“We are done with metals"
That quote is the conclusion of Cemal Basaran, an engineering professor and director of the Electronics Packaging Lab at the University of Buffalo’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. His certainty follows four years of running the quantum mechanics numbers that, he says, proves carbon nanotubes will be the favored material of electronics and battery systems.
"Years ago, everyone thought that the problem of cooling for electronics could be solved," Basaran says. "Now we know that's not true. Electronics based on metals have hit a wall.” Conversely, the single-walled nanostructures as thick as an atom but thousands of times stronger than metals give off 1% of the heat produced by traditional metals, such as copper, researchers contend. When an electric car finally is manufactured, its batteries probably will be based on carbon nanotubes," Basaran says.
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| This “ice,” which happens to be mostly frozen methane, is ignited. Columbia researchers say they’ve unlocked the optimal recipe to de-pressurize massive quantities of natural gas from ice deposits that could power millions of cars and homes |
Honda’s Civic CNG compresses natural gas at 3,600 psi. That’s nothing compared with the pressure Mother Nature exerted on gas hydrates, or frozen deposits of natural gas-rich methane, in vast deposits under the ocean floor and in the Arctic permafrost. (The U.S. Geological Survey estimates 85.4-trillion cubic feet of natural gas are locked in those deposits). The mystery is how to economically get it out. Columbia University engineers are saying they’ve discovered the optimal temperature and pressure range to maximize natural gas production from the deposits. They built a reactor and filled it with sand, water, and methane, to simulate the formation of gas hydrates (at low temperatures and high pressure) and production of the gas. While depressurizing the hydrates to release the methane, they found an optimal boost in gas production between a narrow range of temperatures and pressures. The researchers suggest that by replicating the environment, the natural gas could be released from the icy deposits at an industrial scale.
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| Purdue Associate Professor Douglas Adams, seen here with engineering graduate student Tiffany DiPetta and the smart speed bump. Although it’s not for sale, Adams estimates the future diagnostic device and operating software will run around $1,500. |
The simple act of driving a combat Humvee over a “smart” speed bump may be enough to diagnose if the vehicle is ready to go into the warzone or needs to go in for repairs. The Purdue University-made “tactical wheeled vehicle diagnostic cleat,” a rubber-covered speed bump, is packed with triaxial accelerometers, or sensors, that measure vibrations in the force generated by vehicles rolling over it. Funded by the U.S. Army and Honeywell International, the smart speed bump assesses rudimentary metrics like tire pressure, but can hone in on less-noticeable problems like a broken bolt in a shock absorber.
Diamonds Are For Radar
No one will want it on a ring, but a diamond transistor developed by scientists at the University of Glasgow that is 1,000 times slimmer than the thickness of a human hair could be of great value to next-generation vehicle collision warning systems.
Scientists made the 50-nanometer long transistor to detect collisions from any side of a vehicle, in any weather. It deploys nano-sized electronics that use terahertz radiation (T-rays)—or electromagnetic waves with a frequency range between microwaves and infrared. T-ray radar can penetrate a variety of materials and help draw a picture of what may be coming around the corner, before the driver sees it.