Bee Sniffing Technology Detects Dangerous Vapours

As far back as 1999, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Controlled Biological Systems Program funded a bee-training program to detect buried landmines, so that many thousands of acres of the world's land could be productively farmed without encountering landmines the ugly way.

A bee's natural instinct is to extend its proboscis when it encounters a desirable odour, anticipating the taste of a flower, let's say. But the bees used in the 1999 DARPA experiment were trained, via classical Pavlovian conditioning, to respond to the odour of TNT instead. Their reward when they responded with a Proboscis Extension Reflex (PER), was a taste of sweet syrup. Then, trainers attached small diodes onto the backs of TNT-trained bees and used handheld radar tracking devices to chart where the bees went.

Inscentinal Ltd. has been working on developing very unique sensing instruments that couple the biological performance of honeybees with the technology to translate bee response into an electronic response. Inscentanil's first proprietary design is a hand held device called the VASOR136, a trace vapour detection unit that is very versatile.

The VASOR136 contains 36 cartridges each containing one bee. Filtered in by a standard gas mask cartridge is a constant supply of clean air. When an operator presses a button on the VASOR, an air sample is taken from the environment that exposes the bees to ambient, unfiltered air. If the bees have been trained to respond to a vapour in that air, the bees will exhibit a PER response and the response will be translated by the VASOR into a simple result shown on the PDA screen display.

Read more at: http://www.physorg.com/news188894292.html

Scientist Says Blowing Bubbles Could Cool the Earth

Earth Cooling Bubbles

As anyone who has ever left an open can of soda out too long knows, some things are just better with a little fizz, and the world's oceans may be no exception. One physicist from Harvard University thinks that he's found a solution that may help curb the rate of global warming--and it comes in the form of tiny bubbles pumped into our planets water sources. Such microscopic bubbles, says the scientist, act as "mirrors made of air," reflecting sunlight from the water, generating a cooling effect that could be quite dramatic.

According to a report from Science, micro-bubbles are a naturally occurring phenomenon, and their 'undershine' already contributes to tiny fraction of the total amount of sunlight reflected back to space. The physicist, Russell Seitz, believes that pumping more bubbles into oceans will increase the reflectivity enough to cool the planet considerably - all without further damaging aquatic ecosystems.

Read more at: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/03/scientist-says-blowing-bubbles-could-cool-the-earth.php

New Materials Inspired Spider Webs

New Materials Inspired by Water-Catching Properties of Spider Webs

Based on their research Lei Jiang and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing created an artificial silk that mimics the water collecting abilities of natural webs. Whilst much is known about the strength of webs the scientists were keen to probe the lesser known ability of spider silk to capture and hold onto rain and morning dew – a mechanism that saves a spider from having to find a water source.

Using a powerful scanning electron microscope and a light microscope the team studied how the spider silk changes its structure when it becomes soaked in water vapour.
At the nanoscale dry spider silk resembles a necklace-like structure. It is formed from hydrophilic knots of silk connected by smooth and slender stretches known as joints. When water condenses on these knots they shrink into densely packed structures that are shaped like spindles. Moist droplets that hang from the spaces in between are drawn toward their nearest spindle-knot, where they gather in larger droplets. The difference in texture between the rough knots and the smooth joints aids the water movement.

Following this research Jiang’s team fabricated fibers that copied these properties. To do this artificial silks were formed by coating nylon fibers with poly(methylmethacrylate)/N,N-dimethylformamide-ethanol, which dries in tiny knots just like those in real spider silk. “Our artificial spider silk not only mimics the structure of wet-rebuilt spider silk but also its directional water collection capability,” the scientists claim.

The new material could be used to upgrade fog-catching nets such as those deployed in the coastal Andes that are providing people with water that they otherwise don't have access to. If the technology is commercialized it could be of great to benefit to communities living in rain-starved areas of the world.

