Show Notes 28 July 2023
Story 1: Researchers at PNNL are exploring how to use algae to tap into the vast reserve of mineralogical wealth in the oceans
Source: PNNL.gov Story by Steven Ashby
- Critical minerals and rare earth elements are used in technologies such as smart phones, LED lighting, wind turbines, x-ray machines and catalytic converters.
- Today, many of these essential natural resources are mined predominantly in China. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are exploring alternative sources of these minerals that are less vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.
- In this quest, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers are looking at the oceans as an under-tapped resource for minerals typically dug from the ground.
- A spoonful of seawater contains not just salt, but every element in the periodic table. Even though they are found in low concentrations—only parts per trillion—oceans are perhaps the largest single source of rare earth elements on the planet.
- Side note about Periodic Table: The periodic table, also known as the periodic table of the elements, arranges the chemical elements into rows and columns. It is an organizing icon of chemistry and is widely used in physics and other sciences. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table
- Moreover, because the oceans are not controlled by any one nation, they avoid many of the geo-economic-political issues we read about in the news.
- In one promising project, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory researchers are investigating how algae can be used to harvest certain critical minerals from seawater.
- Rather than chemically or physically separating these minerals, researchers are exploiting biological processes that concentrate them so they can be cost-effectively produced.
- To better understand these processes, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory scientists are utilizing the unique capabilities of their Marine and Coastal Research Laboratory located on Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula.
- With direct access to flowing seawater, they are growing different species of algae in the laboratory. Some are green, others are red; some are leafy, others are stringy.
- Looking closely at each, researchers are gaining insights into their properties and tendency for extracting different minerals from the seawater.
- They are finding some algae can concentrate certain minerals a million times more than found naturally in the seawater.
- Results also show the process improves ocean health. Water flowing out of the algae tanks is less acidic because the carbon stays in the algae, as do the nitrogen and phosphorous, helping to prevent possible harmful algae blooms.
Story 2: Self-healing metal? It’s not just the stuff of science fiction
Source: Reuters News Service Story by Will Dunham
Link: https://www.reuters.com/science/self-healing-metal-its-not-just-stuff-science-fiction-2023-07-19/
- On July 19 scientists at the U.S. government’s Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico described how pieces of pure platinum and copper spontaneously healed cracks caused by metal fatigue during nanoscale experiments that had been designed to study how such cracks form and spread in metal placed under stress. They expressed optimism that this ability can be engineered into metals to create self-healing machines and structures in the relatively near future.
- Metal fatigue occurs when metal – including parts in machines, vehicles, and structures – sustains microscopic cracks after being exposed to repeated stress or motion, damage that tends to worsen over time. Metal fatigue can cause catastrophic failures in areas including aviation – jet engines, for instance – and infrastructure – bridges and other structures.
- In the experiments at the Sandia National Laboratories researchers used a technique that pulled on the ends of the tiny metal pieces about 200 times per second. A crack initially formed and spread. But about 40 minutes into the experiment, the metal fused back together.
- The researchers called this healing “cold welding.”
- According to research scientist Brad Boyce, who helped lead the study published in the journal Nature, “The cold-welding process is a metallurgical process that is known to occur when two relatively smooth and clean surfaces of metal are brought together to reform atomic bonds.”
- Boyce further noted, “Unlike the self-healing robots in the ‘Terminator’ movie, this process is not visible at the human scale. It occurs at the nanoscale, and we have yet to be able to control the process.”
- Remember – nanoscale means of a size measurable in nanometers or microns. And a nanometer is one billionth of a meter.
- Metal pieces were about 40 nanometers thick and a few micrometers wide. While the healing was observed in the experiments only in platinum and copper, Boyce said simulations indicated that self-healing can occur in other metals and that it is “entirely plausible” that alloys like steel could exhibit this quality.
- Given this new knowledge, there may be alternative material design strategies or engineering approaches that could be devised to help mitigate fatigue failure. In addition, this new understanding may shed light on fatigue failure in existing structures – improving the ability to interpret and predict such failures.
- Reality Checks:
- The self-healing was observed in a very specific environment using a device called an electron microscope.
- The researchers noted that tangible applications of their findings will take another 10 years to develop.
Story 3: Trend to watch – What is Li-Fi? A faster, more secure wireless internet is just around the corner
Source: Digital Trends Story by Jon Martindale
Link: https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/what-is-li-fi/
- Li-Fi has the potential to revolutionize not only the way we all get online, but it could even replace some of the mountains of cables that make up the backbone of the modern internet.
- My note, Li-Fi was introduced March 2011. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li-Fi So the “story” here is more about it becoming deployable vs. this being a brand-new technology. More on this in a moment relative to a recent IEEE amendment to the Wi-Fi specification.
- Li-Fi is short for Light Fidelity and is a communication system that utilizes light, rather than radio waves to transmit the data. A Li-Fi network uses infrared LED lamps to transmit and receive data, using modulations in the light intensity to create the digital signal which carries the information to and from various networked devices.
- Li-Fi works by utilizing light pulses which are invisible to the human eye. These pulses are modulated in intensity billions of times per second, and it’s those modulations that the receivers can track and translate into data, entirely wirelessly.
- This isn’t totally dissimilar to the way that Wi-Fi works with radio waves, except radio waves can more readily pass through or around obstacles. Li-Fi can do that to some extent, but it’s more reliant on line-of-sight which places a limitation on its range and abilities outside of open plan homes and offices.
