Emerging Technologies

Welcome Back. Longtime readers of this blog know how tuned in I am to technology. Perhaps recounting my discovery of self-lowering toilet seats (Technology Update Photo Addendum) wasn’t an appropriate beginning, but over the years, I’ve highlighted many honest-to-goodness technology topics.

Today’s post is a first: Ten topics in one post. Blame it on the World Economic Forum, because I’ll be reviewing the Forum’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies 2019 report.

Searching for the next technology breakthrough (photo from campustechnology.com/articles/2019/04/25/6-key-ed-tech-developments-on-the-horizon.aspx).

World Economic Forum Report
The World Economic Forum describes itself as the international organization for public-private cooperation. Established in 1971 and headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, the Forum is an independent, impartial organization that engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

The Forum’s report was prepared by an international steering committee of leading technology experts, who also sought input from other experts. Technologies were evaluated based on their potential to produce major benefits to societies and economies; alter established ways of doing things; attract researchers, companies or investors; and make significant inroads in several years.

The Top 10 Emerging Technologies

Bioplastics--Shifting to biodegradable plastics would alleviate many of the environmental problems arising from the millions of tons of plastics produced each year; however, current biodegradable plastics lack strength and the visual characteristics of standard plastics. Look for breakthrough products that use cellulose or lignin from plant waste.

Social Robots--Robots are becoming common in industry and in different aspects of our lives. Look for advances in artificial intelligence to continue improving their ability to serve as assistants and even friends, recognizing voices, faces and emotions with eye contact and expanded social and emotional intelligence.

Eldercare (sort of) robot from 2012 movie Robot & Frank (from
spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/home-robots/where-are-the-eldercare-robots).

Metalenses--The difficulty of reducing the size of glass lenses has interfered with efforts to reduce the size of cellphones, computers and other devices. Advances in physics have resulted in smaller, lighter metalenses. Look for further miniaturization of laboratory and consumer products and possible improvements in optical fibers.

Disordered Proteins as Drug Targets--Intrinsically disordered proteins are a class of proteins known to cause diseases, including cancer. Because they lack a fixed or ordered structure like conventional proteins, they are difficult to treat. A recent breakthrough showed a way to stop the structural transformation long enough for drugs to take effect. Look for improved patient treatments.

Smarter Fertilizers--Recent advances have promoted controlled release of fertilizers tailored to specific crops and growing conditions. Delivery efficiency and yields have increased, while environmental impact has decreased. Look for fertilizers to incorporate new sources of nitrogen and microorganisms that boost nutrient uptake.

Collaborative Telepresence--Video conferencing is not new, but with advances in augmented and virtual reality, coupled with 5G networks and advanced sensors, look for remote interactions that feel physically real, from handshakes to robotic medical practice.

Advanced Food Tracking and Packaging--Globally, food poisoning affects some 600 million people each year with deaths exceeding 400,000. Technologies are addressing two aspects of the problem. Blockchain technology is being applied in tracking food items through the supply chain, allowing rapid identification of the source of food poisoning. In addition, sensors to monitor food quality are being developed and added to both bulk and individual food packaging. Look for continued advances in tracking and packaging.

Example of packaging sensor for monitoring food freshness (from www.elsevier.com/physical-sciences-and-engineering/chemistry/journals/new-chemistry-research/smart-food-packaging).

Safer Nuclear Reactors--Nuclear power can contribute to the reduced use of fossil fuels and reduced carbon dioxide. New fuels and reactors are being developed that can greatly increase the safely of nuclear power. The fuels are more resilient, and if they overheat, produce little or no hydrogen. Look for continued improvements and trials.

DNA Data Storage--Current data-storage systems are high-energy users and are reaching their capacity to store the quantities of data we generate. Alternatives to hard drives are actively being explored. Look for breakthroughs in DNA-based data storage, a low-energy alternative with a huge data capacity.

Utility-Scale Storage of Renewable Energy--Electricity from renewable sources, especially wind and solar, has increased substantially, yet storage of energy when sun or wind are lacking has been a hindrance. Although alternatives are being pursued, look for lithium-ion batteries to dominate storage technology, with advances producing 4 to 8 hours of energy.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.
The World Economic Forum: www.weforum.org/about/world-economic-forum
The Top 10 Emerging Technologies 2019 report: www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Top_10_Emerging_Technologies_2019_Report.pdf
Write-up on report: www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/07/these-are-the-top-10-emerging-technologies-of-2019/

Perspiration Power

Welcome back. A couple of years ago, I described a bio-battery that, if multiplied, I conjectured, could probably power your house (Snail Power). You didn’t jump on my idea, did you? OK, so maybe filling your basement with electrode-protruding snails, especially the illegal, giant African variety, wasn’t such a great idea.