Genetically Engineered Tadpoles glow to indicate Pollution

Genetically Engineered Glowing Tadpoles Detect Pollution

A new environmental monitoring system. Tadpoles have been genetically engineered to express a protein that lights up like a fairground in the presence of pollutants.

Researchers in France and a University of Wyoming professor have developed an innovative application of the technology by genetically engineering tadpoles to monitor heavy metal pollution in water. The system offers a way of rapidly detecting the physiological effects of environmental pollutants and is cheaper and more convenient than traditional means.

In this new approach African clawed frog tadpoles (Xenopus laevis) are modified with jellyfish genes so that they fluoresce when exposed to toxins. They light up in response to dosages that could be harmful to a human, and can indicate the presence of several different types of chemicals at the same time. Some tadpoles have been engineered to glow in the presence of metals, and others in response to plastics.

The scientists involved in this project are already looking to future applications for their tadpole technology. They believe the genetically engineered animals could be deployed to detect toxins in food. Foodstuffs could be turned into liquid and put into the aquarium.

In addition, future genetically engineered tadpoles could fluoresce different colors depending on the pollution they encounter. This requires genes that fluoresce different colors such as some coral genes that glow red.

Read more at: http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/12/28/engineered-glowing-tadpoles-detect-pollution.html

Office A4 Sheets into toilet roll in half an hour

Turn waste office paper into toilet paper

While many environmentalists hope that we can eventually have a paperless office, one company in Japan has developed a machine that shreds paper and then converts the waste into readily usable toilet paper.

The process requires you to add water, and it requires about 30 minutes to thin out the paper and generate one roll of toilet paper. This 'TP' looks far from snuggly soft, but it's undeniably a significant step towards a greener office space. The entire process is automated, so it's definitely a big convenience.

The 'White Goat' as it's called is not a contraption that you're likely to squeeze under your desk however. It's mammoth size (1.8m tall and 600kg) would definitely be a better fit in your server room if you have one.

It's set to go on sale this summer in Japan for a price of about US$100,000.

Check out the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i51zo3LA70U&feature=player_embedded

Read more at: http://www.gizmag.com/waste-paper-in-toilet-paper-out/14048/

Micro-ear to evesdrop on bacteria

Micro-ear lets scientists eavesdrop on the micro-world

Acting as a microscope for sound, a new device called a micro-ear could make objects on the micro-scale audible. The device could enable scientists to listen to the sounds that cells and bacteria make as they move about, as well as listen to micro-scale events such as how drugs interact with microorganisms.

"We are now using the sensitivity afforded by the optical tweezer as a very sensitive microphone," said Jon Cooper from the University of Glasgow, who is heading the micro-ear project.

While optical tweezers work by suspending tiny electrically-charged beads in a single beam of laser light, the micro-ear concept consists of several of these light beams arranged in a ring in order to surround and eavesdrop on a tiny object. Sound emitted from the object causes the beads suspended in the light to vibrate, and these vibrations can be measured by a high-speed camera.

The scientists have already used the micro-ear to listen to Brownian motion - the random movement of particles in a fluid. They also plan to use the device to listen to bacterial flagella, the tail-like motors that propel bacteria through their environments. Currently, in order to study the movement of flagella, scientists have to genetically engineer bacteria to enable beads to be stuck to their flagella, and observe the beads with a camera. The micro-ear will hopefully make it possible to observe natural bacteria in a non-invasive way.

Read more at: http://www.physorg.com/news186426510.html

Chocolate-Powered Race Car Made Out of Vegetables

The Edible Race Car
If it's impossible for a race car to be "good" for the environment, maybe it can at least be a little friendlier. Meet the WorldFirst F3 project, a Formula 3 race car developed at England's University of Warwick: it has carrot fibers in its steering wheel, potato starch in its side mirrors and cashew-nut shells in its brake pads. The whole thing runs on a biodiesel mix of chocolate and vegetable oil.

