Graphene reveals yet another extraordinary property

Dr Nair shows his one micron thick graphene oxide film research sample (Photo: University of Manchester)

Ever since University of Manchester scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov first isolated flakes of graphene in 2004 using that most high-tech pieces of equipment - adhesive tape - the one-atom sheet of carbon has continued to astound researchers with its remarkable properties. Now Professor Sir Andre Geim, (he's now not only a Nobel Prize winner but also a Knight Bachelor), has led a team that has added superpermeability with respect to water to graphene's ever lengthening list of extraordinary characteristics.

Graphene has already proven to be the thinnest known material in the universe, strongest material ever measured, the best-known conductor of heat and electricity, and the stiffest known material, while also the most ductile. But it seems the two-dimensional lattice of carbon atoms just can't stop showing off.

Stacking membranes of a chemical derivative of graphene called graphene oxide, which is a graphene sheet randomly covered with other molecules such as hydroxyl groups OH-, scientists at the University of Manchester created laminates that were hundreds of times thinner than a human hair but remained strong, flexible and were easy to handle.

When the team sealed a metal container using this film, they say that even the most sensitive equipment was unable to detect air or any other gas, including helium, leaking through. The team then tried the same thing with water and, to their surprise, found that it evaporated and diffused through the graphene-oxide membranes as if they weren't even there. The evaporation rate was the same whether the container was sealed or completely open.

"Graphene oxide sheets arrange in such a way that between them there is room for exactly one layer of water molecules. They arrange themselves in one molecule thick sheets of ice which slide along the graphene surface with practically no friction, explains Dr Rahul Nair, who was leading the experimental work. "If another atom or molecule tries the same trick, it finds that graphene capillaries either shrink in low humidity or get clogged with water molecules."

Professor Geim added, "Helium gas is hard to stop. It slowly leaks even through a millimetre -thick window glass but our ultra-thin films completely block it. At the same time, water evaporates through them unimpeded. Materials cannot behave any stranger. You cannot help wondering what else graphene has in store for us."

Although graphene's superpermeability to water makes it suitable for situations where water needs to be removed from a mixture without removing the other ingredients, the researchers don't offer ideas for any immediate applications that could take advantage of this property. However, they did seal a bottle of vodka with the membranes and found that the distilled solution did indeed become stronger over time. But they don't foresee graphene being used in distilleries.

However, Professor Geim adds, "the properties are so unusual that it is hard to imagine that they cannot find some use in the design of filtration, separation or barrier membranes and for selective removal of water."

The University of Manchester team's paper, "Unimpeded Permeation of Water Through Helium-Leak-Tight Graphene-Based Membranes," appears in the journal Science.

Next iPhone to feature light field camera?

According to recent speculations, the next generation iPhone might be packing Light Field Cameras. If another excerpt from Adam Lashinsky’s upcoming book “Inside Apple” is a sign of things to come. Apparently Steve Jobs expressed a great interest in Lytro (the creator of the Lytro Light Field Camera) and even met with the CEO of the company to discuss plans before. In case you aren’t familiar with the concept of the Light Field Camera, it is a simple camera that lets people capture “the perfect shot” instead of having to deal with the hassles of setting up the right focus, shutter speed etc on the spot. Images captured with the camera can then be manipulated on a computer after the shooting is done.

The company’s CEO, Ren Ng, a brilliant computer scientist with a PhD from Stanford, immediately called Jobs, who picked up the phone and quickly said, “if you’re free this afternoon maybe we would could get together.” Ng, who is thirty-two, hurried to Palo Alto, showed Jobs a demo of Lytro’s technology, discussed cameras and product design with him, and, at Jobs’s request, agreed to send him an email outlining three things he’d like Lytro to do with Apple.

If we do see light field cameras in the next iPhone, consumers are going to take photographs with the iOS device very differently in the future. What do you think?

