Posted on December 2nd, 2010 by jxh
In the future, you might be able to skip untangling those holiday lights
It might sound like something from the movie Avatar, but what if trees lit up at night, replacing the need for street lights?
This fantastical vision may become a reality thanks to the discovery that placing gold nanoparticles within the leaves of trees causes them to give off a luminous reddish glow.
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Filed under: Chemical, Civil, e-News, Environmental | 13 Comments »
Tags: Chemical, Civil, Environmental
Posted on November 17th, 2010 by jxh
Isn’t it time that band-aids, which have changed little since their invention in 1920, got a high-tech update? German engineers certainly think so, and that’s why they have created “smart” bandages that turn purple at the first sign of infection.
The new bandage insulates injuries just like any other bandage, but the dressing also contains a special dye that reacts to different pH values.
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Filed under: Biomedical, Chemical, e-News | 1 Comment »
Tags: Biomedical, Chemical
Posted on September 22nd, 2010 by axb
Human skin is extraordinarily sensitive – our fingertips can perceive extremely small differences in pressure, texture, and temperature. Mimicking this ability artificially is a real technological challenge, but fortunately electrical engineers at Stanford and UC Berkeley seem to be up to the task.
At Stanford, a team led by chemical engineering professor Zhenan Bao has developed an artificial skin that is reportedly over 1,000 times more sensitive than its human counterpart. It consists of a thin rubber material placed between two parallel electrodes. When an object touches the skin and compresses the rubber, the surrounding electrodes register this pressure and convert it to electrical signals.
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Filed under: Biomedical, Chemical, e-News, Electrical, Materials | Comments Off on Engineering Artificial Skin
Tags: Biomedical, Chemical, Electrical, Materials, Nanotechnology, Robotics
Posted on September 20th, 2010 by axb
Installing solar panels on the roof of buildings has become very en vogue recently. But in a few years charging up your home might be cheaper and easier than ever.
The Norwegian company EnSol AS has developed a thin, transparent solar film that can be sprayed onto windows and other surfaces, rendering them able to absorb the sun’s energy just as efficiently as solar panels.
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Filed under: Chemical, e-News, Environmental | 2 Comments »
Tags: Chemical, Energy, Environmental, Nanotechnology, Solar
Posted on August 15th, 2010 by jxh
Biomimicry is back again, and this time butterflies are the source of imitation.
The Morpho butterfly possesses acute chemical-sensing abilities thanks to nano-level structures underneath the colorful scales on its wings.
The submicroscopic structures can pick up even the smallest trace of airborne chemicals and the exposure changes the spectral reflectivity of the butterfly’s wings.
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Filed under: Chemical, e-News, Materials | 2 Comments »
Tags: Biomimicry, Chemical, Defense, Materials, Nanotechnology
