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Archive for the ‘materials’ category: Page 280

Jan 9, 2016

Science Documentary: DNA Hard Drives, Quantum Computing, Moore’s Law

Posted by in categories: computing, education, materials, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum physics, science, security

DNA is similar to a hard drive or storage device, in that contains the memory of each cell of every living, and has the instructions on how to make that cell. DNA is four molecules combined in any order to make a chain of one larger molecule. And if you can read that chain of four molecules, then you have a sequence of characters, like a digital code. Over the years the price of sequencing a human genome has dropped significantly, much to the delight of scientists. And since DNA is a sequence of four letters, and if we can manipulate DNA, we could insert a message and use DNA as the storage device.

At this point in time, we are at the height of the information age. And computers have had an enormous impact on all of our lives. Any information is able to be represented as a collection of bits. And with Moore’s law, which states that computing power doubles every 18 months, our ability to manipulate and store these bits has continued to grow and grow. Moore’s law has been driven by scientists being able to make transistors and integrated circuits continuously smaller and smaller, but there eventually comes a point we reach in which these transistors and integrated circuits cannot be made any smaller than they already are, since some are already at the size of a single atom. This inevitably leads us into the quantum world. Quantum mechanics has rules which are, in many ways, hard for us to truly comprehend, yet are nevertheless tested. Quantum computing looks to make use of these strange rules of quantum physics, and process information in a totally different way. Quantum computing looks to replace the classical bits which are either a 0 or a 1, with quantum bits, or qubits, which can be both a 0 and a 1 at the same time. This ability to be two different things at the same time is referred to as a superposition. 200 qubits hold more bits of information than there are particles in the universe. A useful quantum computer will require thousands or even millions of physical qubits. Anything such as an atom can serve as a quantum bit for making a quantum computer, then you can use a superconducting circuit to build two artificial atoms. So at this point in time we have a few working quantum transistors, but scientists are working on developing the quantum integrated circuit. Quantum error correction is the biggest problem encountered in development of the quantum computer. Quantum computer science is a field that right now is in its very early stages, since scientists have yet been able to develop any quantum hardware.

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Jan 8, 2016

Planetary Resources reveals first object 3D printed from alien metal

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, materials

Up until now, everything we’ve ever used in space has been brought there from Earth. Planetary Resources Inc. has long-term ambitions to mine the infinite resources space provides. In the mean-time, they’ve proven its possible by 3D printing material derived from an asteroid.

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Jan 7, 2016

Material could harvest sunlight

Posted by in categories: materials, solar power, sustainability, transportation

Imagine if your clothing could, on demand, release just enough heat to keep you warm and cozy, allowing you to dial back on your thermostat settings and stay comfortable in a cooler room. Or, picture a car windshield that stores the sun’s energy and then releases it as a burst of heat to melt away a layer of ice.

According to a team of researchers at MIT, both scenarios may be possible before long, thanks to a new material that can store solar during the day and release it later as , whenever it’s needed. This transparent polymer film could be applied to many different surfaces, such as window glass or clothing.

Although the sun is a virtually inexhaustible source of energy, it’s only available about half the time we need it—during daylight. For the sun to become a major power provider for human needs, there has to be an efficient way to save it up for use during nighttime and stormy days. Most such efforts have focused on storing and recovering in the form of electricity, but the new finding could provide a highly efficient method for storing the sun’s energy through a chemical reaction and releasing it later as heat.

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Jan 7, 2016

New Evidence Suggests Human Beings Are a Geological Force of Nature

Posted by in category: materials

For years, the term “Anthropocene” has been used to informally describe the human era on Earth. But new evidence suggests there’s nothing informal about it. We’re a true force of nature — and there’s good reason to believe we’ve sparked a new and unprecedented geological epoch.

A team of international geoscientists say the time has come for us to formally recognize the Anthropocene as a new epoch, one as significant as previous geological eras like the Holocene and Pleistocene. According to the new study, which appears in the latest issue of Science, it began sometime around the midpoint of the 20th century, and is fueled by a number of unquestionably human influences — including elevated greenhouse gas levels and the global proliferation of invasive species, along with the spread of materials such as aluminium, concrete, fly ash, and even fallout from nuclear testing.