Tiny magnetically-levitated robots could change the game for robotics

The past five to ten years have seen the birth of microbotics. A whole range of components that are vital for building robots, such as actuators, motors or batteries, became available in micro-scale only fairly recently. Finally enthusiasts got what they needed to put their own systems together, and the whole field benefited from their work. But there are obvious limitations to scaling down robots full of sensors, motors, and other mechanisms. That is, unless you make the machines extremely simple, which is exactly what Ron Pelrine of SRI International has done. His work on levitated microrobots may have powerful implications for robotics, and is likely to bring us a step closer to fast, precise and affordable robotic systems comprising thousands, if not millions of microrobots.

The idea is remarkably simple. The robots are stripped of pretty much everything, including sensors, actuation systems and power source. The off-loaded components are incorporated into a complex, off-board control system. What is left are just simple clusters of magnets that can be customized with appendages designed for particular purposes. The robots hover in the air, controlled by the magnetic field generated by circuits below the work surface. This approach has several advantages over self-contained microrobots. These advantages may turn out to be significant enough for the idea to become a paradigm-shifter.

First of all, using a magnetic field to have your robots float over the work surface solves one of the most important problems common to all mechanical systems. Levitated microbots have practically zero wear, so they can operate for much longer than their friction-prone counterparts. This greatly reduces the likelihood of physical damage occurring, and there are relatively few other mishaps that could potentially befall a simple bundle of magnets. There just isn't much that can go wrong in such an extremely simplified system.

Second, as could be expected of robots powered by the same technology that propels super-fast trains, such micro machines are remarkably nimble. They are, most likely, the fastest robots out there in terms of relative speed. The ones pictured in the videos below measure from 0.1 to one centimeter across, and they can sprint at a stunning 217 body lengths per second (a cheetah can run at 18 body lengths per second).

What's more, these tiny robots can be controlled with great precision, with movement repeatability potentially reaching about 40 nanometers. This is especially important if you think about complex systems comprised of thousands of microbots, each of them busy performing its tiny bit for the greater good. Precision is the prerequisite for these robots, in order not to step into each other's way.

However, the biggest advantage of this model is that it makes use of materials that are already available widely and cheaply. Suddenly, all you need to build your own micro-scale factory is some off-the-shelf circuitry and a few magnets (though a PhD in robotics would probably help a great deal, too). Abundant evidence shows that research projects stand to gainfrom the involvement of a wider community - and there certainly is no shortage of robotics enthusiasts. Low entry barriers mean that we may soon find full micro-scale factories operating in the backyards of robotics fans, hobbyists and professionals alike.

And what could such factories be good for? Dr. Perline mentions, among other things, medical applications, such as cell printing and tissue growth. He can also see the robots used in rapid prototyping of items with embedded electronics. Since scaling such systems down would be relatively easy to achieve, for the first time microrobots could be used to assemble materials at the microstructural level. This opens a whole new world of possibilities in terms of material properties.

But there's more. Perline even goes as far as to suggest that the systems could replicate themselves, at least partially. Of course these are just predictions, but it's hard not to see the potential. Watch the videos below and decide for yourself.

Source: Scientific American 

Particle-free silver ink developed for printable electronics

There's no doubt that we will soon be seeing a lot more in the way of low-cost electronic circuits that have been printed onto common, flexible materials such as plastic, paper or fabric. One of the key technological innovations making this possible is silver ink, which is used to print these circuits' conductors. While such ink usually incorporates particles of silver suspended in a carrier liquid, a new type of ink created at the University of Illinois forgoes the particle approach, and is said to offer some distinct advantages as a result.

Developed by a team led by Prof. Jennifer Lewis, the new ink is a transparent solution of silver acetate dissolved in ammonia. When printed, its liquid component quickly evaporates, leaving behind lines of dry, conductive silver.

The ink can reportedly be made much more quickly than its particle-based counterpart - a batch can be whipped up within minutes, as opposed to the several hours and multiple steps required for traditional silver ink. Once created, the solution remains stable for several weeks, so it doesn't have to be used right away.

