Smart Economy

Top Smart Technologies and Discoveries from 2005

Advance notice - Top Smart Technologies and Discoveries from 2005  Report

For our blog readers and clients that want an overview of advances and state of the art applications of smart technologies and smart discoveries, our year-end report- Top Smart Technologies and Discoveries from 2005 will be available for $95 Canadian as a special prepublication price.

Release Date: Jan 15, 2006

Pre-publication price- $95 Canadian if ordered and paid before Jan 15, 2005

Regular Price: $150 Canadian

For information: Contact Walter Derzko at [email protected]

© 2005-2006

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

NewScientist.com's top 10 news stories of 2005

These stories were the ones  clicked on the most – a stimulating mix of mystery, brain work, climate change, weaponry and sex.

1. 13 things that do not make sense

Our most clicked story of 2005. The placebo effect, cold fusion, dark energy, the “wow” signal and bizarre homeopathy results – these were just a few of the mysteries that fascinated you.

2. Pentagon reveals rejected chemical weapons

The chemical “sex-bomb” designed to make enemy soldiers sexually irresistible to each other, thus destroying an enemy’s morale.

3. 11 steps to a better brain

Like a personal trainer for the brain, without the strain. We expect the IQ of our readers to be much greater now than at the start of 2005.

4. US military sets laser PHASRs to stun

The PHASR is an impressive looking beast, larger than Captain Kirk’s trusted phaser, but the risk of blinding innocent bystanders shrouded this prototype weapon in controversy.

5. Details of US microwave-weapon tests revealed

The US military raised temperatures further in 2005 by trying their new microwave weapons on a test crowd - with mixed results.

6. Failing ocean current raises fears of mini ice age

In a year dominated by climate-change fear and greenhouse gas emissions targets, the news of a 30% reduction in the warm currents that carry water north from the Gulf Stream sounded a loud note of alarm.

7. Antarctic ice sheet is an 'awakened giant’

A slumbering giant, the massive west Antarctic ice sheet, previously assumed to be stable, started to collapse noticeably in 2005, adding extra heat to the climate debate.

8. Bionic suit offers wearers super-strength

Many kids dream of growing into a bionic adult, able to perform superhuman deeds. This dream moved one mechanical step closer to reality this year.

9. Out-of-this-world sex could jeopardise missions

Sex and romantic entanglements among astronauts could derail missions to Mars, said a top-level panel of US researchers. Their recommendation for NASA – more study of the issue.

10. Centrifugal weapon could deliver stealth firepower

Another weapon, this time a gun that spits out ball bearings after spinning them to extreme speeds – and there's a video of the beast in action.

© 2005-2006

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Tops Science News Stories 2005

This year, Science News again presents its year-end science summary

The following review lists important science stories of 2005 reported in the pages of Science News.  The reference after each item gives the date and the volume and page number on which the main article on the subject appeared (vol.  167 is January-June; vol.  168 is July-December).  An asterisk (*) indicates that the text of the item is available free on Science News Online

• "Bacteriophage, the enemy of germs, discovered by Dr. F. d'Herelle, was declared by him to be a living parasite of parasites and not just a chemical factor."  In the last few years, bacteriophages have been considered for various uses, including growing nerve tissue (SN: 5/28/05, p. 341).

• "By coating them with gold, Prof.  H. Beehod, German scientist, made visible minute bacteria formerly beyond the power of any microscope."  In 2005, bacteria were again gold coated, but this time with nanoparticles to build an electromechanical device (SN: 10/22/05, p. 259).

• "The Health Organization of the League of Nations built up an epidemiological service to check the spread of infectious diseases between countries."  This year, the World Health Organization monitored bird flu (SN: 9/10/05, p. 171), among other diseases.

• "Intelligence tests given to 5,500 New England school children of foreign parents were found by Dr. Nathaniel Hirsch to show that there is no connection between high intelligence and any one particular racial type."  In 2005, researchers reported tests indicated that Chinese children outscore Western kids in IQ because reading the pictorial symbols in Chinese writing fosters superior spatial abilities (SN: 2/12/05, p. 99).

