Posts Tagged: scientists

Scientists strengthen concrete by 30 percent with used coffee grounds

Humans produce around 4.4 billion tons of concrete every year. That process consumes around 8 billion tons of sand (out of the 40-50 billion tons in total used annually) which has, in part, led to acute shortages of the building commodity in recent years. At the same time, we generate about 10 billion kilograms of used coffee grounds over the same span — coffee grounds which a team of researchers from RMIT University in Australia have discovered can be used as a silica substitute in the concrete production process that, in the proper proportions, yields a significantly stronger chemical bond than sand alone. 

“The disposal of organic waste poses an environmental challenge as it emits large amounts of greenhouse gases including methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change,” lead author of the study, Dr Rajeev Roychand of RMIT’s School of Engineering, said in a recent release. He notes that Australia alone produces 75 million kilograms of used coffee grounds each year, most of which ends up in landfills. 

Coffee grounds can’t simply be mixed in raw with standard concrete as they won’t bind with the other materials due to their organic content, Dr. Roychand explained. In order to make the grounds more compatible, the team experimented with pyrolyzing the materials at 350 and 500 degrees C, then substituting them in for sand in 5, 10, 15 and 20 percentages (by volume) for standard concrete mixtures. 

The team found that at 350 degrees is perfect temperature, producing a “29.3 percent enhancement in the compressive strength of the composite concrete blended with coffee biochar,” per the team’s study, published in the September issue of Journal of Cleaner Production. “In addition to reducing emissions and making a stronger concrete, we’re reducing the impact of continuous mining of natural resources like sand,” Dr. Roychand said. 

“The concrete industry has the potential to contribute significantly to increasing the recycling of organic waste such as used coffee,” added study co-author Dr Shannon Kilmartin-Lynch, a Vice-Chancellor’s Indigenous Postdoctoral Research Fellow at RMIT. “Our research is in the early stages, but these exciting findings offer an innovative way to greatly reduce the amount of organic waste that goes to landfill,” where it’s decomposition would generate large amounts of methane, a greenhouse gas 21 times more potent than carbon dioxide. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scientists-strengthen-concrete-by-30-percent-with-used-coffee-grounds-221643441.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Scientists make ibuprofen and other common painkillers from paper industry waste

It's probably fair to say that when most people conjure images of the pharmaceutical industry, it's not often there's an association between the production of life-saving drugs and environmental decline. But according to one 2019 study by The Conversation, drug companies produce more tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents per million dollars than the automotive industry. "By our calculations, the pharma market is 28 percent smaller yet 13 percent more polluting than the automotive sector," the outlet said of the state of the pharmaceutical industry in 2015. Put another way: drug companies need to reduce their carbon emissions for the health of the planet and everyone living on it.

Thankfully, a group of scientists from the University of Bath in the United Kingdom may have found a way for the industry to do exactly that. In a study published in the journal ChemSusChem, the team describes a process they created for converting β-pinene, a component found in turpentine, into pharmaceutical precursors that they then used to synthesize paracetamol and ibuprofen. Right now, most companies producing those painkillers use chemical precursors derived from crude oil. Turpentine, meanwhile, is a waste by-product the paper industry makes at a scale of more than 350,000 metric tonnes per year. The researchers say they also successfully used turpentine to synthesize 4-HAP, a precursor for beta-blockers, the asthma inhaler drug salbutamol and a range of household cleaners.

In addition to being more sustainable, the team's "bio-refinery" process could lead to more consistent drug costs for consumers since turpentine isn't subject to the same geopolitical pressures that can send energy and oil prices skyrocketing. However, a significant pitfall of the process in its current form is that it costs more to produce drugs with turpentine than crude oil. The team suggests consumers may be willing to pay slightly higher prices for more sustainable drugs, but let's be honest, when someone is sick or in pain, paying more for relief is the last thing most people want to do.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/scientists-make-ibuprofen-and-other-common-painkillers-from-paper-industry-waste-182758699.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Scientists claim they’re the first to transmit space-based solar power to Earth

The idea of solar energy being transmitted from space is not a new one. In 1968, a NASA engineer named Peter Glaser produced the first concept design for a solar-powered satellite. But only now, 55 years later, does it appear scientists have actually carried out a successful experiment. A team of researchers from Caltech announced on Thursday that their space-borne prototype, called the Space Solar Power Demonstrator (SSPD-1), had collected sunlight, converted it into electricity and beamed it to microwave receivers installed on a rooftop on Caltech's Pasadena campus. The experiment also proves that the setup, which launched on January 3, is capable of surviving the trip to space, along with the harsh environment of space itself. 

