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Ice-free windscreen developed Breakthrough could end blood cells shortage Prof Yash
Pal THIS UNIVERSE
Trends |
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Ice-free windscreen developed Getting up half an hour early to scrape ice off your car’s windscreen will soon be a thing of the past, thanks to a team of German researchers who have come up with ice-resistant glass. The car window glass, which also does not fog up, was developed by scientists at at the Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Technology (IST) in Braunschweig along with researchers for Volkswagen and Audi.
Unlike heated windows, the new windows are based on a physical principle that does not allow an ice layer to form in the first place - even at temperatures as low as minus 18 Celsius. The secret of the innovation lies in a wafer-thin transparent coating of indium tin oxide that is applied to the window. “We call this a ‘Low-E’ (low thermal emissivity) coating. Applied to the outer glazing, it prevents heat from radiating skyward. We are proud of this innovation and will promote it throughout the VW Group. That is because an ice-free window is an added convenience to our customers,” explained Thomas Drescher of Volkswagen Development. The conductive “Low-E coating” protects the glass from cooling, so that water on the outer surface does not condense or freeze. No ice film is formed, because radiative heat loss to the cold sky is minimised and this prevents or delays cooling of the glass surface to below the dew point. Of course, weather conditions such as cloudiness, relative humidity and wind also play a significant role here and affect the windows’ condensation behaviour. “The ‘Low-E coating’ cannot prevent ice formation or condensation entirely, but it can significantly reduce the likelihood of it happening,” said Drescher in a news statement. One drawback in the current development stage is that the new coating limits radio traffic in the automobile. This can impair radio and mobile phone reception. Drescher says, “It will take some time before the ice-free car windscreen is market-ready, but we are working intensively toward this goal. The bottom line is that for the Volkswagen Group, the ice-free window represents a successful innovation that is unique
worldwide.” — DPA |
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Breakthrough could end blood cells shortage Patients undergoing chemotherapy or organ transplants may soon be treated with a vital blood-clotting agent derived from the stem cells of human embryos. Scientists have produced blood platelets from human embryonic stem cells and have shown for the first time that these “donor-less” platelets can repair damaged tissues in laboratory mice. People undergoing certain forms of medical treatment, such as cancer therapies or transplant surgery, often need transfusions of platelets in order to repair damaged tissues and blood vessels and to prevent uncontrolled bleeding. The scientists believe that the technique could result in unlimited quantities of platelets being produced on an industrial scale without the need for human blood donors. Platelets play a key role in the complex process of blood clotting. Without them, damaged tissues would not heal properly and quickly, and there would be a risk of death from internal bleeding. Platelets derived from blood donations, however, cannot be frozen and have a short shelf life of between seven and 10 days. The constant demand for platelets can lead to shortages — which is why medical researchers are trying to devise ways of producing unlimited supplies from stem cells to replace conventional blood donors. Scientists in the United States have not only produced platelets from human embryonic stem cells on a clinically useful scale, but have shown that they work when injected into mice, as they would do normally in the human body. The researchers believe that platelets that are produced in this way could rapidly find their way into clinics, because they do not contain any genetic material, which largely eliminates the risk of introducing cancerous tumours into the recipient. Robert Lanza, chief scientific officer at Advanced Cell Technology (ACT), the stem cell company behind the work, said the platelets looked and behaved just like ordinary ones derived from blood donations, including being activated by the natural clotting agent of the blood, thrombin. The platelets were made from a line of stem cells derived from a spare IVF embryo. The stem cells were first coaxed to develop into specialised cells called megakaryocytes, which were then cultivated in the laboratory to make fully mature platelets. Dr Lanza said that an alternative method of making stem cells that does not involve using human embryos could be used to make platelets. Known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS), the technique involves the genetic modification of a patient’s skin cells to make embryonic-like stem cells. Safety concerns over using such iPS-derived material could be overcome in the case of platelets because they would not pose a cancer risk, Dr Lanza suggested. “Since platelets contain no genetic material — and can be irradiated before use — they’re ideal candidates for early clinical translation involving iPS cells,” he said. —The Independent |
