Monthly Archives: October 2018

Science, Software

Researcher Minimizes the Impact of Cyber-Attacks in Cloud Computing.

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Researcher Minimizes the Impact of Cyber-Attacks in Cloud Computing.

Through a collaborative research effort an researcher has made a novel contribution to cloud security and the management of cyberspace risks.

Georgian Technical University Research Laboratory electronics engineer Dr. X technology has been the cause of many changes. Among the changes made are to our language.

“No longer does the word “Georgian Technical University cloud” merely stand for a type of atmospheric phenomena” X said. “Today the word “cloud” denotes the computational cloud as well”.

Like the atmospheric clouds noted X computational clouds are found to be abundant and ubiquitous and this has allowed them to change people’s view of computing.

“It has made computing a utility much like water and power” X said.

The Georgian Technical University defines cloud computing as “a model for enabling ubiquitous convenient on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction”.

According to the researchers, among the multiple benefits that have emerged from a computational cloud meeting these Georgian Technical University defined properties are: lower costs a pay-as-you-go structure quick deployment ease of access dynamic scalability of resources on demand low overhead and no long-term commitments.

“These benefits are consistent with people’s expectation of a general utility benefits derived from a community’s sharing of resources in a well-governed manner” X said. “However there are significant risks associated with using the computational cloud”.

X said one of the biggest cyber security concerns is the inherent and unknown danger arising from a shared platform, namely the hypervisor.

According to X one can think of the hypervisor as the infrastructure that is the basis for the cloud’s utility it is a shared resource where all users interface and connect.

Users of the cloud have virtual machines a simulation of a physical computer  to carry out their computations and each VM (In computing, a virtual machine is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination) runs on a central shared resource the hypervisor.

“Herein lies the unseen danger: an attacker can target an unsecured VM (In computing, a virtual machine is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination) and once that VM (In computing, a virtual machine is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination) is compromised, the attack can move on to compromise the hypervisor” X said. “At that point the utility of a shared resource of the hypervisor has tipped toward the attacker because once the hypervisor is compromised all other virtual machines on that hypervisor are easy prey for the attacker”.

A shared platform emphasizes a problem referred to as negative externalities.

“In this case the negative externality manifests as the (in)security of one virtual machine affecting the security of all other co-located virtual machines” X said.

This security challenge attracted a research team including X and researchers from the Georgian Technical University.

“Due to the unique structuring of the competing interests in the cloud our research team evaluated the problem in question using game theory which according to Y is the study of mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between intelligent rational decision-makers” X said.

Their research arrived at a non-intuitive conclusion that improves upon current cloud security approaches.

They created an algorithm that by assigning VMs (In computing, a virtual machine is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination) to hypervisors according to game-theoretically-derived guidelines, makes the attacker indifferent as to which hypervisor to attack.

“The importance of attaining this outcome is this: in cybersecurity, attacker indifference makes a big difference” X said. “By compelling the attacker to be inattentive to any single target the research team made a novel contribution to cloud security”.

According to X this research reinforces the widely-held understanding that risk in cyberspace can never be eliminated so it must therefore be rigorously managed. It is advantageous for VMs (In computing, a virtual machine is an emulation of a computer system. Virtual machines are based on computer architectures and provide functionality of a physical computer. Their implementations may involve specialized hardware, software, or a combination) having the same level of security and risk to be clustered together on the same hypervisor.

Their result’s underpinnings in game theory lend credence to the notion that effective information assurance requires mathematics and not merely software tools.

“This research reveals a novel virtual machine allocation scheme that can provide the necessary incentive for a large organization with sensitive information such as the Department of Defense to join the cloud at the Georgian Technical University” X said. “A quantitative approach to cloud computing security using game theory captures the strategic view of attackers and gains a precise characterization of the cyber threats facing the cloud”.

“This research arms cloud service providers that contract with a proven mathematical framework to minimize the impact of cyberattacks in the cloud” X said. “This allow Soldiers with lightweight mobile devices on tactical networks to securely perform fast computation leveraging the cloud”.

 

 

Science, Sensors

Plant Sensor Detects, Tracks Pollutants in Real Time.