"To the best of our knowledge, no one has ever demonstrated wireless energy transfer in space even with expensive rigid structures. We are doing it with flexible lightweight structures and with our own integrated circuits. This is a first," said Ali Hajimiri, professor of electrical engineering and medical engineering and co-director of Caltech's Space Solar Power Project (SSPP), in a press release published on Thursday

The experiment — known in full as Microwave Array for Power-transfer Low-orbit Experiment (or MAPLE for short) — is one of three research projects being carried out aboard the SSPD-1. The effort involved two separate receiver arrays and lightweight microwave transmitters with custom chips, according to Caltech. In its press release, the team added that the transmission setup was designed to minimize the amount of fuel needed to send them to space, and that the design also needed to be flexible enough so that the transmitters could be folded up onto a rocket.

Space-based solar power has long been something of a holy grail in the scientific community. Although expensive in its current form, the technology carries the promise of potentially unlimited renewable energy, with solar panels in space able to collect sunlight regardless of the time of day. The use of microwaves to transmit power would also mean that cloud cover wouldn't pose an interference, as Nikkeinotes.

Caltech's Space Solar Power Project (SSSP) is hardly the only team that has been attempting to make space-based solar power a reality. Late last month, a few days before Caltech's announcement, Japan's space agency, JAXA, announced a public-private partnership that aims to send solar power from space by 2025. The leader of that project, a Kyoto University professor, has been working on space-based solar power since 2009. Japan also had a breakthrough of its own nearly a decade ago in 2015, when JAXA scientists transmitted 1.8 kilowatts of power — about enough energy to power an electric kettle — more than 50 meters to a wireless receiver. 

The Space Solar Power Project was founded back in 2011. In addition to MAPLE, the SSPD-1 is being used to assess what types of cells are the most effective in surviving the conditions of space. The third experiment is known as DOLCE (Deployable on-Orbit ultraLight Composite Experiment), a structure measuring six-by-six feet that "demonstrates the architecture, packaging scheme, and deployment mechanisms of the modular spacecraft," according to Caltech. It has not yet been deployed.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/space-based-solar-power-first-successful-experiment-caltech-000046036.html?src=rss
Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Scientists find evidence of a new layer at the Earth’s inner core

Researchers are still discovering more about the Earth's center. A team at Australian National University (ANU) has found evidence of a new layer to the planet sitting within the inner core. This "innermost inner core" is an iron-nickel alloy ball that, as professor Hrvoje Tkalčić explains, is a "fossilized record" of Earth's ancient history. Until now, science had only recognized four layers (crust, mantle, outer core and inner core).

The scientists found the 'hidden' core by studying seismic waves that traveled back and forth across the Earth's entire diameter up to five times — previous studies only looked at single bounces. The earthquake waves probed places near the center at angles that suggested a different crystalline structure inside the innermost layer. Effectively, the alloy is skewing the travel times for the waves as they pass through.

The findings open up new ways to investigate the inner core, according to lead author Thanh-Son Phạm. ANU also believes the innermost inner core hints at a major event in Earth's past that had a "significant" impact on the planet's heart. As researchers explain to The Washington Post, it could also help explain the formation of the Earth's magnetic field. The field plays a major role in supporting life as it shields the Earth from harmful radiation and keeps water from drifting into space.

Those insights may help with studies of other worlds. Mars is believed to be a barren planet because it lost its magnetic field roughly four billion years ago, leaving no protection against solar winds and dust storms that carried away the atmosphere and oceans. Exoplanet hunters, meanwhile, could use the knowledge to search for habitable worlds. The presence of an Earth-like core structure isn't guaranteed to indicate survivability, but may play a role in narrowing down candidate planets.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Scientists gave a robot a sense of smell with locust antennae and AI

In 2023, there are cameras and microphones that match and surpass the capabilities of human sight and sound. But for all of our technological advancements, humans haven’t quite managed to build a better nose. After all, evolution has had millions of years to perfect the receptors humans, animals and inspects use to identify odors. But, with the help of nature, scientists may have made a breakthrough on that front.

