Lifeboat Foundation: Safeguarding Humanity
Toggle light / dark theme

Blog

Category: engineering – Page 98

Integrated photonic circuits could help close the ‘terahertz gap’

EPFL researchers have collaborated with colleagues at Harvard and ETH Zurich on a new thin-film circuit that, when connected to a laser beam, produces finely tailorable terahertz-frequency waves. The device opens up a world of potential applications in optics and telecommunications.

Researchers led by Cristina Benea-Chelmus in the Laboratory of Hybrid Photonics (HYLAB) in EPFL’s School of Engineering have taken a big step toward successfully exploiting the so-called terahertz gap, which lies between about 300 to 30,000 gigahertz (0.3 to 30 THz) on the electromagnetic spectrum. This range is currently something of a technological dead zone, describing frequencies that are too fast for today’s electronics and telecommunications devices, but too slow for optics and imaging applications.

Now, thanks to an extremely thin chip with an integrated photonic circuit made of , the HYLAB researchers and colleagues at ETH Zurich and Harvard University have succeeded not just in producing terahertz waves, but in engineering a solution for custom-tailoring their frequency, wavelength, amplitude, and phase.

Researchers will shoot a projectile at 9,000 miles an hour for science

The study is being funded by the U.S. Army and Air Force.

Researchers at the Case Western Reserve University in the U.S. are currently working toward an experiment that will record something that has never been captured at such a resolution before; the moment of impact when a projectile traveling at 9,000 miles (14,484 km) an hour hits a wall of water, a press release said.

Research of this nature has been done earlier, but that was nearly eight decades ago. Back in the 1940s, the U.S. military conducted such studies to gauge the impact of shockwaves from underwater explosions on boats and submarines.

The Daily.

Bryan Schmidt, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Case Western Reserve University, expects that the upcoming experiments will be twice as fast as what has previously been studied, and the recording equipment is far superior now.

Meals on Mars to be made from plastic waste, says NASA-affiliated 3D food tech expert

At CES 2023, IE discovered a cutting-edge bioreactor for the future of in-space dining.

The days of tang and freeze-dried ice cream are far gone in the world of space technology. To find ways to grow food in space, organizations, including NASA, JAXA, and the European Space Agency, are collaborating with the food business.

Interesting Engineering (IE) learned from a panel of experts at the Consumer’s Electronic Show (CES) 2023 (Jan .05) the kind of solutions being developed to provide humans food during extended space flight-and eventually, habitation. One particular solution that stood out, turns plastic into consumable food. Yup, you read that right. Engineering (IE) learned from a panel of experts at the Consumer’s Electronic Show (CES) 2023 (Jan .05) the kind of solutions being developed to provide humans food during extended space flight-and eventually, habitation. One particular solution that stood out, turns plastic into consumable food. Yup, you read that right.

Investigating the intestinal transport of mercury ions with a gut-on-a-chip device

The transport of mercury ions across intestinal epithelial cells can be studied for toxicology assessments by using animal models and static cell cultures. However, the concepts do not reliably replicate conditions of the human gut microenvironment to monitor in situ cell physiology. As a result, the mechanism of mercury transport in the human intestine is still unknown.

In a new report now published in Nature Microsystems and Nanoengineering, Li Wang and a research team in and in China developed a gut-on-a-chip instrument integrated with transepithelial electrical resistance (TEER) sensors and electrochemical sensors.

They proposed to explore the dynamic concept to simulate the physical intestinal barrier and mirror biological transport and adsorption mechanisms of mercury ions. The scientists recreated the cellular microenvironment by applying fluid shear stress and cyclic mechanical strain.

Nanoplastics unexpectedly produce reactive oxidizing species when exposed to light

Plastics are ubiquitous in our society, found in packaging and bottles as well as making up more than 18% of solid waste in landfills. Many of these plastics also make their way into the oceans, where they take up to hundreds of years to break down into pieces that can harm wildlife and the aquatic ecosystem.

