Show Notes 7 March 2025
Story 1: US team creates ‘holey’ battery with 180-degree flexibility for wearables
Source: InterestingEngineering.com Story by Christopher McFadden
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/energy/holey-battery-for-wearables
- My comment – great example of how something so simple and direct can be a game changer.
- Researchers from Yale University have developed an innovative “holey” battery that is both more flexible and breathable than conventional batteries. This could pave the way for making lithium batteries a perfect fit for wearable electronics.
- Currently, most batteries have limited use in wearables, especially for applications that could result in significant wear and tear.
- My comment – for a good example of this look up battery heated gloves for winter. You’ll see rigid batteries needed.
- As the Yale University research team noted, “The rigid and non-breathable nature of conventional batteries has remained a significant limitation for wearable electronics, particularly in applications involving dynamic physical activities.”
- However, this new “holey” battery could solve many existing battery problems with a relatively simple solution. The team took a flexible lithium-ion battery pouch to achieve it and cut a series of horizontal and vertical rectangular holes into it.
- These pouches are also relatively easy to make and comprise conventional electrode materials and hot-pressed consumables.
- Side note – Hot-pressed consumables are materials or products created using a manufacturing technique called hot pressing. This process involves applying heat and pressure simultaneously to materials, such as powders or pre-tinned parts, to achieve densification, sintering, or bonding. The result is a dense, high-strength product with minimal porosity.
- By adding a series of holes, the team found that the battery pouch was very flexible while retaining much of its power. The simulation of the design also showed that the battery should be able to be stretched or folded 180 degrees without tearing.
- Not only that, but the team found that when the battery is stretched 10% or folded, the battery could resist physical stress and continue to power LED light bulbs. The team confirmed this by stretching and folding the battery over 100 times.
- They also found that the new “holey” battery could better resist fluctuating temperatures and humidities. It appears the new battery is roughly twice as breathable as cotton.
Story 2: Stretchable, flexible, recyclable. This plastic is fantastic
Source: Princeton Engineering Story by John Sullivan
Link: https://engineering.princeton.edu/news/2024/12/12/stretchable-flexible-recyclable-plastic-fantastic
See research paper here: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/adfm.202411812
- Princeton engineers have developed an easily scalable 3D printing technique to manufacture soft plastics with programmed stretchiness and flexibility that are also recyclable and inexpensive — qualities not typically combined in commercially manufactured materials.
- In an article in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, a team led by Emily Davidson reported that they used a class of widely available polymers called thermoplastic elastomers to create soft 3D printed structures with tunable stiffness.
- Engineers can design the print path used by the 3D printer to program the plastic’s physical properties so that a device can stretch and flex repeatedly in one direction while remaining rigid in another.
- This approach to engineering soft architected materials could have many uses, such as soft robots, medical devices and prosthetics, strong lightweight helmets, and custom high-performance shoe soles.
- The key to the material’s performance is its internal structure at the tiniest level. The research team used a type of block copolymer which forms stiff cylindrical structures that are 5-7 nanometers thick (for comparison, human hair measures about 90,000 nanometers) inside a stretchy polymer matrix.
- Side note – A block copolymer is a type of polymer consisting of long sequences, or “blocks,” of different monomer units linked together. These blocks can have distinct chemical properties, and when combined, they create a material with unique characteristics. For example, some block copolymers can exhibit both elasticity and toughness, making them useful in various applications like medical devices, adhesives, and automotive parts. The specific arrangement and composition of the blocks can be tailored to achieve desired properties, allowing for a wide range of functionalities in different industries.
- The researchers used 3D printing to orient these nanoscale cylinders, which leads to a 3D printed material that is hard in one direction but soft and stretchy in nearly all others. Designers can orient these cylinders in different directions throughout a single object, leading to a soft architecture which exhibits stiffness and stretchiness in different regions of an object.
- As a next step, the research team expects to begin exploring new 3D printable architectures that will be compatible with applications such as wearable electronics and biomedical devices.
