Imma Perfetto
Cosmos science journalist
Blowflies carry bird flu virus
New research has identified a potential new transmission route for bird flu – blowflies of the genus Calliphora.
Japanese scientists collected blowflies near a wild crane colony in Izumi city, Kagoshima Prefecture, during an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Of the 648 blowflies collected, 14 were found to be carrying the virus.
“While 14 blowflies may seem like a low number, this represents a prevalence in blowflies of 2.2%, which is a huge percentage compared to other diseases spread by insects,” says Ryosuke Fujita of Kyushu University’s Faculty of Agriculture, first author of the study in Scientific Reports.
“By keeping areas clean and using fly control methods, such as fine nets or insecticides, we can reduce the risk of virus spread to indoor poultry farms. However, in outdoor farms in other countries, and in wild bird populations, controlling blowflies may be logistically impossible.”
Twisted carbon nanotubes can store energy
Carbon nanotubes can store 3-times more energy per unit mass than advanced lithium-ion batteries, according to a newly published Nature Nanotechnology paper.
They could be used for storing energy in devices that need to be lightweight, compact and safe, such as medical devices and sensors.
“Humans have long stored energy in mechanical coil springs to power devices such as watches and toys,” says study co-author Sanjeev Kumar Ujjain, from the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology at the University of Maryland Baltimore City, USA.
“This research shows twisted carbon nanotubes have great potential for mechanical energy storage.”
The team twisted together bundles of commercially available carbon nanotubes into “ropes”. They then tested how much energy the ropes could store by twisting them and measuring the energy released as the ropes unwound.
They are now incorporating twisted carbon nanotubes as an energy source for a prototype sensor currently in development.
A whole new view on glacier melting in Antarctica
The first detailed maps of the underside of a glacier have shed important light on how the ocean melts Antarctica’s ice shelves.
The sonar data was collected by an autonomous underwater vehicle programmed to dive into the Dotson ice shelf cavity in West Antarctica.
“We have previously used satellite data and ice cores to observe how glaciers change over time,” says Anna Wåhlin, a professor of oceanography at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden.
“By navigating the submersible into the cavity, we were able to get high resolution maps of the ice underside. It’s a bit like seeing the back of the moon.”
By understanding the processes by which Antarctica’s ice shelves melt scientists will be able to make better predictions of future sea level rise.
The findings are published in a new study Science Advances.
Printing 3D circuits using a “eutectic alloy”
A team from the National University of Singapore have developed a new technique to fabricate 3-dimensional electronic circuits.
Building circuitry in 3D allows components to be stacked vertically, allowing devices to be made more compact.
The technique, tension-driven CHARM3D, is described in a new paper in Nature Electronics.
It uses Field’s metal – a “eutectic alloy” of indium, bismuth and tin. A eutectic alloy melts at a single temperature, in this case 62°C, which is lower than the melting points of its constituent metals.
It also solidifies rapidly, allowing 3D structures to be printed without supports.
