%Scientists working in the States have successfully converted #carbondioxide in the #atmosphere into #carbon #nanofibers.% - http://clapway.com/2015/08/20/co2-converted-into-carbon-nanofibers-101/

What better way to take the antagonistic connotation out of the atmosphere’s growing CO2 concentration than by converting it into a manufacturing material? It sounds like good business, but perhaps good science is more than sufficient to crack a smile, for now.

CO2 IS CONVERTIBLE TO ADVANCED CARBON NANOFIBERS?

Scientists working in the States have successfully converted carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into carbon nanofibers. By running a figurative handful of electric volts through a vat of molten salt, a solar-powered system absorbs CO2, and nanofibers slowly collect at one of its electrodes.

This system can produce 10 grams per hour.

CO2 CONVERSION APPLICATIONS PROMISED TO BROADEN

Even better, the scientific team behind this new technology believes the process can be scaled up to a take in a quantity of carbon dioxide emissions to make a significant dent in the role CO2 plays in global climate change. However, other scientists are hesitant to agree.

But, if this were true, it would be a much cheaper method for making carbon nanofibers than we are currently capable of.

“Until now, carbon nanofibers have been too expensive for many applications,” commented Professor Stuart Licht of George Washington University while speaking at the autumn meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.

Carbon nanofibers are used in electronic components and batteries, but if the cost of production were brought down, they would be used more ubiquitously, and this would improve things like tough yet lightweight carbon composites used in aircraft and cars.

LARGE-SCALE CO2 PRODUCTION METHOD

Whether this is feasible in the near future rests on the question of the “one-pot” reaction, demonstrated by Professor Licht and crew. Interest in this process is peaking because of the wide spectrum of applications awaiting a more successful method of procurement.

Although more promises have been made than met, Professor Licht has utmost confidence in his design. “It scales up very easily – the entire process is quite low energy,” and this system could construct “a reasonable path to bring down CO2 levels in the atmosphere.”

Licht intends to adapt reactors of megalithic scale, and this is acquiring attention abroad. Dr. Katy Armstrong, chemical engineer at the University of Sheffield, claims the process is “promising and very interesting on a lab scale,” but that Licht’s grandiose plans may be just that – grandiose plans.

“As they are capturing CO2 from the air, the process will need to deal with huge volumes of gas to collect the required amount of carbon, which could increase process costs when scaled up,” Armstrong conveyed to the BBC.

LICHT’S CO2 PROCESS LAUDABLE IN ITS OWN RIGHT

A chemical engineer and clean energy researcher at Imperial College London named Dr. Paul Fennell said that “[i]f they can make carbon nanofibers, that is a laudable aim and they’re a worthwhile product to have.

“But if your idea is to take CO2 out of the atmosphere and produce so many carbon nanofibers that you make a difference to climate change – I’d be extremely surprised if you could do that.”

However, Professor Licht is undaunted by the scientific communities doubts; “[t]here aren’t any catches; there’s a necessity to work together, to test this on a larger scale, to apply some societal resources to do that.”

Whatever the ultimate scale of this process’ application turns out to be, many chemists are content to applaud Professor Licht’s team’s success at having even produced nanofibers from atmospheric carbon. And we should, too.

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THE WORLD’S GETTING HOTTER, SO STAY HYDRATED WITH HIDRATEME:

https://youtu.be/mwnF1BfXqlA

Can Atmospheric CO2 Be Converted Into Carbon Nanofibers?

#Genes could be answer to saving out dearly beloved #data - http://clapway.com/2015/08/18/to-preserve-digital-data-dna-will-be-the-save-button-of-the-future-323/

Researchers believe we will soon be able to use DNA to encapsulate our most precious digital data, meaning that the building blocks of our bodies may soon be the very thing that will become the hard drives of the future.

The Challenge of Preserving Digital Data

Digital data has become so prevalent in our lives, it is almost hard to remember the times when we didn’t require usernames and passwords to access our memories, our friends, and our social lives. However, with the added convenience of modern technology has come a very real problem in the relatively short shelf-life of these very devices that we rely on to store all our information.

This week, a team of researchers presented their work of using DNA in digital data at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The novel research has been able to alleviate the issues of longevity in regards to modern technologies, like the hard drive, which always inevitably fails (especially when we need it the most, it seems).

