I Called It! The Winner of the American Solar Challenge

July 31, 2008

So I was sitting minding my own business, typing emails and what not, when I saw Jeff Ferman's Gchat icon pop up as green, meaning he was online. If you remember, I did an IM interview with Jeff back in mid-July to talk about how his solar car team from the University of Michigan was gearing up for another win in the American Solar Challenge. (I also ran a slide show of all of the 15 solar car teams.) So I ping him via Gchat. Here's how it went:

4:30 PM me: did you guys win?

4:31 PM Jeff: yup we did

4:32 PM me: that's awesome. congrats! Is there news of it anywhere? I didn't see anything

 Jeff: there should be some - i have seen quite a bit

4:33 PM me: probably just wasn't looking in the right places

 Jeff: ah ya, there was a bit less than I would have thought

 we started to link to it from our blog on a thread from a media post

4:34 PM me: What was your time?

 Jeff: 51:41:53

 about 10 hrs ahead of second place

4:36 PM me: wowsers. congrats again!

4:38 PM Jeff: thank you very much

So there you have it. Turns out I interviewed the winner all along. Go figure!

Marine Worm Jaws Inspire New Aerospace Materials

July 29, 2008

Many researchers look to nature for design inspiration. For example, those working on micro air vehicles look to insects such as dragonflies; those working on climbing robots or adhesives look to the gecko lizard; and those working on making water-repellent or super clean surfaces look to the lotus plant.

So it shouldn't be a surprise, then, to hear that a worm has inspired scientists to consider new ways of making aerospace materials. But frankly it is. Especially from one that is as creepy-looking as this sandworm.

But truth be told, this little guy, Nereis virens, has a fang-like jaw that, in addition to helping it burrow into sediment, could serve as a model for a new class of super-strong, lightweight materials.

The scientists found that the creature's jaws are made up mostly of protein (about 90 percent). But it also contains a unique protein rich in the amino acid histidine as well as zinc, which works to strongly connect the proteins together. The bonds makes the jaw material three times harder and stiffer than any plastic we have now.

If we can copy the formula, say the scientists, we might be able to develop strong, lightweight materials for airplanes or spacecraft.

The Week of Tech (According to Me)

July 25, 2008

July 18 / New Scientist
People Power is New Weapon Against Olympic Terrorism
Q: How many people does it take to protect the Olympics from a terrorist attack? A: 15 million. Well, that's probably overkill. But if you can heighten the awareness of millions of people, you may get more leads on possible terrorists. Or you may just work up a big crowd into a paranoid frenzy.

July 18 / Wired
The Dark Knight: 'Where Does He Get Those Wonderful Toys?'
Batman is a gadget freakazoid. He's got every high-tech gizmo you could ever hope to by on E-Bay. I'm gonna wait until the prices comes down.

July 19 / The New York Times
Sweeping Panoramas, Courtesy of a Robot
This robot repeatedly clicks a camera shutter in order to take hundreds of overlapping images from a variety of different angles. When combined into one big panoramic image, the high-res result is a one gigapixel shot. The benefit? Useful detail without the finger cramps.

July 21 / Discovery News
Could A Contact Lens Save Your Vision?
Now contact lenses correct eyesight. But soon, they fix medical problems such as glaucoma by administering medication.

July 21 / Guardian
Solve It
How to chat to people with different instant messaging applications.

July 21 / Xconomy
30 Startup Ideas from Y Combinator
From the category of "tech that hasn't been invented yet," here's a list of technologies that fill a need. If only they existed.

July 22 / The New York Times
If You Have a Problem, Ask Everyone
This web site capitalizes on the human nature to give advice. Only this place pays dividends.

July 22 / IEEE Specturm
Why Microwave Auditory Effect Crowd-Control Gun Won't Work
Well, now here's a way to control a big crowd (maybe those paranoid Olympic attendees?): fry 'em with a microwave auditory gun.

July 22 / Technology Trends
First Paper-Based Transistors
Portuguese researchers have created the first paper-based transistors. The advance could lead to disposable electronics devices, such as paper displays, smart labels and RFID tags.

July 23 / Guardian
Solar Power from Saharan Sun Could Provide Europe's Electricity, Says EU
Africa has so many natural resources: gold, diamonds, oil. And now scientist are saying that just a small part of the continent could generate enough solar energy to supply Europe with electricity.

July 23 / Technology Review
A Concrete Fix to Global Warming
A new process stores carbon dioxide in precast concrete.

July 23 / Wired
Intel CEO Calls for 10 Million Plug-In Conversions within Four Years
Andy Grove's called for 10 million vehicles to be converted to plug-in hybrids within four years and laid out some ideas to help get us there.

July 24 / Discovery News
Power From Poop: Putting Manure to Use
Methane from manure could supply more than 2 percent of the country's electricity needs.

Carbon Nanotubes Net Make Bendable Circuits

July 24, 2008

If you want computers with flexible displays or cheap solar cells that can cover any surface, then you need circuits that can bend and flex.

For a while, researchers have been looking at using carbon nanotubes as semiconductors, crisscrossing them in a netlike pattern. But during the process of making nanotubes, roughly one-third of them become metallic. The metal tubelike structures link together in threads that eventually meander across the width of the transistor and can cause a short circuit.

