create 3D map of subsea canyon
A research project at Whittard Canyon in the Bay of Biscay has used a combination of subsea robots and ship measurements to create a 3D map of the underwater habitat.
Rich cold-water coral reef was imaged by the the Isis ROV
According to the National Oceanography Centre (NOC), which led the project, the canyon is England’s only deep-water Marine Conservation Zone. Until now, the mapping techniques used to chart its depths have not provided huge amounts of detail, but advances in robotics have meant that more accurate measurements can now be made.
“Our robot vehicles imaged rich communities of cold-water corals, clams, deep-sea oysters and their associated fauna, including a broad range of fish species,” said Dr Veerle Huvenne from the NOC, head of the five-week expedition.
“The morphology of this canyon is spectacular. We have mapped cliffs up to 150m high and 1.6km long, in some locations down to centimetre-scale resolution. This makes us the only group in the world who currently can image vertical cliffs in the deep sea in this way.”
The project employed a combination of methods to create a ‘nested map’. This involves building up a picture in layers, with more detailed maps stacked upon less detailed ones. First, echo-sounders on the research vessel RRS James Cook were used to create a 200km map of the canyon with a 50m pixel resolution. Following that, sideways echo-sounders on an Autosub6000 robot-sub mapped the vertical walls within the canyon, delivering a resolution of 3-5m per pixel.
The final stage of the mapping process saw a remotely operated vehicle called Isis lowered on a tether from the RRS James Cook. This recorded high definition video and collected biological and geological samples from vertical and overhanging locations. Echo-sound data collected by Isis was also used to create the most detailed map of the three, with a resolution of 10-20cm.
The expedition was part of the CODEMAP project. It was funded by the European Research Council, and received additional support from the NERC MAREMAP programme and DEFRA.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Robot to save Barrier Reef from starfish vandalism
Queensland University of Technology roboticists have developed COTSbot, the world’s first robot designed to control populations of crown-of-thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef.
According to QUT, crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) are responsible for an estimated 40 per cent of the reef’s total decline in coral cover. To counter this, roboticists have spent the last six months developing and training the robot to recognise COTS among coral in order to reduce the damage they cause.
Dr Matthew Dunbabin from QUT’S Institute for Future Environments, said the COTSbot is equipped with stereoscopic cameras to give it depth perception, five thrusters to maintain stability, GPS, pitch-and-roll sensors and a unique pneumatic injection arm to deliver a fatal dose of bile salts.
Drs Matthew Dunbabin (left) and Feras Dayoub (right) have developed the COTSbot, the world’s first robot designed to control the Great Barrier Reef’s crown-of-thorns starfish population
The roboticists believe COTSbot is the first autonomous underwater vehicle to be equipped with an injection system. It’s also designed to operate exclusively within a metre of the seafloor, one of the most challenging environments for any robot.
Dr Feras Dayoub, from QUT’S Science and Engineering Faculty who designed the COTS-detecting software, said the robot would continue to learn from its experiences in the field.
“Its computer system is backed by some serious computational power so the COTSbot can think for itself in the water,” he said in a statement. “If the robot is unsure that something is actually a COTS, it takes a photo of the object to be later verified by a human, and that human feedback is incorporated into the robot’s memory bank. That in itself is quite an accomplishment given the complexity of underwater environments, which are subject to varying visibility as well as depth-dependent colour changes.”
Dr Dunbabin added: “Human divers are doing an incredible job of eradicating this starfish from targeted sites but there just aren’t enough divers to cover all the COTS hotspots across the Great Barrier Reef.
“We see the COTSbot as a first responder for ongoing eradication programs - deployed to eliminate the bulk of COTS in any area, with divers following a few days later to hit the remaining COTS.
“The COTSbot becomes a real force multiplier for the eradication process the more of them you deploy - imagine how much ground the programs could cover with a fleet of 10 or 100 COTSbots at their disposal, robots that can work day and night and in any weather condition.”
The COTSbot completed its first sea trials in Queensland’s Moreton Bay to test its mechanical parts and navigation system. The key to the autonomous underwater vehicle is its new computer vision and machine learning system.
Dr Dunbabin first built a vision system for detecting COTS from underwater images ten years ago but shelved the idea of building a robot due to the limitations of the eradication methods in use, which required divers to inject each COTS up to 20 times. However a breakthrough from James Cook University (JCU) last year allowed him to refloat the project.
“I was really pleased to hear about JCU’s announcement last year of a one-shot injection method had proved just as effective,” he said. “That was the game changer that opened the doors for a robotic solution to the COTS problem. Combining this with new advances in machine learning meant we could make COTSbot a reality.”
The QUT roboticists plan to take COTSbot to the Great Barrier Reef later this month to trial it on living targets. In that trail, a human will verify each COTS identification the robot makes before the robot is allowed to inject it.
The COTSbot is planned to be working the reef autonomously by December and the roboticists are seeking funding to scale up the manufacturing and deployment of the COTSbot.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Idrogeno in pastiglie per uno stoccaggio più sicuro
È affidabile, costa poco e garantisce maggiore sicurezza nello stoccaggio di idrogeno. Così l’ENEA definisce il nuovo sistema brevettato a seguito di uno studio condotto da un gruppo di ricercatori: Daniele Mirabile Gattia, Amelia Montone e Ilaria Di Sarcina della Divisione ENEA “Tecnologie e Processi dei Materiali per la Sostenibilità”, in collaborazione con Daniele Valtolina di SOL Spa. Si tratta di pastiglie rivestite, indeformabili, composte da polveri inserite all’interno di opportune matrici e compattate tramite pressatura. Il processo fa sì che si ottengano le forme desiderate e facilmente maneggiabili a seconda delle esigenze. Le polveri si ottengono mediante un processo chiamato macinazione ad alta energia che impiega un mulino a sfere. Esso permette di macinare materiali in polvere finissima da utilizzare in processi di preparazione di minerali, medicazioni, vernici, pirotecnica e ceramica. Tramite questo macchinario, i ricercatori ENEA hanno ridotto le dimensioni delle particelle, creando difetti all’interno della struttura cristallina del materiale e rendendolo idoneo all’aggiunta di un catalizzatore. Le pastiglie vengono poi rivestite da uno strato metallico, indeformabile, per renderle più resistenti e a rilascio lento all’interno dei serbatoi. Lo strato di rivestimento ha una temperatura di fusione superiore a quella alla quale verrà portata la pastiglia durante il ciclaggio (il ripetersi di raffreddamenti e riscaldamenti di un dato materiale) e limita, oltretutto, il contatto dell’idruro con altri composti gassosi, come ossigeno e acqua presenti nell’aria. In tal modo, rende possibile una migliore maneggiabilità. Secondo la nota diffusa dall’agenzia, le pastiglie «presentano un doppio vantaggio: forniscono un sistema affidabile anche dopo numerosi cicli di assorbimento e uscita del gas e garantiscono una maggiore sicurezza rispetto all’utilizzo diretto delle polveri all’interno del serbatoio». L’invenzione permetterebbe di superare i limiti dei sistemi convenzionali di stoccaggio di idrogeno, aprendo nuovi scenari che proiettano la ricerca verso la sperimentazione di sistemi di accumulo in forma solida, «più compatti, più sicuri e più resistenti all’invecchiamento».
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Barcellona prima città a idrogeno grazie a una tecnologia italiana
Per la prima volta il gas viene catturato da un materiale allo stato solido: addio allo stoccaggio nei pericolosi recipienti sotto pressione. Il prototipo è della Fbk di Trento, sperimentazione in un quartiere catalano - di Alessandro Papayannidis - Il collo di bottiglia è stato tagliato. Tutti vorremmo utilizzare l’idrogeno, ma dobbiamo fare i conti con un problema di grande rilievo: la difficoltà dello stoccaggio. Grazie all’utilizzo del magnesio, ora un gruppo di ricercatori della Fondazione a Bruno Kessler di Trento ha realizzato con sei partner europei un nuovo materiale che semplifica drasticamente lo stoccaggio e consente di utilizzare l’idrogeno come fonte di energia per le case e i luoghi pubblici. In un contenitore dal volume di pochi litri, infatti, si può avere un accumulo di idrogeno in grado di fornire l’energia necessaria ad un’abitazione per 24 ore, sia dal punto di vista elettrico che termico, e renderla disponibile a seconda delle esigenze dell’utente. Peculiarità del progetto è stato sviluppare un sistema di batteria a idrogeno che prevede l’utilizzo di energia variabile e intermittente di sole e vento, seguendo i profili di consumo degli utilizzatori. La chiave del progetto europeo Eden (High Energy Density Mg-based Metal Hydrides Storage System), partito nel 2012 con un finanziamento di 1,5 milioni di euro, è rappresentata dall’utilizzo del magnesio, il principale componente del materiale messo a punto dal gruppo di Fbk. Un materiale solido, per la prima volta in grado di catturare e trattenere gli atomi di idrogeno sulla propria superficie. In tal modo non è più necessario tenere l’idrogeno in recipienti sotto pressione e aumenta radicalmente la sicurezza dello stoccaggio. Ora un’area pubblica - «Il prototipo che abbiamo realizzato - spiega il coordinatore del progetto, Luigi Crema - propone la tecnologia Eden su una scala analoga all’applicazione reale, integrando vari componenti. Una pila a combustibile, che può essere alimentata da fonti rinnovabili come il sole e il vento, permette la produzione di idrogeno dall’acqua. Un serbatoio, che contiene il materiale a base di magnesio sviluppato nell’ambito del progetto, consente l’accumulo di idrogeno. Altre componenti completano il sistema, consentendo il rilascio dell’idrogeno e la produzione di energia elettrica quando necessario all’utente». Crema, che alla Fbk dirige una unità di ricerca del Centro materiali e microsistemi, illustra i prossimi passi: «Siamo riusciti a validare la funzionalità dell’intero sistema. Ora le attività del progetto termineranno a Barcellona dove, in collaborazione con l’Agenzia dell’energia, faremo la sperimentazione in ambiente reale». Nella capitale catalana Eden sarà installato in un’area adibita a spazi pubblici e accoppiato con un impianto solare fotovoltaico: l’energia solare generata durante il giorno verrà accumulata nel sistema Eden e riutilizzata la notte per illuminare l’area pubblica in una zona centrale della città.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Da Monopoli primo mezzo che viaggia autoproducendo idrogeno
E' l' H2M e utilizza processo alimentato da pannelli fotovoltaici. E' nato in Puglia il primo veicolo in grado di produrre e stoccare autonomamente idrogeno mediante energia rinnovabile. Si chiama H2M (Idrogeno Mobile) ed é stato realizzato dalla Fondazione H2U The Hydrogen University di Monopoli attraverso il cofinanziamento della Regione Puglia, con fondi Carbon Tax ministero dell' Ambiente e in partenariato con l' Università Aldo Moro di Bari. Si tratta di un autocarro leggero furgonato con rimorchio, per una lunghezza complessiva di 15 metri, che produce idrogeno da un complesso di pannelli fotovoltaici da 6 kWp. L' impianto fotovoltaico alimenta un elettrolizzatore da 1 normal m3/h per la produzione d' idrogeno, a sua volta stoccato in bombole da 50 litri, grazie a 24 batterie tampone da 230 A/h. '' Dopo un lavoro durato due anni - ha detto il fisico Nicola Conenna, ideatore dell' iniziativa - il veicolo H2M é pronto per iniziare il proprio viaggio, portando con se un modello energetico e produttivo alternativo, diffuso, decentrato e rinnovabile, totalmente carbon free''. In questa fase della sperimentazione, per la produzione dell' energia indispensabile per il funzionamento dell' elettrolizzatore - all' attuale stato dell' arte dei sistemi fotovoltaici - occorre un' ampia superficie di pannelli esposta al sole, cosa che spiega la speciale conformazione delle furgonature con ante di chiusura laterale che si sollevano a filo con il tetto. Analogamente la quantità di idrogeno prodotta istantaneamente non é sufficiente per alimentare direttamente il motore d' origine Iveco trasformato in tetrafuel (gasolio, metano, idrogeno e idrometano) ma possibili sviluppi del sistema potrebbero, in teoria, creare il veicolo con moto perpetuo che non deve mai arrestarsi per rifornirsi.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Gianotti (Cern), pronti a entrare in una nuova fisica
Con la recente accensione di Lhc potremo andare alla ricerca di fisica nuova: a spiegarlo é Fabiola Gianotti a margine del congresso della Società Italiana di Fisica che si é aperto oggi a Roma negli spazi del Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Cnr). "I dati che otterremo nei prossimi mesi - ha spiegato Gianotti - ci permetteranno di misurare con maggiore precisione il Bosone di Higgs e di cercare una fisica nuova che vada oltre al cosiddetto Modello Standard". La ricercatrice italiana ha aperto il convegno presentando i risultati ottenuti finora da Lhc e prospettato la speranza di scoprire nuova fisica. "L' attuale teoria di riferimento nella fisica delle particelle - ha spiegato - non é capace di risolvere alcune questioni aperte, come ad esempio la composizione della materia oscura. E' necessario quindi un superamento del Modello Standard attuale". Fondamentali saranno i dati che ha iniziato a raccogliere Lhc rientrato in funzione da pochi mesi dopo un ' aggiornamento' per aumentarne la ' potenza'.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Electronic Capsule for Delivering Drugs Deep Down the GI Tract
Many orally ingested medicines are limited in their applications because they get absorbed or metabolized by the body before arriving at their final destination, the large intestine being a perfect example of such a destination. Researchers at Purdue University have developed an electronic pill, about the size of a large gel cap that can travel through the GI tract and release its cargo once it’s far enough. The device doesn’t propel itself, rather riding along with peristalsis.
The release of the powdered drug cargo is enabled by a pre-charged capacitor and the opening of the chamber is activated using a magnet. In laboratory experiments, a magnet placed nearby the channel simulating the GI tract was used to open the drug chamber, but the researchers believe that in the future a wrist-worn magnet may end up being used since the hands are near the level of the large intestine when at rest.
Watch the capsule travel through a simulated GI tract and release its cargo (you might want to fast forward through the slow parts):
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Shining Light on Blood Glucose Levels
A laser-based sensor that monitors blood glucose levels could save diabetes patients the pain of frequent finger pricking otherwise needed for tests that analyze a blood sample. The non-invasive method shines infrared laser light on the skin while a piece of nano-engineered silica glass in contact with the patient's skin contains ions that fluoresce in infrared light. The fluorescence signal corresponds closely with the glucose concentration in the blood.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
3D printing helps NHS surgeons practice tricky procedure
Surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for children in London have used a 3D printed trachea to trial a complex procedure prior to operating on one of their young patients.
The technique was trialled on a 6-year-old patient with a lung condition that requires repeat ‘lung-washing’ treatments in order to clear dangerous build-ups of material in these organs. During the procedure one lung is ventilated while the other lung is washed out and although this process is relatively straightforward to perform in adults, the tubes used to ventilate and wash out the lungs are large and sometimes difficult to use in children.
Multiple tubes therefore have to be positioned with great precision as quickly as possible in order for it to be safe in children who have little normal lung capacity with which to breathe.
NHS surgeons have used a 3D printed replica model of a trachea to trial a complex procedure
After CT scanning the patient, the team used a Makerbot FDM (fused deposition modeling) based device to 3D print a ‘made-to-measure’ tube that was an exact replica of the patient’s trachea in terms of shape and size.
This allowed the anaesthetic team to match up the most appropriately sized tubes and practice their insertion in to the airways prior to surgery, making the actual surgical procedure quicker and more efficient.
The trachea model was produced using a Makerbot machine
Colin Wallis, respiratory consultant physician at GOSH said: “Each time a child comes in to have their procedure they will have grown and so require different equipment to be used for their treatment. A model that is tailor-made to the child each time they have treatment means that the right sized tubes can be identified prior to surgery and a child can potentially be under anaesthetic for a shorter period of time.”
Owen Arthurs, GOSH consultant radiologist who scans patients to gain exact sizes for the model, added: “In the future, 3D printing could feasibly be adapted to scan and create many more organs in the body making a larger number of surgical procedures safer, quickly and easier.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
VW launches investigation into 'defeat device' allegations
Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation after US regulators discovered software in certain diesel models that circumvents emissions standards.
Consequently, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it is issuing a notice of violation (NOV) of the Clean Air Act (CAA) to Volkswagen, alleging that certain four-cylinder Volkswagen and Audi diesel cars from 2009-2015 contain the so-called defeat device, an algorithm in the ECU that identifies when a vehicle is on a rolling road for emissions testing and de-rates the engine accordingly.
In a separate action, California is issuing an In-Use Compliance letter to Volkswagen, and EPA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) have both initiated investigations based on Volkswagen’s alleged actions.
Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance said: “Using a defeat device in cars to evade clean air standards is illegal and a threat to public health.
“Working closely with the California Air Resources Board, EPA is committed to making sure that all automakers play by the same rules. EPA will continue to investigate these very serious matters.”
According to EPA, a sophisticated software algorithm on certain Volkswagen vehicles detects when the car is undergoing official emissions testing, and turns full emissions controls on only during the test.
The effectiveness of these vehicles’ pollution emissions control devices is greatly reduced during all normal driving situations, resulting in cars that meet emissions standards in the laboratory or testing station, but during normal operation, emit nitrogen oxides, or NOx, at up to 40 times the standard. The software produced by Volkswagen is a “defeat device,” as defined by the Clean Air Act, which requires vehicle manufacturers to certify to EPA that their products will meet applicable federal emission standards to control air pollution, and every vehicle sold in the US must be covered by an EPA-issued certificate of conformity.
EPA and CARB uncovered the defeat device software after independent analysis by researchers at West Virginia University. VW may be liable for civil penalties and injunctive relief for the violations alleged in the NOV.
“The Board of Management at Volkswagen AG takes these findings very seriously,” said Prof. Dr Martin Winterkorn, CEO OF Volkswagen. “I personally am deeply sorry that we have broken the trust of our customers and the public. We will cooperate fully with the responsible agencies, with transparency and urgency, to clearly, openly, and completely establish all of the facts of this case. Volkswagen has ordered an external investigation of this matter.”
