The Guardian discovers nanotechnology

The Guardian appears to have been bitten by the nanotechnology bug, if articles from the past two days are anything to go by. Tuning in to the possibilities of nanotube transistors reports on the application of carbon nanotubes in radios, and Once bitten... welcomes readers to the world of nanofoods, 'where almost anything is possible: where food can be manipulated at an atomic or molecular level to taste as delicious as you want, do you as much good as you want, and stay fresh for ... well, who knows?' Yum.

New Materials World out now

It's actually been out for some time... those guys at MW run rings round the rest of us :-)

The March 2008 issue focuses on the automotive industry, with related articles on sustainable production, paint shop costs and coatings.

In other feature stories, mining risk management and the search for oil off the Irish coast are investigated.

In the news section, the team reports on new ways of disposing of irradiated materials and a silicon chip that is 10 times more energy-efficient than standard versions.

Galloway man builds home from salvaged materials for £4,000

A man from Galloway, Scotland has built his own home from salvaged and natural materials for a total of £4,000, reports the BBC.

The walls are made of straw, the roof out of turf and much of the rest of the building from items discarded by other people, including a roof velux, shower tray, front window, front door and an oval bedroom window. The Tudor-style panelled timber ceiling was made out of solid pine changing cubicle doors salvaged from old Victorian public baths in Govan.

The warm and watertight cottage gets its water supplies by gathering rainfall and its electricity from a car battery.

Self-healing rubber

A form of artificial rubber that is able to self-repair even when it is sliced in two has been invented by French researchers. The substance produces surfaces when cut that retain a strong chemical attraction to each other. This property comes from careful engineering of the molecules in the material, which is made from vegetable oil and a component of urine. The BBC site meanwhile is inviting comments from users to name the material, which so far is only being referred to as 'self-healing rubber'.

Contact lenses with circuits and lights

Engineers at the University of Washington could make 'Terminator vision' a reality. Using manufacturing techniques at microscopic scales, they have combined a flexible contact lens with an imprinted electronic circuit and lights. "Looking through a completed lens, you would see what the display is generating superimposed on the world outside," says Babak Parviz, UW assistant professor of electrical engineering. Researchers built the circuits from layers of metal a few nanometers thick and constructed light-emitting diodes one third of a millimetre across, before sprinkling the powdery electrical components onto a sheet of flexible plastic. The shape of each tiny component dictates which piece it can attach to, a microfabrication technique known as self-assembly, and capillary forces pull the pieces into position.

US scientists develop 'power fibres' for smart clothes

Today's BBC site reports that scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed brush-like fibres that generate electrical energy from movement. These could be woven into a material to allow designers to create "smart" clothes which harness body movement to power portable electronic gadgets. I want some.

New Materials World out now!

The February issue of Materials World (crikey, is it February already?) focuses on plastics. John Loadman, a retired analytical chemist from Bishops Stortford, examines the history of vulcanised rubber, while James Lewis, Chairman of Bac2 Ltd, Southampton, describes how the cost of fuel cells can be reduced with a new conducted polymer. Related articles focus on plastic photovoltaic solar panels and non-destructive inspection of polyethylene pipes. In other feature stories, Michael Forrest takes a look at the Chinese coal mining industry and the use of computer modelling mining methods. In the news section, the team investigates the development of polymer lasers by UCLA as well as the relationship between academia and industry.

I confess to a personal favourite in this month's edition, a news-in-brief item (known as a NIB in the trade, folks!) about a new range of guitars developed by a firm called Cool Acoustics. The Secret Valentine steel-string is promoted by Gordon Giltrap and features a wooden body and neck with a foamed polycarbonate soundboard, claimed to have improved tonal quality over wooden versions. I want one.

OLEDs in the new Motorola phone

Stephen Fry reviews the Motorola U9 in the latest of his excellent Dork Talk series for the Guardian Weekend magazine. The phone is notable for its usage of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) in the casing, which as Fry puts it, "sandwich stacks of light-emitting layers of polymers to form ultra-thin displays" with "the remarkable potential to be incorporated into fabric and the lightest of materials, famously raising the prospect of roll-up monitors, a new generation of electronic paper, and a world in which displays can be seen everywhere." I want one.

China becomes latest country to ban plastic bags

China has pledged to ban plastic bags from June, reports the Guardian, a move designed to help stem an environmental 'menace' that causes floods and creates health problems. While a number of Chinese appear indifferent to the proposed new law, the effect on the plastics industry has yet to be gauged.

Heritage status for unique aqueduct?

Yesterday's Guardian reported on the selection of the amazing Pontcysyllte aqueduct on the Llangollen canal, near Wrexham, as this year's UK candidate for World Heritage status. The aqueduct was built between 1795 and 1808 with a revolutionary mix of ancient materials, such as ox blood (which helped bond mortar) and boiling sugar (used to seal Welsh flannel used with tar for caulking), and new cast iron technology previously untried on such a scale.