It can also squeeze its way through 100-nanometer printing nozzles, which is "an order of magnitude" smaller than what can be managed by particle-based inks. This makes it particularly well-suited to the printing of micro-electronics. Because it has a low viscosity, it can additionally be applied using inkjet printers or direct ink writing, or it can be airbrushed over a large area.

Yet one other advantage of the new ink is the fact that it has a low processing temperature. Other types of silver inks require quite a high temperature for their annealing process, a treatment in which they are heated and then allowed to cool. In some cases, that temperature is high enough to damage the material on which they're being printed. The U Illinois ink, however, has a relatively low annealing temperature of 90ºC (194ºF).

A paper on the research was recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

New e-book system promises a more paper-like

There may indeed come a day when printed books and magazines have been gone for so long, that nobody cares how little reading a digital document resembles reading one printed on paper. That day is not yet here, however - most of us still like our e-reading experience to be as close as possible to that of reading a book. To that end, this week a team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) announced the development of new e-reading system, that brings several book-like capabilities to tablets and smartphones.

Called the Smart E-book System, the "algorithm-based conversion technology" incorporates the off-screen border area of touchscreen devices, which is known as the bezel. By placing a finger or thumb on the bezel then sliding it into the screen (or sliding it off the screen and onto the bezel), users can do things such as flipping through pages one at a time, or quickly riffling through whole sheaves of them - forwards or backwards.

They can also stick a finger on one page to bookmark it, continue flipping using another finger until they get to a different page that catches their interest, then cross-reference between the two pages by virtually folding the stack of intervening pages back and forth.

Other features that aren't necessarily book-like include the ability to control how many pages are flipped by varying either the number of fingers applied to the screen (two fingers for two pages, three for three, and so on), the speed of finger gestures, or the amount of time that the finger is applied. Other functions can be controlled through different typesof finger gestures - drawing out a number, for instance, will take the user to the page bearing that number.

There is no word yet on whether any device manufacturers have expressed an interest in the KAIST technology.

Facebook lets you listen to music with your friends

If you use a music service on Facebook to listen to your music i.e. Spotify, we’ve got some good news for you – you can now share what you’re listening to with all your friends thanks to Facebook’s new “Listen With” feature. Facebook users can now listen to the same song, at the exact same time, so they can share sentiments when it comes to their favorite part of the song – just like if they were listening to the same song with their friends in the same room, club or gig.

To share music, you won’t have to do anything, beyond setting up your privacy settings for the music app. To listen to what other people are listening to, just check out your chat sidebar and look for a music icon next to their name. Place your mouse over their name and click on the “Listen With” button that pops up and you’re good to go. Never listen to a song alone again!

Huawei Ascend P1 S : world’s thinnest smartphone

When it comes to smartphones, people can argue about the relative merits of a bigger display that is easier on the eyes and fingers or a smaller display that results in a more pocket-friendly unit. But whatever the length and width, it seems that the desire for a thinner smartphone is pretty much universal. And - for the time being anyway - they don't come any thinner than the Huawei Ascend P1 S that made its debut at CES this week. Measuring just 6.68 mm (0.26 in) thick, Huawei says although the Ascend PS 1 is the world's slimmest smartphone, it doesn't scrimp on the features.

Huawei's Ascend P1 comes in two flavors - the P1 and P1 S. Both offer the same features but where the slimline P1 S gets a 1,670 mAh battery, the P1 is a slightly thicker 7.69 mm (0.3 in) thanks to a 1,800 mAh battery. Aside from the battery, both models have the same specs, which includes a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 pixel Super AMOLED touch display, 1.5 GHz dual core TI OMAP 4460 Cortex A9 processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB onboard memory, 5.1 surround sound capabilities, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, DLNA support, 8-megapixel rear-facing camera with backlight illuminated sensor and 1080p HD video capture capabilities, and a front-facing 1.3-megapixel camera for video calls.

Both quad-band GSM phones will come running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and feature a PPVD back cover coating designed to dissipate heat. They will come in metallic black, ceramic white and cherry-blossom pink when released in Europe, the Asia-Pacific, North America, Australia, the Middle East and China from April 2012, with additional colors also on the way. Huawei hasn't yet revealed pricing or potential carriers for the phones.

