Materials – Lifeboat News: The Blog

Sustainable ‘plastics’ are on the horizon

Posted by Genevieve Klien in materials, sustainability

Dec 24
2018

A new Tel Aviv University study describes a process to make bioplastic polymers that don’t require land or fresh water—resources that are scarce in much of the world. The polymer is derived from microorganisms that feed on seaweed. It is biodegradable, produces zero toxic waste and recycles into organic waste.

The invention was the fruit of a multidisciplinary collaboration between Dr. Alexander Golberg of TAU’s Porter School of Environmental and Earth Sciences and Prof. Michael Gozin of TAU’s School of Chemistry. Their research was recently published in the journal Bioresource Technology.

According to the United Nations, plastic accounts for up to 90 percent of all the pollutants in our oceans, yet there are few comparable, environmentally friendly alternatives to the material.

Astronomers spot baby star emitting huge flare in a stellar ‘tantrum’

Posted by Victoria Generao in materials, space

Dec 24
2018

Astronomers have spotted a monstrous stellar flare coming from a baby star 685 light-years away that’s estimated to be 10,000 times larger than any such event emitted by our sun.

Experts say the stellar ‘tantrum’ could provide a window into the birth of potentially habitable exoplanets, revealing how huge events shake up the material orbiting distant stars.

The M-type star is just 2 million years old, meaning it has yet to reach the size at which it will remain for most of its life.

A long-awaited battery that would cut electric-vehicle costs may finally be close

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in materials, transportation

Dec 22
2018

24M is reducing manufacturing costs by stripping out extraneous materials—and just got $22 million to begin building its first commercial factory.

Ford applied noise-cancelling technology to a doghouse, and it’s awesome

Posted by Genevieve Klien in materials, transportation

Dec 18
2018

Keeping passengers in a vehicle from hearing the noise of a busy road is a problem that many auto manufacturers have attempted to solve over the years. Noise dampening materials can only do so much, but Ford is now working with noise cancelling technologies that aim to actively combat road sounds by cancelling them out.

The company recently applied its new noise-cancelling know-how to a project that has nothing to do with vehicles, but instead focuses on man’s best friend. Ford Europe built a new kind of doghouse that allows canines to rest without worry of loud noises, like fireworks, disturbing them.

Scientists design new material to harness power of light

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in innovation, materials

Dec 18
2018

Scientists have long known that synthetic materials—called metamaterials—can manipulate electromagnetic waves such as visible light to make them behave in ways that cannot be found in nature. That has led to breakthroughs such as super-high resolution imaging. Now, UMass Lowell is part of a research team that is taking the technology of manipulating light in a new direction.

This machine lets your recycle plastic at home

Posted by Nicholi Avery in materials

Dec 16
2018

This machine lets you recycle plastic at home 😲
Credit: http://bit.ly/2mzzFKz

Computers could soon run cold, no heat generated

Posted by Klaus Baldauf in computing, materials

Dec 14
2018

Transistors, superconductors, and chip design have all seen efficiency breakthroughs this year. So much so, that we may see the cold-running computer before too long.

The substance that ‘can withstand 75 nuclear blasts’

Posted by Mary Jain in materials

Dec 7
2018

The curious tale of a ladies hairdresser who invented a potentially world-changing material. Part one of six. Reported by Lee Johnson, produced, filmed and directed by Adam Proctor.

New 2D sensors can cover any smooth surface

Posted by Genevieve Klien in electronics, materials

Dec 7
2018

But researchers have a new way to keep the materials and their associated circuitry, including electrodes, intact as they’re moved to curved or other smooth surfaces.

The results of their work appear in the journal ACS Nano.

The massive ocean cleanup device invented by a 24-year-old is running into problems in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Posted by Genevieve Klien in materials

Dec 6
2018

The Ocean Cleanup, which is trying to remove plastic from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, ran into problems in its first month of deployment.