R. E. KEARNEY

Paving the Way – The Production of Ceramic Tiles from Waste

With the world’s levels of discarded materials constantly increasing, every industry faces a greater need to pay attention to environmental concerns. This means that many manufacturers are turning to different forms of recycling to help save the planet, as well as to boost business by increasing profits. One industry that creates a lot of waste during production is the manufacturing of building material. There is an estimated three million tons of waste produced annually from the process of making ceramic tiles alone.

The normal production method used has previously made it impossible to put the waste back into the production process. Lifeceram is a project which has been undertaken to change this, and was formed with two main objectives. These are:

To develop a new type of tile from the waste created that would be appropriate for outdoor paving, due to both durability and weather resistance.
Create a suitable method of making these tiles, which would incorporate 100% of waste materials. It would also need to be sustainable by the manufacturing companies themselves, to make it as convenient as possible.

The Lifeceram project has been successful and those involved have reported developing a process to create tiles which have the mechanical resistance, environmental properties and porosity that they planned to achieve. The method that has been proposed will not only recycle the waste but can also be easily undertaken by existing industrial installations, without the need for changes to their equipment or current manufacturing.

The major benefits that companies will achieve using this new process are:

A Reduction in Carbon Emissions

One of the worse influences of manufacturing building material on the environment is the emission of carbon which Lifeceram believes will be reduced by at least 30% once their process is implemented.

Production Savings

Tile manufacturers will now be able to save 30% on energy costs and an additional 65% on their use of water. Saving on production costs is beneficial in any industry as it means that funds can be reinvested to build the business, or there can be an increase in profits.

Eliminating Waste

As reported, the process can reuse 100% of the waste which was previously created during the manufacturing of tiles. This can decrease the need to buy additional materials as well as company output.

Project Lifeceram is being introduced to manufacturing companies, which are embracing it and the benefits that can be achieved. Project developers are confident that many companies worldwide will be using their method of production shortly.

The Future of Money – The Basics of Blockchain Technology

Throughout the history of the world there have been thousands of currencies developed, including silver, gold and brass coins as well as paper money. With technology beginning to dominate international growth, and the need for transparency in transactions, there has been a great movement towards producing emoney as well.

The first form of digital currency to be developed was Bitcoin, from an idea proposed by Satoshi Nakamoto. Created and held electronically, this type of money is known as cryptocurrency and is based on blockchain technology. It is produced using software designed to solve mathematical problems. One of the major differences between Bitcoin and paper currency is the fact that it can’t be decentralised, meaning that no single institution would be able to control the network. The currency is created digitally by a group of people that anybody can join, and a limit has been placed on the number of Bitcoins that can be ‘mined’ in this controlled online environment. To encourage transparency, the mathematical formula which is used for Bitcoin production is available for everybody to view online.

Bitcoin’s success has inspired the creation of other forms of emoney, most notably in several African countries. After Tunisia launched their blockchain technology based currency, Senegal quickly followed suit and announced that they will be using online currency alongside their paper one. Even though created from blockchain technology, it will still be controlled and distributed by the government and central banking system. This means that the amount that is in circulation will be easily monitored and regulated. Senegal’s e-currency, known as eCFA, has already passed the emoney regulations which have been set by the West African Economic and Monetary Union and is expected to be introduced into the system shortly.

These currencies have set Africa apart as the pioneers of a new era of financial stability. The security and transparency of the blockchain technology, means that the system cannot be tampered with and the economy will be allowed to thrive. After being introduced into circulation in Senegal the eCFA will be introduced in other countries that currently use the West African franc including: Ivory Coast, Benin and Niger.

Other forms of emoney is also being explored and developed on an international level and countries are adapting the technology to suit their specific requirements including China, Singapore and Sweden. Many banks have already started using blockchain technology to record and handle transactions, and other industries which require high levels of security and monitoring are researching ways of moulding it to suit their needs.

