Solid-state lithium-ion batteries are a hallowed goal in energy: they’d be more powerful – and safer – than current commercial liquid-based models. But researchers are still looking for solid materials that can conduct electricity well and integrate with the rest of the battery. One such substance has been found by a team of US materials … Continue reading Batt-trees? Cellulose in solid-state batteries shows promise
Category: Materials
At-home dialysis for the cost of a bag of chips
A new low-carbon-footprint dialysis treatment might soon be available for the cost of a bag of chips. Sydney-based start-up Ellen Medical Devices has received $427,000 in government funding to develop the award-winning Ellen Medical Dialysis System. Dialysis replaces normal kidney function by purifying and cleaning the blood when kidneys alone can’t do it. It has … Continue reading At-home dialysis for the cost of a bag of chips
Could houses on Mars be built with astronaut blood, sweat and tears?
A dash of astronaut blood, a pinch of urine and a serving of space dust – mix it together and what do you get? Houses, according to a study published in Materials Today Bio. Scientists from the University of Manchester, UK, blended up a grisly concoction of blood, urine and ‘space’ dust to make brick … Continue reading Could houses on Mars be built with astronaut blood, sweat and tears?
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Moths vs bats: moths use sound to thwart bat attacks Who would win in a bat-moth fight? A new study has found that moths have more of a leg-up than previously thought, because their wings are structured to mess up the echolocation of bats. Researchers from the University of Bristol have found that the wingtips … Continue reading You may have missed…
3D printing rocket and satellite parts
The ability to 3D print satellite parts sounds like something out of science fiction, but Swinburne University of Technology is planning to do just that. The university will install an elaborate 3D-printing system, built by additive manufacturing company Titomic, next year. The system will be able to print a range of different substances – including … Continue reading 3D printing rocket and satellite parts
3D printing is helping paralympians gain an edge
By James Novak, The University of Queensland and Andrew Novak, University of Technology Sydney Major sporting events like the Paralympics are a breeding ground for technological innovation. Athletes, coaches, designers, engineers and sports scientists are constantly looking for the next improvement that will give them the edge. Over the past decade, 3D printing has become … Continue reading 3D printing is helping paralympians gain an edge
3D-printed houses in Australia | Cosmos Weekly Taster
This article first appeared in Cosmos Weekly on 27 August 2021. For more stories like this, subscribe to Cosmos Weekly. As state and federal governments scramble to find solutions for how to best manage the next few years of the pandemic, discussions about the building of for-purpose quarantine centres seem to be getting little traction. … Continue reading 3D-printed houses in Australia | Cosmos Weekly Taster
Spotted: Ghost surface polaritons
For the first time, an international research team has demonstrated the existence of ghost hyperbolic surface polaritons, and it’s just about as mind-bending as you think. “Polaritonics is the science and technology of exploiting strong interactions of light with matter, and it has revolutionised optical sciences in the past few years,” explains Andrea Alù, co-author … Continue reading Spotted: Ghost surface polaritons
Would you wear clothes made from muscle fibres?
Would you wear clothes made out of muscle fibres? What if they were stronger than silk, cotton and even Kevlar, and 100% vegan? Soon this might be possible, with a team of researchers from Washington State University teaching microbes to make muscles fibres – without harming a single animal. The researchers, led by Cameron Sargent, … Continue reading Would you wear clothes made from muscle fibres?
3D-printed houses in Australia: a viable option?
As state and federal governments scramble to find solutions for how to best manage the next few years of the pandemic, discussions about the building of for-purpose quarantine centres seem to be getting little traction. Some premiers, such as Western Australia’s Mark McGowan, believe it will take years to build new facilities, while Prime Minister … Continue reading 3D-printed houses in Australia: a viable option?
Acoustic tweezers put the pinch on particles
There are no physical structures in this video. The “walls” guiding the particles through the liquid are actually a complex combination of sound waves created by a new technique called a shadow waveguide. Credit: Junfei Li, Duke University A ‘shadow waveguide’ sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but it’s actually a technique developed … Continue reading Acoustic tweezers put the pinch on particles
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Mission to Titan announces ambitious science goals Saturn’s largest moon Titan is an extraordinary world. We know it has sand dunes, lakes, seas, streambed, a substantial atmosphere, weather systems like Earth and methane rain – but we barely know any details about it. In the mid-2030s NASA plans to explore this promising moon in depth, … Continue reading You may have missed…