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Category: engineering – Page 202

Lightning bolt underwater

Electrochemical cells help recycle CO2. However, the catalytic surfaces get worn down in the process. Researchers at the Collaborative Research Centre 1316 “Transient atmospheric plasmas: from plasmas to liquids to solids” at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) are exploring how they might be regenerated at the push of a button using extreme plasmas in water. In a first, they deployed optical spectroscopy and modelling to analyse such underwater plasmas in detail, which exist only for a few nanoseconds, and to theoretically describe the conditions during plasma ignition. They published their report in the journal Plasma Sources Science and Technology on 4 June 2019.

Plasmas are ionised gases: they are formed when a gas is energised that then contains free electrons. In nature, plasmas occur inside stars or take the shape of polar lights on Earth. In engineering, plasmas are utilised for example to generate light in fluorescent lamps, or to manufacture new materials in the field of microelectronics. “Typically, plasmas are generated in the gas phase, for example in the air or in noble gases,” explains Katharina Grosse from the Institute for Experimental Physics II at RUB.

Reverse Engineering the Universe

Essentially if you can enginneer a planet to a galaxy you could eventually get to a universe level of enginneering which may be needed if the universe keeps expanding. You could control the great forces of the universe to keep it stable so that it will not die out or collapse into a singularity. They say many things that gravity in the begginning kept the universe stable with dark matter that keeps things expanding other claims say that basically the universe could colapse into a single point that our universe may be a jet of another universe. Others say we live in essentially a bubble surrounded by other universes. I think though if we can reverse engineer a universe we can control our own. This would prevent our own universe from dying out or even the sun from dying out. There have been minor experiments of small universes made in the lab this could explain our own universe. But essentially we could have a perfect universe where nothing dies out or collapses into a single point in theory. Essentially an artificial universe where all the forces are controlled.

Supercomputers aid in novel simulations of gamma ray generation research

While intense magnetic fields are naturally generated by neutron stars, researchers have been striving to achieve similar results for many years. UC San Diego mechanical and aerospace engineering graduate student Tao Wang recently demonstrated how an extremely strong magnetic field, similar to that on the surface of a neutron star, can be not only generated but also detected using an X-ray laser inside a solid material.

Wang carried out his research with the help of simulations conducted on the Comet supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) as well as Stampede and Stampede2 at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). All resources are part of a National Science Foundation program called the Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE).

“Wang’s findings were critical to our recently published study’s overall goal of developing a fundamental understanding of how multiple laser beams of extreme intensity interact with matter,” said Alex Arefiev, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering.

Mind Over Matter: Cognitive Neuroengineering

I had a little more invested in BCI.

Brain-machine interface—once the stuff of science fiction novels—is coming to a computer near you. The only question is: How soon? While the technology is in its infancy, it is already helping people with spinal cord injuries. Our authors examine its potential to be the ultimate game changer for any number of neurodegenerative diseases, as well as behavior, learning, and memory.

Scientists create innovative new ‘green’ concrete using graphene

A new greener, stronger and more durable concrete that is made using the wonder-material graphene could revolutionise the construction industry.

Experts from the University of Exeter have developed a pioneering that uses nanoengineering technology to incorporate graphene into traditional concrete production.

The new composite material, which is more than twice as strong and four times more water resistant than existing concretes, can be used directly by the industry on building sites. All of the concrete samples tested are according to British and European standards for construction.

Asteroid mining not a million miles away

Work by a team of University of Adelaide scientists to perfect metal and mineral extraction processes is bringing the possibility of mining the wealth contained within asteroids closer to reality. But science fiction won’t become fact until asteroid mining becomes economically as well as technically viable.

“Asteroids such as Bennu are closer to us than Adelaide is to Alice Springs, about 1000 kilometres away in Earth’s near orbit,” says Professor Volker Hessel, Deputy Dean-Research from the University of Adelaide’s Faculty of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences (ECMS) and Professor in the School of Chemical Engineering.

“Advances in space exploration mean that these bodies which contain nickel, cobalt, and platinum as well as water and organic matter, are now within reach.”

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