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Photograph: Yahya Natanzi, Flickr.com

Issue no. 3, 2009 Published: Jan 23, 2009
Holographic discs set to smash storage records
Invention: Biofuel from the oceans
Wasp inspires brain-boring surgical robot
Tiny motors will be able to swim through arteries
India debuts 'agricultural Wikipedia'
Researchers develop new semiconductor ink
Baby beetles inspire 'mini boat' powered by surface tension

Holographic discs set to smash storage records
A dual-layer Blu-ray disc can store an impressive 50 gigabytes, but discs which can hold 20 times as much data have just taken a step closer, thanks to new materials that make reading and writing 3D holograms more reliable. CDs and DVDs store data as pits on their surface that are read by a laser. A Blu-ray disc can hold over five times more data than a standard DVD because the pits are much smaller. Writing the data onto two layers within the disc instantly doubles the volume of data that can be stored. But writing data to the whole thickness of the disc in the form of a hologram could dramatically increase storage capacity. A pair of laser beams is used to write data into discs of light- sensitive plastic, with both aiming at the same spot. However, in the plastic used for holographic data storage, the structural changes caused by the laser also cause the material to shrink. This makes reading the data tricky so it can't be burned at the highest densities. Researchers at the University of California have solved that problem by replacing the polymer's small molecules with larger, branched ones. These need to make fewer bonds to create a patch of the alternate form of the material, cutting distortion to just 0.04%. The new technique could squeeze at least 1000 gigabytes of data onto a standard disc.
New Scientist / Chemical Communications Jan 22, 2009	back to top

Invention: Biofuel from the oceans
Almost all liquid biofuels come from either sugary or starchy crops. But land used to cultivate those crops could also grow food - potentially causing food shortages and pushing up prices. Using woody material instead could sidestep this to some extent by using biomass from more unproductive land. And producing biofuels from freshwater algae cultivated in outdoor ponds could also use land unsuitable for agriculture. But neither approach has been made commercially available. Now a group at the Korea Institute of Technology in South Korea has developed a way to use marine algae, or seaweed, to produce bioethanol and avoid taking up land altogether. The group says seaweed has a number of advantages over land-based biomass. It grows much faster, allowing up to six harvests per year; it does not contain lignin and so requires no pre-treatment before it can be turned into fuel; and it absorbs up to seven times as much CO2 from the atmosphere as wood. The group's patent suggests treating all sizes of algae - from large kelp to single-celled spirulina - with an enzyme to break them into simple sugars, which can then be fermented into ethanol. The resulting seaweed biofuel is cheaper and simpler to produce than crop or wood-based fuels, and will have no effect on the price of food.
New Scientist Jan 21, 2009	back to top

Wasp inspires brain-boring surgical robot
A brain-boring robot that burrows its way through tissue in the same way a wasp digs through wood could make keyhole surgery safer. The female wood wasps of the Siricidae family use a needle-like ovipositor to deposit eggs inside pine trees. This has two dovetailed shafts, each covered in backward-facing teeth. To bore into wood, the wasp rapidly oscillates each shaft backwards and forwards. As the shaft is pulled backwards, its sharp teeth catch in the wood's tissue and prevent it from retreating, so with each oscillation the ovipositor takes a small step forward. The tension created by the gripping teeth braces the shaft and prevents the needle from buckling or breaking. Now, a British research team is mimicking this mechanism to create a medical probe. The researchers have developed a prototype silicon needle consisting of two shafts with 50-micrometre- long fin-shaped teeth. Motors oscillate the two shafts to propel the device forwards in the same way as the wood wasp's ovipositor. Preliminary tests have shown that the device can crawl across the surface of brain-like gels and burrow its way into pig muscle tissue. The device will be flexible enough to move along the safest possible route, bypassing high-risk areas of the brain during surgery, for example. It could also reduce the number of incisions needed to deliver cancer therapies to different parts of a tumour, as it can burrow its way to hard-to-reach areas.
New Scientist Jan 21, 2009	back to top

