chemicals
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Spongy electronic 'nose' can sniff out nerve gas and pesticides
When you're trying to detect extremely dangerous chemicals, you don't want to mess around -- even a tiny amount can spell big trouble. It's a good thing, then, that Belgian researchers have developed what could be the most sensitive gas sensor to date. Their electronic 'nose' uses spongy metal-organic frameworks (below) that can absorb and flag extremely tiny amounts of the phosphonates you find in harmful gases like sarin (aka a form of nerve gas) or pesticides. It's so sensitive that, in some cases, it can find just a few parts per trillion -- even the cleverest evildoer would likely have trouble hiding a chemical weapon.
FAA fines Amazon for two more shipments of unlabeled chemicals
Last week, the FAA announced a $350,000 fine for Amazon after the retailer mishandled chemical shipments that resulted in injuries to UPS workers. Today, the agency hit the company with two more fines totaling $130,000 for similar incidents. In 2014, Amazon shipped separate packages, corrosive rust remover and a flammable gas used to clean air conditioners without properly labeling the boxes or sending along the required paperwork. Failure to do so violates the FAA's hazardous materials guidelines. The box containing Rid O' Rust Stain Preventer Acid leaked through, but there were no injuries reported.
Amazon angers FAA by shipping industrial chemicals via UPS
The FAA wants to slap Amazon with a $350,000 fine for suspected violations of the Hazardous Materials regulations. According to the agency, Amazon has been caught shipping volatile, potentially dangerous chemicals without proper care and attention. In this case, the firm handed a gallon container of a drain cleaner to UPS for a flight between Louisville and Boulder. This wasn't any old carton of Drano, however, but a chemical called Amazing Liquid Fire, which looks like the sort of homemade explosive that'd be pulled from shelves the day it went on sale.
Terahertz laser tech could scan for bombs at airports
Terahertz spectrum scanning is potentially ideal for finding bombs due to the sheer range of materials it can detect, but it's not exactly practical for luggage checks when you need both a suitcase-sized machine and up to half an hour to conduct a scan. MIT researchers have a better way, though: they've developed a quantum cascade laser system that should make terahertz detection a reality. Since the laser's single, tiny frequency comb only consumes power for very brief periods, you can fit it into a part the size of a chip without a gigantic cooling unit -- perfect for airport scanners. It takes as few as 100 microseconds to identify a substance, too, so you wouldn't have to wait (longer than usual, anyway) while agents scan your bags.
Your next colored bracelet can detect environmental pollution
Turns out your collection of neon-colored silicone bracelets have a use beyond showing support for a fallen-from-grace cyclist's non-profit after all. The material can actually trap pollutants you might be exposed to during the course of your day, according to a study by Oregon State University. Specifically, OSU was looking for how present fire retardant chemicals were in the households of 92 pre-school children. What'd the researchers find? That somehow, over the course of a week, these kids were exposed to polybrominated diphenyl ethers that aren't being produced domestically anymore.
Frozen oil could be the key to shapeshifting materials
Those odd, glowing shapes may look like they're straight out of a weird puzzle game, but don't laugh... they may be crucial to a future of ever-changing materials. British and Bulgarian scientists have discovered that oil droplets will form octagons, triangles and other not-so-natural shapes if you slowly freeze them while they're in a soapy solution. On top of that, they'll revert to their original states if you warm them back up. The results are more than a little odd, as you can see here -- they're non-living chemicals taking on artificial shapes in a lifelike way.
NASA's chemical 'laptop' would help find life on other planets
Planetary rovers can already find potential signs of life, but they're not really meant to find life itself. NASA may have just the device to find that concrete evidence, though. Its newly tested Chemical Laptop is the first device built to detect amino acids and fatty acids (the telltale signs of life as we know it) on other worlds. The battery-powered device needs liquid samples to work, but it has a coffee machine-like mechanism that uses hot water to get the organic material out.
UW-Madison researchers invent a metal-free fuel cell
The development of fuel cell technology has been hamstrung by the need for expensive and difficult-to-manufacture catalysts like platinum, rhodium or palladium. But a team of researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison believe they've found an ingenious alternative that employs a molecular, rather than solid, catalyst.
New compound destroys chemical weapons faster than ever
In 2013, the Syrian government agreed to destroy its stores of chemical weapons, following reports that it had dropped sarin, a torturous and lethal nerve gas, on a rebel-held town earlier that year. The 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, signed by 190 nations (including the US and Syria), bars any country from creating, using or storing chemical weapons. Still, activists report even today attacks of chlorine gas in Syria, and chemical weapons remain a global issue. If the world can't eradicate chemical warfare completely, science will try to neutralize it: Today a team from Illinois' Northwestern University outlined the specifics of a manmade compound that inactivates nerve gas within minutes.
