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Sean Nash

Electrified charcoal sponge soaks up CO2 from the air - 1 views

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/...s-up-co2-directly-from-the-air

CO2 carbondioxide climatechange charcoal electricity HSR HSR-2025 science environmental engineering chemistry biology physics potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • With a little bit of electric charge, the sponge-like charcoal material used in household water filters can also capture carbon dioxide from air, researchers report in the journal Nature. The advance could provide a low-cost, efficient route for removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.
  • For the material, the researchers turned to an activated charcoal sponge, a porous substance with a large surface area. The material is commonly found in household purifiers to capture chemicals and toxins from water. Activated charcoal cannot efficiently capture carbon dioxide from air normally. But chemist Alexander Forse and his colleagues proposed that inserting charged, reactive particles into activated charcoal could turn it into a direct air capture sorbent.
  • The researchers charged the activated charcoal cloth in a battery-like setup. They used the cloth like one electrode in a battery, placing it in a solvent solution with an opposite electrode. When they passed electricity through the device, charged hydroxide ions accumulate in the tiny pores of the charcoal cloth.
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  • Tests showed that the resulting sorbent material rapidly captured carbon dioxide from ambient air by reacting with hydroxides.
  • One downside to the material is that its performance decreases under humidity. The researchers are working to fix that, and are also to increase the quantity of carbon dioxide that the material can capture.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24
       
      Seems like a potential engineering challenge to me. I think it would be immediately interesting to figure out more of the detail of what they've done here... and run some quick feasibility tests. Can we easily replicate with available materials? Can we measure the CO2 uptake with simple probes? When testing different versions of the same material, can we compare results with a microscopic examination of the material to potentially correlate a particular construction with better performance? Could we perhaps then suggest best materials for certain circumstances? Could we even create materials that perform better?
  • Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24
     
    "When researchers ran a charge through charcoal sponges commonly used in home water filters, they discovered a low-cost, low-energy route to remove CO2 from the air"
Sean Nash

Common plastics could passively cool and heat buildings with the seasons | ScienceDaily - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240627172053.htm

HSR HSR-2025 materials heat climatechange science engineering physics chemistry potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24 - No Cached
  • Researchers at Princeton and UCLA have developed a passive mechanism to cool buildings in the summer and warm them in the winter.
  • coatings engineered from common materials can achieve energy savings and thermal comfort that goes beyond what traditional building envelopes can achieve
  • "With the increase in global temperatures, maintaining habitable buildings has become a global challenge,"
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  • "In recent years there has been massive interest in cool roof coatings that reflect sunlight. But cooling walls and windows is a much more subtle and complex challenge."
  • "By coating walls and windows with materials that only radiate or absorb heat in the atmospheric window, we can reduce broadband heat gain from the ground in the summer, and loss in the winter, while maintaining the cooling effect of the sky. We believe that this idea is unprecedented, and beyond what traditional roof and wall envelopes can achieve."
  • The findings' impact is significant for two important reasons. First, the researchers show in the article that many common and low-cost building materials radiate heat in the narrowband and block broadband heat. Material such as polyvinyl fluoride, already used as siding material, could be adapted for the purpose, as could even more common plastics.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24
       
      Smells like feasibility....
  • "We were really excited when we found that materials like Polypropylene, which we sourced from household plastics, selectively radiate or absorb heat in the atmospheric window." Raman noted. "These materials border on the mundane, but the same scalability that makes them common also means that we could see them thermoregulating buildings in the near future."
  • The second reason for optimism is that the potential energy impacts at the building scale are substantial. The researchers noted that seasonal energy savings with their mechanism are comparable to the benefits of painting dark roofs white. This could be useful as air conditioning cost and heat related casualties continue to soar worldwide. Mandal and Raman plan to continue this research further.
  • "The mechanism we proposed is completely passive, which makes it a sustainable way to cool and heat buildings with the seasons and yield untapped energy savings."
  • Journal Reference: Jyotirmoy Mandal, Jyothis Anand, Sagar Mandal, John Brewer, Arvind Ramachandran, Aaswath P. Raman. Radiative cooling and thermoregulation in the earth’s glow. Cell Reports Physical Science, 2024; 102065 DOI: 10.1016/j.xcrp.2024.102065
  • Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24
     
