Topics

16

Life Science / Ice Cream

« on: March 04, 2014, 10:59:03 AM »

Although ice cream can be easy to make at home, it is actually a very complex substance. To bear the "Meets USDA Ingredient Standard for Ice Cream" stamp, it has to contain at least 10 percent milk fat, and a minimum of six percent non-fat milk solids. A gallon has to weigh at least 4.5 pounds.

The range of milk fat (sometimes referred to as butter fat) used in ice cream can go from the minimum 10 percent to a maximum of about 16 percent. Most premium ice creams use 14 percent milk fat. Higher fat content leads to better, richer taste and a creamier texture. Ice cream makers don't go higher than 16 percent because it would be costly and very high in calories. An ice cream with this much milk fat would also taste so rich that people would probably eat it in smaller amounts, which would be bad news for people who sell ice cream for a living.

Other frozen desserts, such as sorbets, low-fat ice cream, and frozen yogurt, are not technically ice cream at all. Frozen custard is ice cream that has at least 1.4 percent egg yolk solids, and "soft serve" can be any frozen milk-based dessert that has not gone through the hardening process -- more on that later.

In terms of specific ingredients, the recipe for ice cream is simple. But in scientific terms, it's complicated stuff. Ice cream is a colloid, a type of emulsion. An emulsion is a combination of two substances that don't normally mix together. Instead, one of the substances is dispersed throughout the other. In ice cream, molecules of fat are suspended in a water-sugar-ice structure along with air bubbles. The presence of air means that ice cream is also technically a foam.



In addition to milk fat, non-fat milk solids, sugar, and air, ice cream also contains stabilizers and emulsifiers. Stabilizers help hold the air bubble structure together and give the ice cream a better texture. Although gelatin was originally used as a stabilizer, xanthan gum, guar gum, and other compounds are used today. Emulsifiers keep the ice cream smooth and aid the distribution of the fat molecules throughout the colloid. Egg yolks were once used, but ice cream manufacturers now tend to use other chemical compounds. These stabilizers and emulsifiers make up a very small proportion (less than one percent) of the ice cream.

17

Latest Technology / How Biomechatronics Works

« on: March 04, 2014, 10:44:15 AM »

Biomechatronics is the merging of man with machine -- like the cyborg of science fiction. It is an interdisciplinary field encompassing biology, neurosciences, mechanics, electronics and robotics. Biomechatronic scientists attempt to make devices that interact with human muscle, skeleton, and nervous systems with the goals of assisting or enhancing human motor control that can be lost or impaired by trauma, disease or birth defects.

Consider what happens when you lift your foot to walk:
    1. The motor center of your brain sends impulses to the muscles in your foot and leg. The appropriate muscles contract in the appropriate sequence to move and lift your foot.
    2. Nerve cells in your foot sense the ground and feedback information to your brain to adjust the force, or the number of muscle groups required to walk across the surface. You don't apply the same force to walk on a wooden floor as you do to walk through snow or mud, for example.
    3. Nerve cells in your leg muscle spindles sense the position of the floor and feedback information to the brain. You do not have to look at the floor to know where it is.
    4. Once you raise your foot to take a step, your brain sends appropriate signals to the leg and foot muscles to set it down



This system has sensors (nerve cells, muscle spindles), actuators (muscles) and a controller (brain/spinal cord).  In this article, we will find out how biomechatronic devices work using these components, explore the current progress of biomechatronics research and learn about the benefits of such devices.

18

Latest Technology / Pencil Pusher

« on: March 04, 2014, 10:32:08 AM »

 "Please think before you print", now a trio of Chinese inventors hopes to add another device to the cubicle environment: the P&P Office Waste Paper Processor, which turns paper destined for recycling into pencils. The machine, looking a bit like a three-hole punch crossed with an electric pencil sharpener, was a finalist in the 2010 Lite-On Awards, an international competition that seeks to stimulate and nurture innovation.



Here's how the pencil-making gadget works: You insert wastepaper into a feed slot. The machine draws the paper in, rolls and compresses it, and then inserts a piece of lead from a storage chamber located in the top of the device. A small amount of glue is added before -- voilà -- a pencil slides out from a hole on the side. It's not clear how many pieces of paper form a single pencil, but you figure the average office worker could generate a decent supply of pencils in a month.

19

Astronomy / Mystery Diamonds

« on: February 27, 2014, 12:40:38 PM »

The origin of carbonado – more popularly known as black diamond – have long been a mystery to scientists. New analysis of the world’s toughest diamonds suggests they might have come from outer space, specifically from a star that exploded long ago, called a supernova. Researchers from Florida International University believe carbonados came from a large, diamond-bearing asteroid that may have fallen to earth billions of years ago, when the earth and moon were being heavily bombarded by space rocks.



