The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Sorted by date Results 26 - 48 of 48
A team led by University of Minnesota Twin Cities researchers has discovered how subtle structural changes in strontium titanate, a metal oxide semiconductor, can alter the material's electrical resistance and affect its superconducting properties. An oxide of strontium and titanium, strontium titanate or fabulite, has been on the radar of scientists for the past 60 years, mostly because it displays unusual properties. For one, it can become a superconductor at low...
National Ignition Facility achieves landmark fusion energy breakeven. For the first time in history, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's National Ignition Facility have achieved one of the most significant milestones in energy research by attaining scientific energy breakeven through nuclear fusion. What this means is that for the first time ever, the output energy from the fusion reaction was more than the energy used to ignite the reaction. "This is a...
Intricate, unique, and beautiful, snowflakes are a crystalline symbol of the wintery season that inspire wonder in children and inspiration for scientists in New Zealand that have managed to replicate these wonderous constructs of nature with gallium and zinc. A closer look at snowflakes reveals that each piece of pristine powder is a one-of-a-kind ice crystal that is awe inspiring in its beauty and symmetry. More scientifically, these natural forming ice crystals are a...
Swiss researchers have developed a transparent gold nanocoating that vanquishes the perennial nemesis of glasses wearers – fogging. Unlike traditional antifogging methods, which uses hydrophilic coatings that evenly spread condensation across the surface of the glass, the micro-thin gold layer developed by scientists at ETH Zurich harnesses sunlight to passively heat the lenses to prevent fog from forming in the first place. This works on the same principle as the heating e...
A major breakthrough in nuclear fusion has been confirmed by the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, little over a year since the lab successfully achieved 1.3 megajoules of energy for a fraction of a second. After a year of painstaking work, the NIF has published its work in three peer-review papers. Nuclear fusion is the process that powers the Sun and other stars. Heavy hydrogen atoms collide with enough force that they fuse...
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management announced $6 million in funding toward research and development projects that will repurpose domestic coal resources for products that can be employed in clean energy technologies such as batteries and advanced manufacturing. Projects selected for this funding will support FECM's Carbon Ore Processing Program, which focuses on converting coal and coal wastes into products such as graphite, carbon...
MIT scientists find that brewer's yeast absorbs heavy metal. While drinking an ice-cold pint of beer may not flush lead from your system – there is not a libation strong enough for that task – the yeast used to brew your favorite ale may prevent the heavy metal from getting into your body in the first place. And like they say, "16 ounces of prevention is better than a pound of cure" – or something like that. Researchers at the esteemed Massachusetts Institute of Techn...
Columbia University chemists and physicists recently found a link between tunable electronic magnetic properties in a 2D semiconductor that could potentially be applied to quantum computing, spintronics, and other fundamental research. Created in the lab of chemist Xavier Roy, chromium-sulfide-bromide (CrSBr) is chemistry that is called a van der Waals crystal, which can be peeled into stackable, 2D layers that are just a few atoms thin. It is due to the unique nature of van...
A company that specializes in jewelry has teamed up with researchers to create a mind-blowing storage breakthrough – the collaboration resulting in the manufacture of a two-inch diamond wafer intended for quantum applications and is the largest diamond storage ever created, capable of holding up to 25 exabytes of information at room temperature. "A 2-inch diamond wafer theoretically enables enough quantum memory to record 1 billion Blu-ray discs," said Adamant Namiki P...
The Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management March 18 announced US$2.2 million in funding for research into new, clean uses for coal waste – primarily, to continue the efforts by X-MAT Carbon Core Composites LLC in completely building a home out of coal. Over the past year, X-MAT has developed bricks, blocks, facades, panels, and roof tiles that comprise all the components needed to construct a building. As a result, X-MAT has been awarded a f...
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Oct. 5 announced nearly $7 million in funding for seven projects to develop coal-based filaments or resins for additive manufacturing, and advance development of coal-derived graphite. The projects selected, to be managed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory's Carbon Ore Processing Program, will use materials derived from coal wastes like tailings and ash for additive manufacturing via 3D pri...
