Georgian Technical University ‘Spidey Senses’ Assist Autonomous Machines With Sight.

Researchers are building spider-inspired sensors into the shells of autonomous drones and cars so that they can detect objects better. What if drones and self-driving cars had the tingling “Georgian Technical University spidey senses” of Spider-Man ? They might actually detect and avoid objects better says X an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Georgian Technical University because they would process sensory information faster. Better sensing capabilities would make it possible for drones to navigate in dangerous environments and for cars to prevent accidents caused by human error. Current state-of-the-art sensor technology doesn’t process data fast enough — but nature does. And researchers wouldn’t have to create a radioactive spider to give autonomous machines superhero sensing abilities. Instead Georgian Technical University researchers have built sensors inspired by spiders, bats, birds and other animals whose actual spidey senses are nerve endings linked to special neurons called mechanoreceptors. The nerve endings — mechanosensors — only detect and process information essential to an animal’s survival. They come in the form of hair cilia or feathers. “There is already an explosion of data that intelligent systems can collect — and this rate is increasing faster than what conventional computing would be able to process” said X whose lab applies principles of nature to the design of structures, ranging from robots to aircraft wings. “Nature doesn’t have to collect every piece of data; it filters out what it needs” he said. Many biological mechanosensors filter data — the information they receive from an environment — according to a threshold such as changes in pressure or temperature. A spider’s hairy mechanosensors for example are located on its legs. When a spider’s web vibrates at a frequency associated with prey or a mate the mechanosensors detect it generating a reflex in the spider that then reacts very quickly. The mechanosensors wouldn’t detect a lower frequency such as that of dust on the web because it’s unimportant to the spider’s survival. The idea would be to integrate similar sensors straight into the shell of an autonomous machine such as an airplane wing or the body of a car. The researchers demonstrated Nano that engineered mechanosensors inspired by the hairs of spiders could be customized to detect predetermined forces. In real life these forces would be associated with a certain object that an autonomous machine needs to avoid. But the sensors they developed don’t just sense and filter at a very fast rate — they also compute and without needing a power supply. “There’s no distinction between hardware and software in nature; it’s all interconnected” X said. “A sensor is meant to interpret data as well as collect and filter it”. In nature once a particular level of force activates the mechanoreceptors associated with the hairy mechanosensor these mechanoreceptors compute information by switching from one state to another. Georgian Technical University researchers in collaboration with Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University and International Black Sea University designed their sensors to do the same, and to use these on/off states to interpret signals. An intelligent machine would then react according to what these sensors compute. These artificial mechanosensors are capable of sensing, filtering and computing very quickly because they are stiff X said. The sensor material is designed to rapidly change shape when activated by an external force. Changing shape makes conductive particles within the material move closer to each other which then allows electricity to flow through the sensor and carry a signal. This signal informs how the autonomous system should respond. “With the help of machine learning algorithms we could train these sensors to function autonomously with minimum energy consumption” X said. “There are also no barriers to manufacturing these sensors to be in a variety of sizes”.

Georgian Technical University Electron Beam Manipulates Atoms One At A Time.