Story 3: NASA’s ‘SPHEREx’ infrared space telescope is launching this week [note, launched on February 28]. Here’s why it’s a big deal
Source: Space.com Story by Sharmila Kuthunur
See NASA’s background article here: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/6-things-to-know-about-spherex-nasas-newest-space-telescope/
- NASA’s latest space telescope, SPHEREx — short for Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer — launched into space atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on February 28 from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
- The $488 million mission is designed to map the entire sky in 3D, in wavelengths invisible to the human eye.
- The two-year effort aims to gather a big-picture view of more than 450 million galaxies and more than 100 million stars in our home galaxy, the Milky Way, a comprehensive catalog of all the objects radiating in the universe by measuring the glow from hundreds of millions of galaxies, including those that are too small or distant to be seen by other telescopes, according to NASA.
- Scientists say the treasure trove of data will answer fundamental questions that can only be addressed by examining the universe from a broad, all-encompassing perspective. These include why the large-scale structure of the universe appears as it does, how galaxies form and evolve and the origins of water and other key ingredients for life in our galaxy.
Story 4: The US military wants to explore blood biohacks to boost warfighter performance in extreme conditions
Source: Business Insider Story by Kelsey Baker
Link: https://www.businessinsider.com/darpa-exploring-how-blood-biohacks-could-help-warfighters-2025-1
- The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency [DARPA], the Pentagon’s top research arm, wants to find out if red blood cells could be modified in novel ways to protect troops and help them manage extreme battlefield environments.
- The DARPA program, called the Red Blood Cell Factory, is looking for researchers to study the insertion of “biologically active components” or “cargoes” in red blood cells. The hope is that modified cells would enhance certain biological systems, “thus allowing recipients, such as warfighters, to operate more effectively in dangerous or extreme environments.”
- Red blood cells could act like a truck, carrying “cargo” or special protections, to all parts of the body, since they already circulate oxygen everywhere.
- DARPA’s experiments wouldn’t be conducted on people or animals, just on bags of blood. The research would allow scientists to identify how red blood cell modification could evolve over time.
- The research could impact the way troops battle diseases that reproduce in red blood cells, such as malaria.
- Modified red blood cells might allow medications to last longer without a service member having to ingest them daily — instead, relying on doses that protect a person for weeks or months instead of just 24 hours.
- Another possibility could be modifying cells to allow them to stop hemorrhaging after a traumatic injury, such as a battlefield wound.
- Such advances in bioengineering could be a game-changer in fields like infectious disease treatment and oncology – illnesses that require long periods of drug treatment.
Honorable Mentions
Story: Terabytes of data in a millimeter crystal: New technique can transform microelectronics
Source: InterestingEngineering.com Story by Bojan Stojkovski
Link: https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/terabytes-of-data-in-millimeter-crystal
See research paper here: https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/nanoph-2024-0635/html
- Researchers at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have developed a method to store data using crystal defects as ones and zeroes, each the size of an individual atom.
- UChicago PME Assistant Professor Tian Zhong explained that each memory cell is created from a single missing atom, or defect. This approach allows terabytes of data to be packed into a small cube of material just a millimeter in size, shows the research published in Nanophotonics.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Story: U.S. startup unveils ‘world’s largest’ transparent organic photovoltaic window
Source: PV Magazine Story by Lior Kahana
- California-based organic photovoltaic (OPV) start-up Next Energy Technologies unveiled what it claims to be the world’s largest fully transparent organic PV window.
- The 40-inch by 60-inch (101.6-cm by 152.4-cm) laminated transparent power-generating window was produced with the company’s pilot production line.
- The window is built with a substrate, a transparent OPV layer, an edge seal, a busbar, a junction box and cover glass.
