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Creating Next-generation Inks that Never Fade

face_with_colon_three circa 2021.


Most of the colors we see around us are produced by the reflection of light from pigments. Yet there is another type of color called “structural color,” produced when light is reflected off the special microstructure of a surface. Structural color is what makes the surface of soap bubbles iridescent and the body of a jewel beetle appear to glitter. While pigmented colors have the disadvantage of fading due to ultraviolet rays, structural colors retain their appearance as long as the microstructure remains intact. Associate Professor Michinari Kohri of Chiba University is working to artificially reproduce these structural colors. Taking a hint from the structural colors of peacock and turkey feathers, he has succeeded in reproducing the microstructure that gives rise to the colors and is now working on the development of special ink that will not fade.

Rare diamond 410 miles below Earth’s surface reveals evidence of water

Scientists might have just discovered a pinch of ocean inside the Earth.

A rare diamond found in the mines of Botswana has provided more details about the region between the Earth’s upper and lower mantle. Also called the transition zone or the 660 km discontinuity, the region is likely to be rich in water, according to a recent study.

Finding large amounts of water underground on a planet whose 71 percent surface is water may not sound like a big revelation. Yet it is. Liquid water on the Earth’s surface may seem like a lot but it is merely a puddle when compared to the water content under the crust.

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Bill Gates’ and Samsung’s prototype toilet can turn your poop into ashes

The technology is part of a challenge launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Samsung has engineered a safe and efficient toilet that turns your excrement into ashes, according to a press release published last month by the firm.

The prototype is part of the Reinvent the Toilet Challenge, an initiative launched by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2011.


Samsung in cooperation with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has developed a new toilet that offers a safe and efficient way of dealing with poop. This could be a game changer in developing nations that suffer from sanitation problems.