Amazon is about to start weekly charts, showing not only what books are most sold (across ebook, print book, and audiobook), but which ones are most read (ebook and audiobook).
May
22
May
22
As electronics become increasingly pervasive in our lives, from smart phones to wearable sensors, so too does the…
Originally shared by Greg Batmarx
As electronics become increasingly pervasive in our lives, from smart phones to wearable sensors, so too does the ever rising amount of electronic waste they create.
A United Nations Environment Program report found that almost 50 million tons of electronic waste were thrown out in 2017, more than 20 percent higher than waste in 2015.
Troubled by this mounting waste, Stanford engineer Zhenan Bao and her team are rethinking electronics.
In my group, we have been trying to mimic the function of human skin to think about how to develop future electronic devices Bao said.
She described how skin is stretchable, self-healable and also biodegradable, an attractive list of characteristics for electronics.
We have achieved the first two [flexible and self-healing], so the biodegradability was something we wanted to tackle.
The team created a flexible electronic device that can easily degrade just by adding a weak acid like vinegar. The results were published May 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This is the first example of a semiconductive polymer that can decompose said lead author Ting Lei a postdoctoral fellow working with Bao.
In addition to the polymer, essentially a flexible, conductive plastic, the team developed a degradable electronic circuit and a new biodegradable substrate material for mounting the electrical components. This substrate supports the electrical components, flexing and molding to rough and smooth surfaces alike.
When the electronic device is no longer needed, the whole thing can biodegrade into nontoxic components.
Biodegradable bits
Bao a professor of chemical engineering and materials science and engineering, had previously created a stretchable electrode modeled on human skin. That material could bend and twist in a way that could allow it to interface with the skin or brain, but it couldn’t degrade. That limited its application for implantable devices and, important to Bao, contributed to waste.
Bao said that creating a robust material that is both a good electrical conductor and biodegradable was a challenge, considering traditional polymer chemistry.
We have been trying to think how we can achieve both great electronic property but also have the biodegradability Bao said.
Eventually, the team found that by tweaking the chemical structure of the flexible material it would break apart under mild stressors.
We came up with an idea of making these molecules using a special type of chemical linkage that can retain the ability for the electron to smoothly transport along the molecule Bao said. But also this chemical bond is sensitive to weak acid, even weaker than pure vinegar.
The result was a material that could carry an electronic signal but break down without requiring extreme measures.
In addition to the biodegradable polymer, the team developed a new type of electrical component and a substrate material that attaches to the entire electronic component. Electronic components are usually made of gold. But for this device, the researchers crafted components from iron. Bao noted that iron is a very environmentally friendly product and is nontoxic to humans.
The researchers created the substrate, which carries the electronic circuit and the polymer, from cellulose. Cellulose is the same substance that makes up paper.
But unlike paper, the team altered cellulose fibers so the “paper” is transparent and flexible, while still breaking down easily.
The thin film substrate allows the electronics to be worn on the skin or even implanted inside the body.
From implants to plants
The combination of a biodegradable conductive polymer and substrate makes the electronic device useful in a plethora of settings, from wearable electronics to large-scale environmental surveys with sensor dusts.
We envision these soft patches that are very thin and conformable to the skin that can measure blood pressure, glucose value, sweat content Bao said. A person could wear a specifically designed patch for a day or week, then download the data. According to Bao, this short-term use of disposable electronics seems a perfect fit for a degradable, flexible design.
And it’s not just for skin surveys: the biodegradable substrate, polymers and iron electrodes make the entire component compatible with insertion into the human body. The polymer breaks down to product concentrations much lower than the published acceptable levels found in drinking water. Although the polymer was found to be biocompatible, Bao said that more studies would need to be done before implants are a regular occurrence.
Biodegradable electronics have the potential to go far beyond collecting heart disease and glucose data. These components could be used in places where surveys cover large areas in remote locations.
Lei described a research scenario where biodegradable electronics are dropped by airplane over a forest to survey the landscape. It’s a very large area and very hard for people to spread the sensors,” he said. “Also, if you spread the sensors, it’s very hard to gather them back. You don’t want to contaminate the environment so we need something that can be decomposed. Instead of plastic littering the forest floor, the sensors would biodegrade away.