- Next Energy uses automated slot-die coating manufacturing techniques to apply its proprietary OPV directly onto glass. The company’s coatings are laid on the glass, and a laser is used to scribe the OPV layer before laminating it. “Our highly refined process is a versatile deposition technique in which a solution is delivered onto a substrate via a narrow slot positioned close to the surface,” the company explained. Glass fabricators can add the slot-die process to their existing manufacturing capabilities.
- California-based organic photovoltaic (OPV) start-up Next Energy Technologies unveiled what it claims to be the world’s largest fully transparent organic PV window.
- The 40-inch by 60-inch (101.6-cm by 152.4-cm) laminated transparent power-generating window was produced with the company’s pilot production line.
- The window is built with a substrate, a transparent OPV layer, an edge seal, a busbar, a junction box and cover glass.
- Next Energy uses automated slot-die coating manufacturing techniques to apply its proprietary OPV directly onto glass. The company’s coatings are laid on the glass, and a laser is used to scribe the OPV layer before laminating it. “Our highly refined process is a versatile deposition technique in which a solution is delivered onto a substrate via a narrow slot positioned close to the surface,” the company explained. Glass fabricators can add the slot-die process to their existing manufacturing capabilities.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Story: University of Science and Technology of China Unveils Innovative 19-Degrees of Freedom Biomimetic Prosthetic Hand with Enhanced Dexterity
Source: Bioengineer.org
See research paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-56352-5
- A groundbreaking advancement in prosthetic technology has emerged from the University of Science and Technology of China. Researchers have introduced a lightweight prosthetic hand that boasts an impressive 19 degrees of freedom, closely mimicking the intricate functionality of a human hand.
- This innovative development is poised to revolutionize the rehabilitation experiences of upper-limb amputees, significantly enhancing their daily living capabilities.
- With 23 degrees of freedom, the human hand facilitates a vast range of actions and movements, from simple gestures to complex tasks.
- Conventional prosthetic devices typically struggle, gravitating towards motor-driven systems that frequently compromise their balance of weight and dexterity.
- To overcome these limitations, the University of Science and Technology of China research team synthesized cutting-edge materials and engineering techniques. They opted for shape-memory alloys as the basis for artificial muscle actuators, leveraging their remarkable power-to-weight ratio.
- Such alloys can change shape in response to temperature alterations, providing an effective and efficient means of movement.
- A pivotal aspect of their design is a biomimetic tendon-driven transmission system that amplifies the output power of these artificial muscles. This system allows for a reduction in resistance when transmitting force, thus enhancing movement effectiveness while simultaneously reducing the overall bulk of the prosthesis.
- By emulating natural tendon dynamics, the researchers designed a system that closely mirrors how an organic system operates, ensuring that their prosthetic hand responds in ways that feel intuitive to the user.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Story: New era for digital storage thanks to terahertz light
Source: Techno-Science.net
- Researchers at MIT have successfully induced a durable magnetic state in an antiferromagnetic material using terahertz light. This discovery could revolutionize magnetic storage technologies by making them resistant to external disturbances, thereby improving the performance of memory and processors.
- The MIT team used a terahertz laser to directly influence the atoms of an antiferromagnetic material. By precisely tuning the laser’s oscillations to match the natural vibrations of the material’s atoms, they were able to alter the alignment of atomic spins, creating a new magnetic state. This innovative method opens up prospects for controlling and switching antiferromagnetic materials, which are essential for future information processing technologies.
- Unlike ferromagnetics, where the spins of atoms are aligned in the same direction, antiferromagnetics have alternating spins, which cancels out their overall magnetization. This characteristic makes antiferromagnetics insensitive to external magnetic fields but also difficult to manipulate. The use of terahertz light overcomes this limitation, offering a new way to control these materials.
- The potential applications of this discovery are vast, particularly in the manufacturing of memory chips. Data could be stored in microscopic domains of the material, representing the ‘0’ and ‘1’ bits by specific spin configurations. This technology promises increased robustness against magnetic interference, reduced energy consumption, and improved storage density.
Leave a Reply