Think smaller; and it’s not my idea. Recent studies by the University of California San Diego, with contributors from China’s Southeast University and India’s Central Electrochemical Research Institute, are heading toward a bio-battery that seems more like the Spray-on Batteries that I also described a couple years ago, even if those weren’t bio-batteries.

Papers on this new bio-battery have appeared in different journals, and a press release on the latest conference presentation was picked up by media much more alert than I. You too may be way ahead of me on this. Nevertheless, the findings are so intriguing, I’ll take that risk. How could I resist writing about a bio-battery that’s fueled by perspiration? Yes, sweat!

Bio-Batteries and Lactate Monitoring 

Bio-batteries are like rechargeable cell batteries we can buy for electronic devices, except they’re recharged by organic compounds, most commonly glucose, a simple sugar. 

Bio-batteries can use glucose from various sources, including potatoes. (www.thecollectiveint.com/2013/12/a-potato-battery-can-light-up-room-for.html; research paper www.nature.com/nature/journal/v465/n7300/full/465848d.html)

Although there are numerous sources of glucose and many possible uses for bio-batteries, to power medical devices, such as heart pacemakers, it’s anticipated that implanted bio-batteries will tap into glucose in the bloodstream.

An alternative approach for powering biomedical devices or at least wearable electronic devices came with a noninvasive measurement of lactate, a breakdown product of glucose that’s in the blood but also excreted in perspiration.

In general, increased exercise intensity produces increased lactate. Monitoring lactate levels is regularly done in training of professional and elite athletes as well as for certain medical conditions. That measurement has required blood testing.

Step one of the new research was to develop a sensor to measure and monitor lactate in perspiration. The sensor has an enzyme that strips electrons from lactate to generate a weak electrical current. The investigators imprinted the sensor onto temporary tattoo paper, which, for testing, they stuck to the arms of ten volunteers. They monitored the electrical current while the volunteers rode stationary exercise bikes at increasing levels of resistance for 30 minutes.

Temporary Tattoo Bio-Battery 

Applying the temporary tattoo. (Photo
from Univ. of California San Diego
video, www.cnet.com/au/news)

Going further, the researchers designed a bio-battery from the tattoo sensor. The anode contained the enzyme that strips the electrons from lactate; the cathode contained a molecule that accepts the electrons. For testing, they applied the tattoo bio-batteries to 15 volunteers of different fitness levels and measured the bio-battery power the volunteers produced by riding a stationary bike for 30 minutes.

The least fit volunteers generated the most power since their level of exertion was greatest. Still, the power they generated was very low. Work continues on improving the power capacity and incorporating the bio-battery into headbands and wristbands.

There’s little doubt that advances in bio-batteries will benefit future biomedical devices and wearable electronics, and it’s likely that lactate-powered bio-batteries will play a role.

Wrap Up

As I was developing this blog post, I had to remind myself that high humidity alone will generate perspiration but probably not a lot of lactate for power. Maybe, instead of snails in the basement, you could just wrap kids in these new bio-batteries and let them run around. I’m sure that when our son was young, he could have powered our house; maybe the neighborhood. Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Reports on work in Journal of Materials Chemistry A, Trends in Biotechnology journal and Angewandte Chemie International:
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/ta/c4ta04796f#!divAbstract
pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2014/ta/c4ta03256j#!divAbstract
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24853270
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201302922/abstract

Press release on presentation at National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), 13 Aug 2014, and examples of subsequent articles:
www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/newsreleases/2014/august/tattoo-biobatteries-produce-power-from-sweat-video.html
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/08/140813103134.htm
www.gizmag.com/temporary-tattoo-sweat-powered-biobattery/33362/
www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-28791496
www.newsweek.com/sweat-powered-batteries-ill-get-tatted-264236

Bio-batteries:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biobattery

Lactate and Sweat
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1748-1716.1963.tb02658.x/abstract
www.delano.k12.mn.us/high-school/academic-departments/science/mr-b-wiesner/cross-country/10-things-you-should-know-about-lactic-acid

Cigarette-Filter Capacitors

Welcome back. How can you not love research? A team of investigators at Seoul National University, South Korea, discovered that used cigarette filters--yes, cigarette butts--can provide the material needed for the next supercapacitors. If it all pans out, the research may produce an improved energy storage device and reduce litter in one fell swoop.
 
