Monthly Archives: March 2015

Are current water treatment methods sufficient to remove harmful engineered nanoparticle?

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IMAGE:Environmental Engineering Science, the official journal of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options. Publishing state-of-the-art... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, March 10, 2015--The increased use of engineered nanoparticles (ENMs) in commercial and industrial applications is raising concern over the environmental and health effects of nanoparticles released into the water supply. A timely study that analyzes the ability of typical water pretreatment methods to remove titanium dioxide, the most commonly used ENM, is published in Environmental Engineering Science, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Environmental Engineering Science website until April 10, 2015.

Nichola Kinsinger, Ryan Honda, Valerie Keene, and Sharon Walker, University of California, Riverside, suggest that current methods of water prefiltration treatment cannot adequately remove titanium dioxide ENMs. They describe the results of scaled-down tests to evaluate the effectiveness of three traditional methods--coagulation, flocculation, and sedimentation--in the article "Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticle Removal in Primary Prefiltration Stages of Water Treatment: Role of Coating, Natural Organic Matter, Source Water, and Solution Chemistry".

"As nanoscience and engineering allow us to develop new exciting products, we must be ever mindful of associated consequences of these advances," says Domenico Grasso, PhD, PE, DEE, Editor-in-Chief of Environmental Engineering Science and Provost, University of Delaware. "Professor Walker and her team have presented an excellent report raising concerns that some engineered nanomaterials may find their ways into our water supplies."

"While further optimization of such treatment processes may allow for improved removal efficiencies, this study illustrates the challenges that we must be prepared to face with the emergence of new engineered nanomaterials," says Sharon Walker, PhD, Professor of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Riverside.

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About the Journal

Environmental Engineering Science, the official journal of theThe Association of Environmental Engineering & Science Professors (AEESP) , is an authoritative peer-reviewed journal published monthly online with Open Access options. Publishing state-of-the-art studies of innovative solutions to problems in air, water, and land contamination and waste disposal, the Journal features applications of environmental engineering and scientific discoveries, policy issues, environmental economics, and sustainable development including climate change, complex and adaptive systems, contaminant fate and transport, environmental risk assessment and management, green technologies, industrial ecology, environmental policy, and energy and the environment. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Environmental Engineering Science website.

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Are current water treatment methods sufficient to remove harmful engineered nanoparticle?

Jumping, roly-poly, untethered robot described in Soft Robotics journal

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IMAGE:Soft Robotics, a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, combines advances in biomedical engineering, biomechanics, mathematical modeling, biopolymer chemistry, computer science, and tissue engineering... view more

Credit: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers

New Rochelle, NY, March 9, 2015-- A novel, fully untethered soft robot capable of repeated jumping is able to cover half a meter in a single hop-and-roll motion. The innovative design of this combustion-powered robot, based on a roly-poly toy, and how it returns to an upright position after each jump are described in a fascinating study published in Soft Robotics, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Soft Robotics website.

In the article "An Untethered, Jumping Roly-Poly Soft Robot Driven by Combustion", Michael Loepfe, Christoph Schumacher, Urs Lustenberger, and Wendelin Stark, Institute for Chemical and Bioengineering (Zurich, Switzerland), describe a soft robot powered by a mixture of nitrous oxide/propane/butane gas that can function even over rough terrain. The authors provide a detailed description of the activity of the robot and suggest future advances that could improve the jumping ability and performance of the robot.

"Although this robot is a hybrid of soft and hard components, I think it demonstrates how incorporating new materials can open up all sorts of robot capabilities," says Editor-in-Chief Barry A. Trimmer, PhD, who directs the Neuromechanics and Biomimetic Devices Laboratory at Tufts University (Medford, MA).

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About the Journal

Soft Robotics, a peer-reviewed journal published quarterly online with Open Access options and in print, combines advances in biomedical engineering, biomechanics, mathematical modeling, biopolymer chemistry, computer science, and tissue engineering to present new approaches to the creation of robotic technology and devices that can undergo dramatic changes in shape and size in order to adapt to various environments. Led by Editor-in-Chief Barry A. Trimmer, PhD, and a distinguished team of Associate Editors, the Journal provides the latest research and developments on topics such as soft material creation, characterization, and modeling; flexible and degradable electronics; soft actuators and sensors; control and simulation of highly deformable structures; biomechanics and control of soft animals and tissues; biohybrid devices and living machines; and design and fabrication of conformable machines. Tables of content and a sample issue can be viewed on the Soft Robotics website.

About the Publisher

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science, technology, and biomedical research, including 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing and Tissue Engineering. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 80 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.

