Watch and marvel at this “magic” spray coat. It’s a nano-tech coating that is extremely hydrophobic and also repels almost any substance, including dirt and oil. Yeah, magic is the word to describe how it works.
Next time your mom says don’t go out in the rain, spray yourself with this, by Robert Krulwich, NPR
Hydrophobic, dirt-shedding spray is indistinguishable from magic, by Cory Doctorow, boingboing
MIT researchers have engineered a device that delivers a tiny, high-pressure jet of medicine through the skin without the use of a hypodermic needle. The device can be programmed to deliver a range of doses to various depths — an improvement over similar jet-injection systems that are now commercially available.
Source:
Chu, J. (2012, May 24). Device may inject a variety of drugs without using needles: Jet-injected drugs could improve patient compliance, reduce accidental needle sticks. MIT News.
Scientists from the Berkeley Lab have developed a generator that harnesses the piezoelectric properties of harmless viruses to convert mechanical energy into electricity. Piezoelectricity is the buildup of a charge in a solid object due to mechanical stress. To test the approach, the scientists made a generator that creates enough current for a small liquid-crystal display. The viruses in the postage stamp-sized electrode convert the force of a finger tap into an electric charge.
(Image from Berkeley Lab)
This development could lead to small devices that harness energy from daily activities that produce vibrations such as walking or closing a door. Making these tiny devices is made simpler by the orderly self-arrangement of viruses that facilitates the generator to function. “Self-assembly is a much sought after goal in the finicky world of nanotechnology.”
This is fantastic news. My only fear is if the viruses realized that they’re being exploited for the good of humans whom they’re supposed to exterminate. They’d probably raise their clenched fists (if they have one) in unison and scream, “We refuse to be your slaves!” They might become nasty so let’s hope they are properly contained in those tiny devices.
Know more and watch related video from the source:
Krotz, D. (2012, May 13). Berkeley Lab scientists generate electricity from viruses: New approach is a promising first step toward the development of tiny devices that harvest electrical energy from everyday tasks. News Center, Berkeley Lab.
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| Electronic microscopic image of a nanoforest. Green tint added for contrast. Image Credit: Wang Research Group, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. |
This is an exciting development — we may soon be having cheap hydrogen-fueled cars without the carbon footprint. As reported by Catherine Hockmuth (2012) at the News Center, electrical engineers from the University of California, San Diego are building nanowire trees to cleanly capture solar energy for hydrogen fuel production. These nanowire trees are made of abundant materials in the environment such as silicon and zinc oxide which provide a cost-efficient way for mass scale production.
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| Schematic shows the light trapping effect in nanowire arrays. Photons on are bounced between single nanowires and eventually absorbed by them (R), as compared to planar counterparts where they are reflected off the surface (L). Image Credit: Wang Research Group, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. |
Unlike flat surfaces that reflect light, the vertical structure of the trees and branches capture and absorb a great amount of solar energy. The team led by Wang, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, mimicked this structure in the nanowire trees which use photoelectrical water-splitting to generate hydrogen gas. Water splitting is the process of splitting up oxygen and hydrogen in water to extract hydrogen for fuel production. Hydrogen as a fuel does not produce carbon byproducts, but the present means of extracting it uses electricity from fossil fuels which emit carbon.
The nanowire trees, therefore, offer great possibility in the efficient production of hydrogen fuel and great promise for a healthier environment.