Filters to Supercapacitors

Cigarette filters before and
after the cigarette is smoked.
(photo from multiple websites)

Cigarette filters are composed primarily of cellulose acetate fibers. The researchers came up with a one-step process for transforming used filters into a porous carbon material whose structure includes pores smaller than 2 nanometers (“micropores”) as well as pores between 2 and 50 nanometers (“mesopores”).

This unique combination of pores allows increased permeation and contact by the electrolyte ions, and thus opens the way for extended rate capabilities--higher maximum charge and discharge—that’s required for a supercapacitor.

Their one-step conversion process prepared nitrogen-doped, meso-/microporous hybrid carbon material through heat treatment of used filters under a nitrogen atmosphere. The transformed cigarette filter material stored more power, charged quicker and lasted longer than presently available energy storage alternatives (carbon, graphene and carbon nanotubes).

Wrap Up

Should I be giving the tobacco industry credit for cigarette filters? I’ve disparaged the industry in the past (Research Sponsor Bias). That’s ok. Its advertising might have dissuaded my concerns when I started smoking in college, even though it’s my fault that I continued smoking long after the findings of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Committee Report on Smoking and Health were announced in 1964.

Cigarette butts--new energy
 storage devices? (photo
 from multiple websites)

Well, I might consider a kudo for filters if the trillions of used and discarded cigarette filters weren’t non-biodegradable, toxic and one of the most common forms of litter that’s estimated to weigh a cumulative 845,000 tons. So instead, let’s all applaud the latest research and hope something comes of it.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Research paper in the journal Nanotechnology:
iopscience.iop.org/0957-4484/25/34/345601/
Articles on the research on Reuters and IEEE Spectrum websites:
www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/06/us-cigarette-butts-energy-idUSKBN0G61RP20140806
spectrum.ieee.org/nanoclast/semiconductors/nanotechnology/used-cigarette-filters-could-enable-next-generation-of-supercapacitors?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IeeeSpectrum+%28IEEE+Spectrum%29
Background on supercapacitors:
batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/whats_the_role_of_the_supercapacitor
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercapacitor
Surgeon General’s Reports on Smoking and Health:
www.cdc.gov/tobacco/Data_statistics/sgr/history/index.htm
profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/NN/p-nid/60

Empowered!

Welcome back. Last March, I revealed that I am haunted by a homeowner’s Plumbing Curse. I also mentioned that, while I had no fear of plumbing, that was not the case with electricity. Life in our new old-building apartment has validated my electrical concern.

Ice Storm

Stepping out to jog in the predawn April darkness, I was walking on thin ice. Really. I heard and felt it crunching. I reached the road before discretion sent me back inside to the stationary bike.

After a workout and my usual healthful breakfast, as if on schedule, the lights went out. My senses heightened. A blindfolded ninja, I moved deftly to find a flashlight and wake my wife Vicki. Ensured that she was set to respond, I went to brush my teeth and take a nap.

(Again, I don’t deal well with electricity, especially when a fuse box somewhere in the downstairs garage controls the destiny of an eclectic collection of wires strung 60 to who knows how many years ago. But don’t worry; Vicki told me everything that happened.)

Vicki checked her father, who had also lost power. It had been so many years since the power went out (I think she added that for my benefit), he didn’t have the phone number of the power company handy. She got the number from her smartphone, called and learned that the ice storm had caused widespread power failure. 

Tree limbs on the road after the April ice storm.

The sun was beginning to rise. To survey downed wires, trees and branches, Vicki walked along the road toward a neighbor’s home, where she found the power company servicemen already at work. They advised her that our power would soon be restored. Others in the region weren’t as lucky.

Faulty Wiring

All went well power-wise until May if you don’t count cold showers because the water heater twice blew a fuse. Then without warning the electrical power failed to our bathrooms, my office area and lesser areas. (OK, Vicki wouldn’t consider her closet a lesser area.) 
 

The garage fuse box (in daylight).