MOLIBDENO-TELLURIO MEGLIO DEL GRAFENE. IL LAVORO DEL MIT
Adoperare il tellururo di molibdeno (MoTe2) quale alternativa al grafene nelle future applicazioni elettroniche. L'idea arriva da un gruppo di ricercatori del MIT e di professori appartenenti alla University of Petroleum della Cina, alla National Tsing-hua University di Taiwan e alla Saitama University and Tohoku University del Giappone. Gli scienziati hanno individuato un metodo per realizzare fogli ampi e spessi di MoTe2 adoperando la tecnica della deposizione chimica da vapore (Chemical Vapor Deposition, CVD). Gli atomi di tellururo e di molibdeno in natura tendono a formare legami molto deboli; per risolvere l'inconveniente gli scienziati sono partiti da un singolo strato di molibdeno puro sul quale hanno effettuato diverse stratificazioni. Successivamente hanno ossidato questo strato per poi rimuoverlo e sostituirlo con polvere di tellurio vaporizzato in un gas carrier con idrogeno e argon ad una temperatura di 700°C. L'uso di idrogeno nel processo si è rivelato cruciale per produrre un film uniforme di MoTe2 . “Questo materiale ha una banda proibita simile a quella del silicio - una caratterisica fondamentale per i transistor e le celle solari - e ha un forte potere di assorbimento delle radiazioni solari", ha spiegato Lin Zhou del MIT. Tra gli altri vantaggi emergono la possibilità di impiegare subito il MoTe2 nei device elettronici, come dimostrato in laboratorio, e dalle molteplici applicazioni. Il lavoro, pubblicato sul Journal of the American Chemical Society, ha ricevuto il supporto di National Science Foundation, Office of Naval Research e Internazionale Postdoctoral Exchange Fellowship Program.
Tougher Ceramics for High Temperature Applications
Engineering360 News Desk
UT Arlington, an engineer at the University of Texas is modifying molecular structures and blending ceramics to create material that would be less brittle but retain the strength of the original ceramic and could be used in power plants and for other applications.
Ashfaq Adnan says that certain engineering structures need to operate at very high temperature. Although metals are very resilient, the challenge with using them at very high temperatures is that they melt, he says. This research could yield ceramics that can withstand both extreme heat and collisions.
Adnan says his team has discovered that by blending different ceramics within the same family, they can gain added strength.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Tougher Ceramics for High Temperature Applications
An engineer at the University of Texas is modifying molecular structures and blending ceramics to create material that would be less brittle but retain the strength of the original ceramic and could be used in power plants and for other applications.
Ashfaq Adnan says that certain engineering structures need to operate at very high temperature. Although metals are very resilient, the challenge with using them at very high temperatures is that they melt, he says. This research could yield ceramics that can withstand both extreme heat and collisions.
Adnan says his team has discovered that by blending different ceramics within the same family, they can gain added strength.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
RICERCA: NUOVO STEP PER REATTORE FUSIONE NUCLEARE EURO - NIPPONICO TOKAMAK
Riprodurra' stessa reazione delle stelle, Enea e Asg presentano primo modulo di magnete superconduttore
Nuovo step per il reattore sperimentale euro-nipponico di fusione nucleare Tokamak JT-60SA, in costruzione a Naka in Giappone, destinato a riprodurre la stessa reazione che avviene nelle stelle. L' Enea e Asg Superconductors hanno annunciato che presenteranno martedì prossimo a Genova il primo modulo di magnete superconduttore per il Tokamak. "Questo progetto rientra nel programma Broader Approach, al quale partecipa l' Enea come capofila nazionale per la ricerca sulla fusione" afferma l' Agenzia.
Alla presentazione, cui prenderà parte il vice ministro dell' Economia Enrico Morando, insieme con il Commissario dell' Enea Federico Testa edi vertici di Asg, si confronteranno 50 delegati provenienti da Europa e Giappone che partecipano al Technical Coordination Meeting, organizzato dall' Enea per fare il punto sullo stato di avanzamento del reattore sperimentale.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Musculoskeletal Arm Model for Rehabilitation Robots
Researchers at the University of Waterloo developed new model-based controllers for a musculoskeletal model of the human arm for an upper limb rehabilitation robot. Research results can help engineers enhance designs and improve the rehabilitation process for post-stroke patients.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Imaging Technique Using Liquid Crystals Lets Scientists Study Amyloid Fibrils
Amyloid fibrils play a role in a number of neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, as well as Type 2 diabetes. They are tiny and the ones that seem to be associated with disease are so small that an optical microscope can’t resolve them. Expensive equipment has therefore been used in labs that have access to neutron and fluorescence scattering technology, and the rest have had to focus on something else. Now researchers at the University of Chicago are using liquid crystals, the stuff inside most of today’s televisions and computer monitors, to image even the smallest amyloid fibrils without the huge cost.
The team first made a liquid crystal film that doesn’t let light through. On top they placed a membrane resembling that of living cells, which they covered with water and molecules that form amyloid fibrils. As these molecules group up and form aggregates, they push into the crystal creating a mold of their shape. This slight bending of the crystal film reverts the process that made the film opaque, letting light pass through where the fibrils formed and revealing their structure. Because the liquid crystal magnifies this effect, the resulting slides are large enough to be viewed under a microscope.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Biosensor Measures Lipids to Track Disease at the Cellular Level
Lipids help regulate important cellular processes such as cell proliferation and immune response. Problems with lipid signalling have been linked with a number of diseases including cancer, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory conditions. “Lipid molecules on cell membranes can act as switches that turn on or off protein-protein interactions affecting all cellular processes, including those associated with disease,” explains Wonhwa Cho, a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “While the exact mechanism is still unknown, our hypothesis is that lipid molecules serve sort of like a sliding switch.” Cho adds that it is “not just the presence of lipid, but the number of lipid molecules that are important for turning on and off biological activity.”
Up until now, however, there hasn’t been a method of quantitatively tracking lipids within living cells. To remedy that problem, Cho led a team of researchers at the university in the development of a biosensor that uses modified proteins to fluoresce and act as sensors for lipid levels.
As the press release explains:
While visualizing lipid molecules with fluorescent proteins isn’t new, Cho’s technique allows quantification by using a hybrid protein molecule that fluoresces only when it binds specific lipids. His lab worked with a lipid known as PIP2 — an important fat molecule involved in many cellular processes. Cho’s sensor binds to PIP2 and gives a clear signal that can be quantified through a fluorescent microscope.
The result is the first successful quantification of membrane lipids in a living cell in real time.
“We had to engineer the protein in such a way to make it very stable, behave well, and specifically recognizes a particular lipid,” Cho said. He has been working on the technique for about a decade, overcoming technical obstacles only about three years ago.
Cho hopes now to create a tool kit of biosensors to quantify most, if not all lipids.
“We’d like to be able to measure multiple lipids, simultaneously,” he said. “It would give us a snapshot of all the processes being regulated by the different lipids inside a cell.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Magnetically Guided Material Created to Replicate Structure of Natural Teeth
The left structure is showing the natural tooth in its gypsum mold, the middle structure is the artificial tooth (sintered but not yet polymer infiltrated). The model on the right has been sintered and polymer infiltrated. It is embedded in a “puck” to enable polishing and coated with Platinum to prevent charging in the electron microscope. (Photo: Tobias Niebel/ETH Zurich)
Our teeth have an interesting internal material structure that’s similar to how seashells are built, providing them strength rarely seen in the natural world. They are built from layers of stiff micro-platelets, each layer having its own alignment and orientation. It’s this layering that gives hermit crab peace of mind and lets us enjoy beef jerky. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now mimicked this structure and created a technique for building biologically-compatible materials of extreme strength.
Their method is called “magnetically assisted slip casting” (MASC) and it involves pouring a suspension of magnetized aluminum oxide platelets into a mold. As the mold is filled layer by layer, a magnetic field is switched to point in different directions. The vector of the magnetic field aligns the platelets in one direction and it’s oriented in a different direction once a new layer is built. Once a layer cools, the platelets within maintain the orientation of the magnetic field.
The researchers produced an artificial tooth using the MASC method, resulting in a very similar material to that within natural teeth.
From ETH Zurich:
The surface of the artificial tooth is as hard and structurally complex as a real tooth enamel, while the layer beneath is tough, just like the dentine of the natural model.
The co-lead author of the study, doctoral student Hortense Le Ferrand, and her colleagues began by creating a plaster cast of a human wisdom tooth. They then filled this mould with a suspension containing aluminium oxide platelets and glass nanoparticles as mortar. Using a magnet, they aligned the platelets perpendicular to the surface of the object. Once the first layer was dry, the scientists poured a second suspension into the same mould. This suspension, however, did not contain glass particles. The aluminium oxide platelets in the second layer were aligned horizontally to the surface of the tooth using the magnet.
This double-layered structure was then ‘fired’ at 1,600 degrees to densify and harden the material: the term sintering is used for this process. Finally, the researchers filled the pores that remained after the sintering with a synthetic monomer used in dentistry, which subsequently polymerised.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
INNOVAZIONE: DAL FRIULI VENEZIA GIULIA EUROTECH PROGETTA SUPERCOMPUTER
Si chiama Qpace2 il nuovissimo supercomputer progettato da Eurotech (azienda con sede in Friuli Venezia Giulia, quotata in Borsa, impegnata nella progettazione e realizzazione di piattaforme embedded, sottosistemi, dispositivi cloud e computer ad elevate prestazioni), voluto dall' Università di Ratisbona, in Germania, dove è appena stato installato ed entrato in funzione. Si tratta di una macchina di nuovissima generazione, entrata per prestazioni, efficienza energetica, e densità nella Top500 e nella parte alta della classifica della Green500. Il supercalcolatore Qpace2 utilizza un innovativo metodo di raffreddamento ad acqua calda (Hot Liquid Aurora) ad altissima prestazione: una tecnologia estremamente all' avanguardia che consente, in qualsiasi condizione climatica, il raffreddamento dell' intero sistema, senza bisogno di condizionatori o sistemi di raffreddamento attivi, risparmiando notevolmente sui costi di gestione, aumentandone l' affidabilità. Il tutto in poco spazio, grazie alla elevata capacità di calcolo per unità di volume. Fiore all' occhiello del supercomputer è anche la sua architettura interna che, grazie alla combinazione di unità di calcolo convenzionali e unità di calcolo accelerate, è in grado di adattarsi a innumerevoli applicazioni scientifiche, industriali e medicali. L' intero progetto - nato per fare fronte alle esigenze di supercalcolo, nelle attività di ricerca, nel campo della cromo-dinamica quantistica ovvero sul comportamento dei quark - è stato finanziato dalla Dfg (Deutsche ForschungsGemeinschaft - German Research Foundation) e ha impegnato, oltre al team Hpc (High Performance Computer) di Eurotech, anche alcuni ricercatori dell' Università di Ratisbona. Il risultato ottenuto è un supercalcolatore altamente performante e studiato nei minimi dettagli: dalle schede elettroniche delle unità di calcolo all' architettura di comunicazione interna ad alta velocità, fino alla sofisticata meccanica di raffreddamento. Eurotech progetta, produce e commercializza sistemi Hpc simili a Qpace2 con il marchio Aurora Hive. Si tratta di macchine dalle altissime prestazioni, modulari e con ridotti consumi energetici. "Con Qpace2 abbiamo fatto un importante primo passo - commenta Roberto Siagri, presidente di Eurotech - verso la realizzazione dei supercalcolatori della nuova generazione exascale, ovvero da un miliardo di miliardi di calcoli al secondo e che faranno il loro ingresso sul mercato nei prossimi 5 anni. Siamo così in grado di fare fronte alle richieste di un mercato sempre più competitivo, che necessita di prestazioni sempre più elevate ed efficaci". "Il calcolo ad elevate prestazioni - spiega - sta alla base della crescita economica futura di tutti i Paesi. Non a caso, i Paesi con le più grandi economie hanno anche le più grandi installazioni di supercalcolatori, fatta eccezione per l' Italia. Per capirne l' importanza, è sufficiente ricordare che, negli Stati Uniti, due mesi fa il presidente, Barack Obama, ha lanciato un programma di rivitalizzazione del supercalcolo proprio per permettere all' America di rimanere la prima superpotenza". "Gli Hpc sono infatti di estrema importanza per la competitività economica, oltre che per la ricerca, grazie alle scoperte che consentono di fare in campo tecnologico, dalla medicina, al settore energetico, fino alla concezione di nuovi motori e materiali. Così come stanno facendo gli altri Paesi del G10, anche l' Italia dovrebbe investire in supercalcolatori, guardando a questo obiettivo come a un qualcosa di imprescindibile, per garantire all' Italia di mantenere un posto almeno nel G20, nel medio-lungo periodo", conclude.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
NASA uses orbital technology to confirm flowing salty water on Mars
The instruments of the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter were crucial to confirming the intriguing finding, which raises the possibility of finding microbial life but presents new difficulties for future missions
Orbital spectroscopy technology was the key factor in NASA’s announcement yesterday that Mars has flowing water on its surface at certain times of the year. The agency pressed infra-red spectrometers on board the decade-old Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) into service to check out dark narrow streaks which had been photographed creeping down the walls of craters during the Martian summer, and these instruments confirmed the presence of hydrated salts at three craters and one canyon.
RSL features on the slopes of Garni Crater on Mars
MRO carries two instruments that were important for the discovery: a high-resolution camera called HiRISE, attached to the largest reflecting telescope ever carried on a deep-space mission, which was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology under the direction of the University of Arizona; and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and specifically designed to look for water.
This finding indicates two important things that were previously suspected but unconfirmed: that water is flowing on the Red Planet and also that chemistry is taking place. The salts found by the spectrometers, chlorates and perchlorates, lower the melting point of water in which they are dissolved, rendering it capable of flowing at the Martian summer temperature of approximately -23°C. The researchers responsible for the discovery, led by Lujendra Ojha of Georgia Tech in Atalanta, have published their results in Nature Geosciences.
What’s still unknown is the origin of the water in the streaks, which NASA named Recurring slope linaea (RSLs) when they were first observed in 2011. There are a variety of possibilities, said Tim O’Brien, Professor of astrophysics at the University of Manchester. “Is it seeping up to mix with salts on the surface to make the briny water? Or it this water coming from the atmosphere, as it does on Earth?”. The main possibilities are believed to be frozen salty acquifers in porous rocks below the surface; purer water frozen underground that mixes with salt deposits on the surface when it melts, or as O’Brien suggests, deliquescent salts absorbing water from the atmosphere. The last of these effects is seen on Earth in the Atacama Desert, and is the source of the only place in the desert where microbial life is found
And it’s this possibility which is currently exciting planetary scientists: flowing water is the most likely place to find traces of life, and this discovery raises the possibility that the Red Planet could still be the home of living things, rather than just traces of long-extinct life, as has been presumed. “Millions of years ago conditions on Mars were similar to what we have on Earth now.
“The presence of liquid water increases the possibility that there could be some microbial life forms still on the planet. But in itself it is not evidence for life,” O’Brien commented.
“All life as we know it needs water, now we have found water on Mars there could be life. They have found a key prerequisite for life but not life itself.”
But it also presents a further challenge for exploring Mars. Planetary hygiene is a key concern for probes visiting bodies on the Solar System: great care is taken that we do not contaminate our neighbourhood with microbes hitching a ride on our discovery machines. The ability of water to support life would make damp areas the riskiest places to visit, although also the most interesting: NASA and other agencies are sure to target these regions for future landings, whether of robotic probes like ESA’s ExoMars Rover, scheduled to land on Mars in 2019, or for proposed crewed missions.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Measurement technique could enhance graphene production
A non-invasive measurement technique developed by researchers in the US could aid in the production of defect-free graphene it is claimed
Researchers at Pennsylvania’s Lehigh University have reported a breakthrough in efforts to non-invasively characterise the properties of graphene.
The group, led by Prof Slava V. Rotkin, used Raman spectroscopy, a powerful technique that collects light scattered off a material’s surface, and statistical analysis to take nanoscale measurements of the strain present at each pixel on the material’s surface.
The researchers also obtained a high-resolution view of the chemical properties of the graphene surface.
“The Raman signal represents the ‘fingerprint’ of the graphene’s properties,” said Rotkin. “We’re trying to understand the influence of the magnetic field on the Raman signal. We varied the magnetic field and noticed that each Raman line in the graphene changed in response to these variations.”
The typical spatial resolution of the “Raman map” of graphene is about 500 nanometers (nm), or the width of the laser spot, the group reported in Nature Communications. This resolution makes it possible to measure variations in strain on a micrometer scale and determine the average amount of strain imposed on the graphene.
By performing a statistical analysis of the Raman signal, however, the group reported that it was able to measure the strain at each pixel and to map the strain, and the variations in strain, one pixel at a time.
It is claimed that the work could enable scientists to rapidly monitor levels of strain as graphene is being fabricated, thereby helping to prevent the formation of defects. “Scientists already knew that Raman spectroscopy could obtain implicitly useful information about strain in graphene,” said Rotkin. “We showed explicitly that you can map the strain and gather information about its effects.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
NASA uses orbital technology to confirm flowing salty water on Mars
The instruments of the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter were crucial to confirming the intriguing finding, which raises the possibility of finding microbial life but presents new difficulties for future missions
Orbital spectroscopy technology was the key factor in NASA’s announcement yesterday that Mars has flowing water on its surface at certain times of the year. The agency pressed infra-red spectrometers on board the decade-old Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) into service to check out dark narrow streaks which had been photographed creeping down the walls of craters during the Martian summer, and these instruments confirmed the presence of hydrated salts at three craters and one canyon.
RSL features on the slopes of Garni Crater on Mars
MRO carries two instruments that were important for the discovery: a high-resolution camera called HiRISE, attached to the largest reflecting telescope ever carried on a deep-space mission, which was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology under the direction of the University of Arizona; and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), built by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory and specifically designed to look for water.
This finding indicates two important things that were previously suspected but unconfirmed: that water is flowing on the Red Planet and also that chemistry is taking place. The salts found by the spectrometers, chlorates and perchlorates, lower the melting point of water in which they are dissolved, rendering it capable of flowing at the Martian summer temperature of approximately -23°C. The researchers responsible for the discovery, led by Lujendra Ojha of Georgia Tech in Atalanta, have published their results in Nature Geosciences.