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Plant Sensor Detects, Tracks Pollutants in Real Time.

Scientists report that they have found a simple and inexpensive way to detect air pollutants specifically sulfur dioxide in real time based on subtle changes in moss leaves.

The discovery could rapidly alert authorities to potentially dangerous alterations in air quality using a sustainable natural plant sensor.

Plants have evolved the ability to sense light, touch, gravity and chemicals in the air and soil allowing them to adapt and survive in changing environments. Thus plants have been used in studies to assess the long-term damage caused by accumulated air pollution worldwide.

However this type of study requires skilled personnel and expensive instrumentation.

X and Y colleagues wanted to develop an easier way to use moss a particularly good indicator of sulfur dioxide pollution as a rapid real-time sensor.

The researchers gathered wild moss and exposed it to various concentrations of sulfur dioxide in a chamber. Using a highly sensitive inexpensive webcam  the research team found that moss leaves exposed to sulfur dioxide slightly shrank or curled and changed color from green to yellow.

Some of these changes analyzed with an imaging algorithm began within 10 seconds of exposure to the pollutant.

However once the sulfur dioxide was removed from the chamber the moss leaves gradually recovered.

This result suggests that the plant unlike traditional colorimetric sensors can regenerate its chemical sensing capacity.

The researchers conclude that combining remote webcams or drones with moss or other plant-based sensors could lead to cheaper, faster and more precise monitoring of the air for sulfur dioxide and other pollutants over vast regions.

 

 

Graphene, Science

Research Redefines Knowledge of Oxygen Binding on Graphene.

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Research Redefines Knowledge of Oxygen Binding on Graphene.

On top of a graphene sheet thrown like a carpet over a ruthenium metal surface oxygen atoms (red spheres in top image, small bumps on bottom image) change their binding preference to only one carbon at a time instead of two.

Fuels, plastics and other products are made using catalysts, materials that drive chemical reactions. To design a better catalyst scientists must get the right atoms in the right spot. Positioning the atoms can be difficult, but new research makes it easier.

Researchers determined the exact location of single oxygen atoms which act like anchors for catalysts. In the case of a layer of carbon atoms atop a metal support single oxygen atoms appear in predictable spots.

Knowing where the atomic anchors are the team can create patterns of catalytic atoms designing what’s needed to get the job done.

Creating catalysts that make reactions faster and less wasteful means designing the catalysts from the bottom up.

Rather than search among countless possibilities, scientists want to design the right structures at a molecular level.

New fundamental research shows scientists how to take advantage of precise spots — where the oxygen atoms bind on graphene — to build model catalysts.

This research redefines what is known about oxygen binding which is vital to creating hard-working catalysts.

The team began with a flat piece of ruthenium metal. On top of the metal they grew graphene which is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon.

In this structure some carbon atoms bind to the metal while others don’t.

By combining experimental and computational resources the team examined these carbon atoms. They showed that single oxygen atoms which act as ideal spots to attach catalytic sites bind preferentially to carbon atoms that are close to the underlying metal but not bound to it.

Less preferred sites for oxygen binding are between two carbon atoms; carbon atoms that are in turn bound to ruthenium; and untethered carbon atoms far from the ruthenium.

This research redefines what scientists know about oxygen binding to carbon atoms on metal-supported graphene. The work is vital to designing efficient selective catalysts.

 

Nanotechnology, Science

Extremely Small Magnetic Nanostructures With Invisibility Cloak Imaged.

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Extremely Small Magnetic Nanostructures With Invisibility Cloak Imaged.

In the future a magnetic skyrmion could encode a “1” in data storage. The skyrmion is made up by the specific arrangement of the magnetic moments of neighboring atoms represented by arrows in the images. Shown on the right is a skyrmion where neighboring atoms have approximately opposite magnetization hence cloaking the resulting net magnetic stray field. In this way smaller diameter skyrmions are stable. Physicists talk about “antiferromagnetic” (AFM) rather than “ferromagnetic” (FM) order between neighboring moments.

