Nano's Quicker Picker Upper

May 30, 2008

It seems crazy and careless, but this year alone, 200,000 tons of oil have been spilled at sea.Not only is the oil wasted, but it can devastate aquatic life. Cleanup is time-consuming (if it happens at all) and expensive. And there's definitely a market for it. This directory contains 1,000 oil spill contractors around the world. Good googa-mooga.

So, scientists are working on ways to improve cleanup. Today, Francesco Stellacci and his team from MIT announce that they've developed a reusable paper towel-like mat (bottom) made of a mesh of nanowires that can soak up 20 times it's weight in oil. And unlike other materials used to suck up oil from water, this product absorbs less water.

It's made from a spaghetti-like mat of potassium manganese oxide nanowires. Tiny pores in the wires soak up liquid, while a water-repellent coating ensures that just oil is absorbed. The material is also stable at high temperatures. This means that an oil-soaked sheet can be heated to remove the oil and then be used again.

See a video here.

Top photo: NOAA; bottom: MIT

Quiz: Buckyballs

May 28, 2008

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Photo: SMC Images/Getty

Autonomous Snowmobile Rovers Could Monitor Ice Shelves

If you've ever seen the movie "Touching the Void," you know that falling into a crevice is no picnic. But it's the kind of risk--among others--faced by scientists who study why and how ice shelves are melting. What's a researcher to do? Send in a robot, that's what, and preferably an inexpensive one.

So Ayanna Howard and her team at Georgia Tech and Penn State are working on autonomous snowmobile-like robots equipped with cameras and sensors that can monitor conditions such as temperature, wind speed, humidity, and solar energy reflecting off the snow and ice. Their SnoMote rovers have a new method of location and communication between them and represent the first kind of autonomous bots that can maneuver on ice and snow. The robots will work as a team, traversing potentially dangerous environments to collect data, which scientists will use to build computerized climate models.

If the motes look like toys, that's because they are. Howard and her team quickly realized that a toy snowmobile durable enough to withstand the rigors of play would work better than a rover built from scratch by engineers. So they're using the toys to test the systems. Eventually, the motes will have to be toughened up to endure the harsh arctic and antarctic climates.

Photo: Georgia Institute of Technology

Just Spray and Arrest

May 27, 2008

Okay. Maybe it won't be that easy. But a new spray-on explosive detector could make finding trace explosive particles easier to pinpoint. The spray, developed by biochemistry professor William Trogler and graduate student Jason Sanchez from UCSD, contains molecules that emit blue light when exposed to ultraviolet light. Nitrogen-based chemicals (like those found in TNT) block the blue. In short, if a bomb detection officer sprays the polymer on a surface, shines a light over it and sees certain parts blocked out, he knows that there's a good chance the nitrogen-based chemicals are present. And if the part that's blocked out happens to be hand-shaped, well, all the more incriminating.

Because the spray-on polymers glow under UV light, no special instruments are needed. The method is also more sensitive and cheaper than conventional detectors, which rely on sensors to detect airborne chemicals.

A US-based security company called RedXDefense has licensed the technology from UCSD.

Photo: Jason Sanchez/UCSD

Nanotech Has A Party Side

May 24, 2008

Nanotech is not all molecular machines and engineered enzymes. It let's down its hair once in a while. Think wine, for example, where nanotechnology could help make the beverage more reliably tasty.

The concept is in the cork. Bottle corks made from bark can suffer from a fungus that makes wine smell like the inside of a locker room. Synthetic corks are not subject to the fungus but allow too much oxygen into the bottle, which can oxidize the wine and make it smell like the inside of nail salon. Screw caps are another option and work well for white, but do not allow in enough oxygen for the reds. 

One solution could be a breathing screw cap, developed by UC Davis MBA student Tim Keller. His team's concept recently won first place in the university's annual Big Bang! Business Plan Competition. The design incorporates a liner made of alternating layers of thin, vented metal and porous polymer. And unlike corks or caps, this cap can be customized to let in specifics amounts of oxygen, depending on the wine variety.

Illustration: Courtesy of Advanced Enological Closures

Quiz

May 21, 2008

 
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For more about what this is, see here.

Jumping Robot a Grasshopper Contender

Yesterday I wrote about a dragonfly-inspired robot. Today I'm pointing you toward one inspired by grasshoppers. While it doesn't look like the insect, it does have long legs and a spring in its step. Literally. This guy weighs just 7 grams, and can jump ten times farther for its size and weight than any existing jumping robot. Like all mobile robots, this one could be used to explore terrain otherwise inaccessible to humans. And because it's tiny, it could be released in a cloud of compatriots, ala locusts, to swarm an area for inspection. The lil jumpers are fun to watch, too.

Photo: EPFL

Robot Reveals Dragonfly Flight

May 20, 2008

Are four wings better than two? After all the dragonfly has been slicing, and then breaking into a hover, then slicing again (sometimes backward) with quadruple force for 300 million years. Previous studies have said no, that air motion between the pair of fore and hind wings reduces lift.

But research from UK's Royal Veterinary College and the University of Ulm have shown otherwise. Using a robot that simulates dragonfly flight, they found that although flying with two pairs of wings does not offer any advantages for lift, it can improve aerodynamics. When the fore and hind wings are phased just right, the lower wings recover energy from the wing tips that would otherwise swirl away in the waste of a wake.

Dragonflies don't have to be told what makes their flight aerodynamic. But what scientists learn from these agile insects could be one day applied to micro air vehicles.

The paper is here. And you can see video of the robot here.

Still Can't Comprehend the Size of a Nanotube?

Here's a great image to help you out.

The tiny squiggles are a network of electrically charged carbon nanotubes. The thick chunk overlaying them is a single human hair. The image was taken using a scanning electron microscope, so the color information color was added artificially.

Credit: J. Chech/Science Foto/Getty

Where BarMcHill Stands on Technology

May 15, 2008

Technology Review magazine has a great piece online that sums up where Barack, Hillary, and John all stand on technology--specifically the areas of net neutrality, broadband, privacy, stem cell research, global warming, and biofuels.

I was disappointed to find out that Barack and Hillary both support corn ethanol subsidies. I really don't think that's a great energy solution. And I was not surprised to learn that McCain describes himself as computer illiterate.

Photo credits: Barack Obama: AP Photo/Paul Sancya; John McCain: AP Photo/Kichiro Sato; Hillary Clinton: AP Photo/Steve Helber