• "Earthquake on west coast of Sumatra cost 400 lives."  This quake occurred about 500 kilometers southeast of the temblor that started the December 2004 tsunami (SN: 1/8/05, p. 19).

Some of the items are difficult to comprehend or the conclusions didn't stand the test of time:

• "The theory that vitamins have opposites, "toxamins," which occur in certain foods and prevent proper bone formation and cause serious nervous diseases, was advanced by Prof.  Edward Mallanby, of Sheffield University, in England."

• "Two Prague scientists discovered a way of using washed animal blood in human transfusions."

• "Indications were found that trachoma, a disease of the eye for which immigrants have been barred from entering the U.S., is due to a deficient diet, by Dr. B. Frankline Royer, medical director of the national committee for the prevention of blindness."

• "High steam pressure boilers promised to revolutionize future locomotives."

• "Children whose characters become warped so that they steal and commit sex offenses as a result of sleeping sickness may be reeducated by training in good habits, according to results obtained by Helvi Haahti, Finnish psychiatrist at the Institute of Juvenile Research of Illinois."

It's anyone's guess which of the items listed in the following pages will turn out in future decades to be important advances and which will have future readers scratching their heads.

- Julie Ann Miller, Editor in Chief, Science News

Science News of the Year 2005

Anthropology & Archaeology Astronomy Behavior Biomedicine Botany & Zoology Cell & Molecular Biology Chemistry Earth Science Environment & Ecology Food Science & Nutrition Mathematics & Computers Paleobiology Physics Science & Society Technology Food for Thought MathTrek Science News for Kids

Full story see http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20051224/bob26.asp

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

The 50 Best Robots Ever List

Examples of smart robots, such as exoskeleton robots and Asimo the Honda robot recepionist were prominent entries in our blog in 2005, and were one of the categories of smart technologies that received the most attention and hits.

In its Jan 2006 issue, Wired Magazine features its "The 50 Best Robots Ever" List

Wired summarizes the state of the art:

They're exploring the deep sea and distant planets.  They're saving lives in the operating room and on the battlefield.  They're transforming factory floors and filmmaking.  They're - oh c'mon, they're just plain cool!  From Qrio to the Terminator, here are our absolute favorites (at least for now).

and here's Wired Magazine's top 10 robots from their top 50 list

10. THE STANFORD CART

Grand Challenge finishers, UAVs, and even KITT from Knight Rider all owe a debt of gratitude to James Adams and Hans Moravec's Stanford Cart.  In 1979, the wagon traversed a chair-filled room on its own, a landmark achievement for self-navigating vehicles.  Travel time: roughly five hours.

09. DANTE II

After eight volcano researchers were killed in two 1993 eruptions, robots were brought in to take the heat.  The next year, Carnegie Mellon's Dante II was lowered into Alaska's steaming Mount Spurr to collect data.  It fell in, but not before uploading its readings, making it the first "successful" terrestrial explorer robot.

08. DA VINCI SURGICAL SYSTEM

In the future, you'll beg to be operated on by a machine.  Credit Intuitive Surgical's 2000 robot, a fusion of arms, cameras, and instruments that allows doctors to slice into patients remotely.  Procedures done with the da Vinci are more precise than when humans wield the scalpel - research shows there's less blood loss and quicker recovery.

07. THE MECHANICAL KNIGHT

Way back in 1495, Leonardo da Vinci designed what was probably the first robot - an automated suit of armor with a windup crank.  It could sit up, wave its hands, and maybe even talk.  Five hundred years later, engineer Mark Rosheim used the master's schematics to build a working miniaturized version.

06. QRIO

Bipedal robots that can walk up stairs seem flatfooted compared with the running, jumping, and traditional-Japanese-fan-dancing Qrio.  Officially, Sony uses its state-of-the-art androids, debuted in 2003, as corporate ambassadors.  But the company may one day sell them for entertainment.  Works for Beck: The singer recently used all six Qrios in his video for "Hell Yes."