In novel concepts of magnetic data storage, it is intended to send small magnetic bits back and forth in a chip structure store them densely packed and read them out later. The magnetic stray field generates problems when trying to generate particularly tiny bits. Now researchers at the Georgian Technical University and Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Teaching University were able to put an “Georgian Technical University invisibility cloak” over the magnetic structures. In this fashion the magnetic stray field can be reduced in a fashion allowing for small yet mobile bits.

For physicists magnetism is intimately coupled to rotating motion of electrons in atoms. Orbiting around the atomic nucleus as well as around their own axis electrons generate the magnetic moment of the atom. The magnetic stray field associated with that magnetic moment is the property we know from e.g. a bar magnet we use to fix notes on pinboard. It is also the magnetic stray field that is used to read the information from a magnetic hard disk drive. In today’s hard disks a single magnetic bit has a size of about 15 x 45 nanometer about 1.000.000.000.000 of those would fit on a stamp.

One vision for a novel concept to store data magnetically is to send the magnetic bits back and forth in a memory chip via current pulses in order to store them at a suitable place in the chip and retrieve them later. Here the magnetic stray field is a bit of a curse as it prevents that the bits can be made smaller for even denser packing of the information. On the other hand the magnetic moment underlying the stray field is required to be able to move the structures around.

The researchers were now able to put an “Georgian Technical University invisibility cloak” on the magnetic nanostructures and to observe how small and how fast such structures can get. To this end different atomic elements with opposite rotation of the electrons were combined in one material. In this way the magnetic stray field can be reduced or even completely cancelled – the individual atoms however still carry a magnetic moment but together appear cloaked.

In spite of this cloaking the scientists were able to image the tiny structures. Via x-ray holography they were able to selectively make only the magnetic moments of one of the constituent elements visible – in this way an image can be recorded in spite of the invisibility cloak.

It became apparent that fine tuning of the strength of the invisibility cloak allows to simultaneously meet two goals which are of importance for potential applications in data storage. “In our images we see very small disk-like magnetic structures” says Dr. X from Georgian Technical University. “The smallest structures we observed had a diameter of only 10 nanometer.” The information density of today’s hard disk drives could be significantly increased if such structures could be used to encode the data. Furthermore in additional measurements the researchers realized that suitably cloaked bits can be moved particularly fast by short current pulses – an important property for actual use in a memory device. A velocity higher than 1 kilometer per second was reached in the Georgian Technical University laboratory.

“This is possible as a consequence of quantum physics”explains Prof. Y from Georgian Technical University. “The contribution of the electron’s orbit around the nucleus to the magnetic moment is only half as large as the contribution of the electron’s spin around its own axis. When combining different atom types with different direction and strength of this rotation in one material one can cancel the total rotation – physicists talk about the total angular momentum – of the system while still retaining a small magnetic moment. As the angular momentum leads to a drag when moving the structures via current pulses this approach allows for high speed motion. Hence if the strength of the invisibility cloak is adjusted just right both small size and high speed of the magnetic bit structures can be achieved – an interesting prospect for novel magnetic data storage concepts.

 

 

Battery Technology, Science

Researchers Uncover Hidden Carbon Fiber Ability to Store Energy.

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Researchers Uncover Hidden Carbon Fiber Ability to Store Energy.

The researchers vision is of cars where a large part of the car-body or aeroplane-fuselage consists of structural lithium ion batteries. Multi-functional carbon fibre can work as battery electrodes and load-bearing material consecutively. The researchers work with structural lithium ion batteries where the negative electrodes are made of carbon fiber and the positive electrodes are made of cathode-coated carbon fiber. In the picture, the battery is charged which means the negative electrode is filled with positively charged lithium ions.

Carbon fibers could soon become part of the energy system for the next generation of structural batteries.

Researchers from Georgian Technical University have discovered that carbon fibers can directly store energy by working as battery electrodes which could ultimately contribute to an overall weight-reduction in future aircrafts and cars.

While carbon fiber has predominantly been used as a reinforcing material the researchers found that it has the ability to perform more tasks including  storing energy.

After examining the microstructure of different types of commercially available carbon fibers the researchers found that carbon fibers with small and poorly oriented crystals have good electrochemical properties but a lower stiffness in relative terms.