The term “carbonado” was coined by Portuguese in Brazil in the mid 18th century because it resembles porous charcoal. Carbonado diamonds are so tough that it took a 20-ton hydraulic press to break one. This means it is almost impossible to work carbonado into jewelry settings, since they are too hard to be polished or cut – except with another carbonado. They get their hardness from their structure. While conventional diamonds are cut from a single crystal that breaks easily along a natural line, carbonados are made of millions of small crystals stuck together. Carbonados were first used to polish Brazilian hardwood before transporting it to Europe. In 1905 it was used to drill the rocks for the Panama Canal.

Conventional diamonds are formed deep in the earth, since the carbon requires intense heat and pressure to form diamond. Thanks to a series of volcanic eruptions between 1 billion and 100 million years ago, the diamonds came to the surface, where they can be mined. But carbonado is much older – as much as 3.8 billion years – and is found only in Brazil and the Central African Republic. The Florida researchers used infrared synchrotron radiation at Brookhaven National Laboratory to identify very tiny amounts of other elements in carbonado. They found hydrogen, which indicates an origin in hydrogen-rich interstellar space. They believe that carbonado diamonds formed in stellar supernova explosions, which formed large asteroids that traveled through space before landing on earth some 2.3 billion years ago.

20

Latest Technology / Worlds smallest e-vehicle revealed

« on: February 27, 2014, 10:02:30 AM »

The Urb-E can reach speeds of 15mph, and even has space for a handbag or briefcase. When not in use, the tiny trike can be folded - and pulled on its wheels like a piece of luggage.'The URB-E Commuter is the perfect vehicle for the highly congested urban environment,' the firm boasts.



'Its three wheel trike design allows for added stability and greater lower speed maneuverability, perfect for navigating pedestrian traffic. 'The two rear wheels also serve as a very stable way to roll the URB-E around while in its folded position, similar to pulling a piece of luggage.' The trike has disc brakes, and comes in two versions a normal and a GP, which is faster. The external USB plug also allows you to use the URB-E's Lithium Ion battery to charge any additional device such as a laptop or tablet. The trike also has a special smartphone mount which can charge your handset, and lets users see the special app for the vehicle.'The URB-E App is being developed for both IOS and ANDROID, and will monitor battery charge, range, speed, controls for LED lighting, music, and navigation,' the firm says. There will also be an optional power override feature which will allow you to utilize your mobile device as the URB-E's key.

21

Latest Technology / Construction of the floating lab 'Bond villain lair'

« on: February 27, 2014, 09:53:28 AM »

Almost two-thirds of the 170-ft tall ship will sit underwater making it possible to directly study ecosystems and fish levels at great depths. Between 18 and 22 marine biologists will be able to live on board the vessel at any one time because it has living quarters and kitchens. The laboratory part of the 1,000-tonne ship will sit below the surface to make the SeaOrbiter buoyant, but to also give a direct line of sight and access into the ocean to depths of up to 6,000 metres.



According to Rougerie, the SeaOrbiter will additionally feature a ‘fish-collection system for studies of the pelagic ecosystem, plankton biodiversity, and fish stocks.’ Architect Rougerie developed the concept of the ocean lab around 12 years ago. He built his first underwater house on 4 August 1977. In 1981 he launched the Hippocampe, a scientific base suspended in mid-water that slept two people. The Hippocampe was capable of diving to depths of around 12 metres and could stay underwater for between seven and 15 days at a time.The project costs $52.7 million and has support from Nasa and the European Space Agency because the conditions on the SeaOrbiter are similar to those found in space. Rougerie said: ‘SeaOrbiter is the only vessel in the world allowing a 24-hour exploration on long-term missions of the open sea and the abyss.’It is also environmentally friendly and sustainable because it is powered using solar, wind and wave energy.

Although the SeaOrbiter has been designed to drift with ocean currents, the European Defense and Space systems (EADS) is also said to be developing a biofuel that could be used as a secondary power source. Previously Rougerie told Inhabitat that the SeaOrbiter: ‘would become an essential tool in exploring the world’s oceans and an useful base to study the link between global warming and the oceans, which absorb about a quarter of all carbon emissions.’

22

Latest Technology / Car that runs on AIR

« on: February 27, 2014, 09:42:07 AM »

Peugeot has revealed plans to begin selling the first air powered car next year. Based on a Peugeot 208, it will combine a normal engine with a radical new system that runs on compressed air. The firm says the car could reduce petrol bills by 80% when driven in cities.