As the number of electronics increase, biodegradability will become more important. Lei is excited by their advancements and wants to keep improving performance of biodegradable electronics.
We currently have computers and cell phones and we generate millions and billions of cell phones, and it’s hard to decompose he said. We hope we can develop some materials that can be decomposed so there is less waste.
May
21
We could always just call it “magic”.
We could always just call it “magic”.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
The Next Great Computer Interface Is Emerging—But It Doesn’t Have a Name Yet
May
21
We give things names so we can talk about them.
We give things names so we can talk about them. Most of the writing phenomena on this page are common mistakes, but I’m glad to say that I’ve written Mrs Brown, more than once, and I’ll do it again.
May
21
Via Andy Brokaw.
Via Andy Brokaw.
As a straight, white, mostly able-bodied male, I know that there are a few people (not many) who wish I would just stop writing, solely based on my demographic. Fortunately, there are plenty who are OK with me lending my voice to diversity and representation, even if I don’t always get it right.
Originally shared by Troy
We live in a world where someone takes a webcomic strip that agrees with the worldview they want to project and say “This.” As if it’s the most powerful statement anyone can say. The world is too complex for such simplistic, knee-jerk meme sharing.
Lines of attack like this are being used on people who are actually minority individuals. It happened to an author friend of mine – the attack claimed they were a straight white male “cashing in.”
So we agree as a society that white people can’t write people of colour. Then the next step is to say, well, so-and-so is Asian. He can’t write a black character. Then, so-and-so is cisgender. She can’t write a transgender character – or the reverse. So-and-so is Christian. Xe can’t write a Muslim character.
Then: you can’t play a Vulcan, because you’re a human.
The alt-right is led by people who are actually quite smart and capable of spreading damaging ideas and lines of reason. They actually want this, too. They don’t want white straight males (who are frankly in the majority of novel sales) creating stories that empower minority groups and inspire them to write. Or inspire young minds with heroes and cultures, giving them the power to reject empty racist arguments. The business of mythmaking is a serious one.
May
21
Wind turbine makes 1,000 liters of clean water a day in the desert
Originally shared by Danie van der Merwe
Wind turbine makes 1,000 liters of clean water a day in the desert
A cool new concept being tested in the Abu Dhabi desert uses a wind turbine to condense water from the air and pump it into storage tanks for filtration and purification. The technology was created by Eole Water after its founder, Marc Parent, was inspired by the water he could collect from his air conditioner unit while living in the Caribbean. He began thinking of ways that water could be condensed from air in areas without access to grid power and the wind turbine concept was born.
The 30-kW wind turbine houses and powers the whole system. Air is taken in through vents in the nose cone of the turbine and then heated by a generator to make steam. The steam goes through a cooling compressor that creates moisture which is then condensed and collected. The water produced is sent through pipes down to stainless steel storage tanks where it’s filtered and purified.
See https://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/wind-turbine-makes-clean-water-desert.html
https://www.treehugger.com/wind-technology/wind-turbine-makes-clean-water-desert.html
May
20
Sometimes when I don’t believe something in a story it’s not from inadequate foreshadowing; it’s from inadequate…
Sometimes when I don’t believe something in a story it’s not from inadequate foreshadowing; it’s from inadequate research. But overall, this is useful.
Originally shared by Samantha Dunaway Bryant
Some good advice on what steps to take with common bits of feedback you might receive in critique.
May
20
There’s an episode of the excellent Gastropod food/history/science podcast about kelp farming – can’t remember the…
There’s an episode of the excellent Gastropod food/history/science podcast about kelp farming – can’t remember the title, but it’s one of the early episodes. Fascinating stuff.
Originally shared by Derrick “Quite Clever” Sanders
Don’t let Bren Smith and Greenwave get lost in the turmoil…
This is a paradigm shift…
May
20
Every medium has things that it’s uniquely good at, and VR is no exception.
Every medium has things that it’s uniquely good at, and VR is no exception. This makes some uses more plausible than others.
Originally shared by Singularity Hub
SCIFI: A framework for powerful virtual reality applications
May
19
Via a private share.
Via a private share.
I don’t know about you, but I would watch “Batman and Flancles: The Fun Tree” or “Swords and Batman: Summer Party ?”.