microbes
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Researchers want to store excess renewable energy as methane
One of the major drawbacks to renewable energy sources like wind and solar is that we don't have an effective way to store excess energy. When the wind blows, we might have more than enough energy to feed the grid, but we can't store the surplus. Then, on breezeless days, we're left powerless. As trite as that might sound, it's unfortunately valid, and companies like Tesla have been trying to develop large battery storage solutions. Now, researchers at Stanford University are working on a biology-based battery alternative.
Bacteria open vents in this shirt when you sweat
Fashion and tech are teaming up yet again. Engineers at MIT have designed a workout suit that responds to your body heat, according to a study published last week in Science Advances. The clothing, made from latex, is covered with thumbnail- to finger-sized ventilating flaps that open and close depending on how much heat your body puts out. But what's controlling the flaps isn't something you'll find weaved into your usual workout gear -- it's bacteria.
Scientists discover shortcut for turning grass into plane fuel
It takes millions of years for natural processes to convert plants into crude oil (which is refined to gasoline), but researchers at Ghent University have figured out how to do it much faster. By pre-treating grass to make it break down quicker, and then adding Clostridium bacteria similar to that found in your gut, they produced decane, one of the main ingredients of gasoline and jet fuel. While decane is a polluting fuel, commercial jets will need it for at least the next few decades, and the researchers believe their process is efficient enough to make it commercially feasible.
Scientists prove that microbes could survive on Mars
Microbes could survive on Mars despite its harsh environment, a year-long experiment conducted by a team of astrobiologists from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville has proven. Sure, that's a little less exciting than proving that little green men could have lived on the red planet. But it still brings up the possibility that there may have been life on Mars at one point, no matter how small. The scientists were compelled to conduct a study when Curiosity detected the presence of methane. Most of the methane on Earth is produced by living organisms, and team leader Rebecca Mickol said the "the same could possibly be true for Mars."
ICYMI: Bullet-stopping foam, all-terrain military car and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-659024{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-659024, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-659024{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-659024").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers developed a new kind of armor called composite metal foam that's stronger and lighter than the metals inside of it. DARPA is developing a military vehicle that should be able to travel over 95% of solid surfaces, and a Kickstarter project to explore the depths of the Yellowstone River has our attention, in light of the coral reef discovery outside of the Amazon River. Make sure you send this video to your diehard Apple watch friend. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Microbial music: Using sound to represent data from the deep blue sea
Science and music, many would say opposite sides of the same coin. Unless you're DOE biologist Peter Larsen at the Argonne National Laboratory, who would probably argue your legal tender has been double-headed all along. While Larsen is more likely to be studying the intricacies of microbes than Miles Davis, his latest work puts the two of them closer than ever before. Faced with the task of studying vast amounts of microbial data gathered from the English Channel, the biologist explored alternative ways of making sense of it all. While he could have made a spiffy set of charts, Larsen claims that there are certain parameters, like sunlight and temperature, that give the data a structure that lends itself to musical representation. While classical music might seem the typical choice, due to the irregular nature of the data, the result is more free-form jazz, yet still surprisingly musical. If you were wondering if there is something particularly groovy about the microbes in the English Channel, there isn't. Larsen and his colleagues used a similar idea in previous work looking at the relationship between a plant and a fungus. This isn't the first time data has been "sonified," but these processes that might initially seem to have no relation to music, rhythm and melody, actually highlight the patterns in natural phenomena. Want to get down to the microbial beat? You can hear a sample at the more coverage link. [Image Credit: Argonne National Laboratory]
Scientists using metallic wastes to generate clean energy
Solar farms are swell and all, but they aren't exactly fit for laboratories or studio apartments. Thanks to new discoveries by gurus at the University of Birmingham, though, we could be on our way to a far more diminutive method of creating clean energy. As the story goes, we could soon be using microbes to transform wastes in metals into energy. The team managed to pinpoint Hydrogenase enzymes and BioPd in their research, which they believe can be used as catalysts for the treatment of persistent pollutants. The overriding goal, however, is to "develop a one-step technology that allows for the conversion of metallic wastes into high value catalysts for green chemistry and clean energy generation," but it's difficult to say at this point how close they are to realizing it. The best news? This is bound to start a new rash of Cash 4 Gold commercials.