In a small effort to make the car even greener than it already is, the designers coated the radiator in a substance that converts ozone emissions into oxygen

Read more: http://www.lolacars.com/newsstory.asp?NewsId=53

The official website: http://www.worldfirstracing.co.uk/

Spiderweb Silk

Spiderweb Silk
Spiders spin webs with a stretchy material that's stronger than steel and far more flexible. But attempts to use the creepy crawlers for making fabrics have had little success — until now. This year British textiles expert Simon Peers and American fashion designer Nicholas Godley unveiled an 11-ft.-long (3.4 m) spider-silk cloth made in Madagascar. Creating it wasn't easy. Each day 70 people collected thousands of golden orb spiders. Workers carefully spooled out the saffron-hued filament from each spider before releasing it. All told, the feat took four years, half a million dollars and more than a million spiders — and, yes, they sometimes bite.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113223398

See the unveiling: http://blip.tv/play/AYGj1hYC

Wooden Bone

New Artificial Bone Made of Wood
A new procedure to turn blocks of wood into artificial bones has been developed by Italian scientists, who plan to implant them into large animals, and eventually humans.

Wood-derived bone substitute should allow live bones to heal faster and more securely after a break than currently available metal and ceramic implants.

The researchers chose wood because it closely resemble the physical structure of natural bone, "which is impossible to reproduce with conventional processing technology."

"Our purpose is to convert native wood structures into bioactive, inorganic compounds destined to substitute portions of bone," said Anna Tampieri, a scientist at the Instituto Di Scienza E Techologia Dei Materiali Ceramici in Italy.

To create the bone substitute, the scientists start with a block of wood -- red oak, rattan and sipo work best -- and heat it until all that remains is pure carbon, which is basically charcoal.

The scientists then spray calcium over the carbon, creating calcium carbide. Additional chemical and physical steps convert the calcium carbide into carbonated hydroxyapatite, which can then be implanted and serves as the artificial bone.

The entire process takes about one week and costs about $850 for a single block. One block translates to about one bone implant.

Read more at: http://news.discovery.com/tech/artificial-bone-made-wood.html

Leaf Log

British inventor's green idea of using leaves to make fire logs
An inventor has come up with a new green fuel - logs made from leaves. With one million tonnes of leaves falling from British trees every year, Peter Morrison decided to harness the waste and turn it into energy. By collecting and compacting the dead matter, his company has turned them into environmentally-friendly ‘logs’ to burn in open fires and wood stoves.

The logs, said to be 70 per cent carbon neutral, are also being considered by bosses of a major power station to cut their carbon emissions. Each log, weighing 2lb 10oz, is made from about a binliner-full of leaves. It generates more heat than wood and burns for longer.

Now the company - BioFuels International Limited (BIFL) - has started supplying the 11in-long logs, which burn for about three hours, to shops such as B&Q. Mr Morrison says that as well as being cleaner and greener than burning wood or coal, the leaf logs are very efficient, creating 28,000 kilojoules of energy compared to 29,000 produced by the finest grade coal. The leaves come from parks across the Heart of England. After being harvested by the likes of Birmingham City Council, Walsall Borough Council, Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council and the University of Birmingham, BIFL collects the leaves and turn them into logs.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1226943/British-inventors-green-idea-using-leaves-make-logs.html#ixzz0XH5CBXL1

Virtually waterless laundry cleaning

"virtually waterless" laundry cleaning:

Now a new process is becoming available that can use as little as a cup of water and use a different sort of detergent. The next generation Eco friendly washing machine which could reduce the water usage by 90 %, this technology is developed by researchers at Leeds University, which is home to one of the UK’s most advanced textile institutes, they have established a company called Xeros Ltd to marked this laundry cleaning technology.

This technology cleans clothes using reusable nylon polymer beads with an inherent polarity that attracts stains. According to them the tiny nylon polymer beads are designed to gently but fully penetrate into a large wash load. Only a small amount of water is required to dampen the garments, loosen stains and create the water vapor that activates the “molecular magic” of the beads. The beads are then tumbled with the clothes, allowing the polarizing properties of polymer to attract and absorb dirt. Once diffused into the bead itself, stains are locked away from the garment, preventing redeposition, after washing completes this beads are automatically removed by the machine, this beads could last for about 100 loads adequate for the six months of average family usage.

