Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Please feel free to comment upon this widget or my widget approach in general.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Thinking Outside The Box - Fuel from Coal-Eating Microbes - System 4_Bis

THE BOX -VENN DIAGRAMME opposite.

Burning coal for heat and energy is too old to dwell on. It was the logical step during much of the last century to carry this to today's high temperature materials assisted power generation. To continue pollution represented by the most abundant green house gas -CO2 must be mastered hence the necessary additional steps of CO2 capture and sequestration. Various processes exist, unfortunately only at fairly large pilot size but well under predicted sustainable climate predictions-requirements.

OUTSIDE THE BOX- System 4 Bis:
Relatively new biochemical process results suggest a new low-temperature_lower energy loss process route whereby methane gas fuel is generated from coal by coal eating microbes.

The incentives to develop this new route are:

- Low Temperatures, less energy intensive.
- Half as much carbon dioxide is emitted as does burning coal.
- reduce or help eliminate the anticipated need to import natural gas in the future. (Russia - Ukraine etc)
- Substantial interest and historical evidence for in coal bed methanisation:
1. Luca Technologies, a start-up based in Golden, CO, has raised $76 million to scale up a process that uses coal-digesting microorganisms to convert coal into methane.
2. Andrew Scott, former professor of economic geology, Univ of Texas,Austin is the founder Altuda Energy Corporation, based in San Antonio, TX A. Scott


Having said this, the framework may still be argued to hold if accent is given to Power Industry rather than Coal Fired Power. Clearly, however these concepts are radially different. The microbiological route appears to hold much promises and at the very least hopefully will stimulate the over mature Coal Fired Power players to accelerated their work to achieve all the objective the silent majority aspires to - much cleaner energy and eventually renewable energy. In the meantime the cross disciplinary- Metallurgical and Materials Industries will evidently still play an important role in anticipating evolving requirements.

Full Paper with many hypertext links

Fuel from Coal-Eating Microbes

Acknowledgements to Ray Kurzweil editor of one of my early Internet newsletter subscriptions whose AI The Brain Technology presentation fascinated me.

Rust cleans up pollution_From the previous post of Top 100 Materials Science Stories - My biased choice - "Got Pollution? Get Rust from 2003"

1,000-square-foot plot at a pharmaceutical plant in North Carolina using just $1,000 in raw materials has been decontaminated by Wei-Xian Zhang, an environmental engineer at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

The scientific methode : 20 pounds of iron nanoparticles—superfine iron dust.

As iron rusts, it unleashes electrons that can break down organic pollutants such as dioxins, PCBs, and many pesticides. By growing iron atoms into incredibly small particles, Zhang increases the number of electrons they release as much as 1,000-fold. He then mixes the ultrafine powder with water so it can be pumped into the ground. A few days after injecting the iron powder into contaminated land, all that is left behind are simple, nontoxic hydrocarbons. The iron dust eventually dissolves harmlessly into the groundwater. Early next year, Zhang plans a larger test, treating a 100-acre site in North Carolina. He is also developing a commercial version of the process.

Since this work was reported in 2003, more results and the success or failure to reach the original expectations must be known. Looking forward to up-dating this advanced metallurgical chemical and biochemical engineering interdisciplinary work.

It goes without saying that both I and Discover Magazine would be pleased to learn of readers top pick, cf Full List Link below.

Source:

1. Got Pollution? Get Rust reported by Kathy A. Svitil was published online December 3, 2003

2 Full Materials Science List 1993 to Date_Link

Top 100 Materials Science and Technology Stories from Discover Magazine

From an original list of top stories in science and technology by the magazine Discover, a short list of the top 14 Materials Science and Technology Stories in 2008 has been drawn-up. The # sign indicates the position on the overall Science list, which includes other sub-categories such as Environment, Nanotechnology etc...The top materials science story list is as follows:

1. #7: Invisibility Becomes More than Just a Fantasy
Researchers are cloaking materials from light, sound, and even matter itself. 12.21.2008
2. #68: Solved: The Mystery of Gravity-Defying Sap
One synthetic tree accomplishes what loads of scientists never could. 12.10.2008
3. #69: Physicists Create a Perfect Place to Store Electricity
New "superinsulator" can hold a charge forever without leakage 12.10.2008
4. #80: Invented: Self-Healing Rubber Made From Vegetable Oil and Pee Ingredient
Hydrogen bonds let ripped material re-form. 12.09.2008
5. #83: Bulletproof Paper Is Stronger Than Kevlar
New nanopaper is not only super-strong, but made from renewable materials. 12.08.2008
6. Programmable Matter Moves From Sci-Fi to Sci-Real
Quantum dots can change the very properties of matter by controlling electrons. 10.09.2008
7. The King of Green Architecture
William McDonough aims to create buildings that produce oxygen, sequester carbon, and produce more power than they use. 09.28.2008
8. 20 Things You Didn't Know About... Sports Technology
How science makes modern athletes go higher, move faster, and stay safer. 08.14.2008
9. 10 Ways Genetically Engineered Microbes Could Help Humanity
Fighting cancer, producing renewable fuels, and making your clothing glow in the dark. 08.06.2008
10. Eco-Chic to the Rescue!
Sea leather, hemp, and bamboo make up this season's runway couture—but will it really help the planet? 08.05.2008
11. The Incredibly Strong See-Through Bicycle
Want a lighter bike? Poke holes in it—the more the better. 03.06.2008
12. 68. Glue Clues From Geckos
01.11.2008
13. 52. Amazing Battery Made of . . . Paper
01.09.2008
14. 50. Created: A Glass That Bends
01.04.2008

