Troller readies the new T4 4x4 for Brazil's toughest roads

 

The all-new T4 is ready for rough rides

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In 2012, Brazilian 4x4 manufacturer Troller, which was purchased by Ford Brazil in 2007, provided a sneak preview of what its next T4 utility vehicle would look like with its TR-X concept. It has now folded the look and feel of that concept into the new production T4, a 4x4 that is making other parts of the world beg Ford for a rebadged export.

The new T4 loses its Wrangler-like slatted grille in a dramatic front-end overhaul that leaves it looking a little more like an FJ Cruiser. The front-end design is nearly identical to the TR-X, save for a few minor alterations below the grille. That grille is set between two muscular front fenders and floating body-color bumper segments a little lower down. The new face gives it a stronger, more commanding first impression than the outgoing T4.

The London Gray up front can also be found on the roof, side sills, door mounts, rear bumper and tailgate, all of which provide contrast with the primary color of the composite body. The T4 loses the framed side mirrors of the TR-X design in favor of simple, tall mirrors like those on the outgoing model. It also loses the snorkel, though the high, passenger side air intake is positioned perfectly for just such an add-on. Like both the older T4 and the TR-X, the new T4 has external door hinges.

Troller stresses the off-road capabilities of the T4 without getting into all the details of its mechanical construction. The car is powered by a 3.2-liter diesel engine, which may or may not be updated from the 165-hp 3.2 equipped in the current generation model. That engine is mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

Troller showed the new T4 over the weekend, and it should launch in the near future. It will be built in Brazil, and as nice as it'd be to have a new Wrangler/Land Rover/FJ Cruiser competitor in the United States, it appears that the T4 will be staying put in Brazil.

Sigelock's Spartan system re-invents the 100-year-old fire hydrant

 

To address the material weakness of traditional hydrants, Sigelakis chose to go with a stainless steel, ductile iron mix in his hydrant

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The traditional fire hydrant, that innocuous little cast metal tube with a hat, is one of those everyday objects that is so commonplace most people tend to overlook them. For over 100 years this life saving device has changed little in terms of design or functionality, but now an ex-fire fighter hopes to change all that with his next generation Spartan fire hydrant.

According to ex-New York City firefighter/inventor, George Sigelakis, his next generation fire hydrant features a number of design updates that overcome some of the problems that have plagued traditional systems since their inception. In sub-arctic temperatures traditional systems can freeze and break, which in some cases has resulted in loss of life when firefighters couldn't find a working hydrant. The other inherent problem rests in the cast iron composition, which despite impressive longevity characteristics, can leak, freeze and break over time. So the solution according to the former firefighter was to completely reinvent the hydrant.

Sigelakis spent over 20 years designing and refining various fire hydrant prototypes until he came up with the current Spartan hydrant system. Inside the hydrant, Sigelakis completely reworked the internals so water can’t pool or freeze – one of the main causes of breakage in the traditional systems. And to avoid tampering and unwanted access, the hydrant’s nozzles, outlets, and operating nut were completely enclosed in the housing. To open the system, a specially designed opening tool and wrench are required. The system will actually clamp up tighter should someone attempt to access it illegally.

To address the material weakness of the traditional system, Sigelakis chose to go with a stainless steel, ductile iron mix in his hydrant. Both materials offer the Spartan system a high level of corrosion resistance, which is further enhanced by a special powder coating. That powder coating can be provided in a number of vibrant colors to match residential or commercial aesthetic requirements. Visually, the Sigelock hydrant resembles more of a cartoon-like periscope than it does a piece of serious fire fighting equipment.

Even though the system is designed to last 200 years according to the inventor, the downside to municipalities is the higher than usual cost-per-unit. Running about 20 percent more per hydrant than the typical outlet, the price could prove problematic for city’s working on tighter budgets, however, the projected lack of maintenance when amortized over a couple of centuries should more than cover the initial cash outlay.

The Sigelock system is currently undergoing real-world testing with 150 of the Spartan units in operation in 11 states across the US. The system was actually put to the test during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and passed with flying colors according to the designer.

Source: Sigelock

Raydiance's R-Cut system promises "new paradigm" in high-tech glass fabrication

 

Raydiance's R-Cut femtosecond laser system allows for mobile phones with complex shapes

Smartphones have come a long way in a few short years, but two things have remained constant; most sport a "slab of glass" form factor, and dropping one makes you wish you’d had it insured. Designers have used new materials, such as Gorilla glass and sapphire to make phone displays lighter and more durable, but these have introduced their own problems – especially when it comes to manufacturing. Gizmag spoke with Raydiance, a company specializing in cutting-edge laser fabrication methods, about its new R-Cut femtosecond laser system that promises a “new paradigm" in high-tech glass fabrication.