Robert Grass and the researchers at ETH Zurich have been able to store and translate digital data using DNA, touting a remarkable preservation life of over 2,000 years for the data their transferred.

For some of us, we wouldn’t mind losing digital data from our past (I’m looking at you, Myspace and old Xanga blogs from middle school); much of the information we do save that may be necessary in the future can really benefit from this new technology.

How ETH Zurich Will Evolutionize the Save Button for Digital Data in the Future

Grass and the other researchers from ETH Zurich noticed a major flaw in how we save our digital data. Our hard drives wear out and not in hundreds of years, but just a few decades. Meanwhile, archaeologists are unearthing books written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago with perfectly preserved information.

DNA is getting a lot of buzz in the press

The researchers realized that the key to preserving the old relics was in the DNA. It proved a worthy technology as it used a four code sequence (remember biology class when you learned A-T-C-G bases in DNA?) whereas our computer systems use a similar structure called binary, which is comprised of 0’s and 1’s to encode data. But more than that, DNA had two major factors.

The first factor is the extremely small size of DNA, which is definitely needed if all the information in this digital age is going to be stored for thousands of years. Think of the average external hard drive, which is similar in size to John Green’s latest paperback book. That one hard drive can only store approximately 5 terabytes of information. In comparison, DNA can store over 300,000 terabytes, in only a fraction of an ounce of DNA.

While size does matter in this context, durability is the second factor and probably just as important to ensure the safe encoding and storage of digital data. That external hard drive you have may last about 50 years, but DNA has been able to be analyzed from thousands of years ago. What’s more is that the ancient DNA from archaeology and paleontology digs proves that this same DNA can still be sequenced thousands of years later.

Digital Data Technology May Use DNA-Based Hard Drives

Grass’ researchers have already encoded DNA with text from the Swiss Federal Charter and the Method of Archimedes, which comes out to be around 83 kilobytes of information.

Their findings revealed that after encapsulating the DNA, warming it to 160-degrees Fahrenheit for a week to replicate the conditions of 2,000 years passing by, they were still able to decode the information without any errors. Since that was a success, they are moving on to the next issue with DNA preservation of digital data: a filing system. Rather than having to decode the entire strand of DNA, the researchers want to be able to pinpoint the specific location of one file.

Digital DNA Storage Too Expensive? Maybe This Is A Better Option For You

Though the project has ensured the technology is available, whether or not it is within your price range will vary. With just a few megabytes of digital data encoding and storing costing upwards over thousands of dollars, unless you’re part of the elite upper class, the “old-fashioned” save button may be your only option for now.

Title Picture Credit to Steve Jurvetson
Additional Image Credit to Wonderlane

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You’ll love Nanoform for protecting your data:

To Preserve Digital Data, DNA Will be The Save Button of the Future

A #Book that both educates and aims to #ChangeTheWorld for the better - http://clapway.com/2015/08/17/the-book-that-saves-lives-how-technology-prevents-waterborne-illness-352/

Waterborne illness may soon be stopped by a book, but it’s not knowledge from reading that will save lives, it’s the technology behind the pages. The Drinkable Book is a new, inexpensive product that relies on nanotechnology to purify water, making even the most contaminated of water sources a safe place for people to collect and consume drinking water.

Page Drinking Paper Can Prevent Waterborne Illness With Nanotechnology

Each year all over the world, over 3.4 million people die from contracting waterborne illness after drinking contaminated water. While a book may seem to provide no help to this problem, literacy isn’t what Theresa Dankovich had in mind when she developed an inexpensive, portable book that uses nanotechnology to purify water.

Dankovich came across the idea to use the bacteria-eliminating properties of metal nanoparticles as a doctoral student in her research on paper’s material properties. Silver nanoparticles combined embedded into thick filter paper could effectively rid water of many viruses and bacteria.

After refining the technology and conducting several field tests around the globe, Dankovich will now deliver the results to the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

The Drinkable Book Treats Water to 99.9% Purity

Though Dankovich started her research at McGill University, she expanded it at the University of Virginia’s Center for Global Health by experimenting with inexpensive copper nanoparticles.

