Science…

How long has Bluetooth been around for again?

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Making batteries from waste glass bottles. Researchers are turning glass bottles into high performance lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and personal electronics.

Date:
April 19, 2017

Source:
University of California - Riverside

Summary:
Researchers have used waste glass bottles and a low-cost chemical process to create nanosilicon anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will extend the range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and provide more power with fewer charges to personal electronics like cell phones and laptops.

FULL STORY

Waste glass bottles are turned into nanosilicon anodes using a low cost chemical process.

Researchers are turning glass bottles into high performance lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and personal electronics

Date:
April 19, 2017
Source:
University of California - Riverside

Summary:
Researchers have used waste glass bottles and a low-cost chemical process to create nanosilicon anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will extend the range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and provide more power with fewer charges to personal electronics like cell phones and laptops.

FULL STORY

Waste glass bottles are turned into nanosilicon anodes using a low cost chemical process.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have used waste glass bottles and a low-cost chemical process to create nanosilicon anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will extend the range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and provide more power with fewer charges to personal electronics like cell phones and laptops.

Titled “Silicon Derived from Glass Bottles as Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Full Cell Batteries,” an article describing the research was published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. Cengiz Ozkan, professor of mechanical engineering, and Mihri Ozkan, professor of electrical engineering, led the project.

Even with today’s recycling programs, billions of glass bottles end up in landfills every year, prompting the researchers to ask whether silicon dioxide in waste beverage bottles could provide high purity silicon nanoparticles for lithium-ion batteries.

Silicon anodes can store up to 10 times more energy than conventional graphite anodes, but expansion and shrinkage during charge and discharge make them unstable. Downsizing silicon to the nanoscale has been shown to reduce this problem, and by combining an abundant and relatively pure form of silicon dioxide and a low-cost chemical reaction, the researchers created lithium-ion half-cell batteries that store almost four times more energy than conventional graphite anodes.

To create the anodes, the team used a three-step process that involved crushing and grinding the glass bottles into a fine white power, a magnesiothermic reduction to transform the silicon dioxide into nanostructured silicon, and coating the silicon nanoparticles with carbon to improve their stability and energy storage properties.

As expected, coin cell batteries made using the glass bottle-based silicon anodes greatly outperformed traditional batteries in laboratory tests. Carbon-coated glass derived-silicon (gSi@C) electrodes demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance with a capacity of ~1420 mAh/g at C/2 rate after 400 cycles.

Changling Li, a graduate student in materials science and engineering and lead author on the paper, said one glass bottle provides enough nanosilicon for hundreds of coin cell batteries or three-five pouch cell batteries.

“We started with a waste product that was headed for the landfill and created batteries that stored more energy, charged faster, and were more stable than commercial coin cell batteries. Hence, we have very promising candidates for next-generation lithium-ion batteries,” Li said.

This research is the latest in a series of projects led by Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan to create lithium-ion battery anodes from environmentally friendly materials. Previous research has focused on developing and testing anodes from portabella mushrooms, sand, and diatomaceous (fossil-rich) earth.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - Riverside. Original written by Sarah Nightingale. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have used waste glass bottles and a low-cost chemical process to create nanosilicon anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries. The batteries will extend the range of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and provide more power with fewer charges to personal electronics like cell phones and laptops.

Titled “Silicon Derived from Glass Bottles as Anode Materials for Lithium Ion Full Cell Batteries,” an article describing the research was published in the Nature journal Scientific Reports. Cengiz Ozkan, professor of mechanical engineering, and Mihri Ozkan, professor of electrical engineering, led the project.

Even with today’s recycling programs, billions of glass bottles end up in landfills every year, prompting the researchers to ask whether silicon dioxide in waste beverage bottles could provide high purity silicon nanoparticles for lithium-ion batteries.

Silicon anodes can store up to 10 times more energy than conventional graphite anodes, but expansion and shrinkage during charge and discharge make them unstable. Downsizing silicon to the nanoscale has been shown to reduce this problem, and by combining an abundant and relatively pure form of silicon dioxide and a low-cost chemical reaction, the researchers created lithium-ion half-cell batteries that store almost four times more energy than conventional graphite anodes.

To create the anodes, the team used a three-step process that involved crushing and grinding the glass bottles into a fine white power, a magnesiothermic reduction to transform the silicon dioxide into nanostructured silicon, and coating the silicon nanoparticles with carbon to improve their stability and energy storage properties.

