Saturday, 31 December 2011

Auto applications sought for new advanced metal that's 100x lighter than Styrofoam [w/video]

Auto applications sought for new advanced metal that's 100x lighter than Styrofoam [w/video]:

Automakers are being pinched to increase safety and improve fuel efficiency, but those two goals often work against each other. That could change thanks to a material that is 99.99-percent air.

Ward's Automotive reports that the California Institute of Technology, HRL Laboratories and the University of California-Irvine have combined to develop a micro-lattice material that is said to be 100 times lighter than Styrofoam and strong like steel. We'd call this material paper-thin, but the truth is even more impressive: the material is comprised of tiny woven tubes that are 1,000 times thinner than a human hair...

HRL Microlattice

Although this comes across as more of an advert for HRL, and some of the strength claims are suspicious, that is, a material's strength is best measured in tension and not in compression, the concept is still very exciting and the potential applications are huge ...

Saturday, 17 December 2011

Strange nuclear waste lint might be "biological in nature" | The Augusta Chronicle

Strange nuclear waste lint might be "biological in nature" | The Augusta Chronicle: "Savannah River Site scientists are working to identify a strange growth found on racks of spent nuclear fuel collected from foreign governments.
The “white, stringlike” material was found among thousands of spent fuel assemblies submerged in deep pools within the site’s L Area, according to a report filed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a federal oversight panel.

“The growth, which resembles a spider web, has yet to be characterized, but may be biological in nature,” the report said.

Savannah River National Laboratory collected a small sample in hopes of identifying the mystery lint – and determining whether it is alive."

I smell a movie coming out very soon ...  ITM

Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Rick Perry's 'Country Solynda' Gaffe: GOP Candidate Mispronounces Solar Company's Name, Calls It A Country

Rick Perry Country Solynda

... "No greater example of it than this administration sending millions of dollars into the solar industry, and we lost that money," Perry said. "I want to say it was over $500 million that went to the country Solynda." ...

Oh my ...