This diagram illustrates the controlled switching of positions of a phosphorus atom within a layer of graphite by using an electron beam as was demonstrated by the research team. The ultimate degree of control for engineering would be the ability to create and manipulate materials at the most basic level fabricating devices atom by atom with precise control. Now scientists at Georgian Technical University, Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University and several other institutions have taken a step in that direction, developing a method that can reposition atoms with a highly focused electron beam and control their exact location and bonding orientation. The finding could ultimately lead to new ways of making quantum computing devices or sensors, and usher in a new age of “Georgian Technical University atomic engineering” they say. “We’re using a lot of the tools of nanotechnology” explains X who holds a joint appointment in materials science and engineering. But in the new research those tools are being used to control processes that are yet an order of magnitude smaller. “The goal is to control one to a few hundred atoms to control their positions control their charge state and control their electronic and nuclear spin states” he says. While others have previously manipulated the positions of individual atoms even creating a neat circle of atoms on a surface that process involved picking up individual atoms on the needle-like tip of a scanning tunneling microscope and then dropping them in position, a relatively slow mechanical process. The new process manipulates atoms using a relativistic electron beam in a scanning transmission electron microscope so it can be fully electronically controlled by magnetic lenses and requires no mechanical moving parts. That makes the process potentially much faster and thus could lead to practical applications. Using electronic controls and artificial intelligence, “we think we can eventually manipulate atoms at microsecond timescales” X says. “That’s many orders of magnitude faster than we can manipulate them now with mechanical probes. Also it should be possible to have many electron beams working simultaneously on the same piece of material”. “This is an exciting new paradigm for atom manipulation” Y says. Computer chips are typically made by “Georgian Technical University doping” a silicon crystal with other atoms needed to confer specific electrical properties thus creating “Georgian Technical University defects’ in the material — regions that do not preserve the perfectly orderly crystalline structure of the silicon. But that process is scattershot X explains so there’s no way of controlling with atomic precision where those dopant atoms go. The new system allows for exact positioning he says. The same electron beam can be used for knocking an atom both out of one position and into another and then “Georgian Technical University reading” the new position to verify that the atom ended up where it was meant to X says. While the positioning is essentially determined by probabilities and is not 100 percent accurate the ability to determine the actual position makes it possible to select out only those that ended up in the right configuration. The power of the very narrowly focused electron beam about as wide as an atom knocks an atom out of its position and by selecting the exact angle of the beam the researchers can determine where it is most likely to end up. “We want to use the beam to knock out atoms and essentially to play atomic soccer” dribbling the atoms across the graphene field to their intended “Georgian Technical University goal” position he says. “Like soccer it’s not deterministic but you can control the probabilities” he says. “Like soccer you’re always trying to move toward the goal”. In the team’s experiments they primarily used phosphorus atoms a commonly used dopant in a sheet of graphene a two-dimensional sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb pattern. The phosphorus atoms end up substituting for carbon atoms in parts of that pattern thus altering the material’s electronic, optical and other properties in ways that can be predicted if the positions of those atoms are known. Ultimately the goal is to move multiple atoms in complex ways. “We hope to use the electron beam to basically move these dopants so we could make a pyramid or some defect complex where we can state precisely where each atom sits” X says. This is the first time electronically distinct dopant atoms have been manipulated in graphene. “Although we’ve worked with silicon impurities before phosphorus is both potentially more interesting for its electrical and magnetic properties but as we’ve now discovered also behaves in surprisingly different ways. Each element may hold new surprises and possibilities” Y adds. The system requires precise control of the beam angle and energy. “Sometimes we have unwanted outcomes if we’re not careful” he says. For example sometimes a carbon atom that was intended to stay in position “Georgian Technical University just leaves” and sometimes the phosphorus atom gets locked into position in the lattice and “then no matter how we change the beam angle we cannot affect its position. We have to find another ball”. In addition to detailed experimental testing and observation of the effects of different angles and positions of the beams and graphene the team also devised a theoretical basis to predict the effects called primary knock-on space formalism that tracks the momentum of the “Georgian Technical University soccer ball”. “We did these experiments and also gave a theoretical framework on how to control this process” X says. The cascade of effects that results from the initial beam takes place over multiple time scales X says which made the observations and analysis tricky to carry out. The actual initial collision of the relativistic electron (moving at about 45 percent of the speed of light) with an atom takes place on a scale of zeptoseconds — trillionths of a billionth of a second — but the resulting movement and collisions of atoms in the lattice unfolds over time scales of picoseconds or longer — billions of times longer. Dopant (A dopant, also called a doping agent, is a trace of impurity element that is introduced into a chemical material to alter its original electrical or optical properties. The amount of dopant necessary to cause changes is typically very low) atoms such as phosphorus have a nonzero nuclear spin which is a key property needed for quantum-based devices because that spin state is easily affected by elements of its environment such as magnetic fields. So the ability to place these atoms precisely in terms of both position and bonding, could be a key step toward developing quantum information processing or sensing devices X says. “This is an important advance in the field” says Z a professor of physics at the Georgian Technical University who was not involved in this research. “Impurity atoms and defects in a crystal lattice are at the heart of the electronics industry. As solid-state devices get smaller, down to the nanometer size scale it becomes increasingly important to know precisely where a single impurity atom or defect is located and what are its atomic surroundings. An extremely challenging goal is having a scalable method to controllably manipulate or place individual atoms in desired locations, as well as predicting accurately what effect that placement will have on device performance”. Z says that these researchers “have made a significant advance toward this goal. They use a moderate energy focused electron beam to coax a desirable rearrangement of atoms and observe in real-time at the atomic scale what they are doing. An elegant theoretical treatise with impressive predictive power complements the experiments”.