05. SHAKEY

Developed by Stanford Research Institute International, Shakey had jerky, often nonsensical movements.  But that didn't stop the 1972 robot from entering the history books as the first machine to autonomously locate objects, steer around them - and then explain its logic for doing so.

04. ROBBY THE ROBOT

Few robots can trace their origins to Shakespeare.  Robby, from the 1956 film Forbidden Planet, was inspired by Ariel in The Tempest.  But that didn't keep Robby from leaving a legacy all his own.  For decades, the very idea of a robot was synonymous with Robby's bulbous figure.

03. SPIRIT AND OPPORTUNITY

Some robots sit in labs for researchers to tinker with.  These two bots are on frickin' Mars.  Expected to last only three months when they touched down on the Red Planet in January 2004, the rovers are still going strong two years later - each sends back 100 megabits of data a day.

02. ASTROBOY

While American kids were daydreaming of Superman, Japanese tykes were worshipping at the altar of Tetsuwan Atom, aka Astroboy.  First drawn in 1951, Astroboy has rocket boots, lasers that shoot from his fingertips, and, uh, an ass cannon.  The lovable crime-fighting robot was an inspiration to a generation of kids -some of whom went on to become robotics researchers.  He's a big reason why Japan is at the forefront of android development today.  Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.

And the #1 Robot of All Time Is...

01. STANLEY

The Stanford Racing Team's autonomous vehicle is a modified Volkswagen Touareg that can scan any terrain and pick out a drivable course to a preset destination.  Cup holders optional.

For the whole list of 50 robots go here

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Top 10 Technology Trends in 2006

Yesterday we explored the science breakthroughs for 2005 and prediction for 2006 from Science Magazine.

Today, let's look at where technology is heading

Predictions for the top ten technology trends for 2006 are available on Mercury News.  Once again, it's time for SiliconValley.com's annual look into a crystal ball for technology trends in 2006.

Top 10 Technology Trends in 2006

1. Video will come to the big screen in your living room and to the small screen on your cell phone.

2. Cell phones will do everything

3. Internet phone calls become more popular

4. The office moves to the web

5. Stem cell research advances

6. Biotech targets flu vaccines

7. Small start-ups go global

8. Video comes to the blog; vblogs

9. On-demand video everywhere

10. Clean technology investment increase

For details, see the article. in Mercury News

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Science magazine's breakthroughs of 2005

The last week of each year is reserved for lists in most magazine-- the top ten of 2005, the top ten predictions for 2006; what's hot ? what's not?; what's in? what's out? Best of ? Worst of ?-- you get the picture.

Over the next several days, I'll post some of the more popular lists, along with my predictions for the top 10 smart technology trends for 2006.

The prestigious US journal Science publishes its top 10 list of major science endeavours in the last issue at the end of each year.

see the BBC review

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Science magazine's breakthroughs of 2005

• Winner: Evolution in action. Genome sequencing and painstaking field observations shed light on the intricacies of how evolution works.

• Runner up: Planetary blitz. Europe's Huygens probe touched down on Saturn's moon Titan in January. It was joined by a fleet of other explorers, including Nasa's Deep Impact, which smashed a hole in a comet.
• In bloom. Molecular biologists pinned down several of the molecular cues responsible for spring's vibrant burst of colour.
• Neutron stars. Satellites and ground telescopes shed light on the violent behaviour of neutron stars; city-sized corpses of stars that pack matter into an extreme state.
• Miswiring the brain. Researchers gained clues about the mechanisms of disorders such as schizophrenia, dyslexia and Tourrete's syndrome.
• Complicated Earth. Comparisons of rocks from Earth and outer space forced scientists to scrap long-held views of how our planet formed.
• Protein portrait. Scientists got their best look yet at the molecular structure of a voltage-gated potassium channel.
• Change of climate. More evidence implicating human activities in global warming was presented, the magazine said.
• Systems biology. Molecular biologists are looking to engineering in order to understand the behaviour of complex systems.
• Bienvenue Iter. After 18 months of wrangling, the $12bn International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) got a home: Cadarache in France.

Areas to Watch in 2006

Avian flu.