The system works by using a normal internal combustion engine, special hydraulics and an adapted gearbox along with compressed air cylinders that store and release energy. This enables it to run on petrol or air, or a combination of the two.

Air power would be used solely for city use, automatically activated below 43mph and available for ‘60 to 80 per cent of the time in city driving’. By 2020, the cars could be achieving an average of 117 miles a gallon, the company predicts. The air compression system can re-use all the energy normally lost when slowing down and braking. The motor and a pump are in the engine bay, fed by a compressed air tank underneath the car, running parallel to the exhaust.



The revolutionary new ‘Hybrid Air’ engine system – the first to combine petrol with compressed air – is a breakthrough for hybrid cars because expensive batteries will no longer be needed.Cars fitted with Hybrid Air will be about £1,000 cheaper to buy than current hybrid models. For more than two years, 100 elite scientists and engineers have been working on the air-powered car in top-secret conditions at Peugeot’s research and development centre at Velizy, just south of Paris. Hybrid Air is the centrepiece of Peugeot chief executive Philippe Varin’s efforts to restore the fortunes of the historic car maker.

The revolutionary system will be able to be installed on any normal family car without altering its external shape or size or reducing the boot size, provided the spare wheel is not stored there. From the outside, an air-powered car will look identical to a conventional vehicle. A spokesman said: ‘We are not talking about weird and wacky machines. These are going to be in everyday cars.’ Peugeot, which unveiled its prototype yesterday, envisages introducing it in smaller models such as the 208 at first.

23

Life Science / Detecting Disease in Less Than 60 Seconds

« on: February 19, 2014, 04:26:58 PM »

Bacteria, viruses are not cells; they consist of DNA or RNA molecules, containing the virus' genes, surrounded by a protein coat. A virus can attach itself to cells and inject molecules into the cell, or the cell may absorb it. Once inside, the molecules cause the infected cell to make new viruses that can spread to other cells.



Spectroscopy is a technique often used by astronomers and physicists to study the make-up of an object based on the light it emits. In this case, it is used to identify the scattering of light off of the DNA and RNA within viruses. This is possible because each chemical element has a unique signature, emitting or absorbing radiation at specific wavelengths. For example, sodium, used in street lights, emits primarily orange light. Oxygen, used in neon lights, emits green light. By passing the light from a star or other object through a special instrument, called a spectrograph, the light is "spread" into a spectrum in much the same way visible light is spread into its colors by a prism. By carefully studying how the spectrum becomes brighter or darker at each wavelength, scientists can tell what chemical elements are present.

24

Latest Technology / New way to measure electron pair interactions

« on: February 17, 2014, 02:02:02 PM »

Shoot a beam of light or particles at certain special materials and you will liberate electrons -- pairs of them -- a phenomenon known as "electron pair emission," which can reveal fundamental properties of the solid and reveal information necessary to design novel materials for future applications.

Measuring electron pair emission has always been difficult, however, because they were traditionally done using highly expensive synchrotron light sources, which are available in only a few laboratories worldwide. Nobody has found a way to routinely measure electron pair interactions on a standard lab bench.

Now a team led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics in Halle, Germany has done just that. They developed a new way to measure the emission of electron pairs directly by combining two common laboratory instruments called time-of-flight spectrometers, a setup they describe in the journal Applied Physics Letters, which is produced by AIP Publishing.



"Einstein received the Nobel Prize for his explanation of the photoelectric effect, which was published in 1905. Einstein considered the possibility that the photon energy can be transferred to more than one electron," explained Michael Huth, a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics. "The existence of this process provides direct access to the electron correlation strength."

An electron pair is "excited" by a single photon; from an experimental point of view, this requires the combination of a suitable light source and electron spectrometers.

Developing such a setup involved "a significant effort," according to Huth. Comically, the team dubbed their setup's photoemission chamber "Hydra," because its two time-of-flight spectrometers give the chamber an appearance of having multiple heads.

25

Life Science / Cleaning up Our Water

« on: February 17, 2014, 01:52:56 PM »

BACKGROUND: Beach closings due to contamination are becoming more and more of a problem every year, thanks to sewage and storm runoffs. Instead of closing the beaches, why not clean up the water? A new technology not only removes pollutants from water, it also destroys bacteria that can cause illness.



THE PROBLEM : A recent report by the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) found 85 percent of the beach closings and health advisory days were caused by dangerously high levels of bacteria found in human or animal waste. The NRDC has urged the Environmental Protection Agency to tighten controls over sewer overflows and stormwater discharges to help ensure states and municipalities monitor water quality and notify the public when it does not meet bacterial standards.

