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Antibacterial stainless steel created
Materials scientists have devised a way of making stainless steel surfaces resistant to bacteria; by introducing silver or copper into the steel surface — rather than coating it on to the surface — the researchers have developed a technique that not only kills bacteria but is very hard and resistant to wear and tear during cleaning
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Cambridge U team intends to win the 2011 World Solar Challenge
The World Solar Challenge, the “Formula One” of eco-friendly motorsport, consists of a 3,000 kilometer race across the Australian outback from Darwin to Adelaide; it will be held 16-23 October 2011; the University of Cambridge team believes it has a real chance to win with their newly designed Cambridge University Eco Racing (CUER) machine
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Placement of wind-turbine increases power tenfold
The power output of wind farms can be increased by an order of magnitude — at least tenfold — simply by optimizing the placement of turbines on a given plot of land; rather than build taller towers and bigger blades, efficient wind-based energy production should focus on the design of the wind farm itself, to maximize its energy-collecting efficiency at heights closer to the ground
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"Amplified" nanotubes for efficient, loss-free grid
The current U.S. copper-based grid leaks electricity at an estimated 5 percent per 100 miles of transmission; Rice University researchers have achieved a breakthrough in the development of a cable that will make an efficient electric grid of the future possible; the armchair quantum wire (AQW) will be a weave of metallic nanotubes that can carry electricity with negligible loss over long distances
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Melting ice sheets chief cause of rising sea levels
There are two causes for rising sea levels — melting ice sheets and thermal expansion of warming ocean waters; during the Last Interglacial Period, the former contributed much more to rising sea levels than the latter, a University of Arizona-led team of researchers has found; the results further suggest that ocean levels continue to rise long after warming of the atmosphere levels off
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U.S. West Coast is rapidly eroding, with pace to accelerate
The stormy conditions of the 2009-10 El Nino winter eroded beaches from San Diego to Seattle to often unprecedented levels; the higher sea levels expected due to global warming, and potentially even stronger winter storms, will likely to contribute to increased rates of beach and bluff erosion along much of the U.S. West Coast
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Understanding deadly tornadoes
Scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) are analyzing radar data from 27 April 2011 — the day that saw of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history — then merging the information with detailed storm surveys and other data; they hope to learn more about how the storms formed, what made the storms so powerful and what might be done to make tornado warnings more effective
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Creating genetic replacement for oil
Scientists previously established that oil and coal have their roots in the organisms that lived on the planet over 500 million years ago, but researchers only are sure of one organism that directly contributed to these natural resources — that organism is the algae Botryococcus braunii; this algae is very slow growing, so it is not necessarily a good source for biofuels; scientists offer an alternative
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Virginia Tech team dominates robot soccer World Cup competition
The Virginia Tech team dominated the international robot soccer competition known as RoboCup this past weekend, winning the Louis Vuitton Humanoid Cup, the competition’s version of the World Cup; the team also dominated with First Place in both the Adult Size class with the 5-foot humanoid robot CHARLI-2 and the Kid Size class with the miniature humanoid-robot DARwIn-OP
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Sensors printed on wetsuits detect explosives, other hazards
UC Sand Diego researcher has successfully printed thick-film electrochemical sensors directly on flexible wetsuit material, paving the way for nano devices to detect underwater explosives or ocean contamination; UCSD has a full U.S. patent pending on the technology, and has begun talks on licensing the system to a Fortune 500 company
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World's first cardboard vacuum cleaner unveiled
A U.K. vacuum cleaner manufacturer will market a high performance vacuum cleaner constructed out of recycled and recyclable materials; the device was designed by an industrial design student; the corrugated cardboard panels that form the body of the machine are easily replaced if damaged and cost just a tenth of the price of an equivalent plastic panel
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New technology increase potency of beam weapons
Laser scientists and engineers have long recognized that direct-diode lasers can offer significant advantages over other laser technologies due to their efficiency, reliability, compactness, and relatively low cost; applications for direct-diode lasers have been limited, however, owing to their low brightness — a combination of lower power and poorer beam quality relative to alternative laser technologies; a Massachusetts-based company, using wavelength beam combining (WBC) technology, is offering a way to solve this problem — allowing direct-diode lasers to be used in demanding industrial applications — and in effective beam weapons
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Fire retardant shows promise -- if given space
Scientists have demonstrated that the more widely and uniformly dispersed nanoscale plates of clay are in a polymer, the more fire protection the nanocomposite material provides; when polymer — a type of polystyrene, used in packaging, insulation, plastic cutlery, and many other products — is imbued with nanometer scale plates of montmorillonite, the combination can create a material with unique properties or properties superior to those achievable by each component — clay or polymer — on its own
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Montana floods exacerbate Exxon oil spill
Flooding in Montana has exacerbated the effects of an oil spill and made clean up more difficult for Exxon Mobil; it is estimated that roughly 750 top 1,000 barrels of crude oil have leaked into the Yellowstone River near Billings, Montana; the pipeline has been shut down, but flooding in the area has made it difficult for clean-up crews to find the source of the leak
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A first: Flying car cleared for road
The U.S. Department of Transportation gave Massachusetts-based Terrafugia two important exemptions which would allow the company to offer its flying car — the Transition — to customers next year; the exemptions allow the company to use different tires and different laminated protective glass, and come on top of a 110 lb. allowance the FAA gave the company last year; these allowance and exemptions mean the flying car will not be treated as plane by the FAA, and those who fly it will not have to obtain a pilot license
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More headlines
The long view
Autonomous Vehicle Technology Vulnerable to Road Object Spoofing and Vanishing Attacks
Researchers have demonstrated the potentially hazardous vulnerabilities associated with the technology called LiDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, many autonomous vehicles use to navigate streets, roads and highways. The researchers have shown how to use lasers to fool LiDAR into “seeing” objects that are not present and missing those that are – deficiencies that can cause unwarranted and unsafe braking or collisions.
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Prototype Self-Service Screening System Unveiled
TSA and DHS S&T unveiled a prototype checkpoint technology, the self-service screening system, at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) in Las Vegas, NV. The aim is to provide a near self-sufficient passenger screening process while enabling passengers to directly receive on-person alarm information and allow for the passenger self-resolution of those alarms.
Falling Space Debris: How High Is the Risk I'll Get Hit?
An International Space Station battery fell back to Earth and, luckily, splashed down harmlessly in the Atlantic. Should we have worried? Space debris reenters our atmosphere every week.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
Strengthening the Grid’s ‘Backbone’ with Hydropower
Argonne-led studies investigate how hydropower could help add more clean energy to the grid, how it generates value as grids add more renewable energy, and how liner technology can improve hydropower efficiency.