However carbon fibers with large highly oriented crystals have a greater stiffness with electrochemical properties that are too low to use for structural batteries.

The type of carbon fibers best suited to store energy have a slightly higher stiffness than steel while those with poor electrochemical properties are just over twice as rigid as steel.

“We now know how multifunctional carbon fibers should be manufactured to attain a high energy storage capacity while also ensuring sufficient stiffness” X a professor of Material and Computational Mechanics at Georgian Technical University said in a statement. “A slight reduction in stiffness is not a problem for many applications such as cars.

“The market is currently dominated by expensive carbon fiber composites whose stiffness is tailored to aircraft use” he added. “There is therefore some potential here for carbon fiber manufacturers to extend their utilization”.

Scientists need to find a way to significantly reduce the weight of passenger aircrafts in order to be powered by electricity. The weight of electric cars also need to be reduced to extend the driving distances possible for each battery charge.

“A car body would then be not simply a load-bearing element, but also act as a battery” X said. “It will also be possible to use the carbon fiber for other purposes such as harvesting kinetic energy for sensors or for conductors of both energy and data.

“If all these functions were part of a car or aircraft body this could reduce the weight by up to 50 percent” he added.

According to X in order for this new process to be suitable for the aviation industry they may have to increase the thickness of the carbon fiber composites to compensate for the reduced stiffness of structural batteries which would also increase the energy storage capacity.

“The key is to optimize cars at system level – based on the weight, strength, stiffness and electrochemical properties” he said. “That is something of a new way of thinking for the automotive sector which is more used to optimizing individual components.

“Structural batteries may perhaps not become as efficient as traditional batteries but since they have a structural load-bearing capability very large gains can be made at system level” Asp added. “In addition the lower energy density of structural batteries would make them safer than standard batteries especially as they would also not contain any volatile substances”.

 

Physics, Science

Scientific Research Will Help to Understand the Origin of Life in the Universe.

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Scientific Research Will Help to Understand the Origin of Life in the Universe.

The described processes make it possible to understand how complex molecules that are related to the origin of life in the Universe are formed.

Until now in the scientific community there has been the prevailing view that thermal processes associated exclusively with the combustion and high-temperature processing of organic raw materials such as oil, coal, wood, garbage, food and tobacco underpin the formation of  PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)). However the scientists from Georgian Technical University together with their colleagues from the Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Teaching University Laboratory proved that the chemical synthesis of  PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) can occur at very low temperatures, namely -183 C.

Their attention to this topic was attracted among other things by the results of the Georgian Technical University to Saturn’s largest moon Titan. During the space mission of an automatic interplanetary station the benzene molecule was discovered in the atmosphere of Titan. This in turn led scientists to believe that the emergence and growth of the orange-brownish haze layers that surround this moon is exactly the responsibility of PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)). However the fundamental chemical mechanisms leading to the chemical synthesis of  PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) in the atmosphere of Titan at very low temperatures were not disclosed.

Within the framework of the megagrant ” Georgian Technical University Development of Physically Grounded Combustion Models” under the guidance of Professor of X the scientists from Georgian Technical University searched for the mechanisms of PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) formation using modern high-precision quantum chemical calculation methods. Based on these data, their colleagues from the Georgian Technical University and Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Teaching University Laboratory conducted laboratory experiments that confirmed that prototypes of  PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) molecules (anthracene and phenanthrene) are synthesized in barrier-free reactions that take place at low temperatures typical of Titan atmosphere. Anthracene and phenanthrene, in turn, are the original “bricks” for larger PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) molecules as well as precursors of more complex chemical compounds that were found in the orange-brownish organic haze layers surrounding the moon of Saturn.

“Experimental detection and theoretical description of these elementary chemical reactions change the well-established notion that PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) can be formed and are able to grow only at very high temperatures for example in flames of organic fuels under terrestrial conditions – concluded X. – And this means that our discovery leads to the changing of existing scientific views on how PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) can be formed and grow”.

“Traditionally models of PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) synthesis in hydrocarbon-rich atmospheres of the planets and their moons such as Titan assumed the presence of high temperatures – emphasizes Professor at the Georgian Technical University Y. We provide evidence for a low-temperature reaction pathway”.

