7 Materials you wouldn’t believe exist right now
Since the dawn of mankind, the purpose of ever
evolving technology has been to facilitate humans with materials which lessen
their effort in any activity. It is surprising to see that our civilization has
reached a point at which science has enabled us to design and manufacture
materials that almost belong to the realm of sci-fi. These are the wonders that
are rather fine examples of engineering and seem to be almost something no one
could fathom that they were even possible a few decades ago.
The following is not fiction. These materials have
been tried and tested. Some are even up and running into production, making
their way into the ever long list of advancements in science that have become
part of our daily lives.
Yes, you read correct. It is also
known as light emitting concrete. It composes of 95% regular concrete and 5%
embedded in optical fibres. When light is conducted through one end of the
stone, some part of it is transmitted through the other end through the fibres.
Shadows cast on one side appear as silhouettes at the other. Furthermore,
electrical signals can be transmitted through chipsets and simple diodes, which
can enable large scale screens on concrete walls, which can be used for signs,
games and light shows. The wall made of such a concrete does not come shy in
strength or insulation. It can also help reduce electricity consumption in high
rise apartments and office buildings during the day. It has already started to
be applied in construction in major European cities such as Munich and London.
Onyx Solar is a leading
manufacturer in photovoltaics. What they recently have in pipeline is something
the Jetsons would shop for-solar curtain walls. The interesting bit is not that
these allow only the safer radiations to penetrate through them whilst blocking
the harmful UV rays to enter, the interesting it is that the glass they use in
building the thing is partially ionized, so you can control the transparency of
the wall through your smartphone. Talk about private workspace! With solar
technology becoming a viable replacement for fossil fuels, there is no doubt
that this technology will find its way to your office building soon enough.
3. Super Absorbent Nanosheets
Ying Chen, a materials researcher
out of Deakin University in Australia wanted to do some good for the poor
aquatic life affected by oil spills. So, Chen focused on developing
nanoparticles out of Boron Nitride, which would absorb the oil, in the form of
sponges. It didn’t work out, so Chen and Co. decided to approach the problem in
a different manner. After two years of hard work, finally they developed
nanosheets housing carbon, boron nitride and a few other gimmicks of work. In
case of an oil spill, you could just spread the sheet over an area and it would
do the rest. It could absorb oil 33 times its own weight. Moreover, the sheets
show remarkable insulation properties, meaning that it will not catch fire or
burn in case the oil gets ignited. This also makes it suitable for electrical
and insulation purposes.
4. Shape-Shifting Car Chassis
When Chris Bangle unveiled the BMW
Gina at the Geneva Auto Show, it quickly stole the spotlight thanks to its
ability to change shape as per the driver’s and environment’s requirement.
Utilizing polyurethane coated Spandex over a frame of aluminium wire and
flexible carbon strut frame(I had to Google the damn thing to know what that
really meant) he created an automobile that truly belonged to the future. This
car was a fantastic merger of art and technology. Its ability to change its
shape for making it more aerodynamic is unparalleled even today. Even the doors
on the car swirl up in an elegant fashion instead of opening two-way or in a
scissors cut. It can even erect a rear spoiler on its own to lessen the wind
drag. The vehicle is yet to be put into production, but this toy is something
any car or tech enthusiast would want to play with.
5. Air Purifying glass
Carbon emissions have been on high
since the earliest days of Industrial Revolution, owing to the need to cling to
fossil fuels. Even if other methods are devised that can enable us to get
emission levels down to zero, there is still a lot of air pollutants left
unchecked. Since 2008, Associate Professor Zhu Huai Yong from QUT’s School of
Physical and Chemical Sciences found out that in medieval ages, glaziers were forged
with gold fillings that were able to absorb pollutants like volatile organic
chemicals(VOCs) which let the furniture, carpets and wall paints remain in good
condition for several centuries. The same concept led him to work on making
gold nanoparticles, which are fixed within a glass window surface and help to
absorb VOCs equivalent to a yearly family car emission. The gold isn’t very
abundant, so the team is working on a material without utilizing precious
metals.
6. Power Paper
Scientists at Linkoping
University’s Laboratory of Organic Electronics in Sweden have developed a type
of material capable of storing vast amounts of electricity. Just a sheet 15 cm
in diameter and half a millimeter thick has a capacitance of 1 Farad. If you’re
not familiar with the term, here’s an example. A few A4 size sheets of this
paper, when fully charged, can power your car for over a month. Not only is it
superfast when it comes to charging(a mere couple of hours) it is also
rechargeable hundreds of times. And it is made from biodegradable polymers such
as cellulose, internally coated with an electrically charged polymer, so it is
friendly for Johnny the Polar Bear. It is still in the research phase, so you
might wanna wait a few years before you go to the stationery shop around the
corner asking for it. But the team says it can be put into production very
soon.
7. Adaptive Camouflage
Guy Cramer, CEO of Hyperstealth,
recently announced the use of something he called “Quantum Stealth”, a
technology which when applied to certain fabrics renders them invisible. Now I
was rather taken aback, being a Ghost Recon video game fan, asking myself if
the tech I saw in the game actually came to reality. The truth is it did. It
understandable that no public announcement was made until after two years
later, since already a few dozen units under United States Special Operations
Command(USSOCOM) and the Canadian Special Forces are already using it. There is
no info as to what the material is actually made of or how it works, but the
Federal Emergency Services have verified that it utilizes optical imaging and
that it not only provides the user with visual stealth, but also makes him
invisible to thermal optics and night vision, which are becoming increasingly
commonplace among militaries around the globe. With that kind of technology
already out, wondering what they’re working on now……..