Now researchers at Purdue University have found a way to avoid this inherent flaw. In short, they engineered the carbon nanotubes to a particular length and arranged the layout of the tubes so that they are oriented along the overall direction of the path of electrons. This reducing the likelihood that the metal threads with link together in a long path across the transistor.

The researchers created a flexible circuit containing more than 100 transistors, the largest nanonet ever produced. The findings will be detailed in a research paper appearing in the July 24 issue of Nature.

The ability to use carbon nanotubes as transistors means that researchers can start building out flexible circuits. Those could lead to flexible displays that can be rolled up for shipping or storage, for example, or electronic skin on a vehicle, building or bridge that monitors flaws or cracks. It could also give us  electronic paper or solar cells that can be printed on plastic sheets, making them more inexpensive than rigid solar panels.

Kevlar Now Fights Germs

July 23, 2008

Kevlar fabrics, which are widely used for fire-resistant and bullet-proof clothing, may now protect emergency workers against one more threat: bioterrorism.

Researchers report in the recent issue of Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research that they've found a way to coat Kevlar with a potent substance, acyclic N-Halamine, that can kill infectious agents, including bacteria, viruses and the spores that cause anthrax.

In experiments with the germ-fighting substance, the researchers demonstrated that dangerous microorganisms stuck to uncoated Kevlar coated but did not adhere to coated Kevlar.

The coating is long-lasting, can be reactivated, and does not cause any loss of fabric comfort or strength, they add.

Since emergency workers are typically the first people to the scene of a catastrophe and are usually wearing Kevlar materials anyway, embedding the fabrics with an extra layer of protection is just common sense.

Image: Courtesy of the American Chemical Society

Atom-Fusing Laser, Robotic Jellyfish, Invisibility Carpet, A Pregnancy Gene and More

July 18, 2008

These are the coolest tech stories I discovered this past week.

July 12 / The New York Times
Can’t Find a Parking Spot? Check Smartphone
If you live a big city, then you know what it's like to drive around and around looking for that elusive parking spot. But starting this fall, San Franciscans will be in for a treat. The city is testing the use of wireless sensors that will communicate to street signs or a smartphone the availability of free spaces. Now just don't run anyone over trying to get the spot first.

July 13 / Guardian
Doctors Rage At Being Rated Online
As a big fan of AngiesList and Yelp, I'm all for a Web site that will allow patients to rate their doctors online. Isn't it all about referrals anyway? And health care is a service for which we pay big bucks. So suck it up, GPs, and get with the times.

July 15 / Discovery News
Giant Laser in the Works to Achieve Fusion
Wouldn't Dr. Evil love this "laser?" It can't blow up the planet, but at 10 stories tall and 400 feet long, it will create enough heat and pressure to fuse atoms and create helium. The reaction will release massive amounts of environmentally friendly energy and enough helium to keep us all talking about it with high squeaky voices.

July 15 / New Scientist
Dirt-Repelling Tube Promises Cheap, Pure Water
Man, we've really messed up the world's water supply. Most of it can't be consumed without being purified first, and that's not good for people living in developing worlds. But a a new way of purifying water could offer a simple solution. The technique uses a material that naturally attracts water while at the same time repelling impurities.

July 15 / BBC
The Importance of Being There
You have to really not like your surroundings (or yourself?) to prefer a virtual world over reality. But even still, VR environments have a long way to go before they will supplant this world, says regular columnist Bill Thompson.

July 16 / Wired
Obama Wages Cyberwar
Even though the Bush administration has initiated a $30 billion effort to beef up cyber security, Obama says its too little too late.

July 16 / Popular Science
Robotic Jellyfish Just Like the Real Thing, But Without the Sting
Sure, it's great that the AquaJelly has sensors, a short-range radio system, LEDs for illumination and communication and is coated with conductive metal paint that helps it connect with a nearby charging station, but I think they're dern pretty and I sure wish I had one. Hint hint.

July 16 / Wired
Army Wants 'Psychologically Inspired' Robot Vision
Robots score a big "duh" when it comes to vision. They just can't see the world we do. That's why the Army has put out an APB for a "psychologically inspired object recognition system." But do we really want robots seeing the world through our eyes? What if they notice what a bunch of doofuses we are?

July 17 / Discovery News
Invisible Carpet Idea Close to Actual Invisibility
Invisibility cloaks are great for hiding giant spaceships, but an invisibility carpet is just way more practical. Scientists have created a material that can hide objects in visible light. My question: If we can't see it, how will we know it's working? (See what I mean about being a doofus.)

July 17 / Popular Science
A Gene for Baby Makin’
This could put an end to birth control pills, foams and devices and eliminate the need for testicle snipping. Scientists have located the gene that both regulates and blocks ovulation.

July 17 / Wired
Why China's Olympian Efforts to Clean Up Beijing's Air Won't Work.
China is doing a bunch of stuff to clean up the air in time for the Olympics. Smoking bans, traffic bans and turning off power plants to name of few. But it might not make any difference.