Wormhole Station connects Windows to Mac to Android to iOS

The PC and Mac advocates have been debating for years over which is superior, with good arguments on both sides; but a third, often overlooked camp exists: people who use both. If you're in that group, then you know how frustrating it can be to have the perks of both machines, but the downside of few easy options for sharing files or peripherals between the two. That's why tech manufacturer j5create has rolled out the Wormhole Switch and the Wormhole Station, which allow file transfers between PC, Mac, Android, and iOS, as well as keyboard and mouse sharing.

The Wormhole Switch may look like a simple USB cord, but actually allows files to be transferred between almost any computer or smart device at USB 2.0 speeds without the need for any extra software. It's as easy as dragging one file to another folder, and can even be used to share a keyboard, mouse, etc. between computers with different operating systems. There are a handful of different models with different functionality:

However the newest product from j5create and a CES 2012 Innovations Award Honoree is the Wormhole Station, which acts as a docking extension for any laptop by using a single USB port. Like the Wormhole Switch, the Station can easily transfer files and share peripherals between Mac, PC, Android, and iOS devices. Sharing a mouse even permits the cursor to pass back and forth between the monitors of separate computers. The compact attachment includes two USB 3.0 ports, which allow for data transfers at a rate of 5Gb/s, as well as slots for various flash memory cards. It's design also elevates a laptop connected to it, allowing for cooler airflow.

The Wormhole Station is available at retailers now for US$109.99.

Sony shows 55-inch prototype using new “Crystal LED Display” technology

While OLED may have staked a claim as the next generation display technology to beat, Sony has chosen CES 2012 to unveil a new display technology called "Crystal LED." Instead of an LED or CCFL backlight shining through an LCD layer to produce an image, the Crystal LED display technology is a true LED TV that uses a layer of tiny self-emitting LEDs to directly produce the image - think of it like a high resolution shrunk down JumboTron like those found at sporting stadiums.

With each pixel in the 1080 x 1920 Full HD resolution display made up of a red, green and blue LED, the 55-inch prototype model on display at CES uses over six million individual LEDs to create an image. Sony says mounting the LED light source directly on the front of the display results in greater light use efficiency and produces higher contrast images in both light and dark viewing conditions. It also produces a wider color gamut and wider viewing angles compared to existing LCD and plasma displays.

In fact, the display's technical specifications list a brightness of approx. 400 cd/m2, a color gamut of more than 100 percent compared to NTSC, a viewing angle of 180 degrees, and a contrast in dark environments that is "more than measurable limit values." Additionally, Sony says the prototype display has a video response time that is 10 times faster than its current LCD models.

While the Japanese electronics giant says it will continue development of OLED TVs, it will be working in parallel to develop and commercialize its new Crystal LED Display technology with an eye on both professional and consumer products.

Powering insect cyborgs with an implantable biofuel cell

Research into developing insect cyborgs for use as first responders or super stealthy spies has been going on for a while now. Most research has focused on using batteries, tiny solar cells or piezoelectric generators toharvest kinetic energy from the movement of an insect's wings to power the electronics attached to the insects. Now a group of researchers at Case Western Reserve University have created a power supply that relies just on the insect's normal feeding.

Recognizing that using a real insect is much easier than starting from scratch to create a device that works like an insect, Case Western Reserve chemistry professor teamed up with graduate student Michelle Rasmussen, biology professor Roy E. Ritzmann, chemistry professor Irene Lee and biology research assistant Alan J. Pollack to develop an implantable biofuel cell to provide usable power for the various sensors, recording devices, or electronics used to control an insect cyborg.

To convert chemical energy harvested from the insect and turn it into electricity, the team used two enzymes in series to create the anode. The first enzyme breaks down the sugar trehalose, which a cockroach constantly produces from its food, into two simpler sugars, called monosaccarides, while the second enzyme oxidizes the monosaccarides to release electrons. A current them flows as the electrons are drawn to the cathode, where oxygen from air takes up the electrons and is reduced to water.

