Lifeboat Foundation

Musk has yet to make a definite announcement about a Moon base. He has said we may need one just to get people fired up about Mars, and he is going to shoot someone around the Moon and back. I point this out because the first part of this article makes it seem like Musk has drawn up plans and announced them.

How can astronauts build a lunar base if traditional building materials are too heavy to load into a rocket?

Continue reading “How easy will it be to build a Moon base?” »

When you think of Mexico, you think of tequila and guacamole, says Scott Munguia. If he has his way, you might also be thinking of something else made from the avocado: plastic made from the seed.

https://paper.li/e-1437691924#/

Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic enters the world’s oceans – much of it through our river systems. See which rivers are polluting the most.

Samples collected nearly 50 years ago during Apollo, combined with experimental studies that mirror the conditions inside planetary bodies provide compelling evidence.

In the search for people working on cheaper supercapacitors, she found herself in the lab of Noureen Siraj, Ph.D., an assistant professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. One of Siraj’s students, Samantha Macchi, had already been working on such a project for about a year and a half, figuring out how to make supercapacitor electrodes from common materials like used tea leaves, molasses, and a basic kitchen microwave oven — humble beginnings for a high-tech device. Siraj and Macchi brought Bollimpalli onto the project to learn about the work, which she later presented at ISEF. Meanwhile, Macchi and Siraj published the resulting research in January in the journal Chemistry Select.

Bollimpalli was initially assigned to a different project in the lab, but when she found out about the work on supercapacitors, she asked to switch tasks. Siraj, who is used to having high school students learn about her team’s work, quickly obliged.

“She quickly learned all the protocols, and she actually was able to explain. She brought an understanding that is missing in a lot of the high school students,” Siraj tells Inverse. “She really is good at absorbing the information.” They worked together tirelessly to help Bollimpalli nail the presentation she would later give at ISEF.

Continue reading “An Arkansas Teen Helped Turn Tea Leaves and Molasses Into a Supercapacitor” »

Building cracks and deterioration are common points of concern for asset owners and managers alike, but a new technology may soon alleviate these industry issues.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge are using micro-encapsulation technologies developed by Dolomite Microfluidics to develop self-healing construction materials.

The university’s Department of Engineering’s Geotechnical and Environmental Research Group said last month that it is developing microcapsules containing ‘healing’ agents such as minerals, epoxy, or polyurethane which can be added to building materials to allow the self-repair of small cracks that develop over time.

Continue reading “Is self-healing concrete technology the future of construction?” »

Illinois researchers have introduced a new cutting-edge reusable adhesive that activates in seconds, works underwater, and is strong enough to deadlift 11 pounds: shape memory polymers (SMPs).

The team—associate professor in mechanical science and engineering Seok Kim, graduate student Jun Kyu Park, and former graduate student Jeffrey D. Eisenhaure (Ph. D. ME ‘17, now with Northrop Grumman)—has proved that SMPs can retain dry adhesion properties while submerged. Their study, “Reversible underwater dry adhesion of a shape memory polymer,” was recently published by the scientific journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

Continue reading “Groundbreaking new reusable adhesive works underwater” »

Researchers have developed new bioinspired material that interacts with surrounding tissues to promote healing.

I have heard the term Sh… Bricks, but never thought I would live the day to hear it literally. Waste is an issue, and a growing global population will create more waste, and it needs to be addressed. The supply of waste is endless. People who find innovatiive ways to use it as a raw material will prosper Once sewage is drained of water, treated, and dried – what the heck do you do with it? Well, some of it ends up as fertiliser, but a massive 30 percent of our poop leftovers is sent to landfill to rot, or just sits in storage. What a waste.

Especially when, according to researchers from Australia’s RMIT University, using these ‘biosolids’ in bricks could be a surprisingly effective way of repurposing all that former sludge.