    Don't know if you're following changes in climate, but... this might be an area for some engineering. What are the other problems involved with this field of study? Interesting to anyone?
Sean Nash

Q. What's the greener building material, fungus or concrete? - 1 views

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/...ng-material-fungus-or-concrete

fungi concrete electricity ecology environment green building materials science fungus HSR-2025 HSR environmental questions engineering physics chemistry biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 06 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • Sean Nash on 06 Jun 24
     
    This is more of a broad idea re: the use of living things as building materials - not so much detail in this specific article
Sean Nash

New fabric cools people in sweltering cities - 0 views

www.anthropocenemagazine.org/...ople-cool-in-sweltering-cities

HSR HSR-2025 science statistical analysis engineering physics chemistry potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24 - No Cached
  • researchers have designed a new wearable fabric to help people beat the heat in urban settings. The material, reported in the journal Science, could find use in clothing, cooling facades for buildings and cars, and for food storage and transport.
  • Existing cooling fabrics reflect sunlight and also wick away sweat to cool a person via evaporation. More recently, researchers have designed cooling fabrics that rely on the principle of radiative cooling: the natural phenomenon in which objects radiate heat through the atmosphere straight into outer space.
  • But radiative cooling fabrics made so far are designed to work when laid horizontally as opposed to vertically, as they would be when worn.
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  • researchers at the University of Chicago made a new three-layer fabric. Its wool bottom layer wicks heat from the skin to the middle layer, which is made of silver nanowires that block heat from coming in. The top layer selectively emits heat into the atmosphere.
  • In tests conducted in the urban heat island of Chicago and under blistering Arizona sun, the material stayed 2.3°C cooler than sports cooling fabrics and 8.9°C cooler than commercial silk used for summer clothing.
  • Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24
     
    Materials science is certainly a nifty bit of engineering. This is the second time I've seen this study mentioned. Look interesting enough to dig into various materials and how they might be combined to serve a key purpose?
Sean Nash

Simple new process stores CO2 in concrete without compromising strength - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240626173558.htm

HSR HSR-2025 concrete materials science engineering physics chemistry potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24 - No Cached
  • By using a carbonated -- rather than a still -- water-based solution during the concrete manufacturing process, a Northwestern University-led team of engineers has discovered a new way to store carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ubiquitous construction material.
  • Not only could the new process help sequester CO2 from the ever-warming atmosphere, it also results in concrete with uncompromised strength and durability.
  • "The cement and concrete industries significantly contribute to human-caused CO2 emissions,"
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  • instead of injecting CO2 while mixing all the ingredients together, they first injected CO2 gas into water mixed with a small amount of cement powder. After mixing this carbonated suspension with the rest of the cement and aggregates, they achieved a concrete that actually absorbed CO2 during its manufacturing
  • After analyzing their carbonated concrete, Rotta Loria and his colleagues found its strength rivaled the durability of regular concrete.
  • based on our experiments, we show the strength might actually be even higher. We still need to test this further
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24
       
      It is a good sign when you read: "We still need to test this further!"
  • It could be used in beams, slabs, columns, foundations -- everything we currently use concrete for."
  • "The findings of this research underline that although carbonation of cement-based materials is a well-known reaction, there is still room to further optimize the CO2 uptake through better understanding of the mechanisms tied to materials processing,"
  • Journal Reference: Xiaoxu Fu, Alexandre Guerini, Davide Zampini, Alessandro F. Rotta Loria. Storing CO2 while strengthening concrete by carbonating its cement in suspension. Communications Materials, 2024; 5 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s43246-024-00546-9
  • Sean Nash on 02 Jul 24
     
