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Archive for the ‘materials’ category: Page 156

Dec 16, 2021

What is Smart Clothing Technology and How Does it Work?

Posted by in categories: cyborgs, materials

Here are some of the most amazing advancements in fabric technology and smart fabrics.

Chain mail-based fabric for smart exoskeletons

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Dec 16, 2021

A New 0.4-MM-Thick ‘Paper Battery’ Can Power a Small Fan for 45 Minutes

Posted by in categories: energy, materials

The new zinc batteries are made up of electrodes that are screen-printed onto both sides of a sheet of hydrogel-reinforced cellulose paper. A layer of gold thin foil is coated on the electrodes to increase the conductivity of the battery. The battery is about 0.4mm thick, which is roughly the thickness of two strands of human hair.

Impressively, once the battery has reached the end of its lifespan, it can be buried in soil, where it will break down completely within a month.

Continue reading “A New 0.4-MM-Thick ‘Paper Battery’ Can Power a Small Fan for 45 Minutes” »

Dec 16, 2021

Russian Cosmonaut Makes Human Cartilage—With Magnets!—in Space

Posted by in categories: materials, space

Scientists aboard the International Space Station (ISS) have used magnetism as a gravity replacement in a biomanufacturing device that can make human cartilage tissue out of individual cells. The researchers say this isn’t just the first time a complex material has been assembled—it also represents an entire new field using magnets to “levitate” materials in zero-gravity environments.

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Dec 15, 2021

Wall-climbing HB1 robot can reduce workplace accidents

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

The HB1 has a 30m range from the ground but is potentially unlimited if the tether can be supplied from the roof. The robot can be equipped with different attachments such as a brush, robot arm, airless spray, concrete surveying equipment.

To ensure that the robot itself doesn’t fall, it had to undergo extensive electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing to make sure that fans, which essentially attach it to the surface, are functioning correctly.

Continue reading “Wall-climbing HB1 robot can reduce workplace accidents” »

Dec 13, 2021

Fecal Transplant Discovery Could Improve Care for Life-Threatening Infections

Posted by in categories: biotech/medical, materials

Findings suggest way to help patients heal from dangerous C. difficile.

New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine sheds light on why a fecal transplant can benefit patients with dangerous recurrent C. difficile infections – and suggests a way to improve patient outcomes.

C. difficile infection causes life-threatening diarrhea, and it often takes hold in patients in hospitals and nursing homes as a result of long-term antibiotic use. Doctors have known that fecal transplants – literally transplanting fecal material from a healthy person into the sick – can improve C. difficile outcomes, but they haven’t fully understood why. The new UVA research offers important answers.

Dec 13, 2021

Stiff Competition: Lab-Made Hexagonal Diamonds Stiffer Than Natural Cubic Diamonds

Posted by in categories: materials, physics

Nature’s strongest material now has some stiff competition. For the first time, researchers have hard evidence that human-made hexagonal diamonds are stiffer than the common cubic diamonds found in nature and often used in jewelry.

Named for their six-sided crystal structure, hexagonal diamonds have been found at some meteorite impact sites, and others have been made briefly in labs, but these were either too small or had too short of an existence to be measured.

Now scientists at Washington State University’s Institute for Shock Physics created hexagonal diamonds large enough to measure their stiffness using sound waves. Their findings are detailed in a recent paper in Physical Review B.

Dec 13, 2021

Upcoming Advances in Material Science

Posted by in categories: materials, science

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Dec 12, 2021

Samsung and IBM Could Break the Nanosheet Threshold in Chips With ‘Vertically Stacked Transistors’

Posted by in categories: computing, materials

This design can either double the performance of chips or reduce power use by 85%.

In May of 2021, we brought you a breakthrough in semiconductor materials that saw the creation of a chip that could push back the “end” of Moore’s Law and further widen the capability gap between China and U.S.-adjacent efforts in the field of 1-nanometer chips.

The breakthrough was accomplished in a joint effort, involving the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), National Taiwan University (NTU), and the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), which is the world’s largest contract manufacturer of advanced chips. At the core of the breakthrough was a process that employs semi-metal bismuth to allow for the manufacture of semiconductors below the 1-nanometer (nm) level.

Continue reading “Samsung and IBM Could Break the Nanosheet Threshold in Chips With ‘Vertically Stacked Transistors’” »

Dec 11, 2021

Shape Shifting Liquid Metal Could Revolutionize Robotics

Posted by in categories: materials, robotics/AI

https://youtube.com/watch?v=tcjmJavrOvI

From self-healing robots to reconfigurable electronic circuits, the applications of liquid metal are only limited by the imaginations of the scientists working with them. Let’s take a look at some of the latest revolutions, discoveries, and innovations in this material.

2D morphing metal

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Dec 11, 2021

Volvo’s New Display Screens Could Span the Entire Front Window

Posted by in categories: materials, transportation

Volvo’s recent investment in the Israeli startup Spectralics gives the Swedish company the opportunity to revolutionize the in-car user experience by turning the entire windshield into a heads-up display. According to the press release, the startup has a background in developing aerospace tech and is focused on developing better images. However, instead of working on just one aspect, the start-up is leveraging hardware, software, and even materials to improve the final product.

Of special interest to Volvo is the startup’s core product, multi-layered thin combiner (MLTC), a new type of optical film that can be applied on any type of surface or size. When applied to glass, it can be used to overlay images, making it an ideal candidate to make a full-scale heads-up display.

Car manufacturers have been tinkering with the idea of a windshield display for a few years now. While this is a great way to ensure that the driver does not take his eyes off the road, currently available displays are rather small, either due to cost constraints or to ensure that they do not become the cause of distraction.