Whether or not a pandemic kicks off in 2006, research on flu vaccines and drugs will expand--as will debates on who should get them first should a pandemic occur. Also look for a wealth of data on the molecular biology, evolution, epidemiology, and even the history of influenza. And keep your fingers crossed.

Gravity rules.

After years of refinements, the first phase of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) has reached its promised sensitivity. LIGO's laser chambers in Louisiana and Washington state will monitor the sky during most of 2006--with a smaller facility in Germany called GEO-600, joining the network later in the year. If two neutron stars merge within 50 million light-years or so, the devices could detect the death spiral. It's a long shot, but we're betting they will.

RNAi-based treatments.

They're moving into human patients with startling speed, and 2006 should offer the first hints of how well the highly touted technique works. Company-funded trials in macular degeneration and the pediatric illness respiratory syncytial virus are under way; another targeting hepatitis C is supposed to launch soon, with some therapies for neurological diseases to follow. Oh, and another treatment that's coming down the pike: RNAi for permanent hair removal.

Catching rays.

The speediest atomic nuclei in the universe, called ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays, may open a new frontier of physics. The sprawling Pierre Auger Observatory in Argentina will near completion in 2006, offering the best chance to explore those limits. Already, Auger's powerful combination of ultraviolet telescopes and water-tank detectors is measuring different aspects of the particle showers sparked by incoming rays. Early results affirm a theorized energy threshold, imposed by interactions in space, that cosmic rays rarely cross.

Small worlds.

With ever-better methods of pulling DNA from environments such as soils and the human gut, researchers are documenting the incredible microbial diversity on this planet. In 2006, expect a flurry of papers detailing the evolution and molecular bases of microbial communities and the relationships, both beneficial and pathogenic, between microbes and their partners; more examples of lateral transfer of genes between species; and--just possibly--consensus about a microbial family tree and a much sharper picture of how eukaryotic cells arose.

Seconding supersolidity.

Two years ago, physicists reported that solidified helium appears to flow like a liquid without any viscosity. Theorists debate whether such "superflow" is possible in a well-ordered crystal, and no one has reproduced the result yet. Look for someone to confirm the observation--or shoot it down.

Homing in on high-T_c.

In 1986, physicists discovered that certain compounds laden with copper and oxygen carry electricity without resistance, some now at temperatures as high as 138 kelvin. Twenty years later, researchers still aren't sure precisely how high-T_c superconductors work. But a variety of exquisitely sensitive experimental techniques should cull the vast herd of possible explanations.

Bird to watch for.

Early in 2005, a blurry video and new sightings of the ivory-billed woodpecker, considered extinct for the past 60 years, wowed conservationists and birders alike. Some skeptics remained unconvinced by the 1.2-second footage, but many later were swayed by audio tapes of the woodpecker's call and distinctive "tap, tap." Biologists are scouring the Arkansas bayou, where there have now been more than a dozen sightings, for more evidence that they are not seeing a ghost of a bird past. We're betting this "ghost" proves to be the real thing.

Now you see it? A fleeting glimpse captured on video raised hopes that the ivory-billed woodpecker might not be extinct after all. CREDIT: J. W. FITZPATRICK ET AL., SCIENCE 308, 1460 (2005)

see the online story in Science Magazine

Humanoid robot gets job as a $166,000 receptionist

Robots have been efficiently replacing assembly line workers in the auto industry for the last 40 years.

Now, New Scientist Magazine reports that the world's first walking humanoid robot is set to make its office debut in 2006 as a receptionist, acording to Honda.

The latest version of Honda’s Asimo robot will be starting its new job in April at a Honda office in Wako in Saitama prefecture north of

Tokyo

.

PROS:

The prototype, unveiled in Tokyocan guide guests to a meeting room, serve coffee on a tray and push a cart with a load of up to 10 kilograms, says Honda. "The level of Asimo's capability was just good enough to entertain people on the stage in the past, but the new Asimo can work at places closer to us," says Satoshi Shigemi, the Honda official in charge of the robot's development. "The new Asimo can perform the task of a receptionist or information guide automatically," Shigemi told a news conference. "Honda is aiming to create a humanoid robot that can help people and live together with people."