After testing the system using trehalose solution, the team inserted prototype electrodes in a blood sinus away from critical organs in the abdomen of a female cockroach. The cockroaches suffered no long-term damage, which the researchers say bodes well for long-term use.

"Insects have an open circulatory system so the blood is not under much pressure," Ritzmann explained. "So, unlike say a vertebrate, where if you pushed a probe into a vein or worse an artery (which is very high pressure) blood does not come out at any pressure. So, basically, this is really pretty benign. In fact, it is not unusual for the insect to right itself and walk or run away afterward."

Using an instrument called a potentiostat, the team determined the maximum power density of the fuel cell reached nearly 100 microwatts per square centimeter at 0.2 volts, with a maximum current density of about 450 microamps per square centimeter.

The researchers are now working to miniaturize the fuel cell so that it can be fully implanted into an insect while still allowing it to run or fly normally and examining which materials might last for a long time inside an insect. They are also working with other researchers to develop a signal transmitter that can run on little energy and also exploring how to add a lightweight rechargeable battery to the system.

"It's possible the system could be used intermittently," Scherson said. "An insect equipped with a sensor could measure the amount of noxious gas in a room, broadcast the finding, shut down and recharge for an hour, then take a new measurement and broadcast again."

The Case Western Reserve University team's work was published last week in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

SolarKindle promises three months of unplugged reading time

What if you could read on your Kindle for three months straight? SolarFocus will be showing off a Kindle case at CES this week designed to do just that. Called SolarKindle, the case can provide you with months of reading time and over 50 hours of reading lamp use on a single charge.

The case has a solar panel built into its front, that allows you to charge your Kindle (and the case) poolside, or while you're involved in other outdoor activities. The battery in the cover can be charged using the solar panel, as well as USB - so if you've been cooped up indoors for a while you still have a charging option available.

In addition to powering your Kindle the case also has a built-in reading light that is powered entirely from the case's battery rather than your Kindle. The built-in reading lamp in the case is expected to last for 50 continuous hours on a charge.

The SolarKindle, of course, isn't the first solar-powered gadget case/charger we've seen. The Solar Surge, for instance, is a solar case and charger for your iPhone.

The SolarKindle was a 2012 International CES Innovations Design & Engineering Awards Honoree, and will be available starting on January 15 for US$79.99.

Leaping lizards inspire new robot design

For some time now, scientists have assumed that dinosaurs' tails didn't simply drag on the group behind them, but were instead held out to serve as a counterweight for the giant reptiles' heavy front ends when running. More recently, however, researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, have discovered that modern-day lizards also use their tails to control the orientation of their bodies when leaping through the air. It's a discovery that could be applied to devices such as search-and-rescue robots, and in fact already has been. Based on their observations, the UC Berkeley team created a small, tailed robot known as Tailbot.

The initial experiments, carried out by staff and students of the university's biology and engineering departments, involved getting red-headed African Agama lizards to run along a short track, launch themselves off of a platform, then land on a vertical surface. They then climbed to the top of that surface, where a shelter awaited.

In some cases, the platform had a surface that the lizard's claws could grip on, whereas in other instances the surface was slick, causing the lizard to slip as it jumped. By viewing slow-motion video of both types of jumps, it was observed that the lizard was able to adjust its body position in mid-air, by throwing up its tail to varying degrees. This allowed it to always land on the vertical surface feet-first, instead of nosing into it on the slip-jumps.

Using the lizard footage, the researchers came up with a mathematical model that determined how much tail swing would be necessary to compensate for a given amount of angular momentum of the body. They also created Tailbot - a small radio-controlled car equipped with a motor-controlled tail, and a gyroscopic sensor.

At first, they had the car/robot make several jumps using a small ramp, with its tail extended but the sensor not running. The result was a series of nose-dives into the floor. Once the sensor was turned on, however, it was able to sense the car's "body" position in mid-jump. It then used the lizard-tail model to adjust the angle of its own tail, resulting in proper wheels-down landings. Even when held in the air and dropped nose first, Tailbot was still able to right itself within a drop space of less than one foot (30.5 cm).

