Saturday, December 10, 2016

Science Foretells....

December issue of Scientific American  discusses  ten ideas  which  are poised to change the world.  For all the 10 ideas, as of now, the underlying concepts have been proved but it is still a long road to feasibility.  The editors surmise "... it doesn't take long for an idea to go from laughable to inevitable.  And a few of those go on to become transformative" 

For example take the case of  unhackable  internet.   Research groups around the world are striving to design it.  Currently complicated mathematical algorithms are used to encrypt messages sent over the internet.  The new approach focuses on an esoteric  quantum phenomenon called quantum entanglement between  pairs of photons. Once entangled even if transported to different locations  miles apart, the duo retain a kind of bonding. Einstein described it as spooky action at a  distance   in a 1935 paper The phenomenon has an uncanny resemblance  to what we often see in films -telepathy between identical twins  separated at birth.  While in films such twins intuitively feel the "state of mind" of the other, in  the quantum world entangled pairs instinctively configure  the quantum state of the other.  The technical word for this knowledge transfer  between entangled pairs is teleportation, though not in the sense used in science fiction movies.   Scientists have configured that this phenomenon holds a powerful code for encryption. Quantum cryptography is unique  because  quantum states are random, instantly configured and works only between  entangled pairs. Moreover Heisenberg's uncertainty principle complicates he behaviour of photons. With the result that  the process of teleportation can't be intercepted, because such attempts will distort the code. Also the source and destination  would   instantaneously feel the tampering attempt.  The  concept is well proven with China teleporting messages between Beijing and Shanghai. However   it might take a decade or two for implementation.

Professor Archer's  research team at Cornell University is interested in developing carbon capture technologies. In the July issue of Science Advances the team reports the design of an electrochemical cell which can capture /convert carbon dioxide and use it for power generation. The system uses metallic aluminum as anode and CO2/O2 mixture as the active cathode material with the formation of aluminium oxalate as the end product. Studies on the scalability, durability and economics  of the system are however pending.

Professor Yi Cui and his team at the Stanford University demonstrate that clothes that could cool are possible. A kind of personalised thermal management. Nonporous polyethylene ( often shortened as NanoPE with pore sizes ranging from 50-1000 nanometers)  is  a commercially available material used extensively in lithium batteries as separator between anode and cathode. Cui's team begins with this material.  NanoPE sheets are punctured  with a microneedle to facilitate aeration and then coated  with polydopamine to impart  hydrophilicity.  A cotton mesh is then inserted in between two such treated NanoPE sheets and the cool fabric is ready for tailoring.   This sandwich assembly can cool human skin more than  cotton by 2.0deg.C. These findings appeared in the September issue of Science.

In an attempt to do away with invasive traumatic surgeries, Daniela Rus and her team at the Robotics Lab of  Massachusetts Institute of Technology are hoping to design pill-sized robot  which can be swallowed. Once inside the human body, the pill will bloom into a  preconceived shape capable of doing a variety of programmed activities including  surgery. Once  the mission is accomplished, the robot disintegrates or is digested. Rus is realistic when she  admits:  But it will take a number of years before micro robots  become feasible. 



 M74, also called NGC 628, is a stunning example of a "grand-design" spiral galaxy. Its perfectly symmetrical spiral arms emanate from the central nucleus and are dotted with clusters of young blue stars and glowing pink regions of ionized hydrogen.




REFERENCES

1. Scientific American December 2016
2. Teleporting toward a quantum internet 
3. Unite to build a quantum internet
4. China's quantum satellite could make data breaches a thing of the past

5. Quantum teleportation across a metropolitan fibre network.

6.The O2-assisted Al/CO2 electrochemical cell: A system for CO2 capture/conversion and electric power generation 

7. Radiative human body cooling by nonporous polyethylene textile.