Known for its ongoing research into manufacturing homes from coal waste, Florida-based Semplastics announced Aug. 5 that its advanced materials division X-MAT received a grant of $1.5 million from the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to continue the research and development of its coal roof tile X-TILE. This funding is a follow-on grant that will be used to expand on a previous grant the company received from the National Energy Technology...
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley reported April 17 the discovery of a method for simplifying the removal of toxic metals such as mercury and boron to produce clean water, while at the same time potentially capturing valuable metals, such as gold. The research targets improvements in treatments currently applied either before or after desalination – the removal of salt – in the process of producing drinkable water, or water for agriculture or industry, fro...
In a move to further its contribution to the digitization and digitalization of the mining industry, Epiroc plans to acquire Canada-based Meglab, a company that specializes in providing electrification infrastructure solutions to mines. "Epiroc is proud to be the leader in providing battery-electric vehicles for the mining industry, improving customers' work environment and lowering their emissions while increasing their productivity," said Epiroc President and CEO Helena...
Epiroc Canada, a subsidiary of the Sweden-based Epiroc, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the software company MineRP for increased mine productivity. As part of the agreement, Canada's Dundee Precious Metals and other shareholders will sell 100% of MineRP to Epiroc Canada, to become part of the European mining equipment company's technology and digital division. Dundee will receive nearly US$40 million from the sale, representing its stake in MineRP, with...
Instead of brick by brick, X-MAT, the advanced materials division of Semplastics, is looking to build homes lump by lump with coal, and with a recent approval of funding by the Department of Energy to build a test house, this may become a new contemporary material of future homes. Earlier this month, X-MAT received a $625,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory to create coal-derived building materials in the construction of a...
Internet of things-enabled hardhats that turn on ventilation in a section of an underground mine before workers approach, alert a miner not to enter a hazardous exclusion zone, or lets an underground truck driver know there is an unexpected person or piece of equipment along his path, can make underground mines safer and more efficient. Inpixon, which already offers location awareness solutions that make indoor spaces smarter and safer, is now positioned to provide this type...
Towards its strategic transformation into a premium mining technology products and services company, Weir Group PLC Oct. 5 announced it is selling its entire oil and gas division to Caterpillar Inc. for US$405 million in cash. Combined with its sale of its downstream oil and gas division in 2019, the Caterpillar transaction will complete Weir's strategic exit from the petroleum sector. "We are pleased to have reached this agreement that delivers a great home for the oil & gas...
If you have ever gone jewelry shopping, one of the first things that you notice when you pick up a gold ring or necklace, is its weight. Your brain is tuned to gravity and the weight of gold is noticeable, after all, it is nearly nineteen times heavier than water. Over the last decade, researchers have been looking for a way to make gold "lighter" in order to create lighter devices that often use gold in their circuitry. About five years ago, researches in Switzerland struck...
Mining companies around the globe are coming under increasing pressure to ensure and demonstrate that their tailings storage facilities are stable and do not pose a threat to the environment and people nearby. Cloud-based monitoring has the potential to provide more effective management and greater transparency of the status of these tailings storage facilities. Tailings storage facilities are used to store the finely crushed rock left behind after a mining operation has...
Newlab LLC, in collaboration with the Vimson Group, presented their Transformative Technology Applied to Mining event during an April 28 webinar showcasing Prospect Mining Studio. This partnership represents a cohort of startup companies that leverages the power of frontier technology to help the mining industry become safer and more sustainable through innovations across multiple fields of study. Founded in 2006, Newlab serves as a hardware-focused shared workspace, research...
Scientists at the California Institute of Technology have created a nano-architected material that exhibits a property that was previously only theoretically possible – refract light backward, regardless of the angle at which the light strikes the material. This unique and previously theoretical property, known as negative refraction, could have major technological applications. "Negative refraction is crucial to the future of nanophotonics, which seeks to understand and m...
While it may seem counterintuitive to consider lava as a source of inspiration for preventing homes and businesses from going up in smoke, researchers in Australia and China have drawn inspiration from this molten rock in the development of a better flame retardant. To prevent buildings from going ablaze, manufacturers have added flame retardants to plastic, wood, and steel building materials for decades. These additives, however, can be toxic and expensive. To make a better...
