Show Notes 20 December 2024
Story 1: Scientists and engineers produce world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery with potential lifespan of thousands of years
Source: University of Bristol News release
Link: https://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2024/december/diamond-battery-media-release.html
- Researchers from the University of Bristol and the UK Atomic Energy Authority have created the world’s first carbon-14 diamond battery, with a shockingly long lifespan.
- The battery, described in a December 4 statement by the University of Bristol, could power devices for thousands of years by harnessing the decay of carbon-14, a radioactive isotope commonly used to date organic artifacts.
- This innovative design could supply more environmentally friendly long-term power to devices everywhere, from inside the body to hundreds of light years away from Earth.
- The carbon-14 diamond battery works by using the radioactive decay of carbon-14, which has a half-life of 5,700 years, to generate low levels of power. It functions somewhat like solar panels, which convert light into electricity, but instead of using light particles (photons), they capture fast-moving electrons from within the diamond structure.
- One of the lead researchers noted, “Diamond batteries offer a safe, sustainable way to provide continuous microwatt levels of power. They are an emerging technology that use a manufactured diamond to safely encase small amounts of carbon-14.”
- Several game-changing applications are possible. Bio-compatible diamond batteries can be used in medical devices such as ocular implants, hearing aids, and pacemakers, minimizing the need for replacements and distress to patients.
- Diamond batteries could also be used in extreme environments – both in space and on earth – where it is not practical to replace conventional batteries.
- For example, the batteries could power active radio frequency (RF) tags where there is a need to identify and track devices either on earth or in space, such as spacecraft or payloads, for decades at a time, thus reducing costs and extending operational lifespan.
Story 2: From scrap to strength: Solid phase manufacturing transforms aluminum waste into high-value alloys
Source: TechXplore.com Story by Karyn Hede, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Link: https://techxplore.com/news/2024-12-scrap-strength-solid-phase-aluminum.html
See also: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-53062-2
See also: https://www.pnnl.gov/shape
- Side note – Aluminum is a sustainable material because it can be recycled almost infinitely without losing its properties. In fact, 75% of all aluminum ever produced is still in use today.
- As an illustration in the article notes, traditional recycling of aluminum involves five key steps, including melting the scrap metal pieces.
- Here’s the big news – researchers at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have developed technology making it possible for aluminum metal scrap to be directly transformed and upgraded into high-performance, high-value alloys without the need for conventional melting processes.
- The research demonstrates that scrap aluminum from industrial waste streams can produce high-performance metal alloys.
- By converting waste into high-performance aluminum products, the new method, called solid phase alloying, not only enhances material properties but also contributes to environmental sustainability.
- The innovative solid phase alloying process converts aluminum scrap blended with copper, zinc and magnesium into a precisely designed high-strength aluminum alloy product in a matter of minutes, compared to the days required to produce the same product utilizing conventional melting, casting and extrusion.
- The research team used a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory-patented technique called Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion, or ShAPE, to achieve their results. However, the researchers noted that the findings should be reproducible with other solid phase manufacturing processes.
- Within the Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion process, high-speed rotating die create friction and heat that disperses the chunky starting ingredients [scrap aluminum] into a uniform alloy with the same characteristics as a newly manufactured aluminum wrought product.
- The solid phase approach eliminates the need for energy-intensive bulk melting, which, combined with the low-cost feedstocks originating from scrap, has the potential to sharply reduce the cost of manufacturing these materials.
- For consumers, this means recycled aluminum products will have a longer lifespan and better performance at a lower cost, whether they are part of a vehicle, a construction material, or a household appliance.
Story 3: US scientists probe potentially massive energy source buried deep underground — and it has potential to power the globe for thousands of years
Source: The Cool Down via MSN Story by Rick Kazmer
See also: Model suggests Earth’s subsurface may hold up to 5.6 × 10⁶ million metric tons of natural hydrogen https://phys.org/news/2024-12-earth-subsurface-million-metric-tons.html
- University of Nebraska experts think that a continent-shaking event from more than a billion years ago may still be reverberating with impact today in the form of cleaner hydrogen fuel.
- Some 1.1 billion years ago, the North American continent nearly split in two, leaving behind a 1,200-mile swath of volcanic rocks known as the Midcontinent Rift that may be able to produce enough natural hydrogen to yield vast amounts of clean energy.
- The research, detailed in a University of Nebraska press release, examines the possibility that the 1,200-mile Midcontinent Rift could hold thousands of years’ worth of energy up to 5,000 feet underground.
- As the team’s press release noted, “It could be deep enough to be stored, but shallow enough that we can access it. The geology is in our favor.”
- The rift stretches from Lake Superior through parts of six states, going as far south as Kansas. It was formed when the North American continent nearly split. A large swath of volcanic rock remains. The scientists are examining whether water interacting with the rock is creating natural hydrogen.
- It’s fascinating chemistry that happens when certain rocks contact water, creating a reaction that leaves hydrogen as a byproduct.