Finding nothing amiss in the fuse box, Vicki called one, then, after a night of flashlights, candles and no response, another electrician, who would come that same afternoon.

On arrival, Jeff, the responder, mapped how the fuses divided the apartment into four autonomous sections. He then proceeded to systematically dismantle sockets, switches and light fixtures to power-check the wires in the affected section. After most had been examined--Hallelujah!--the lights came on!

Jeff wasn’t sure which of his expert tweaks did the trick, but why argue with success? Unfortunately, his humble response to our reverential praise was warranted. Two days later, for no apparent reason, the power went off again. Vicki called Jeff. Two hours later, for no apparent reason, the power came on again. Vicki canceled Jeff.

Only I, with my engineering and scientific grasp of such phenomena, could conceive the full range of possible causes, from ghosts--Vicki’s family, of course--to jokester mice chewing wires, which would ultimately cause a fire and get us better acquainted with the other ghosts.

Saturday evening, we arrived home to discover the power was down again. Vicki voice-mailed the news to Jeff on Sunday, emphasizing there was no emergency, just darkness. 

Wrap Up 
 

The closet culprit: a
miswired ceiling light.

On Tuesday, Jeff called and came early. He began exactly where he had left off and quickly found the real culprit, an improperly wired overhead light fixture in Vicki’s closet. (Yes, I know.) The bathrooms and my office area are now bright and cheery, and the apartment is happy again. (I know better.)

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

A version of part of this post appears on the Stage of Life website (www.stageoflife.com) in my Homeowner editor’s welcome for May.

Light-Up Products Photo Addendum

Building on last Friday’s blog post, Spray-on Batteries, I thought you might like to see examples of commercially available light-up products. Since I have none, I’m using images and information from selected websites. I have no affiliation or experience with these sites, and emphasize that there are many others.

These custom-designed shirts are sound-activated
or have controllable animation sequences. They use
AAA batteries. http://www.glowcity.com/

These shirts are sound-activated in your choice
of 25 designs. They use AAA batteries.
 http://www.flashionstatement.com/shop.html

Light-up logo hats use 3-volt flat cell batteries.
 http://www.flashionstatement.com/shop.html

Everyone should have flashing
shoelaces. http://www.ledoes.com

All types of light-up drinkware are available.
These glasses use AG13 button cell batteries.
http://www.sz-wholesale.com

Spray-on Batteries

Batteries from Warren's drawer.

Welcome back. To those who exclaimed “Yeccchh!” when reading my blog post on snail power, I offer this peek at research being conducted at Rice University, in Houston. You know those rechargeable lithium-ion batteries in mobile phones and laptops? Well, instead of rectangular or cylindrical batteries, the Rice team has come up with a way to paint those batteries on.

It’s research and there’s a lot to do; but in the not too distant future, we could be buying spray-paintable batteries. That’s almost as cool as electrifying snails.

What Have They Done?

The Rice researchers formulated five paints that would function as the five elements of a battery--the positive and negative current collectors, cathode and anode, and polymer separator. For example, the positive current collector paint is a mixture of purified single-wall carbon nanotubes with carbon black particles dispersed in N-methylpyrrolidone. OK, so maybe you don’t need examples.

The team then produced batteries by airbrushing each paint as a separate layer, in the proper order, onto different test surfaces--ceramic tiles, flexible polymers, glass, stainless steel and even the curved surface of a ceramic beer stein. The results were the same with all surfaces.

Success was demonstrated to the world by connecting (in parallel) nine tile-based batteries. After charging, the batteries powered 40 light-emitting diodes (LEDs), arranged to spell out the university name, “RICE,” for six hours. The batteries provided a steady 2.4 volts.

The lead researcher forecasts advancing from hand- to spray-painted batteries. As if that weren’t enough to think about, one of the nine tiles was topped with a solar cell that converted power from a light to help charge the batteries. Integrating a paintable battery with a solar cell--a paintable solar cell--to both harvest and store energy would really expand the possibilities.

Applications

The technology could impact a wide range of applications beyond consumer electronic devices. One possibility mentioned by the lead researcher was turning a home into a battery. I suppose, if given the choice, you’d rather power your house with special paints than with thousands of electrified snails.

How about electric cars? Reducing the weight of the car’s battery pack is a major challenge. Or, since I’m on cars, how about roadside billboards?