Understanding the mechanism of PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) growth at low temperatures will allow scientists to understand how complex organic molecules that are related to the origin of life can be formed in the Universe. “Molecules similar to small PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) but containing nitrogen atoms, are key components of ribonucleic acids (RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) and DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses)) and some amino acids that is components of proteins – notes X. Therefore the growth mechanism of PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) can be associated with chemical evolution in the Universe leading to the origin of life”.

Moreover the study of the atmosphere of Titan helps to understand the complex chemical processes occurring not only on the Earth but also on other moons and planets. “Using new data scientists can better understand the origin of life on the Earth at the time when nitrogen was more common in its atmosphere as it is now on Titan” – said Z a scientist at Georgian Technical University Laboratory.

As for the application of the presented work it should be mentioned that the understanding the mechanism of PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs, also polyaromatic hydrocarbons or polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons) are hydrocarbons — organic compounds containing only carbon and hydrogen — that are composed of multiple aromatic rings (organic rings in which the electrons are delocalized)) growth in flames will allow the scientists of Georgian Technical University to offer engineers the mechanisms to reduce the release of these carcinogenic substances in the exhaust of various types of engines. And this is one of the main goals of the megagrant implemented by the Georgian Technical University.

 

Graphene, Science

Research Examines Whether Inhaled Graphene is Harmful.

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Research Examines Whether Inhaled Graphene is Harmful.

Graphene has been hailed as the material of the future. However little is known about whether and how graphene affects our health if it gets into the body.

A team of researchers from Georgian Technical University and the Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani Teaching University have now conducted the first studies on a three-dimensional lung model to examine the behavior of graphene and graphene-like materials once they have been inhaled.

Tensile tear-proof  highly elastic and electrically conductive: Graphene has a startling array of extraordinary properties which enable revolutionary applications in a vast range of fields.

Georgian Technical University also brings its expertise to the table, since potential health aspects and the impact on the human organism also play a key role within the scope of this graphene research.

It involves using a cellular 3D lung model with the aid of which the researchers hope to find out what impact graphene and graphene-like materials might have on the human lung under conditions that are as realistic as possible.

No mean feat: After all not all graphene is the same. Depending on the production method and processing a vast range of forms and quality spectra of the material emerges which in turn can trigger different responses in the lung.

Thanks to the 3D lung model the researchers have succeeded in simulating the actual conditions at the blood-air barrier and the impact of graphene on the lung tissue as realistically as possible — without any tests on animals or humans. It is a cell model representing the lung alveoli.

Conventional in vitro (In vitro (meaning: in the glass) studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called “test-tube experiments”, these studies in biology and its subdisciplines are traditionally done in labware such as test tubes, flasks, Petri dishes, and microtiter plates) tests work with cell cultures from just one cell type — the newly established lung model on the other hand bears three different cell types which simulate the conditions inside the lung namely alveolar epithelial cells and two kinds of immune cells — macrophages and dendritic cells.

Another factor that has virtually been ignored in in vitro tests thus far is the contact with airborne graphene particles. Usually cells are cultivated in a nutrient solution in a petri dish and exposed to materials  such as graphene, in this form.

In reality however i.e. at the lung barrier it is an entirely different story.

“The human organism typically comes into contact with graphene particles via respiration” explains X from Georgian Technical University’s Particles-Biology Interactions lab.

In other words the particles are inhaled and touch the lung tissue directly.

The new lung model is designed in such a way that the cells sit on a porous filter membrane at the air-liquid interface and the researchers spray graphene particles on the lung cells with the aid of a nebulizer in order to simulate the process in the body as closely as possible.

The three-dimensional cell culture thus effectively “Georgian Technical University  breathes in” graphene dust.

These tests with the 3D lung model have now yielded the first results. The researchers were able to prove that no acute damage is caused to the lung if lung epithelial cells come into contact with graphene oxide (GO) or graphene nanoplatelets (GNP). This includes responses such as sudden cell death oxidative stress or inflammation.