THE SOLUTION: Smart Sponge Plus is a spongelike material that resembles popcorn and can be used to remove hydrocarbons, oil grease and other toxins in water. It also contains an antimicrobial agent to combat common bacteria such as E. coli and fecal coliform. Unlike other antimicrobials that poison harmful microorganisms, the Smart Sponge Plus ruptures the cell membranes, preventing the microorganisms from functioning or reproducing. It can also transform hydrocarbon pollutants into a stable solid for easy recycling. The Smart Sponge can be inserted directly into storm drains, so there is no need to break up roads, build vaults or create ponds. This makes it easier, cheaper and faster to use than other environmental remediation techniques.

26

Astronomy / Secrets On Saturn

« on: February 12, 2014, 11:10:16 AM »

Saturn was first observed by people before recorded history. It is the sixth planet from the sun, and the second largest in the solar system, a gas giant ranked behind only Jupiter. Saturn is composed primarily of hydrogen, with smaller amounts of helium and other trace elements. Its interior is made of a small core of rock and ice, surrounded by a thick layer of metallic hydrogen and a gaseous outer later. Saturn is best known for its prominent system of rings, which are mostly comprised of ice particles, rocky debris, and dust. Astronomers believe the rings may have been formed from larger moons that were shattered by impacts from comets and meteoroids. The planet also has at least 62 moons; most of them are quite small, but the largest is Titan, which is bigger than the planet mercury and is the only moon in the entire solar system to have a significant atmosphere.



Infrared radiation is an invisible form of light that we usually detect as heat, like the sun shining on our face, or the warmth of a campfire. It has all the same properties as visible light: for example, it can be focused and reflected. The only difference is that it has a longer wavelength, which means we can't see it with the naked eye. Light is made of tiny particles called photons, and the wavelength tells us how fast those particles are vibrating. The shorter the wavelength, the faster the particles are moving. Shorter light waves look blue, and longer ones look red. The wavelength of infrared light is so long that we can't see it at all. Any warm object gives off infrared radiation. By checking in the infrared spectrum, engineers can find heat leaks in buildings, doctors can find hidden tumors in the body, and biologists can locate diseased plants in a forest. Astronomers use infrared imaging to detect warm dust around new stars that are not yet "hot" enough to emit visible light.

27

Applied Science / Fog-Free Glass

« on: February 12, 2014, 11:03:55 AM »

MIT researchers have developed a new anti-fog glass coating that can transform water droplets into smooth transparent sheets of water. The coating can be used on everything from car windows, bathroom mirrors, eyeglasses, ski goggles, underwater masks, and inside car headlights to prevent fogging.



HOW FOG FORMS: Fog is caused when steam condenses on a cool surface and then forms miniscule water droplets because of the water's surface tension. Water molecules are more attracted to each other than to air molecules, so they form a spherical shape to maximize contact with other water molecules, leaving as few as possible exposed to air. It's impossible to stop water from condensing on a surface, but water molecules are also attracted to glass. If this attraction is enhanced, it can overcome the surface tension. Decreasing the water's surface tension flattens the naturally formed water droplets (fog) and creates a thin see-through layer of water instead.

HOW THE COATING WORKS: The new coating is "superhydrophilic:" It really loves water. It's made of a 3-D matrix of water-loving polymer chains mixed in with glass nanoparticles and tiny air bubbles. The edges of the tiny glass particles come in contact with many droplets of water and the water droplets flatten and join up to form sheets. The glass nanoparticles and air bubbles also can act like the holes in a sponge, sucking the droplets downward to wick away water.

OTHER USES: The MIT researchers can also tailor the coating to be "superhydrophobic" by adding a second thin layer of water-repelling molecules. Then the large surface area created by the roughness of the surface has the opposite effect, increasing the repulsion between water and glass, causing the water to form droplets. These could be used to form self-cleaning surfaces, where such big water droplets are formed that they roll off the surface and take the dirt with them.

28

Textile Engineering / Metal Rubber

« on: February 12, 2014, 10:44:55 AM »

Materials engineers and chemists at NanoSonic, Inc., have developed a way to produce lightweight electrically conductive textiles that won't break or disintegrate when you wash or stretch them. This makes the textiles perfect for use in sensor-laden "smart clothes." An important component is the company's trademarked metal rubber, a substance that has the elasticity of rubber and ability of steel to conduct electricity/NanoSonic's metal rubber and e-textiles could find use in protective clothing; flexible antennae and circuits; flexible displays; electromagnetic shielding; biomedical sensors and health monitoring; and applications in outer space.



