Energy from seaweedWith increasing fuel prices over the past two decades, there has been growing interest in using biofuels as sources of energy. Biofuels are fuels that derive their energy by conversion of carbon dioxide to organic compounds, (a process known as “carbon fixation”) through the involvement of organisms. A simple example is that of bioethanol—an alcohol produced by fermentation largely from carbohydrates found in sugarcane or corn. Ethanol can also be produced from grass, leaves and other cellulose containing materials. However, if wheat, corn or sugarcane are used to serve as the biomass for fuel production, then valuable land area that can be used for producing food crops has to be diverted for production of biofuels. With a growing world population that has now crossed the seven billion mark, and with large areas of our planet suffering from water stress and desertification, we can hardly afford to set aside large land areas for growing biofuel producing crops instead of food crops. This has been a major criticism against the production of biofuels.

Now scientists working at Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) at Berkley have carried out some biochemical wizardry to circumvent this problem—they have succeeded in transforming common seaweed into biofuels! The discovery has triggered the formation of a start-up company in Chile that is carrying out off-shore farming on 200 acres to produce large quantities of seaweed (brown micro-algae) that can then be converted into ethanol using a fermentation process with a microorganism. According to BAL scientists, about three per cent of coastal waters globally are sufficient to produce 227 billion liters of biofuels annually.

In tomorrow’s world, the seashores may well become the energy producing reservoirs of our planet.

Micro-rockets—in your stomachMicro-rockets powered internally by hydrogen, shooting through your stomach at super fast speeds of 100 body lengths per second, carrying with them urgently needed drugs, and releasing them at the diseased sites—it sounds like a fairytale but it is true. Scientists at the University of California, San Diego, have developed hydrogen bubble-powered micro-rockets that can be steered to the targeted sites and release their pay loads. These micro-rockets are tiny 10 micrometre long polyaniline tubes with a diameter of a few micrometres.

The tubes are lined internally with zinc that reacts with acid in the stomach to generate hydrogen bubbles. These bubbles propel the tubes forward at high speeds reaching 380 mph, depending on the pH of the stomach. The tubes can be coated on the outside with magnetic materials, thereby allowing them to be guided magnetically to a targeted site. (J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2012, 134 (2), pp 897–900; (DOI: 10.1021/ja210874s)).

Flying in water—“ghosts”!Stealth flying machines—but flying through water! They use the principle of “supercavitation” to reduce the friction while flying through water. Supercavitation involves creating a bubble of gas inside a liquid that is large enough to surround an object travelling through it. As the object travels in water enclosed in the gas bubble, the friction is reduced to a minimum, thereby allowing it to attain very high speeds. Supercavitation has been used in high speed torpedoes in the past but now Juliet Marine Systems (JMS) in New Hampshire, USA, have applied it to the world’s first supercavitating watercraft. The flying watercraft is being developed for the US navy as a super-fast stealth system that can approach enemy ships undetected by their radar. The watercraft is fitted with the latest stealth technologies and since it is travelling in water surrounded by a giant bubble, it experiences 900 fold less friction. Ideal for transporting soldiers to enemy beaches or carrying thousands of pounds of weapons and torpedoes to enemy territories, the “flying machine” is considered as an important element in next generation warfare equipment.

Portable remote body scannersGiven the security situation in Pakistan, there is urgent need of technology that will allow scanning of bodies for concealed weapons to be carried out from a distance. This will prevent criminals from coming too close with weapons concealed under their clothing. No such technology existed—till now!

The New York Police Department and the United States Department of Defense have been involved together in the development of remote sensing devices that will detect weapons remotely. The portable scanner relies on the infrared rays produced from the body. An image of these rays can be detected by the scanner. If a weapon is present, then the infrared rays are blocked by the metal and a silhouette of the weapon can be seen. The range of the equipment is being extended so that it can detect concealed weapons from a distance of 82 feet. n

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