Photo: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Hydrogen Made Cheaply

July 16, 2008

Hydrogen as a fuel could be a godsend to the economy, if someone could just figure out a way to make it cheaply and in a way that doesn't use up more energy than it creates.

Researchers at Penn State think they've found a solution. It relies on water, solar energy and nanotubes.

The process -- developed by Craig Grimes, professor of electrical engineering, and his his team -- starts with a diode that has two sides, each made from one of twoa commonly found elements: titanium and copper. Both are used to make nanotube arrays (see illustration).

It doesn't look like it, but the device works similar to a leaf. Whereas leaves take in sunlight and CO2 and convert it into usable energy, this so-called photoelectrochemical diode takes in sunlight and water to produce usable energy in the form of hydrogen gas.

It occurs through a chemical reaction between water and the sun, which is ignited by the nanotube arrays. On the one side, titanium and sunlight work to break oxygen free of water, the remaining hydrogen ion diffuses to the copper side where it is matched with an electron, forming gaseous hydrogen. 

What's cool is that the process doesn't require electricity, which is typically made by coal-fired plants, defeating the purpose.

When Government Corruption, Distortion and Censorship of Science is Funny

July 15, 2008

Normally I write about nanotech and robots but today I couldn't resist blogging about cartoons. The Union of Concerned Scientists is running its Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon Contest and not only are the cartoons funny, you can vote on the one that is your favorite. There are 12 to chose from. This is one of them.

According to Meghan Crosby, press secretary at the the UCS, this is the third year the contest has been going on. It was started "to draw attention to the censoring, manipulating, and distorting of science by political appointees on issues from public health to global warming.

For more on the UCS Scientific Integrity program go here.

Image: Peter Hess
 

Nanotube Motor Powered by Electron Wind

July 14, 2008

You have to be really small to feel this breeze in your face, but the innovation is cool nonetheless.

Steven Bailey and colleagues from Lancaster University have created both a nanomotor (a) and a nanodrill (b) that could work as tiny motors in nanosized machines. Both rely on electrons, which travel between the two ends points -- either gold to gold or gold to mercury.

The electrons move when a voltage is applied and create a wind that is capable of spinning the rotor
up to 8,000 meters per second.

The nanomotor could be used as a switch in nanoscale magnetic memory devices; the nanodrill could work as a pump in a tiny device filled with fluid.

The team describe their work in the journal Physical Review Letters.

The Week (According to Me)

July 13, 2008

Bionic humans, crowdsourcing the flu vaccine, lemony socks and solar concentrators. These are the coolest tech related stories I read this past week.

July 4 / Guardian
2b or Not 2b
Language is like life. It evolves. Get over it and stop fretting so darn much over whether text messaging will destroy linguistics. In fact, according to professor David Crystal, it improves children's writing and spelling.

July 4 / New Scientist
Do We Have the Technology to Build a Bionic Human?
Scientist can engineer organs, bones, retinas and much, much more. (Yet they still haven't found a way to prevent baldness. Huh.)

July 4 / Guardian
It's the Screens, Not the Internet, That are Making Us Stupid
We may be reading less, but we're staring at computer screens way more. It's enough to give you a stupid headache.

July 7 / Roland Piquepaille's Technology Trends
Lemon-Filled Odorless Socks
What's better: socks that smell like citrus? Or those that smell like cheese? You make the call.

July 7 / Wired
Researchers Track Disease With Google News, Google.org Money
What year is it now? 2008. Right. To World Health Organization: Welcome to the age of the Interwebosphere. Finally, you've put together a website that can be used to track new disease outbreaks.

July 9 / Webmonkey
Yahoo’s New ‘Build Your Own’ Search Engine Nips at Google’s Lead
Yikes. Yahoo has a new open source initiative that could allow outside web developers to hack into the company's search engine code to produce customized results and mashups. Yahoo is doing it to compete with search engine giant, Google. Will David defeat Goliath? Duh, duh, duh, duh (dramatic music). Stay tuned.

July 9 / Wired
Nanotubes Hold Promise for Next-Generation Computing
It's carbon nanotube this and carbon nanotube that. Blah, blah, blah. It's all lab talk. Show me the money, man.

July 9 / New York Times
Designing Cars for Low-Carbon Chic
Lighter and sleeker automatically improve gas mileage without even tinkering with the engine. Not only that, but these kinds of cars will just look cool.

July 10 / Discovery News
Implant Designed to Shrink Waistline
Wouldn't an implant for the waistline, by definition, make the midsection bigger? Au, contraire, Monfraire. This one quells hunger pangs and the desire to feed one's pie hole.

July 10 / Super Duper Sustainable Tech
Solar-Powered Home, No Panels Needed
Special dyes designed to capture specific spectrums of sunlight could turn regular old windows into  solar-harnessing power panels. That's genius-level thinking, guys.

July 10 / Wired
Crowdsourcing the Flu Vaccine
More words about how the internet (via data sharing and networking) could help health workers develop a better flu vaccine.

July 10 / IEEE Spectrum
Our First Electric Cars May Be Trucks
Personally, I'd like an electric scooter, but more fuel-efficient trucks could sure help bring those food prices down.