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August 11, 2010 A team of researchers have created a new cellulose aerogel with a number of remarkable properties. The team soaked cellulose in a metal compound solution and freeze-dried it, removing all the moisture and leaving behind an aerogel in the form of solid fibers. The resultant substance was flexible, unlike typical aerogels, and could also be formed into a flat piece of magnetic nanopaper that was capable of supporting extremely heavy weight per square inch. Researchers who developed this cellulose aerogel believe that it could find its use in fuel cells and in the study of materials science.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have unveiled their latest breakthrough:  a tiny solar power system that contains a processor, battery and solar cells all in 9 cubic millimeters! The miniature system measures 2.5 by 3.5 by 1 millimeters -- 1,000 times smaller than any comparable commercial system.  It's extremely energy efficient and the scientists say that it could almost operate perpetually if the battery didn't have to be replaced after many years. The system uses an ARM processor, a popular, widely-used processor which will make commercial adoption of this technology much easier. The system could be remodeled to generate power from movement or heat instead of light, making it fit for a variety of uses.  Like the small, flexible kinetic-energy harvester we profiled a last month, the scientists also see this device serving as a power source for medical implants like pacemakers.  Other possibilities include powering environmental sensors that track air and water quality and motion sensors for buildings, homes and bridges. The good news is that the researchers are already working on commercially developing the system.  With a host of possible applications, who knows where this itty bitty power generator might end up.

The First Fabric LightbulbRe Light is a new generation light source based on electro-luminescent technology.It is a soft shining cape with physical-mechanical properties that make it lightweight, foldable, and durable.

Dubbed a "spaser", this minuscule lasing object is the latest by-product of a buzzing field known as nanoplasmonics. Just as microelectronics exploits the behaviour of electrons in metals and semiconductors on micrometre scales, so nanoplasmonics is concerned with the nanoscale comings and goings of entities known as plasmons that lurk on and below the surfaces of metals. To envisage what as plasmon is, imagine a metal as a great sea of freely moving electrons. When light of the right frequency strikes the surface of the metal, it can set up a wavelike oscillation in this electron sea, just as the wind whips up waves on the ocean. These collective electron waves - plasmons - act to all intents and purposes as light waves trapped in the metal's surface. Their wavelengths depend on the metal, but are generally measured in nanometres. Their frequencies span the terahertz range - equivalent to the frequency range of light from the ultraviolet right through the visible to the infrared.