    Know anyone who works with concrete that might let you experiment? I had a student back in the day who did this. They incorporated plastic polymer beads into standard concrete molds for strength testing.
Sean Nash

Study suggests 'biodegradable' teabags don't readily deteriorate in the environment and... - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240528115039.htm

biodegradable teabags manufacturing ecology environment polylactic acid plastic cellulose soil potential research idea engineering biology chemistry environmental science HSR-2025 HSR

shared by Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • The research looked at commonly available teabags made using three different compositions of polylactic acid (PLA), which is derived from sources such as corn starch or sugar cane.
  • The teabags were buried in soil for seven months, and a range of techniques were then used to assess whether -- and to what extent -- they had deteriorated.
  • The study also examined the impacts of the discs cut from the teabags on a species of earthworm, Eisenia fetida, which has a critical role in soil nutrient turnover as it consumes organic matter.
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  • Researchers found that being exposed to three different concentrations of teabag discs -- equivalent to the mass of half, one and two teabags -- resulted in up to 15% greater mortality, while some concentrations of PLA had a detrimental effect on earthworm reproduction.
  • It used analytical techniques such as size exclusion chromatography, nuclear magnetic resonance, and scanning electron microscopy allowing scientists to examine not just how the teabags had changed visibly but also structurally.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      This sort of work could be done by visual analysis alone with a rubric of sorts, but once data is derived, reaching out to a local lab might provide access to some of these tools for a tighter analysis and an even more convincing project,
  • we've shown that when it is not properly disposed of, for example after seven months in the soil, its molecular structure remains intact
  • But it is with immense frustration that I see alternative and substitute materials entering the market without clear guidance on how their benefits might be realised. Even if consumers understand how to dispose of these products only around half of households in the UK currently have access to the necessary waste streams for the type of composting required.
  • It is essential we learn from the mistakes we made with plastic materials by testing and labelling these novel materials in relation to the prevailing waste management infrastructure.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      Again, when you find a call for more research (aka: "learning" in this case) it is a good sign that you have found an area ripe for more work to be done.
  • "In this study PLA-based teabags did not fully deteriorate, and it seems that composting worms may be harmed by them. The lack of clear labelling can lead to consumers disposing of teabags in their compost, where any limit to complete degradation of the material raises the potential for plastics to enter the soil when compost is added to the garden, with potential impacts on garden wildlife and uptake by food plants."
Sean Nash

New fabric makes urban heat islands more bearable | ScienceDaily - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240613161204.htm

HSR HSR-2025 science environmental engineering physics biology potential research idea

shared by Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • This year has already seen massive heatwaves around the globe, with cities in Mexico, India, Pakistan and Oman hitting temperatures near or past 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit).
  • In tests under the Arizona sun, the material kept 2.3 degrees Celsius (4.1 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the broadband emitter fabric used for outdoor endurance sports and 8.9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) cooler than the commercialized silk commonly used for shirts, dresses and other summer clothing.
  • "You can save a lot of cooling, electricity and energy costs because this is a passive process," Sui said.
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  • Spectrally engineered textile for radiative cooling against urban heat islands. Science, 2024; 384 (6701): 1203 DOI: 10.1126/science.adl0653
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24
       
      I'm not yet convinced of the feasibility of this one, but this might provide a spark for someone. Some types of materials engineering like this is done on a nanoscale, which may not be the best for what we can do... but I believe there is space here for exploring composite materials with different properties to engineer better outcomes than what we're currently dealing with.
  • Sean Nash on 15 Jun 24
     
    "With applications in clothing, construction and food storage, the new textile reduces heat from both the sun and thermal radiation from nearby buildings"
Sean Nash