In a study published Monday in the journal Biosensor and Bioelectronics, a group of researchers from Tel Aviv University (via Neuroscience News) said they recently created a robot that can identify a handful of smells with 10,000 times more sensitivity than some specialized electronics. They describe their robot as a bio-hybrid platform (read: cyborg). It features a set of antennae taken from a desert locust that is connected to an electronic system that measures the amount of electrical signal produced by the antennae when they detect a smell. They paired the robot with an algorithm that learned to characterize the smells by their signal output. In this way, the team created a system that could reliably differentiate between eight “pure” odors, including geranium, lemon and marzipan, and two mixtures of different smells. The scientists say their robot could one day be used to detect drugs and explosives.

A YouTube video from Tel Aviv University claims the robot is a “scientific first,” but last June researchers from Michigan State University published research detailing a system that used surgically-altered locusts to detect cancer cells. Back in 2016, scientists also tried turning locusts into bomb-sniffing cyborgs. What can I say, after millennia of causing crop failures, the pests could finally be useful for something.

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics

Finishing touch: How scientists are giving robots humanlike tactile senses

Giving robots sight and hearing is fairly straightforward these days, but equipping them with a robust sense of touch is far more difficult.
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Scientists think the next big solar storm could create an ‘internet apocalypse’

Scientists say that our existing internet infrastructure — namely undersea cables — isn’t equipped to weather the next big solar storm. Here’s why.
Emerging Tech | Digital Trends

Modified drones help scientists better predict volcanic eruptions

Mount St. Helens, Vesuvius, Krakatoa: history is full of volcanic eruptions that took humans by surprise and caused devastating damage. But with the help of drones, an international team of scientists from the US and seven other countries say they’ve…
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Scientists confirm that plasma ‘sloshes’ around in galaxy clusters

For the first time, scientists have observed signs of plasma "flowing, splashing and sloshing" in a galaxy cluster. This kind of motion has been predicted, but it was only theoretical. Now, with data on how the plasma moves, researchers hope to disco…
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MIT scientists accidentally create the blackest material ever

Good news for goths — black somehow just got even blacker. MIT engineers have cooked up a material that's 10 times blacker than anything else previously reported. Capturing more than 99.96 percent of any incoming light, the material is made of verti…
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Scientists discover water vapor on an exoplanet with a rocky core

Water vapor is common in gas giants; Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune all have H2O floating around in their atmospheres. But water on a rocky planet is exceedingly rare, making the discovery of water vapor — and possibly even rain — on the exopl…
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The first ever black hole image lands scientists $3 million prize

The scientists that captured the first image of a black hole are being rewarded with a $ 3 million prize. The Breakthrough prize, known as the "Oscars of Science," is sponsored by Silicon Valley execs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Sergey Brin, and recog…
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Scientists create contact lenses that zoom on command

Nosebleed seats may soon be a thing of the past. Scientists at the University of California San Diego have created a prototype contact lens that is controlled by the eye's movements. Wearers can make the lenses zoom in or out by simply blinking twice…
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Scientists store data inside molecules that drive your metabolism

Never mind using DNA to store data — there may be a simpler way to store info. Brown University scientists have shown that it's possible to store data in solutions of artificial metabolic molecules, such as amino acids and sugars. The presence or…
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MIT scientists ‘work out’ synthetic hydrogels to make them stronger

Your muscles are soft, pliable, and can resist fatigue after thousands of repetitive movements. Researchers at MIT have found a way to make synthetic hydrogels act like muscles by putting them through a vigorous workout. After being mechanically trai…
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Scientists can turn regular seawater into hydrogen fuel

A team of scientists at Stanford have figured out a way to make hydrogen fuel out of saltwater. The discovery could open up the world's oceans as a potential source of energy. Researchers view electrolysis, or the act of splitting water into hydrogen…
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Scientists find evidence of a black hole at our galaxy’s center

Researchers have long suspected that a supermassive black hole lies in the center of our galaxy, and now they have strong evidence to support that suspicion. Using the Very Large Telescope — an array of four individual telescopes stationed in the At…
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Scientists accidentally produce an enzyme that devours plastic

There are research teams around the world dedicated to finding a remedy for the growing plastic pollution crisis, but now it seems that one group of scientists have found a feasible answer — and they stumbled upon it by accident. Researchers studyin…
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Nobel Prize for Physics awarded to gravitational wave scientists