Artificial evolution is now possible in chemicals, but life remains elusive
We're still a very long way from creating an evolving lifeform from scratch in a lab. However, the University of Glasgow has managed to foster artificial evolution in chemicals. Their technique uses a 3D printing robot to both create oil droplets and choose the next generation based on desirable properties, like stability. No, the chemicals aren't evolving on their own, but the process works much like natural selection -- after 20 generations, the droplets were noticeably more stable. In the long run, the scientists hope to use this discovery both to study the beginnings of life and maybe, just maybe, create it.
iPhone 5 chemical study shows a green Apple, leaves room for improvement
Eventually, that shiny new iPhone 5 will have to meet its untimely end, whether it's in a landfill or (preferably) a recycling company's machinery. When it does, you'll at least be glad to know that Apple has kept the toxin levels down. HealthyStuff and iFixit have dissected the extra skinny smartphone and put it in the same "low concern" category for potential harm that's normally occupied by phones wearing their green credentials on their sleeves. Lest anyone rush to tell Greenpeace about the feat, just remember that there's a difference between proficiency at excising dangerous chemicals and getting rid of them completely: HealthyStuff still found small traces of bromine, chlorine, lead and mercury in the iPhone 5's construction, which could pose risks if the handset is ever broken apart or melted for scrap. Some concern also exists that the x-ray fluorescence spectrometer doesn't reveal the full extent of any toxic materials. Whether or not these remain sore points for you, the new iPhone is at least easier on the eco-friendly conscience than most of its peers.
Bee venom used to create ultra-sensitive explosives sensor
We knew that well-trained bees were capable of sniffing out dynamite and other explosives, but researchers at MIT have now come up with a slightly less militant way to use our winged friends as bomb detectors. A team of chemical engineers at the school recently developed a new, ultra-sensitive sensor that's sharp enough to detect even one molecule of TNT. Their special ingredient? Bee venom. Turns out, a bee's poison contains protein fragments called bombolitins, that react to explosive compounds. To create the detector, researchers applied these bombolitins to naturally fluorescent carbon nanotubes. Whenever an explosive molecule binds with the protein fragments, the interaction will alter the wavelength of the carbon cylinder's fluorescent light. The shift is too small for the naked eye to pick up on, but can be detected using specially designed microscopes. If it's ever developed for commercial use, the sensor could provide a more acute alternative to the spectrometry-based detectors used at most airport security checkpoints. At the moment, however, the technology isn't quite ready to be deployed on a widespread basis, so feel free to keep on living in fear. Full PR after the break.
Researchers work to replicate bacterial communication, add a bit of chaos to transmissions
Up until now, most scientists felt that the uncertainty introduced by Brownian motion would lead to unwanted disruptions in the reception of information, particularly when talking about transmissions within computers. But do we really need all that certainty when using CPUs to solve alien mysteries? According to researchers at the University of Toronto, the answer is a probable "no." Recent discoveries over at the institution involving the replication of bacterial communication have paved the way for future investigation of using molecular communication in computing, but we're obviously a good way out from liquid cooling merging with liquid processing. Update: Sachin Kadloor, a current graduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, worked on this while a graduate student at the University of Toronto. Prof. Ravi Adve from the University of Toronto, and Prof. Andrew Eckford from the York University, Canada are continuing to work on this problem.
Fuel cell-powered Chem-E-Car tears its way through the halls of Cooper Union
If you've been near Astor Place in Manhattan lately you might've noticed the absolutely stunning bit of architecture that comprises the new Cooper Union building, and we had a visit the other day to check out a few end-of-year projects by students. One that particularly caught our eye was the competitive Chem-E-Car, from a team lead by Anthony Tantuccio. The team won the national competition in 2007, is advancing to nationals again this year, and has sunk quite a bit of tech into its vehicle. At the competition the contestants are given a distance and a payload on the spot and given an hour to prep their vehicle -- through the tweaking of gears and the shuffling of chemical reactions -- to hit that distance. Follow after the break to see how they do with about 15 minutes to work out some Engadget-prepped figures. %Gallery-94401%
NASA's newest e-nose for ISS thinks you're wearing too much cologne
Electronic noses are nothing new, but it's always interesting when you throw space into the mix. NASA's most recent Endeavor mission has taken with it a third generation e-nose that's the size of a shoebox, where it will act as a detection and warning system for air contaminants. The ISS currently has no system and relies wholly on the astronauts' actual noses. Developed and built by AEMC, the new nose's dynamic range is from less than one part per million to about 10,000 parts per million -- much more sensitive than human honkers. The e-nose has 32 sensors made of polymer films that respond to different chemicals by changing electrical conductivity, and it's capable of both detecting and analyzing what it "smells." The nose is going to be operational on the space station for a beginning trial period of six months, and we have a feeling that its first accomplishment will be to point out that there's something strange about the water. [Via Physorg]
Robots could replace live bunnies in chemical testing procedures
We don't know about you, but to us, there's nothing cuter than a warm, cuddly bunny -- save for Hello Kitty, of course. Thankfully, the National Institute of Health and the EPA have teamed up to jumpstart a five-year research program that "will use high-speed automated screening robots" instead of live animals to run chemical tests on cells grown in a laboratory. Reportedly, the long term goal here is to "reduce the cost, time and number of animals used in screening everything from pesticides to household chemicals," but according to those involved with the initiative, it'll be quite some time before non animal-based testing becomes the norm. Hang tight, dear bunnies -- there's hope for you all yet.[Image courtesy of Flickr]
Apple responds to Greenpeace: what part of "end of 2008" didn't you understand?