CONS:

What other jobs are now at risk of being replaced?see http://www.newscientist.com/channel/mech-tech/dn8456

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

DNA self-assembly used to mass-produce patterned nanostructures

Scientists have used the self-assembling properties of DNA to mass-produce nanometer-scale structures in the shape of a 4x4 grids, on which patterns of molecules can be specified.

They said the achievement represents a step toward mass-producing electronic or optical circuits at a scale 10 times smaller than the smallest circuits now being manufactured.

Instead of using silicon as the platform for tiny circuits, as is done in the current manufacturing technique of photolithography, the Duke Univ researchers used DNA strands to create grids less than one ten-millionth of a meter square. The smallest features on these square DNA lattices are approximately five to 10 billionths of a meter (nanometers), according to the scientists, compared with about 65 nanometers in silicon circuits created using photolithography.

To demonstrate their ability to mass-produce grids with infinitesimal patterns, the scientists created batches of trillions of separate grids with the letters "D," "N" and "A" written with a protein that can be seen through atomic force microscopy (AFM).

The scientists, members of the Triangle-area TROIKA collaboration to construct computing devices using DNA, were able to create the grids by using the binding properties of DNA to ensure that large numbers of DNA strands would assemble themselves in specified patterns.

The two corresponding authors on the paper were Thom LaBean, an associate research professor of computer science and an adjunct associate professor of the practice of chemistry at Duke, and Christopher Dwyer, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science.

"The process we've described creates lattices -- with patterns we specify -- at least tenfold smaller than the best lithography being used right now," LaBean said. "Plus, because we're using DNA building blocks that assemble themselves, we can simultaneously make trillions of copies of a desired structure."

The researchers have not yet produced a functional circuit on a grid. However, in future studies, they plan to generate grids larger than four tiles by four tiles and to populate the grids with molecules that can conduct electrons or light waves to form simple circuits. Based on the characteristics those circuits would have, Dwyer and colleagues have drawn up designs for computer chips. The researchers also may explore how their method of assembling tiles can be used create biological structures that could act as tiny sensors.

Their research is scheduled to be published in volume 45 of the journal Angewandte Chemie and released early online Dec. 23, 2005. It was funded by the National Science Foundation.

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Phone cards made from corn-based plastics

A number of firms are offering bioplastic nature-based alternative packaging based on corn and other natural renewable resources.

One well know example is Colorado-based Biota which this year debuted  spring-fed water in commercially compostable bottles molded of polylactide. Biota Brands of America,  offers premium spring water bottled sourced from a spring located 9,010’ above sea level. The bottles also have a materials attitude—they are the first in the world to be molded of a natural plastic, polylactide, or PLA, which is derived from corn.

Last month,  UV Color, Inc. (UVC) announced that it is offering European prepaid providers and retailers a more responsible alternative to traditional phone cards made from petroleum-based plastics. Branded earthsource™, the new line of phone cards are made using renewable resource-based NatureWorks® PLA.

The earthsource material used for the production of the phone cards consists of 95 percent NatureWorks PLA. When disposed of in an industrial facility, NatureWorks PLA will fully compost. In addition, when incinerated, the PLA will burn cleanly.

"The use of pre-paid phone cards in Europe is on the rise," according to Jim Keister, marketing manager, UV Color, Inc. "earthsource cards provide retailers a more responsible solution to traditional phone cards at a time when sales for the product are up and concerns over petroleum-based plastics are high."

earthsource phone cards are produced using a sheet of plastic made from NatureWorks PLA. Sheets are then put through additional production processes where they are printed, bar-coded and imaged. The cards can even be packaged in secure, tamper-proof earthsource wrapping for individual use or multi-pack distribution. The end result is a complete product that looks and feels like petroleum-based plastic, with a better, more responsible environmental profile.

UVC is also targeting the retail market with the launch of specialty and transaction cards in North America.

