Lifeboat Foundation

There are many people who could use a bit of help moving their limbs, but they don’t necessarily need a full-on exoskeleton. Well, imagine if their clothes could provide that help. Such a thing may one day be possible, thanks to the recent creation of “textile muscles.”

In a study conducted at Sweden’s Linköping University and University of Borås, scientists coated mass-producible cellulose yarn with a flexible electroactive polymer known as polypyrrole.

When a low voltage is applied to the polymer, it increases in volume, causing the yarn fibers to increase in length accordingly – when the electrical current is switched off, the fibers retract back to their original length. By varying the manner in which those fibers are woven together, it’s possible to tune the force of the material toward different tasks.

Nearly a century after it was theorized, Harvard scientists have succeeded in creating metallic hydrogen. In addition to helping scientists answer fundamental questions about the nature of matter, the material is theorized to have a wide range of applications, ranging from room-temperature superconductors to powerful rocket propellant.

Researchers at EPFL’s Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fibre Devices, which is run by Fabien Sorin, have come up with a simple and innovative technique for drawing or imprinting complex, nanometric patterns on hollow polymer fibers. Their work has been published in Advanced Functional Materials.

The potential applications of this breakthrough are numerous. The imprinted designs could be used to impart certain optical effects on a fiber or make it water-resistant. They could also guide stem–cell growth in textured fiber channels or be used to break down the fiber at a specific location and point in time in order to release drugs as part of a smart bandage.

Since our launch in 2016, Vector has focused on connecting space startups and innovators with affordable and reliable space by dramatically increasing access and speed to orbit. And as a result, Vector is reshaping the multi-billion launch market. Building on over 10 years of research to develop the Vector-R launch vehicle, Vector is truly at the forefront of innovation and revolutionizing the next generation of rocket launches. George Washington University has developed ground-breaking plasma steering thrusters which will help put Vector ahead in the great “New Space” race. Our collaboration with George Washington University will help us move closer to achieving our long-term vision of furthering the technological achievements for our industry.

Through this agreement, Vector will license the plasma thruster technology created by the School of Engineering and Applied Science at George Washington University for the Vector-R launch vehicle. The technology will allow us to propel miniature satellites, which are significantly less expensive and made from common materials, and control them while in space. As part of the collaboration, Vector will develop the thruster for commercial space use, and the University will continue to develop the next generation of the technology.

Small spacecraft and satellites are extreme ly difficult to maneuver and control once in space, and George Washington University’s plasma thruster technology helps us manage this problem. The thrusters use titanium as a propellant, which is converted into a gas-like plasma to provide propulsion. The plasma then accelerates and expands into a vacuum at high velocities to produce thrust. This thrust helps the craft overcome drag and maintain the small satellite’s orbit. We plan to use the technology as part of our launch system dedicated to micro spacecraft.

Continue reading “GWU’s Innovations in Electric Propulsion Technology Help Vector Provide Unprecedented Access to Space” »

Metamaterials are an almost magical class of materials that can do things that seem impossible, but they can only perform one miracle at a time. Now Harvard researchers have come up with a toolkit for constructing metamaterials that flow from one shape and function into another, like origami.

Metamaterials have been around since the 1940s, but only in recent years has their development taken off. Unlike conventional substances, metamaterials have functions and properties that are independent of what they’re made of. Instead, their repetitive microstructures allow them to do the seemingly impossible – think flat lenses that act like they’re curved, structures that shrink instead of expanding when heated, and even invisibility cloaks.

Continue reading “Morphing metamaterial models take origami to a whole new level” »

In Brief

• “Cloaking” or invisibility technology is a kind of scientific Holy Grail; but actually concealing objects in direct light is notoriously difficult.
• A team of researchers has now found a way to achieve potential perfect invisibility by bending light—but only in “diffusive” atmospheres.

Concealing objects in direct light is already a difficult feat. While there is ongoing research into invisibility cloaks of some form or other, researchers at the Public University of Navarre (NUP/UPNA) and the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) are taking a not-so-straightforward approach. In particular, they are interested in developing a cloaking mechanism that works by bending light.

The team, whose work is published in the journal Physical Review A, has worked on simulations of an invisibility technology that conceals objects in diffusive atmospheres. This kind of invisibility, based on their study, can be achieved by surrounding an object with a special material that’s capable of bending light around it.

Continue reading “Scientists Have Made a New Kind of Invisibility Cloak” »

A simple technique for producing oxide nanowires directly from bulk materials could dramatically lower the cost of producing the one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures.

That could open the door for a broad range of uses in lightweight structural composites, advanced sensors, electronic devices – and thermally-stable and strong battery membranes able to withstand temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius.

The technique uses a solvent reaction with a bimetallic alloy – in which one of the metals is reactive – to form bundles of nanowires (nanofibers) upon reactive metal dissolution.

Continue reading “New low-cost technique converts bulk alloys to oxide nanowires” »

It will be amazing how this advances with Quantum.

Once injected into the body, a new material can repeatedly release small bursts of local anesthetic when zapped by low-intensity, near-infrared light for one minute (Nano Lett. 2016, DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6b03588). The material’s developers, who have tested it in rats, say the on-demand system could make pain management safer and more effective, and give patients more control.

Australia getting their QC production lines ready with this advancement. BTW — get ready as the printers are coming soon.

The Australian National University (ANU) has led an international team to create a nano-sized diamond that’s harder than the natural gem and which will be useful for cutting through super-hard mining materials.

ANU Associate Professor Jodie Bradby said her team, including ANU PhD student Thomas Shiell and experts from RMIT, the University of Sydney and the United States, fabricated nano-sized Lonsdaleite, which is a hexagonal diamond only found in nature at meteorite impact sites, such as in Arizona’s Canyon Diablo.

Continue reading “Engineers Australia : New lab-made diamond at mining’s cutting-edge” »