According to Raydiance, the R-Cut combines an ultra-short pulse laser and micromachining processes to cut very hard and brittle materials very quickly and with less chance of their chiping or shattering. It’s based on a femtosecond laser, which is generated by a technique called chirped pulse amplification that produces a burst of laser light that lasts one quadrillionth of a second. This is so short that during its pulse, the laser will only travel 1/100th the width of a human hair.

What’s important about this laser is that these very tiny pulses of light can concentrate so much power in such a small space of time that they can destroy anything they touch, and the laser can fire these pulses many times a second. The R-Cut uses these pulses in "cold ablation" for drilling very precise holes or shaping materials. The femtosecond laser vaporizes matter so fast that the surrounding materials have no time to heat up and there’s much less of a shock wave than with longer-duration lasers. The trick is to apply enough power in a short enough time to remove material without stressing the surrounding area.

Michael Mielke, Chief Scientist at Raydiance told Gizmag that the company has used fiber optics and developed algorithms that allow the R-Cut to take the femtosecond laser from being a laboratory curiosity and make it into an industrial tool that can quickly cut brittle materials in a matter of seconds instead of minutes or hours.

Aimed at high-volume manufacturers, the R-Cut can handle Gorilla glass, sapphire crystals, and similar hard and brittle materials. It can work on thinner materials than previously possible and form them into complex shapes, such as curves, chamfers, and holes on a micron scale, with less waste and at lower costs providing savings of more than 50 percent. The company also says that it can work on both strengthened and unstrengthened glass while doubling efficiency.

"The laser is fully programmable, which eliminates a lot of the hard-tooling with the mechanical approaches," says Stefan Zschiegner, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Raydiance. "You can basically take a design drawing and in 24 hours you have a fully functioning prototype."

Zschiegner went on to say that the R-Cut represents a new paradigm that will allow manufacturers to rethink their production methods. He sees the laser technique as a way to allow for mobile phones of more organic shapes, the use of microholes replacing the conventional slots used for microphones and speakers in phones for better sound quality, and glass covers for phones with a more rounded shape instead of flat, which could also be applied to car dashboard instruments.

According to Zschiegner the R-Cut technology will be moving into the manufacturing arena within the next year.

Source: Raydiance

Researchers create flexible wires that could double as batteries

 

Researchers have created wires with supercapacitance, which may eventually also double as batteries (Image: UCF)

We literally live in a wired world, with wires snaking hither and yon transmitting electricity and data. Many are visible, while many more are hidden in the walls of buildings, the panels of cars, and the fuselage of aircraft. Now, imagine; what if we were able to turn each and every one of these into a battery that not only transmitted electricity but stored it too? Well, two researchers from the University of Central Florida (UCF) imagined that too, and came up with a way to use nano-technology to make wires with supercapacitance that may eventually also double as batteries.

Professor Jayan Thomas and his Ph.D. student Zenan Yu premised their design on their ability to grow "nanowhiskers" of copper oxide in a laboratory that would provide the conductive link between between the inner and outer layers of their supercapacitor wire.

The team first started by growing a layer of nanowhiskers from insulating copper oxide on an outer layer of a single copper wire. They then treated those whiskers with a gold-palladium alloy, before finally depositing an electrochemically active coating of manganese oxide on the alloy. As a result, the nanowires acted as a sheath to encapsulate the copper wire, and form the first electrode.

To add a second electrode to complete the energy storage device, the researchers coated the first electrode with a solid electrolyte and a polymer partition, and then fitted another cylindrical electrode around that. The second electrode was then formed in the same way as the first electrode, but nanowhiskers were molded on a copper foil that acted as the final conducting tube around the outside.

The practical upshot of this is that this wire – in a growing line of other wearable supercapacitors and weavable battery wires – may soon help make possible energy-storage devices and systems that are flexible, wearable and incorporated directly into clothing and textiles.

Light, bendable supercapacitor cables might also assist in making electronic devices even smaller and more portable than they are today, by vastly decreasing the size of batteries, or incorporating energy-storage wires throughout the device to replace the batteries altogether.

While more work is required, the technique the team used to grow the nanowhiskers should be transferable to other types of materials. The use of copper wire is only the beginning; it is envisioned that, as the technology progresses, other fibers and cables could be developed with similar nanostructures that also both transfer and store energy.

The team's research paper was printed in the journal Nature.

Source: UCF

NSF Science Now

 

NSF Science Now - In this week's episode we discover the earliest and most primitive pterodactyloid. We learn about a new device for diagnosing pancreatic cancer. We study the cougars' diet and finally we explore a science & engineering festival. Credit: NSF

Weak Passwords: Are You Making It Too Easy For Criminals?