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Jumping, roly-poly, untethered robot described in Soft Robotics journal

Gene therapy: Hope for the blind?

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FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) --

Six-year-old Andy Moorhead is learning how to read. But instead of using his eyes, he's using his fingers. Andy told ABC30, "Well, I read the letters with my fingers."

Andy is blind. Andy's Mother, Heather Ingram-Moorhead explained, "He was around nine months, and we started to notice his eyes were twitching."

Andy has leber congenital amaurosis, or LCA. It's the most common type of childhood blindness and is caused by genetic mutations.

"It is just very hard. It's taken us a while to really understand the condition and do everything to help Andy," Heather told ABC30.

Andy's whole family is hands-on. Even his sister Valerie gives him guidance. But despite their efforts, his mom says gene therapy is their only hope.

University of Florida scientist Shannon E. Boye, PhD, is using a $900,000 grant to perfect a gene therapy that could restore vision.

"It's not an attempt just to slow the progression of the disease. It's actually an attempt to halt the progression and make the patient better by delivering them the gene they don't have," Boye told ABC30.

Boye says the therapy has worked in animals. "We're able to show, via what's called an electra retinal gram, that the retinal function has been restored to the mice," she explained.

Gene therapy is still an investigational treatment with risks and only available for those in a clinical trial. Right now there are hundreds of studies underway to treat conditions like LCA, cancer and HIV. It's hope that one day Andy could put down his cane and see his family for the first time.

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Gene therapy: Hope for the blind?

Lime Street: Campaigners to carry on fighting to save the Futurist's facade

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Campaigners fighting to save the historic Futurist cinema say they will not give up after new Lime Street regeneration plans did not include the building.

Save the Futurist say they are aware of commercial interest in the site and hoped at least the facade of the 1912 building would be saved in the 35m plans.

Disappointed only part of the cinemas facade features in the new designs for Lime Street.

The group urged for the proposals to be reconsidered and said they would continue to fight their cause.

Design images for a new look Lime Street, revealed by the ECHO, have been widely criticised with Joe Anderson calling for them to be reviewed.

In pictures: Inside the Futurist

VIEW GALLERY

A spokesman for Save the Futurist said campaigners had been left disappointed to see only part of the facade, which would be used to form a balcony overlooking Lime Street, included in the scheme.

Iain Hoskins said: We would have liked to save the whole building and saying it cant be saved is unfortunate - it can, its just economics.

We are still campaigning to save the facade of the Futurist. Adding a bit of it to the site is not really appropriate and I think, with the groundswell of support we have had over the weekend, it shocked quite a lot of people because its just a crying shame.

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Lime Street: Campaigners to carry on fighting to save the Futurist's facade

Tomorrowland today: watch the trailer for George Clooney's sci-fi blockbuster

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Given the seemingly endless influx of sequels, remakes, reboots and reimaginings, the prospect of an original blockbuster is quite thrilling. While recent attempts (Jupiter Ascending, Chappie) have been patchy, Brad Birds latest adventure, Tomorrowland, looks set to buck the trend.

Weve already been treated to a deviously mysterious teaser, which offered a glimpse of the universe that was being created. Now a full-length trailer has supplied us with a deeper look at what to expect.

Related: The 88 movies we're most excited about in 2015

The film follows a wayward teen, played by Britt Robertson, who finds herself in the possession of a magical pin that can transport her to a fantastical other world. Her search for details leads her to George Clooneys boy genius turned resentful older man, and Hugh Laurie, who appears to be evil.

The second trailer offers more snapshots of the futuristic Tomorrowland, which shares the same name as a themed area of Disneyland. It also contain some recognisable rides, including Space Mountain, so we wouldnt put it past Disney to subsequently reveal stronger links between the park and the film.

Interestingly, the title appears to have been tweaked for international audiences. While its being promoted as Tomorrowland in the US, the latest UK trailer has it down as Tomorrowland: A World Beyond. Meanwhile, due to a naming conflict with a music festival, it will be called TomorrowWorld in some European countries.

Tomorrowland: A World Beyond appears in cinemas on 22 May.

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Tomorrowland today: watch the trailer for George Clooney's sci-fi blockbuster

Tech Up S2E6 – News From Futurism [Virtual Twins, Rescue Drones, Dark Matter, Tattoo Removal] – Video

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Tech Up S2E6 - News From Futurism [Virtual Twins, Rescue Drones, Dark Matter, Tattoo Removal]
TechUp S2 Episode 6 premiers in March on Bell Aliant Community One. Follow us on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/TechUpOne Like us on Facebook - http://www....