What’s still unknown is the origin of the water in the streaks, which NASA named Recurring slope linaea (RSLs) when they were first observed in 2011. There are a variety of possibilities, said Tim O’Brien, Professor of astrophysics at the University of Manchester. “Is it seeping up to mix with salts on the surface to make the briny water? Or it this water coming from the atmosphere, as it does on Earth?”. The main possibilities are believed to be frozen salty acquifers in porous rocks below the surface; purer water frozen underground that mixes with salt deposits on the surface when it melts, or as O’Brien suggests, deliquescent salts absorbing water from the atmosphere. The last of these effects is seen on Earth in the Atacama Desert, and is the source of the only place in the desert where microbial life is found
And it’s this possibility which is currently exciting planetary scientists: flowing water is the most likely place to find traces of life, and this discovery raises the possibility that the Red Planet could still be the home of living things, rather than just traces of long-extinct life, as has been presumed. “Millions of years ago conditions on Mars were similar to what we have on Earth now.
“The presence of liquid water increases the possibility that there could be some microbial life forms still on the planet. But in itself it is not evidence for life,” O’Brien commented.
“All life as we know it needs water, now we have found water on Mars there could be life. They have found a key prerequisite for life but not life itself.”
But it also presents a further challenge for exploring Mars. Planetary hygiene is a key concern for probes visiting bodies on the Solar System: great care is taken that we do not contaminate our neighbourhood with microbes hitching a ride on our discovery machines. The ability of water to support life would make damp areas the riskiest places to visit, although also the most interesting: NASA and other agencies are sure to target these regions for future landings, whether of robotic probes like ESA’s ExoMars Rover, scheduled to land on Mars in 2019, or for proposed crewed missions.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Fotovoltaico spray, il solare fai-da-te è sempre più green
In futuro, per istallare un impianto solare domestico basterà comprare un fotovoltaico spray e spruzzarlo sul proprio tetto. E’ questo il sogno che stanno rincorrendo i ricercatori del St. Mary’s College nel Maryland, sulla scia delle grandi ricerche dedicate alle vernici e inchiostri solari. La novità in questo caso è la scelta dei componenti di base: fino ad oggi gli scienziati hanno puntato su materiali organici che ben si prestano ad essere depositate in soluzione. Il team, guidato dal professore Troy Townsend, ha invece deciso di optare per una soluzione completamente inorganica e al tempo stesso non tossica. Questi componenti, come il silicio ad esempio, continuano a detenere il record di efficienza e presentano ancora la stabilità termica maggiore. Di contro però risulta più difficile impiegarli sotto forma di inchiostri. Per ovviare al problema gli scienziati hanno sintetizzato i materiali necessari su scala nanometrica: nano cristalli inorganici racchiusi in un guscio di legante organico che li rende perfettamente miscibili in soluzione, e pertanto anche facilmente depositabili tramite spray. I dispositivi solari – spiega una nota stampa dell’Ateneo – sono fabbricati a partire da inchiostri di nano-particelle assorbitori di luce (tellururo di cadmio / seleniuro di cadmio) e inchiostri metallici sopra e sotto. In questo modo, l’intero dispositivo elettronico può essere costruito su substrati di vetro non conduttivi. “Quando si spruzzano questi nanocristalli, è necessario riscaldarli per farli funzionare”, ha spiegato Townsend “[…] ed è necessario aggiungere un agente di sinterizzazione che, negli ultimi 40 anni è stato cloruro di cadmio, un sale tossico utilizzato nei dispositivi commerciali a film sottile. Nessuno ha testato alternative non tossiche negli inchiostri su nanoscala”. Come spiega il lavoro pubblicato quest’anno nel Journal of Materials Chemistry, Townsend e colleghi hanno scoperto che il cloruro di ammonio, sale comunemente usato nella panificazione, svolge efficacemente questo compito. Il fotovoltaico così creato ha ancora efficienze molto basse (5%) ma i ricercatori promettono miglioramenti importanti in breve tempo.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Corrente continua dalla luce: inizia l’Era della rectenna ottica
E’ stata teorizzata come possibile per moltissimo tempo, ora la prima rectenna ottica capace di trasformare direttamente la luce in corrente continua, è realtà grazie al lavoro del Georgia Institute of Technology. La tecnologia non è troppo conosciuta al di fuori degli ambienti tecnici: il dispositivo utilizza nanotubi di carbonio che fungono da piccole antenne, catturano la luce e rettificano la corrente da essa indotta attraverso nanoscopici diodi. In realtà la tecnologia alla base dell’invenzione si conosce dagli anni ’60, ma finora con queste “rectifying antennas” si era potuto convertire efficacemente solo le microonde in DC e viceversa. Il lavoro svolto dal Georgia Institute (anche se preceduto in questi anni da qualche altro esperimento non troppo dissimile) costituisce una vera e propria pietra miliare, secondo quanto riferiscono gli scienziati. Le rectenne ottiche potrebbero fornire miglioramenti a tecnologie come il fotovoltaico o i fotosensori. “I concetti scientifici erano noti” ha detto Baratunde Cola, professore presso l’Istituto e a capo della ricerca. “Era arrivato il momento per provare alcune idee nuove e realizzare un dispositivo funzionante, grazie ai progressi della tecnologia di fabbricazione”. In questi dispositivi, i nanotubi di carbonio agiscono come piccolissime antenne per catturare le onde elettromagnetiche. Quest’ultime, quando colpiscono la foresta di nanotubi, creano una carica oscillante che si muove attraverso elementi raddrizzatori (diodi) ad essi connessi che a loro volta vengono accesi e spenti ad altissima velocità, creando così una piccola corrente continua. Miliardi di rectenne in un modulo possono produrre una corrente significativa, sebbene l’efficienza dei dispositivi dimostrati finora rimanga sotto dell’uno percento. I ricercatori sperano di incrementare la produzione attraverso tecniche di ottimizzazione e credono di poter ottenere un rectenna ottica con potenziale commerciale entro un anno. “Alla fine – ha aggiunto Cola – siamo riusciti a rendere le celle solari due volte più efficienti ad un costo che è 10 volte più basso, e questo per me rappresenta la possibilità di cambiare il mondo”.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Innovazione: pesci-robot per la difesa di Venezia dall’acqua alta
Questa tecnologia è stata presentata oggi a EXPOVenice durante il convegno “Le tecnologie di comunicazione a tutela delle acque marine ed interne: ricerca ed attualità”, organizzato dalla Direzione Generale per i Servizi di Comunicazione Elettronica, Radiodiffusione e Postale del Ministero dello Sviluppo Economico in collaborazione con Linkem, che oltre all’ENEA ha visto la partecipazione, tra gli altri, di Università di Roma Tor Vergata, ISPRA e Corpo delle Capitanerie di Porto.
“Venus è l’elemento base di un sistema a sciame composto da più veicoli cooperanti e coordinati ed è il risultato di anni di studi dei laboratori di Robotica - sottolinea Vincenzo Nanni dell’ENEA - una linea di ricerca che prende spunto dall’imitazione delle forme di aggregazione animale e dell’intelligenza di gruppo”.
Questo tipo di formazione robotica a “sciame denso” utilizza decine di droni a distanza di pochi metri tra loro, a differenza delle attuali applicazioni in cui ogni dispositivo naviga a centinaia di metri l’uno dall’altro. I singoli robot, detti anche nodi di rete, costituiscono un sistema wireless sottomarino che utilizza suono e luce per comunicare: il sistema ottico permette di trasmettere rapidamente una grande quantità di informazioni, ma solo in acque molto pulite e a brevi distanze mentre il sistema acustico, anch’esso riprogettato specificamente per questa speciale configurazione, ha minori prestazioni, ma è utilizzabile in acque ‘sporche’ e a brevi distanze.
Per il futuro, la collaborazione ENEA-Tor Vergata punta alla realizzazione di una vera e propria autostrada digitale sottomarina con l’implementazione di un sistema di comunicazione ibrido: su Venus Swarm verrà installato un modem innovativo e multicanale ottico-acustico, che sfrutta la stretta sinergia tra i canali utilizzati e la ridotta distanza. Grazie all’impiego della tecnologia ibrida il “dialogo” tra robot e lo scambio di informazioni verso la superficie, raggiungeranno valori di megabit al secondo con straordinari miglioramenti rispetto alle attuali possibilità. L’impiego dei pesci robot nel controllo e nell’ispezione dei fondali di zone costiere e di acque oceaniche offre grandissimi vantaggi rispetto all’utilizzo di sistemi robotici singoli e sofisticati, ma molto costosi.
Per gli sciami si prefigura uno scenario di lavoro intenso. Si parte con la sorveglianza delle strutture in mare come piattaforme petrolifere, gasdotti e porti che potrebbero essere bersaglio di sabotaggi e attacchi terroristici. L’accesso ai porti attualmente viene controllato solo dalla superficie. La nuova formazione robotica dell’ENEA invece è in grado di individuare l’eventuale attacco dai fondali. Anche i soccorsi potrebbero contare sulla squadra di robot pinnati per la gestione dei flussi migratori in mare. Ma non solo. Gli esperti spiegano che la flotta di pesci ipertecnologici bio-inspired potrebbe essere utilizzata anche per la salvaguardia di fauna e flora sottomarine, per il controllo dell’inquinamento e per il rilevamento di reperti archeologici sui fondali. ENEA e Università Tor Vergata stanno inoltre lavorando ad una proposta di progetto europeo su vita marina e alimentazione umana che si basa sullo studio dell’interazione tra sistemi robotici e banchi di pesci per migliorare le condizioni di salute e di benessere generale degli allevamenti di itticoltura.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Acroleina, nella pipì c'è la spia di danni cerebrali
Un incidente stradale, una testata durante un'azione sportiva, un banale incidente domestico. Come sapere se ricorrere a una tac o comunque a esami medici più approfonditi a caccia di lesioni, anche temporanee, al cervello? I ricercatori dell'università americana di Purdue hanno trovato la risposta nella pipì. E ritengono che sia più affidabile di una visita neurologica, garantendo una gestione più rapida del problema. La "spia" dei danni a carico dei tessuti nervosi è una sostanza che si chiama acroleina, che è un sottoprodotto della perossidazione dei grassi. Per questa ragione, questa sostanza si trova nell'olio di frittura esausto e nelle sigarette. Ma dal nostro organismo viene prodotta in quantità elevata dopo un danno a carico del tessuto nervoso e il suo livello, che è facilmente riscontrabile nella pipì con un semplice esame delle urine, continua a salire se il danno neurologico diventa cronico.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Micro/Optofluidic Chip Detects Ebola Faster, Easier Than PCR
A team of researchers headed by scientists at University of California, Santa Cruz has developed a chip-based device that uses optical detection to spot Ebola and other viruses. The test identifies the RNA of the viral pathogens directly, without having to make DNA copies of the viral RNA as is done for PCR testing.
The device has two separate chips, including a microfluidic one that prepares the sample and an optofluidic one that does the actual detection. The microfluidic component uses a silicon polymer as the material within which channels guide the sample to different processing points. The viral RNA is isolated by having a synthetic DNA molecule that snaps together with the particular viral RNA. The DNA molecules are themselves attached to tiny magnetic beads that are then pulled by a magnet to grab the RNA molecules. The result is processed further to release the molecules and tag them with fluorescent markers before being transferred to the optical detection chip where the presence of the RNA is finally confirmed.
The system can spot the Ebola virus at low concentrations comparable to PCR and much lower than any other chip-based system. It is also able to quantify the viral concentration of a given sample over a scale more than six orders of magnitude in size.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Nuclear fusion financially viable in decades claim researchers
Fusion reactors could become an economically viable means of generating electricity within a few decades, a team of UK researchers has claimed.
The group, from Durham University and Culham Centre for Fusion Energy in Oxfordshire, has re-examined the economics of fusion, and taken into account recent advances in superconductor technology.
The Iter tokamak will be the world’s largest fusion reactor
The research, published in the journal Fusion Engineering and Design, builds on earlier findings that a fusion power plant could generate electricity at a similar price to a fission plant and identifies new advantages in using the new superconductor technology.
Fusion reactors generate electricity by heating plasma to around 100 million degrees centigrade so that hydrogen atoms fuse together, releasing energy. This differs from fission reactors which work by splitting atoms at much lower temperatures.
The report, which was commissioned by Research Council UK’s Energy Programme focuses on recent advances in high temperature superconductors. These materials could be used to construct the powerful magnets that keep the hot plasma in position inside the containing vessel, known as a tokamak, at the heart of a fusion reactor.
This advancing technology means that the superconducting magnets could be built in sections rather than in one piece. This would mean that maintenance, which is expensive in a radioactive environment, would be much cheaper because individual sections of the magnet could be withdrawn for repair or replacement, rather than the whole device.
While the analysis considers the cost of building, running and decommissioning a fusion power plant, it does not take into account the costs of disposing of radioactive waste that is associated with a fission plant.
For a fusion plant, the only radioactive waste would be the tokamak, when decommissioned, which would have become mildly radioactive during its lifetime.
Professor Damian Hampshire, of the Centre for Material Physics at Durham University, who led the study, said: “Obviously we have had to make assumptions, but what we can say is that our predictions suggest that fusion won’t be vastly more expensive than fission.”
Hampshire said he hoped that the analysis would help persuade policy-makers and the private sector to invest more heavily in fusion energy.
“Fission, fusion or fossil fuels are the only practical options for reliable large-scale base-load energy sources. Calculating the cost of a fusion reactor is complex, given the variations in the cost of raw materials and exchange rates. However, this work is a big step in the right direction” he said.
A test fusion reactor, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER), is about 10 years away from operation in the South of France. Its aim is to prove the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Meno caro e più efficace: ecco il brevetto unico europeo
Anche l’Italia aderisce alla protezione della proprietà intellettuale che scatterà nel 2016. I costi? Cinquemila euro invece di trentamila. L’Italia entra nel club dell’innovazione. E finalmente anche le nostre invenzioni potranno godere di maggiore protezione. La Commissione europea ha infatti annunciato di aver autorizzato l’adesione del nostro Paese al brevetto unico europeo quale 26° Paese nella cooperazione rafforzata sul brevetto unitario. L’Italia è il quarto più grande mercato in Europa in termini di convalida di brevetti nonché seconda manifattura europea dietro la Germania. Il nuovo brevetto unitario – che dovrebbe prendere il via nel 2016 – conferirà automaticamente protezione legale uniforme in tutti i Paesi della Ue con un unico iter ed unico pagamento. A rilasciarlo sarà Epo (European Patent Office), l’ente che di Monaco che rilascia i brevetti validi per tutti i Paesi europei. Sentiamo Benoit Battistelli, Presidente di (EPO) su quanto sia importante tutelare oggi in tutta Europa un’opera d’ingegno. Come funziona e quanto costa - Il brevetto unico europeo, facoltativo e non obbligatorio, ha un valore che in tutta Europa si aggira attorno ai due miliardi di euro e riveste un’importanza fondamentale per le imprese. Permette di vedere riconosciuta la propria proprietà intellettuale in tutti e 26 gli stati membri, con un’unica traduzione trilingue (inglese, francese, tedesco) valida ovunque. Verranno predisposti un sistema automatico di traduzione ed aiuti finanziari per sostenere ulteriori costi di traduzione, specialmente per le Pmi. Il brevetto, che costerà meno di 5mila euro al posto degli attuali 30mila, avrà una durata di 10 anni. Al momento è valido in molti paesi Ue, tranne in Spagna, che non ha aderito, e la Croazia, che dovrebbe però entrare. Per la prima volta, in caso di plagio di un’idea coperta da copyright, le pmi potranno rivolgersi ad un’unica giurisdizione comune, la corte Europea dei brevetti per l’appunto, che conferisce una tutela legale uniforme in tutti gli stati. La sede principale è a Parigi, con due uffici distaccati a Londra (per la farmaceutica) e Monaco di Baviera (ingegneria), mentre a breve verrà aperta anche una nuova sede distaccata di Milano. La corte d’appello avrà invece sede a Lussemburgo.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
QE carrier radar detects tennis ball sized objects more than 25km away
Advanced 3D radar technology capable of detecting objects as small as a tennis ball and travelling at three times the speed of sound more than 25Km away, has been installed on the Royal Navy’s future aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The system was installed on the QE Carrier in September 2015
Developed by BAE Systems, the technology, known as Artisan 3D, will be used to monitor and control the skies around the carrier.
According to the company the system, which is already used on the Type 23 frigates, can monitor more than 800 objects simultaneously from 200 to 200,000 metres and cut through radio interference equal to 10,000 mobile phone signals.
Les Gregory, Director for Products and Training Services at BAE Systems said: “Artisan is a ground-breaking radar system that delivers real capability to the Royal Navy in its supreme accuracy and uncompromising tracking. In addition, its world-leading electronic protection measure ensures that even the most complex of jammers will not reduce its effectiveness.”
The installation of the system is the culmination of a two and half year long process, during which engineers created a life-sized mock-up of the carriers’ aft island in order to hone the radar’s interaction with the new carrier’s combat systems.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Self-Positioning Transcatheter Mitral Valve Developed by National University of Singapore
Transcatheter heart valve replacements have become life savers for many frail patients who are unsuitable for open heart surgery. While many benefit from implantation of the prosthetic valves, the anatomy of many patients doesn’t lend well to the procedure while for some the placement of the device turns out to be very difficult. Valves are often placed poorly and some can’t be easily repositioned. Now a team at National University of Singapore has developed a prosthetic transcatheter mitral heart valve that positions itself on its own to best fit each patient’s anatomy.
The VeloX valve works with different size mitral annuli and consists of the standard pericardial leaflets on top of a polymer coated nitinol self-expanding structure. The device self-positions and can be removed or repositioned if the fit isn’t quite right.
The NUS team has patented the technology and will launch a startup to put the device through trials and eventually commercialize it into a real product.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Etichetta ' smart' cambia colore se cibo non é sicuro
Cambiano colore a seconda della temperatura e registrano la storia termica degli alimenti rivelando se é stata superata la soglia limite per la sicurezza. Sono le etichette ' intelligenti': sono state sviluppate dall' Università di Milano-Bicocca, e sono illustrate in uno studio appena pubblicato sulla rivista Advanced Optical Materials. L' etichetta ' smart' é stata progettata da un gruppo di ricercatori del Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali della Bicocca e dell' Imperial College di Londra con il coordinamento di Luca Beverina, professore associato di Chimica Organica. Il suo funzionamento si basa su una reazione chimica capace di attivare un pigmento organico depositato su una pellicola di silice porosa, che si applica sulla confezione del prodotto. Il pigmento viene ' programmato' in modo che sia incolore; se durante il suo tragitto l' alimento non rispetta la catena del freddo, e quindi supera il margine di sicurezza (fino a 9 gradi per non più di 30 minuti) l' etichetta assume rapidamente un colore blu chiaro. Se però l' alimento rimane per 3 ore a temperatura ambiente l' etichetta diventa blu scuro. La colorazione é sempre irreversibile, in modo da permettere a consumatori e distributori di sapere qual é stata la storia della temperatura del cibo durante tutta la filiera di distribuzione fino al banco vendita. "Queste etichette - commenta Beverina - sono semplici, economiche e affidabili, e registrano tutta la storia termica di un pacchetto in modo facile e leggibile a occhio nudo. È una soluzione che aiuta produttori e distributori a evitare che alimenti freschi e deteriorati finiscano nello stesso frigorifero".
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Researchers look to plants for energy storage
Scientists at McMaster University in Canada are using cellulose harvested from the plant kingdom to develop a new breed of lightweight, sustainable supercapcitor batteries.
Published in the journal Advanced Materials, the research shows how cellulose - an organic compound found in plants, bacteria, algae and trees – can be used to build more efficient energy storage devices. Cellulose has long been considered, a potential green alternative to current capacitor materials.
“Ultimately the goal of this research is to find ways to power current and future technology with efficiency and in a sustainable way,” said Emily Cranston, an assistant chemical engineering professor at McMaster and co-author of the paper.
“This means anticipating future technology needs and relying on materials that are more environmentally friendly and not based on depleting resources.”
Supercapacitors are used in applications requiring many rapid charge and discharge cycles, rather than long term compact energy storage. They are widely used in hybrid vehicles to capture energy from regenerative braking, which is then released in acceleration. Compared to batteries, however, supercapacitors tend to be bulky, adding unwanted weight to vehicles and devices.
The researchers say their work demonstrates an improved three-dimensional energy storage device constructed by trapping functional nanoparticles within the walls of a nanocellulose foam. Cellulose nanocrystals, which resemble nano-scale grains of uncooked rice, are glued together at random points to form a mesh-like structure with lots of open space, making the material lightweight. According to the researchers, the result is an environmentally friendly supercapacitor with higher power density and faster charging than rechargeable batteries.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Inventato materiale che ritarda formazione ghiaccio
E' stato ottenuto un materiale capace di ritardare la formazione di ghiaccio anche a temperature fino 6 gradi sotto lo zero, e dotato di una superficie che in alcune zone attrae l' acqua, mentre in altre la respinge. Descritta sulla rivista Applied Physics Letters, la ricerca é stata coordinata da Amy Betz, della Kansas State University. Finora la maggior parte degli studi ha cercato di sviluppare le proprietà anti-ghiaccio di superfici ultra-repellenti all' acqua, in grado di respingere l' acqua prima che abbia il tempo di congelare. Un altro settore di ricerche si é invece concentrato sulle superfici dette bifiliche, che mischiano parti idrofobiche (o repellenti) e idrofiliche (o ' amiche' dell' acqua), come in questo caso. Sono state create tre diverse superfici bifiliche, ognuna composta da strati sottili di silicio e un leggero mantello di materiale semiconduttore idrofobico. Tutte sono state testate in una camera a diverse temperature e gradi di umidità, per un tempo di 3 ore. Si é così visto che i cristalli di ghiaccio iniziavano già a formarsi a 1-2 sotto zero sulle superfici solo idrofiliche, a -3 in quelle solo idrofobiche, mentre quelle bifiliche hanno avuto la resa migliore, perché ci sono voluti 6 gradi sotto zero prima che si formasse il ghiaccio. Questo per le loro insolite proprietà di condensazione e aggregazione delle particelle e gocce d' acqua, che ritardano il processo di congelamento. Tante le possibili applicazioni per questo materiale, secondo i ricercatori, che vanno dalle ali degli aerei ai condizionatori, dai congelatori ai condensatori nei generatori di energia.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Electronic Nose Sniffs Out Ovarian Cancer in Exhaled Breath
We know that exhaled breath contains biomarkers that point to presence of existing disease, including cancer, but their detection is challenging without bulky and expensive equipment. Building specialized devices that detect volatile organic compounds linked to disease requires large sensor arrays, a limitation that has made them currently impractical. Now researchers at Technion−Israel Institute of Technology and Carmel Medical Center in Haifa, Israel have developed tiny flexible sensors that are each able to replicate the work of many. In a study testing the breath of 43 volunteers that included 17 ovarian cancer patients, their sensors achieved an 82% accuracy of detection.
The sensors are flexible and are made of gold nanoparticles that have molecules onto which volatile organic compounds (VOCs) attach to. When captured, the different VOCs bend the sensors at different angles depending on their nature and provide more information than simply whether they’re there or not.
The researchers believe this technology can be applied to other cancers and different diseases, leading to cheap and easy to use diagnostic devices that require only a patient breath to work.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Magnetically Guided Material Created to Replicate Structure of Natural Teeth
The left structure is showing the natural tooth in its gypsum mold, the middle structure is the artificial tooth (sintered but not yet polymer infiltrated). The model on the right has been sintered and polymer infiltrated. It is embedded in a “puck” to enable polishing and coated with Platinum to prevent charging in the electron microscope. (Photo: Tobias Niebel/ETH Zurich)
Our teeth have an interesting internal material structure that’s similar to how seashells are built, providing them strength rarely seen in the natural world. They are built from layers of stiff micro-platelets, each layer having its own alignment and orientation. It’s this layering that gives hermit crab peace of mind and lets us enjoy beef jerky. Researchers at ETH Zurich have now mimicked this structure and created a technique for building biologically-compatible materials of extreme strength.
Their method is called “magnetically assisted slip casting” (MASC) and it involves pouring a suspension of magnetized aluminum oxide platelets into a mold. As the mold is filled layer by layer, a magnetic field is switched to point in different directions. The vector of the magnetic field aligns the platelets in one direction and it’s oriented in a different direction once a new layer is built. Once a layer cools, the platelets within maintain the orientation of the magnetic field.
The researchers produced an artificial tooth using the MASC method, resulting in a very similar material to that within natural teeth.
From ETH Zurich:
The surface of the artificial tooth is as hard and structurally complex as a real tooth enamel, while the layer beneath is tough, just like the dentine of the natural model.
The co-lead author of the study, doctoral student Hortense Le Ferrand, and her colleagues began by creating a plaster cast of a human wisdom tooth. They then filled this mould with a suspension containing aluminium oxide platelets and glass nanoparticles as mortar. Using a magnet, they aligned the platelets perpendicular to the surface of the object. Once the first layer was dry, the scientists poured a second suspension into the same mould. This suspension, however, did not contain glass particles. The aluminium oxide platelets in the second layer were aligned horizontally to the surface of the tooth using the magnet.
This double-layered structure was then ‘fired’ at 1,600 degrees to densify and harden the material: the term sintering is used for this process. Finally, the researchers filled the pores that remained after the sintering with a synthetic monomer used in dentistry, which subsequently polymerised.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Lockheed begins laser weapon manufacture
US defence giant Lockheed Martin is to begin manufacturing a new generation of high-powered laser weapons.
Lockheed’s technology is based on fibre laser beam combining – a technique in which beams from multiple fibre laser modules are combined to form a single, powerful, high quality beam.
The company recently used a prototype a 30kW laser weapon based on the technology to disable a truck, however the first weapon to roll of the production will be a more powerful 60kW system designed to be fitted to a US army vehicle.
What’s more, the company claims that is relatively simple for users to increase the power upto 120kW by adding extra modules.
Lockheed has specialised in laser weapon system development for more than 40 years making advances in precision pointing and control, line-of-sight stabilisation and adaptive optics – essential functions in harnessing and directing the power of a laser beam – and in fibre laser devices using spectral beam combining. The company has stated that it plans to develop a family of laser weapon systems with various power levels tailored to address a range of missions across sea, air and ground platforms.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Alloy Brightens Industrial Diamond Futures
Give scientists enough time, and they'll eventually develop or discover materials that surpass even the toughest and hardest materials known. That was the case recently when researchers at Sichuan University, China sought to out-perform the diamond. Industrial diamonds are great for cutting tools, except when machining certain metals at high temperatures. The team therefore created an alloy composed of diamonds and cubic boron nitride that exhibits both super hardness and chemical inertness. They tested the innovative alloy by cutting hardened steel and granite bars on a CNC lathe.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Batterie al rabarbaro per accumulare energie rinnovabili
Nuova tecnologia verde e lowcost sviluppata in Italia. Batterie al rabarbaro, lowcost e biocompatibili, per portare le rinnovabili in tutte le case e staccarle definitivamente dalla rete elettrica. Si tratta di una nuova tecnologia ideata all' Università di Harvard e sviluppata dai ricercatori dell' Università di Tor Vergata e della Fondazione Bruno Kessler di Trento per superare i limiti delle rinnovabili, ossia accumularla per poterla usare quando necessario. "Uno dei problemi delle rinnovabili é la possibilità di accumularla", ha spiegato la biologa Adele Vitale, del gruppo di sviluppo del prototipo di Green Energy Storage . "Non può essere prodotta costantemente, in caso di mancanza di vento o di sole, mentre in altri momenti invece se ne produce troppa". Per questo é necessario accumularla. La soluzione per farlo é quello di usare batterie, ma il loro limite sono i costi e soprattutto l' impatto ambientale: spesso usano al loro interno metalli tossici. La nuova tecnologia sfrutta invece una molecola prodotta dalle piante durante la fotosintesi, detta chinone, facilmente estraibile dal rabarbaro, biocompatibile e a basso costo. Il funzionamento é diverso dalle batterie ' normali', come le tradizionali stilo, in quanto l' energia viene immagazzinata chimicamente in serbatoi riempiti da una soluzione liquida ricca di elettroliti, molecole che immagazzinano cariche elettriche. "Abbiamo raggiunto un accordo con Harvard di licenza esclusiva in Europa - ha spiegato Emilio Sassone Corsi, consigliere di Green Energy Storage - e entro la metà del 2016 avremo batterie con potenza superiore al kilowatt. Puntiamo a entrare sul mercato nel 2017". Le batterie al rabarbaro avranno dei costi molto ridotti, per quelle di uso domestico di appena un terzo rispetto a quelle attualmente sul mercato, e il passo successivo sarà quelli di sviluppare batteri ancora più grandi per necessità ' industriali'.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
ornell Scientists Develop New Artificial Heart Made of Poroelastic Foam
Artificial prosthetic hearts have typically been built using conventional electromechanical components that first saw use in non-medical liquid pumping applications. While beneficial for many patients, the technology remains quite limited in practice due to a host of issues. Now engineers at Cornell University have developed a totally new technology to create pneumatic devices and used it to build a pump resembling a human heart.
Their method relies on a soft material that feels like memory foam. The stretchable material starts as liquid and is poured into a mold designed to create channels throughout that guide liquid to pass between different chambers and components. The entire device expands and contracts along with the changing pressure of the liquid passing through. It generates pressures higher than any previous soft pumps and works at frequencies close to our natural heartbeats.
Some details from Cornell:
The porous channels are made by mixing salt with the rubbery elastomer when it’s still a liquid. Once the elastomer cures and hardens, the salt is removed. To seal an organ or prosthetic so air or fluid can be pumped through it without escaping, Shepherd and colleagues coat the outside with the same polymer but without the salt.
The researchers used carbon fiber and silicone on the outside to fashion a structure that expands at different rates on the surface – to make a spherical shape into an egg shape, for example, that would hold its form when inflated.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Bandaging a Heart without Invasive Surgery
Researchers at Boston Children’s Hopsital, Wyss Institute at Harvard University, the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have put their minds together to develop a new device that can deliver and apply an adhesive patch to repair holes in the heart. The new device they may add to the cardiac surgeon’s toolbox is a catheter that uses UV light and an attached light reflecting balloon. In order to apply this bandage inside the heart without open surgery, the catheter is inserted through a vein in the groin or neck and is guided towards the wound. Once the catheter is in position, the clinician inflates two balloons that provide mechanical stability and pressure to the adhesive patch. One balloon comes out the front end of the catheter and the other is positioned on the other side of the heart wall. The patch is used, and a UV light from fiber optic cables is reflected off of the shiny metal coated interior of the balloons. The adhesive cures and the catheter is then removed.
This technology will allow surgeons and cardiologists to perform a wide variety of operations that are not just limited to the heart. The researchers, however, have identified a few limitations that this technology has before it can be translated into clinical use. First, in their study the catheter was introduced into the porcine model through an artificially created defect in the right ventricular wall, but in real clinical applications a different approach would be necessary. Secondly, the catheter is actually removed through the heart patch which leaves a residual hole. This is still just a proof of concept study, and there is still a while before this technology turns into a real product.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Drone defence system could thwart UAV terror attacks
UK engineers have unveiled technology designed to identify and disable rogue UAVs
Designed by three British firms - Blighter Surveillance Systems, Chess Dynamics and Enterprise Control Systems - the Anti-UAV Defence System (AUDS) has been developed in response to growing fears that drones could be used to mount terror attacks.
The technology could be used to thwart UAV-based terror attacks
Launched at last month’s DSEI show in London, the system is able to detect a drone five miles (8 km) away using electronic scanning radar, track it using infrared and daylight cameras and specialist software before disrupting the flight using an inhibitor to block the radio signals that control it.
Key features of the system include a quad band inhibitor which enables the AUDS operator to disrupt the different licensed telemetry bands of commercial drones no matter where in the world they are designed and licensed for use.
The technology can also be used to disrupt the global satellite (GNSS) bands that UAV’s typically require access to in order to fly in an autonomous mode.
The system also boats a so-called “optical disruptor”, which the AUDS operator can use to disrupt the automatic gain control settings in the drone’s camera system so that the drone’s pilot loses visibility. This technology can also be used to provide a very precise identification of known UAV launch activity to any ground forces.
Mark Radford, CEO of Blighter Surveillance Systems said that the launch of the system follows extensive trials carried out across Europe and North America over the spring and summer. “We have so far carried out over 150 hours of live testing in government organised trials operating against more than 200 flown sorties of group 1 UAVs. Feedback from our own team and from customers was for a greater level of modularity to speed deployment and to minimise the need for multi person set-up teams. This has now been implemented in the production version – yet another example of our team’s fleet footedness.”
Commenting on the technology’s likely application areas Graham Beall, managing director of Chess Dynamics added: “It’s expected that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) will be used increasingly for malicious purposes as they can carry cameras, weapons, toxic chemicals and explosives and are being used increasingly for terrorism, espionage and smuggling purposes. Our system has been developed to address this urgent operational requirement.”
Fracking wells linked to high-risk pregnancies
New research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has revealed that women living near fracking wells are at an increased risk of experiencing high-risk pregnancies and giving birth prematurely.
The fracking industry has grown in rapidly in the US in recent years.
The study, published in the journal Epidemiology, analysed data from 40 counties in north and central Pennsylvania, where extensive fracking has taken place over recent years. It looked at the records of 9,384 mothers who gave birth to 10,946 babies between January 2009 and January 2013, and correlated it with data on local fracking operations. Women living in the most active areas of fracking were 40 per cent more likely to give birth pre-term, and 30 per cent more likely to have their pregnancy classed as high-risk by an obstetrician.
“The growth in the fracking industry has gotten way out ahead of our ability to assess what the environmental and, just as importantly, public health impacts are,” said lead author Brian S. Schwartz, a professor in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Bloomberg School.
“More than 8,000 unconventional gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania alone and we’re allowing this while knowing almost nothing about what it can do to health. Our research adds evidence to the very few studies that have been done in showing adverse health outcomes associated with the fracking industry.”
While the study does not reveal why women near the most active wells are more likely to give birth prematurely, the researchers know that fracking activity results in increased noise, road traffic and other changes that can increase maternal stress levels. Questions have also been raised around the environmental impact of fracking, and its effects on air and water quality.
“Now that we know this is happening we’d like to figure out why,” said Schwartz. “Is it air quality? Is it the stress? They’re the two leading candidates in our minds at this point.”
“The first few studies have all shown health impacts. Policymakers need to consider findings like these in thinking about how they allow this industry to go forward.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Flexible electrodes promise more effective brain function studies
A system for implanting electrodes in the brain which do not damage the tissues they are supposed to be studying may help doctors gain better understanding of neurological diseases and disorders
Understanding the workings of the brain has been a major goal for medicine for centuries. Insights into how brains send signals between their many structures would give doctors valuable insights into the many different types of brain disorders, and allow them to form links between psychological conditions and physical processes, as well as into brain disorders like epilepsy and dementia.
The ability to implant electrodes into the brain to detect signals has allowed much data to be developed, but a new invention from Swedish researchers at Lund University could considerably enhance the capabilities of the technique. The team has developed soft electrodes that are much more compatible with living brain tissue than the stiff, inflexible electrodes that have been the only option up to now.
Brain electrodes are currently either completely rigid, or if they are flexible at all the contain solid chips which create stiff sections. When implanted into the brain — which floats in liquid inside the skull and moves around whenever the head moves and even with breathing — the electrodes rub against brain tissue and damage or even kill the adjacent cells; which are precisely the structures from which they are supposed to be gathering data. This is a particular problem for studies which take place over an extended time period.
“The signals then become misleading or completely non-existent. Our new technology enables us to implant as flexible electrodes as we want, and retain the exact shape of the electrode within the brain”, says Johan Agorelius, a doctoral student working with research directors Professor Jens Schouenborg and Lina Pettersson.
The team has developed electrodes cut by laser from a 10µm-thick sheet of gold, forming leads which are very flexible in three dimensions. They insulated the leads in parylene C, a very soft biocompatible polymer; formed the electrodes into the correct shape to monitor particular structures, then ‘locked’ this shape by encapsulating the electrode in a stiff gelatine shell.
When implanted, the shell dissolves harmlessly, leaving the biocompatible electrode free to adjust its form with brain movement and gather data without damaging the tissue.
