Science

How To Tackle The Myopia Epidemic

Amit Katwala published a riveting story in WIRED about how the myopia epidemic in Taiwan and how researchers and practitioners discovered the causes of myopia, which is lack of sustained sunlight, and developed a preventative regime for children.

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Filtering Microplastics

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Futurism describes how researchers in Canada have discovered sawdust coating in fruit tannins can filter 95.2% to 99.95 of microplastics from water.

Environment

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3D Printing Metal At Room Temperature

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Scientists at North Carolina State University have developed a metal gel that can be used in 3D printers. After printing, the gel hardens when water and hydrochloric acid in the gel evaporates, producing a rigid metal structure.

Innovation

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Packing Algorithm

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Researchers at MIT have developed a faster packing algorithm that is the first to utilises Fast Fourier Transform to calculate the optimal placement of objects within a space and achieves close to 40% packing density.

Science

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Degradable Adhesive

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Scientists at the University of Surrey have developed a new experimental degradable adhesive that uses a new mixture of chemicals that ensures the recycling process is residue free, reducing the risk of machines getting clogged with adhesive residue.

Environment

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Hygroelectricity

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An interesting article in The Guardian describes two discoveries that show hygroelectricity, which is generating electricity from the charge in humid air.

Innovation

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Auraldiversity

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Auraldiversity is an interesting frontiers post, aimed at children but valuable to all, which describes diversity of aural experiences among people and how they might experience sounds differently.

Life

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China's Mach 30 Wind Tunnel

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China has developed a testing wind tunnel that can operated a speeds up to Mach 30, using a series of timed explosives that off each other onto a single point. This interesting article describes the Chinese breakthrough, as well as the other methods deployed by other wind tunnels. Unfortunately, this new wind tunnel is most likely being used to test a hypersonic nuclear missile.

Science

Tech

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Insulin Lettuce

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Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have created a plant based insulin that can be delivered orally and stored at room temperature. Their method seeds lettuce cell walls with human insulin genes using a gene gun, and then selectively breeds generations of the plant that maintains the insulin, which can then be ground up and shelf stored.

Science