As expected, coin cell batteries made using the glass bottle-based silicon anodes greatly outperformed traditional batteries in laboratory tests. Carbon-coated glass derived-silicon (gSi@C) electrodes demonstrated excellent electrochemical performance with a capacity of ~1420 mAh/g at C/2 rate after 400 cycles.

Changling Li, a graduate student in materials science and engineering and lead author on the paper, said one glass bottle provides enough nanosilicon for hundreds of coin cell batteries or three-five pouch cell batteries.

“We started with a waste product that was headed for the landfill and created batteries that stored more energy, charged faster, and were more stable than commercial coin cell batteries. Hence, we have very promising candidates for next-generation lithium-ion batteries,” Li said.

This research is the latest in a series of projects led by Mihri and Cengiz Ozkan to create lithium-ion battery anodes from environmentally friendly materials. Previous research has focused on developing and testing anodes from portabella mushrooms, sand, and diatomaceous (fossil-rich) earth.

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of California - Riverside. Original written by Sarah Nightingale. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

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There was a report in the media today about how opinions are becoming more important than scientific facts.

Well, let see those RSoles’ opinions power a car or do anything useful in the modern world.

FFS.

I think the idea is that good ol’ wholesome oil will keep powering cars for some time. Because, there’s no viable alternative. Noooo viable alternative. Yessiree…

Love it. Have half a pint of Castrol GTX in my morning smoothie.

Yep. The Jurassic diet. All the rage these days.

World’s First Commercial Fusion Reactor Takes First Steps Towards Generating Energy

Oxfordshire-based Tokamak Energy has fired up its latest fusion reactor for the first time and aims to reach temperatures of 100m degrees Celsius next year. Known as the ST40, the reactor represents the third of five stages in the company’s plan to deliver fusion energy to the grid by 2030. Controlled fusion requires temperatures in excess of 100m°C, but this has never been achieved by a privately funded company. To reach that goal, Tokamak Energy is focusing on compact, spherical tokamak reactors, as it believes they are quicker to develop and offer the quickest route to commercial fusion power. — The Engineer, 28 April 2017

Britain’s newest fusion reactor has been fired up and taken the UK one step further towards generating electricity from the power of the stars. The heart of the Tokamak ST40 reactor – a super-hot cloud of electrically charged gas, or plasma – is expected to reach a temperature of 100 million centigrade in 2018. The new reactor was built at Milton Park, Oxfordshire, by Tokamak Energy, a private company pioneering fusion power in the UK. Speaking after the ST40 reactor was officially turned on and achieved “first plasma”, Tokamak Energy chief executive Dr David Kingham said: “Today is an important day for fusion energy development in the UK, and the world. We are unveiling the first world-class controlled fusion device to have been designed, built and operated by a private venture. The ST40 is a machine that will show fusion temperatures – 100 million degrees – are possible in compact, cost-effective reactors. This will allow fusion power to be achieved in years, not decades.” —Energy Voice, 28 April 2017

That’s by far your best contribution on electricity et al on blitz.

I’ll read it in full & investigate it later, … I hope it’s not a clickbait furphy,

I thought they were much further away than this.

I hope so too, it may be an attempt to raise capital.

I thought the stellarator was more efficient.
At least, it sounds cooler.
Not literally.

Two long-time colleagues of mine recently left my company to work there. I must admit I’m pretty jealous of their involvement in the project. I expect they will get there, although maybe not in the dates they are predicting.

Their FAQ section makes interesting reading:
http://www.tokamakenergy.co.uk/frequently-asked-questions/

I think they’ve been doing a trial of this a few km’s west of Port Fairy.

Vaccine that lowers cholesterol in mice offers hope of immunizing against cardiovascular disease

Date:June 20, 2017

Source:European Society of Cardiology (ESC)

Summary:
A vaccine to immunize people against high levels of cholesterol and the narrowing of the arteries caused by build-up of fatty material (atherosclerosis) may be possible following successful results in mice. Now, a phase I trial in patients has started to see if the findings translate to humans.

FULL STORY
A vaccine to immunize people against high levels of cholesterol and the narrowing of the arteries caused by build-up of fatty material (atherosclerosis) may be possible following successful results in mice. Now, a phase I trial in patients has started to see if the findings translate to humans.

The study, which is published in the European Heart Journal, is the first to show that it is possible to immunize genetically modified mice with a molecule that causes the body to produce antibodies against an enzyme called PCSK9 (Proprotein covertase subtilisin/kexin type 9), which plays a role in preventing the clearance of low density lipoprotein cholesterol (“bad” cholesterol) from the blood.