I’d seen traffic message signs, but the first time I was captivated by electronic LED billboards was last month, driving back from Wisconsin. How exciting to watch the colorful advertisements change every 6 to 8 seconds! It’s a shame the law prevents them from scrolling or flashing.

Wrap Up

Researchers addressing this technology and its applications will go for the important stuff. It would be nice if someone would work on the less important stuff. For example, you can buy light-up products, like t-shirt logos; some are even sound-activated. I’d like my logo to say, “Kiss Me and I Glow.” Instead of responding to sound, it should light up whenever I get lucky. If that’s too technologically challenging, I’d accept “Hug Me and I Glow.”

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S.

Rice University write up (with video) on the research:
http://news.rice.edu/2012/06/28/rice-researchers-develop-paintable-battery/
Innovation News Daily article on the topic. (Don’t be surprised if you have to answer an innocuous question or two to see the whole article.)
http://www.innovationnewsdaily.com/1342-high-tech-paint-turns-surface-battery.html

Snail Power

Welcome back. Did you hear about the latest energy breakthrough? You won’t believe it: snail power.

A snail on the sidewalk (Photo by Mary Bean,

www.facebook.com/MaryBeanDesign)

Electrified Snail
 
Researchers at Clarkson University, Potsdam, N.Y., turned a snail into a living battery that produced as much as 7 milliwatts. (Sorry, I’ve got to be graphic.) They cut slits in the shell and stuck electrodes coated with enzymes into the snail’s body. The glucose and oxygen in the blood became biofuel that generated electricity when the electrodes were hooked to a circuit.
 
Although further work with snails or other little creatures could lead to a means for powering small devices, the Clarkson team is focusing on human biomedical applications. Could the approach be used to power a heart pacemaker?

Are you picturing scientists, huddled around the operating table, dropping a snail into someone's chest? Eeeyew! Wrong picture. If the research is successful, they'd be tapping into the human bloodstream with bioelectrodes just as they did with the snail.

Powering Up
 
As impressed as I am with what they’ve accomplished and are planning, I don’t understand why they’re thinking so small. (That might be a consequence of working with snails.) Could snails be used to power, say, a house?
 
Our electric bill shows our monthly energy usage ranges from about 500 kilowatt hours (kWh) to 1200 kWh. A quick calculation shows that it would take only about 90,000 snails, comparable to the snail used in the experiment, to power our household at 700 kWh per month. (We would stay on the grid for the rest.)
 
I know, I know; that’s a lot of electrode implanting and wire, snails need to be fed and cleaned, and they don’t live forever. But think about it. Instead of growing mushrooms in your basement, you could have snails. Fortunately, they’re herbivores so you don’t have to worry about…you know, horror movie stuff happening.
 
You’d have to keep them in some sort of closed area. They’re not going to hold still, but then “slower than a snail’s pace” is not an empty cliché. And they usually leave a trail.

As for the number of snails, the Clarkson experiment used what appeared to be an average, run of the mill snail. What if the U.S. Department of Energy gave a grant to experiment with giant African snails? One of these guys/girls (they’re hermaphrodites) can weigh a pound or more.  

Giant East African snails, Lissachatina fulica, formerly 
Achatina fulica. (Photo by Roberta Zimmerman, 

USDA APHIS, Bugwood.org)

While the average giant snail isn’t that overweight, if you can get the big ones and if weight equates to power, you might get by with fewer than 2000 snails in your basement. Now are you getting excited about the possibilities?

Warning! Do not rush out to buy equipment for breeding giant African snails! They don’t need help or encouragement. They spread rapidly and are a serious agricultural pest. They’re also illegal in the U.S. This research will have to be done with extraordinary care.

Wrap Up

Doing background on this subject, I found many references on the care and feeding of land and water snails. I had no idea that people kept land snails as pets. Forgive me. If I didn’t find that repulsive, I wouldn’t promote stabbing them with bioelectrodes.

Anyway, in case your basement snail power source fails, always keep a good supply of butter and garlic on hand. And be sure to cook each snail really well. Thanks for stopping by.
 
P.S. 
 
New Scientist report, including a video, on the Clarkson work:
http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2012/06/how-to-hack-a-snail-to-create-a-living-battery.html

Abstract of Clarkson paper in the Journal of the American Chemical Society: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja211714w

U.S. Department of Agriculture’s giant African snail pest alert:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/content/printable_version/pa_phgas.pdf