Tag: Material

Coffee grounds make for stronger cement. Other types of waste are increasingly popular too. (Using wine residue?) a Toronto-based startup is extracting nanocrystals from chitin, which is found in crab, shrimp and lobster shells. With a formula containing just 1% of chitin nanocrystal, the team has created a sustainable packaging film. A single-layer solution without chemical glue, it can...

Naturally-occurring colour pigments in purple maize have anti-inflammatory properties. Clothes, meanwhile, are rarely manufactured using natural colours. But all that could be about to change thanks to the work of two textile engineers and their New York-based startup. The team is using biotechnology to create colourful yarn without using dye. First, in a fermentation process, special bacteria produce natural...

There are bras available for women who don’t want to have implants post mastectomy. Elsewhere, ultrasound sensors in bras could detect breast cancer early. But what about preventative treatment before the illness takes hold? Until now it’s proved difficult to test the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs in the lab. Partly because tissue taken from the body perishes within a...

Some glasses automatically adjust focus between near and distant objects. Many birds can see for miles while still recognising their immediate environment. Their retinas have a deep hollow, meaning they are more sensitive to light. With an additional fourth photoreceptor, they can also perceive blue, red, green and UV light. Inspired by this phenomenon, a Korean research team has...

Records from sugarcane are good for the environment. Chocolate, meanwhile, is good for our mood - even if too much sugar is unhealthy. But who said sugar was necessary to make chocolate? A Zurich-based research team dried the fibre-rich innermost layer of the cocoa hull - called the endocarp - and ground it to powder. Next the pulp from...

Used, starch-based juice bottles dissolve in water. If only recycling printed circuit boards (PCBs) from plastic and glass fibre were as easy. Enter a US-based research team which has manufactured a PCB prototype using cutting-edge sustainable polymers known as vitrimers. When exposed to mild heat, their molecular compounds loosen so that tears or holes can be repaired. The team...

Jellyfish could come in handy at crime scenes. Another marine creature has inspired a British research team currently developing a gripper for objects with dry, complex surfaces. The secret to an octopus’s tight grip is that it fills the tiny gaps between its suction cups and an uneven surface with mucus. Information the team used to build a pneumatically-driven...

In future, circuit boards for PCs could be made from mushrooms. Now, an EU-financed research team is attempting something even more daring. They are building components for mobile machines from edible materials. People in remote places could be given drones for dessert while other drones deliver vaccinations to endangered animals. Work is already underway to create a sprayable sensor...