"NatureWorks PLA is a terrific resource for the printed plastic industry," continued Keister. "It is a viable product that will positively impact the market for phone, specialty and other transaction cards by offering a more environmentally and socially responsible alternative."

As tradional petroleum-based plastic resins soar in price, more and more companies such as Target, Costco, Walmart and McDonalds are looking for alternate nature-based products and packaging

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page

Making Plastics from Oranges and Carbon Dioxide (CO2)

Carbon Dioxide, CO2 the bad boy of pollution sources and the source of what many scientists feel is the major cause of global warming ( although some see CO2 as the effect and not the cause of global warming) has had a bad rap in the scientific community and in the media in general.

Some scientists have now reversed their thinking, looking at the benefits of CO2. Instead of cracking complex petrolleum polymers to make plastics and other products that we use daily (the top down approach), researchers are looking at using basic building blocks, such as CO2 ( the bottom up approach)

In the next few days, I'll review this controversial assertion and look at other useful novel CO2 applications.

Making Plastics from Oranges

Cornell University researchers have discovered how to make plastics from citrus fruits such as oranges and carbon dioxide.  Limonene oxide and carbon dioxide are combined with the help of a catalyst.  Linonene, found in more than 300 plant species, makes up about 95% of the oil in orange peel.

This lifts some of the pressure off petroleum-based sources, but is along way from replacing all the petroleum fuel stockes

In a paper published in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (Sept.  2004), Geoffrey Coates, a Cornell professor of chemistry and chemical biology, and his graduate students Chris Byrne and Scott Allen describe a way to make polymers using limonene oxide and carbon dioxide, with the help of a novel "helper molecule" -- a catalyst developed in the researchers' laboratory.

In industry, Coates explains, the orange peel oil is extracted for various uses, such as giving household cleaners their citrus scent.  The oil can be oxidized to create limonene oxide.  This is the reactive compound that Coates and his collaborators used as a building block.

The other building block they used was carbon dioxide (CO2), an atmospheric gas that has been rising steadily over the past century and a half .

By using their catalyst to combine the limonene oxide and CO2, the Coates group produced a novel polymer -- called polylimonene carbonate -- that has many of the characteristics of polystyrene, a petroleum-based plastic currently used to make many disposable plastic products.

"The polymer is a repeating unit, much like a strand of paper dolls.  But instead of repeating dolls, the components alternate between limonene oxide and CO2 -- in the polymer," says Coates. 

Neither limonene oxide nor CO2 form polymers on their own, but when put together, a promising product is created.

"Almost every plastic out there, from the polyester in clothing to the plastics used for food packaging and electronics, goes back to the use of petroleum as a building block," Coates observes.  "If you can get away from using oil and instead use readily abundant, renewable and cheap resources, then that's something we need to investigate.  What's exciting about this work is that from completely renewable resources, we were able to make a plastic with very nice qualities."

The Coates research team is particularly interested in using CO2 as an alternative building block for polymers.  Instead of being pumped into the atmosphere as a waste product, CO2 could be isolated for use in producing plastics, such as polylimonene carbonate.

The Coates laboratory comprises 18 chemists, about half of them striving to make recyclable and biodegradable materials out of cheap, readily available and environmentally friendly building blocks.

"Today we use things once and throw them away because plastics are cheap and abundant.  It won't be like that in the future," says Coates.  "At some point we will look back and say, 'Wow, remember when we would take plastic containers and just throw them away?'"

The research was supported by the Packard Foundation fellowship program, the National Science Foundation, the Cornell Center for Materials Research and the Cornell University Center for Biotechnology.

Next - How CO2 could replace CFC's and other chemicals to cool your frig.

© 2005

Walter Derzko

Expert, Consultant and Guest Speaker on emerging Smart Technologies, Strategic Planning, Business Development, Lateral Creative Thinking and author of an upcoming book on the Smart Economy "

To explore the opportunities and threats of any new smart technology in your industry - Contact Me

.....Strategy without action is a day-dream; action without strategy is a nightmare"

- old Japanese proverb

P. S. if this is your first visit to my blog, please go to our Welcome page