Protecting planes from lightning strikes
Image by Griffinstorm [CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikipedia] Nickel-coated carbon fibres may be a better option than carbon mesh for composite aircraft Driven by the need to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency, over the past two decades, aircraft manufacturers have increasingly turned to carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFPRP) composites. The world’s largest...
Method to scale-up fabrication of 2D materials
Image owned by Weiwei Lei, Vadym N. Mochalin, Dan Liu, Si Qin, Yury Gogotsi & Ying Chen. Published in Nature, sourced from Wikipedia Could a new exfoliation method offer a practical route to large-scale production of nanosheets? Ever since graphene first made headlines in 2004, the search for alternative 2D materials has turned into a global research...
Can graphene help us avoid sunburn?
Image courtesy of Pixabay Australian researchers combine titanium dioxide and graphene to develop a novel, low-power sun sensor Sunlight is vital to human health. Without regular exposure to ultraviolet B (UVB), our bodies can struggle to make sufficient vitamin D to support the development of strong bones. But too much sunlight can cause sunburn, and if...
Icephobic concrete is a slippery step closer
Image courtesy of Wikipedia, Ian Mackenzie [CC BY 2.0] Can a simple coating stop ice sticking to concrete? Ice is the enemy of infrastructure – roads, railway tracks, and footpaths can all be rendered useless in the depths of winter. Various anti-icing coatings are in common use in the automotive, maritime and aviation industries, but in almost all cases,...
What Urbanites Can Do To Slow Down Climate Change
Feeling overwhelmed by the latest news from the IPCC? Read on to see what you can do in your neighbourhood When it was signed in December 2015, the Paris Climate Agreement was described as a landmark agreement; one that would chart “… a new course in the global climate effort.” Its central goal was to limit global temperature change to “…well below...
Exploring the long-term biocompatibility of implantable nanogenerators
Just how safe are self-powered, implantable medical devices? Image credit: Hellerhoff [CC BY-SA 3.0 , from Wikimedia Commons Piezoelectric materials have been used as transducers or to power small-scale sensors for many years. They can harvest even the smallest deflections from the environment, transforming micro- and nanoscale mechanical energy into useable...
Self-healing superhydrophobic coatings
Long-term water-repellent metal surfaces may be one step closer Photo credit: UCL MAPS / O. Usher Superhydrophobic coatings have found widespread application in the maritime sector – from protecting ship hulls from ice and corrosion, to reducing friction, or keeping windscreens clear. But because these coatings owe their water-repellency to micro- or nanoscale...
Ultimate carrot cake recipe
Five years after sharing my first cake recipe on here, I thought it was time to share another! I hope you enjoy it. I love a good carrot cake, but I’ve always struggled to find the perfect recipe. But just a few weeks ago, I think I finally cracked it, so I thought I’d share it with you lovely people. The cake recipe is based on this one, but...
Forbes..... the long-overdue update
Hi peeps, Hope you’re all well? It’s been AGES since I did a proper update here on the blog. Myself and RJ are just about to head Europe-ward (for a very exciting reason), so I’m hoping to make time to do that on one on the many long-haul flight we’ll be taking! With only a few days until we fly, my life is a mess of packing &...
Triboelectric kill switch for secure flash memory
Could the touch of a finger make mobile data storage more secure? The agent was in trouble. She couldn’t let the files fall into enemy hands, but her capture seemed inevitable. And then, she remembered the kill switch. Pulling off a glove as she ran, she reached into her pocket and found the tiny pad on the surface of the flash memory drive. With that simple...