Company plans to launch this laundry cleaning technology by 2010

Read more at: http://inspiredeconomist.com/2009/06/26/virtually-waterless-laundry-washing-machine/

Plasmobot: Scientists begin design on first robot using mould

Scientists begin design on first robot using mould
Researchers have received a Leverhulme Trust grant to develop the amorphous non-silicon biological robot, plasmobot, using plasmodium, the a commonly occurring mould which lives in forests, gardens and most damp places in the UK. The Leverhulme Trust funded research project aims to design the first every fully biological (no silicon components) amorphous massively-parallel robot.

Professor Adamatzky explains, “Most people's idea of a computer is a piece of hardware with software designed to carry out specific tasks. This mould, or plasmodium, is a naturally occurring substance with its own embedded intelligence. It propagates and searches for sources of nutrients and when it finds such sources it branches out in a series of veins of protoplasm. The plasmodium is capable of solving complex computational tasks, such as the shortest path between points and other logical calculations. Through previous experiments we have already demonstrated the ability of this mould to transport objects. By feeding it oat flakes, it grows tubes which oscillate and make it move in a certain direction carrying objects with it. We can also use light or chemical stimuli to make it grow in a certain direction.

“This new plasmodium robot, called plasmobot, will sense objects, span them in the shortest and best way possible, and transport tiny objects along pre-programmed directions. The robots will have parallel inputs and outputs, a network of sensors and the number crunching power of super computers. The plasmobot will be controlled by spatial gradients of light, electro-magnetic fields and the characteristics of the substrate on which it is placed. It will be a fully controllable and programmable amorphous intelligent robot with an embedded massively parallel computer.”

Read more at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/08/090827073256.htm

Flow Sensors Based on Hair Structures of Blind Cavefish

Researchers Develop Flow Sensors Based on Hair Structures of Blind Cavefish:

A blind fish that has evolved a unique technique for sensing motion may inspire a new generation of sensors that perform better than current active sonar.
Although members of the fish species Astyanax fasciatus cannot see, they sense their environment and the movement of water around them with gel-covered hairs that extend from their bodies. Their ability to detect underwater objects and navigate through their lightless environment inspired a group of researchers to mimic the hairs of these blind cavefish in the laboratory.

While the fish use these hairs to detect obstacles, avoid predators and localize prey, researchers believe the engineered sensors they are developing could have a variety of underwater applications, such as port security, surveillance, early tsunami detection, autonomous oil rig inspection, autonomous underwater vehicle navigation, and marine research.

Vladimir Tsukruk and graduate students Michael McConney and Kyle Anderson conducted preliminary experiments with a simple artificial hair cell microsensor. “After covering the hair cell with synthetic cupula, our bio-inspired microsensor had the ability to detect flow better than the blind fish. The fish can detect flow slower than 100 micrometers per second, but our system demonstrated flow detection of several micrometers per second”, said Tsukruk.

Read more at: http://www.gtresearchnews.gatech.edu/newsrelease/blind-cavefish.htm

Earthquake resistant design for buildings

New design keeps buildings standing and habitable after major earthquakes

A new earthquake-resistant structural system for buildings, just successfully tested in Japan, will not only help a multi-story building hold itself together during a violent earthquake, but also return it to standing up straight on its foundation afterward, true and plumb, with damage confined to a few easily replaceable parts.

The team that designed the system was led by researchers at Stanford University and the University of Illinois. During testing on a massive shake table, the system survived simulated earthquakes in excess of magnitude 7, bigger than either the 1994 Northridge earthquake or the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California.

"This new structural system has the potential to make buildings far more damage resistant and easier to repair, so people could reoccupy buildings a lot faster after a major earthquake than they can now," said Greg Deierlein, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford, who led the team that designed the new system.