The technology could end up finding use in practical robots. "Inspiration from lizard tails will likely lead to far more agile search-and-rescue robots, as well as ones having greater capability to more rapidly detect chemical, biological or nuclear hazards" said team leader Robert J. Full, professor of integrative biology.

A paper on the UC Berkeley research was recently published in the journalNature.

Orangutans using iPads at zoos - soon to use Skype

Turns out we aren't that different from other apes after all. Our primate cousins at a handful of zoos love to use iPads to combat boredom just as much as humans. Zookeepers say that the device is perfect for orangutans, and many have been taking part in guided touchscreen interactions with all sorts of apps, including music, games, movies, cartoons, art, painting, drawing, photos and videos. The orangutans have been playing with the iPads for the past several months, and now a U.S. charity is hoping to round up more of the tablets so the apes can Skype with orangutans at other zoos.

"They like many of the free apps that I think children would like - they like the free apps where you can fingerpaint, they like the apps where you can use the drums," says Trish Khan, Milwaukee County Zoo's orangutan keeper.

She adds that some of the orangutans' interest in the slates isn't that far off from how humans might use them. For example, she says that four-year-old male Mahal likes using video apps, primarily to watch footage recorded of himself, while MJ, a 31-year-old female, enjoys watching video of male orangutans.

The iPads help provide a little extra enrichment, physical and mental stimulation for the apes living in captivity. Zoo Atlanta and the Smithsonian National Zoo are among the other facilities that have demonstrated apes' skills with a touchscreen.

Now that the apes in Milwaukee have had several months to become familiar with the iPads, the U.S.-based charity Orangutan Outreach would like to go one step further, turning on WiFi on the tablets to allow the apes to watch and Skype with their compatriots at other zoos, sort of like a pixelized primate pen pal program.

The group's Richard Zimmerman told the BBC they're not yet comfortable just handing the tablets over to the apes, even with a protective cover.

"As soon as we hand them over to the orangutans, we figure the lifespan could be as little as 15 seconds - whether they meticulously take them apart or just snap them in half."

Some possible solutions include developing a new protective case or affixing the iPad to a wall - the image from the tablet could then be projected elsewhere for zoo visitors to watch.

Orangutan Outreach is accepting donations of cash or gently used iPads to get more tablets in the hands of apes and their zookeepers, who are interested in participating in the program. Zimmerman said that they're hoping first-generation iPads will become more affordable and accessible once the iPad 3 debuts in the coming months.

Watch Mahal and MJ in action in Milwaukee below:

Source: Extreme Tech

PumPing Tap concept literally ejects power cords to save energy

For years, environmentalists have warned that keeping electronics plugged in all the time wastes energy, even when a device is switched off. Even for less green-conscious consumers this lost energy can add up on the electric bill each month, so disconnecting unused devices or switching them off at the wall is really a good habit for anyone to get into. But let's be honest, it's hard to remember to unplug each gadget every single time it's used. To help with this, designers have created the PumPing Tap, a concept electrical socket that can detect an unused power cord and physically eject it from the wall.

The PumPing Tap is actually pretty simple in design. Sensors in the circuit detect whether the plug is actively using electricity, and, if it isn't, the light on the outside turns from blue to red. Ten minutes later, if the device is still switched off, a spring-loaded mechanism pops the plug out of the socket like a projectile from a toy dart gun. As far as methods for cutting down on power consumption go, this one is very direct. The PumPing Tap was even one of the winners of the Red Dot Design Concept award.

Of course there are some obvious drawbacks to this method of energy conservation. For one, most people have at least a handful of outlets hidden behind furniture specifically to keep them out of the way, so plugging an electrical cord back in could mean rearranging the living room. Plus there's the lingering question of how much energy needs to be used for the cord to stay plugged in. It's too easy to imagine a fully charged mobile phone's power cord being ejected from the wall, leaving the phone's battery to slowly drain.

Source: Yanko Design