New Nanobiocomposite Material has Huge Potential

An article in the journal ACS Nano outlines some groundbreaking research done by Eijiro Miyako and colleagues. In a simple view, the research team has combined Morpho Butterfly wings and carbon nanotubes to create a new material that is highly conductive. There are 29 different species of Morpho butterflies in the world and they are mostly located in Mexico, Central America and South America.

Miyako explains that Morpho Butterflies have unique wings because they are lightweight, thin, flexible, absorb solar energy, and also self clean. When they are combined with carbon nanotubes, which have unique electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties, the exhibited a higher electric conductivity than the individual materials by themselves.

In the article, the scientists stated that "Our present study highlights the important progress that has been made toward the development of smart nanobiomaterials for various applications such as digital diagnosis, soft wearable electronic devices, photosensors, and photovoltaic cells." This discovery has to be further developed, but it definitely shows promise for the future.

Autistic Kids Superior in Math Show Different Brain Organization

I have recently become more interested in looking into psychology and behavioral science studies and have come across some very interesting ones. This article discussed the idea that autistic kids use different parts of their brain than normal kids when performing math tasks.

The participants in the study included 36 children, 18 autistic and non-autistic children. They were all in the normal IQ range and had normal performances on verbal and reading tasks. However, the autistic kids significantly outperformed the non-autistic children in a standardized math test. The study was conducted by the Stanford University School of Medicine.

After the math test, the researchers attempted to identify what specific techniques autistic children might use in order to be superior to the non autistic children. They discovered that autistic children were more likely to use decomposition techniques to solve complex math problems as opposed to rote memory techniques, which was prevalent in non autistic children.

The researchers then looked to see if there were any physiological differences between autistic and non-autistic children, in regards to the areas of the brain where there was activity. They put both groups of kids under an MRI scanner as they were solving math problems. The researchers saw an unusual activity in the temporal occipital cortex, an area of the brain that is normally associated with processing faces and emotions. The results show that this brain activity may be the reason as to why autistic kids have such a great ability in mathematical computations. This study definitely gives more confidence to the very parents of autistic kids.

The full article can be read here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/08/130816130353.htm

New Car may Revolutionize Transportation

Elon Musk. You may have heard of him. The creator of PayPal who sold his company for billions and billions of dollars. The guy who is doing everything in his power to improve humanity. But his most recent futuristic invention is an electric car. Not just any electric car, the most efficient electric car ever created. The Tesla Model S has the potential to change transportation in the US and thus cut greenhouse emissions significantly. It would be a win for humanity, for sure.

If the Model S is equipped with the highest kWh battery, 85 kWh, then the car has an acceleration of 4.2 seconds from 0 to 60 mph and also has a top speed of 130 mph. The best part of the car is that you can charge it anywhere and at anytime and it only takes a small amount of time. To learn more about the charging, visit http://www.teslamotors.com/charging#/basics

Another interesting feature of the Model S is the 17" touchscreen between the driver's and passenger seat. This is where everything in the car is controlled. The gear, the navigation, the music, and much more.



To become more immersed into the features, visit http://www.teslamotors.com/models/features#/performance

The most exciting part about this whole project is not even the car. It is the Supercharger, essentially a gas station for electric cars. There are currently only 16 Superchargers in the US currently, but by 2015, Tesla plans to have Superchargers across America and some parts of Canada. A 30 minute charge at a Supercharger station can allow a car to travel for 200 miles before requiring another charge. And the best part is that, it is free. You will never have to pay for gas again.

But if you're in a hurry and can't wait 30 minutes or even 20 minutes for a partial charge, you can opt for a battery swap which takes less amount of time than filling a gas tank in a regular car. It is the same price of gas, but you are helping the environment in return. Expect Tesla to be a major brand in a couple of years.
To learn more about charging the Model S, visit http://www.teslamotors.com/supercharger

Ozone Hole Leads to Global Warming, but in a Different Way

The growing hole in the ozone layer has long thought to be one of the primary causes of global warming. The ozone layer helps prevent the Earth from being struck from ultraviolet radiation, so a hole lets the radiation come through and the heat's surface. It makes sense, right? Well, the empirical evidence suggests that this correlation is not accurate. Now, however, a computer model created by several scientists suggests that the ozone hole might actually contribute to global warming, but in a completely unique way than expected.