HOW IT'S MADE: Instead of just mixing different materials together, like in a blender, or weaving metal wire components into fabrics, NanoSonic's manufacturing technique is a bit like "growing" textiles in a makeshift washing machine. It's called "electrostatic self-assembly." By dipping the base material into baths of alternating electrons and protons, those nanoparticles with opposite charges attract and stick to each other like Velcro. So many different properties can be linked together without the material falling apart when it is washed or stretched. Each dip adds one layer. The e-textiles are lower in weight, with lower manufacturing costs and few byproducts, plus they can withstand repeated washings without falling apart.

EXAMPLES: In combat conditions, a U.S. solder clothed in layers of garments made from e-textiles could wear sensors close to the skin that monitor blood pressure, body temperature, and heart rate. Another layer could be integrated into the Kevlar vest to register impact from a bullet or shrapnel. And sensors in an outer garment could "sniff" the air for toxic agents of chemical or biological warfare. It might also be possible to make a thicker but lightweight conductive fabric for electric power workers that would not limit their range of motion, but would reduce the effects of electric power line radiation.

ABOUT SELF-ASSEMBLY: There are two basic ways to manipulate matter. On the large scale, we pick things up with our hands and physically put them together. Nature uses self-assembly, assembling its structures molecule by tiny molecule. Spread out in a liquid, the miniature parts jostle about and come together in random configurations, gradually matching up through trial and error according to shape and electrical charges. It's as if you shook a box holding the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and looked in to find the puzzle had assembled itself. Yet biological systems, as well as several inorganic physical systems, exhibit self-assembling or self-ordering behavior all the time.

29

Applied Science / GRAPHITE FOAM

« on: February 12, 2014, 10:36:15 AM »

Scientists say graphite foam is the only material in nature that both absorbs sound and conducts heat. The foam costs about two or three times more than aluminum, but has a wide variety of possible applications. It can be used in plumbing, electronics, and cookware. Lockheed Martin space systems used the material to create a radiator for use in satellites, and they plan on using it for the first time next year.



A hard drive is a storage device that rapidly records data as magnetic pulses on spinning metal platters, usually made of ceramic and aluminum. It is the heart of the computer, pumping vital data to the rest of the system. A motor spins the platters at speeds ranging from 4,500 to 15,000 rotations per minute. Data is stored and retrieved from the platter by a read/write head, which moves over grooves in the spinning platters much like a record player's needle. A fast-spinning drive can access and transfer data quickly -- but it also generates a substantial amount of heat, which causes the components to expand. That's why most computers have cooling systems, like the power supply fan that keeps air flowing through the casing. Introducing new materials like graphite foam allows engineers to build thinner and more heat-resistant platters with the aim of improving performance.

30

Latest Technology / Uncovering Hi-Tech Messages

« on: February 12, 2014, 10:28:30 AM »

It’s like James Bond meets Bill Nye the Science Guy. Students and professors at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Science have created a chip that can test chemicals and be used as an encryption device! We’ll show you how a gemstone makes it all possible.

Inside a not-so-secret lab at Harvard University, we find an international man of mystery. Engineering and applied science grad student Ian Burgess is working with a team on some pretty sophisticated stuff.



“We’re actually creating opal,” Joanna Aizenberg, a material scientist at Harvard University told Ivanhoe.
Material scientist Joanna Aizenberg says the synthetic opals are actually inversed in shape and full of pores so liquids can penetrate them. They’re grown on chips and shimmer in the light. When wiped with chemical solutions (like a mixture of five percent water and 95 percent ethanol) secret messages embedded in the chips appear. Different concentrations can reveal different messages on the same chip. Then it all disappears when dried. It’s called watermark ink. W-Ink for short. Ian says it works because of chemistry and surface tension. Some liquids bead up, others flatten on surfaces. “And so that made us very excited because everything has surface tension,” Ian Burgess, a Harvard grad student told Ivanhoe. While experimenting with W-Ink’s wet encryption capabilities another discovery was made. If programmed a certain way. The invention could be used to identify hazardous chemicals.

“We realized that actually it might also be very well used for this application,” Burgess said.It can tell you about unknown liquids spilled in the lab or if you’re getting the gas you paid for.“(It’s) something that you can use in the field that gives immediate read out,” Aizenberg concluded. From quality control to encryption, W-Ink’s possibilities might even make James Bond’s “Q” jealous. Chemists, material scientists, electrical engineers and mechanical engineers all played roles in developing W-Ink. Ian says he’s already been contacted by companies interested in its liquid identifying capabilities.