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Tech Up S2E6 - News From Futurism [Virtual Twins, Rescue Drones, Dark Matter, Tattoo Removal] - Video

This Cartoon Perfectly Sums Up the Optimism of 1950s Futurism

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The December 28, 1959 issue of Life magazine featured this illustration of life in 1975. It's over the top and cartoonish, of course, but it perfectly sums up all of the techno-optimism that was so prevalent in the late 1950s the Golden Age of Futurism.

The article that accompanied the illustration spelled out the wondrous things that people could expect by the year 1975. Americans were promised that they'd be working less, taking home more money, and enjoying longer vacations and more leisure activities than they could even imagine. And don't forget about the amazing technological advances. High-tech communications satellites? Check. Family helicopters? Check. Replaceable organs and robot-diagnosed medicine? Check and check.

The article in Life also assured readers that they weren't just making these predictions up as they went along. They were referencing the hard data from the Research Institute of America, a private research firm:

The Institute's basic over-all prediction is that in 15 years, given a peaceful world, America will be a consumer's utopia. By 1975 more Americans (230 million) will have more money (average national family income up from the present $5,000 to 7,500) and more time to spend it (15% fewer work hours, 50% more holidays). Technology and salesmanship and industry will conspire to make every American's life safer and easier. Rockets will whisk special delivery mail anywhere in the world and relay stations on orbiting space satellites will speed his radio messages on their way. Electronic devices will cook his food faster, purify his air supply, diagnose the weather and also his health. If something goes terribly wrong with his insides, tiny, complex self-powered spare human parts hearts, kidneys and livers will be available.

But we have to remind ourselves that the people of any given generation don't all think alike. For instance, the illustrator of this cartoon, Jim Flora, also drew some rather scary robots for an article in Parade that very same year.

In that piece we see a dystopian world filled with too much automation, too much leisure time, and even suicide as a result. Never forget that no matter the decade, one person's time-saving robot is another person's job-stealing tyrant.

Image via Super Retro

Contact the author at novak@gizmodo.com.

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This Cartoon Perfectly Sums Up the Optimism of 1950s Futurism

Radical Transportation Projects Of The Past And Future

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An artist rendering of SkyTran. (Credit: Skytran)

This article is a companion piece to Hyperloop Is Real: Meet The Startups Selling Supersonic Travel from the March 2, 2015 issue of FORBES

The Hyperloop isnt the only radical transportation project out there. Here are a few that may lay ahead for the future and one from the past.

SKYTRAN Inspired by the 40-year-old personal rapid transit system in Morgantown, W.V., Skytran is a high-speed (150 mph) network of two-person pods that whisk people on suspended maglev tracks. A test system is slated this year in Tel Aviv, with a bigger city network projected for completion by the end of 2016. Skytran says tickets will sell for less than a bus fare. We doubt that. Cost: $80 million.

TERRAFUGIA FLYING CAR Its 2015 and we still dont have flying cars? Terrafugia aims to change that with its Transition street legal airplane, enabling you to commute like the future Marty McFly. There have been successful test flights, and deliveries are anticipated for 2016. Still, flying cars have been promised for so long well believe it when we take one to work. Cost: $279,000

PROJECT HARP Jules Verne imagined a day when the astronauts would be fired from a gigantic gun to the Moon. In the 1960s, the U.S. and Canada tried to build guns that could shoot satellites into Earth orbit. Despite perpetual funding woes and political obstacles, the project was able to fire test payloads into space up to 112 miles before it was shut down in 1967.

SHWEEB Google invested $1 million into Shweeb, which is developing a system of monorails with individual pods that you pedal with your feet. The company built a 220-yard prototype at an amusement park in New Zealand. Cool for cities, but what rhymes with Shweeb?

ET3 Two weeks before announcing Hyperloop, Elon Musk met with the founder of ET3, who is talking up a network of vacuum tunnels through which car-sized capsule fly using magnetic levitation. The company claims its system could be built for a quarter of the cost of a freeway and support more traffic. Its currently seeking out sites to build a three-mile prototype that can travel at speeds over 370 mph.

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Radical Transportation Projects Of The Past And Future

Nanoracks Resumes Satellite Deployment From The International Space Station

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Last summer, satellite deployers on board the International Space Station belonging to space science company NanoRacks developed issues that prevented some cubesats deployed into their orbits. After several months of work and repair, that company has been able to solve those issues and celebrated a deployment of two satellites belonging to Planet Labs on Friday.

The satellite deployment system allows commercial space companies to deliver cubesats small satellites just a few inches around into orbit at a low cost. The cubesats get delivered to the space station during its normal cargo runs and then are deployed by astronauts from the station itself. The satellite deployers were developed and built by NanoRacks.