Graphene – Unlimited Possibilities in a Minute Package

Graphene is a single tightly packed layer of carbon atoms, which are bonded together in a hexagonal honeycomb lattice. As the second most abundant substance in the human body, and the element which is found in the forth greatest quantity on the planet, carbon is the chemical basis for all known life on earth. Due to the fact that graphene is composed of carbon this makes it a readily available, eco-friendly solution which can be applied to a variety of fields.

In addition to its prevalence, graphene has a number of other advantages including:

Unsurpassed Strength – The building block of graphite, it is currently the strongest compound discovered.
Thinness – At only one atom thick, graphene combines resilience with being super thin.
Weightlessness – The lightest material known, one square meter of graphene weighs only 0.77 milligrams.
High Conductivity – At room temperature, graphene is the best known conductor of electricity and heat.
High Light Absorption – Graphene’s white light absorption level is very unique.

Other qualities of graphene add to its usefulness and whereas its exfoliation was once very expensive the cost has decreased dramatically and companies now sell it in large quantities. Scientists have many future uses of the product planned, and research and development occurs on an ongoing basis. Some of these include:

Medicinal

It has been determined that graphene is a suitable material for engineering tissue and medical researchers believe that it is the ideal substance to improve the structure of fabricated tissue cells. Another area in medicine which graphene is expected to play an important role is the transportation of liquid drugs. Research has shown that a sheet of graphene oxide can be transformed into liquid crystal droplets, once it has been placed in a solution to manipulate the pH. This allows the droplets’ structure to change in the presence of an external magnetic field, meaning that drugs can be transported in the droplets and then released when needed.

Ethanol Distillation

Water vapor is the only liquid or gas able to penetrate graphene oxide membranes. The distillation process for vodka normally requires extreme heat or a vacuum, which can be eliminated by the use of graphene.

Contaminant Removal

As a bio-degradable, non-toxic material which is also soluble in water, graphene can be used to create stable mixes with other liquids. In order to use this as a contaminant removal, the created solution can then be put into other liquids to attract undesired or potentially harmful molecules.

An Increase in Artificial Intelligence – Autonomous Drones

Manual labor is decreasing drastically, with artificial intelligence taking over many jobs that were previously done by humans. One of the groups that is capitalizing on this is drone technology which is now being used by companies, such as Amazon, on an ever increasing scale. There are many advantages to the use of drones, including their speed and ability to go to places where it may be difficult for humans to get to. For these reasons they now play a major part in saving lives, by transporting necessary medicine to the scenes of accidents and emergencies, as well as to areas which may previously have been inaccessible during storms and other adverse weather conditions. Another large advantage to the use of drones is the fact that they can eliminate, or significantly reduce, the need for human control in certain situations.

Technological mastermind, Airmada, has developed a storage system for drones which is capable of supporting missions without the need for human intervention. The storage box releases the drone once it has been activated, by opening up to become a launch pad facilitating its take off. Once its mission has been completed the drone will fly back, land on the launch pad and the storage box then closes up in order for the battery to be charged. All of this is done automatically without the need for a drone operator.

In its initial stages the product has been aimed at minimizing danger to members of security teams, under certain circumstances. Once an alarm has been triggered the drone will be released, responding quickly and capturing data in order to assess possible danger before security personnel access the scene. Airmada believe that the launching pad technology increases the potential for these drones to be used on international scales, not just for commercial use, but also to enhance military and widespread operations.

Due to the fact that the drone stations eliminate the need for manual labor, there are significantly less operation costs. In addition, the storage system has been designed to protect the drone, reducing required maintenance and product damage. Overall the system focuses on both reliability and safety, both for the drone and any people which may become involved. As commercial drone use continues to develop, Airmada is confident that the use of these drones will expand becoming very popular, very quickly.

Steps towards becoming Invisible – Achieving More by Appearing Less

While the possibility of humans being able to disappear is highly unlikely, this hasn’t stopped movie directors and writers from including it in their stories for many years. Scientists have once again stepped forward in an attempt at making the impossible possible by producing a material which may allow us to do so. Researchers at Iowa State University have developed a material that ‘disappears’ under certain conditions, which they hope will one day become the foundation of ‘invisible cloaks.’