The 2017 winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics were announced today. One half of the prize will go to Ranier Weiss from MIT, while the other half is being awarded jointly to Barry C. Barish and Kip S. Thorne, both from Caltech. The three scientists…
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Scientists want to explore asteroids with a fleet of nanoprobes

Researchers at the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) presented a mission plan today at the European Planetary Science Congress that would allow scientists to observe hundreds of asteroids over the course of just a few years. Their plan is to sen…
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New computer models could direct scientists to epic cosmic events

Now that they're spotting gravitational waves more often, scientists are expanding their search for cosmic events. Specifically, they're using new computer models to depict the cataclysmic collision that occurs when a black hole joins a neutron star…
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Scientists want to use satellites to predict landslides

Small satellites have countless uses, including when it comes to monitoring the planet for natural disasters. Now, scientists think they've made a breakthrough on this front: They're using satellite data to map the Earth's movement. Their end goal is…
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Scientists just proved your phone’s PIN can be cracked using its gyroscope data

Your PIN code might be frighteningly easy to crack. Researchers at Newcastle University showed how a phone’s gyroscope and other sensors, along with special software, could crack it.

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Scientists discover protein that may reverse some damaging aspects of aging process

Scientists in Germany have discovered a protein that can prompt the body’s blood stem cells to act young again, potentially reversing some of the bad aspects of the aging process.

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Top European scientists want to crash a spacecraft into an asteroid — again

This week European scientists launched the “I Support AIM” campaign — an initiative to urge the European Space Agency (ESA) to move forward with its Asteroid Impact Mission (AIM) in 2020. Over 100 scientists have signed on.

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Wearable exoskeleton could let earthbound scientists control robots on space station

A European research project lets scientists in Russia wear an exoskeleton to control a connected robot in Germany. It could one day allow earthbound scientists to control a robot on the ISS.

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Scientists use nanoparticles to crush lingering fat cells

If you think losing weight is simply diet plus exercise, the equation is not so simple. A recent study of Biggest Loser participants showed that even if you manage to drop pounds, your body will fight you for years afterward to gain them back. That's…
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Scientists find more evidence that Planet Nine exists

It took us almost 50 years to get a close look at Pluto, so we think it's safe to say humanity has to wait a while before we can catch a glimpse of Planet Nine. In fact, we still have to prove that it really does exist. Mike Brown, who played a key r…
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Scientists extend the lifespan of mice by up to 35 percent

Would you like to live 35 percent longer? Apparently the trick is removing worn-out "senescent' cells that have a degenerative affect on your body. "Cellular senescence is a biological mechanism that functions as an 'emergency brake' used by damaged…
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Scientists unveil new ‘4D-printing’ technique that produces shape-shifting objects

This week, scientists from Harvard University unveiled a new 4D printing process which manufactures objects capable of changing shape when submerged in water. The process uses a hydrogel composite filled with fibers of cellulose.

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Scientists discover how your brain wakes you up

Researchers believe they've identified the part of the brain which ends light sleep, called the non-rapid eye movement (NREM) cycle, and ultimately wakes you up. Professor Antoine Adamantidis from the University of Bern and his team found a neural ci…
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Korean scientists have developed a legitimate 3D hologram you can view from any angle

Researchers in Korea have developed the world’s first real, floating, three-dimensional hologram in the form of a Rubik’s Cube. The hologram appears thanks to the effect of diffraction from a complex system of high-powered multicolor lasers.

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Boeing’s latest video explains how scientists built microlattice, the world’s lightest metal

Despite being made entirely from metal, microlattice is actually 100 times lighter than styrofoam — so light, in fact, that it can rest on top of a dandelion blossom without destroying it.

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Scientists are developing an invisibility cloak for solar panels

Current solar panel technology has enough trouble as it is converting sunlight into useable current, what with their paltry 20 percent average efficiencies. And it certainly doesn't help matters that up to a tenth of every solar panel's active coll…
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Japanese scientists have developed a rock-paper-scissors robot that never loses

University of Tokyo’s Janken robot is on a winning streak. Ever since its inception in 2013, the robot has never lost a game of rock-scissors-paper. Now on version 3.0, the robot is better than ever.

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WSU scientists have developed stretchable metal, paving the way for flexible electronics

Researchers at Washington State University may have discovered a way of stretching metal circuitry to twice its size, possibly solving one of the biggest challenges in the growing field of flexible electronics.

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