Yesterday's battle between Greenpeace and Apple had the former publicly chastising the latter for its continued use of hazardous chemicals in its iPhone. While they conceded that Apple is compliant with Europe's RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) standard, they lambasted Cupertino for its continued use of PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) which, according to Greenpeace, "suggests that Apple is not making early progress towards its 2008 commitment to phase-out all uses of these materials." This morning, an Apple spokesperson told Macworld that, "Like all Apple products worldwide, iPhone complies with RoHS, the world's toughest restrictions on toxic substances in electronics. As we have said, Apple will voluntarily eliminate the use of PVC and BFRs by the end of 2008." Sure, you can fault Apple for not being as environmentally friendly as PVC-free Nokia, or Motorola and Sony Ericsson who offer some devices with BFR-free components. However, Greenpeace shouldn't feign surprise at what they found.
How green is Apple?
Is Apple a "green" company? Today is Blog Action Day, where 15,000 blogs are publishing posts about the environment. I have always thought of Apple having an eye towards the environment, but perhaps I think this is because I remember Apple eschewing extra paper on their boxes way back in the early days. You see, to get optimal 4-color print on a shipping box you have to wrap that box in an additional layer of glossy paper. For a while, Apple was content to ship the monochrome brown box with black ink, thus saving trees and ink. The original Mac boxes were white, but didn't use the glossy stuff.A year ago you may remember Apple being taken to task regarding their recycling efforts. In fact, Apple has been taken to task on their computer take back program, their packaging and now the scary hazardous chemicals in the iPhone. Shock, horror! Yes, it is obvious Apple is determined to coat the Earth in a fine sheen of clear plastic, aluminum and bromiated compounds. Evil I tells ya, evil.In their defense, Al Gore is on the board. OK, they have more than just Al. Steve Jobs issued a statement just a few months ago for a greener Apple. Naturally, there are still plenty of skeptics, but the site Green My Apple provides constructive criticism and a fairly healthy outlook for the future. Apple appears to have listened! Of course, they could just hire the Professor and make iPhones from coconuts, right? Given the fact that consumer electronics is about as un-green an industry as you can get, it'll be a very long road indeed before everyone is happy. Then again, as we know too well, there's no way to make everyone happy. The hope is that Apple will continue to innovate with "green" in mind. Not the back of the mind, but right up there in front where it'll do the most good.
Oculus' uber-oxidised water hastens healing
We've seen self-assembling chips, self-healing panels, and even regenerative houses hit the drawing board before, but California-based Oculus has created a liquid that can reportedly quicken the healing process when recovering from wounds. The firm's Dermacyn topical wound care is an "oxychlorine formulation" using the company's own Microcyn concoction, which is made by "taking purified water and passing it through a semi-permeable sodium chloride membrane to produce the oxychlorine ions," and essentially contains "electrically charged molecules which pierce the cell walls of free-living microbes." The formula is reportedly successful in killing off virii, bacteria, and fungi, and currently, the company is enrolling patients in a Phase II trial to evaluate its effectiveness in treating diabetic foot infections. The company is hoping to start said trial in Q3 of this year, and if all goes well, wants to execute a pair of larger Phase III trials shortly thereafter.[Via BBC]
Apple shareholders to vote on green
Apple shareholders will vote on removing hazardous chemicals from the Apple product line at the upcoming May 10th annual meeting according to Macworld. Apple's board thinks Apple already has sufficient environmental standards and opposes the resolution, which was introduced by Trillium Asset Management of Boston. Trillium, an investment firm, specializes in "socially responsible investments". The chemicals in question include brominated flame retardents and polyvinyl chloride plastics.