The camouflage material is a type of liquid metal, which is made of tech that has been imbedded in a flexible sheet of silicon. This in turn is comprised of several rings (filled with galistan) that cover the material’s surface and act as inductors resisting changes in electric currents passing through them, with the gaps acting as capacitors. This combination facilitates radar waves hitting the material’s surface to be absorbed by the film.

The researchers describe their creation as a material made of an array of liquid metal spilt ring resonators (SRRs) which are embedded in a stretchable elastonomer. When it is stretched this ‘meta-skin’ has a tunable frequency, which is able to accommodate a wide range of other frequencies thus absorbing radar waves. Experimentation with wrapping it around a curved dialectic material shows that the meta-skin performs as a flexible cloaking surface, which is able to suppress the scattering of frequencies in different directions.

The flexibility of the material means that radar waves which don’t follow the ring’s geometry will still be absorbed as the meta-skin will conform to different signals. The same sheet of material is currently able to absorb 75% of radar signals, ranging from 8 to 10 gigahertz. The developers plan to use the technology to coat the surface of stealth aircrafts, eventually expanding its properties to incorporate a wider range of radar waves. The material’s ability to absorb waves differs from traditional stealth technology which normally just reduces the power that is reflected back to the probing radar, and would greatly increase stealth capabilities.

In order for invisibility cloaks to be produced the material will need to be able to absorb light, since the reflection of light is the way in which we currently see objects. Researchers will need to expand experimentation to include nano scale technology in order to accomplish this, which will increase the difficulty of working with this met-skin significantly. They are completely confident that this will be possible, however, and we can look forward to the ‘disappearance’ of humans very soon.

A New Lease on Life – Extending the Human Life Span

Researchers are always trying to come up with ways to prevent diseases, and other ailments, in humans. Decades of research has shown that the main cause of many illnesses is the same as that of getting older. They believe that it is possible to learn more about this cellular breakdown by observing the aging process in other species. A study involving the transparent cells of roundworms has revealed a connection between RNA splicing and an organism’s lifespan. Using this information scientists believe that they will be able to find additional ways of fighting disease, and slowing down aging in humans.

RNA splicing is the cellular process by which a single gene is able to produce a variety of proteins. Any mutation that occurs during RNA splicing normally results in disease, and may be the reason for our body’s getting older. In order to gain more knowledge about the aging process, researchers conducted experiments with the Caenorhabditis elegans roundworm. This species has a three week lifespan, during which they show obvious signs of aging.

Fluorescent genetic tools made it possible to see the roundworms’ transparent cells, and the scientists observed certain patterns during RNA splicing of the individual genes. Using the ones that showed premature aging, researchers quickly learned how to predict individual roundworm lifespans before signs of aging appeared. They are confident that this discovery is the start of using RNA splicing as an early indication of aging, which can then be expanded in order to prevent or reverse these signs.

As we stop our cells from getting older, humans would also need to take precautions to maintain their health. This will allow them to live for much longer than the current average lifespan. Some of the other ways researchers believe that we might be able to combat aging are:

Using chromosome extensions to increase the rate of cell division – As we age the cells in our body lose their natural ability to replicate, resulting in aging and inevitably death. The idea behind this theory is that if we are able to extend our ability to continue cell division, we will be able to prolong our lives.

Using the drug Metformin to prevent illness and degeneration – Even though Metformin has been used to treat diabetes for in excess of 60 years, scientists are currently testing the theory that the drug is beneficial to our body’s cells in other ways. Research has shown that it might be able to prevent some forms of cancer, as well as slow down aging by speeding up metabolism and cellular processes. Metformin also releases oxygen into cells, which is the building block of healthy ones.

Scientists also believe that a combination of these and other methods might be the key to longevity, and research continues to find ways of increasing the number of centurions on the planet.