Scientists develop visual tool to help people group foods based on their levels of proc... - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...240530182042.htm

images photos data VirginiaTech visual tools food biomedical health diet group people tool scientists potential research idea behavioralscience biology chemistry HSR-2025 HSR science

shared by Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24 - No Cached
  • Scientists studying ultra-processed foods have created a new tool for assessing the rewarding and reinforcing properties of foods that make up 58 percent of calories consumed in the United States. The foods have been linked to a wide range of negative health outcomes.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      I couldn't locate this imageset and associated tools online, but I am willing to bet they might make it available to us, and the generation of more future research in this area is a key purpose of this work.
  • provides a collection of carefully curated images of minimally processed and ultra-processed foods matched on 26 characteristics, including macronutrients, sodium, dietary fiber, calories, price, and visual characteristics such as a color and portion size
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      Perhaps we just need to get the full journal article to get the raw materials (images) created and used.
  • The scale has its detractors. "A major criticism of the NOVA scale is that it's difficult to use or that foods are classified differently by different people," said Alexandra DiFeliceantonio, corresponding author and assistant professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. "We found that people with education in nutrition generally agreed on the food classifications, providing some data that it might not be a valid criticism."
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      See... this is the sort of thing I see as an opportunity. If the scale has detractors or isn't yet perfect, perhaps there is an opening here for a project. Perhaps there is even an opening to create something focused on teens (who I would argue are at most risk for the consumption of ultra-processed foods). This is an interesting area to me, not only behavioral science, but human diet in general.
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  • To develop the picture set, a team of psychologists, neuroscientists, and registered dietitians selected foods to represent either minimally processed or ultra-processed foods.
  • The foods were prepared in a lab, visually represented through professional photography, and controlled for consistency. Researchers also gathered price, food weights, and nutritional information -- calories, macronutrients, sodium, and dietary fiber -- for the food in each image.
  • researchers recruited 67 nutrition professionals and asked them to classify the foods as minimally or ultra-processed
  • "There is very little experimental research on ultra-processed foods, and part of what's been holding us back is better tools for measuring and assessing their effects,"
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      Another big GREEN flag that this is an area ripe for new and creative approaches!
  • The Virginia Tech team is making the pictures and associated data accessible through the Virginia Tech Data Repository of the Virginia Tech University Libraries. This will allow scientists to test hypotheses in behavioral economic and neuroimaging studies.
    • Sean Nash
      Sean Nash on 01 Jun 24
       
      This states that the images/research tools WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE (if not already). This is very cool. So, could the already-existing tool be leveraged in a novel way compared to what the researchers used it for, or does this provide somewhat of a template for someone to create a better or more-helpful tool perhaps for teens?
  • Story Source: Materials provided by Virginia Tech. Original written by Leigh Anne Kelley. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
  • Journal Reference: Zach Hutelin, Monica Ahrens, Mary Elizabeth Baugh, Mary E. Oster, Alexandra L. Hanlon, Alexandra G. DiFeliceantonio. Creation and validation of a NOVA scored picture set to evaluate ultra-processed foods.. Appetite, 2024; 198: 107358 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2024.107358
Kylie John

Stony coral tissue loss disease indirectly alters reef communities | Science Advances - 2 views

www.science.org/...sciadv.adk6808

shared by Kylie John on 06 May 24 - No Cached
Sean Nash liked it
  • Butterflyfishes, which are facultative corallivores in this region, have even been found to prefer SCTLD-infected coral
    • Kylie John
      Kylie John on 06 May 24
       
      Some species like the infected coral Maybe it has different properties or something
  • Sean Nash on 07 May 24
     
    You know, there are repositories of publicly available image/video data from coral reef surveys.... somewhere online. They make them available for people to devise creative ways of pulling data out of such raw material. Might be something to look into.
Sean Nash

Researchers Discover New Mechanism to Cool Buildings While Saving Energy - 0 views

www.enn.com/index.php

potential research idea HSR HSR-2025 building engineering materials materialsscience civilengineering heat cool energy conservation construction

shared by Sean Nash on 13 Aug 24 - No Cached
  • Sean Nash on 13 Aug 24
     
    This one is dripping with feasibility it seems...
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