The system dissipates energy through the movement of steel frames that are situated around the building's core or along exterior walls. The frames can be part of a building's initial design or could be incorporated into an existing building undergoing seismic retrofitting. They are economically feasible to build, as all the materials employed are commonly used in construction today and all the parts can be made using existing fabrication methods.

To see the video and read more click: http://www.physorg.com/news171101621.html

Solar Panel made of human hair

Solar Panel made of human hair!
A new type of solar panel using human hair could provide the world with cheap, green electricity, believes its teenage inventor.
Milan Karki, 18, who comes from a village in rural Nepal, believes he has found the solution to the developing world's energy needs.

The young inventor says hair is easy to use as a conductor in solar panels and could revolutionise renewable energy. 'First I wanted to provide electricity for my home, then my village. Now I am thinking for the whole world,' said Milan, who attends school in the capital, Kathmandu.

The hair replaces silicon, a pricey component typically used in solar panels, and means the panels can be produced at a low cost for those with no access to power, he explained. In Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, many rural areas lack access to electricity and even in areas connected to power lines, users face shortages of up to 16 hours a day.

Milan and four classmates initially made the solar panel as an experiment but the teens are convinced it has wide applicability and commercial viability.
'I'm trying to produce commercially and distribute to the districts. We've already sent a couple out to the districts to test for feasibility,' he said.
The solar panel, which produces 9 V (18 W) of energy, costs around £23 to make from raw materials.

But if they were mass-produced, Milan says they could be sold for less than half that price, which could make them a quarter of the price of those already on the market.
Melanin, a pigment that gives hair its colour, is light sensitive and also acts as a type of conductor. Because hair is far cheaper than silicon the appliance is less costly.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1212005/Teenager-invents-23-solar-panel-solution-developing-worlds-energy-needs-human-hair.html#ixzz0Qa6jfgS9

Forests of Artificial Trees Could Slow Global Warming

Geo-Engineering – Cooling the Planet?

A new study on how technology could help to regulate climate change has studied hundreds of ideas, and selected three considered practical and able to be implemented quickly. The report's authors propose
1. The construction of forests of artificial trees and
2. Installing tubes of algae on the sides of buildings to absorb carbon dioxide.
3. They also proposed painting the roofs of buildings white to keep the Earth cool by reducing the amount of solar radiation absorbed.

The engineers from Britain's Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IME) have asked their government for an investment of 10 million pounds (around 16.3 million dollars) in these ideas to counter the threat to Britain posed by global warming.

One of the authors of the report, Dr Tim Fox, said geo-engineering techniques could buy us a few extra years' breathing space while we transition to a low-carbon world, and may help ward off the climate change scenarios we fear. The report claimed global temperatures could rise by as much as 6°C in the next 90 years if we don't act soon, and the results would include major refugee movements as well as food and water shortages.


Read more at: http://www.imeche.org/media/press/GeoEngineeringReport.htm

Antifreeze protein inspired by fleas to help humans

A new antifreeze protein discovered in tiny snow fleas by Queen’s University researchers may lengthen the shelf life of human organs for transplantation.

Drs. Laurie Graham and Peter Davies, from the Department of Biochemistry, found that the potent protein produced by the fleas to protect themselves against freezing is capable of inhibiting ice growth by about six Celsius degrees. This would allow organs to be stored at lower temperatures, expanding the time allowed between removal and transplant.

The results of the Queen’s study, funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), are published today in the international journal Science.

“Transplant organs must now be kept at the freezing point or slightly warmer,” says Dr. Graham. “If we can drop the temperature at which the organ is safely stored, there will be a longer preservation period.”

The hyperactive antifreeze protein produced by snow fleas is different from two other insect proteins discovered earlier at Queen’s, the researchers say.

“Unlike the antifreeze proteins in beetles and moths, AFPs in snow fleas break down and lose their structure at higher temperatures,” explains Dr Davies, Canada Research Chair in Protein Engineering. “This means that if used to store organs for transplants, they will be cleared from a person’s system very quickly, reducing the possibility of harmful antibodies forming.”