“This technology retains the electrodes in their original form inside the brain and can monitor what happens inside virtually undisturbed and normally functioning brain tissue”, said Agorelius. “This creates entirely new conditions for our understanding of what happens inside the brain and for the development of more effective treatments for diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and chronic pain conditions than can be achieved using today’s techniques”, Schouenborg added.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
A New Spin on Data Processing
The marriage of magnetics and semiconductor materials — has been waiting in the wings to take its place among data processing technologies since it was first applied in 2007. These quantum-mechanical properties offer significant advantages over electronics, ranging from faster data handling to an 80% reduction in energy consumption. Phys.org explains how this technology works and why companies like Intel, Qualcomm, and Samsung have begun to harness spintronics and magnetic RAM to replace flash and processor cache memory. As electronics near the limits of silicon, spintronics promises to assume a greater role in delivering data processing performance gains.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Self-Powered Nanoparticles Travel Against Blood Flow to Stop Bleeding
Scientists at University of British Columbia have developed an unexpected new way of treating internal bleeding using self-propelled particles that can swim against the flow of blood. While various anti-coagulants have been developed, getting them to the bleeding locations can be very difficult.
The carbonate particles, which come in the form of a powder, release carbon dioxide once placed in an aqueous solution. They also have tranexamic acid, an antifibrinolytic agent, attached to their surface. When injected into a blood vessel, the particles bubble the carbon dioxide gas with enough force to be able to propel through oncoming blood. The particles were tested in two animal models with considerable success, including a mimic of a gunshot wound. If confirmed in clinical studies, the technology may allow injections or even spraying of the particles over wounds, letting them naturally travel deeper inside the body where they would take effect.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Optofluidic Chip Allows for Multiple Flu Virus Strain Detection
To detect specific biomarkers, the optofluidic chip relies on wavelength-division multiplexing whereby multiple wavelengths of light are combined and transmitted together. When molecules tagged with fluorescent targets are excited, they create wavelength-dependent spot patterns allowing for unique identification of the molecules.
To test the chip, three influenza subtypes were tagged with three fluorescent markers. Researchers were able to distinguish the three strains in a mixed sample. Subsequently, one of the influenza subtypes was tagged with a mix of the two other markers. Each influenza strain continued to yield unique spot patterns, indicating that wavelengths can be matched to more targets. In the real world, samples of flu strains would be tagged using fluorescently labeled antibodies before running through the chip.
Multispot excitation patterns are created in a fluidic channel filled with fluorescent liquid, showing that the entire visible spectrum is covered by independent channels (the original black-and-white images are rendered in the actual excitation colors).
Optical waveguides simultaneously transport light at different colors, forming the basis of fiber-optic telecommunication networks that shuttle data in dozens of spectrally separated channels. Here, we reimagine this wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) paradigm in a novel context––the differentiated detection and identification of single influenza viruses on a chip. We use a single multimode interference (MMI) waveguide to create wavelength-dependent spot patterns across the entire visible spectrum and enable multiplexed single biomolecule detection on an optofluidic chip.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
NASA outlines roadmap to Mars
NASA has revealed a detailed technological roadmap for future journeys to Mars, with three distinct stages or thresholds that must be crossed.
In its report, NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration, the US space agency sets out the challenges that must be overcome as humans move further from Earth. The first stage is ‘Earth Reliant’, and will be conducted primarily in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station. Astronauts will test the technologies and systems that will enable deep space missions, while monitoring the impacts on human health of long durations in space.
NASA has labelled the second stage ‘Proving Ground’. This will involve complex operations in a deep space environment, but with the ability to return to Earth in a matter of days. It will take place predominantly in cislunar space—the volume of space around the moon featuring multiple possible stable staging orbits for future deep space missions. During this stage, NASA plans to advance and validate capabilities required for humans to live and work at distances much farther away from Earth, such as Mars.
The final stage of the roadmap is ‘Earth Independent’. This will involve deep space missions to the Mars vicinity, possibly to low-Mars orbit or a Martian moon, and ultimately to the surface of Mars itself. Though the timeline doesn’t offer a projected date for the first manned missions to the red planet, benchmarks along the way – such as Orion’s first launches and the Mars 2020 mission – have been pointed to as clear waypoints.
“NASA’s strategy connects near-term activities and capability development to the journey to Mars and a future with a sustainable human presence in deep space,” said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters.
“This strategy charts a course toward horizon goals, while delivering near-term benefits, and defining a resilient architecture that can accommodate budgetary changes, political priorities, new scientific discoveries, technological breakthroughs, and evolving partnerships.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Wyss Institute Launches Newest Startup in the Battle Against Sepsis
The Wyss Institute’s at Harvard developped new therapies and techniques to battle sepsis. At first, researchers tried using a combination of a special protein stuck to magnetic particles in an artificial spleen device to remove pathogens from blood. However, using magnetic nanoparticles comes with a few complications. In order to bypass any potential problems, the scientists instead decided to design a filter using the same bacteria/toxin capturing protein to remove the pathogens.
On October 8th, the Wyss Institute revealed its newest startup called Opsonix Inc. The startup says that the $8 million in proceeds from Baxter Ventures and private investor Hansjörg Wyss will be used to further advance this therapy. Opsonix’s device uses commonly used dialysis filters and a pathogen capturing protein which are engineered alterations of opsonins found in human blood called Fc-MBL. This technology holds great potential in treating sepsis as it works well with conventional antibiotic treatments. In fact, this technique can also be used on patients who cannot be treated with normal antibiotics. For example, if the patient is infected with highly resistant bacterial strains.
Wyss Institute founding director Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D. stated:
“We are developing an entirely new approach to treat sepsis that directly and quickly eliminates the pathogens and toxins that trigger the sepsis cascade. Even more importantly, we can accomplish this without having to first identify the infectious agent”
Opsonix’s next steps are preclinical trials and we look forward to seeing this technology become ubiquitous in hospitals around the world.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Simple and Cheap Electrochemical Assay to Detect Proteins in Minutes
A quick and simple assay, developed from a collaborative effort between researchers at the universities of Montreal and Rome, could one day allow doctors, or even patients themselves, to carry out diagnosis of various diseases and obtain results within minutes –all in the comfort of their homes and offices.
The Montreal team, working with a scientist from Rome, have developed a straightforward, yet highly selective assay for rapid detection of proteins in whole blood, by taking advantage of steric hindrance effects on pairing of complementary DNA strands, as reported in the September issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
Steric effects occur when atoms in close proximity create cost in energy as a result of overlapping electron clouds, which affect reactivity of molecules. In this case, the team capitalized on the effects of steric hindrance caused by the presence of proteins (a relatively larger molecule) on the reactivity of DNA hybridization (a relatively smaller molecule), in a process known as electrochemical steric-hindrance hybridization assay (eSHHA). In the absence of proteins, binding of complementary DNA strands generates a detectable flow of electrical current. However, when proteins such as antibodies are present, steric effects reduce the signal.
Unlike current point-of-care (POC) approaches which simply indicate the presence or absence of target proteins, the signal reduction in eSHHA directly correlates with the concentration of antibodies present, thus allowing precise quantification of targets in a sample. Also, the signal reduction is proportional to the size of the target molecule. In addition, eSHHA confers the advantage of no detectable signal drift during the first few minutes of immersion in whole blood, in contrast to conventional DNA-based electrochemical assays.
In summary, eSHHA offers rapid detection of multiple target molecules in complex matrices, for example whole blood, with high specificity and sensitivity. It is the advent of this kind of rapid, cheap, and straightforward POC approaches that revolutionize diagnostic testing, by bringing such tests conveniently and immediately to patients, and hence allowing faster and more efficient clinical management.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
‘Nanohoops’ could power future devices
Researchers from the University of Oregon have been creating tiny circular structures called nanohoops that could be used in the future to power a range of devices.
The structures - known chemically as cycloparaphenylenes – had previously only been made using carbon. But in the journal ACS Central Science, it is revealed how the Oregon team has been able to create nanohoops with a variety of atoms, opening up their potential use in solar cells, organic light-emitting diodes or as new sensors or probes in medicine.
“These structures add to the toolbox and provide a new way to make organic electronic materials,” said Ramesh Jasti associate professor at the university’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and one of the paper’s lead authors.
“Cyclic compounds can behave like they are hundreds of units long, like polymers, but be only six to eight units around. We show that by adding non-carbon atoms, we are able to move the optical and electronic properties around.”
According to the researchers, nanohoops help solve challenges related to materials with controllable band gaps - the energies that lie between valance and conduction bands which are vital for designing organic semiconductors.
“If you can control the band gap, then you can control the color of light that is emitted, for example,” Jasti said. “In an electronic device, you also need to match the energy levels to the electrodes. In photovoltaics, the sunlight you want to capture has to match that gap to increase efficiency and enhance the ability to line up various components in optimal ways. These things all rely on the energy levels of the molecules. We found that the smaller we make nanohoops, the smaller the gap.”
Jasti’s early work with nanohoops was all carbon based, but the latest research combined nitrogen atoms with carbon atoms to give the structures new electronic and optical properties. While the potential of the work is significant, Jasti believes additional research needs to be completed before the full impact of these new nanohoops can be realised.
“We haven’t gotten very far into the application of this,” he said. “We’re looking at that now. What we were able to see is that we can easily manipulate the energy levels of the structure, and now we know how to exchange any atom at any position along the loop. That is the key discovery, and it could be useful for all kinds of semiconductor applications.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Open Bionics Unveils Three Prosthetic Arms to Turn Kids Into Superheroes
While they may not be able to fly, instantly freeze their enemies, or shoot lightning from their fingers, children who have missing limbs due to a birth defect or amputation are no less heroic than their fictional superhero counterparts.
To help these special children live more exciting and fulfilling lives, Open Bionics, the team behind the open source Dextrus prosthetic hand, have unveiled the world’s smallest prosthetic hand just for kids.
There are actually three hands, all equipped with colored LEDs and designed after Iron Man, Frozen‘s Queen Elsa, and a Star Wars Jedi. Open Bionics is part of Techstars’ Disney Accelerator program, which means they have royalty-free access to these three popular Disney-owned properties.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Graphene Dramatically Boosts Magnetic Sensor Sensitivity
At a recent industry conference, a researcher from a major manufacturer of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS)-based products reported successfully fabricating — in conjunction with Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research scientists — prototype graphene-based Hall-effect magnetic sensors exhibiting two orders of magnitude higher sensitivity than silicon-based equivalents. The researcher reported, however, that a lack of large-scale graphene production techniques remains a barrier to commercialization.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Montreal Scientists Developing New Tools to Better Visualize Angiographies, Preop CT Scans
Anyone but trained professionals may be surprised at how much interpretation and extrapolation needs to be done to understand what’s going on in the X-rays and angiography images. Researchers at University of Montreal’s Hospital Research Centre have developed a novel software that converts those textured, difficult to understand images into much more comprehensive color coded visualizations. The vessel walls, clot itself, and nearby calcification is shown, and there are plans to add additional parameters that can point to tissue that’s particularly strained and at risk of rupture.
The team is also working on technology to address a problem with how pre-op images are combined with fluoroscopy X-rays taken during an intravascular procedure. A problem arises when tools are introduced, but the pre-op images remain as though tools don’t affect them, often confusing the situation. By intelligently updating the pre-op images to take account of the ongoing instrumentation, the investigators hope to provide a more accurate live view of the working area.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Montreal Scientists Developing New Tools to Better Visualize Angiographies, Preop CT Scans
Anyone but trained professionals may be surprised at how much interpretation and extrapolation needs to be done to understand what’s going on in the X-rays and angiography images. Researchers at University of Montreal’s Hospital Research Centre have developed a novel software that converts those textured, difficult to understand images into much more comprehensive color coded visualizations. The vessel walls, clot itself, and nearby calcification is shown, and there are plans to add additional parameters that can point to tissue that’s particularly strained and at risk of rupture.
The team is also working on technology to address a problem with how pre-op images are combined with fluoroscopy X-rays taken during an intravascular procedure. A problem arises when tools are introduced, but the pre-op images remain as though tools don’t affect them, often confusing the situation. By intelligently updating the pre-op images to take account of the ongoing instrumentation, the investigators hope to provide a more accurate live view of the working area.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
'Tricorder' device will detect infection and immune response to it.
A portable diagnostic device could help determine the likely severity of a disease
A portable device designed to detect not only the presence of an infection but also how the patient’s immune system is responding to it, could help doctors predict the likely severity of a disease.
The point of care sensor, which is being developed by an EU-funded consortium, can detect not only invading pathogens, but also small molecules produced by the immune system in response to the disease.
This can be used to predict how the disease will evolve in a particular patient, according to Leopold Georgi at the Technische Universitat Berlin, who is coordinating the Platform for ultra-sensitive Point-of-Care diagnostics for infectious diseases (PoC-ID) project.
The human respiratory syncytial virus commonly affects young children, and can have serious consequences in severe cases
A prototype device is being developed to detect the presence of respiratory syncytial infection (RSV) in children. The RSV virus, which infects nearly all children before their third birthday, usually mildly, can occasionally lead to severe conditions such as bronchiolitis and pneumonia.
“It’s quite hard to say with RSV if it will be severe enough for the infant to be hospitalised, or if it will be just a small fever,” said Georgi. “That is why we want to measure the immune response, because our immune system has the best biosensors you can have, better than any we technologists can make, so we want to combine the sensor technology of the body with sensors to identify the pathogen itself,” he said.
Pathogens and small molecules within a patient sample are first captured by RNA oligonucleotide molecules known as aptamers.
The researchers chose aptamers rather than antibodies as they are able to capture smaller molecules, making them more suitable for identifying an immune response, said Georgi.
“They are also easier to handle during production, because antibodies typically cannot survive temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius or higher, while aptamers are much more stable, and they are also more stable against enzymes in the body.”
The aptamers are placed on top of a graphene sensor, which can detect small changes in electrical charge along its surface caused by the presence of pathogens and small molecules.
However, since graphene is a two-dimensional material that is very difficult to bind to other surfaces, a layer of carbon nanomembrane is first placed in between. This membrane, which is just two nanometres thick, sticks tightly to the graphene as a result of intermolecular forces such as van der Waals force. The aptamers are then attached to the membrane.
The technology could be used to detect a range of infectious diseases, said Georgi.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
The Engineer Q&A: Robots in the Danger Zone
OC Robotics ‘laser-snake’ snake-arm robot is designed for nuclear decommissioning
There are many places where, for a variety of reasons, humans can’t go. Some of them are iniquitous to human life, some are physically inaccessible, others would require too much cost to get people there.In many cases, the answer is often to send a robot. We’ve assembled a group of experts in developing robots to perform tasks deep under the sea; inside nuclear reactors and in high-radiation areas; in diasaster zones, in deep space and on other planets. Please use the coments facility on this article to send in your questions on how robots can be made to cope with the hazardous conditions while still carrying out the necessary tasks; how they can be controlled remotely and/or given autonomy; and what sort of challenges developers face. Please get your questions to us by 5pm on Wednesday 21st October, and we’ll publish answers to a selection of questions in our November issue and online.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Un materiale fatto al 99% di aria?
È il metallo più leggero del mondo
Lo ha sviluppato la Boeing, si chiama «micro-reticolo di metallo», è cento volte più leggero del polistirolo, è molto resistente ed è pronto per l’industrializzazione
È più leggero di una piuma. Si chiama «micro-reticolo di metallo» e il suo segreto è che è fatto al 99,9% di aria. Il nuovo materiale è stato sviluppato dalla Boeing in collaborazione con l’Università della California e il California Institute of Technology, ed esteticamente si presenta come un micro-reticolo metallico: «Una struttura 3D a cella aperta di polimero che può essere paragonata alla struttura delle ossa. La parte esterna è rigida mentre quella interna è per lo più cava», spiega Sophia Yang degli Hrl Laboraties di Malibu, l’azienda che ha collaborato con l’ateneo californiano, nel video di presentazione pubblicato sul sito di Science.
Aerei più leggeri e costruzioni più sicure
La Boeing, big dell’aerospazio da 82 miliardi di dollari di fatturato, sta investendo ingenti risorse nella ricerca di materiali che rendano i velivoli più leggeri e quindi anche più efficienti sotto il profilo dei consumi. Al momento non è chiaro quale potrà essere l’utilizzo specifico di questo metallo super-leggero, ma già c’è chi parla di alcuni elementi strutturali oppure interni, come ad esempio le batterie. Un altro esempio di impiego è legato alla sua capacità di assorbire impatti. Potenzialmente potrebbe proteggere persino un uovo dalla caduta da un palazzo e senza l’impiego di molto materiale. Quindi, potremmo vederlo far parte, in futuro, di elementi protettivi nei palazzi.
Il segreto in un tubo
«Il segreto è fabbricare un reticolo di tubi vuoti interconnessi con una spessore di parete mille volte più sottile di un capello umano», ha aggiunto alla Bbc Tobias Schaedler, che per Hrl si è occupato di curare la ricerca scientifica. Oltre alla sua bassissima densità (0,9 milligrammi per centimetro cubo), l’architettura cellulare del materiale dà luogo a comportamenti meccanici senza precedenti per un metallo, compreso il recupero completo dalla compressione superiore al 50% di deformazione e uno straordinariamente elevato assorbimento di energia. Il micro-reticolo non è in realtà una novità assoluta: infatti è stato per la prima volta progettato nel 2011 ed era già più leggero dell’aerogel di silice (1 milligrammo epr centimetro cubo). Ma questa volta c’è la volontà (e probabilmente anche i fondi) per industrializzarlo.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Siemens to work on ITER fusion heating systems
Siemens and Fusion for Energy (F4E) are collaborating on the heating systems for ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), the technology project hoping to validate fusion energy’s potential.
F4E - the EU’s branch of ITER - will partner with Siemens to develop three units of equipment that will host power supplies for the Neutral Beam Injectors (NBI), one of ITER’s heating systems. The requirements of these systems are beyond current industrial practices, as they will need to heat plasma to 150 million degrees Celsius – ten times hotter than the core of the sun.
The sun is a natural fusion reactor.
“Through this collaboration, a European global innovator will contribute to the largest international collaboration that is expected to influence the future energy mix, ” said Pietro Barabaschi, F4E acting director.
One unit will go to a research facility in Italy, where NBI components will be tested before they go into production mode. The other two units will be manufactured as part of the ITER system, designed to deliver 33 MW of power in order to inject neutral particles to the core of its super-hot plasma. The work is expected to last seven years, with an overall value of around €18 million.
According to F4E, the high voltage units act like air-insulated Faraday cages, distributed over two floors and covering a surface of 150 m2. They will contain transformers, power distribution systems, and control cubicles weighing approximately 45 tonnes. The entire box with its structure will reach 100 tonnes and will stand on tall post insulators more than 6 metres above the floor.
ITER’s total cost of construction is projected to be in the region of €13 billion. About half of the funding will come from the EU, with the remainder provided by the other six parties to the venture (China, Japan, India, the Republic of Korea, the Russian Federation and the USA).