REFERENCE:
Full Materials Science list from 1993 to Date

Mother of Invention_Biomimetics and Interface_The Interdisciplinary Journal of The Royal Society

More and more materials scientists and engineers are involved in Biomimetics, natures almost infinate source of inspiration.

Here are a few links to excellent, highly reputable and freely available papers, to help research this approach to science, invention and innovation:


1. Biomimetic materials research: what can we really learn from nature's structural materials?(PDF)

and from the reference list:

2. Biomimetic Modelling, Vincent, J.F.V. 2003 Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B, V.358,P1597-1603 (PDF) (doi:10.1098/rstb.2003.1349).

3. Systematic technology transfer from biology to engineering. Vincent, J.F.V.and; Mann, D.L. 2002 Phil.Trans. R. Soc. A V360,P 159-173 (PDF)

4. Biomimetics: its practice and theory.Vincent, J.F.V., Bogatyreva, O.A., Bogatyrev, N.R., Bowyer, A. and Pahl, A.-K. 2006, J. R. Soc. Interface V3,P471-482(PDF)

The impact of carbon capture and storage on climate

This article and the review source from the Royal Society of Chemistry is note worthy:
The impact of carbon capture and storage on climate

PhD student at Bristol Univ UK, Emma Stone's well presented paper is currently available free online.

- Review Energy and Environmental Science

New Years Resolution Time: Systems - Synergy 4 Motivation, Innovation in Our Professional Disciplines: Materials-Minerals-Mining.

Materials Science, Technology and Engineering news feed is moving fast.

On the contrary slower moving realisation, seldom lives-up to expectations. Arguably this can result in a lowering of expectations with an accompanying lowering of standards?

Now is the time for making New Years Resolutions - Few will regret the end to 2008!

Someone who wished to remain anonymous, but granted me permission to publish, recently wrote in a personal and confidential document the following statements:

"NB. Currently Studying Opportunities for a new concept(s) for CO2 absorption with simultaneous production of Hydrogen, industrially oriented; Steelmaking, mining and metallurgical extraction =>energy production, distribution & control of industrial gas emissions:

From local (motivation) to global...

Systems /Synergy 4 Approach:
-click to enlarge the Venn Diag image opposite.

1. Focus: CCS-Carbon, Capture & Storage,
2.Mining (Coal)– Motivation, Coal reserves France(58)-Scotland, Ayrshire...
3.Coal Powered Electricity & Heat generation,
4.Metallurgy/Materials/Advanced Processes,

It is common knowledge that immediate action is required and plebiscited. The 2009 clean economy appears to be the time to start -get over this crises stuff and no hedging!

One of my resolutions will be to report on these fields and contribute as far as my professional skills permit.

I strongly believe a concurrent engineering approach is the best way forward, if the coal burning lobby is to avoid being named and shamed globally!

Having failed to post regularly on the many advances during 2008 I shall echo a couple of news items from our pro-association IOM3 (UK)



1. Peridotite

Peridotite carbonation can be accelerated via drilling, hydraulic fracture, input of purified CO2 at elevated pressure, and, in particular, increased temperature at depth. After an initial heating step, CO2 pumped at 25 or 30 °C can be heated by exothermic carbonation reactions that sustain high temperature and rapid reaction rates at depth with little expenditure of energy. In situ carbonation of peridotite could consume >1 billion tons of CO2 per year in Oman alone, affording a low-cost, safe, and permanent method to capture and store atmospheric CO2.

ref: In situ carbonation of peridotite for CO2 storage,PNAS By Peter B. Kelemen and Jürg Matter of the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY 10964

NB. P.B.K. and J.M. have a preliminary patent filing for the technique of heating peridotite to achieve self-sustaining, rapid carbonation. Good luck with the realisations.

2. Coal of Africa.
A new coal mine in RSA-Republic of South Africa has started production. The company aims to Produce 5-6 MT/y, 70% for exportation.