CLUSTER CHARGE: Your phone takes too long to charge. Your electric bike or car takes too long to charge. And the batteries in the vehicle weigh a lot too. Researchers at the University of California have created a lithium-ion battery anode that could charge your phone in 10 minutes, though a car would take longer... They replaced the current graphite anodes with a three-dimensional, silicon-decorated, cone-shaped carbon-nanotube cluster. Tests showed that batteries using these anodes had a much higher rate of charge and discharge than those using conventional anodes. The team believe the new anodes make better contact and also allow electrolytes to flow more easily into the electrode, leading to better charging and thermal transfer. Everybody likes faster charging.
BUILD A PICTURE: The CreoPop pen doesn't just let you draw things — it lets you draw 3D things. It doesn't use melted plastic, which is both hot and bad smelling. Instead it uses ink that solidifies as you shine UV light on it from the built-in light source. Inks come in many different colours, including glow-in-the-dark and ink that changes colour with temperature. Each ink cartridge can print a 14 metre line at 3 mm diameter. The battery powered pen can be recharged via a micro USB port. Kids and artists everywhere should love that pen.
BROADBAND GOES UP: The Optical Payload for Lasercomm Science recently sent a transmission about the same size as a 22 MB video in 3.5 seconds from the International Space Station to a ground station in California. Ordinarily with radio that would take more than 10 minutes. The transfer was an experiment to beam high definition video back to Earth with a laser. It's not that astronauts are making lots of home movies. Rather, the problem is that science instruments aboard the ISS and other spacecraft are collecting and creating huge amounts of data that can't be handled by the existing slow comms systems. The test transmission began when the ground-based station sent a laser beam to the ISS which was then able to return a beam carrying data. If the laser system is implemented it could mean a broadband connection for the ISS, other craft and even the planets. More science, more quickly: potentially more progress.
AIM, FIRE, SHAKE: Pancreatic cancer is difficult to detect early, so most people diagnosed with it die within a year. Tumours are often inoperable and pancreatic cancer cells are also difficult to reach with chemotherapy. That's all very grim news, but scientists at Rice University hope they've found a way to tackle the tumours. The team modified nanotubes to carry chemotherapy agents and release them at a controlled rate. The nanotubes, around 50 nanometers long, are tiny enough to get inside cancer cells. Once inside they could be shaken to release the tumour fighting agents. Now the technique needs to be tested in mice to see if it actually works. Being able to target specific cancer cells could be a lifesaving achievement.
Miraz Jordan, knowit.co.nz