Earlier this month, a team of researchers from the UK claimed that fusion reactors could become economically viable in the coming decades due to recent advances in superconductor technology.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Infusing Magnetism into Non-Magnetic Materials
In a world’s first, scientists have demonstrated a novel method to make magnets out of inherently non-magnetic metals. The discovery could lead to the development of new magnets for diverse applications like power generators or hard drives.
Fatma Al Ma’Mari, from the School of Physics & Astronomy at the University of Leeds, intones that the development opens new paths to devices that use abundant and hazardless elements, such as carbon and copper.
Future technologies, such as quantum computers, will require a new breed of magnets with additional properties to increase storage and processing capabilities. The new research is a step towards creating such ‘magnetic metamaterials’ that can eventually fulfil this need.
Despite their widespread use, at room temperature only three elements are ferromagnetic – iron, cobalt and nickel. The condition that determines whether a substance is ferromagnetic is called the Stoner Criterion. It explains why iron is ferromagnetic while manganese is not, even though the elements are found side-by-side in the periodic table.
It states that for an element to be ferromagnetic, when you multiply the number of different states that electrons are allowed to occupy in orbitals around the nucleus of an atom – called the Density of States (DOS) – by something called the ‘exchange interaction’, the result must be greater than one.
The new study, led by the University of Leeds, has shown how to change the exchange interaction and DOS in non-magnetic materials by removing some electrons using an interface coated with a thin layer of the carbon molecule C60, which is also called a ‘buckyball.’
The charge transfer at the interface between the two layers has changed the magnetic properties of the material so much that it became ferromagnetic and can thus be permanently magnetized.
The team used slow muons at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) in Switzerland to study the magnetic properties of the interface. Slow muons are ideal for this type of investigation because they can be placed very precisely in the vicinity of the interface area and are very sensitive to their magnetic environment.
The researchers say that the study has successfully demonstrated the technique, but that further work is needed to make these synthetic magnets stronger.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
‘Cat's-eye' camera can monitor fuel burn-up in nuclear reactors
A camera that can image the radiation emited by a nuclear reactor from outside its core has been developed by UK researchers
A portable camera based on the function of a cat’s eye, which can create images of the radiation emitted by a nuclear reactor from outside the core, has been developed by researchers in the UK.
The camera, which can image high-intensity “fast-neutrons” and gamma-rays simultaneously, could monitor the burn-up of fuel in nuclear power plants, to ensure they are operating efficiently. It could also allow clean-up crews to remotely detect the source and location of radiation within a reactor, in the event of a nuclear disaster like that at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011.
The camera, which was developed at Lancaster University by research student Jonathan Beaumont and Malcolm Joyce, a professor of nuclear engineering, was published in the journal Nature Communications.
Conventional nuclear reactor detectors, which are installed inside the core itself and are therefore subject to extremely harsh conditions, do not tend to survive for the lifetime of a power plant. But the devices can be difficult to reach in order to check or replace, according to Joyce. “You would typically have to switch off the reactor in order to gain access to the detectors,” he said.
In the event of an accident such as that at Fukushima, these detectors are likely to be destroyed completely, he said.
The cat’s eye camera, which weighs just 20 kilograms and can fit inside a suitcase, could be carried to the site and operated remotely, generating images in near real-time.
The camera, developed in collaboration with Cumbria-based nuclear technology company Createc, consists of a detector plate located behind a collimator - a type of filter - which has a slit-shaped hole similar to a cat’s pupils. This limits the amount of radiation that can hit the detector.
Without the slit collimator, radiation emitted from the reactor would hit the detector from all directions, said Joyce. “If you use a traditional collimator, which is essentially just a pipe, then it can be swamped,” he said. “It would be like looking at the sun.”
What’s more, the slit shape makes it quicker and easier to find the “sweet spot” for imaging the level and direction of radiation inside the core.
That is because conventional tube-shaped collimators must be scanned across every position along the horizontal and vertical axis in order to find the radiation source. In contrast, the slit-shaped collimator allows operators to look along a line across the core, said Joyce.
“So even if we’re not on the axis with the radiation, we can get an impression of where the optimum position on the other axis is, and then we are able to quickly move to that position,” he said.
This can be done by rotating the head of the device, meaning the camera does not need much space in which to operate, he added.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
US team creates artificial foam heart
A team of researchers from Cornell University has developed a new stretchable material that has been used to create an artificial foam heart.
The pores in the artificial heart allow liquid to pass through.
The lightweight polymer – known as “elastomer foam” - has interconnected pores that allow liquid to be pumped through it, expanding by up to 300 per cent. According to the researchers, the material has a similar consistency to memory foam, and has the potential to be used in a range of prosthetic body parts and organs.
“The heart that we’ve made is composed of a poro-elastic silicone which is a lot like a memory foam mattress in how it feels,” said Rob Shepherd, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, and senior author of the paper, published in Advanced Materials.
Source: Cornell University Media Relations
“What we can do is pattern it using additive manufacturing to make a machine that pumps like a heart. We made it quickly and easily and we can even tailor it to a patient’s particular heart.”
The polymer foam starts out as a liquid that can be poured into a mould to create shapes, or used to 3D print structures with pores. According to Shepherd, the size of the pores can be adjusted to get more or less connectivity across the material. The team chose to make a prototype heart due to its everyday familiarity, but also so its complex shape could demonstrate the capabilities of the elastomer foam.
It is hoped the elastomer foam will receive FDA approval so that it can be used inside the body.
“We decided to use a heart as an example because it’s a very complex shape, and it’s a machine that everyone’s familiar with,” said Shepherd.
“So by making a machine that looks like a heart, that pumps like a heart, we thought it would demonstrate our material’s capability the best. It turns out, people are actually interested in using it as a heart replacement, or even as an assistant machine to a heart.”
The researchers are hopeful that the material will gain FDA approval, which is required for anything used internally in the body. In the meantime, the team is focusing on biocompatibility, while also developing external body parts.
“We are currently pretty far along for making a prosthetic hand this way,” said Shepherd.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Fruit-picking robot solves automation challenge
A robot that can pick and sort random fruit and vegetables without prior knowledge of their size or location could lead to a new generation of smart industrial machines, its inventors have claimed.
Developed by engineers at UK design and development firm Cambridge Consultants, the robot is equipped with specially developed algorithms that enable its machine vision system to deal with changes in position and shape in much the same way as a human. In a demonstration the robot was able identify and pick individual items of fruit from a pile of fruit stacked randomly in a bowl. The custom-made hand then adapts to the shape of the fruit and securely grips it without damaging it. Once picked, the fruit can also be sorted by colour so that, for example, red apples can be separated from green apples.
The robot is able to grip the fruit without damaging it
According to the team behind the device, this represents a significant step forward for an industrial system. “Traditional robots struggle when it comes to adapting to deal with uncertainty,” said Chris Roberts, head of industrial robotics at Cambridge Consultants. “Our innovative blend of existing technologies and novel signal processing techniques has resulted in a radical new system design that is poised to disrupt the industry.”
“Our world-class industrial sensing and control team has combined high-powered image-processing algorithms with low-cost sensors and commodity hardware to allow ‘soft’ control of robots when the task is not rigidly defined,” added Roberts. “The system is capable of handling objects for which no detailed computer-aided design (CAD) model exists – a necessary step to using a robot with natural objects which, although they share some characteristics, are not identical.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Researchers give artificial skin sense of touch
Engineers at Stanford University in the US have developed a plastic “skin” that can detect how hard it is being pressed and then send this sensory information directly to a living brain cell.
The work, which is reported in the journal Science, was led by Zhenan Bao, a professor of chemical engineering at Stanford who has spent a decade working on the development of artificial skin. Prof Bao hopes one day to create a flexible electronic fabric embedded with sensors that could cover a prosthetic limb and replicate some of skin’s sensory functions.
The transparent plastic and black device on the golden
At the heart of the technique is a two-ply plastic construct: the top layer creates a sensing mechanism and the bottom layer acts as the circuit to transport electrical signals and translate them into biochemical stimuli compatible with nerve cells.
The top layer features a sensor that can detect pressure over the same range as human skin from a light finger tap to a firm handshake.
Bao’s team has previously demonstrated how to use plastics and rubbers as pressure sensors by measuring the natural springiness of their molecular structures. They then increased this natural pressure sensitivity by indenting a waffle pattern into the thin plastic, which further compresses the plastic’s molecular springs.
To exploit this pressure-sensing capability electronically, the team scattered billions of carbon nanotubes through the waffled plastic. Putting pressure on the plastic squeezes the nanotubes closer together and enables them to conduct electricity.
This allowed the plastic sensor to mimic human skin, which transmits pressure information as short pulses of electricity, similar to Morse code, to the brain. Increasing pressure on the waffled nanotubes squeezes them even closer together, allowing more electricity to flow through the sensor, and those varied impulses are sent as short pulses to the sensing mechanism. Remove pressure, and the flow of pulses relaxes, indicating light touch. Remove all pressure and the pulses cease entirely.
The team then hooked this pressure-sensing mechanism to the second ply of their artificial skin, a flexible electronic circuit that could carry pulses of electricity to nerve cells.
Finally the team had to prove that the electronic signal could be recognized by a biological neuron. It did this by adapting a technique called optogenetics, in which cell are engineers to make them sensitive to specific frequencies of light, then use light pulses to switch cells, or the processes being carried on inside them, on and off.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
UK graphene printing process holds promise for electronics manufacture.
A high-speed method for printing graphene inks, could lead to new ways of manufacturing printed electronics it’s UK inventor claims.
Developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge in collaboration with Cambridge-based technology company Novalia, the method allows graphene and other electrically conducting materials to be added to conventional water-based inks and printed using typical commercial equipment, the first time that graphene has been used for printing on a large-scale commercial printing press at high speed.
“There are lots of companies that have produced graphene inks, but none of them has done it on a scale close to this,” said Dr Tawfique Hasan of the Cambridge Graphene Centre (CGC), who developed the method. “Being able to produce conductive inks that could effortlessly be used for printing at a commercial scale at a very high speed will open up all kinds of different applications for graphene and other similar materials.”
“This method will allow us to put electronic systems into entirely unexpected shapes,” said Chris Jones of Novalia. “It’s an incredibly flexible enabling technology.”
The technique works by suspending tiny particles of graphene in a ‘carrier’ solvent mixture, which is added to conductive water-based ink formulations.
The ratio of the ingredients can be adjusted to control the liquid’s properties, allowing the carrier solvent to be easily mixed into a conventional conductive water-based ink to significantly reduce the resistance.
The graphene-based inks have been printed at a rate of more than 100 metres per minute, which is in line with commercial production rates for graphics printing, and far faster than earlier prototypes. The group tested the method on a typical commercial printing press, which required no modifications in order to print with the graphene ink.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Nuovo sistema ENEA per la produzione di materiali ceramici ad alto rendimento
I materiali ceramici, il cui mercato è in continua ascesa, sono largamente impiegati in applicazioni high-tech e di “eccellenza tecnologica”, come quelle aereonautiche e aereospaziali, per via delle loro ottime proprietà meccaniche (durezza, resistenza meccanica), termiche (alta conduttività termica, resistenza a shock termici) e chimiche (resistenza alla corrosione, inerzia chimica).
Il loro utilizzo include anche la produzione di abrasivi, la realizzazione di utensili meccanici, la costruzione di scambiatori di calore ad alta temperatura e la realizzazione di sistemi frenanti (pasticche e dischi dei freni). In particolare uno di essi, il carburo di silicio (SiC), è il principale ceramico non-ossidico per applicazioni commerciali.
Tuttavia, negli ultimi anni l’impiego dei ceramici ha trovato sbocco anche nei mercati di più largo consumo, in settori quali l'estrazione, la medicina, la raffineria, l'industria alimentare, l'industria chimica, la scienza dell'imballaggio, l'elettronica, l'energia elettrica industriale e di trasmissione e la trasmissione di onde luminose guidate, incentivando la ricerca di metodi di produzione sempre più efficienti ed economici.
Per il carburo di silicio, ad esempio, il metodo maggiormente impiegato è il processo Acheson che risulta altamente energivoro. Inoltre, recenti sviluppi in applicazioni tecniche mostrano un crescente interesse verso i materiali ceramici nanostrutturati (nanoparticelle) grazie ai quali i prodotti mostrano migliori prestazioni o nuove proprietà a parità o addirittura minor impiego di materiale pregiato. In quest’ottica, anche se presentano elevati costi energetici per quantità di materiale prodotto, i nuovi processi basati sulla tecnologia del plasma termico vengono sempre più considerati come possibili strade alternative ai metodi classici per produrre SiC o altri ceramici.
L’ENEA ha depositato un brevetto che propone una soluzione tecnologica per incrementare la resa dei processi basati sulla tecnologia del plasma termico utilizzando come reagenti dei precursori solidi, liquidi e/o gassosi.
Il sistema sviluppato consente di migliorare la fluidodinamica del processo e di limitare la dispersione dell’energia del sistema, aumentando la quantità di materiale prodotto a parità di energia impiegata.
L’invenzione consente, inoltre, di produrre materiale ceramico di dimensioni nanometriche a più alto valore aggiunto per applicazioni nei settori: elettronica (dispositivi ad alta potenza, alta frequenza e alte temperature), l’aerospaziale (schermatura termica), automobilistico (sistemi frenanti), il siderurgico (fabbricazione acciaio), ecc.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Can New Protein Stop AIDS Virus?
A variation of a wheat protein that currently is used to genetically modify plants might eventually become an HIV cure. Researchers engineered the protein and developed a gene-editing technique to remove the virus before it multiplies, reports MedicalXpress. To date, successful testing has been achieved in Petri dishes. In humans, the protein would adhere to the DNA laden with HIV and "edit" out the virus while leaving non-infected DNA.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Gold Nanoparticles Enhance Cancer Images
A new mammogram procedure uses gold nanoparticles that bind to microcalcifications and enhance images to more clearly show if there are early signs of breast cancer. According to the American Chemical Society, dense breast tissue typically shows up as white masses and fibers on an image and obscure potential danger signs. The gold nanoparticles make the microcalcifications brighter on the X-rays and easier to distinguish these problems.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Cibi ' a luci blu' durano di più, led aiutano conservazione
Frutta, verdure, pesce e carne durano più a lungo se illuminati da luci a led purché siano blu. A scoprire l' effetto antibatterico dei dispositivi sui principali patogeni di origine alimentare, é uno studio dell' Università nazionale di Singapore (Nus) all' interno del Programma alimentare Scienze e Tecnologie della Facoltà di Scienze, che apre nuove possibilità sui metodi di conservazione degli alimenti senza l' uso di sostanze chimiche. E quanto é più fresco l' ambiente, con temperature tra 4 e 15 C, più é efficace l' effetto dei led sui cibi acidi quali la frutta in busta di IV gamma, che possono essere conservati senza ulteriori trattamenti comunemente necessari. L' esposizione all' illuminazione a led blu, secondo i ricercatori, può provocare la morte delle cellule batteriche le quali sono dotate di determinati composti fotosensibili proprio alla luce blu. Gli studi, infatti, valutano l' effetto antibatterico dei led aggiungendo foto sensibilizzatori ai campioni degli alimenti, oppure li utilizzano ad una distanza inferiore ai 2 cm, tra la sospensione batterica e la sorgente luminosa. Sono stati messi sotto i led a luce blu tre patogeni di origine alimentare, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli e Salmonella e, variando le condizioni di pH da acide ad alcaline, ne hanno via via verificato l' inattività. Si tratta di una tecnologia che apre un capitolo importante per tutta la filiera agroalimentare, consumatori compresi, che va a toccare sia l' aspetto della sicurezza degli alimenti sia quello economico; può essere applicata agli impianti di refrigerazione e alla catena del freddo per la conservazione di tanti alimenti, ma può risultare utile anche a commercianti, punti di ristoro, supermercati e fornitori di prodotti alimentari.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New battery technology for large-scale storage
A team of researchers from Jena University in Germany has developed a safe and cost effective redox-flow battery (RFB) that they believe could transform energy storage for wind and solar farms.
RFBs were first built in the 1940s, and are considered a promising form of large-scale energy storage. Traditionally, they have been made using expensive metals and dangerous acids.
“This is not only extremely expensive, but the solution is highly corrosive, so that a specific membrane has to be used and the life-span of the battery is limited,” said Jena University’s Dr Martin Hager, one of the lead authors of a paper on the research.
The new technology, described in the journal Nature, uses organic polymers for the electrodes, with a saline solution as the electrolyte. According to the researchers, these materials are cheaper and safer than those currently in use, yet comparable in efficiency.
“What’s new and innovative about our battery is that it can be produced at much less cost, while nearly reaching the capacity of traditional metal and acid containing systems,” said Hager.
The electrodes of RFBs come in a dissolved form, stored in two tanks to form the positive and negative terminals of the battery. Using pumps, the polymer solutions are transferred to an electrochemical cell, where they are then reduced or oxidized, thereby charging or discharging the battery. The cell is divided in two by a membrane to prevent the two electrolytes from mixing.
“In these systems the amount of energy stored as well as the power rating can be individually adjusted,” said Hager. “Moreover, hardly any self-discharge occurs.”
Tests conducted so far on the team’s battery have shown that it can endure up to 10,000 charging cycles without losing a “crucial amount of capacity”, and the energy density of the system presented in the study was ten watt-hours per litre. The reserachers say the technology is ideally suited to energy storage for large wind farms and photovoltaic power stations, and they are already working on larger and more efficient systems.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Antibody-coated Reduced Graphene Oxide Films Efficiently Capture Tumor Cells
An extremely sensitive and selective method using graphene films to mimic the cell microenvironment could enhance capture of circulating tumor cells (CTCs). Reporting in the upcoming issue of Advanced Materials, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences showed that reduced graphene oxide (rGO) films, which have been coated with antibodies, can efficiently capture CTCs from whole blood samples.
CTCs are tumor cells that have detached from their primary site and travel through the blood vessels to colonize distant tissues, and represent the major culprit behind metastases. Specific isolation of these cells carries great clinical potential—as the cells hold valuable keys for decoding the biological properties of the primary tumor, and provide information on biomarkers for disease diagnosis.