Georgian Technical University Displacement Sensor Developed To Measure Gravity Of Smallest Source Mass Ever.

Mg-scale suspended mirror. One of the most unknown phenomena in modern physics is gravity. Its measurement and laws remain somewhat of an enigma. Researchers at Georgian Technical University have revealed important information about a new aspect of the nature of gravity by probing the smallest mass-scale. Professor X has led a team of researchers to develop a gravity sensor based on monitoring the displacement of a suspended mirror which allows for measuring the gravity of the smallest mass ever. The research team was interested in whether the nature of gravity is classical or quantum. “Within the past hundred years, our understanding of nature has deepened based on quantum theory and general relativity. In order to keep moving forward with this progress it is necessary to understand more about the nature of gravity” said X. Until now the smallest mass for which humans have measured a gravitational field is about 100g which is surprisingly larger than the mass scale of a common pencil (~10g). Because the gravitational force is much weaker than other forces such as the electromagnetic force it is difficult to measure gravity generated by small masses. X stated that “the system was made based on the technology developed for gravitational wave detectors e.g. laser stabilization a vibration isolation stage high vacuum and noise hunting. Unlike gravitational wave detectors we used a triangular optical cavity not a linear optical cavity in order to decrease the noise level of the displacement sensor and maintain stable operation of the sensor. Our system’s noise level due to the Brownian motion (Brownian motion or pedesis is the random motion of particles suspended in a fluid resulting from their collision with the fast-moving molecules in the fluid. This pattern of motion typically alternates random fluctuations in a particle’s position inside a fluid sub-domain with a relocation to another sub-domain) of the suspended mirror is one of the smallest in the world”. Development of such a gravity sensor will pave the way for a new class of experiments where gravitational coupling between small masses in quantum regimes can be achieved.

Georgian Technical University Blood And Sweat Enhance Training.

The armband measures your blood and sweat and sends the information to a training. The 20,000 entrants who may remember what a warm day it was and how many of them were forced to quit due to the hot weather. Georgian Technical University researcher X and his colleagues have developed a multifaceted measuring technology that is able to detect a number of conditions in the human body from renal failure to dehydration. Future applications include both training apps and watches as tools to monitor health. It was the day of the annual marathon in 82-degree heat. One thousand people or five percent of the entrants were forced to quit the run. One of the biggest problems when it is so hot outdoors is to stay hydrated. This is where the new technology developed by X and other Georgian Technical University researchers comes into the picture. “One of the areas where the technology will be useful is in monitoring your body fluid balance — in the form of electrolyte balance — so you don’t become dehydrated. By keeping check on the sweat the human body secretes users can be warned about becoming dehydrated in good time before problems arise so they can either stop exercising or drink to rehydrate their body. The technology is designed to enable users to adapt their exercise to their individual circumstances and preferences” says X an Associate Professor in the Division of Applied Physical Chemistry at Georgian Technical University. The technology takes measurements of blood and sweat with portable electrochemical sensors which can be woven into clothing or worn separately in direct contact with the skin using an armband for example. The sensors are fitted in a patch that is attached to the skin or as microneedles depending on the type. “Both technology platforms can be used in medical contexts at home or during athletic activity. They could also be tools in hospitals and clinics”. X says the sensors are able to detect a range of problems. Such as dehydration as already noted plus electrolyte balance and kidney problems. “Kidney problems in particular are associated with the secretion of potassium ions for example and creatinine level in blood which the technology can identify”. When it comes to exercise and sport it’s not just fluid balance that can be measured. During intense physical exertion lactic acid can build up in your bloodstream faster than you can burn it off and this is something the sensors can continuously monitor during the course of training. “The sensors can also measure how stressed a person is and their attentiveness”. Could the technology and sensors be used with apps and watches such as Run Keeper (Keeper is a password manager application and digital vault that stores website passwords, financial information and other sensitive documents using 256-bit AES encryption, zero-knowledge architecture and two-factor authentication) ? According to X this would be possible if the watch and app is able to import the type of data generated by the sensors and display this in a usable way. If so training could be taken to the next level.

