Category: Articles

Nissan unveiled a new “cool paint” designed to keep vehicle interiors cooler, though its thickness, six times that of standard paint, presents commercialization challenges.

The announcement coincided with record-breaking heat in Japan, making the news particularly relevant. Nissan tested the paint on vehicles at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, an area with minimal shade, providing a prime environment to evaluate the technology.

While the cars with the special paint appeared ordinary, they were noticeably cooler to the touch. Nissan reported that the paint lowered roof-panel temperatures by 12 degrees Celsius (22 degrees Fahrenheit) and reduced interior temperatures by 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit).

Cooling materials are already common in buildings and other applications. Cooler cars can reduce air conditioning use and alleviate heat stress on engines and electric vehicle batteries. Toyota Motor Corp. is also experimenting with sun-reflective paints to lower cabin temperatures, primarily focusing on colors.

Nissan’s cool paint not only reflects sunlight but also generates electromagnetic waves to block the rays, redirecting energy away from the vehicle. This paint was developed in collaboration with Radi-Cool of China, which also creates heat-reducing films, fabrics, and coatings, including cooler-feeling hats and sun parasols. Nissan is the sole Japanese automaker partnering with Radi-Cool.

Susumu Miura, a manager at Nissan Research Center, assured that the electromagnetic waves emitted by the paint posed no health risks, noting that such waves are ubiquitous.

I live in Austin, TX and if this actually works, it would be a game changer in the hot summer months!!

At Georgia Tech, a new 3D-printed tracheal splint has successfully treated a rare birth defect affecting a young child. Developed in collaboration with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the splint has allowed 4-year-old Justice Altidore to start preschool without breathing issues.

Tracheomalacia (TM), a condition where the windpipe’s cartilage is weak, affects about 1 in 2,100 children. This defect causes the trachea to collapse and obstruct breathing, often requiring ventilation and other treatments.

The Georgia Tech splints are made from bioabsorbable material that supports the trachea as the child’s cartilage strengthens and the splint is eventually absorbed. Dr. Kevin Maher and Dr. Steven Goudy oversaw Altidore and three other children receiving these splints as part of an FDA-approved trial.

All four children have shown significant improvement in their breathing. This success marks a significant advancement in treatment for TM. Previously, 3D printing has been used for tracheal recovery, including a recent case where a 3D-printed windpipe was transplanted into a patient in Seoul.

Scientists are well-versed in the properties of electrons, protons, neutrons, and other subatomic particles that make up matter. However, the particles that constitute antimatter, a rare but real counterpart of matter, still have many mysteries.

The primary distinction between matter and antimatter lies in their electric charges. While matter is composed of particles like protons and electrons, antimatter consists of antiparticles such as antiprotons (negatively charged) and positrons (positively charged), which have opposite charges compared to their matter counterparts.

Studying antimatter could unveil new energy sources and shed light on unknown aspects of the universe. A groundbreaking study by researchers at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) introduces a revolutionary device capable of cooling antiprotons in just eight minutes, a significant improvement from the previous 15-hour process.

“This considerable improvement makes it possible to measure antiprotons’ properties with unparalleled precision,” the study authors note.

Why Cool Antiprotons?
To study antimatter, scientists create and collide particles like antiprotons and positrons in particle accelerators such as the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Cooling these particles is essential because cooler antiprotons move more slowly, allowing for precise control and measurement without interference from rapid, random movements. This precision is critical for accurate experiments and measurements.

For example, to determine the magnetic moment of an antiproton, scientists must measure the frequency of spin quantum transitions, known as spin flips. An antiproton’s spin alternates between ½ and -½ in a magnetic field, and measuring the spin-flip frequency requires the particle to be slow.

“To get a clear measurement of an antiproton’s spin transitions, we need to cool the particle to less than 200 millikelvins (-459.3°F or -272.95°C),” explains Barbara Latacz, lead author and researcher in the BASE experiment at CERN.

The BASE (Baryon Antibaryon Symmetry Experiment) team studies the magnetic moments of protons and antiprotons to identify any differences between matter and antimatter. Previously, their setup required about 15 hours to cool antiprotons. To get the data they needed, they would have to conduct 1000 measurement cycles, which would take 3 years which was prohibitively long.

The new breakthrough reduces the cooling time over 99% to just eight minutes, enabling the BASE team to conduct 1000 measurement cycles and obtain precise results within a month. The drastic improvement in cooling efficiency is attributed to a combination of factors, enhancing the study of antimatter and potentially unlocking new insights into the universe.