Lifeboat Foundation

Decarbonising Australia’s transport systems will take more than a transition to electric vehicles. Understanding how and when owners like to charge their cars is important. Our researchers are examining how we might persuade the increasing electricity demand to meet the time-dependent renewable energy supply.

How many people do you know who own an electric vehicle? Most Australians still drive petrol-fuelled cars. But the proportion of electric vehicles (EVs) on our roads is set to boom in coming years, particularly if the government’s plans to introduce a fuel efficiency standard prove successful.

Transport researchers at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology have studied the expectations EV owners have for charging – and what they think of policies and technologies that aim to shape EV charging behaviours.

🏅 R&D 100 Award Winner 🏅

The Noncontact Laser Ultrasound (NCLUS) is a portable laser-based system that acquires ultrasound images of human tissue without touching a patient. It offers capabilities comparable to those of an MRI and CT but at vastly lower cost in an automated and portable platform.

In addition to receiving an R&D 100 Award, NCLUS received the Silver Medal in the Special Recognition: Market Disruptor Products category. Congratulations to the NCLUS team!

Continue reading “Laser-based system achieves noncontact medical ultrasound imaging” »

Researchers at the University of Stuttgart have demonstrated that a key ingredient for many quantum computation and communication schemes can be performed with an efficiency that exceeds the commonly assumed upper theoretical limit—thereby opening up new perspectives for a wide range of photonic quantum technologies.

Quantum science has not only revolutionized our understanding of nature—it is also inspiring groundbreaking new computing, communication and sensor devices. Exploiting quantum effects in such “quantum technologies” typically requires a combination of deep insight into the underlying quantum-physical principles, systematic methodological advances, and clever engineering.

And it is precisely this combination that researches in the group of Prof. Stefanie Barz at the University of Stuttgart and the Center for Integrated Quantum Science and Technology (IQST) have delivered in a recent study, in which they have improved the efficiency of an essential building block of many quantum devices beyond a seemingly inherent limit. The work is published in the journal Science Advances.

It is possible to image an object with an induced coherence effect by making use of photon pairs to gain information on the item of interest—without detecting the light probing it. While one photon illuminates the object, its partner alone is detected, thereby preventing the measurements of coincidence events to reveal information of the sought after object. This method can be made resilient to noise, as well.

In a new report published in Science Advances, Jorge Fuenzalida and a team in applied optics, precision engineering and theory communications in Germany experimentally showed how the method can be made resilient to noise. They introduced an imaging-distilled approach based on the interferometric modulation of the signal of interest to generate a high-quality image of an object regardless of the extreme noise levels surpassing the actual signal of interest.

Quantum imaging is a promising field that is emerging with valid advantages when compared to classical protocols. Researchers have demonstrated this method across different scenarios to work in the low-photon flux regime by making use of undetected probing photons for super-resolution imaging.

Are you down with MIT, yeah you know me! Who’s down with MIT? Every last homie! Haha seriously though, that’s genius to figure out this stuff.

Groundbreaking study demonstrates control over quantum fluctuations, unlocking potential for probabilistic computing and ultra-precise field sensing.

A team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT

Continue reading “Harnessing the Void: MIT Controls Quantum Randomness For the First Time” »

The long-promised more affordable Tesla electric car might debut alongside an automated robotaxi.

Tesla is reportedly preparing to build a $25,000 electric car built on the company’s next-generation engineering platform. Axios.

The $25,000 car reportedly has a futuristic design like the long-delayed Cybertruck — the angular pickup truck that Tesla first revealed in 2019. The Cybertruck will supposedly begin production this year, with production-at-scale beginning in 2024.

Continue reading “Tesla’s $25,000 ‘next-generation car’ will have a Cybertruck design” »

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent global health concern, posing a significant and increasing public health challenge worldwide. Recently, biomaterials have emerged as a highly promising strategy for OA therapy due to their exceptional physicochemical properties and capacity to regulate pathological processes. However, there is an urgent need for a deeper understanding of the potential therapeutic applications of these biomaterials in the clinical management of diseases, particularly in the treatment of OA. In this comprehensive review, we present an extensive discussion of the current status and future prospects concerning biomaterials for OA… More.

