Laboratory Equipment

Material Improves Submarine Air Quality

Creators of a nanotech-based system that captures carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere within a submarine, while providing a more environmentally friendly removal process, have won the Federal Laboratory Consortium Interagency Partnership Award for 2012. The technology — Self Assembled Monolayers on Mesoporous Supports, or SAMMS — is destined for incorporation into future submarines to improve air quality for sailors who serve on them.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Material-Improves-Submarine-Air-Quality-050412.aspx

Device Rids Buses of Dangerous Pathogens

The best place to enjoy a breath of fresh air may be a city bus, if Rice Univ. students have their way. A team of graduating seniors has created a system for public transit that would continually clear the air of pathogens that can lead to tuberculosis (TB), flu and pneumonia.

The CityBusters – Joseph Spinella, Jerry Lue, Sundeep Mandava, Grace Ching and Shidong Chen, all seniors – have installed a $500 device on a METRO bus in Houston that has proven effective at killing 99.8 percent of the pathogens that circulate through the air-filtering system. The device, called FluProof, incorporates high-powered ultraviolet lamps that sterilize the air on the fly.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Device-Rids-Busses-of-Dangerous-Pathogens-043012.aspx

Air Pollution Linked to Early Death in the U.K.

In a study appearing this month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, MIT researchers report that emissions from cars, trucks, planes and power plants cause 13,000 premature deaths in the United Kingdom each year.

The researchers analyzed data from 2005, the most recent year for which information is available. They found that among the various sources of emissions in the country, car and truck exhaust was the single greatest contributor to premature death, affecting some 3,300 people per year. By comparison, the researchers note, fewer than 3,000 Britons died in road accidents in 2005.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Air-Pollution-Linked-to-Early-Death-in-the-UK-042312.aspx

Mini Sensors Could Improve Climate Models

An air sampler the size of an ear plug is expected to cheaply and easily collect atmospheric samples to improve computer climate models.

“We now have an inexpensive tool for collecting pristine vapor samples in the field,” says Sandia National Laboratories researcher Ron Manginell, lead author of the cover story for the Review of Scientific Instruments, the often-cited journal of the American Institute of Physics.

The novel design employs a commonly used alloy to house an inexpensive microvalve situated above the sample chamber.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Mini-Sensors-Could-Improve-Climate-Models-041112.aspx

So, remember the story we posted about a week ago called “E-Cars May be Worse for Environment than Gasoline”? It can be found here: http://laboratoryequipment.tumblr.com/post/17609226757/e-cars-may-be-worse-for-environment-than-gasoline.

It was interesting but it might have been jumping the gun. Here’s a follow up from CleanTechnica.com: http://cleantechnica.com/2012/02/16/new-study-ev-more-polluting-than-petrol-not-so-fast/

They make some great points.

Scientist of the Week: Alain Goeppert

Every Thursday, Laboratory Equipment features a Scientist of the Week, chosen from the science industry’s latest headlines. This week’s scientist is Alain Goeppert from Univ. of Southern California. Alain Goeppert and his team discovered an improved way to remove carbon dioxide from air which achieves some of the highest carbon dioxide removal capacity ever recorded for real-world conditions.

Read the original article here: www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-new-materials-remove-co2-from-air-010412.aspx

He speaks about his work here: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-sow-Goeppert-020212.aspx

North America’s Pollution Damages Europe’s Crops

Man-made air pollution from North America causes Europe to lose 1.2 million tons of wheat a year, a new study has found. The research, led by the Univ. of Leeds and co-authored by the Univ. of York, shows for the first time the extent of the Northern Hemisphere’s intercontinental crop losses caused by ozone - a chemical partly produced by fossil fuels. The study also suggests that increasing levels of air pollution from one continent may partly offset efforts to cut carbon emissions in another.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-US-Pollution-Damages-European-Crops-013112.aspx

Materials Use Light/Dark to Purify Air

Removing the smell of new carpet from a room may eventually be a matter of turning the lights on or off. Manindu Weerasinghe, a Kansas State Univ. doctoral candidate in chemistry, Sri Lanka, is studying materials that use light or darkness to purify air filled with toxins that are harmful to human health and the environment. Her research could one day lead to filters, humidifiers and other devices that can detoxify air in windowless rooms, manufacturing facilities and other indoor areas.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Materials-Use-Light-Dark-to-Purify-Air-012712.aspx

Office Air May Contain Toxic Substances

In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists are reporting that the indoor air in offices is an important source of worker exposure to potentially toxic substances released by carpeting, furniture, paint and other items. Their report, which documents a link between levels of these so-called polyfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in office air and in the blood of workers, appears in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Office-Air-May-Contain-Potentially-Toxic-Substances-011912.aspx

Researchers Develop World’s Lightest Metal

A team of researchers from UC Irvine, HRL Laboratories and the California Institute of Technology have developed the world’s lightest material–with a density of 0.9 mg/cc—about one hundred times lighter than Styrofoam. Their findings appear in Science. The new material redefines the limits of lightweight materials because of its unique “micro-lattice” cellular architecture. The researchers were able to make a material that consists of 99.99 percent air by designing the 0.01 percent solid at the nanometer, micron and millimeter scales.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Researchers-Develop-Worlds-Lightest-Metal-112111.aspx