Lifeboat Foundation

Researchers have created a new class of materials called “glassy gels” that are very hard and difficult to break despite containing more than 50% liquid. Coupled with the fact that glassy gels are simple to produce, the material holds promise for a variety of applications.

Gels and glassy polymers are classes of materials that have historically been viewed as distinct from one another. Glassy polymers are hard, stiff and often brittle. They’re used to make things like water bottles or airplane windows. Gels – such as contact lenses – contain liquid and are soft and stretchy.

“We’ve created a class of materials that we’ve termed glassy gels, which are as hard as glassy polymers, but – if you apply enough force – can stretch up to five times their original length, rather than breaking,” says Michael Dickey, corresponding author of a paper on the work and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at North Carolina State University. “What’s more, once the material has been stretched, you can get it to return to its original shape by applying heat. In addition, the surface of the glassy gels is highly adhesive, which is unusual for hard materials.”

Bismuth being used this way can lead to flying cars or spacecraft face_with_colon_three

The nuclear magnetic resonance in bismuth metal powder has been observed from 9 to 19 Mc/sec at 4.2\ifmmode^\circ\else\textdegree\fi{}K. The isotropic and anisotropic Knight shifts and the quadrupole coupling constant have been determined as (−1.25\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}.30)%, (−0.3\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.3)%, and 2.10\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}.05 Mc/sec, respectively. The intrinsic linewidth was found to be 130\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}20 kc/sec. A technique is developed to take into consideration the broadening of the observed lines due to the combined effects of the magnetic dipolar broadening and the width due to the quadrupolar splitting of each line.

A Cincinnati-based aerospace company has successfully represented a new, cutting-edge hypersonic dual-mode ramjet. The engine could enable high-speed flight and longer range across numerous multi-mission aircraft.

GE Aerospace took 11 months to develop the ramjet, which could increase in airflow compared to previously flight-tested hypersonic technology demonstrators.

“The rapid progression from design to testing underscores our commitment to driving innovation in hypersonic technologies,” said Amy Gowder, president and CEO of Defense & Systems at GE Aerospace.

Xpeng looks to be following in Tesla’s footsteps for its upcoming vehicle release.

Musk seemed to acknowledge the issue, though he also hinted at upcoming improvements to FSD’s highway performance. “12.5.x will finally combine the city and highway software stacks,” Musk wrote.

This is not the first time that Elon Musk mentioned a single FSD stack for both inner city and highway driving. Back in May, Musk estimated that FSD V12.5 should be out in late June, and the update should see some notable improvements.

CEO Elon Musk teased it in April for the first time, and it was set to bring unprecedented momentum to the company’s years of development of Full Self-Driving and fully autonomous driving technologies.

However, Tesla is not quite ready to roll out the Robotaxi prototypes.

First reported by Bloomberg, Tesla is said to need more time to build the first units of the Robotaxi. Because it is built upon the automaker’s next-generation platform, which is to blame for the company’s lack of growth in 2024, more development is needed.

A self-driving lab system spent half a year engineering enzymes to work at higher temperatures.

Researchers have created tiny, vehiclelike structures which can be maneuvered by microscopic algae. The algae are caught in baskets attached to the micromachines, which have been carefully designed to allow them enough room to continue swimming. Two types of vehicles were created: the “rotator,” which spins like a wheel, and the “scooter,” which was intended to move in a forward direction but in tests moved more surprisingly.

The research has been published in Small (“Harnessing the Propulsive Force of Microalgae with Microtrap to Drive Micromachines”).

The team is planning to try different and more complex designs for their next vehicles. In the future, these mini algae teams could be applied to assist with micro-level environmental engineering and research.

Researchers have created tiny, vehiclelike structures which can be maneuvered by microscopic algae. The algae are caught in baskets attached to the micromachines, which have been carefully designed to allow them enough room to continue swimming. Two types of vehicles were created: the “rotator,” which spins like a wheel, and the “scooter,” which was intended to move in a forward direction but in tests moved more surprisingly. The team is planning to try different and more complex designs for their next vehicles. In the future, these mini algae teams could be applied to assist with micro-level environmental engineering and research.

You’ve likely heard of horsepower, but how about algae power? Like a sled drawn by a team of dogs or a plough pulled by oxen, researchers have created microscopic machines which can be moved by lively, tiny, single-celled green algae.

“We were inspired to try and harness Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, a very common algae found all over the world, after being impressed by its swift and unrestricted swimming capabilities,” said Naoto Shimizu, a student from the Graduate School of Information Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo (at the time of the study), who initiated the project. “We’ve now shown that these algae can be trapped without impairing their mobility, offering a new option for propelling micromachines which could be used for engineering or research purposes.”