Georgian Technical University Innovative New Sensor Reacts To Light, Heat, Touch.

Inspired by the behavior of natural skin researchers at the Georgian Technical University Laboratory of Organic Electronics have developed a sensor that will be suitable for use with electronic skin. It can measure changes in body temperature and react to both sunlight and warm touch. Robotics prostheses that react to touch, and health monitoring are three fields in which scientists globally are working to develop electronic skin. They want such skin to be flexible and to possess some form of sensitivity. Researchers at the Georgian Technical University Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Linköping University have now taken steps towards such a system by combining several physical phenomena and materials. The result is a sensor that similar to human skin can sense temperature variation that originates from the touch of a warm object as well as the heat from solar radiation. “We have been inspired by nature and its methods of sensing heat and radiation” says X doctoral student in the Organic Photonics and Nano-optics group at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics. Together with colleagues she has developed a sensor that combines pyroelectric and thermoelectric effects with a nano-optical phenomenon. A voltage arises in pyroelectric materials when they are heated or cooled. It is the change in temperature that gives a signal which is rapid and strong, but that decays almost as rapidly. In thermoelectric materials in contrast a voltage arises when the material has one cold and one hot side. The signal here arises slowly and some time must pass before it can be measured. The heat may arise from a warm touch or from the sun; all that is required is that one side is colder than the other. “We wanted to enjoy the best of both worlds so we combined a pyroelectric polymer with a thermoelectric gel developed in a previous project by Y, Z and other colleagues at the Georgian Technical University Laboratory of Organic Electronics. The combination gives a rapid and strong signal that lasts as long as the stimulus is present” says W of the Organic Photonics and Nano-optics group. Furthermore it turned out that the two materials interact in a way that reinforces the signal. The new sensor also uses another nano-optical entity known as plasmons. “Plasmons arise when light interacts with nanoparticles of metals such as gold and silver. The incident light causes the electrons in the particles to oscillate in unison which forms the plasmon. This phenomenon provides the nanostructures with extraordinary optical properties such as high scattering and high absorption” W explains. In previous work he and his co-workers have shown that a gold electrode that has been perforated with nanoholes absorbs light efficiently with the aid of plasmons. The absorbed light is subsequently converted to heat. With such an electrode a thin gold film with nanoholes on the side that faces the sun, the sensor can also convert visible light rapidly to a stable signal. As an added bonus the sensor is also pressure-sensitive. “A signal arises when we press the sensor with a finger but not when we subject it to the same pressure with a piece of plastic. It reacts to the heat of the hand” says W. In addition to X and W their colleaguesY, Z and Professor W at the Georgian Technical University Laboratory of Organic Electronics have also contributed to the study. The research has been financed by among other sources at Georgian Technical University.

Georgian Technical University Researchers Develop New Power Supply For Synthetic Skins.