The computer model shows that the ozone hole shifts the wind patterns and thus moves the clouds further towards the South Pole. Thus, the clouds will not reflect as much sunlight and thus increase the amount of ultraviolet radiation on the Earth. The cause of this ozone hole was discovered to be chlorofluorocarbons found in aerosols and cooling systems in the 1980s.

The study was conducted by Kevin Grise at Columbia University and collaborators including Lorenzo Polvani of Columbia University, George Tselioudis of NASA, Yutian Wu of New York City and Mark Zilenka of Lawrence Laboratory. It really is a revolutionary study because it completely changes conventional thinking regarding the ozone hole. A Yale University poll showed that 61 percent of people believed that the ozone layer contributes to global warming, but more people may buy this theory when looking at this new study.

A New Way to Cool Processors

Nearly everybody on Earth uses computers these days. Back when it was first invented, very few could envision that the computer could be a practical option in households across the world. But it has been and it will continue to be an indispensable tool for the future. But very few are unaware of how computers actually work. It's very delicate, with many parts performing functions in order for the computer just to work. Perhaps the most important is the computer processor, which is considered to be the "brain" of the computer.

The processor is very small, but is big in its importance to the functioning of a computer. One of the main disadvantages to processors today is that, despite being very efficient, tend to accumulate large amounts of heat, which can hamper functionality and its lifetime. This is not just a problem for computers, but for a lot of different electronic systems. Fortunately, a research team from Chalmers University in Sweden have found a way to dramatically cool down electronic systems by focusing on cooling down the processor.

Essentially, they added a layer of graphene to the "hotspots" on the processor, tiny spots that are the size of one-thousandth of a millimeter  in order to cool it down. Graphene has recently been realized as the "miracle material" and could potentially change the future in a lot of different ways. Basically, it's a sheet of pure carbon. It's the thinnest material, an atom thick, the lightest material, the strongest material, and the best conductor of electricity known to man.

According to Johan Liu, who leads the research team, " The normal working temperature in the hotspots we have cooled has ranged from 55 to 115 degrees Celsius. We have been able to reduce this by up to 13 degrees, which not only improves energy efficiency, it also extends the working life of the electronics." 

Clearly, this discovery has huge implications for the future, as cooling of electronics is a huge problem. In fact, in 2006, nearly 50 percent of the total electricity used to run data servers went into cooling the systems. This discovery may even be a gateway for other researchers to test other materials that could also potentially cool down electronics in order to make them more efficient. 

Published Research Report

I have recently gotten the pleasure of publishing a research report that I wrote a few months ago regarding my 2012 Science Fair topic about building a computer-based audiometer. It is published in the International Journal of Engineering Research and Applications (IJERA).

The published research report can be found here:
http://www.ijera.com/papers/Vol3_issue4/GS3412321244.pdf

There are also many other great articles that are published in this issue of IJERA. They can be found here:
http://www.ijera.com/pages/current_issue.html

Enjoy!

CFCs are the cause of global warming, not CO2

According to a study done at the University of Waterloo, CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) have discovered to been the driving cause of global warming, not carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas. CFCs are synthetic chemicals that were created to eliminate toxic and flammable substances in refrigeration units and air conditioning units as well. Scientists soon discovered that CFCs were the cause of the depletion of ozone, which is useful for protecting people from ultraviolet radiation. Now, it has been discovered that CFCs also cause global warming.

"Conventional thinking says that the emission of human-made non-CFC gases such as carbon dioxide has mainly contributed to global warming. But we have observed data going back to the Industrial Revolution that convincingly shows that conventional understanding is wrong," said Qing-Bin Lu, a professor of physics at Waterloo.

Lu discovers that since 2002, global temperatures have actually declined, which correlates with a decline in the CFCs or chlorofluorocarbons since that period of time. Data recorded between 1850 and 1970, before any CFCs were created, shows that there was an increase in CO2 levels as a result of the Industrial Revolution, but the global temperature itself did not change and only kept constant. Empirically, temperatures should have risen by at least 1 degree over that same period, similar to the period between 1970 and 2002, when CFCs were being used for commercial purposes.

So what are the implications of this study for the long term? Does this mean we can continue to use fossil fuels without being worrisome?

Well carbon dioxide emissions do have other ramifications. However, Terry McMachon, dean of the faculty of science at Waterloo states that, "This study (done by Professor Lu) underlines the importance of understanding the basic science underlying ozone depletion and global climate change. The research is of particular importance not only to the research community, but to policy makers and the public alike as we look to the future of our climate."

In one word, this study is quite groundbreaking because it has completely changed our way of thinking and will completely change our way of thinking for the entire future.