Planet Labs satellites deployed from the space station. (Credit: NASA)

Directing the repairs required the company to coordinate with NASA as well as the Russian and Japanese space agencies and astronauts on board the space station.

Over the last six months, NASA and JAXA have worked tirelessly with NanoRacks to ensure that the on-orbit hardware adaptations make our CubeSat deployers safe and ready for operations. Its a testament to the ISS Programs ability to cooperate with commercial partners and utilize the resource they have on orbit. NanoRacks External Payloads Account Manager Conor Brown said in a statement.

The repairs to the deployment system included a new commanding system as well as latches to ensure that the deployers remain attached to the space station in case of any malfunction so that they dont pose a danger to the station. The hardware was delivered in January on a SpaceX Dragon capsule and installed earlier in February.

NanoRacks has also developed a new satellite deployment system thats capable of sending larger microsatellites into orbit up to a mass of about 100 kg. That system will be delivered on a SpaceX Dragon launch currently slated for June 2015.

You can watch footage of the satellites being deployed below:

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Nanoracks Resumes Satellite Deployment From The International Space Station

Virgin Galactic Unveils Manufacturing Facility For Its Satellite Launcher

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Artist rendering of LauncherOne (Virgin Galactic)

Virgin Galactic announced today that it has leased a new facility in Long Beach, California for the design and manufacture of its small satellite launcher, LauncherOne.

The 150,000 square foot facility is intended to produce LauncherOne rockets at quantity, Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides said in a statement. With New Mexicos magnificent Spaceport America for our commercial spaceflight operations, our Mojave facilities for WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo production, and now our new facility in Long Beach for LauncherOne, we are building capability to serve our expanding customer community.

LauncherOne is a two stage rocket that is intended to deliver small satellite payloads of 500 pounds or less. Like Virgin Galactics passenger spacecraft, it will be launched by the companys WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft. The company aims to be able to deliver satellites into orbit for a price of less than $10 million.

Virgin Galactics new manufacturing facility. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

The new manufacturing facility is located across the street from Long Beach Airport, where the WhiteKnightTwo will fly from to deliver its customers payloads. The company also announced today that it was going to be hosting a job fair in March, looking for positions to work at its new manufacturing facility.

The company has already contracted with several companies to deliver satellites. Among them is satellite internet service is OneWeb, which the Virgin Group and Qualcomm have both invested in.

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Virgin Galactic Unveils Manufacturing Facility For Its Satellite Launcher

New Mexico Considering Legislation To Sell Spaceport America

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Image Credit: Spaceport America

The New Mexico legislature is currently considering legislation that would result in the sale of its Spaceport America. The bill, SB 267, moved from the Senate Corporations and Transportation Committee to the Senate Finance Committee in a vote yesterday. No hearing date on the legislation has been scheduled in the Finance Committee as of this writing.

The legislation is sponsored by Senator George K. Muoz, who didnt mince any words in a statement regarding the legislation.

Spaceport has one launch director. He probably plowed a lot of snow but hes never hit a launch button, he told the Committee.

The spaceport opened to a great deal of fanfare in 2011 with an eye to being a hub for space startups and tourism. SpaceX leases space there to conduct tests of its reusable rocket designs, and other small space startups like Armadillo Aerospace and UP Aerospace have conducted test flights at the facility.

The main draw for the spaceport, though, is its anchor tenant, Virgin Galactic, which plans to use the site for its tourist operations. However, the past few years have seen continuous delays in Virgins plans to get its space tourism operations off the ground. Those operations have been delayed even further by the the crash of its SpaceShipTwo last Fall.

There was a lot of hoopla before that if We build it, they will come, but its been several years now and nobodys shown up yet, Muoz said in his statement. New Mexican taxpayers are continuing to foot the bill for a $250 million empty facility that is providing the Legislature shaky operational information at best.

Senator Muoz also stated that he feels that Virgin Galactic is in violation of its lease.

Virgin Galactic emailed me the following statement on the matter:

Virgin Galactic remains fully committed to the efforts of NMSA and Spaceport America. We have made a lot of progress on the build of our second spaceship, and our plans for commercial operations remain the same: we will test in California and operate our spaceline from New Mexico. We signed a 20 year lease with the State and have been paying rent monthly since January 2013. We are committed to our New Mexico suppliers and New Mexico based staff and will continue to add both.

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Freedom Fighters (PC) Vgigjtszs/Walkthrough #13 – Na most j volt a gondolatmenet – Video

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Freedom Fighters (PC) Vgigjtszs/Walkthrough #13 - Na most j volt a gondolatmenet
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