Tiny motors will be able to swim through arteries
Researchers at Australia's Monash University are putting the final touches to the design of micro-motors small enough to be injected into the human bloodstream that will enable surgeons to examine areas that were previously unreachable. The researchers harnessed piezoelectricity to produce microbot motors just 250 micrometres wide. The motors are small enough to swim up arteries and reach parts of the body that catheters have previously been unable to safely reach because of the labyrinthine structure of the brain. With the right sensor equipment attached to the microbot motor, the surgeon's view of a patient's troubled artery can be enhanced, along with the ability to carry out repair work or other treatment. Piezoelectricity is based on the ability of some materials to generate electric potential in response to mechanical stress. In the case of a gas stove for example, the ignition switch triggers a spring to release a ball that smashes against a piece of piezoelectric material. The result is more than 10,000 volts of electricity which then travels down wires, reaches the gas, and starts the stove fire. The research team has produced prototypes of the motors and is now working on ways to improve the assembly method and the mechanical device which moves and controls the micro-motors.
CBC News / Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering Jan 21, 2009	back to top

India debuts 'agricultural Wikipedia'
Indian scientists have launched an 'agricultural Wikipedia' called Agropedia to act as an online repository of agricultural information in the country. It aims to disseminate crop- and region-specific information to farmers and agricultural extension workers — who communicate agricultural information and research findings to farmers — and provide information for students and researchers. The website at http://agropedia.iitk.ac.in currently contains information on nine crops — rice, wheat, chickpea, pigeon pea, vegetable pea, lychee, sugarcane, groundnut and sorghum — but its creators say that all agriculture-related topics will be eventually covered. Content will be continually added and validated through review and analysis by invited agricultural researchers, in a manner similar to that used by Wikipedia and using open source tools. The site also houses blogs and forums where anyone can provide and exchange knowledge. The project is being implemented over 30 months and is backed by the National Agricultural Innovation Project, a six-year government programme intended to modernise agriculture. The World Bank and the Indian government have provided the funding for the project and six Indian agricultural and technology institutions are partners in the project, providing information and technological expertise.
SciDev Jan 21, 2009	back to top

Researchers develop new semiconductor ink
US Researchers at Polyera and BASF have developed a new type of semiconductor ink that brings companies a step closer to making bendable computer screens or inexpensive sensor tags to help retailers keep track of their inventory. The discovery lies in the new material - a soluble semiconductor ink capable of carrying a negative electrical charge. In the traditional silicon world there are two fundamental types of semiconductors: P-type, which carry a positive charge, and N-type, which carry a negative charge. So far, most semiconductor inks have only been capable of carrying a positive charge. The new ink is an N-type. The new semiconductor ink can be printed onto flexible materials, such as a thin film of plastic or even paper, using a modified ink-jet printer, according to the researchers. That would make it possible to print inexpensive radio-frequency identification or RFID tags on most consumer goods, helping retailers keep better track their inventory. In designing the new material the researchers used techniques similar to those used by drug companies to discover new drug compounds. In this case, they developed a molecule that lacks electrons in its core, making it a good transporter of a negative charge. The molecule can be dissolved in a solvent, making it possible to use it as an ink.
Reuters / Nature Jan 21, 2009	back to top

Baby beetles inspire 'mini boat' powered by surface tension
Inspired by the aquatic wriggling of beetle larvae, a University of Pittsburgh research team has designed a propulsion system that strips away paddles, sails, and motors and harnesses the energy within the water's surface. The technique destabilises the surface tension surrounding the object with an electric pulse and causes the craft to move via the surface's natural pull. This method of propulsion would be an efficient and low-maintenance mechanism for small robots and boats that monitor water quality in oceans, reservoirs, and other bodies of water, according to the researchers. These devices are typically propeller-driven. The new system has no moving parts and the low-energy electrode that emits the pulse could be powered by batteries, radio waves, or solar power. Like any floating object, beetle larva resting in the water causes the surface tension to pull equally on both sides. To move forward, the larva bends its back downward to change the tension direction behind it. The forward tension then pulls the larva through the water. The researchers substituted the larva's back bending with an electric pulse. In their experiments, an electrode attached to a 2-centimeter-long 'mini-boat' emitted a surge that changed the rear surface tension direction and propelled the boat at roughly 4 millimetres per second. A second electrode attached to the boat's front side served as the rudder.
EurekaAlert / University of Pittsburg Jan 21, 2009	back to top