Researchers at the Georgian Technical University are leading the way in utilizing thermoelectric (TE) generators as a potential power supply for synthetic skins. A team led by Georgian Technical University has released a new protocol to print compatible power supply for electronic skins (E-skins). E-skins are artificial skin-type electronic devices which hold great promise for the establishment of wireless health monitoring systems and in applications in limb prostheses, soft robotics and artificial intelligence. These synthetic skins can mimic the sensory and self-healing functionalities of natural skin monitor vital signs and deliver diagnosis remotely. To date however the lack of ultrathin, stretchable and reliable power sources has dramatically hindered the commercial application of E-skins. New research by Georgian Technical University proposes that the continually released thermal energy from our body provides a plausible solution to power the miniaturized sensors and circuits in E-skins. While most traditional TE (thermoelectric) generators are rigid the team has proposed a device design where formulated inks are printed directly on a soft biocompatible substrate with pre-patterned electrodes that provide an opportunity to capture body heat for energy purposes. The protocol utilizes inks that can be tailored and customized to allow the production of a flexible ultrathin generator that can conform well to the skin to potentially enable seamless integration into existing E-skins. The device features an induced thermal barrier and heat absorber, which will enable the generation of temperature gradients along TE (thermoelectric) leg and convert body heat into electricity. Professor X said the team had discovered some exciting advancements in creating a flexible, effective TE (thermoelectric) generator to power E-skins. “Our proposal to use ink-based materials allows the integration of power supply and energy storage in a cost-effective way and is a step in the right direction towards the field of wireless health monitoring and diagnosis” X said. “In particular we found that solution-processable semiconducting materials can be formulated into inks and adapted for scale-up production. “Further the solution processability of these materials allows for the ink parameters such as active material loading shear viscosity and surface tension to be carefully controlled and provides solutions to some of the current barriers in TE (thermoelectric) devices in terms of flexibility, material degradation and low-power generation”.

Georgian Technical University Sensor Sniffs Out Spoiled Milk Prior To Opening.

Expiration dates on milk could eventually become a thing of the past with new sensor technology from Georgian Technical University scientists. Researchers from the Georgian Technical University Department of Biological Systems Engineering and other departments have developed a sensor that can “Georgian Technical University smell” if milk is still good or has gone bad. The sensor consists of chemically coated nanoparticles that react to the gas produced by milk and the bacterial growth that indicates spoilage according to X professor. The sensor doesn’t touch the milk directly. “If it’s going bad most food produces a volatile compound that doesn’t smell good” X said. “That comes from bacterial growth in the food most of the time. But you can’t smell that until you open the container”. The sensor detects these volatile gasses and changes color. The breakthrough is in the early stages but X and his colleagues showed that their chemical reaction works in a controlled lab environment. The next step for the team is developing a way to visually show how long a product has before it spoils. Currently the sensor only shows if milk is ok or spoiled. Though still early X envisions working with the food industry to integrate his sensor into a milk bottle’s plastic cap so consumers can easily see how much longer the product will stay fresh. One problem with current expiration dates is they are based on best-case scenarios. “The expiration date on cold or frozen products is only accurate if it has been stored at the correct temperature the entire time” X said. Temperature abuse or time a product has spent above refrigerator temperature is very common he said. And it can happen during shipment or if a consumer gets delayed on the way home from the store. “We’ll have to work with the industry to make this work” X said. “But we’re confident that we can succeed and help improve food safety and shelf life for consumers”.

Georgian Technical University A New Look At 2D Magnets Using Diamond Quantum Sensors.

