A team of researchers performs some nano-magic on a well-known material to increase its thermoelectric efficiency
A new low-cost, nanotech-based approach to power generation developed by researchers at Boston College and MIT could lead to cleaner-running semiconductors, air conditioners, car exhausts and more. The technique, published online yesterday in Science, uses the nanostructures to dramatically increase thermal efficiency.
The researchers didn’t invent a new material so much as re-work an old one, a semiconductor alloy that’s been used in various devices for five decades. “We have found a way to improve an old material by breaking it up and then rebuilding it in a composite of nanostructures in bulk form,” says BC physicist Zhifeng Ren.
And this isn’t some far-off application, either: The scientists say it could be applied to existing products, enabling them to consume less energy, and use energy that might other was be wasted.
Finding Weak Spots in Buildings, Bodies and Statues
12 May 2008 Author: Bilig In: Science & Technology
New software predicts where structures could crack under strain
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Florida International University have developed a technique that enables them to identify the weak spots in a structure from afar.
The program they developed, Scan and Solve, uses 3D data of an object to predict where it is most likely to fracture, and how its faulty spots will be affected by outside forces such as gravity or other forms of strain.
The team tested the software on one of the most famous sculptures in the world, Michelangelo’s David, and the results of the program matched previous analyses of the statue. David has already incurred damage from cracks, and Scan and Solve “predicted” those weak spots. The idea, though, is that the program could be used to identify trouble areas in artifacts or statues or structures that have not yet begun to break down, giving engineers a chance to address those potential problems before serious damage sets in.
In the future, the researchers say the technique could be combined with medical imaging technology to help doctors pinpoint weakness in a patient’s bone structure.
Via Medgadget
Science Confirms the Obvious: It’s Helathier to Take the Stairs
12 May 2008 Author: Bilig In: Science & Technology
Is sloth bad by comparison or just plain bad?
When I went from footloose freelancer to sessile nine-to-fiver in a huge building, I made a rule: unless an open elevator was waiting, always take the stairs. This is because I knew it was the healthy thing to do.
Go figure—I’m right, says a new JAMA study. But not only does the research show that taking fewer steps is unhealthy, it can actually cause disease.
The team asked active men who average 10,000 steps a day to use vehicles and elevators at every chance for two weeks. Then the scientists measured the levels of glucose and fat in their blood. They found that the less active volunteers cleared out these substances from their bloodstream less quickly, a risk factor for diabetes and other chronic diseases.
Says one of the authors, University of Missouri researcher Frank Booth: “Previously, we thought that not exercising just wasn’t healthy, but we didn’t think that a lack of activity could cause disease. That assumption was wrong.”