Herein, in this review, we summarize the advanced strategies developed for enhancing OA therapy based on the biomaterials. We conducted a comprehensive literature search using relevant databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. The search was focused on peer-reviewed articles and research papers published within the last ten years (from 2013 to 2023). We utilized specific keywords related to biomaterials”, biomaterials” and “osteoarthritis therapy” to retrieve relevant studies. First, we provide an overview of the pathophysiology of OA and the limitations of current treatment options. Second, we explore the various types of biomaterials which have been used for OA therapy, including nanoparticles, nanofibers, and nanocomposites. Third, we highlight the advantages and challenges associated with the use of biomaterials in OA therapy, such as toxicity, biodegradation, and regulatory issues. Finally, advanced biomaterials-based OA therapies with their potential for clinical translation and emerging biomaterials directions for OA therapy are discussed.

Characteristics of Biomaterials

Nanotechnology-boosted biomaterials have attracted considerable attention in recent years as promising candidates for revolutionizing the field of therapeutics.^12,13 These materials combine the unique properties of nanotechnology with the versatility and biocompatibility of biomaterials, offering numerous advantages over existing therapeutic approaches. Nanotechnology enables the precise engineering of biomaterials at the nanoscale, allowing for the encapsulation and controlled release of therapeutic agents, such as drugs and growth factors.^14–17 This feature facilitates targeted and sustained drug delivery to specific sites within the body, reducing systemic side effects and enhancing treatment efficacy. In the context of OA, this targeted drug delivery can be utilized to deliver anti-inflammatory agents or disease-modifying drugs directly to affected joint tissues, promoting tissue repair and alleviating symptoms. Furthermore, biomaterials can be designed to mimic the native tissue environment, thereby enhancing their biocompatibility and reducing the risk of adverse reactions or immune responses.¹⁸ This characteristic is crucial for successful integration and long-term functionality of biomaterials in biomedical applications. Moreover, nanomaterials can facilitate tissue regeneration by stimulating cellular responses and promoting tissue growth.¹⁹ In the context of OA, biomaterials can assist in cartilage repair and regeneration, potentially slowing down disease progression and improving joint function.³ In addition, nanotechnology allows for the customization of biomaterials with a wide range of physical, chemical, and biological properties.¹³ This flexibility enables the development of multifunctional biomaterials that can simultaneously perform multiple tasks, such as drug delivery, imaging, and tissue regeneration. These advantages collectively contribute to their potential as innovative solutions in addressing various biomedical challenges and improving patient outcomes. In this section, we will discuss some of the key properties of biomaterials and their impact on OA treatment.

Continue reading “Nanotechnology-Boosted Biomaterials for Osteoarthritis” »

Graphene-based two-dimensional materials have recently emerged as a focus of scientific exploration due to their exceptional structural, mechanical, electrical, optical, and thermal properties. Among them, nanosheets based on graphene-oxide (GO), an oxidized derivative of graphene, with ultrathin and extra wide dimensions and oxygen-rich surfaces are quite promising.

Functional groups containing oxygen, such as carboxy and acidic hydroxy groups, generate dense negative charges, making GO nanosheets colloidally stable in water. As a result, they are valuable building blocks for next-generation functional soft materials.

In particular, thermoresponsive GO nanosheets have garnered much attention for their wide-ranging applications, from smart membranes and surfaces and recyclable systems to hydrogel actuators and biomedical platforms. However, the prevailing synthetic strategies for generating thermoresponsive behaviors entail modifying GO nanosheet surfaces with thermoresponsive polymers such as poly (N-isopropylacrylamide). This process is complex and has potential limitations in subsequent functionalization efforts.

The Koenigsegg CC850 that debuted during August’s 2022 Monterey Car Week is a re-imagination of the Swedish firm’s first production car, and one of the highlights is a transmission like no other.

The CC850 uses a version of the 9-speed Light Speed Transmission from the Koenigsegg Jesko, but with a new Engage Shifter System (ESS) that makes the automatic transmission transform into a 6-speed manual (it still maintains the full automatic mode with nine gears, though). This Engineering Explained video provides a deep dive into Koenigsegg’s reinvented manual.

Koenigsegg’s latest hypercar features an automatic transmission that can transform into a manual complete with a clutch pedal.

Continue reading “Deep dive: How Koenigsegg reinvented the manual transmission for the CC850” »