ACEIZE Tracking the current state of Science and Technology

Below is a video of BMW's Gina concept car. The car's construction is a movable metal frame surrounded by a fabric material. Wikipedia mentions that this fabric is a polyurethane coated Spandex.

There is an experiment happening on the International Space Station called, Materials International Space Station Experiment - 7 (MISSE7). During the experiment several nanocomposite materials are being tested for endurance in the high radiation and extreme temperature ranges of space. The experiment is being led by the US Air Force in conjunction with several US Universities.

Materials Being Tested
According to NASA, there are 'over 700 new and affordable materials' being tested under the auspices of MISSE7. 'Specimens include solar cells and candidate spacecraft materials'. These materials are expected to be useful in the design of 'solar cells, optics, sensors, electronics, power, coatings, structural materials and protection for the next generation of spacecraft'

More specific examples of the materials being tested are :

• 'Super Teflon' - a highly durable Teflon coating. Fluoride-coated alumina particles have been added to Teflon to create a material that theoretically improves the durability of Teflon by 62,000 times.
• A tough polymer filled with carbon nanotubes. This material is intended to conduct electricity.

A brief summary of the current status of buckypaper in terms of feasibility, commercial availability, and product potential.

Several months ago, buckypaper was in the mainstream news. I would have thought that buckypaper would have made Aceize at that time, but looking back it looks like an article that I skipped. I haven't heard anything since, so I figured that I would look into the subject.

What is buckypaper?
Buckypaper is a solid collection of single walled nanotubes (SWNT). These nanotubes are held together through means of filtering a nanotube suspension. Nanotubes are placed in a suspension of non-ionic surfactants, such as Triton X-100 and Sodium lauryl sulfate. The resulting dispersion is then filtered and pressed to make buckypaper. Dr. Richard Smalley is credited with the first application of this method.

A couple days ago I read a cheeky article about NASA's plans to use 'Star Trek' replicators to create parts and tools in space (No offense meant, Mr. Hsu -- although the phrase was from Karen Taminger, anyway). The technology is a portable electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF3) device. Basically the EBF3 uses an electron beam to create a molten pool in a metallic substrate. The whole object is moved so that the fixed electron beam deposits material in the desired pattern. Doing this, they are able to create objects using a layer additive process. The concept is similar in general concept to the FAB@home projects.

Non-portal EBF3 has been used previously in the welding industry. Companies such as Sciaky create big machines that use a similar process.

Here's a neat video describing the work that Karen Taminger has done with portable EBF3.

Wilhelm Reich was a psychologist turned researcher in the 40's and 50's. In the late 50's he was arrested and imprisoned by the US government for ignoring an FDA ruling that outlawed one of his inventions. After Reich's arrest all of his books and research papers were burned by the US government. Yes, burned.

Starting August 11, 2007 it will be illegal to possess a solution containing over 2.2% Iodine in the United States of America. Iodine will be a regulated chemical subject to tracking, approvals, import and export regulations. Certain exemptions to this rule have been granted by the government. It is be legal to possess 1 fluid ounce of Lugol's solution. Additionally "Persons handling regulated iodine materials are required to register with DEA, are subject to the import/export notification requirements of the CSA, and are required to maintain records of all regulated transactions involving iodine regardless of size." Farmers who regularly use up to 7% iodine solution for their livestock will fall under this monitoring and regulation, as will any manufacturing facilities. Amateur chemists will likely be unable to obtain Iodine legally (unless the are very familiar with US paper work procedures).

Here's a website that provides a nice, clear visualization of all known atomic elements. I found this site through Infosthetics. Each visualization shows the neutrons, protons, electrons, the spin of the electrons, orbital shells, and sub orbital shells - with the electrons mapped to each sub orbital shell. It reminds me of high school chemistry class, but better.

Sony released a video of their new flexible thin film display. The display is thin enough to bend like paper and displays full color images. The display is created using a combination of 'thin film transistor' and 'organic electroluminescent display' (OLED) technologies. At the moment Sony is not 100% certain what future applications to which the technology will be applied. However, I think that their wallpaper idea may have some wings. How great would it be to be able to repaint a whole room just by flicking a switch? Or even better, change the color based on the time of day?

The website says that these motors are great for running model cars, but I would imagine that a high torque motor would have some pretty decent applications in making amateur robots. At $15.95, it might be worth a test.

In a DIY project similar to the Fab@Home people, the Maker Faire will feature this 3D fabrication device. The device works similar to other 3D printing & prototype machines in that a solid object is built from a computer model by creating the model layer by layer out of a cheap substrate. The difference between this machine and others is that this machine uses what the makers call SHASAM, or selective hot air sintering and melting, to melt layers of sugar into an object. A hot air jet melts sections of a bed of sugar to form the various layers of a 3D object.

A nice documentary that lays out NASA's plan to build a space colony and the technology involved in the venture. In the video they cover the development and testing of new space suits, lunar habitats, mining the surface of the moon, extracting water and oxygen from lunar soils, and how the O

Researchers in Australia are using titanium dioxide to split seawater into oxygen and hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas can then be used to generate electricity. Somehow I find claims such as these amusing the university team was confident it would be able to make the process efficient enough within 10 years for it then to be developed commercially. Although they also say that covering an area of 40 square kilometers with these generators would be enough to produce enough hydrogen for all of Australia's energy needs.