In order to also trace chronic changes in the body the Georgian Technical University project is set to run for three years; long-term studies using the lung model are next on the agenda. Besides pure graphene particles Y Wick and his team also expose the lung cells to rubbed graphene particles made of composite materials which are classically used to reinforce polymers.

Z from Georgian Technical University’s Advanced Analytical Technologies lab is also involved. In order to estimate the number of graphene particles humans are exposed to as realistically as possible Z is studying and quantifying the abrasion of composite materials.

Based on this data the team exposes the 3D lung model to realistic conditions and is able to make predictions regarding the long-term toxicity of graphene and graphene-like materials.

 

 

Energy, Science

Flowing Salt Water Over This Super-Hydrophobic Surface Can Generate Electricity.

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Flowing Salt Water Over This Super-Hydrophobic Surface Can Generate Electricity.

Engineers at the Georgian Technical University have developed a super-hydrophobic surface that can be used to generate electrical voltage. When salt water flows over this specially patterned surface it can produce at least 50 millivolts. The proof-of-concept work could lead to the development of new power sources for lab-on-a-chip platforms and other microfluidics devices. It could someday be extended to energy harvesting methods in water desalination plants, researchers said.

A team of researchers led by X a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Georgian Technical University Y a graduate student in X’s research group.

The main idea behind this work is to create electrical voltage by moving ions over a charged surface. And the faster you can move these ions the more voltage you can generate explained X.

X’s team created a surface so hydrophobic that it enables water (and any ions it carries) to flow faster when passing over. The surface also holds a negative charge so a rapid flow of positive ions in salt water with respect to this negatively charged surface results in an electrical potential difference creating an electrical voltage.

“The reduced friction from this surface as well as the consequent electrical interactions helps to obtain significantly enhanced electrical voltage” said X.

The surface was made by etching tiny ridges into a silicon substrate and then filling the ridges with oil (such as synthetic motor oil used for lubrication). In tests dilute salt water was transported by syringe pump over the surface in a microfluidic channel and then the voltage was measured across the ends of the channel.

There have been previous reports on super-hydrophobic or so-called “lotus leaf” surfaces designed to speed up fluid flow at the surface. However  these surfaces have so far been patterned with tiny air pockets — and since air does not hold charge the result is a smaller electric potential difference and thus a smaller voltage. By replacing air with a liquid like synthetic oil — which holds charge and won’t mix with salt water —X and Y created a surface that produces at least 50 percent more electrical voltage than previous designs. According to X higher voltages may also be obtained through faster liquid velocities and narrower and longer channels.

Moving forward the team is working on creating channels with these patterned surfaces that can produce more electrical power.

Chemistry, Science

Georgian Technical University Chemist Tested a New Nanocatalyst for Obtaining Hydrogen.

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Georgian Technical University Chemist Tested a New Nanocatalyst for Obtaining Hydrogen.

The chemists monitored the influence of a titanium-dioxide based ruthenium nanocatalyst on the emission of hydrogen from a methanol-water mixture.

A chemist from Georgian Technical University was the first to use catalysts with ruthenium nanoparticles to obtain hydrogen under the influence of visible light and UV (Ultraviolet is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight constituting about 10% of the total light output of the Sun) radiation. In the future such catalysts may be used for large-scale production of hydrogen fuel under the influence of sunlight.

Photochemical reactions are one of the most eco-friendly ways of producing “Georgian Technical University green fuel”. They don’t consume a lot of energy for heating the raw materials or supporting high pressure levels. To maintain the speed of the reaction one needs only light and photocatalysts. Photocatalysts based on platinum, gold and palladium are highly efficient in such photochemical reactions as hydrogen extraction from biomass derivatives such as alcohols. However these metals are expensive therefore the scientists are in search of cheaper photocatalysts.