Story 4: New type of medical scanner shows promise for stroke patients
Source: MedicalXpress.com Story by Laura Graham, University of Aberdeen
Link: https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-12-medical-scanner-patients.html
See also: https://pubs.rsna.org/doi/10.1148/radiol.232972
- A new type of medical scanner developed by a University of Aberdeen team in Scotland has shown that it can identify brain damage in stroke patients at lower magnetic fields than ever before. My comment – as we’ll learn in this article, the key is lower magnetic fields, which opens up new and exciting possibilities.
- The world’s first Field Cycling Imager (FCI) derives its fundamental technology from magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] but is able to work at ultra-low magnetic fields, which makes it capable of seeing how organs are affected by diseases in previously unseen ways.
- Because it is safer than current scanners [thanks to the use of ultra-low magnetic fields], the new Field Cycling Imager technology also opens exciting possibilities for the development of systems tailored for ambulances and other out-of-hospital settings.
- Traditional Magnetic resonance imaging [MRIs] uses strong magnetic fields and radio waves to produce detailed images of the inside of the body without touching it. The Field Cycling Imager scanner is based on the same principles, but its design is completely revisited so that it can vary the strength of the magnetic field during the patient’s scan.
- This includes going down to magnetic fields of less than a typical refrigerator magnet, while obtaining good quality pictures.
Honorable Mentions
Story: Sanctuary AI dexterous robotic hands, featuring 21 degrees of freedom
Source: Sanctuary AI press release
- Canadian company Sanctuary AI recently announced a dexterous robotic hand with 21 degrees of freedom that can perform in-hand manipulation, which opens up a wide range of industrial fine manipulation tasks.
- Sanctuary’s approach in making dexterous robotic hands is enabled by their unique miniaturized hydraulic valves. This method of hydraulic actuation offers an order of magnitude higher power density than cable and electromechanical-based systems, providing unmatched dexterous capability as it relates to speed, strength, controllability, cycle life, impact resistance and heat management.
- The CEO of Sanctuary AI noted, ““Our ambition is to build a reliable system with human-level dexterity. We have also recently achieved a milestone of testing our hydraulic valve actuators over 2 billion cycles without any signs of leakage or degradation.”
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Story: Trexo’s robotic brace helps children walk more than 100 million steps
Source: TheRobotReport.com By staff
Link: https://www.therobotreport.com/trexo-robotic-helps-children-walk-100-million-steps/
- Trexo Robotics has now helped children walk more than 100 million steps with its robotic brace. The device helps children with disabilities gain strength, endurance, and proper gait patterns. Trexo’s brace can help children with a variety of conditions, including cerebral palsy, spinal muscular atrophy, muscular dystrophy, stroke, brain injury, hemi and paraplegia, spinal cord injury, Rett syndrome, neuromuscular conditions, and more.
- The Ontario, Canada-based company was founded in 2016 by CEO Manmeet Maggu and CTO Rahul Udasi to help Maggu’s nephew. Trexo said it customizes the gait of the brace to each user and adjusts this gait over time. The company can adjust the system to accommodate gait pattern changes, the speed of steps, the amount of weight bearing, and the level of support provided. It also offers two operating modes: endurance and strength training to match the child’s needs.
- “For many of these kiddos, they were told they would never take a step. Every single one of these 100 million steps tells a different story—one of courage, progress, and hope,” Maggu said. “This milestone is made up of countless special moments, each representing improved strength, better health, and brighter possibilities.”
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Story: New discovery might lead to laptops powered through typing
Source: NewAtlas.com
Link: https://newatlas.com/self-powered-battery-piezoelectrics-rmit-research/19007/
- Everlasting batteries and self-powered portable electronics have come one step closer to reality, according to the results of new research by Australian scientists from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). The researchers successfully measured a piezoelectric thin film’s capacity for turning mechanical pressure into electricity. It may sound like an idea from the realm of science fiction, but the discovery could eventually lead to laptops powered through typing.
- Piezoelectric materials are able to to convert mechanical energy into electric power. Piezoelectricity as a phenomenon was discovered in the 19th century, and is used in things like electric cigarette lighters, which use a piezoelectric crystal capable of producing a high voltage electric current after being hit by a spring-loaded hammer, to ignite gas. Piezoelectric bulk or block materials (like crystals or ceramics) have been studied thoroughly, but research on thin films is relatively new, according to the lead co-author of the research, Dr. Madhu Bhaskaran.
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Story: Bioprinting technique creates functional tissue 10x faster
Source: MedicalXpress.com via MSN Story by Christine Yu
- Three-dimensional (3D) printing isn’t just a way to produce material products quickly. It also offers researchers a way to develop replicas of human tissue that could be used to improve human health, such as building organs for transplantation, studying disease progression and screening new drugs. While researchers have made progress over the years, the field has been hampered by limited existing technologies unable to print tissues with high cell density at scale.
- A team of researchers from Penn State have developed a novel bioprinting technique that uses spheroids, which are clusters of cells, to create complex tissue. This new technique improves the precision and scalability of tissue fabrication, producing tissue 10-times faster than existing methods. It further opens the door to developing functional tissues and organs and progress in the field of regenerative medicine, the researchers said.
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