CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Invisible Lightweight Materials Soon To Be A Reality
C H E M I C A H L E E M N I G C I A N LE E R I N G Optical Brush Takes Images Without Lenses
Photo Source : Plastic Material
A n 29-year old Iranian researcher , Dr . Mohsen Esmaily , at Chalmers University in Sweden has recently made a breakthrough in magnesium lightweight materials that could pave way to creating invisible materials . He has been awarded with the prestigious scientific prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences for his breakthrough in magnesium alloys . His research could greatly impact the future of materials science as the backbone of every industrialized nation science and important to developing countries . According to the Dr . Esmaily , saving our resources is of utmost importance as we now experience climate change and depleting environmental resources . Manufacturing lighter components is an effective way to reduce uses of our resources and prevent further carbon emissions .
His results in magnesium alloys demonstrate possible microstructural design improvements for enhanced properties such as the invisibility effect . It is related to the interaction of light and the material and producing such ‘ metamaterials ’ through nanotechnology . Now , it is possible to control the bending of light in the materials . Imagine those invisible laptops and phones in the coming decade , he says . There has been an emerging arena in research to create lightweight materials around the globe in the last decade . Countries like the UK , the USA , Germany and Japan are also undertaking major national research in this area .
Photo Source : Universal Sci
MIT scientists develop the Optical Brush , through bundles of fibers immersed in pipes and liquids to image oil fields without risking watertight housing damages .
MIT scientists developed a new imaging measuring device that consists of bundles of fibers through pipes immersed in fluids . This can image oil fields , aquifers and plumbing without risking damages to watertight housings . These bundles of fibers can yield narrow endoscopes that would not need additional electronics . The fibers are connected to an array of photo sensors at one end and the another left wave free to pass through micro meter scale gaps in porous membrane and get image on other side . By measuring different times at which bursts of light is photo detected , the device can identify the relative locations of the fiber . The commercial type will have these bursts of lights calibrated within the fibers while the prototype , with 1,100 fibers
300 micrometer in diameter , used external laser source and can produce 33 by 33 pixels . Time of flight , was the technique used by the group and has never been used in other things according to Barmak Heshmat , the work leader and author from MIT . The device is further develop to extend its imaging capabilities such as extracting depth information and getting positions at different arrival time interval of the lights from the fiber . As of now it can produce 2D map positions of the fibers tips and can potentially unscramble image captured by conventional camera . Other scientists like Keisuke Goda , a professor chemist , says that it can be useful for intestine endoscopy as it can propel in complex structure . Definitely , it is an interesting and innovative computational imaging that could be used in many aspects .
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