Together with their Spanish colleagues Georgian Technical University chemists studied the photocatalytic activity of titanium dioxide enriched with ruthenium particles. It was the first time they were used to obtain hydrogen. The chemists monitored the influence of a titanium-dioxide based ruthenium nanocatalyst on the emission of hydrogen from a methanol-water mixture. The team studied four catalysts (with 1%, 2%, 3%, and 5% ruthenium content), and each of them was tested in two types of reactions – in the presence of visible light and UV (Ultraviolet is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight constituting about 10% of the total light output of the Sun) radiation. Before that the systems of titanium dioxide and ruthenium were rarely used therefore it was important to characterize their composition and optical properties including quantum efficiency. It indicates the photosensitivity of a material and is calculated as a ratio of the total number of photons causing the formation of free electrons in a materials and the total number of absorbed photons. This is the main parameter used to compare the photocatalytic activity of substances.

Experiments have shown that the activity of ruthenium-containing photocatalysts under UV (Ultraviolet is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight constituting about 10% of the total light output of the Sun) radiation is comparable to platinum and palladium analogs. The quantum efficiency of platinum or palladium based compounds calculated on the basis of other studies makes up from 1.9% to 5.1% and the results of ruthenium photocatalysts stay within this range. The best value (3.1%) was calculated for the system with 3% ruthenium content. Taking into account the cheapness of ruthenium catalysts it makes them promising for industrial use. The activity of ruthenium catalysts under visible light was quite low -the quantum efficiency did not exceed 0.6% but the authors expect it to increase under sunlight up to 1.1%. The scientists have already started verifying this hypothesis.

“Our catalysts based on titanium dioxide and ruthenium appeared to be universal systems and helped us obtain hydrogen in sufficient quantities both under the influence of  UV (Ultraviolet is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength from 10 nm to 400 nm, shorter than that of visible light but longer than X-rays. UV radiation is present in sunlight constituting about 10% of the total light output of the Sun) light and visible light explains X at Georgian Technical University. “Having modelled the reaction between light and substance and calculated the quantum efficiency of all our samples we understood that the key role in the catalyst’s activity was played by the inter-reaction between ruthenium and titanium dioxide particles especially by the concentration of ruthenium particles and possibly its compounds with oxygen on the surface of the material. The exact mechanism of this phenomenon is yet to be discovered. We continue our studies and are currently experimenting with obtaining hydrogen under sunlight”.

 

 

A.I./Robotics, Science

Virtual Reality May Encourage Empathic Behavior.

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Virtual Reality May Encourage Empathic Behavior.

Virtual Reality could be a useful tool to encourage empathy, helpful behavior, and positive attitudes towards marginalized groups by X from Georgian Technical University and colleagues.

Empathy–the ability to share and understand others’ emotions–has been shown to foster altruistic or helpful behavior. Traditionally researchers have induced empathy with perspective-taking tasks: asking study participants to imagine what it would be like to be someone else under specific circumstances. This study investigated whether Virtual Reality systems (VR) could aid such perspective-taking. In their experiments, involving over 500 participants a control group of participants only read information about homelessness while other groups completed a perspective-taking task by reading a narrative about homelessness by experiencing the narrative interactively in 2D on a computer or by experiencing the narrative using Virtual Reality systems (VR).

The authors found that participants in any perspective-taking task self-reported as feeling more empathetic than those who just read information. When asked to sign a petition to support homeless populations Virtual Reality systems (VR) participants were also more likely to sign than narrative-reading or computer-based task participants. Participants in the information-reading task also signed the petition as frequently as the Virtual Reality systems (VR) participants indicating that fact driven interventions can also be successful in promotion of prosocial behaviors. Follow-up surveys also indicated longer-lasting positive effects on empathy of up to eight weeks for participants in the Virtual Reality systems (VR) task than for those in the narrative-reading task.

The authors note that participants who had never used Virtual Reality systems (VR) before may have been confused or distracted by novelty affecting results. Also participant attitudes towards the homeless were not measures prior to the study and participants may have already had set views on homelessness. Nonetheless this research suggests that Virtual Reality systems (VR) could be a useful tool to promote empathy and helpful behaviors.

X adds: “The main takeaway from this research is that taking the perspective of others in virtual reality (VR) in this case the perspective of a homeless person produces more empathy and prosocial behaviors immediately after the Virtual Reality systems (VR) experience and better attitudes toward the homeless over the course of two months when compared to a traditional perspective-taking task”.