She tested the water purification paper in areas with high levels of waterborne illness, including Limpopo, South Africa before moving on to Ghana, Haiti, and Kenya to ensure the efficacy of the filtration in real world conditions rather than just relying on those simulated in a laboratory.

The researcher found that even in the most highly contaminated water sites, the Drinkable Book was able to reach 99.9 percent purity. These numbers are on par with U.S. drinking water.

Of course, some nanoparticles are leaked into the water during the process, but the researcher assures that is is well below the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization.

One Book Can Filter Out Waterborne Illness For Over Four Years

Dankovich’s Drinkable Book has come into production through her nonprofit company called pAge Drinking Paper. The company has already started collaborating with WATERisLIFE and designer Brian Gartside to develop the book.

The book is made of pages embedded with nanoparticles and printed with information regarding water safety in English and the local language where it will be distributed. The pages can easily be removed and put into a special device that will filter the water as it is being poured through.

Dankovich has also teamed up with International Enterprises in Bangladesh iDE to commercialize the book, which she hopes will not be read, but used all around the world to treat water and prevent waterborne illness.

Title Picture Credit to UK Dept for International Development

Additional Image Credit to Brian Gartside

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Clapway Trends brings you the latest in tech reviews:

The Book That Saves Lives: How Technology Prevents Waterborne Illness

A #LifeSaver could come in being able to detect #BloodClots.. - http://clapway.com/2015/08/17/new-technology-will-be-able-to-pinpoint-a-blood-clot-in-one-scan-325/

Researchers have successfully developed a new blood clot probe that can pinpoint the exact location of a blood clot in one scan in lab rats. Though the new technology will continue to be tested for the next few years before use in human patients, the initial results have been promising.

New Technology Pinpoints Blood Clot’s Exact Location in One Scan

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans die from blood clots, a serious health complication that can be treated if found early enough. However, doctors cannot provide treatment until the clot’s specific location is known. While there are currently methods to finding blood clots by using ultrasounds and magnetic resonance imaging MRI, these techniques are limited to scanning only specific area at a time, creating a slow process, delayed treatments, and increased risk of health problems.

But today at the 250th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), researchers will present the latest findings on a new method that has been tested in laboratory rats that will allow physicians to scan the entire body in one shot.

Peter Caravan and his team from the Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital believe this new technology will be more efficient and effective by showing the clot’s location and allowing doctors to access and implement the best treatment option before risks increase.

How The New Blood Clot Probe FBP8 Will Work

Different treatments have different efficacies depending on the location of the blood clot. For a quicker diagnosis, Caravan’s team was looking for a way to scan the whole body in one scan rather than rely on multiple scans of multiple locations, which take time and may not locate the clot fast enough.

While working at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Caravan’s team had previously identified a specific peptide that would bind to fibrin, a protein found in blood clots. Using this information, the team devised a way to attach a radionuclide to the peptide. What’s so important about attaching radionuclides to peptides?

Through a positron emission tomography (PET) scan, radionuclides are visible no matter where they are in the body. Of course the researchers experimented with different peptide-radionuclide combinations to find the best indicator in the PET scan.

In layman’s terms, they found a way to basically track down and provide GPS coordinates within the patient’s body to find the blood clot.

More Testing Before Approval of Blood Clot Probe For Human Patients

Caravan’s team constructed 15 different probes and analyzed each to detect a blood clot in lab rats. While some probes were better at binding to fibrin in the test tube, others proved more successful in the live trial with the rats.

The researchers attribute the different performances of the effects of metabolism, where the stronger probes were more resistant to breaking down and were better at binding to the clots.

The best candidate turned out to be the eighth probe tested, called FBP8. This fibrin binding probe used the radionuclide of copper-64. And while all this may sound too science-oriented, the main takeaway is that this specific probe is moving to the next phase of research.

The team is hopeful to start testing in the fall this year using human patients. If successful, it may be implemented on a wider scale within the next five years, potentially changing the game and future for patients who suffer from a blood clot.

Image Credit from findings to Peter Caravan
Title Picture Credit to Tess Watson
Additional Image Credit to NEC Corporation of America

If you missed it yesterday, here is Clapway’s last week in review: 

 

New Technology Will Be Able to Pinpoint A Blood Clot in One Scan