Matter & Energy

Forget to charge your music player before a run, or the battery life of your smartphone insufficient to get you through the day? For a generation that depends on electronic devices for their daily needs, the challenge of charging or powering gadgets begs for a sustainable solution.

Now the summer is in full swing, many of us enjoy getting out in the fresh air and making the most of the sunny weather. Sometimes this means sitting in the park whilst we’re on our lunchbreak and inevitably most of us turn to our phones to check our emails and social media whilst relaxing.

Currently, there’s two main ways to access the energy needs that your household requires. Either connect to the national grid, or go off-grid and meet them through a combination of renewable energies. If you live off-grid, solar panels and wind turbines, or often a combination of the two, are currently the most popular choices.

Imagine never having to worry if your phone was fully charged before heading out to run or cycle your favorite trail, because you could charge it whilst exercising. Well, we could be literally one step closer to this reality thanks to a new technological advance which allows for the charging of electronic devices using something we all produce when exercising: sweat.

Many countries are on a mission to lead the way towards a future where 100% of our energy demands are met by renewable sources. New wind and solar farms are springing up apace, with countries keen to attract developers to install new wind and solar farms and manufacturers working hard to reduce the cost of their technology.

Imagine a new carbon neutral system of generating energy which has the potential to meet up to 40% of our global demand for power? The source might come as a surprise – our coastal estuaries where salt and fresh waters meet.

Over the last few decades, aerial robots, or drones, have been used in military, scientific and commercial fields. This has been mostly for searching and rescuing, for observation, mapping, inspection or maintenance. These drones consume energy from batteries. Due to the short battery life, scientists and engineers have been carrying out further analysis of the issue, with extensive research.

We always seem to be one step behind Mother Nature – using her materials as inspiration as we look for better and more environmentally friendly materials for the future.

Usually when we go for a run and work up a sweat, we would stop and take a layer off. MIT have developed a workout suit which instead responds to your body heat, opening and closing tiny flaps which react to humidity and allow heat and sweat to escape.

The Sun is the abundant renewable energy source that we as humans have not harnessed to its full potential. Solar radiation powers all of the surface phenomenon on Earth; it warms oceans to cause currents, heats up the air and drives the water cycle, and it sustains life on Earth. Plants take in solar radiation and use it to convert carbon dioxide and water into sugars.

Atomic-force microscopy (AFM) is a high-resolution imaging technique that operates on the nanometer scale. Large molecules like DNA, proteins, and carbon nanotubes can be visualized in this manner. Of course, the instrumentation needed to look at really, really, really small objects usually take up a lot of space and are quite expensive; an education system can start at $10,000 USD and a fully expanded model for a materials science lab would cost upwards of $500,000+.

Since their discovery, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have opened many avenues in material science. What makes them fascinating is their atomic structure, which dictates their electromagnetic and mechanical properties. They exhibit tremendous strength and conductivity while only being one atom thick. As they are a unique among other fullerene carbon structures, they are considered a new allotrope of carbon.