Carbon Nanotubes
While not being particularly new to science, carbon nanotubes remain one of the more interesting and versatile new materials. At their basic level all they are is an allotrope of carbon in the shape of a cylinder, typically made by rolling a single atom thick sheet known as graphene or by deposition of carbon atoms. They also occur naturally in flames. The importance of carbon nanotubes lies in their incredible strength but also incredibly low density which gives them a specific strength (force per unit area divided by density or N·m·kg−1 for short) ~310 times greater than high carbon steel. Carbon nanotubes also have the predicted ability to carry an electrical current density that is 1000 times that of traditional conductors such as copper along with also being superb thermal conductors. The longest carbon nanotube to date clocks in at 18.5 cm (7.3 inches or 84% the width of a soccer ball) with the greatest length to width ratio being 132,000,000:1.
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Mobile app adds an element of gaming to home energy metering
There are few aspects of life that can’t be enlivened by a little friendly competition, and home energy metering is no exception. Enter German GreenPocket’s namesake smartphone app, which “helps consumers share their carbon footprint in a competitive and entertaining way on Facebook”. READ MORE…
Brain displaying necrosis due to carbon monoxide poisoning
In the past, carbon monoxide toxicity was not unheard of, especially during the winter. Cold nights and CO-producing fires lead to a silent death while asleep.
Though people were aware that they needed ventilation when fires were burning, frigid cold outside leading to people keeping too much air out, and having a stove burning through the night (so as not to freeze to death…), led to at least several dozen documented deaths throughout the Midwestern United States in the 1890s.
A Text-Book of Pathology. W. G. MacCallum, 1916.
(via laboratoryequipment)