Existing methods for isolating CTCs entails complex microfluidic processes, which limits further characterization of CTCs on the chip. In addition, the highly complex biological environment where cells reside represents a major challenge in designing biointerfaces for isolating CTCs. To mimic the natural microenvironments for cell-specific recognition, many factors such as surface topography, mechanical stress, matrix stiffness, and other physiochemical properties need to be considered.
The team from China found that antibody-modified rGO films with a rough surface and low stiffness could promote interaction between CTCs and biointerfaces, hence improving retention of CTCs. Furthermore, rGO with superhydrophilic (negative charge) surface repelled non-specific cell adhesion, thereby decreasing background adhesion of white blood cells in a whole blood sample. Importantly, the modified rGO films could efficiently isolate CTCs that are present in concentration as low as 10 CTCs per mL of blood sample, all without the use of a complex microfluidic approach.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Entirely Italian the first component of the EU-Japan nuclear fusion reactor
ENEA and ASG Superconductors have presented, in Genoa, the first superconducting magnet for the experimental nuclear fusion reactor JT-60SA, currently under construction in Naka, Japan, and intended to reproduce the actual reaction of stars. Building the Tokamak – the scientific name for the kind of facility that will burn the first plasma in 2019 – is part of the Broader Approach programme that Europe and Japan are carrying on to speed up nuclear fusion research. The Tokamak is a fundamental milestone in the nuclear fusion programme supporting ITER, one of the major and most complex international projects, currently being realized in Cadarache, France. Nuclear fusion research in Italy is headed by ENEA, which is one of the in the Broader Approach partners.
The event was attended by Federico Testa, Commissioner of ENEA, Davide Malacalza and Vincenzo Giori, respectively Chairman and CEO of ASG Superconductors of ASG, and Walter Tosto, Chairman of the company of the same name. 50 additional delegates from Europe and Japan took part in the Technical Coordination Meeting organized by ENEA to evaluate the current progress of the experimental reactor.
The coils made by ENEA and ASG Superconductors will be the components of the JT-60SA superconducting magnet, the fusion reactor core, so that plasma –that is the matter the sun and the stars are made of– is confined into the Tokamak, reaching a temperature of millions of degrees, which allows to replicate exactly the same energy-generating process occurring in the sun and the stars.
Italy has committed itself to contribute to implementing the bilateral agreement, by entrusting ENEA with the task of providing 9 out of the 18 coils of the superconducting magnet, containment vessels and power supply systems included. The value of this first order is over 17 million euro for ASG plus 10 million euro for the structural components made by Walter Tosto and about 12 million euro for the supply systems powering the magnets.
ENEA’s nuclear fusion expertise has been developed in its Frascati Research centre. Actually, it is a centre of excellence on fusion research, internationally acknowledged since the fifties thanks to its scientific research study on magnetic-confinement plasmas – conducted on the machines Frascati Tokamak (FT) and Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) – and to the ABC plant for the study of laser-plasma interaction, the alternative to magnetic confinement technology. What is more, ENEA’s technological development, in collaboration with industries, has generated know-how of international value in those sectors highly strategic for nuclear fusion energy.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Nanomateriali, Cnr - Normale: il fosforene anche meglio del grafene
Il fosforene, cristallo derivato dal fosforo nero, ultimo arrivato tra i materiali bidimensionali, potrebbe rivelarsi anche migliore del più noto grafene nella realizzazione di rivelatori di radiazione Terahertz. Ricercatori dell' Istituto Nanoscienze del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche (Nano-Cnr) e laboratorio Nest della Scuola Normale superiore, hanno realizzato un dispositivo, basato su multistrati di fosforene, in grado di rivelare radiazione a frequenza Terahertz a temperatura ambiente e con bassi livelli di rumore. Il risultato della ricerca, in collaborazione con Università di Montpellier, Tulane University, Università della Calabria e Università di Pisa, è pubblicato sulla rivista "Advanced Materials". "Per ottenere rivelatori di radiazione Terahertz, una tecnologia che può avere applicazioni nel campo biomedicale e farmacologico, della sicurezza (per esempio i body-scanner negli aeroporti), della rivelazione di narcotici, esplosivi e gas tossici, abbiamo sfruttato anche il più famoso grafene, detto ' materiale delle meraviglie' per le sue eccezionali proprietà", spiega Miriam Vitiello di Nano-Cnr che ha coordinato la ricerca. Ma il fosforene, cristallo bidimensionale derivato dal fosforo nero, potrebbe essere un' alternativa migliore perfino del grafene. "Il tratto peculiare del grafene è la capacità di condurre sempre elettricità, poiché essendo privo della ' banda energetica proibita' tipica dei semiconduttori, tutti i livelli di energia sono accessibili agli elettroni. Questa estrema conducibilità però diventa un limite pratico in molti dispositivi optoelettronici. Il fosforene, al contrario, ha una banda energetica proibita ben definita e può dunque condurre elettricità solo quando gli elettroni assorbono abbastanza energia attraverso calore, luce ed altri mezzi. Ciò offre un maggiore livello di controllo sul comportamento elettrico del materiale, che può essere facilmente attivato o disattivato". Il cuore del nanosensore è un fiocco di fosforo nero esfoliato spesso 10 nanometri (un nanometro è pari a un miliardesimo di metro) montato in un chip ottico di pochi centimetri. "Il sensore ha mostrato prestazioni confrontabili con le tecnologie commerciali di ultima generazione, inoltre possiede qualità ottiche e elettriche molto versatili che permettono di ottimizzare la progettazione di simili dispositivi in base alle esigenze di applicazioni mirate", conclude Vitiello, "candidandosi ad avere un impatto davvero innovativo sulla fotonica e l' elettronica".
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Laser device detects breast cancer that X-rays can miss
A hand-held scanner employing non-ionising radiation could be used to detect tumours in young women’s breast tissue with no discomfort or need for a hosiptal visit
A new optical screening device could help to detect aggressive breast cancers in younger women which conventional screening sometimes misses, while also being much less umcomfortable for the patient. Developed primarily at Florida International University, the system, which illuminates tissue with a near-infrared diode laser in a hand-held device and uses commercially-available charge-coupled devices (CCDs) as detectors, does not carry the risks of using ionising radiation, unlike X-ray mammography.
X-ray mammograms are uncomfortable, carry a small risk, cannot image the whole breast area, and sometimes miss tumours
Mammography is regarded as the gold-standard for breast cancer detection, but it has a 20 per cent false-negative rate (that is, cancer is present but undetected), this figure rises when it is used on the more dense breast tissue of younger women, in whom breast cancer tends to be more aggressive.
The Florida team developed scanning heads that adapt to the shape of the patient’s breast and use optical fibres to split the laser and direct it at different angles into various points on the breast; the transmitted light is detected by 165 detector fibres linked to the CCD. The device detects the optical absorption of the infrared radiation, which is altered by the presence of haemoglobin; abnormal blood-flow in the breast tissue can indicate the presence of a tumour, which distorts the normal circulatory structure to supply itself with oxygen. Unlike a mammogram, the device allows scanning of the chest wall region.
In a paper in the journal Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express, the team explains that the device detects tumours while the multiple laser source set-up helps to locate them accurately within the tissue. The team has also developed a version of the device which is hand-held and can image both breasts simultaneously, and which can be used in a doctor’s surgery, at the patient’s bedside or even in the home.
“The women scanned always commented on how comfortable it was to be scanned by our device - many of them said that they didn’t feel anything”, claimed researcher Sarah Erickson-Bhatt.
“Eventually, we hope that physicians will be able to use this for real-time imaging of breast tissues as part of regular visits by the patients” added her colleague Anu Godavarty. “We’re current working on the mathematical tools required to process the images and produce 3D tomographic images, in order to determine tumour size and depth.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Miniature biomed device for measuring blood levels
Scientists at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland have created a new miniature biomedical device that keeps track of five key substances in blood.
The device, which will transmit the data in real time to care providers, measures the levels of the metabolites glucose, lactate and bilirubin, as well as the ions calcium and potassium. Together, these blood indicators can help medical staff detect changes in the state of patients in intensive care units.
The device is capable of monitoring five vital substances in real-time.
“We embedded biosensors in it to measure several different substances in the blood or blood serum along with an array of electronics to transmit the results in real time to a tablet via Bluetooth,” said Dr Sandro Carrara, a scientist at EPFL’s Integrated Systems Laboratory (LSI).
“Nowadays, several of these levels are measured periodically. But in some cases, any change in level calls for an immediate response, something that is not possible with the existing systems.”
Using 3D printing, the team was able to produce a prototype that they say is no larger than a pack of chewing gum. It can be connected to a drainage tube that is already in place, and the researchers claim it is significantly less intrusive than the array of devices it is intended to replace, making it easier to deliver medical care to the patient.
The prototype has already been tested on rodents, and the team is in discussion for tests to be carried out at the University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV). It was unveiled this week at the BioCAS Conference in Atlanta, and according to Carrara has already attracted the attention of a number of manufacturers.
“We could hit the market in two to three years,” he said.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Digital Fluorescence Microscopy on The Go for White Blood Cell Differential Measurement
White blood cell counts provide an important measurement for diagnosis of various diseases, but a lab setup is typically required to prepare and visualize patient samples. Now a team from Rice University has developed a portable lightweight digital fluorescence microscope that can perform three part white blood cell differential measurements just about anywhere.
The all-plastic device that has three lenses takes a 20 microliter sample of blood mixed with acridine orange dye. The dye is able to penetrate cells and changes color when reacting with DNA and RNA molecules. This color change can be detected using the microscope. The cells show up as different color dots, allowing anyone to easily count them. It requires no adjusting by the user and can be transported easily between different facilities.
Although the current device cost around $3,000 to build, the Rice team believes that mass manufacturing will bring that closer to $600. That would make it a lot more attractive to remote clinics around the world on a tight budget looking to introduce somewhat more advanced diagnostics.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Blurred Lines Between Cobots and Robots
Industrial robots are adopting cobot traits, blurring the lines between the two. One new offering, which is a "natural contortionist," was designed for small payloads and general industry deployment. Lightweight and high-speed, this robot is not meant to be confined to a cage, as seen in this video. In another crossover, a new collaborative robot can help with heavy lifting — it is capable of handling a 35 kg (77 lb) payload, an industry first.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Why Plastic Molders Love Robots
Robots can improve productivity by as much as 30% for plastics molders. The ability to "shoot and ship," a process in which the robot removes the part from the mold and places it directly into a packing box, provides manufacturers a way to keep parts clean, which is especially important in food-grade production.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Inspirational Ants
Looking to insects for inspiration, researchers created BionicANTs, autonomous robots that can "react independently to different situations, while also functioning as part of a single networked system to accomplish a common task," like grouping together to move a large object. The robotic ants communicate and problem-solve using a distributed intelligence system. The same research group has also created robotic butterflies.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Starfish, Geckos, and Grippers
Soft silicone-rubber grippers that are shaped like starfish can handle objects with a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Pneumatic channels thread through the tentacles, which curl up when the channels inflate. Geckos also provide inspiration — the skin on their feet is made of millions of ultra-thin hairs, which hold onto surfaces using van der Waals forces, the same way clouds or liquids hold together.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Autonomy and Safety
A modern robot "is not just sensing the surroundings; it is making sense of its environment," allowing it to distinguish humans from all of the rest of the objects in its path and then act appropriately. Robots are also becoming more perceptive — interpreting human position and action vs just sensing presence to determine if the robot poses a danger. These improvements will increase the number of spaces that robots and humans share.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Microfluidic Device Measures Critical Patient Metabolites and Ions in Real Time
Researchers at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) have developed a microfluidic device that’s able to measure glucose, lactate, bilirubin, calcium, and potassium in real time directly from a drainage tube. Embedded with a Bluetooth radio, the device streams readings to a nearby tablet or smartphone for live review at any time, hopefully making regular manual draws a thing of the past.
The team EPFL team claims that the technology can measure up to 40 different molecules at the same time. If true and the technology proves itself in clinical trials, management of patients in the ICU and others bedridden in the hospital should be considerably easier on the nurses and lead to quicker reaction when levels of various substances change abruptly.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Electric compressor could double output of hydrogen fuel cells
A UK-based technology company has developed a new electric compressor design, which could double the output of a hydrogen fuel cell.
Fuel cells require a constant source of oxygen to sustain the chemical reaction that they use to release positively charged hydrogen ions. Supplying the hydrogen at high pressure is not generally a problem, but the flow of air can be a limiting factor.
“Our proprietary high speed motor and control technology allows us to deliver air at a much higher pressure [than existing systems],” said Bryn Richards, Aeristech CEO. “No other motor control arrangement is able to deliver at this pressure with such a high efficiency.”
The company has yet to release specific technical details, but the system is understood to use a sophisticated control system capable of maintaining a very consistent torque output. This allows the motor to be powered directly by the fuel cell without the use of an intermediate voltage regulator. Furthermore, Aeristech has claimed the new design could cut the mass of a complete motor, compressor and control unit package by as much as 70 per cent.
“Traditional switched reluctance type high-speed motors would be unable to operate continuously at such high continuous power levels because of thermal management issues,” said Richards. “Our competitors tend to use heavy low-speed permanent magnet motors with step-up transmissions to run their compressors, which creates a bulky system.”
In 2011 Aeristech was one of 14 uk companies funded by Innovate UK to carry out feasibility studies into the development of disruptive low-carbon vehicle technology. This contributed to the development of a 10kW compressor, which is currently undergoing testing. The results of the study are expected to be released by the end of the year.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Williams awarded Simms Medal for Formula E battery
Williams Advanced Engineering has been awarded the Simms Medal for its development of the batteries that power Formula E, the world’s first fully electric racing series.
The prize, awarded intermittently by the Royal Automobile Club’s Technical Committee, is reserved for exceptional contributions to motoring innovation. It was last awarded in 2013 to Lord Paul Drayson for setting four Electric World Land Speed Records for sub-999kg vehicles.
In 440 starts across 11 races in Formula E, the battery had just one failure.
“We are thrilled and honoured to be the recipients of the Simms Medal for 2015,” said Craig Wilson, Williams Advanced Engineering managing director.
“Our battery technology has been fundamental to the Formula E series in its inaugural season, and we are proud of how it has stood up to the test in what was a very aggressive development and testing programme.”
Williams’ battery had to be designed from scratch within a tight 12-month timeframe. Other design restrictions meant it had to fit into a strictly pre-determined safety cell, be 100 per cent consistent from one team to the next, and last a full season with no loss of power or performance. In 440 starts across 11 races, the battery had just one failure.
“The Formula E battery is a design, technological and packaging marvel, and its creator, Williams Advanced Engineering, a very worthy recipient of the Simms Medal in recognition of its contribution to motoring innovation,” said John Wood MBE, chairman of the RAC’s Technical Committee.
“Each of these batteries has enough energy to charge a smartphone every day for 13 years and holds the equivalent energy of 10,000 AA alkaline batteries. The batteries have powered a full grid of Formula E racing cars a total of some 60,000km in the first season – which is the equivalent of one and a half times around the Earth.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Pressure Sensitive Thin Film Controls Orthotic Arm for People with Essential Tremor
At Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute scientists have developed a new sensitive tactile film to use as the control mechanism for orthotic devices for people with essential tremor. The technology is called Higher Sensitivity Tactile-film System for Wearable Orthosis (HSTS), and it utilizes the thin film to detect pressure regions exerted by the arm on the orthosis. This lets the device differentiate between involuntary tremors and movements initiated by the user.
The system includes the tactile film, data acquisition computer, the software that processes the data, and the robotic orthosis that moves in response to user intentions. The film has tactile sensor arrays and has benefits over electromyography (EMG) to control an orthosis for people with tremor, since it’s not affected by skin temperature and hydration, and can tell the difference between a tremor and intended movement with relative ease.
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Easy rider: humanoid robot aims to outpace Valentino Rossi on the racetrack
Yamaha is using the 44th Tokyo Motor Show to show off Motobot, a motorcycle-riding robot that will one day match MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi for speed and skill around the racetrack.
Under the banner of ‘Beyond Human Capabilities’, Yamaha says it is using its knowledge of industrial robotics and motorcycles to develop Motobot, which will inform future autonomous systems.
According to the company’s website, mechanism improvements, algorithm enhancement through machine learning and other factors required for high-speed track riding will make other types of high-level riding possible.
Yamaha is developing a motorcycle-riding humanoid robot that will one day match MotoGP world champion Valentino The Doctor' Rossi for speed and skill around the racetrack
In the current prototype, Motobot analyses data for vehicle speed, engine rpm, and machine attitude to control its six actuators - for operating the steering, throttle, front brake, rear brake, clutch and gear pedal – when riding an unmodified R1M motorcycle.
Yamaha believe that technology for machine position recognition such as high-precision GPS plus various sensors, and machine learning will be utilised by Motobot to autonomously manoeuvre around a racetrack at the limits of the motorcycle’s performance, so that it can improve its lap times with successive laps of the track.
Project milestones for 2015 have included riding in a straight line at 100kmh, tackling a slalom course and cornering. By 2020, Yamaha expects knowledge and highly advanced fundamental technologies from Motobot to be utilised in new product developments.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Advances in lithium-air technology indicate high-capacity batteries in a decade
Electric vehicles that can drive from London to Edinburgh on a single charge could be a decade away thanks to new developments in lithium-air batteries at Cambridge University.
Scientists at the university say they have developed a working laboratory demonstrator of a lithium-air battery which has very high energy density, is more than 90% efficient, and can be recharged over 2,000 times.
Lithium-oxygen, or lithium-air, batteries are seen as the ‘ultimate’ battery due to their theoretical energy density, which is ten times that of a lithium-ion battery. Such a high energy density would be comparable to that of petrol, and would enable an electric car with a battery that is a fifth the cost and weight of those currently on the market.
Several practical challenges still need to be addressed before lithium-air batteries become a viable alternative to petrol, but the Cambridge team believes it has overcome some of them with its lab-based demonstrator.
Their demonstrator relies on a highly porous, carbon electrode made from graphene, and additives that alter the chemical reactions at work in the battery, making it more stable and more efficient. While the results, reported in Science, are promising, the researchers warn that a practical lithium-air battery still remains at least a decade away.
“What we’ve achieved is a significant advance for this technology and suggests whole new areas for research – we haven’t solved all the problems inherent to this chemistry, but our results do show routes forward towards a practical device,” said Prof Clare Grey of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry, the paper’s senior author.
According to the university, previous attempts at working demonstrators have had low efficiency, poor rate performance, unwanted chemical reactions, and can only be cycled in pure oxygen.
