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Category: sustainability – Page 442

Graphene, an atomically thin carbon layer through which electrons can travel virtually unimpeded, has been extensively studied since its first successful isolation more than 15 years ago. Among its many unique properties is the ability to support highly confined electromagnetic waves coupled to oscillations of electronic charge—plasmon polaritons—that have potentially broad applications in nanotechnology, including biosensing, quantum information, and solar energy.

However, in order to support , must be charged by applying a voltage to a nearby metal gate, which greatly increases the size and complexity of nanoscale devices. Columbia University researchers report that they have achieved plasmonically active graphene with record-high charge density without an external gate. They accomplished this by exploiting novel interlayer charge transfer with a two-dimensional electron-acceptor known as α-RuCl3. The study is available now online as an open access article and will appear in the December 9th issue of Nano Letters.

“This work allows us to use graphene as a plasmonic material without metal gates or voltage sources, making it possible to create stand-alone graphene plasmonic structures for the first time” said co-PI James Hone, Wang Fong-Jen Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Columbia Engineering.

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Warrior for our planet!

Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius:

Commissioner Sinkevičius is the youngest EU Commissioner appointed to the EU Commission. He is a Lithuanian politician, a European Commissioner since 2019. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, he was the Minister of the Economy and Innovation of the Republic of Lithuania.

Andrea Macdonald founder of ideaXme Commissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius, European Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries.

European Commission:

The Commission helps to shape the EU’s overall strategy, proposes new EU laws and policies, monitors their implementation and manages the EU budget. It also plays a significant role in supporting international development and delivering aid.

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“The newest term — Universal Basic Means of Production — helps someone unfamiliar with the concepts to better imagine that world without clouding the idea with negative connotations from the past. So, what if instead of focusing so heavily on the idea of passing out money to individuals, we shift our focus to subsidizing 3D printers, local recycling centers for collecting plastic to make 3D printing filament when possible, and vertical gardens in homes and communities.”

Imagine a carbon nanotube replicator and garden in every home. It’s not sci-fi and will soon be possible. How fast we make the transition is entirely up to us.

This term refers to the idea of providing every household with technology that allows people to produce things they need at home. This includes consumer goods such as clothes, food, building materials, etc. and refers to the idea of getting everyone producing as many of their consumable materials as possible.

In many ways, we can think of it as creating a decentralized means of production, although it’s not entirely decentralized. And when you get right down to it, the whole point of a decentralized means of production is people working together to produce things they need. Not just some corporate “shareholder value” conference.

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More than 100 SARS-CoV-2 infected mink may have escaped from Danish fur farms, raising the risk that these escapees could spread the novel coronavirus to wild animals, creating a new reservoir for the virus, The Guardian reported.

“Every year, a few thousand mink escape,” and this year, an estimated 5 percent of these escaped animals may have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, Sten Mortensen, veterinary research manager at the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, told The Guardian.

These mink may be spreading the coronavirus to wild animals, even as millions of mink still on farms are being culled to prevent spread of the virus.

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From a pile of seaweed to a packet of soy sauce.

The London startup Notpla has created a plastic alternative from seaweed that’s biodegradable — and even edible. And it’s hoping it could put a dent in the 300 million tons of plastic waste humans generate each year.

Notpla’s natural plastic-like casing is biodegradable within four to six weeks, the company says, compared to the several hundred years it takes synthetic plastics to biodegrade.

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