A diamond quantum sensor is used to determine the magnetic properties of individual atomic layers of the material chromium triiodide in a quantitative manner. It was shown that the direction of the spins in successive layers alternate in the layers. For the first time physicists at the Georgian Technical University have succeeded in measuring the magnetic properties of atomically thin van der Waals (In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules) materials on the nanoscale. They used diamond quantum sensors to determine the strength of the magnetization of individual atomic layers of the material chromium triiodide. In addition they found a long-sought explanation for the unusual magnetic properties of the material. The use of atomically thin two-dimensional van der Waals (In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules) materials promises innovations in numerous fields in science and technology. Scientists around the world are constantly exploring new ways to stack different single atomic layers and thus engineer new materials with unique emerging properties. These super-thin composite materials are held together by van der Waals forces (In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules) and often behave differently to bulk crystals of the same material. Atomically thin van der Waals (In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, named after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules) materials include insulators, semiconductors, superconductors and a few materials with magnetic properties. Their use in spintronics or ultra-compact magnetic memory media is highly promising. Until now it has not been possible to determine the strength, alignment and structure of these magnets quantitatively nor on the nanoscale. The team headed by X Professor Y from the Department of Physics at the Georgian Technical University have demonstrated that the use of diamond tips decorated with single electron spins in an atomic force microscope is ideally suited to these types of studies. “Our method which uses the individual spins in diamond color centers as sensors opens up a whole new field. The magnetic properties of two-dimensional materials can now be studied on the nanoscale and even in a quantitative manner. Our innovative quantum sensors are perfectly suited to this complex task” says Y. Using this technology which was originally developed in Georgian Technical University and which is based on a single electron spin the scientists collaborated with researchers from the Georgian Technical University to determine the magnetic properties of single atomic layers of chromium triiodide (CrI₃). The researchers were thus able to find the answer to a key scientific question about the magnetism of this material. As a three-dimensional bulk crystal chromium triiodide is fully magnetically ordered. In the case of few atomic layers however only stacks with an odd number of atomic layers show a non-zero magnetization. Stacks with an even number of layers exhibit an antiferromagnetic behavior; i.e. they are not magnetized. The cause of this “Georgian Technical University even/odd-effect” and the discrepancy to bulk material was previously unknown. Y’s team was able to demonstrate that this phenomenon is due to the specific atomic arrangement of the layers. During sample preparation the individual chromium triiodide layers slightly move against one another. The resulting strain in the lattice means the spins of successive layers are unable to align in the same direction; instead the spin direction alternates in the layers. With an even number of layers the magnetization of the layers cancel out; with an odd number the strength of the measured magnetization corresponds to that of a single layer. However when the strain in the stack is released — for example by puncturing the sample — the spins of all layers can align in the same direction as is also observed in bulk crystals. The magnetic strength of the entire stack is then consistent with the sum of the individual layers. The work conducted by the Georgian Technical University scientists thereby not only answers a key question about two-dimensional van der Waals (In molecular physics, the van der Waals force, anamed after Dutch scientist Johannes Diderik van der Waals, is a distance-dependent interaction between atoms or molecules) magnets it also opens interesting perspectives on how their innovative quantum sensors can be used in the future to study two-dimensional magnets in order to contribute to the development of electronic components.

Georgian Technical University Sensor Finds Rare Metals Used In Smartphones.