- Li-Fi has the potential to be far faster than traditional Wi-Fi — up to 100Gbps. However, the recently approved amendment to the Wi-Fi specification that adds Li-Fi support, IEEE 802.11bb, rates Li-Fi technology with a minimum throughput of 10Mbps, and a maximum throughput of 9.6 Gbps. That puts it in about the same range as Wi-Fi 6 [the most recent iteration of the Wi-Fi network protocol], for now.
- Time out, the big news is that this IEEE certification “provides a globally recognized framework for deployment of LiFi technology,” according to Li-Fi tech companies pureLiFi and Fraunhofer HHI. Source: https://www.pcgamer.com/your-next-router-could-be-a-lightbulb-ultra-fast-li-fi-tech-just-took-a-major-step-toward-mass-market-availability/
- Reality check: Although a Li-Fi signal can bounce off walls and other objects, it is severely impacted by impediments and obstructions and has a rated maximum range of around 10 meters [approximately 33 feet].
- It’s hoped that Li-Fi will be used in the home as a secondary connection layer, thereby allowing for faster transfer speeds and the ability for more devices to connect to a compatible router at once without connection speeds falling.
- Li-Fi could also be used in environments where interference is common and data purity is of the utmost importance, like hospitals, schools, and financial institutions.
- Datacenters too, could see some benefit. Li-Fi could be used to transmit data over short distances where running cables would be prohibitively complicated or costly, and Wi-Fi would be too insecure or prone to interference.
- Although it’s likely that we’ll see Li-Fi routers in the future, one idea is to use Li-Fi-equipped lighting fixtures in the ceiling. This would allow a data connection through a home’s existing powerline infrastructure, then utilizing the Li-Fi light fittings to disseminate the data wirelessly to wireless devices.
Story 4: Spiral brain-computer interface slips into ear canal with no loss of hearing
Source: MedicalXpress.com Story by Bob Yirka
Link: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-07-spiral-brain-computer-interface-ear-canal.html
See video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUnX7Dc6Eq4
- A multi-institutional team of engineers in China has developed a new type of brain-computer interface (BCI) that can be easily slipped in and out of the ear canal. In their project, reported in the journal Nature Communications, the group set out to design and build a new kind of brain-computer interface that is less invasive than existing devices.
- A brain-computer interface is a device that allows communication between the brain and a computer—though to date, most such devices are one-directional. They are used to listen to brain waves for such applications as converting them to text or to electronic signals that can be used to engage another device, such as a wheelchair.
- One of the main drawbacks of most brain-computer interfaces is their invasiveness. Current approaches involve the use of electrodes attached to the scalp, or microneedles or probes that pierce the skull. In this new effort, the team in China has built a brain-computer interface that is not only less invasive but can be engaged and disengaged easily.
- The new, corkscrew-shaped brain-computer interface is called the SpiralE. It is engaged by gently screwing it into the ear canal and disengaged by doing the reverse. It is made mainly of soft material to ensure comfort for the wearer. The design allows the passage of sound waves, ensuring that it does not impair hearing. The soft material comprising the body also prevents echoing inside the spiral.
- The research team suggests that the SpiralE could open the door to new brain-computer interface applications due to its ease of use. They envision the development of applications that convert full thoughts into text, controlling objects in both the real and virtual worlds—and even perhaps augmented memory.
Honorable mention: Run, don’t walk, to see a fabulous documentary on Netflix about the James Webb Telescope. Titled “Cosmic Time Machine” Link: https://www.space.com/netflix-james-webb-space-telescope-documentary-director-interview
Honorable mention: Scientists Invent New Double-Sided Solar Panel that Generates 20% More Electricity
Source: The Renewable Energy Institute
Source: NREL Press Room
- A team of scientists recently invented a new double-sided solar panel that is capable of increasing overall efficiency [as compared to a traditional single sided panel] by 20%. The design allows solar energy to be captured from both sides, with the back panel achieving an efficiency of 91-93% of the front side.
- Developed at the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the bifacial solar cells harvest sunlight that is reflected onto the back of the cells. This taps into a previously unutilized source of energy that produces higher yield for less space and long-term cost.
- Current technologies that employ silicon as the semiconductor have an efficiency rate of approximately 26%. With the new back side panel installed, the efficiency shoots up to 46%, nearly doubling.
- New double sided solar panel uses Perovskite:
- Perovskite is a material leading the way in solar panel innovation and has been in the spotlight in recent years breaking energy storage efficiency records. These new designs are providing brand new pathways in the industry for innovation and a new generation of technologies.
- More about perovskite:
- Perovskite is a calcium titanium oxide mineral composed of calcium titanate (chemical formula CaTiO3).
- Perovskite is not a very rare mineral. It is found in the Earth’s mantle, in some meteorites, and in various igneous and metamorphic rocks. However, some varieties of perovskite that contain rare earth elements (REE) such as cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and niobium are more scarce and valuable. These REE-perovskites have remarkable properties such as high absorption of sunlight, fast charge transport, and tunable band gaps, which make them attractive for applications in solar cells, lasers, LEDs, and data storage.
- While researchers estimate that a bifacial perovskite solar module would cost more to manufacture than a monofacial module, over time bifacial modules could end up being better financial investments because they generate 10%–20% more power.