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THIS UNIVERSE What is the universe? The answer to this question might be very hard to provide or it might be so simple that it is trivial. Let me attempt the simple answer. The universe is every thing you see, feel, happens, influences you or you wonder and think about. I agree this is not saying much, even though it might include an enormous amount. Therefore let me begin to particularise a little. This is a very personal view: For me the universe includes everything of this earth, the sun and the system of its planets, other stars and the space in between. It includes billions of other stars in our galaxy and billions of galaxies. Why this system is the way it is, all the forces that give it shape and substance? Even questions like ‘could it be any other way’? Of course, the questions like how it began if there really was a beginning and how will it end if there is ever an end. Besides the large scale structures of the macro universe the urge to understand the micro structures. Like atoms and molecules, elements and compounds, their variety, constraints and limitations. How are the micro and the macro connected? Is this is the unique way in which they can be connected? There is a lot that we can see but much more that we do not. There is a lot that we can understand but enormous hints about much more that we do not. Then there is life. An enormous variety. How it came to be and how it evolved? How widely is life distributed, on how many other habitations? Billions of them or just those on this earth. Was creating us the sole purpose of creating this enormous paraphernalia of stars, planets and galaxies? This would be stupid and uneconomical. Did we evolve just to ensure that there should be some intelligence that could appreciate and comprehend this enormous drama? Perhaps there was no purpose and we are an outcome of a random accident. Even if that is true can we not develop some wisdom and deep knowledge to make a go of it and not be destroying each other over trivial and inevitable diversity? Yes, all this and more is a characteristic of our universe. According to Kepler’s law, the speed of the earth becomes faster when it is closer to the sun as compared to its speed when it is away from it. What is the effect of this speed on us? Just think a little about your question. When the earth is in an orbit, it is freely falling towards the sun, missing it because of its transverse velocity. It is weightless like our satellites are when they go around the earth in an elliptical orbit. Near the perigee of its orbit, the earth or we will not have any unusual effect. Readers wanting to ask Prof Yash Pal
a question can e-mail him at palyash.pal@gmail.com |
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Trends SINGAPORE: Climate change has likely intensified the monsoon rains that have triggered record floods in Australia’s Queensland state, scientists said on Wednesday, with several months of heavy rain and storms still to come. But while scientists say a warmer world is predicted to lead to more intense droughts and floods, it wasn’t yet possible to say if climate change would trigger stronger La Nina and El Nino weather patterns that can cause weather chaos across the globe. How brain’s wiring develops in babies
LONDON: British scientists have shown for the first time how our brain “wiring” develops in the first few months of life and say their findings will help in the understanding of a range of brain and psychiatric disorders. Using a new imaging technique, researchers from the Institute of Psychiatry at King’s College London scanned babies brains to monitor the formation of insulating layers around nerve cells. 6,000 years old wine press
WASHINGTON: Archeologists have unearthed the oldest wine-making facility ever found, using biochemical techniques to identify a dry red vintage made about 6,000 years ago in what is now southern Armenia. The excavation paints a picture of a complex society where mourners tasted a special vintage made at a caveside cemetery, the researchers reported in the Journal of Archaeological Science. Swine flu survivors have super antibodies
CHICAGO: A study of antibodies from people infected with H1N1 swine flu adds proof that scientists are closing in on a “universal” flu shot that could neutralize many types of flu strains, including H1N1 swine flu and H5N1 bird flu, U.S. researchers said on Monday. They said people who were infected in the H1N1 pandemic developed an unusual immune response, making antibodies that could protect them from all the seasonal H1N1 flu strains from the last decade, the deadly “Spanish flu” strain from 1918 and even a strain of the H5N1 avian flu. — Reuters |