A team of researchers, led by Young-Shin Jun, Professor of Energy, Environmental & Chemical Engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, analyzed how light breaks down polystyrene, a nonbiodegradable plastic from which packing peanuts, DVD cases and disposable utensils are made. In addition, they found that nanoplastic particles can play active roles in environmental systems. In particular, when exposed to light, the nanoplastics derived from polystyrene unexpectedly facilitated the oxidation of aqueous ions and the formation of manganese oxide solids that can affect the fate and transport of organic contaminants in natural and engineering water systems.

The research, published in ACS Nano on Dec. 27, 2022, showed how the photochemical reaction of nanoplastics through light absorption generates peroxyl and superoxide radicals on surfaces, and initiates oxidation of manganese into manganese oxide solids.

99% Efficiency: Princeton Engineers Have Developed a New Way To Remove Microplastics From Water

Princeton Engineering researchers have developed a cost-effective way to use breakfast foods to create a material that can remove salt and microplastics from seawater.

The researchers used egg whites to create an aerogel, a versatile material known for its light weight and porosity. It has a range of uses, including water filtration, energy storage, and sound and thermal insulation. Craig Arnold, the Susan Dod Brown Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and vice dean of innovation at Princeton, leads a lab that focuses on creating new materials, including aerogels, for engineering purposes.

One day, sitting in a faculty meeting, he had an idea.

Controlled, localized delivery of blood thinner may improve blood clot treatment

Heparin has long been used as a blood thinner, or anticoagulant, for patients with blood clotting disorders or after surgery to prevent complications. But the medication remains difficult to dose correctly, potentially leading to overdosing or underdosing.

A team of Penn State researchers combined with a , peptide, to slow down the release of the drug and convey the directly to the site of a clot. They published their findings in the journal Small.

“We wanted to develop a material that can gradually deliver heparin over time rather than the current iteration that gets cleared from the body in a couple of hours,” said corresponding author Scott Medina, Penn State associate professor of biomedical engineering. “We also wanted to deliver the drug through the skin instead of through an IV.”

10 Astroengineering Projects We May Some Day Try

An exploration of Ten astro engineering projects we may some day try, or that someone else in the universe may already have built.

https://www.patreon.com/johnmichaelgodier.

My talk show channel:

https://www.youtube.com/eventhorizonshow.

Music:

Cylinder Eight by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.…

Continue reading “10 Astroengineering Projects We May Some Day Try” | >

5 Budding Engineers Create Submersible Submarine-Cleaning Drone in Just 6 Weeks

“Five strangers were pulled together” in an engineering challenge to find a solution to a real-world problem.

Engineering researchers of an innovative academy program have designed a Submersible Remotely Operated Vehicle (SROV) in a span of six weeks after accepting the U.K. Navy’s challenge.

“I was skeptical at first that we could pull off such an ambitious project within the timeframe,” said Dylan Brennan, project team lead, a nuclear graduate working for Jacobs.

Co.lab.engineering.

The five young engineers, who were part of the first cohort of the newly launched Co-Lab Engineering Academy, presented a concept design of their “ScrubMarine,” a submersible cleaning drone.

The Future of Earthquake-Proof Buildings

Earthquakes are almost impossible to predict. Luckily, engineers have come up with some amazing ways to protect people the next time one might strike.

SciShow is supported by Brilliant.org. Go to https://Brilliant.org/SciShow to get 20% off of an annual Premium subscription.

#science #earthquake #engineering #STEM

Hosted by: Olivia Gordon.

SciShow has a spinoff podcast! It’s called SciShow Tangents. Check it out at http://www.scishowtangents.org.
———
Support SciShow by becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/scishow.
———
Huge thanks go to the following Patreon supporters for helping us keep SciShow free for everyone forever:

Adam Brainard, Greg, Alex Hackman, Sam Lutfi, D.A. Noe, الخليفي سلطان, Piya Shedden, KatieMarie Magnone, Scott Satovsky Jr, Charles Southerland, Patrick D. Ashmore, charles george, Kevin Bealer, Chris Peters.

Continue reading “The Future of Earthquake-Proof Buildings” | >