Synthesis of a fullerene-based one-dimensional nanopolymerthrough topochemical transformation of the parent nanowire (30 page pdf) Large-scale practical applications of fullerene (C60) in nanodevices could be significantly facilitated if the commercially-available micrometer-scale raw C60 powder were further processed into a one-dimensional (1D) nanowire-related polymer displaying covalent bonding as molecular interlinks and resembling traditional important conjugated polymers. …
Reprap’s goal is to make 3D prototypers with low fabrication costs widely available. The summary from Wikipedia: Currently, low-end commercial 3D prototypers cost about US$15K [uPrint Personal 3D Printer] and in 2009 US$5K or less and you still need to buy materials and solidifiers, which cost a further $1.5K. Prototypes made by these low-end commercial …
Computer simulations show that the breaking strength of neutron star crust is about 10 billion times more than for terrestrial engineering materials such as metal-alloys where the strength is measured in fractions of a GPa. The largest contributor to this tremendous difference is of course the enormous pressure and thus density of the crust. The …
China’s industrial-production growth slowed in the first two months of the year as exports slid at a record pace. Output rose 3.8 percent in January and February from a year earlier, slowing from a 5.7 percent increase in December, the statistics bureau said today. New lending quadrupled in February to 1.07 trillion yuan from a …
A new-found aspect to superconductivity, called the “paramagnetic intrinsic Meissner effect,” is that a strong magnetic field could be used to raise temperatures at which materials become superconducting. A superconductor in a weak magnetic field expels the external magnetic field, but a superconductor in a strong magnetic field sometimes concentrates magnetic lines rather than loses …
Emitted droplets from an electrified fuel injector split to become smaller and smaller. A small device (less than $200 to produce) placed just before the fuel injection for the engine, producing a strong electric field to reduce the fuel viscosity, resulting in much smaller fuel droplets in atomization. Because combustion starts at the droplet surface, …
Oregon Health & Science University scientists have successfully produced functional auditory hair cells in the cochlea of the mouse inner ear. The breakthrough suggests that a new therapy may be developed in the future to successfully treat hearing loss. Successful production of functional sensory hair cells in the inner ears of mice suggests that a …
South Africa’s National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) has given the go-ahead for the start of production of graphite feedstock for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) demonstration unit. The lifting of the work stop order paves the way for the production of long-lead items. This includes the manufacture of the graphite feedstock material which will be …
Aubrey de Grey interview on longevity, life extension and Strategies for Engineered Negligible Senescence (SENS) at betterhumans.com Estimate of the timing of results: I [Aubrey] think there’s a 50% chance of getting the first-generation SENS therapies working within 25-30 years. But that’s only an estimate, and it’s a highly speculative one: I think there’s at …
Invented by Alvin Wang (nextbigfuture co-author) This is a plan to enable the safe early deployment of robotic cars, trucks and buses. The robotic car only zones can start off smaller with 10-100 cars covering 10X10 blocks or so and then expanding as the system is proven. Public transportation would be cheaper and better and …
Early detection saves lives as treatment is more effective. Also, it can be 100 times cheaper to treat early stage versus later stage cancer. The Canary Foundation goal is to deliver early detection tests for solid tumor cancers by 2015. Cancer treatment cost $89 billion in the U.S. in 2007. Over 1.4 million new cancer …