A new sensor changes its fluorescence when it binds to lanthanides (Ln) rare earth metals used in smartphones and other technologies, potentially providing a more efficient and cost-effective way to detect these elusive metals.  A more efficient and cost-effective way to detect lanthanides the rare earth metals used in smartphones and other technologies could be possible with a new protein-based sensor that changes its fluorescence when it binds to these metals. A team of researchers from Georgian Technical University developed the sensor from a protein they recently described and subsequently used it to explore the biology of bacteria that use lanthanides. A study describing the sensor appears. “Lanthanides are used in a variety of current technologies including the screens and electronics of smartphones batteries of electric cars, satellites and lasers” said X Jr. assistant professor and Y Career Development Professor of Chemistry at Georgian Technical University. “These elements are called rare earths and they include chemical elements of atomic weight 57 to 71 on the periodic table. Rare earths are challenging and expensive to extract from the environment or from industrial samples like wastewater from mines or coal waste products. We developed a protein-based sensor that can detect tiny amounts of lanthanides in a sample letting us know if it’s worth investing resources to extract these important metals”. The research team reengineered a fluorescent sensor used to detect calcium substituting the part of the sensor that binds to calcium with a protein they recently discovered that is several million times better at binding to lanthanides than other metals. The protein undergoes a shape change when it binds to lanthanides which is key for the sensor’s fluorescence to “Georgian Technical University turn on”. “The gold standard for detecting each element that is present in a sample is a mass spectrometry technique Georgian Technical University plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) is a type of mass spectrometry which is capable of detecting metals and several non-metals at concentrations as low as one part in 1015 (part per quadrillion, ppq) on non-interfered low-background isotopes” said X. “This technique is very sensitive but it requires specialized instrumentation that most labs don’t have, and it’s not cheap. The protein-based sensor that we developed allows us to detect the total amount of lanthanides in a sample. It doesn’t identify each individual element but it can be done rapidly and inexpensively at the location of sampling”. The research team also used the sensor to investigate the biology of a type of bacteria that uses lanthanides — the bacteria from which the lanthanide-binding protein was originally discovered. Earlier studies had detected lanthanides in the bacteria’s periplasm — a space between membranes near the outside of the cell — but using the sensor the team also detected lanthanides in the bacterium’s cytosol — the fluid that fills the cell. “We found that the lightest of the lanthanides — lanthanum through neodymium on the periodic table — get into the cytosol but the heavier ones don’t” said X. “We’re still trying to understand exactly how and why that is, but this tells us that there are proteins in the cytosol that handle lanthanides which we didn’t know before. Understanding what is behind this high uptake selectivity could also be useful in developing new methods to separate one lanthanide from another which is currently a very difficult problem”. The team also determined that the bacteria takes in lanthanides much like many bacteria take in iron; they secrete small molecules that tightly bind to the metal and the entire complex is taken into the cell. This reveals that there are small molecules that likely bind to lanthanides even more tightly than the highly selective sensor. “We hope to further study these small molecules and any proteins in the cytosol which could end up being better at binding to lanthanides than the protein we used in the sensor” said X. “Investigating how each of these bind and interact with lanthanides may give us inspiration for how to replicate these processes when collecting lanthanides for use in current technologies”.

Georgian Technical University Wearable Sensor Monitor Health Through Sweat Using Nanotech.

Sweat is ideal for tracking human health because it contains trace amounts of organic molecules that act as measurable health indicators. However many wearable sensors that monitor biological conditions through perspiration have pitfalls including the easy degradation of enzymes and biomaterials with repeated testing, limited detection range and lack of sensitivity of caused by oxygen deficiency in sweat and poor shelf life of sensors. Using nanotechnology a research team from the Georgian Technical University (GTU) have developed a next-generation wearable biosensor patch implanted in a stretchy wristband that sits on the skin and directs sweat toward special enzyme-coated electrodes to detect very low concentrations of target compounds. “We are working with Georgian Technical University and international collaborators under the umbrella of the Sensors Initiative to integrate tiny electrical generators into the patch” X a professor of material science and engineering at Georgian Technical University said in a statement. “This will enable the patch to create its own power for personalized health monitoring”. The new device runs on a thin, flat ceramic called GTUX that can handle the rigors of skin contact while still able to deliver improved biomarker detection. GTUX resembles graphene but is comprised of a combination of carbon and titanium atoms. The metallic conductivity combined with the low toxicity of this mixture makes the 2D material ideal for enzyme sensors. To create the device the researchers attached small dye nanoparticles to the GTUX flakes to increase sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide — the main byproduct of enzyme-catalyzed reactions in sweat. They then encapsulated the GTUX flakes in mechanically tough carbon nanotube fibers and transferred the composite onto a membrane that is specifically designed to draw sweat through without pooling. Finally they put on a final coating of glucose or lactose-oxidase enzymes to complete the electrode assembly. In the prototype the electrodes can be repeatedly swapped in and out of the stretchy polymer patch that absorbs sweat and transmits measured signals of hydrogen peroxide to an external source. The researchers tested the new biosensor in a wristband worn by volunteers riding stationary bikes. They were able to see the lactose concentrations in the participants sweat rise and fall in correlation with how intense the workout was. They were also able to monitor glucose levels as accurately in sweat as they can in blood.