Games that could be MMOs: Spore
Ever since I saw Spore being shown at Macworld this year, I've been thinking about how our characters progress, and likening it to evolution. The more you fight, the more you grow -- in levels, anyway. Here, however, death doesn't cut off your genetic line, but neither do you get to pass yours on. And while it's cool to watch your character gain abilities, hit points, new gear, etc., what if there were an MMO that let you actually evolve?Take Spore as our example: start life as a single-celled organism. Eat and avoid being eaten long enough, and you level up to the next step: evolving into something better adapted to the environment, so you can survive better, longer. Keep on growing until you've begun making tools. Organize a community. Explore the world, and eventually, space itself, and new worlds. This is what Spore promises, but currently it's a single-player game, with the only interaction with other players arising when spaceflight is achieved. But what if Spore started out as an MMO?
Domtar launches antimicrobial office paper, Scranton moans
Narrowly edging out Dunder Mifflin as the "world's first" paper company to deliver antimicrobial office paper to North America, Domtar is ready to crank up the winders in order to deliver its specialized paper to healthcare agencies, educational facilities, and dysfunctional offices everywhere. The paper, which can purportedly be written and printed on without any special accommodations, is coated in a silver compound that protects it from "he growth of bacteria, odors, fungus, mold and mildew." Furthermore, laboratory studies reportedly show a 99-percent reduction of MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and K. pneumoniae compared to unshielded sheets, adding to its shelf life and keeping those secretaries free from lingering germs. While we're not exactly certain when reams of this germ-free paper will hit your local Office Depot, we're well on our way to a perfectly sterile office environment -- well, aside from that chewed up pen cap you handle each day.[Via Wired]
Logitech goes anti-bacterial with AgION
Not only are specialized products with anti-microbial stuff on 'em coming out left and right, but some gadgets will protect you even when you didn't know about it. For example, you know that Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3200 Laser keyboard and mouse combo that you just dropped $100 on? Well, we just found out today that it packs AgION's silver-based anti-microbial protection as a hidden feature -- so if you already have one you just scored yourself some awesome protection against germs, microorganisms and also discoloration to boot. Now of course, you could just wash your hands every time you start or stop using your keyboard and mouse, but we all know that geeks are pretty lazy -- so the obvious solution is to just buy one of these keyboards and mice. So, we're totally ditching our bacteria-infested keyboards for this one right this very second, because that whole hand-washing thing is so 20th century.
Protein-coated discs could enable 50TB capacities
We know that it shouldn't come as a shock anymore when researchers announce new storage technologies that promise to hold tantalizingly large amounts of data, but we were still pretty stoked to learn that a recent breakthrough at Harvard Medical School may eventually lead to DVD-size discs whose capacities approach an eye-popping 50TB. Unlike traditional optical or magnetic solutions, the disc developed by Professor V Renugopalakrishnan and his colleagues is coated with thousands of light-activated proteins called bacteriorhodopsin which are found in the membrane of a particular salt marsh microbe -- and which temporarily convert to a series of intermediate molecules when exposed to sunlight. That property allows the proteins to act as individual bits in a binary system, but since they have a tendency to return to their grounded state after mere hours or days, Renugopalakrishnan and his team modified the requisite microbes' DNA to produce proteins capable of maintaining that intermediary state for several years. Unfortunately we won't see this technology come to market anytime soon, and even when it does, 50TB capacities will still be a ways off, so it looks like we'll have to settle for those disappointing 200GB Blu-ray discs for the foreseeable future.[Via Gotakon]
Now microbes can create energy, too
We assume that, off in some lab, down in a petri dish, there's a serious grudge match going on. How else to explain the fact that, mere weeks after we first heard that scientists were training viruses to create electricity, there's an announcement that another lab-coated team is coaxing microbes to produce power as well? This time, the action is at Ghent University in Belgium, where researchers have found that certain microbes are able to break down organic matter in water and produce electricity in the process. One species in particular, Brevibacillus agri, turned out to be particularly adept at turning sludge into juice, and may someday form the basis of organic fuel cells. If the virii don't get there first, that is.