New Evidence Suggests Human Beings Are a Geological Force of Nature

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Jan 6, 2016

Groundbreaking Ceramic Resin Developed

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, materials

title_01_hrl3D printed ceramics are still something of a rarity, compared to other materials. The material has several limitations; it’s generally printed by sintering powder materials that result in porous, relatively weak end products with low heat resistance. This greatly limits the size and shape of objects that can be printed; 3D printed ceramic objects have thus far been pretty much limited to relatively small decorative items or tableware. But that’s all about to change, thanks to a new material developed by research and development company HRL Laboratories, LLC.

kilnHRL, which is owned by Boeing and General Motors, has developed a ceramic resin that can be printed through stereolithography. The company actually calls it a “pre-ceramic” resin that prints like a typical plastic resin, and is then fired in a high temperature kiln, which turns it into a dense ceramic. The resulting objects are about ten times stronger than other 3D printed ceramics, have virtually no porosity, and can withstand temperatures higher than 1700°C.

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Jan 5, 2016

3D Systems Displays New ProX DMP 320 Metal 3D Printer at CES 2016

Posted by in categories: 3D printing, materials

After the acquisition of Phenix Systems, 3D Systems has been slow to roll out its metal 3D printing technology, an issue raised in a class action lawsuit against the company. Nevertheless, the company has been making progress and, today, 3D Systems announced the availability of their newest system, the ProX DMP 320.

prox_320 dmp 3D printed part from 3D systems

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Jan 3, 2016

DARPA Backs Atoms-to-Products Milestone

Posted by in categories: engineering, materials, nanotechnology, particle physics, quantum physics

DARPA funds the Atoms-to-Products program that aims to maintain quantum nanoscale properties at the millimeter scale of microchips.

The main goal of the atoms-to-products program is to create technology and processes needed to create nanometer-scale pieces, with dimensions almost the size of atoms, into components and materials only millimeter scale in size. And to spur developments in the program DARPA has now posed the challenge to 10 laboratories across the nation.

To get the full benefits of nanoscale engineering at the millimeter scale, the organization has partnered with Intelligent Materials Solutions. “Our initial project will be to control infrared light by assembling nanoscale particles into finished components that are one million times larger,” explains Adam Gross, the team leader working closely with Christopher Roper to bring the Atoms-to Products project to fruition.

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Jan 2, 2016

Researchers Develop Stretchy Material for Wearable Tech

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, electronics, health, materials, wearables

It’s a new resin.

Researchers at Panasonic PCRFY −0.78% in Japan have developed a new kind of resin that has the potential to make personal health electronics leaner and comfier.

The stretchy tech, announced by the company on Dec. 28, can be used as a base for electronic materials. Its physical properties makes electronics easier to apply to skin or clothing—like a Band-Aid or a tattoo, rather than a watch or a strap.

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Dec 27, 2015

‘Writable’ Circuits Could Let Scientists Draw Electronics into Existence

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, electronics, materials, wearables

Scientists have developed a way to produce soft, flexible and stretchy electronic circuits and radio antennas by hand, simply by writing on specially designed sheets of material.

This technique could help people draw electronic devices into existence on demand for customized devices, researchers said in a new study describing the method.

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Dec 26, 2015

The bionic pancreas: harbinger of a new era in organ replacement?

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, cyborgs, materials, transhumanism

If you haven’t heard of the bionic pancreas, it’s likely you soon will. With diabetes on the rise and the demand for insulin therapies becoming a real pain point for the medical establishment, the need for innovative solutions has spiked. Back in April, we reported on the Do-It-Yourself Pancreas system, a closed-loop artificial pancreas scavenged from a Medtronic pump, Dexcom CGM, a Raspberry Pi, and CareLink USB. Now a fully bionic pancreas similar in design to the Do-It-Yourself model is being developed by doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital and Boston University, with the goal of winning FDA approval. If it succeeds, this will likely be the first bionic organ to see widespread adoption.

Let’s examine some of the previous attempts at bionic organs to see if we can catch a glimpse of where things are heading and some of the societal repercussions that lay in wait. The holy grail of bionic organs is without question the human heart. Coronary artery disease being one of the principal causes of the death worldwide, a fully functioning bionic heart could radically change life expectancy and alter the demographic landscape.

The first bionic hearts, designed over 70 years ago, were plagued by problems that often resulted in thromboembolism and hemorrhage, and made this even more of a gamble than donor transplants. Recent technological advances, however — specifically the advent of bio-prosthetic materials that fool the human immune system into believing the bionic heart is an organic part of the body — could indicate a new era of artificial organs is upon us.

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