People with high levels of LDL cholesterol, either due to their genetic inheritance, or to poor diet and lifestyles, are at much greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease prematurely. These diseases of the heart and blood vessels, caused by atherosclerosis, have overtaken infections as the main cause of illness and death throughout the world. At present, drugs such as statins can be used to lower LDL cholesterol, but they have to be taken on a daily basis and although they are generally well-tolerated they can cause adverse side effects in some people. The most recently approved cholesterol-lowering compounds are monoclonal antibodies targeting PCSK9, which are highly effective, but their effect is short-lived, resulting in frequent re-application and high costs.

The research published today shows that the AT04A vaccine, when injected under the skin in mice that have been fed fatty, Western-style food in order to induce high cholesterol and the development of atherosclerosis, reduced the total amount of cholesterol by 53%, shrank atherosclerotic damage to blood vessels by 64%, and reduced biological markers of blood vessel inflammation by 21-28%, compared to unvaccinated mice. Furthermore, the induced antibodies remained functional over the whole study period and concentrations were still high at the end of the study.

Dr Günther Staffler, chief technology officer at AFFiRis (the company that developed AT04A) and one of the authors of the study, said: "AT04A was able to induce antibodies that specifically targeted the enzyme PCSK9 throughout the study period in the circulation of the treated mice. As a consequence, levels of cholesterol were reduced in a consistent and long-lasting way, resulting in a reduction of fatty deposits in the arteries and atherosclerotic damage, as well as reduced arterial wall inflammation.

"The reduction in total cholesterol levels was significantly correlated with induced antibody concentration, proving that induced antibodies caused the reduction in cholesterol and also are ultimately responsible for the reduction of atherosclerosis development. As antibody concentrations remained high at the end of the study, it can be assumed they would continue to reduce cholesterol levels for some time afterwards, resulting in a long-lasting effect, as has been shown in previous studies.

“If these findings translate successfully into humans, this could mean that, as the induced antibodies persist for months after a vaccination, we could develop a long-lasting therapy that, after the first vaccination, just needs an annual booster. This would result in an effective and more convenient treatment for patients, as well as higher patient compliance.”

The enzyme PCSK9 is made in the liver and it locks on to LDL cholesterol receptors, reducing their ability to get rid of LDL cholesterol from the blood. When injected, AT04A causes the body to produce antibodies that block the function of PCSK9, so that the activity of the LDL cholesterol receptors is increased.

“The way that AT04A is administered is comparable to a vaccine,” explained Dr Staffler. “However, the difference between a conventional vaccine and our approach is that a vaccine induces antibodies that are specific to bacterial or viral proteins that are foreign to the body – pathogens – whereas AT04A induces antibodies against a target protein that is produced by the body – endogenous proteins. This it is really an immunotherapeutic approach rather than a vaccine approach.”

In 2015, a phase I clinical study started at the Department of Clinical Pharmacology, Medical University of Vienna, Austria, studying AT04A and another molecule AT06A in 72 healthy people to assess its safety and activity. The study is expected to complete at the end of this year.

In an accompanying editorial, Professor Ulrich Laufs, of Saarland University, Germany, and Professor Brian Ference, of the University of Bristol, UK, and the Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, USA, write: “It appears promising to further evaluate long-term LDL cholesterol lowering by vaccination against PCSK9 for the prevention of atherosclerotic events.” However, they say that “safety, the response in humans and the very important but unknown long-term immune effects need to be very carefully addressed during the course of clinical development.” In particular, reductions in total cholesterol via statins and other drugs are associated with an increase in new onset diabetes. “Therefore, one potential safety concern for long-term lowering of LDL cholesterol with a vaccine directed against PCSK9 is the potential for an increased risk of new onset diabetes. In the short term, the LDL cholesterol lowering effect of statins and PCS9 inhibitors appears to far outweigh the risks of new onset diabetes.”

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Combine that with the DNA repair molecule they’re trailing at the moment and living forever just got a step closer.

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They need to create a vaccine that combats autism. That’ll mess with the anti-vaxxers.

“VACCINES CAUSE AUTISM!”
“There’s a vaccine for that.”

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So you need the vaccine or Pauline Hanson will kick you out of school

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They need a vaccine to prevent susceptibility to anti-science bullshit.