The team at Cambridge, including Dr Tao Liu from the Department of Chemistry, have developed a battery that uses a very different chemistry than earlier attempts at a non-aqueous lithium-air battery, relying on lithium hydroxide (LiOH) instead of lithium peroxide (Li2O2). With the addition of water and the use of lithium iodide as a ‘mediator’, their battery showed far less of the chemical reactions which can cause cells to die, making it far more stable after multiple charge and discharge cycles.
By precisely engineering the structure of the electrode, changing it to a highly porous form of graphene, adding lithium iodide, and changing the chemical makeup of the electrolyte, the researchers were able to reduce the voltage gap between charge and discharge to 0.2 volts.
The university says that a small voltage gap equals a more efficient battery – previous versions of a lithium-air battery have only managed to get the gap down to 0.5 – 1.0 volts, whereas 0.2 volts is closer to that of a Li-ion battery, and equates to an energy efficiency of 93%.
The highly porous graphene electrode also greatly increases the capacity of the demonstrator, although only at certain rates of charge and discharge. Other issues that still have to be addressed include finding a way to protect the metal electrode so that it doesn’t form dendrites. Additionally, the demonstrator can only be cycled in pure oxygen.
The technology has been patented and is being commercialised through Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation arm.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New 3D Silk-Collagen Material as Model of Brain Tissue
Neuronal compartmentalized outgrowth in the 3D brain-like tissue model. (A) Scaffold compartments: Red-cell body compartment, Blue-axonal compartment. (B) Neuronal growth pattern at day 1 upon seeding before collagen embedding. (C). Neuronal outgrowth at day 7 upon seeding in the cell body compartment. (D) Neuronal outgrowth at day 7 upon seeding in the axonal compartment. Green — βIIITubulin.
Studying the brain directly has been a challenge, so models that can replicate various aspects of the brain’s structure can be used to perform experiments. Researchers at Tufts University have developed a technique for building 3D tissue-engineered models of the brain out of collagen and silk-based material. Both white and gray matter can be replicated to be used to study the electrical activity of the brain, the way neurons structure themselves, and how cells interact.
The material is made of a porous sponge-like structure with rat brain neurons surrounded by collagen placed within the pores. The structure showed proper outward growth of neurons and healthy network formation. Perhaps this technology will allow for detailed brain studies at both small and large scales that can’t be performed on animal brains.
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New electrode improves solar’s efficiency to split water
Scientists from the Universities of Chicago and Wisconsin have developed a new type of electrode for splitting water with sunlight, harvesting the hydrogen to be used as clean fuel.
Sun-capturing electrodes are designed to absorb as much of the solar spectrum as possible to maximise efficiency. However, they also need to facilitate the easy movement of electrons. Until now, scientists have had to use separate manipulations to increase photon absorption and electron transfer.
Splitting water into hydrogen provides a means of harvesting the hydrogen for fuel.
The new electrode, described in Nature Communications, is made primarily from the semiconducting compound bismuth vanadate. When the compound was heated to 350 degrees Celsius, the researchers passed nitrogen gas over it, some of which was incorporated into the electrode. This increased the efficiency of both photon absorption and electron transport.
It was found that as well as increasing the transport of electrons by creating ‘defects’ in the bismuth vanadate, the nitrogen also lowered the energy needed to kick electrons into the state in which they were available to split water. This meant that more solar energy could be used by the electrode.
“Now we understand what’s going on at the microscopic level,” said Giulia Galli, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Institute for Molecular Engineering. “So people can use these concepts –incorporation of a new element and new defects into the material – in other systems to try to improve their efficiency. These are very general concepts that could also be applied to other materials.”
Splitting water into its constituent elements has long been touted as a potential source of clean and sustainable energy, with the hydrogen siphoned off to be used as fuel. The researchers hope that their work on the new electrode may act as a building block for other scientists working in the same area.
“Our study will encourage researchers in the field to develop ways to improve multiple processes using a single treatment,” said Kyoung-Shin Choi, a professor of chemistry at the University of Wisconsin. “So it’s not just about achieving higher efficiency, it’s about providing a strategy for the field.”
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Terahertz Could Replace Cellular
Researchers at Brown University have developed a system for multiplexing terahertz waves, which could result in data delivery rates up to 100 times faster than current cellular wireless technology. Multiplexing separates data streams traveling through a single medium, such as a TV cable. The new multiplexing system uses a "leaky wave antenna" that features two metal plates placed in parallel to form a waveguide. One plate has a small slit Terahertz waves travel down the waveguide, and radiation leaks out of the slit at various angles. A receiver picks up an individual data stream by accepting radiation at a specific angle.
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Doped graphene used for ultrasensitive gas sensors
An international team of researchers has used boron-doped graphene to create ultrasensitive gas sensors that can detect noxious gas molecules in extremely low concentrations.
Graphene on its own is a highly sensitive gas sensor. When infused with boron atoms, the resulting sensors were able to detect ammonia molecules in parts per million, and nitrogen oxides in parts per billion. Compared to pure graphene, this equates to a 27 times greater sensitivity to nitrogen oxides and 10,000 times greater sensitivity to ammonia. The work, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could pave the way for sensors for a range of other materials, say the researchers.
“This is a project that we have been pursuing for the past four years, ” said Mauricio Terrones, professor of physics, chemistry and materials science at Pennsylvania State University.
“We were previously able to dope graphene with atoms of nitrogen, but boron proved to be much more difficult. Once we were able to synthesise what we believed to be boron graphene, we collaborated with experts in the United States and around the world to confirm our research and test the properties of our material.”
The project included international collaboration with Konstantin Novoselov’s lab at Manchester University, where the transport mechanism of the sensors was studied. Novoselov was a joint recipient of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on graphene, and is one of the director’s of the National Graphene Institute in Manchester. Collaborators from Belgium, China, Japan, and the Honda Research Institute in Columbus, Ohio also contributed to the project.
“This multidisciplinary research paves a new avenue for further exploration of ultrasensitive gas sensors,” said Avetik Harutyunyan, chief scientist and project leader at the Honda Research Institute.
“We believe that further development of this technology may break the parts per quadrillion level of detection limit, which is up to six orders of magnitude better sensitivity than current…sensors.”
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Single Injectable Agent Spots Tumors and Destroys Them
At Oregon State University scientists are using silicon naphthalocyanine as both an imaging and cancer destruction agent, allowing for a single compound to be used to quickly find and target tumor tissue. Reporting at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in Orlando, Florida, the team presented pre-clinical findings of how silicon naphthalocyanine was used to destroy ovarian tumors in laboratory animals, seemingly without side effects and without the cancer returning.
Silicon naphthalocyanine glows when illuminated with near infrared light, while heating up and creating reactive oxygen species. It’s delivered inside the copolymer PEG-PCL that gathers around cancer cells, pointing to the location of the tumors. Once settled, therapy can begin by administering near infrared light to the areas where the tumors are. The particles eventually breakdown and are excreted by the body.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Single Injectable Agent Spots Tumors and Destroys Them
At Oregon State University scientists are using silicon naphthalocyanine as both an imaging and cancer destruction agent, allowing for a single compound to be used to quickly find and target tumor tissue. Reporting at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists in Orlando, Florida, the team presented pre-clinical findings of how silicon naphthalocyanine was used to destroy ovarian tumors in laboratory animals, seemingly without side effects and without the cancer returning.
Silicon naphthalocyanine glows when illuminated with near infrared light, while heating up and creating reactive oxygen species. It’s delivered inside the copolymer PEG-PCL that gathers around cancer cells, pointing to the location of the tumors. Once settled, therapy can begin by administering near infrared light to the areas where the tumors are. The particles eventually breakdown and are excreted by the body.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
New Imaging Technique Measures Chemical Composition of Cells in Living Tissue
At Purdue University scientists have developed a new imaging technique that is able to evaluate the chemical composition of tissues in vivo, something that has previously been possible only with samples in a Petri dish. Laboratory approaches have involved spectroscopy, but living tissue scatters light too drastically to make any sense of it. The new imaging technique sends out individual photons at the target tissue, each uniquely energized at a specific frequency. A single photodiode detector is then used to capture the returning signal which holds information about the tissue it’s coming from.
The spectrometer-free vibrational imaging by retrieving stimulated Raman signal, as the technique is called, was used to study vitamin E composition within the skin of laboratory mice, as well as analyze breast cancer tissue in-situ.
From the study in Science Advances:
Compared to the spectrometer setting, our method improved the photon collection efficiency by two orders of magnitude for highly scattering specimens.
he reported work opens new opportunities for spectroscopic imaging in a surgical room and for development of deep-tissue Raman spectroscopy toward molecular level diagnosis.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
First Clinical Single Molecule Genome Sequencer Unveiled
According to claims by Direct Genomics, a Chinese firm, it is introducing the first single molecule DNA sequencer for clinical use that does not require any amplification of the sample. The DNA or RNA molecules are read directly without first having to make a large number of copies.
The Single Molecule Targeted Sequencing (SMTS) technology within the GenoCare Analyzer uses total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy and single molecule fluorescent dyes to spot just the nucleic acid molecule.
The firm conducted initial testing of the instrument, releasing data from a prototype that showed sequencing accuracy of EGFR, KRAS, and BRAF genes to be 95% on average at 1X coverage and approaching 100% at 5X coverage.
The technology will see first use at three Chinese hospitals where it will be used to assess viral DNA in treating Hepatitis B patients and to spot circulating tumor DNA in oncology studies.
More about the technology according to Direct Genomics:
Direct Genomics’ GenoCare analyzer reads a patient’s original DNA molecules by a sequencing-by-synthesis methodology called single molecule targeted sequencing (SMTS). Single molecule sensitivity is achieved through total internal reflectance fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy, in which a precisely angled laser generates a fast-decaying, evanescent wave. This wave concentrates illumination to a patient’s DNA molecules, preventing illumination of unwanted contaminants that would otherwise obscure the faint signal from a single strand of DNA. SMTS also minimizes costs by sequencing solely the regions of a patient’s genome of clinical relevance, such as selected cancer genes known to influence resistance or susceptibility to therapeutics. The GenoCare™ sample preparation protocol requires only a single step, fragmenting the DNA, which further minimizes costs, labor, and the time to result. In the case of FFPE material, sonication may not even be needed.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Silicone Blood Vessel Constructs for Growing New Body Tissues
One of the biggest challenges of growing replacement tissues for therapeutic uses is getting blood vessels to properly form throughout a construct so that all the cells are perfused and oxygenated. Researchers from Rice University and University of Pennsylvania are overcoming this challenge by building blood vessel constructs that can interface with natural blood vessels and be used as implants to grow new tissues.
The constructs are made of silicone, and sugar is used to first create a lattice that serves as a mold for the final product. Once the silicone is poured over the sugar and allowed to cool and harden, the sugar is dissolved leaving behind tiny vessels. The researchers created one design that has 1 millimeter wide inlets and outlets with 600 to 800 micron branches connecting two larger vessels. They connected the device to an artery in a small animal and showed it passed blood through for at least three hours without any problems.
This is just a proof-of-concept study, but it’s may be an important piece in the puzzle of how to grow real functional tissues and organs.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Nasal Mucosa Graft to Deliver Drugs Through Blood-Brain Barrier
As is well known, the blood-brain barrier is a strict checkpoint that prevents variety of drugs from reaching the brain. At the Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School and Boston University researchers have developed a technique that enabled them to deliver glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a large protein being tested for treatment of Parkinson’s disease, into the brains of mice. Currently GDNF is delivered by direct injection into the brain, a dangerous procedure that often leads to complications. The new technique relies on nasal mucosal grafting that is normally performed after minimally invasive brain tumor procedures to close the access route.
Nasal mucosa is considerably more lenient in letting molecules through than the blood-brain barrier, and so can act as a secret passage for drug delivery. When the researchers used this access point to deliver GDNF, they showed that the protein had an equivalent effect when compared to being delivered by a direct injection.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Ecco la pianta magica, modello per coltivazioni nello Spazio
L' hanno chiamata "magic plant" e promette di rivoluzionare l' agronomia spaziale. E' una specie di tabacco australiana che si è rivelata essere un ottimo organismo modello: studiandone la genetica si potrà presto arrivare a coltivare con successo vegetali nello spazio. Pitjuri, questo il nome della pianta magica, è divenuta in questo senso la cavia perfetta dei ricercatori della Queensland University of Technology (QUT). Questa pianta di tabacco, nativa australiana, come ricorda Media Inaf, il notiziario online dell' Istituto nazionale di astrofisica, è peraltro da anni utilizzata in genetica come organismo modello per testare il comportamento di virus e vaccini. Dalla sua mappatura genica adesso potrebbe dipendere il futuro dell' agronomia nello spazio. "Con il sequenziamento del genoma, siamo stati in grado di ricostruire la storia di questo organismo modello, andando indietro fino al 1939, quando uno scienziato australiano ha inviato per la prima volta i semi del vegetale a un collega americano - spiega il professor Peter Waterhous della QUT -. Da allora la Nicotiana benthamiana, il suo nome scientifico, ha fatto il giro del mondo. Ma la sua storia è anche più lunga: parliamo di una specie che abita il nostro Pianeta da circa 750mila anni". L' obiettivo è ambizioso: ottenere organismi che germinino e crescano rapidamente, con un tempo di fioritura ridotto, e che soprattutto abbiano bisogno di poca acqua. Come nella nuova pellicola di Ridley Scott The Martian, la coltivazione di piante e ortaggi su Marte potrebbe dunque rivelarsi più fattibile di quanto pensiamo. Ancora di più nello spazio, dove è più semplice immaginare un ambiente sterile per la coltivazione di esemplari privi di sistema immunitario e che quindi possono massimizzare le loro energie su crescita e sviluppo. In pratica, andando a privare un esemplare del sistema immunitario, si creano le condizioni per accelerare crescita e riproduzione via biotech. Interessanti, come sempre, anche le ricadute a Terra della ricerca. "Così come in medicina le cavie prive di sistema immunitario si rivelano organismi modello per lo studio di cancro e malattie, allo stesso modo una pianta "nuda" può accelerare le ricerche in agronomia", conclude Waterhouse.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Prototype Device Spots Early Signs of Arthritic Inflammation with a Scan of a Finger
At the MEDICA conference in Dusseldorf, Germany later this month researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering will be showing off a prototype finger scanner designed to help diagnose arthritis. The device uses two methods. It first pulses laser light of varying wavelengths at the finger and records the returning sound waves generated from tissue expansion, pointing to sites of inflammation, a technique known as optoacoustic imaging. And it also performs hyperspectral imaging, which shines light at full spectrum at the finger, detecting which wavelengths are absorbed, correlating that to known absorption spectra of inflammation.
Since optoacoustic imaging is a cousin of ultrasound, the system also naturally produces a 3D ultrasound scan of the finger. The combined imaging modalities provide an anatomical view of the finger overlaid with any suspected sites of inflammation.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Bone Drill with Ability to Turn for Inner Ear Tumor Removals
Accessing tumors within the inner ear typically requires the removal of large sections of the mastoid bone to make sure fragile nearby vessels and nerves are not damaged. A team of German researchers has developed a “Non-linear Drilling Robot” that can go through bone while taking turns, kind of like how directional drilling for shale gas and oil is now done. The NiLiBoRo device creates a 5mm hole that provides enough space to introduce instruments into the inner ear.
It’s made of two sections that have an according-like connection and hydraulic liquid lines are used to flex the drill in order to change direction. Kind of like a caterpillar, the device slowly advances forward while drilling its way ahead. Its exact position is tracked using an electromagnetic system which in the future can be tied to safety mechanisms that make sure the instrument doesn’t go pre-programmed parameters and hurt a patient.
Since there are up to 12 hydraulic lines that have been used in the prototypes, the device can have quite a bit of precision of movement that allows it to avoid very small anatomical structures.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
German researchers build robotic ear worm
Researchers in Germany have developed a worm-like surgical robot that they claim could revolutionise the treatment of inner ear tumours.
Removing tumours from within the inner ear is a delicate process that typically requires the removal of the entire mastoid bone, the sponge like bone-structure which surrounds the inner and middle ear.
However, the creators of the tiny NiLiBoRo device (Non-linear Drilling Robot) claim their system, which is able to steer its way around sensitive tissues whilst it cuts a 5mm tunnel through the bone, could make the process far less invasive.
The system is being developed by researchers in the Mannheim Project Group for Automation in Medicine and Biotechnology, part of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology and Automation IPA, in cooperation with the Technical University of Darmstadt, the University of Aachen, and the Düsseldorf University Clinic.
According to project group scientist Lennart Karstensen, whilst drilling machines capable of boring a tunnel through bone already exist, NiLiBoRo is the first one that can drill around corners as well.
Karstensen explained that the worm consists of a ‘head’ and a ‘tail’ section which are connected together by a flexible bellows mechanism, rather like an articulated passenger bus.
As it drills through the bone, a series of hydraulic lines enable the robot crawl forward in the right direction by first pumping hydraulic fluid into three bladders found in the rear section of the robot.
The bladders fill in the empty space between the worm and the bone and fix the rear section of the robot in place. The hydraulic fluid then travels into the bellows, causing the “accordion” to expand and pushing the head forward.
The worm stretches and presses its front section further into the bone and the drill attached to the head bores deeper inward.
Next, the bladders in the front section are pumped full of fluid to hold the front in place while the fluid in the rear bladders is evacuated. The rear section then retracts towards the head in a motion similar to that of a real worm.
As the robot drills its way forward, its path is precisely monitored by an electromagnetic tracking system, and its direction of travel is controlled by adjusting the bladders in the front section. “For instance, if we wanted to move left then we fill the left bladder with less fluid than the right, which will cause the robot to veer to the left,” explained Karstensen.
The team has already constructed an initial prototype, which is five times larger than the planned final version. They hope to have a miniature robot ready for testing by physicians in two years.
DA DR. COTELLESSA
Brain’s Crossmodal Mappings Used to Let Blind People See With Sound
At Caltech researchers are studying how the brain can quickly adapt to use one sense instead of another, hopefully allowing this knowledge to translate into technology to allow blind people to see with their ears. In particular, the investigators are encoding the visual scene captured by a camera on a user’s glasses into an audio representation that uses stereo, loudness, and various frequencies to intuitively describe what things look like.
So far the technology is being applied to describe simple patterns, but that is to build a foundation for a more complicated system.
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