 

The password to your online account is like the key to your front door. How strong are your passwords? We’ll address some troubling facts about weak passwords and what you can do to make them stronger.

 

This breathalyzer reveals signs of disease -- Science Nation

 

 

This breathalyzer reveals signs of disease -- Science Nation This breathalyzer reveals signs of disease This invention could give new meaning to the term "bad breath!" It's the Single Breath Disease Diagnostics Breathalyzer, and when you blow into it, you get tested for a biomarker--a sign of disease. As amazing as that sounds, the process is actually very simple, thanks to ceramics nanotechnology. All it takes is a single exhale. You can't buy it in the stores just yet-- individual tests such as an acetone-detecting breathalyzer for monitoring diabetes and an ammonia-detecting breathalyzer to determine when to end a home-based hemodialysis treatment are still being evaluated clinically. However, researchers envision developing the technology such that a number of these tests can be performed with a single device. Credit: National Science Foundation

Bioethics: Not just for the bioethicists

 

 

Bioethics: Not just for the bioethicists Bioethicist Arthur Caplan, winner of the National Science Board's 2014 Individual Public Service Award, discusses the importance and potential of bioethics. Caplan is director of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center, and a frequent contributor to WebMD/Medscape, NBC.com and various public radio stations. Caplan was a student at Columbia Medical School when he wandered into the philosophy department, looking for advice on the ethical medical issues he would face as a doctor. Initially, the philosophers "looked at me like I'd flow in from Pluto," Caplan said. He ended up getting a Ph.D. in philosophy, and is considered a global leader in bioethics. "I don't really see the job of the bioethicist as saying, 'You have to go to this panel of gurus and they will solve it and then we'll move on,'" he says. "Everybody should be engaged, there's a wide spectrum of views out there." The NSB's Public Service Award honors an individual's exemplary service in fostering public understanding of science and engineering. Credit: NSF

Math, cars, rock 'n' roll

 

 

Richard Tapia, winner of the National Science Board's 2014 Vannevar Bush Award, talks about his efforts to encourage underrepresented minorities in science. Tapia is a mathematician and professor at Rice University, and director of the school's Center for Excellence and Equity in Education. His official title at Rice is university professor--a designation granted to only six people in the school's history. The recipient of numerous honors--and the owner of an award-winning 1970 Chevelle--Tapia is a national leader in mentoring minorities in STEM. The Vannevar Bush Award is given to exceptional, lifelong leaders in science and technology who have made substantial contributions to our nation's welfare. Credit: NSF

Dilma desafia críticos a apontar falhas nas obras da Copa

 

Entrevista Dilma desafia críticos a apontar falhas nas obras da Copa

A presidente da República reagiu essa quarta-feira (4) às acusações de atrasos na preparação das infraestruturas para a Copa do Mundo e, em entrevista ao “SBT”, desafiou quem quisesse apontar falhas e promessas não cumpridas.

“Eles (dirigentes da Fifa) fizeram a mesma coisa na África do Sul, o mesmo discurso. Estive na abertura das Olimpíadas de Londres. Eu sou chefe de Estado, estava há uma hora no trânsito. Desci e tomei um metrô. Eu não chegava. Eu quero saber: o que nós prometemos que não entregamos”, afirmou Dilma.

A presidenta continuou: “Estamos entregando toda a segurança, os 12 centros nacionais. Estamos entregando uma rede de fibra ótica, aqui não vai acontecer o que aconteceu em outros lugares, de celular não funcionar”.

Em entrevista na “SBT”, Dilma Rousseff afirmou ainda que todas as previsões sobre fatores que impossibilitavam a realização da Copa do Mundo no Brasil, como a necessidade de racionamento de energia ou até mesmo eventuais surtos de dengue, não foram comprovadas.

“Disseram que não teríamos Copa, porque não teríamos aeroportos prontos. Depois disseram que a Copa seria um processo terrível porque teria epidemia de dengue. Nada disso aconteceu. Nada disso se verificou”, declarou a presidenta.

Dilma enumerou então o que foi feito para assegurar a realização do evento. “Os 12 estádios estão entregues, os 12 aeroportos foram duplicados a capacidade de embarque e desembarque, e você não tem nem nunca terá, nesta época no Brasil, nenhuma possibilidade de uma epidemia de dengue, num momento em que a temperatura cai”

A líder petista afirmou que não vai ter qualquer “racionamento de energia nem durante a Copa, nem depois” e que o “complexo vira-lata significa isso, certa diminuição de nós mesmos”.

“A Copa no Brasil vai ser um sucesso. Nós estamos preparados, acredito que dentro e fora do campo”, terminou Dilma Rousseff.