Also Scientists in Illinois and Pennsylvania are reporting development of a way to make the antifreeze protein that enables billions of Canadian snow fleas to survive frigid winter temperatures.

Read more at: http://www.physorg.com/news135863044.html
Also Read: http://www.innovations-report.com/html/reports/life_sciences/report-50696.html

Tyres with wood

Cheaper, more fuel-efficient tires? Wooden it be good
Oregon State University (OSU) are proposing replacing silica with microcrystalline cellulose derived from plant fiber as a reinforcing filler in the manufacture of rubber tires. The result could be a tire that would cost less, perform better and save on fuel and energy.

As part of their study the OSU researchers replaced up to about 12 percent of the silica used in conventional tire manufacture with microcrystalline cellulose - a micrometer-sized type of crystalline cellulose with an extremely well-organized structure. This decreased the amount of energy needed to compound the rubber composite, improved the heat resistance of the product, and retained tensile strength.

The study also showed that the new tire possessed comparable traction to existing rubber tires in wet, rainy conditions and actually decreased the rolling resistance of the product in high temperatures. This would improve the fuel efficiency of tires made with the new approach in hot weather. Cellulose fiber has been used for some time as reinforcement in some types of rubber and automotive products, such as belts, hoses and insulation – but never in tires, where the preferred fillers are carbon black, which is made from increasingly expensive oil, and silica, which is energy-intensive to process. Both products are also very dense and reduce the fuel efficiency of automobiles. Conversely microcrystalline cellulose is produced in a low-cost acid hydrolysis process.

The research team say that more research is needed to confirm the long-term durability of tires made using microcrystalline cellulose, but hopefully they’ll last longer and provide a smoother ride than these.

Climate adapting jacket works like a pine cone

'Smart' Clothing Imitate Pine Cones

When pine cones fall from the trees, their scales open, allowing the seeds to be released. This is because these scales are made of two layers of fibers acting in different directions. Stealing this idea from nature, a team of U.K. researchers has designed a new material to make 'smart' clothing which adapts itself to changing temperatures. Like the scales of pine codes, this 'smart' material has two layers. The top one has small spikes, which open or close to let the outside air flow to cool you or to protect you. And as the second layer is waterproof, you should always feel comfortable wearing these clothes imitating nature.

Current commercial applications of climate-controlled clothing operate using fibers designed to stretch or curl in a certain direction when heated. Manufacturers can create fabric that adapts itself to weather conditions by overlaying clothing with many tiny strips of these fibers; the clothing can become cooler in warm weather and warmer in cold weather.

When the fabric is heated up, the strips curl outward, increasing airflow throughout the clothing. Conversely, when the fabric is cooled, the strips straighten out and form a solid layer, preventing loss of heat and moisture. These fabrics have proven invaluable for activities that involve changing temperatures, including mountain climbing and skiing.
Read more at: http://www.thetartan.org/2008/3/24/scitech/htw

Giant Sea Snake Renewable Electricity Generation

Image via Wikipedia

The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is a technology that uses the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The machine is made up of connected sections which flex and bend as waves pass; it is this motion which is used to generate electricity.
Developed by the Scottish company Pelamis Wave Power (formerly Ocean Power Delivery), it was the world’s first commercial scale machine to generate electricity into the grid from offshore wave energy and the first to be used in commercial wave farm project. The first full scale prototype was successfully installed and generated electricity to the UK grid at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland in August 2004. The first wave farm consisting of three Pelamis machines and located off the coast of Portugal, was officially opened in September 2008. It has an installed capacity of 2.25MW, enough to meet the average electricity demand of more than 1,500 Portuguese homes.

The pelamis device consists of a series of semi submerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. The wave induced relative motion of these sections is resisted by hydraulic rams which pump high pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down a single umbilical cable to a junction on the sea bed. Several devices can be connected together and linked to shore through a single seabed cable.

See how it works: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0mzrbfzUpM&feature=player_embedded
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcTNkoyvLFs