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3D-printed composite is lighter than wood and stiffer than concrete
Reseachers at Harvard University have developed a way to 3D-print a cellular composite with record lightness and stiffness using an epoxy resin. This marks the first time that epoxy is used for 3D-printing, and the advance could lead to the development of new lightweight architectures for more efficient wind turbines, faster cars, and lighter airplanes.
If you take all of the materials known to man, whether natural or man-made, and observe their relative properties, you'll soon find a very clear pattern: density and strength always seem to go hand-in-hand. The very light foams are generally extremely weak, and on the other end of the spectrum, the heavy materials like steels and other metals are among the strongest we know.
There are, however, a few outliers. One such example is balsa wood, which has a density as low as 40 kg per cubic meter (2.5 lb per cubic foot) but is still very strong, thanks to a microscopic structure that features a highly effective mix of cellulose and lignin fibers. Balsa wood is therefore used in applications where light but strong structures are critical, from the blades in wind turbines to the chassis of model airplanes and helicopters. There is however a serious supply problem, in that over 95 percent of the world reserves of balsa wood comes from a single country – Ecuador.
Scientists at Harvard have now come up with a way to manufacture a cellular composite that's even better than balsa wood, doing away with the occasional structural defects in the wood that can make it less reliable as a building material.
The researchers took inspiration from the microscopic structure of balsa, which is mostly hollow and in which only the cell walls are carrying the load. Their built their new composite using an epoxy-based resin containing nanoclay platelets to increase viscosity, as well as two types of fillers – silicon carbide "whiskers" and discrete carbon fibers.
One very interesting feature is the fact that the researchers can control the exact stiffness of the material by changing the orientation of the fillers as needed. Orienting the silicon carbide whiskers perpendicularly to the direction which will face the most load makes the material stronger – for the same reason that it's easier to chop wood longitudinally and not perpendicularly to its fibers.
This tunable property means that designers can digitally integrate into the composition the stiffness and toughness of an object from the very beginning, and have it comply with the desired specifications.
According to principal investigator Prof. Jennifer A. Lewis, their research is a significant step because it paves the way for 3D-printing using materials, such as epoxies, which can be used for structural applications, as opposed to the thermoplastics that your standard 3D printer uses. Using this resin, Lewis and colleagues obtained composites that are as stiff as wood, up to 20 times stiffer than commercial 3D-printed polymers, and twice as strong as the strongest printed polymer composites up to that point.
Applications for this technology could include more efficient wind turbines and perhaps innovative architecture for building lighter but safe cars that increase mileage.
A paper describing the advance appears in the journal Advanced Materials.
Below, you can watch a short clip of the composite being printed.
Source: Harvard University
Source: http://www.gizmag.com/3d-printed-strong-composite/32738/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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